Thanks for stopping by. My name is Annie and I live in Chicago with my husband and (nearly) two-year old son.

While my background isn’t in finance, I have always loved learning about all things personal finance and personal development. My little family is on a journey to reach financial independence by 2035 (maybe sooner). I started this blog to bring people along for the ride, and share all of the tools, resources and knowledge I’ve gained to hopefully help others get there too.

I hesitated on starting this blog for a LONG time, because I told myself that no one would be interested until after I already had a few million in the bank and was financially free.

But then I realized that maybe people would like to come alongside us in this journey. Maybe, just maybe, you don’t have to wait until you’ve made it before you can create and share and teach others about something you love.

Growing Up

Born and raised in Michigan, I came from a big Catholic family (middle child what what).  Growing up, both of my parents worked, my mom a dental hygienist and my Dad a sales manager for a radio station. My parents worked hard (and are still working) to provide for a family with 5 kids. They really poured all of their time and resources into their kids, allowing us to pursue sports, go to good schools etc.  They did an amazing job raising us and teaching us good values. But I watched them pour everything they had into their kids, when they could have been pouring into themselves and their retirement.

I saw the stress that money can have on people and on a marriage (after all, money is probably one of the most difficult topics to talk about). From a young age, it became important to me to learn how to make my own money.

I’ve always been a bit of a hustler (I’ve been working 2-3 jobs at a time since I was 15 years old).

I did fine in school (a B student) but was honestly always more interested in working and making money. I fumbled around after I graduated college and pretty much spent all of the money I earned early in my career. I was working, but was just barely getting by, and there was not anything left over to save. I felt a little crushed by student loan debt and while I was growing in my career and getting promoted, by salary was still fairly small.

But I kept plugging along, gradually moving up the corporate ladder and eventually took my finances more seriously. We started making some decisions that truthfully have been difficult, but I think have put us on a path that will help us reach FI sooner.

Where We Are At Now 

2020 was a pretty insane year. But for all of the rough periods of it, it really taught me some important lessons. It taught me to slow down, reevaluate things and take more control over my future. Life is scary when big things happen that we have no control over (hello global pandemic). It made us realize how important it is to be set up financially and to have multiple streams of income. We made some decisions over the last few years that have really made a huge impact on our future:

• Decided we really only needed one car. Bought a cheaper, used car and paid it off after 3.5 years, which will save us thousands.
• Bought our first place, and decided to spend way below (55% less) what we were approved for. It can be SO tempting to get the amazing house that you’ve always wanted, but had we done that, we would be crippled and unable to save as much as we can.
• We were fortunate to find an in-home daycare that we absolutely love for our son, the cost is roughly 50% less than most of the larger daycares in our city (Chicago).
• Was able to pay off $65k in student loan debt about 8 years after graduating (my longest loan term was 15 years). I was able to pay off my debt about 7 years earlier than expected because  I took on a side hustle and because of my incredibly savvy and amazing Grandma who handled her finances like a boss and left all five of her grand-kids with bonds and cash she had saved for us. I like to think that this fire I have for being diligent and savvy with my finances comes from her.

So if you are like me and want to learn more about how to take control of your financial future and change the path of your life, then you’ve come to the right place. I hope to share everything I have learned to help you and your family on your journey to financial independence.

Hop in and let’s go on this ride together!

–Annie