I was blessed to grow up in an upper-middle-class family, except when I say upper-middle-class you shouldn’t think of the normal upper-middle-class family because my parents were hard core in teaching their kids the value of a dollar. It is safe to say that my parents could affectionately be called cheap skates.
As a kid, I always thought our family was broke. I didn’t realize that broke families didn’t own vacation homes, buy their cars by writing a check for the entire cost, or take exotic vacations around the globe. The things I noticed were my mom saying that at McDonald’s the 10 cent cost difference between a hamburger and a cheeseburger was too expensive, and that we needed to bring out own cheese slices from home if we wanted a cheeseburger, or that I had to wear my older sister’s hand-me-down jeans because we couldn’t afford a new pair. Oh, and the worst was that we always drank evaporated milk (the kind where you just add water but it tastes like crap). Over time I finally realized my family was in a more comfortable financial position, but my parent’s financial lessons stuck, not all of them though since I’ll never drink powdered milk again. I don’t apply the lessons in the same way my parents did, but I’m really grateful for the way they shaped my approach.
I left home for college at the University of Florida and got degrees in business and law. I came out of law school and practiced law for a bit, but ultimately moved over to a more cush corporate gig where I work with more of a business focus. Soon after law school I got super lucky in somehow convincing my wife to marry me. She is 100% out of my league, but for some reason puts up with me, and even helped me form our own unique financial approach. We don’t have millions, but are now very comfortable financially.
I started this blog because so many of my law school classmates and friends seem to be broke even though are all making about $100,000 a year. It blew my mind that my generally SMART classmates could be making that much money, but not have enough of a plan to be able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle due to STUPID financial decisions. This blog shows that with small tweaks you can make huge differences, without even having to sacrifice lifestyle.
Click here to read more about the basic financial approach. Start Here!