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Greetings and Salutations!

November 11th, 2006 at 02:52 pm

Welcome! As a long time lurker among the Personal Finance blogs I decided to dive in and start one myself.

A little bit about my personal finance situation: After graduating college, I was lucky to find a good paying job (for my field, at least) and live a good life in one of larger US metropolitan cities. During this time, I met Mr. Bean. In Summer 2004, after 3 years of working FT and 2 years of dating, we were married, quit our jobs, and moved to another state where we are pursuing our doctoral degrees at a large land-grant state university.

We are fortunate that both of our doctoral programs pay all tuition and fees and pay a modest stipend (after taxes, ~$1300 / month each). I also moonlight as a Personal Chef (more on hat later) which brings in roughly $300-400 / month

Mr. Bean has always kept exact records of his spending. I have not. I’ve never been a BIG spender, so ever since I’ve had enough money to know I’m not in jeopardy of depleting the account, I’ve been a lax and disorganized record keeper. Since we started school in 2004, I’ve been a penny pincher and always looking for ways to make our money go farther, but I never tracked my spending (I should note: Mr. Bean and I each have our own accounts as well as a joint account. Mr. Bean has always kept exacting records of his own money as well as our joint money). However, I felt like it was silly of me to be clipping coupons, turning down the thermostat but not know, even within a $500 range, how much money was in my checking account.

Starting in Summer 2006 I started tracking all my money n Quicken. I now feel like I’m in control of my finances. I hope that in a few years when we are done with school, we’ll have preserved enough of our pre-graduate school savings to buy a home. I’d like to use this blog to get your help and support, as well as share some of my strategies for adjusting to slashing your household income by over 70% and still having a happy, fruitful life. (added 11/30: I should note taht while income was slashed, we also moved to a less expensive city adn get really affordable health insurance through the university.. so some expensives have been slashed, too!!)

9 Responses to “Greetings and Salutations!”

  1. pjmama Says:
    1163257462

    Welcome! We're glad to have you! Smile

  2. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1163257631

    Welcome! I have a pciture of the British Actor Rowland Atkins as "Mr. Bean"! I am sorry but there you have it. Keeping exacting records is a great habit to have. When you know where your money is at all times you are better able to take care of it.

    While being frugal is great you need to invest and save! It sounds like you will soon be able to do that! I am sure you have perused the money saving ideas on the boards!Smile
    In any case welcome aboard and I look forward to reading your blog!WinkSmile

  3. Broken Arrow Says:
    1163258056

    Awww... Priceplus beat me to it. I too was thinking of that British actor,
    Text is Mr. Bean and Link is http://st.blog.cz/v/vemi.blog.cz/obrazky/616166.jpg
    Mr. Bean.

    But yes, welcome, Mrs. Bean. Smile

  4. tinapbeana Says:
    1163258270

    nice to have you here, 3bean!

  5. Amber Says:
    1163259045

    welcome a broad I look forward to reading your blogs

  6. janH Says:
    1163263764

    Welcome, welcome. Looking forward to visiting with you and learning from you.

  7. Ima saver Says:
    1163265048

    Welcome, glad you have joined us!

  8. LuxLiving Says:
    1163273006

    HiddyHo new neighborette!

  9. daylily Says:
    1164681154

    I'm definitely curious to know how to slash your pay by 70% and still continue living! After getting two master's degrees, I'm seriously thinking that I want to get a PhD now. I fear that my DH wouldn't be thrilled with the idea!

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