spend little, work less, experience more
In spite of my not having worked the first three months of 2018 (against my will, for once), financially the Warckens crushed it last year. I didn’t start working until the first week of April, and just to show how much of a sugar mama I am, I made more in my first two […]
Read MoreI’ve found people who are bad with money typically know they’re bad with it, but they think just having or making more would solve that problem. That couldn’t be further from the truth. If you currently spend everything you make, no increase in income is going to change that. You have to learn to […]
Read MoreYou think it’s hard to budget with a guaranteed income? Hoowee! Try doing it when you don’t know the next time you’ll get paid. I just got my first paycheck since November, but thankfully we had money set aside and Greg has been part-timing all along, keeping us afloat. Of course we do this on […]
Read MoreAnd we moved! And we sold the camper! Let it be known that even though ‘between jobs’ is my favorite state and I joke about living entirely off JobSpotter and MyPoints surveys, I did not intend to go this long between nursing contracts. We’ve had some great adventures- Greenland, Isle Royale, New York City, Hawai’i, […]
Read MoreI talk to a lot of people about their finances who don’t have a single plan, or oftentimes even a single goal in mind when they think about their money. They know they’re bad with it, but because they can afford their minimum payments they’ve got no motivation to improve their situation. This is […]
Read MoreRaise your hand if you agree with this statement: “The best parts of the Tulsa State Fair are cheese-on-a-stick and RV displays.” I loved going through RVs as a kid. And the storage sheds. I had the same thought every time I walked into a new one: “I could live here!” Having lived in […]
Read MoreContrary to popular belief, a budget is not a punishment. People think adhering to a budget is scary, a hassle, inconvenient, or that they’ll have to “live like they’re poor”, but in reality a budget is simply a tool that allows you to tell your money where to go. You get to tell your money where to […]
Read MoreIt’s not that Greg and I don’t like to work, it’s just that we want to work on our terms, in between big chunks of time off. Since 2013 we’ve averaged just 7.8 months of employment a year, and that’s including {{{shudder}}} an entire year working full time. Side note: In that year we […]
Read More2017 was the year we Warckens got super serious about investing. I wrote about the motivation for that in my New Life Resolutions post, but the abridged version is that I witnessed my stepfather dying of pancreatic cancer and to quote myself: “… nothing, and I mean nothing will inspire you to get your […]
Read MoreAfter our final surgery was stabilized in the ICU, Fekade (Dr. Fekadesilassie) took us to tour the “other” Addis hospital. I solemnly swear to keep my opinions to myself and my photos unbiased. These kids’ families asked me to come in and take pics of them. I don’t know what they were in for and I […]
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