Hi, I am Barb.  I have always struggled with money.  I had never learned any money management skills other than how to balance my checkbook. My parents did not teach me how to handle finances when I was growing up nor did I learn these skills in school.  As a young adult, with a low-paying job even though I had a college degree, I didn’t have enough money to always pay my bills on time. I struggled, but I got by. Then I married, bought a fixer-upper that we could afford on one income, became a stay-at-home mom a few years later, and we made do with one income. We paid our bills and got by. Then…

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My husband went to a big box store to purchase one of those many items needed when you are a DIY homeowner.  He wrote a check to pay for what he was buying but had to run back to the car to get his driver’s license.  When he returned, the cashier could not find his check.

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In the days of identity theft being at the forefront of one's mind, he didn’t want a signed check to be in the wrong hands, so he drove straight to the bank and closed our joint checking account. Uggh?

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It was the best thing that could have happened to us.  From that incident, I developed my own personal family finance system which I now call the Savvy Spending System.  This new system has allowed us to save much more than we have in the past, take very nice family vacations to different national parks in the U.S., and have not only a hefty emergency fund but also a larger savings account which has allowed us to make constant renovations to our forever home making it our dream home.

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The most rewarding benefit that this system afforded us was for our son to be free from college loan debt after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from one of the top 10 engineering schools in the country. Thankfully, he has developed his own good money management habits and debt is not encumbering him on his trek to buying a house.

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We continue to renovate our forever home into our dream home and are enjoying the adventure of love, family, and travel. UPDATE.  We just made the final payment on our mortgage!  Now? Can retirement be right around the corner?