Goals for now and Goals for the future

I've never been good with goals especially long term goals.   It is important to know what your goals are for your finances, for your job, for your family, for yourself.

I have never been good at really knowing what I want, but I follow my subconscious to make changes.  What I do know is that I don't want to be forced to work until I'm 65.  I want to have my own time and my own projects.  I want my kids to be able to go to college without going into debt.

To help break down long term goals lets start by making small ones.  How can I reach FIRE early.

1. Pay off Car Loan
2. Pay off House Loan
3. Max out both 401Ks
4. Max out HSA
5. Contribute to 529s
6. find out where every dollar is going
7. removed unexpected automated expenses
8. Plan out family trips instead of just going on sort notice
9. Setup a budget that can be met
10. start a side hustle 

What about the Job

1. Build talent stack
2. re-evaluate job every year
3. decide if I have a end job role. I've been taking opportunities that come my way without a goal on where I want to go. 

For my family

1. Save for college
2. term-life insurance
3. a will
4. have life experiences that the everyone will remember
5. increase knowledge through study and exploring 

For myself

1. Stay healthy
2. I don't know....Need to still figure this out, but that is ok.

We need to remember goals are good, but not required.  You can follow your path without really knowing every step or that you are really on the path.  Focus on what you know and what makes you happy.  The most important thing is to take that first step and then another.  Once you are going you may then figure out where you want to go.   

 

Taking December off to clean up and have some family time.  Enjoy.

Expecting the unexpected

Well I knew this was coming.  Thanksgiving week is on us and took the SUV in for oil change and a look over before our long driving trip.  Of course the dealer is telling us we need new tires.  Truth be told I knew we needed new tires not now, but in the next few months.  Now my wife is not a native cold weather person so hearing worn tires and the less optimal performance from them concerned her.

Now I've bough tires online and got price matching on our previous cars, but I never shopped for an SUV before.  The price quote we got back from the dealer through me for a loop.  Usually for my cars in the past they were no more then $1,200 for run-flats, or $600 for non.  Our SUV just uses normal all-season tires just big.  I'm a big fan of using Tire Rack for tire research and comparing prices with a place like Discount Tire.  I have ordered from Tire Rack as well as had Discount Tire match the price in the past.  Anyway did some calling around and found a pair of winter tires that I could get installed that day to make everyone happy.  They will be good with all the heavy snow driving we will do this year.  Some advice for tire shopping do you research and ask around. Call your local sellers and see what they recommend and see if they will price match to make the installation and location convenient for you.

These things happen; sometimes it's tires other times a wash machine.  You never know.  That is why everywhere you read they say save 3 to 6 months of savings to be able to cover these rainy days.

How do we get there?  Start the first week with a dollar a day into your savings account.  Then move on 2 dollars.  You will adjust your life to not miss this money.  It may take sometime, but your savings will grow and you will feel more secure once these rainy days occur.

Good luck.

Gifts for everyone

Well it's a week away from the worst day of the year the so called "Black Friday".  This used to be the day stores would put out their first sales for the Christmas season to help generate sales and get the store back on the black side (positive) of the sales equation.

What it is today is a mad house where stores sell very cheap stuff to the masses for small discounts.  Where they sale 60' TV for $30 for the first 5 lucky people to survive the stampede.

This is the season of giving and trying not to go broke.  When my wife and I first married it was typical to give gifts of everyone in her family and mine.  This got silly we were spending so much on small gifts. Over the next few years we talked about how this was effecting out future and how we can change this family tradition without making everyone mad.  After some trial and error we are now trying Secret Santa.  Basically we put everyone's name in a hat and assign a family member to give a gift too.

I worked at a retail store for 5 years through college and as a 2nd job for awhile.  This time of year was really crazy and the stuff that was sold was always the same stuff every year. The problem with this time of year it gets you to buy stuff you don't really want, but only want in that moment and not something you really need.

We just have to remember there will always be another sale and it will be bigger then the next.  A good rule of thumb is if you see something you want wait 72 hours if you still want it and it provides value get it. Otherwise you are better off not getting it.  Avoid the impulse and keep the path to FIRE. 

Libraries yes they are still around

One of the best things you can do is use your library.  It provides endless enjoyment for your kids through books,  music, and movies.

Another thing is most libraries let you rent the latest tech gadgets. If you want to try VR you can rent it.  If you want to 3d print something you can build it and submit it to be printed.

If you love movies or audio books you can get them from the library.  My local library has a streaming service.  True be told as long as I'm patient my library is like Netflix.  Any movie I want just look it up and order it.  Browse the streaming and watch it.


Endless books digital or physical.  It's all out there.

If you haven't yet; go check your local library out. 

All the small things

Life is full of all the small things.  Some of these are good and some of them not so much. Things like "I love you" from the kids. The Dog wagging his tail when you walk in. Sport team wins. Fixing a whole in the wall.  A stock you picked goes up. Lots of small things that can happen to you in a day, week, or year.  These small things make you happy and enjoy life.

Damage a tire. Get home late. Argument at work. Not enough sleep. Made a purchase you regretted.  These small may not seem to effect you, but each one is like a drop of water enough drops and you feel like your drowning.

All these things can effect your emotional state, but there are small things that effect your finances as well.  I was thinking all about all the small things that add up for me.

All the subscriptions for streaming service (Disney+ & Prime). All the subscribe and saves on Amazon. Toll roads. Dinning out. Fees on investments. Misc. expenses you signed up and never cancelled. 

It feels like there is a whole in the bucket and all the money is slowly dripping out. To help plug this hole I am writing down all my expensive that are paid monthly, quarterly, or yearly.  This way I can catch them to cancel.  Give it a try I think you will be amazed by the things you've been paying for and not knowing it.

To my teenage self

Your teenage years is a time to learn and a time to fail.  Honestly it will be rough in many ways and in others it will be great, but the good thing is as all things do it will end.  This will be a time to learn the value of money and hard work. 

A little about my Middle School and High School years.  From 13-15 my sources of income came from babysitting and mowing lawns.  I did not contribute much to my savings. At 15 I started working at a fast food restaurant making minimum wage $5.15 ~$400 every weeks.  At 15 I could only work a few hours a day and one weekend day.  This brought in good money for someone who had no expenses.  I opened a checking account and had my paychecks direct deposited. I had no saving goals except seeing my account get bigger.  Parents and I bought a car when I was 14 $3500. My dad drove it until I was 16.  I paid for roughly half of the car before I started to drive it.

Here is a good place to tell you a little about myself or more who I was around this age.  I am an engineer and have been interested in computers my entire life.  Grew up middle class in the Mid-West.  I don't spend money unless I can help it, but when I do I like to buy the best I can afford.  I was a big gamer PlayStation and PC Games around this time. Diablo, War Craft II, Diablo  1&2, Star Craft, Lara Croft, Final Fantasy, etc.  I wasn't someone who partied. I choose to build computers and play games. I also played sports outside of school and hung out with friends.  Normal nerdy mid-school/High School stuff.  

At 16 I quit my fast food job and took a warehouse job.  Advice: What I should have done was look for internships sophomore - senior year of high school.  I took the warehouse job because it paid $8.50 plus $0.50 bonus if you came into work on time. Easy money.  I would go almost full time in the summer and earned overtime on the weekends.  I quit this job going into my Senior year mostly because I saw what I didn't want to be in life and second I got hurt playing baseball and they wouldn't let me lift the 200lb boxes with a cast.  Working in Fast Food or in a Warehouse really teaches you what life it like for people who don't graduate high school, don't go to college, or have made some poor life choices along the way. In both cases at my previous jobs I was the best worker they had and at 15/16 my friend and I were running the fast food place.  At the warehouse job I was twice as productive as everyone else.  So much so when I hurt myself my manger wanted me to work without the cast on. When I didn't he just put me on a leave of absent wanting me to comeback.  I did for a couple of months before I quit. 

The smart advice here would be to invest your money, but at this age learning to save in a saving account was great.  During my junior year a friend was investing and I though wow that is cool I should do that, but I had no clue about anything.  My Dad always listened to financial radio stations, but for the most part they talked about the latest hot stocks and these things called Spiders.  Advice: What I should have done; At 18 took the money I saved in my savings account at this time it was 5,000-8,000 and open an account with Vanguard and put it in a low cost Mutual Fund tracking the S&P 500 index.

My senior year and what was next after school was all the buzz around the lockers.  In my family and in my high school; the talk wasn't about are you going to college, but which one.  College was just something you did and the hard part was trying to decide on where and what to study.  I looked at multiple schools and I choose one close to home for two reasons.  One I liked the program a little better then others, and second the job market was much better in the bigger city that wasn't just a college town. 

If I had to sit myself down during this time I love to tell myself to study harder and apply for scholarship etc..  The thing is I remember exactly who I was at this point and it wouldn't work.   What I would tell myself is to not work during the school year their is going to be plenty of time to work. Continue to play sports and look for an internship with a related company out of state or another interest in the summer.  Use the summers to build your talent stack not just work because you think it is something you should do.  

Good luck.

Careers or life

At some point in your life you will have to make a choice in your career.  Do you changes jobs? Do you move? Do you change projects in the same company?

There can be many reasons to get to this point.  Boss, money, growth, or simply change.  When you hit this crossroad you have to not be scared of change.

Go on the interview. Take that opportunity.  Talk to your Boss.  Change can't happen unless you take it.

Even though you have been at the same company for years doesn't mean it is the same company when you started.  The people have changed the companies goals have changed and you have changed.  Financially these are big decisions and will have an impact on you and your family. On the path to being financially independent you will make turns along your path.  Have faith and stay the your course. 

Choose life and what makes you happy.

DYI life

1. It amazes me how much tasks people pay others to do.
   
   Here is a list of shockingly simple task you should try to do yourself.
   Some of the criteria for these tasks are they take very little previously experience. They can be done in a few hours and will save you money.
   
   Here is a list I've done myself all in the last few years.  These are all fixes that don't require many tools or very long to do, but will save you hundreds of dollars.
   
   
   1. Painting whole room or patch repair
   2. Mowing the lawn - I have a small yard so I use a rotary push mower so 100% free to operate 
   3. House cleaning - it's your mess just pick up after yourself
   4. Installing ceiling fan
   5. Sprinkler repair
   6. Wall hole fix
   7. Hole in cushions 
   8. Hole in clothes 
   9. Minor leaks in the roof
   10. Fix toilet leaks or replace parts
   11. Turning on your sprinklers
   12. Minor repairs with appliances
   1. Washer
   2. Dryer
   3. Oven
   4. Refrigerator
   5. Dishwasher
   Here is a list of basic tool you should own to repair all these things.
   1. screwdrivers multiple sizes of regular and Phillips
   2. Hammer
   3. Socket set
   4. Wrench set
   5. A pair of pliers 
   6. Ladder
   7. Thread and needles
   8. Leaver
   9. Tap measure
   10. oil pan

   Now you can get fancier with power screwdriver, but really you don't need to.  For most of these all you need to do it try.  You can either just open it up and follow the direction or get out the trusty YouTube and follow another DIYr for direction.  You will be amazed how much you can do just by trying and the satisfaction you will feel.  
   
   
   The more small projects you try will lead you doing more and every project you do will save you money and will push you to try more new things.  

Whats a Bond? Whats a stock?

What is a Bond?   Simply it is a loan to a company for a certain time; which they give you a agreed upon amount while they have your money.  Basically like asking your friend to barrow $20 and you will pay them $21 when you pay them back in 3 months.  A 5% return.Where did bonds start?  Well first general government bonds were issues by the Netherlands in 1517 and national government by England in 1694 to fund a war against France.

What is a stock? Simply it is ownership of a company.  Why would you do this? The idea of owning a stock is you believe in the company and as part owner the company shares it's profits with you through dividends.  Companies do this to raise more money to grow, expand, or pay off debt.  

Example:  You start a company and put in $20,000 of your own money and you get 2 friends to put in $10,000 each. You now have 3 share holders of your $40,000 company.Where do stocks come from? Stock have been traced back all they way to the Roman Empire.  Basically the same reason as today, build income for the company to expand.

How are stock and bonds related?   Bonds are considered a safer investment and safer usually brings smaller returns.  Stock are consider riskier investment and can give a bigger return.  So when the market is going well people invest more in stocks and less in bonds.  This can increase inflation (stuff cost more) which eventually causes the government to raise interest rates.   As long as companies are making money stock prices increase, while bonds may continue to fall if rates continue to be lowered.

Eventually the good times stop due to the economy slowing down or the market is worried about it slowing down.  Bond prices usually rise because investors jump from stocks into bonds for a "safer" investment.  This usually leads to interest rates falling and prices of bond raise.  Bond and interest rates are inverse of each other one goes up and the other goes down.Remember this is life and not a contest.  Some risk is good to much will lead to disaster.  Your finances don't fall into the "Go Big or Go Home". If you do it could be "Trade often and retire broke."

Hitch Hikers Guide to Ultimate Investing

This is the ultimate guide to investing.  I have discovered the secret to fulfilling your goals and living the life you want to live.

• Step one stand up and walk into the bathroom.  
• Step two look at the person looking back at you and introduce yourself. This person you are looking at is you. Yes you are your worst enemy when it comes to investing.
• Step three make an agreement with that person in the mirror that next time the market goes down and someone gives you a hot stock tip you will walk into that bathroom and tell that person no. Surprising they will agree with you and tell you no.  😜

I know it is silly, but you can really be your worst enemy to your investments. The point of that exercise is to get to know yourself.  The better you know that person in the mirror the better you will be able to stick the course.

Most people’s core does not change from when they were young to adulthood.  Investing is as much about emotion as it is about knowledge.  I mentioned the above as reflection on one’s self to help understand your short falls.   At my core I am a conservative person I like to hedge by bets.  A perfect example to this is how I played video games when I was younger.  I played games like StarCraft of War Craft II they are RTS games.  The object of the game is to build a base and destroy your opponent’s base before they destroy yours.  The way I played was to build a big enough base with a strong defense and build an army that would overwhelm my opponents defenses.  A very safe approach.  The aggressive approach would be to avoid building defense and build your offense quickly to catch your opponent off guard.  A very aggressive approach.  In short know yourself. This is very important to know about yourself. If you invest against your nature it will not go well and you will constantly makes changes.    If you are a conservative person and you invest aggressively i.e 100% stocks 0% bond when the market goes down you will be checking you phone all the time and will probably sell at the low then buy back at the rebound high.  If you are an aggressive investor, but feel you should be well balanced with bond and invest say 60/40 stock/bond you will always feel like you missed out and probably will keep buying and selling.

I follow the Boglehead/Buffet/FI philosophy which is stick to index funds that capture the stock market and invest for the long term.  I prefer to stick to the 3 fund portfolio for diversification reasons.  I don't invest in individual stock much anymore when I do it is the buy and hold forever. The three fund portfolio is allocation in index funds of  US Total Stock Market, US Bonds, and International.

I will now change your life.  Invest in indexed mutual funds either Total Stock market or S&P 500 100%-60% then bond 0-40%.  If you are aggressive with a long time until FI/retirement then go closer to the 100%, otherwise I think a good bond % allocation is your age - 10. Jake Bogle says you should have bond allocation equal to your age.  I believe that maybe fine for over 60, but for the FI road it is very conservative.   All you need to do it put money in these funds and keep putting money in and ignore everything else.  Don't look at the performance just keep adding.  Then one day in the distant future it will be a whole bunch of money and you will feel like a genius.

The market will fall and the market will go up. It will feel like a roll coaster.  If you know yourself you can stop yourself from making the mistake of buying that hot stock or bitcoin or selling because the world is coming to and end.

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Deciding on Health Insurance pay now or later

It's that time of year to decide if I try to save money on monthly health cost and roll the dice that we have a healthy year or higher premium with less out of pocket max.

It's a no brainier to go with a plan the has a Health Savings Account (HSA).  For the first time this year I have a chose between two plans. 

First what is a plan that has an HSA. First off the plan has to meet certain criteria to be eligible for HSA contributions. It needs to be a high deductible than a traditional insurance plan (year 2020 - min 1,400 for individual and 2,800 for families, Max single 6,900 and family 13,800) and also your employer has enable the plan to be eligible for being a high deductible plan (HDHP).  Some benefits are that the monthly premium is usually lower, but you pay more health care costs yourself before the insurance company starts to pay its share (your deductible). 

Why an HSA?
An HSA allows you to pay for certain medical expenses with money free from federal taxes.  HSA contributions are tax free going in, tax free growth, and tax free going out as long as you use on qualifying medical expenses.  For 2019 max is 3,500 single 7,000 family and next year 3,600/7,200

I've been dumb for many years and just learned of the magic of an HSA last year.  My family of four is healthy, but the kids are in school so lots of germs. Most of our doctors visits are wellness and sore throats. I would say we spend maybe a few thousand on medical a year.  I know many people may need the money they contribute for medical expense in their HSA. I'm planning on using it as another retirement account.  I'm keeping track of all medical expense in a spreed sheet with date of visit and cost.  That way in the future when I need the money for an emergency or for retirement I can reimburse my old medical expenses.  Win win for me.

My wife and I currently work for the same company so are benefits are the same.  Depending on the plan it is sometimes cheaper to have our own insurance vs whole family.  I'm currently trying to decide if I should be on my own plan because one I don't really get sick and two as a male if I do get sick I would rather die then go to the doctor (😷). Obviously not really true, but it is true enough for most guys until they get above 40.  Probably a reason women seem to live longer. Anyway if I get my own plan the wife and kids will overall have a lower max out-of-pocket even though the now combined out-of-pocket is slightly more then if we all had the same plan.  Really it only saves us about $200 off the yearly cost of the plan it would be more for the plan deductibles.  

Who knows I have about two weeks to decide how healthy we will be next year.  I will try my best to try to play this scam that is health insurance.  

Good luck and let your choices forever be in your favor.  

Insure your life to protect your legacy

One of the hardest things to do when your young is to think about when and if you will die. Let face it death is undefeated.

On the path to financial independence we are always looking for ways to optimize spending and make purposeful purchases.  It can be difficult to make a purchase that may provide peace of mind for you and security for your family in the future.

I'm currently in the process of getting Term Life insurance for myself and my wife.  My work provides life insurance one times my annual salary as well as optional additional term life.  This is pretty typical for most large W2 companies.  On my path to FI I still need security for my family until I reach my number to FI. Once I reach FI it will act as life insurance for my family.

Honestly the life insurance stuff is confusing and so many different ways to go.  I'm not going to go into Term vs Whole life.  Usually most people say go Term and Whole life is not worth it and board line a scam.  Their are sites that compare allot of different companies.  This is a great place to start, but if you know some people in the insurance game just ask them questions on what they recommend.  I decided to go with a 15 year with about 10 times my annual salary. This is around the usual recommendations most sites and people tend to go with.  This works for the FI community once you start your path, because it can cover the path to FI as well as give a buffer.

The last thing to think about its a Will.  If you are trying to protect your family encase of your untimely demise you want to make sure everything you have goes to the right place and is used the way you intended.  It is important it goes where you want and the state doesn't get to decide.

A Will is a very difficult thing to do.  Trying to figure out all the different ways you could get hurt or die and all the different situations that follow. 

Best of luck on these grownup decisions.

A dollar a day guide to retirement

I was walking the dog the other day listening to pod casts and letting my mind wonder.

Do you remember those old infomercials that you could fund a kid in some other country for just $1 a day and it will fix their entire life.  That is for a good cause, but if I invested in myself for a $1 a day.

If you invest $1 a day for 67 years with an annual 8% return you end up $955,209k. So over the course of your pre-retirement life you invested ~$24,455 and it magically becomes $955k before taxes. Damn.  I know their is leap years.

Lets say to retire you need one million dollars how much do you need to invest each day to reach it. If you invest 2 dollars a day you will have a million at 59 and $3 puts your at 54. Obviously you can't start saving for yourself at birth, but it does show you a little bit goes along way no matter when you start.

Advice to a sibling

Here is some general advice I passed to my sister when she start her first job.

• Have a checking account - only keep enough to pay bills with a little buffer so you wont overdraft.
• Put the rest into a saving account - look at online ones.  I use FNBODirect because the interest rate is much high then most banks and a great company. Another option is a money market account
• just remember if you need to take money out it take 3-4 days
• You should not have any accounts putting money into or taking money out of this except your one checking account.  This will help protect it.
• This is your emergency funds should be 6 months of expenses the rest you should invest
• Once you have a good buffer in your savings account 10k-20k  consider investing into stocks or mutual funds. 
• If you want to try stocks create an account from E-Trade, Fidelity, or TD Ameritrade they are all pretty equal. I would suggest a small amount. Something if you lose it you wont mind to much. I started by picking well know companies like Visa, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, lulu, and other companies I used and I know or can guess how they are making money.
• The other and better option is index mutual funds. These are less risky then stocks with about 6-15% return.  The thing about these they are long turn investments that compound and grow. This is very smart to do. Every two weeks I put $100 directly from my checking account into this
• Vanguard mutual funds - https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/
• Get VTI or VTSAX - to own all of the US stock market
• Fidelity is another option because of 0 cost index funds
• I only started to do this a few years ago and I feel like I really missed out not doing this earlier.
• Never carry a balance on Credit Cards
• If you have a balance stop everything and pay them off. Don't do anything else until they are paid off.
• You should have at least two cards to build your credit. I know this isn't popular with Dave Ramsey, but everyone needs to have a good credit score at some point.
• Chase Reward cards are good
• You should check your credit report at least a couple of times a year to make sure nothing unexplained is on it.
• I don't know if your job does pension, 401k, 457,or 403b if they do a match; max it out to get the most out of the maxing. Free money is always the best money.
• If they don't do anything consider investing in Roth IRAs or Traditional IRAs
• these will help on taxes and save on retirement. 
• If you want you can track your spending through MINT.com or personal capital

That should get you started on the right foot.  Good luck.

Travel Rewards Part 2

Progress on Travel Rewards.  We start the journey with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. My wife and I are alternating cards to maximize the rewards and spread out the spending.  It was retaliative easy the past few months hitting that $3k spending to get the bonuses.  We opened the account around car insurance, car registration and the kids birthdays.  That being said we knocked out our first cards and probably the best of the award cards.  Benefits are great and the flexibility of the Ultimate Reward points with the reward partners are awesome.  

Know what do we go from here?  Who knows.  I can't seem to find any good direction on the next card of a Chase Gauntlet. The only thing I can find is to get the Sapphire card then get another Chase card.  OK, so to figure this our we talk about what we want to do next year for vacation.   We have a big anniversary coming up. Do we go somewhere for that? It's the kids first summer vacation something for that? Or just visit family? Since most of our possible trips will involve flying and staying in a hotel we decided to go with a hotel card.  Our flight miles will be covered by the Chase Ultimate Rewards we got so far.  We decided to go with the Marriott card mostly because they seemed to have good reward redemption, free stay reward each year, and they have hotels were we may travel.  We probably wont do the same card for my wife. She already has a high status with Hilton because of her work travel and we don't really see a benefit to having two of the same hotel cards since we only need one room.  

The only issue I am worried about $5k spending in the next 3 months is going to be tough.  The only big spending coming is ski season and paying for the kids ski lessons.  Christmas is coming, but we usually don't spend that much on the holiday.  Wish me luck.  

Enjoy life one moment at a time

Many people think to have a family moment you need to spend money.  Disney, movies, traveling, sports.  The list goes on and on.  There is a time and place for these. It is important to know that you can have your adventure in your own backyard.

Today I had a wonderful day with my family.  We woke up and drove 30 mins. to a local dog park. Spent a hour walking the park and watching our dog swim in the lake.  Went home had leftovers for lunch and spent the afternoon building Legos and playing games.   Then before dinner we jumped on our bikes and rode to our local park.

Their is so much you can do that doesn't cost a cent or at least almost nothing.  I bet in your local town their is at least 3 things going on that cost nothing.  Art shows, Zoo, festivals, nature hikes, bike rides. Honestly there tons going on.  Facebook.local or your local cities web-page is a great resource.
Look up at the stars and just go out and see something new. Or just enjoy the balloons.

Simple food hacks .. eat good, eat well, try it all

Early on when I left school I realized if I was going to spend my hard earned money on food I should buy things that were good for me.  The thing was I didn't really like to cook and it was just me.  My meals usually consisted of rice, frozen veggies, and a protein like shrimp, chicken, or steak.

Obviously life changed and I got married had kids and lets just say my diet changed.  My wife and I don't eat out much, but when we do we like to try new things.

We are not much of deal seekers and what we do is simple.  We share. If something looks really good we order one main course and one appetizer.  Or if the menu looks really good we order 3 appetizers and use it like our own little sampler.  Appetizers are usually half as much as a main dishes and usually are great to share.

When we are on vacation eating out is a huge expense for us.  What we do to reduce this expense is hit the local store when we arrive buy food for lunches and breakfast.  That way we can pack lunches and don't have to stop the fun to find a restaurant.  This is great to due when you go on hikes or new places.  Plus breakfast food is so cheap and restaurants usually charge 10x the actual cost of the good. It is a no brainier to just have a cup of yogurt.

Cooking in bulk with the Instant Pot and Air Fryer really helps reduce the cost of meals.  I am trying to make it a goal that we spend $2 a meal per person. We are currently around $2.8 per a meal.
I know some people don't like leftovers.  That I don't get. If you are one of those people you need to work on making better meals😁. My wife makes amazing meals that I want to have everyday.

Ways to inspire yourself and keep a skinny waist are to use cookbooks like Cook Yourself Thin.  I love these cookbooks.  Amazingly simple meals and a great way to get bonus points with the spouse by making them a gourmet meal.

Bon Appetit

Automate your life

In this day in age if you aren't automating your bill paying you are missing out.. Checks are dead and cash is on it's way out.

Reason you should automate:

1. Predictable day your money will withdraw
2. Provides protection through your credit card company
3. You wont miss paying your bills
4. Gives you an extra 25 days to actually pay the bill. Like a 0% month loan.

If you can't use credit cards use your checking account

You should also be direct depositing into a saving account and brokerage account.

• Keep only enough money in you checking to cover your monthly bills and a buffer for the unexpected
• This provides your money a layer of protection.  The only account that should have access to your saving account is your checking.  Always make that the transfer point
• This will help protect against identity theft. 
• The rest should go into a money market or online savings account (higher interest rates then traditional banks). Emergency fund or short term savings.
• Put a small portion of you income say each paycheck into a brokerage account. This should be a small amount you don't really notice like $10-$300. Don't do more unless you have maxed your IRA and 401k contributions.  
• This should but used for investing

The more you can off load the better to free up your mind. 

Travel rewards lets try this thing out

I don't know if travel is a life essential, a perk, or a hassle. The one thing I know is that traveling can be expensive.

To get an idea how bad travel effects your finances here is a perfect example.  The wife and I went on our honeymoon almost 10 years ago to Hawaii.  We stayed their 7 days, 5 on Kauai and 2 on Honolulu.  Want to guess how much it cost?   Give up?  $5,000 yep that is a big chunk of change.  We spend almost $1000 on food and $2800 on airfare, hotel, and transportation.  Crazy stuff. That's with using some miles on our flights.  It was a life experience that we highly enjoyed.  

I've been hearing about travel rewards for awhile and I wanted to give it a try. We spent around $6,000 on vacations last year. That was mostly just traveling to see family.   With a few trips around 1/2 marathons.  

From what I can tell Chase Ultimate rewards are the cream of the crop when it comes to travel rewards.   My wife and I are going to start this together.  For one so we can double up the points and two we can get referral bonuses from each other.  

We are starting the Chase program.  Some call it the Chase Gauntlet or Chase Ultimate Rewards 5/24.

The reason for starting with Chase was one it has one of the best partner programs for hotels and flights and two the 5/24 rule chase has.  This is Chase will not approve a card for you if your opened any 5 cards in a 24 month period. It doesn't matter if they are Chase or Amex. 

We are starting off with the Chase Sapphire Preferred which has current bonus of 60K points after spending 4K in 3 months.  Then you get 15k points for every referral.  I got this card and opened it to pay for car insurance.  Since that was around $2000 I was able to take care of half the spending right away. 
After I finished hitting the spending limit my wife picked up the same card and we got an additional 15k for the referral.  These cards have great benefits besides just the points and a card you can transfer ultimate awards points.  An example is it provided primary car rental insurance not secondary like most cards. 

We are early in our journey with currently a total 160,000 Ultimate Reward points.

We are trying to map out next years vacations.  We are going to try to get the Southwest cards to get companion passes for the kids.  A companion pass is earned by getting 125k southwest as of 1/2020 points in a calendar year.  Reward points with the Southwest credit card counts for these points.  The companion pass is basically buy one get one free plus you get the pass for the current year and the next.  For a family of 4 that is huge.  I'm not the biggest fan of Southwest mostly because I like having an assigned seat, but I can get over that. This also works like doubling your reward points.

Since we are just about to hit October and we want to time the Southwest cards for the beginning of next year to maximize passes we are looking at hotel cards.  We normally stay at Hilton hotels because of my wife's work travel points, but Hilton doesn't fit into the Chase cards and it may not be the best to maximize points.  Currently looking to Marriott to get free stay for a ski trip planned.

The biggest reason we are doing this is to reduce our vacation spending and to enjoy our family time. Just remember this should fit into your normal spending habits. If you can't spend the amount required either open the card around a big purchase like car insurance or go with a card with less spending requirement.  Other options are to buy gift cards like amazon to pay for your future amazon expenses.

As this is the most important part of travel rewards. If you are not paying off you cards in full every month don't start this.  You need to get a handle on your debt until you can start gaining these rewards.  A hole will only get bigger the more shovels that are available.  

TV... How to navigate all these services

It seems like everyday a new service is being created.  The point of these services was to be able to "cut the core" i.e. reduce cost watching TV.  In 2019 the average cable TV monthly cost in the US is $85 and Satellite is $100.

I haven't paid for cable or satellite for 7 years.  I was a major TV watcher and most of the shows I watched were not on broadcast.  I was able to cover almost all my needs with, Netflix or Hulu and broadcast TV through an antenna.

Here are the categories that need to be covered:

• Movies
• Prime time TV
• Sports (Football, C-Football, Baseball, and basketball, Olympics)

I'm currently using the following services 

• Prime (Mostly for Grand Tour)
• Hulu (All prime time shows)
• Netflix (Movies)
• Broadcast and locast for sports
• Crunchyroll
• Freeform
• CW Seed

There are so many services their is no way to list them all but here are the big ones

• Disney+ 7.00 - My guess this will be big all Disney content
• Apple+  - 4.99 - unknown if this will be good
• ESPN+  - 4.99 - Sports
• Prime  - 10 - Some original content
• Netflix  - 8.99 - movies, orig tv shows
• Hulu - 5.99 - a must for prime time stuff
• YouTube TV - 50  - A little bit of everything
• Crunchyroll  - free - Anime
• Freeform - free-  movies
• CW Seed  - free- Good shows
• Locast - local broadcast as a tv service when reception sucks.
• HBONow- 14.99
• Starz- 8.99 - movies
• crackle - free

Some of these have paid premium option, but never pay extra to remove commercials. Not worth the cost.

Honestly with all these options I don't know how cable companies are going to survive.  But if you are not careful all these services will quickly exceed your cable bill making the whole thing pointless.
UPDATE - I found out how they are going to survive.  They also hosting internet services and are capping you downloads at a Terabyte and charging huge fees for going over.  This is going to happen with more 4k shows,

I have Apple TV and Fire Stick. They are very similar I prefer Apples interface a little more, but I like to take the Fire stick on travel.  The biggest problem I have had with cord cutting is I don't have an easy way to find the shows I wanted to watch across all the apps.  Apple does a good job, but doesn't search netflix or Prime.  I've played with Roku, but doesn't have any apple content.  

Bought movies became easier recently.  Somehow I don't know if it is Disney or some other magic, but Movies Anywhere ties all your movies together across all your platform.  Meaning all your movies in apple will show up on prime and vise versa. This is the only thing I've seen do this since the death of UltraViolet.

Olympics will mostly be on broadcast with an antenna or you can use a free streaming service like locast.

Don't get crazy. Keep it simple find out what you really watch sign up for that one or two services then enjoy.

For investing simplicity is the key to brilliance

Simplicity is the key to brilliance - Bruce Lee

This is one of the most true quotes you will ever see. This hold true in life as well in finance.

I have an inherent mistrust of people when it comes to money.  No real reason for it I guess. There has been to many occasions throughout time where power/money is misused.  Who doesn't have a friend or family member who has a financial adviser that mishandled there money and lost them lots of money.  Or an adviser that has made them good money for years, but is fleecing them with huge fees robbing them of an early retirement.  I firmly believe in not pay someone to do something for you that you can do for yourself as good or better.  This goes for anything from cleaning the house to taxes.  There is great satisfaction in going something yourself and even better to increase your talent stack.

Sit down I'm going to blow your mind.  It took me a good awhile to realize this, but you will not get rich investing. Some people do Not You.  There it is I'm sure you are dumbfound and don't believe it. I'm sure you think you are a special snowflake and you only walk on 4 left clovers. This is true and the sooner you realize it the better.  "The name of the game is not to get rich, but rather to avoid dying poor" (W. Bernstein - The Investor's Manifesto). Great quote and so true. If you want to get rich quick play monopoly.

So now the air is clear we can begin.  Mutual Fund advisers make a living trying to "beat the market" and nearly 25% of them do a year. Except usually not the same 25% every year. "The Market" usually means S&P 500 index.  If you decided to go with a managed mutual fund and luck out with an adviser on a hot streak that "beats the market" you may not.  Adviser fees and expenses eat away at your profits and into the advisers pocket.  Here is an example for one year.  Lets say the S&P 500 has a 8% return and your advisers return is 9%, but with fees of .5% with 1.0% expense your return is 7.5%.  So many adviser advertise their return, but they don't include their fees in that advert. Get the idea and that's if the adviser "beats the market". Also, no matter if you win or lost the adviser still wins. They collect their fees no matter what.

To keep things simple reduce risk and maximize returns.  There is a couple of things that can eat way at your returns.  First taxes and second fees. 

1. Taxes happen two ways first when you sell a stock either you trade it or it is sold in your funds. Second through dividends.  Adviser also make money on buying and selling the stocks which is the reason for higher expenses.  Ways to reduce risk is diversify. What is diversifying? Simple put buying different groups of stocks or types bonds.  And no diversifying is not buy Apple, Netflix and Amazon.   It is more like buying large cap small cap or industry sectors that are not related. Example agriculture stocks and no effect of tech stocks if they either goes up or down.  Remember simplicity we want low expenses with the lowest amount of risk.  We are in this for the long hall.
2. Fees are there your best bet is to listen to Jack Boggle and find lowest fees possible.  There are a whole lot of different types of fees. Some up front, some on exist, some on earnings, some just because.  To show the point.  
• Invest $100,000  
• 8% annual return over 10 year
• .5 expense/fee  - Return 206,103 
• 1.0 expense/fee  - Return 196,715
• 1.5 expense/fee  - Return 187,714

          So a 1% fee difference could cost you $18,389 over 10 years and over 30 years $214,059  👀

There are two easy ways to achieve this.  One buy a lows cost S&P index mutual fund. This will diversify your US stock holding and you will own the US top 500 companies.  This is simple and a great way to start.  Basically if the U.S market does well you do well.  Remember investing this way is for the long term 10+ years.  Put it in and forget that you did it.   Second way is invest in a Total Stock Market indexed mutual fund.  This will put you in the entire US stock market based on market size.  You will have Large, Med, and Small cap fund in there.  You can also do a Total World Stock market index to get international.  You should not pay more than .15% preferably .04% expense ratio on either of these.  Index mutual funds have very low turn over, which reduces your tax expense.


Vanguard has funds like Life Strategy mutual funds.  These fund give a balance between stocks and bonds.  They contain a combination of Stock and Bond index funds which gives you a more balanced portfolio and reduces risk.

Last:  REMEMBER this is important.  These funds will go up and down.  At least 60% of the world's stocks are held by experts (big companies or managers) so when you sell they are buying and when you are buying they are selling. Mutual funds take advantage of something magical called compound interest.  Know yourself!!!  If you can't watch your investments without getting worried and selling then don't.  Setup automatic investments and forget.  This will be the best thing you will ever do.

Category Shopping

I'm having a hard time with trying to figure out the Category of Shopping for expense tracking.  It is taking up 40% of my discretionary spending.

Right now it is basically Amazon and Target.  From these places it can be anything from clothes to toilet paper and everything in between.  On somethings I will go into MINT and split the transaction apart, but not always and it's a pain and hard to keep track with everything just listed as Amazon.

We do a lot of auto-subscribe in Amazon for things like toilet paper, paper towels and dog food.  These can come every month or every 3 months, but they get mix into other small things we buy like light bulbs and gifts. Making it very difficult and time consuming to organize all these transactions.

I don't have a simple solution for this problem.  Sometimes venting helps :)

I do believe re-evaluating when is auto setup is a good idea and make sure you still need what you are getting at the from door.

Once I figure out the solution I will share.

Maybe 42? no not the right question. 

Cleaning the house. Going frugal Green?

I know cleaning isn't the most fun thing in the world, but not doing it can really effect your health or mental state.  Behind finances cleaning the the second most thing couples fight about and the number one reason roommates separate.

I know some people appreciate their free time not working and don't want to spend it cleaning. To me this is ridiculous. It's your mess pick it up spend the 45mins to an hour picking your stuff up and wiping down some appliances. Picking up after yourself in the number one thing all moms teach their children.  Rant out of the way cleaning doesn't have to be expensive.  Here is a culmination of simple clean techniques. 

Who to Clean the Dishwasher

What you will need:

•  2 cups White Distilled vinegar
•  1 bowl
•  5 Lemons
•  1 glass bowl
• 2 cup baking soda

Do you remember the last time your clean the dishwasher.  Let me guess never? Distilled vinegar is cheap and it is a natural deodorizer and disinfectant.  It has been used to clean homes for ever.  White distilled vinegar is non-toxic and cleans just about anything.  To start cleaning first take out the filter according to the manufacturer's directions. Often it is just twist and take it out.  Pour 2 cups of vinegar into a bowl and then place it upright on the lowest most rack.  Run the machine on the short or energy efficient cycle. Bing that's it clean.

Now to fix any smells. Baking soda fixes all fowl smells.  Sprinkle a cupful of baking soda around the bottom of the tub and run it through a short but complete cycle using the hottest water. This has two effects one it will help freshen the smell of the dishwasher as well as help remove stains. If you have stainless steel front door panel on your dishwasher. Wipe down the stainless steel front door panel with straight vinegar or lemon juice and a very soft cloth. Use plenty of vinegar or lemon juice, wipe with the grain, and work quickly covering the entire surface, even if the prints and smudges are only in one spot. I prefer lemon juice because it smells nice.  Polish until you regain a smooth even finish. This can be tricky to achieve a perfect, like new result. Do it more than once if need be.

How to Clean the Microwave

What you will need:

•  1 Cup water
•  Lemon Juice
•  1 small glass bowl
•  1 spray bottle
•  Vinegar 1 cup vinegar 1 cup water

Place a Microwave Safe glass bowl (I’m using a Pyrex bowl) with one cup of water and one lemon worth of lemon juice. Place it in the middle of the microwave and turn it on HIGH for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the microwave should be steamy and the walls moist. Spray all the surfaces with the vinegar water mix and wipe down with sponge. Wipe down the stainless steel front door panel with straight vinegar or lemon juice and a very soft cloth. Use plenty of vinegar or lemon juice, wipe with the grain, and work quickly covering the entire surface, even if the prints and smudges are only in one spot. I prefer lemon juice because it smells nice.  Polish until you regain a smooth even finish. This can be tricky to achieve a perfect, like new result. Do it more than once if need be.

How to Clean the Washing Machine

What you will need:

•  2 cups vinegar
•  1/4 cup baking soda
•  1/4 cup water
•  Scrub sponge
•  Bleach

Directions:

1. Start by mixing together the baking soda and water in a small bowl. This is going to be the "detergent" for cleaning the washing machine. This will look like glue.  Make sure to keep stirring the mixture.  
2. Add the baking soda mixture to the detergent container of your machine and pour the vinegar into the  drum. Set your washer to normal load at the hottest water setting. The baking soda and vinegar chemically react together think school volcano.  It will naturally break up mineral deposits and any mold growth while cleaning and refreshing your washing machine.
3. Use a clean scrubber to rub around the opening of the washing machine, removing stubborn mold or residue. Wipe clean with fresh water.
4. Now your done.  Try to do this once a month. 

How to Clean the Refrigerator:

What you will need:

•  2 cups vinegar
•  2 tablespoons baking soda
•  1 quart hot water
•  1/4 cup water
•  Scrub sponge
•  Bleach

1. Turn off power at the fuse box before unplugging the refrigerator
2. Put food in a cooler; remove glass shelves and crisper drawers and bring to room temperature so there’s no danger of cracking when you wash them.
3. Wipe the interior with a solution of 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart hot water. Rinse with a damp cloth, and then dry with a clean towel. Important to use this natural solution otherwise your food can absorb chemicals. 
4. Soak shelves and bins in a solution of 2 tablespoons baking soda for every quart of warm water. Do not wash in the dishwasher. Dry thoroughly before replacing.
5. Clean the door seals, which can collect crumbs, with hot water and mild dishwashing liquid; dry. Or mixture of 1/2 vinegar and water thoroughly with a clean cloth. Check the seals periodically. An improper fit can cause issues. 
6. To get those dust bunnies out from under the refrigerator, remove the grill and run a yardstick covered with a pair of pantyhose underneath. Also check the pan of water underneath, since it can hold unpleasant-smelling water.
7. Wipe down the stainless steel front door panel with straight vinegar or lemon juice and a very soft cloth. Use plenty of vinegar or lemon juice, wipe with the grain, and work quickly covering the entire surface, even if the prints and smudges are only in one spot. I prefer lemon juice because it smells nice.  Polish until you regain a smooth even finish. This can be tricky to achieve a perfect, like new result. Do it more than once if need be.

How to Clean the Shower

What you will need:

•  2 oz borax
•  1 cup of while vinegar

Mix your borax and white vinegar inside a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the

shower wall and allow it to sit for up to one hour while the mixture does it's work on the tile grout and stains. Wipe off the mixture with a clean cloth. This works on all of the shower tiles and glass doors. 

MISC.

Borax is a great toilet cleaner and de-clogged.  Just sprinkle inside the toilet or down a drain wait 10 mins and rinse. 

Twins..... How to manage and save when the NOW WHAT moment hits.

Today was my kids’ first soccer game.  5 on 5 with 8 kids on each team.  They are in a "non-competitive" league, but they don't play like it.  I was very proud they did great.  

This got me thinking about my kids and all the ways I've tried to beat the system.  First of kids are expensive and twins doubly so.  Especially if you are blessed with one girl and one boy.  

Let’s talk about pre-birth.  For a lot of us it is a conscious decision to have a kid it usually isn't to have two at the same time. Some of us are just blessed I guess :).  You really should be saving up for the unexpected once you decided to have kids.  Things we did to get ready 

• Look over insurance to see if you needed to up your coverage (we did)
• Look at Costco for all natural wipes buy them once they are on sale.  You can never have enough.
• Start looking for cribs just to get an idea on prices
• Pay attention which friends just had kids and ask for hand me downs.
• Subscribe to Amazon's mom membership 20% off.
• start those Prenatal pills

Pregnancy is a whole new experience for everyone.  It is rough on the mom to be and stressful on the father to be.  It goes without says, but you will need to pamper your wife and give her what she needs and what the baby needs.

This is the most important time to buy what you need. Once the little ones come you won’t have time to stock up.  When we were pregnant Baby's R U was our go to and now Bye Bye Baby seems like the same. 

The main expenses are strollers, car seats, and diapers.  

• Diapers we went with reusable. We used bum genius and Charlie Banana. I would recommend getting liners; it makes cleanup easier Bummis Bio-Soft Liner.  Using cloth/reusable diapers saves thousands.  We bought 8 diapers and 20 inserts.  We didn't start cloth right. Our twins were both a month early and were too small to fit the diapers.  Plus then they are first both they poop almost constantly and we couldn't wash them that fast.  We bought more cloth so be able to have enough clean which we cleaned the dirty ones.  For disposable diapers you will need roughly ~3000 diapers per kids at’s $0.15 per diaper that's $900 the first year.  Reusable diapers are about $20 each and you get 12; 6 each per kid that's $240 plus $60 worth of liners $300.  You do have cost for washing, but you get the idea. 
• First of you don't have to trade in that sedan for an SUV.  We went 5 years before we finally moved on to an SUV.  Things to know about car seats.  First unless you know the person don't buy used. Second go to a place and try them in both cars before you buy. A car seat may fit great in your wife's car, but not yours. This is debatable, but we got the rear facing only car seats and not that car seat that could do anything.  We didn't this because of the safely rating and all the extra features.  
• You will need to buy two car seats and 4 bases for each car.  Believe me you will put them in your car and just leave them.  
• Twin hack: I did this tongue and cheek, but it worked.  I asked for a twins discount and they gave me another 25% off. 
• Once your kids graduate to new seats and bases are no longer an option, just buy 4 seats it will make your life so much easier.  
• Strollers wise you will need two types of strollers eventually.  The light quick one and the tough one.
• Don't get anything fancy and go get a Bob yet.  Get a Snap-N-Go.  This is just a frame where your car seats just buckle in.  It is light and small.  The Snap-N-Go is great and has the babies in a line.  This is essential for grocery shopping and going down any aisle. 
• Once the kids get a little bigger (8 weeks +) and you start go to the zoo get yourself a Bob Duallie stroller.  Look at buying a last year model or buy used.  These are rugged strollers they will last many uses.  
• The last stroller you will need is the umbrella strollers. These are cheap and often you get them for free when you guy enough at a baby store.  They are for travel or very crowded places like Disney.  

Things to consider is getting a subscription to consumer reports.  This really helps making decisions on what to buy.

• Cloths and toy look at consignment stores for great deals.  
• Try to find parents a few months ahead to get hand me down for cloths and toys.
• Don't buy bottles or pacifies until you find which ones your kids likes
• A seam bottle clean will make your life so much easier
• Get 4 boppy pillows.  They will make one person able to feed both kids at the same time. And you don't want to be search for them when you need them.

Kids are not cheap, but you can be smart.  Good luck.

Wedding season. Happy times.

We just got back from attending our third in three months.  Not a single one was in the state we lived in.  Two were in California and one was in Alaska.  Yes Alaska and no they didn't live there and in fact never been their before. 

Being a guest at a wedding can be great.  Free food, free drinks, and good times. If you are not careful they can be expensive.  It is important to look for alternative ways to save money or their happy times equal our sad pockets. 

First off is the gift. Traditionally the guests of the wedding and reception give the newlyweds a gift as thanks and best wishes.  There are a couple of way to hack this.

• Offer the wedding party something you can help them make like the invitations
• Offer to help setup the reception
• Look on their registry and set alerts on amazon for flash deals
• We provide toasting glasses that we get a great deal from a vendor

Second is getting to the wedding and sleeping.  We had 3 remote wedding from us and all required us to fly.  Since these three wedding were close friends or family we felt like we had to go.  

1. The first wedding was in California for family.  We used miles to book our flight for all four of use and we stayed with family to not have hotel cost.  So the only cost of this trip was our gift.
2. The second wedding was in Alaska.  We used this trip as a vacation for the wife and I.  We flew into California with all four of use and dropped off the kids with my wife's family.  We stayed there an extra day to get a better rates on our flight.  We were able to use point to fly out to Alaska with a 5 hour layover in SFO.  We didn't have enough points to fly home, but we found a great deal with Alaska airline on the way back. We stayed in a hotel for 3 nights using points and 3 nights in an Airbnb for 1/3 the cost of the restore were the wedding was at.
3. The third wedding was also in California, but not close to family.  We had my family come into town to watch the kids. We left on a Saturday and return on Monday to maximize using the miles points.  We stayed a hotel two nights using points to cover the cost.  We were going to do one night and stay with a friend, but decided getting up at 4am to get the airport was not worth it.  

The third major expense is food.  When you are on travel eating out can really kill the pockets.  

You will get a free meal from the wedding and since they usually have lots of food I would only have a light breakfast and fast until the event.  

• First off if you get a free breakfast for lounge access through your hotel use them
• Second go to a local store and stock up on yogurt and supplies for dinner 
• Store these in refrigerator in your room. You can request one from the front desk
• Third when you go out going out for lunch is much cheaper way to dine.  The wife and I went out for one meal while we were in Alaska.  Mostly lunch and a couple of dinners.  A great way to cut cost is to order appetizers we usually buy three.  You get almost as much food and you get to try a ton of different things.  

The fourth is cloths.  Don't buy anything new just use what you already have.  I know this is hard so look in your closet find something nice.  Put it on and smile big.  

Activity wise he spend a lot of time just walking around and going on long hikes.  The only activity we paid for was a day cruse to see glaciers.  We pre-book this activity to get an early bird discount. 

Have fun for enjoy.

This is what it's like when world collide. Combining finances after the I DO!!!!

This year we will be hitting our 10 year anniversary.  It has been great and I have experienced things and gone places I never would of alone.   We agree on a lot and we on even more.  Our differences makes us a good team balancing each other out.

I lucked out with my wife; we are both college educated in a hot field that was just taking off.  We both graduated college debt free.  Both doing it different ways.  She did it with scholarships and parents paying for her schooling while I it through tuition reimbursement and working almost full time through school.  I graduated a couple of years before her, so I had significantly more money saved then she did.

Before I get into combining finances it is important to know our backgrounds.  I grew up in the Mid-West from a middle class family and my wife grew up in Los Angeles area from a middle class family. Now unless you've lived in both places you probably think they can't be too different.  I'll tell you what.  We could have grown up in two different countries and mad closer family spending habits.

If this comes across like I'm anti-west cost or mid-west is this best I don't mean too.

The Mid-West philosophy is to not pay someone to do something you can do yourself.

The West Coast philosophy is my time is valuable and if I can pay someone to free up my time I will.

These are generalized from what I've seen or experienced.

Mid-West	West Coast
4 bedroom house 2 cars (domestic or Toyota/Honda) fishing boat	4 bedroom house Pool 2-3 cars (BMW/Luxury or Prius) house keeper 2-3 times a week utility vehicle(boat, motorcycle, 4 wheeler)

As you can see similar backgrounds, but differently different.  We both have worked growing up I started at 15 throughout school and she held jobs in the summer throughout high school and college. 

She was never thought about personal finance or investing except she knew credit card debt was bad. I on the other hand had classes in mid-school math about balancing checkbooks and on most Sundays growing up on drives with my family my dad was listening to some type of investing radio shows on the radio. 

I started investing while I was in college.  I was dumb and investing in stocks, but took it slow to learn the ropes.  While my wife didn't invest until she started her first job out of college and put money into a 401k. 

Once you finally say I DO now the real works begins.  You start moving in together. This can be figuratively or literally.  Even if you live together before the wedding now it really it "our stuff" not yours or her stuff.  Get used to; from now on everything you buy is ours and you can't just buy something or make big financial decision without having a talk with your spouse. 

There are four phases to combining finances as a couple.

• First is the dating phase.  
• Second is the engagement phase
• Third is the first married phase
• Fourth is the big purchase/kid phase

First phase is simple it's your money and it's her money. You may split meals or dates, but that's about it. Usually at this point you don't know how much money or debt they have all it's all fun and games.

Second phase is a tough one.  One day, one of you will get the courage to ask the other to spend the rest of your lives together.  At this point you both have verbally committed to make a future with each other.  We have to assume at this point you have talked about marriage, kids, and finances.  If not GET TO IT NOW.  For me at his point in time my wife and I had not really talked about finances very much.  I believe we both assumed we had about the same amount of saving and debt. Our only debt being the new cars we both bough about the same time we started dating.   After the big question we did start taking about where we were going to live and our finances.  The thing was we lived in different states and both have lived in the same place almost our entire lives.  After creating a Venn diagram to determine which was best for us I moved to the California. Another thing I realized I had a significant amount of money saved compared to her.   This was mostly behave I started working a couple of years before her and I invested in stock such as Apple, Visa (IPO), and Berkshire Hathaway. Pure luck I picked these stocks. 

Third phase the married part.  Now your married and blown all you’re saving on the wedding and honeymoon.  In my case since I got married near her family we ended up having a second reception by my family complete out of our pocket.  There went all my stock money :( sad times.  This is the hard part. We had a big decision to make about how we are going to manage our money. We both worked and have two different banks.  I needed to change banks due to my bank didn't operate in California. I created a checking account at the same bank as hers and we created another checking about to put as a joint to pay bills.  

Our bills at this time:

• Apartment
• Utilities
• Her Car
• My Car
• Insurance for cars
• Insurance for Apartment

Simple life and we were saving a good amount I would say we were around a 50% savings rate.

This joint account worked for a while; until our bank change policy and needed direct deposits into checking account once every 45 days or they charged a fee.  The issue was we created joint checking both our checks went into then our two personal account we transferred from the joints as our allowance.  This was suck a pain in the butt to change we just cancelled the separate accounts and from then one we were one.  

This made life much easier.  I've been tracking spending since high-school so having me take over made scene.  I created an online savings account to keep our extra money.  This is important to do they proved a higher than average % APY.  They have been around 2% for years which blow most brick and mortar banks out of the water.  The heavy hitters in this area are ALLY, Discover, and FNBO Direct.  At this point we talked about investing.  She did not like investing because she thought it was just gambling.  I showed her my track record of success and now really it was gambling if you buy and hold.   Let just say I eventually earned her confidence in this year, but it took many years.  

Fourth stage is the big expense or kids.  If you are anything like me you did it the "smart" way and decided to buy a house within two month of having twins.  Did I say smart? Let take a step back on this.  We lived in California and looked around at house prices and just laughed.  No way could we afford anything anywhere close to our work.  So we decided to pack up our things and move to Colorado.  This ended up bring a great chose. Life was much more affordable and our job gave up a pay increase for move to Colorado.  WIN WIN. At this point we have been saving for a house for a few years with a goal to have 25% saved before we bought a house.  The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it - Robert Burns. Very true.  After some difficultly and doctor visits one thing led to another and we got pregnant "Whoopee"!!!! With twin..................Crap now what.  Ha well after the shock wore off we were very excited, but had no idea how much doctor visits we were in store for.  So about 4 months into the pregnancy we were in a hurry to buy a home.  This was no easy task. To give you an idea on a normal pregnancy 4 month the mom to be is barely showing.  Random people are asking you "wow your about to pop when are you due”. All you can do is laugh and smile.  It took us 2 month to find the house we wanted and honestly it was significantly more then we wanted to pay, but we were desperate.  Desperate decisions led to bad decisions.  

We had a chose to make either put 20% down and totally drain our saving or put 15% down and take out a HELOC for the other 5% and keep the remaining in reserve for the birth.  We chose the HELOC route mostly because the interest rate on the HELOC was the exact same as the mortgage and it was fixed for 18 months.  Knowing we could pay it off by then it was an easy choice.  

Now having twins are expensive, because they are high risk.  You will need to save, save, and save for these guys.  At this point our wife will not care about finance it will be up to you to make sure everything goes well.

Married is scary, hard, challenging, wonderful, comforting all rolled up into one.  There is no right or wrong way to manger your finances together, but you need to talk about it.  I have found since we both know what is going on with our finances it has made the talks easier when I wanted to go down the pay of FI. 

Just remember it isn't your money. It isn't her money. It is and will always be our money. It doesn't matter how it comes in once you say I DO that's it everything else is OURS from then on.  

Have fun and enjoy.