Climbing Out One Family’s Adventure in Becoming Debt-free

There is an FPU class on negotiating. I should take it again.

I’m not very good at negotiating, getting the deal or walking away. That last one you would think would be easier for me. If you don’t have the money then walk away. The problem is I don’t use the power of walking away when the monetary difference seems manageable.

Today I signed the kids up for gymnastics class. I told the Dad that the classes would be $70 a month. When I went to sign the papers, I was surprised by the $35 per child registration fee! That was double what I expected to pay. That was double what we had budgeted for. Eek!

I should not have written the check, but I did. …continue reading

Money never seemed to be much of an issue growing up even though we didn’t have much of it. My mother was a single parent and we were on welfare for a while, but I never knew about it. I have no memories of going without or being poor.

What I do remember are the empowering things she taught me. One of her favorite sayings is “Do you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

The youngest memory I have that proved to be most life-changing is from the day I wanted a chocolate chip cookie …continue reading

Halloween may still be a month away, but there’s a whole lot of death going around in our home.

Not so much death-death as death-talk; as in, how big a party does The Wife get to have when I croak? Turns out, if I get walloped by a bus it’s going to be a huge one!

In my last post I talked about finally getting our wills done. Sticking with our theme, today I sent off my first life insurance premium. Now if, in the next 15 years, I wake up on the wrong side of the dirt The Wife gets at least $900,000 …continue reading

Two years ago we planted night-blooming jasmine on a trellis in front of the house. It’s a beautiful plant that grows vigorously. Seriously vigorously!

I really need to trim it, but somehow it has been two months since I dragged the ladder out and took garden shears to the ragged plant. I never cease to amaze myself with my own ability to procrastinate. The irony is once I start the thing I was putting off, it invariably is done in half the time I thought it would take.

This week marks the sixth week, count ‘em 6, since I typed the words “Last Will and Testament” …continue reading

Like most of us I have spent some time in life in situations I was glad to get out of and with people I was glad to be away from.

The feeling of freedom can be outrageously visceral when we emotionally let go of something we should have long ago.

This week I heard a freeing statement about debtors. It amounted to something like, “Don’t waste time and energy chasing money you’re never going to see anyway.”

Sounds logical, doesn’t it, but BOY when we feel the scales of fairness are tipped against us we often work ourselves into a lather for decades about it — instead of putting our thoughts, energy and emotions into improving our lives. …continue reading

It was chilly this morning. Finally. After weeks over 100F we were due for a little cooling off.

I opened all the west-facing windows to tempt the cool air in while I packed lunch, made coffee and thought about a conversation The Wife and I had last night on the back porch.

Is it a business or a hobby? What’s best for our family? When is it time to say “when”? Who should we ask for guidance?

Six years ago The Wife took a leap, left a desk job and opened her own business: a fitness studio. She had a passion for the work and it showed. Clients loved coming to her and the first year was a success. …continue reading