FreedomFIter

Okay, so I think forcing your kids to fight your internal battles between self-assurance and external pressures is misguided at best. But what does that mean in reality? I'm not saying that I think kids should have the newest, most expensive, diamond-laden shoes. First of all, those diamond-laden shoes would scratch the crap out of… Continue reading Keeping up with the Joneses’…kids (part 2: the reality)

First. Why the Joneses? Why not a last name that doesn't end in an S? Is this the man's way of trying to teach us complicated and unsettling English morphology rules? Keeping up with the Jones? Keeping up with the Jones's? Keeping up with the Joneses'? (I hope we all know that an apostrophe has… Continue reading Keeping up with the Joneses’…kids (Part 1: the mentality)

I saw a household budget calculator on Facebook and I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for these things. If it comes out as much more than what I spend, I feel like some sort of goddess for using money wisely. If it comes out as much less, I feel righteous indignation for the authors… Continue reading Household budget calculator

I am deficient when it comes to decorating. For most of my adult life, I’ve managed to put up a Christmas tree each year, and that’s the extent of it. We do have a pair of Halloween mugs that I got when I was working at Starbucks (clearance!) but those are in the rotation year-round.… Continue reading The folly of home decor

This week starts out with a win. We put almost nothing down on our house when we bought it, because duh we were making $39K a year and that was an increase, a fairly dramatic one, from prior years. PMI was $53, eligible to be removed when we had paid 20% of the loan, which… Continue reading Bye bye PMI

My goal after Disney World was to make a maximum of $3500 per month from freelancing. That was to be my ceiling, buuuuuut, okay here’s where I justify breaking my goal, the idea was that I didn’t want to feel too stressed, not that I could never go over that. Ahem. Anyway, I just sent… Continue reading Mid-month freelancing update: $2425

Sonya has started getting really into LEGOs, especially sets, which is awesome because LEGOs are awesome and they are not screens and they require focus and diligence and you end up with a whole bucket of creativity after you tear the set apart. It’s also not awesome because we’re trying to be frugal here. I… Continue reading Leggo my LEGOs – a review of AliExpress LEGO knockoffs

I finally did it. For months, I have been hearing about You Need a Budget. It’ll change your life, they say. It totally clarifies your vision when it comes to money! But they also say that there’s a steep learning curve, and it costs money every month, which seems counterproductive. Also, I’ve been using my… Continue reading I need a budget

When I first had Sonya, I was shocked at how inexpensive parenting was if you could get around paying for child care (side note: “getting around paying for child care” is also expensive, if you factor in missed work opportunities because you are required to stick to a certain schedule, or if you consider the… Continue reading “Kids are only as expensive as you want them to be.”

January was a mess and by that I mean it was ah-may-zing. I couldn’t connect my computer to the WiFi at Disney World, so instead of feeling like I should go to the parks aaaaaaall day and then retire to work late into the night, I just...didn’t do any work while we were there. Zero.… Continue reading January freelance totals – $3709.22