Evolving Personal Finance

We Didn’t Plan for the NICU

July 18th, 2016 | 25 Comments

After arriving home from the airport at 10:00 PM, Kyle and I unwound from our baby shower weekend with a snack and a TV show, finally retiring to bed at nearly 1:00 AM. At 2:15 AM, I awoke feeling a bit… wet. I hadn’t experienced urinary incontinence to that point my pregnancy, but I knew it was a common symptom. I went to the toilet and emptied my bladder, but somehow liquid just kept leaking out … Read entire article »

Filed under: emergency fund, parenthood

April 2016 Budget Report

May 6th, 2016 | 7 Comments

April in Seattle was even more beautiful than March – way more warm, sunny days than rainy/overcast days, and quite sunny weekends. Each Saturday in April we went for a long walk in a new-to-us local park to exercise and see more of our city. We’re considering this lovely weather as “borrowed time” and do expect the rain and chill to return before summer really starts, so we’re capitalizing on it in the meantime. We also … Read entire article »

Filed under: month in review

Natural Frugality in Seattle

May 4th, 2016 | 4 Comments

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Seattle is not a great home for us in terms of its financial value – it’s a high cost-of-living city, but what it offers doesn’t match up well what we’re looking for in a city. (I have to say that we are really warming up to Seattle with the wonderful spring we’ve been having!) But despite Seattle’s high cost of living, I’ve observed that we have easily fallen … Read entire article »

Filed under: frugality

Our Biggest Life Transition Yet Is Due this Summer!

April 25th, 2016 | 19 Comments

As I anticipated when I founded this blog, our major life transitions are now coming fast and furious! 2014: We defended our PhDs and finished grad school. Kyle became a postdoc and I became funemployed. 2015: I moved to DC for 3 months for a fellowship. Kyle got a real job. I started a business. We moved from Durham to Seattle. 2016: We are expecting our first child! We have been extremely fortunate that both getting pregnant and (so far) being pregnant were easy, smooth experiences. … Read entire article »

Filed under: parenthood, transitions

I Learn Something New about Taxes Every Year

April 18th, 2016 | 12 Comments

My dad loves to encourage me to “learn something new every day,” and that’s certainly a great way to grow. Kyle and I submitted our tax returns last Saturday, and I realized that we learned quite a bit about taxes this year for our personal return. (I additionally learned a lot about grad student taxes, but that was more academic for me.) This year was our most complicated tax return to prepare to date, and we did … Read entire article »

Filed under: debt, giving, investing, self-employment, taxes, transitions

The Pleasure of Finishing Something

April 13th, 2016 | 2 Comments

I recently won a battle with my perfectionism – or perhaps limped to the finish line is a more accurate illustration! I became aware of how my perfectionist nature was holding me back during grad school, so I knew that as I finished my PhD and transitioned into entrepreneurship I would have to keep it in check. The upside to being a perfectionist is that whatever you do manage to push out the door is … Read entire article »

Filed under: grad school, self-employment

How Losing Track of My Car Title Cost Me Hundreds of Dollars

April 8th, 2016 | 2 Comments

In a recent post, I confessed that I lost track of my car title for about six years and only tried to have it sent to me once selling the car became a near-term possibility. I was a terrible fool to ignore that problem for as long as I did, and in the end it took nearly a year for the DMV to mail me my car title. Insane! Of course, I wish I had … Read entire article »

Filed under: cars

March 2016 Budget Report

April 1st, 2016 | 14 Comments

Life in Seattle is really starting to improve for us! There were many days in March that had no rain and/or were quite sunny. Near the end of the month, it got above 60 degrees F on a couple days! The start of daylight savings time has also been amazing – sometimes Kyle comes home when it’s still light out! We are also slowly strengthening our social ties. Near the beginning of the month, we went … Read entire article »

Filed under: month in review

Life Lesson: Don’t Lose Track of Your Car Title

March 23rd, 2016 | 9 Comments

When I was growing up, my parents had a large filing cabinet in their home office that was filled with important paperwork. My parents didn’t keep a perfectly clean and clutter-free house or anything, but this filing cabinet was meticulously organized. All the documents my parents wanted to keep track of – from birth certificates to insurance policies to repair records – were safely stored in this cabinet and accessible within moments. When I moved to … Read entire article »

Filed under: cars

Impulse Purchase for the Win

March 18th, 2016 | 11 Comments

In January, Kyle and I did something completely out of character for us: we made a large impulse purchase. We literally fell victim to advertising and the “sale” mentality, but I actually think it turned out to be a great decision! Maybe when you train train train yourself not to make rash or quick spending decisions, the exceptions you make work out? Kyle subscribes to some of those ridiculous deals-of-the-day type emails. (I’d rather not expose … Read entire article »

Filed under: spending