I’ve tried to identify what financial independence means to me. At the core, it means that I won’t worry about where the money is coming from or feel pressure to do something I don’t want to because I need the money. It means not being in debt and being able to live within my means.

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Because of the seasonal nature of Micah’s work, we have to slow down our debt snowball in the summer. But that’s ok, because debt repayment doesn’t have to stress us out. We just have to stay motivated and stick with it as long as it’s one of our goals.

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My friend AJ at the Guppie Life posted recently about a problem he’s having with family and money:
A few months ago, I loaned an older relative some money. At the time I didn’t even think of it as a loan. It was just convenience thing. She had an entirely legitimate bill due, and because of [...]

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Last week, I was flipping through our mail when I noticed an envelope stamped with “REMITTANCE” (or REMITTAL, I don’t have the envelope anymore). Capital letters intimidate me, so I opened it right away. It turned out to be from a collections agency.
Lesson #1: Open all mail that isn’t clearly spam.
My first thought was “WHA?” [...]

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Yesterday morning after checking the weather, I was faced with an uncomfortable choice. Either I could wait to catch the bus in a thunderstorm and then walk the rest of the way home through that thunderstorm or I could spend an extra 2 hours waiting at the library until Micah came to pick me up.
Those [...]

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