“Then let us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, develop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning”
-Ludwig van Beethoven.
I started this blog in 2008, not long after the birth of my 2nd child. I started it to be an outlet for my new found passion for personal finance. That passion came late to me, as I’m sure it does to most who have it.
Like so many people, I coasted through life and never gave personal finance a thought. I didn’t think about managing my money beyond paying my bills on time and having something (never enough) set aside in a checking account.
It’s easy to live like that when you have a decent job and live by yourself.
Then life happened.
I married my high school sweetheart, and we bought a house and started a family. Life was great. Life was exciting. Then, life got overwhelming and stressful. I woke up in a panic one night after a vet bill pushed our credit card balance past the point of a comfortable minimum payment.
I remember lying in bed wondering how we had gotten to this point. A new house, and 5 year car loan on a 6 year old car and a newborn baby. What previously had seemed like enough money every month quickly became just getting by from paycheck to paycheck. I was sick to my stomach, not sleeping and worrying about money. I knew something had to change. This was my first financial tipping point.
That was sometime around 2005.
Today, I am happy to say that my wife and I have a bigger house, 3 children and no longer pay a bank for a 6 year old car. Oh, and we haven’t had credit card debt since 2006. It’s quite an accomplishment considering we’ve been living on a single income since my wife became a stay at home mom to our kids and hasn’t had an income since 2004.
I’m not one to brag and often have a difficult time talking about myself, but I can honestly say that this is a part of my life of which I am most proud. My wife and I were confronted by a situation of our own making and we overcame it. We didn’t ask for a bailout, we didn’t default, and we didn’t view ourselves as victims waiting for a savior. We faced our problem with determination, sometimes grim determination, and we overcame.
We attained the seemingly unattainable – our financial freedom.
I credit my grandfather with providing me with the character I needed to meet this challenge. After he passed away, I realized just how trivial and small my challenges were. He was part of the WWII generation, and thinking about his life really put things into perspective for me even more. In fact, I wrote about it in an article for the blog Saving Advice, titled: The Power of Perspective. It’s easily the most personal thing I’ve written for a blog. Funny how it isn’t even on my own blog.
Overcoming that initial challenge kindled a new found passion for me and I haven’t stopped learning about personal finance since. It’s a broad topic and there is a wealth of information. It is my goal to share what I learn on this journey with my readers.
That’s my story. Thanks for reading it.
If you want to know more about me, check out these posts:
My Frugality Story (Interview).
7 things you never knew you didn’t know about me.
What Star Trek Taught me About Personal Finance.
Oh – and I’m also quite fond of Ludwig Van Beethoven. 
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