Apparently these days we either have a really great month or a not so good month where our savings rate is concerned because in between hasn't happened for some time now. And since August was by far the best month of the year for our finances, September had to be one of the pricer ones,…
As I said last week, I had been kicking around the idea for this blog roundup series for quite some time now but hadn't made up my mind to commit to it. I have to say though, with the amazing response to week one, I am so glad I went ahead and started. We've come…
My husband and I will celebrate nine years of marriage later this year, and while I've written previously about what a good financial decision that has been for us personally, partnering up really can have a larger financial impact than we give it credit for. In my day job, I spend a lot of time…
One year ago today, after many months of considering starting my own blog, I finally sat down and hit send on my very first post. All the thanks to Joe at Retire By 40, because for whatever reason, his post on how to start a blog finally got me off the sidelines as a reader…
June was another month that absolutely flew by. We returned from our East Coast road trip on the first of the month, and that first weekend was mostly spent unpacking and relaxing before heading back to work the following Monday. In the subsequent weekends we went camping twice and spent another weekend afternoon exploring locally…
While it's no secret that we love packing our bags and heading out of town to explore - be it for one night or two weeks - we also make sure to explore our local area during the days we are at home. Part of the draw of the Pacific Northwest for us, outside of…
If you haven't yet heard about Chief Mom Officer's Women on FIRE series, it is an awesome list of Wednesday posts featuring women who are pursuing FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). In a part of the internet where it seems like most of the big stories center around the men pursuing financial independence, Liz at…
April was a crazy busy month. Mostly in a good way, but still extremely busy. I started my public service board commission for our city, sent some good friends off on a move to Hawaii, wrapped up a work project and began a new one, and we went out of town three separate weekends because I…
Last month, I accepted a four year volunteer term for one of my City's commissions, which means that I now have an evening commitment twice a month, as well as a lot of reading and studying to do before each meeting. While I've been working on simplifying my life and generally reducing my regular commitments,…
Let's just start by saying that having pets isn't a frugal endeavor. One of our dogs, who is only 7.5 years old, has heart problems that landed her in the emergency vet overnight back in August. Against the odds, she's doing *mostly* better, though on twice a day medication for life, which by themselves aren't…