Did you know the USDA publishes the average cost of eating at home for a variety of family sizes? Based on this data, Mr. Vine and I spend right around the “thrifty plan” amount when our annual grocery costs are averaged on a monthly basis. At home, we eat plenty of locally grown, organic, seasonal... Read More
Our travel planning process has evolved over the years, and we imagine that will be the case for years to come. Neither what we hope to get from travel, nor what we can afford to spend on travel has been constant. It probably won’t be in the future, either. We knew from the beginning that... Read More
Monday November 11, 2019 One Comment Progress Update, Uncategorized
The first half of October whizzed by before we even knew what happened. We had more social activities planned than ever it seemed. For some reason, October always seems like an exceptionally busy month for us. We had a football tailgate--this one that we planned. Like camping, tailgating is a lot more work when you’re... Read More
As we continue to accumulate our nest egg, the grind of our career jobs intensifies at times. Although we know that the next few years will pass by quickly in retrospect, the hours, days and weeks can feel long right now. We have all sorts of milestones planned along the way. And, life is great... Read More
In 2019 we decide to make an effort to adjust our travel. Our goal was twofold. First, we wanted to spend less money. Second, we wanted to devote some extra energy to our career jobs. Now that we’re in the final quarter of the year, it seems like a good time to check in on... Read More
Monday October 21, 2019 0 Comments Blog, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Progress Update, Uncategorized
The month started with our return from a Labor Day weekend getaway. Our investments looked flat, but actually were down. September was a higher than usual spending month on account of pulling forward some of the items scheduled for October. More on that later. Our first money win of the month was turning down an... Read More
Over the summer, we tried out a short camping trip. This was an item on my 101 tasks list. We also wanted to see if camping could be a frugal form of vacationing in the future for us. We had a great time, but I’m not sure if it’s all that frugal for us. We... Read More
My money diary was inspired by Refinery 29’s series. Mr. Vine and I keep joint finances, but for simplicity, I’m only including the dollar amounts for items that I personally purchased in a day. It is not, and is not intended to be, a detailed accounting of every penny we earned and spent during the... Read More
The Internet is full of articles claiming that the first **insert amount** is the hardest to save. And that each next **insert amount** will become progressively easier. A popular early net worth milestone is to have $100,000 saved or invested, so we’ll go with that amount. A theory underpinning this statement is that when saving... Read More
Monday September 23, 2019 0 Comments Uncategorized
The title is a mischaracterization because this day felt almost perfect and our career jobs kept it from being true perfection. We frequently experience this kind of almost-perfect day. Rather than bring us down, this encourages us. We love that we haven’t let great be the enemy of perfect. We love that we aren’t letting... Read More