this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

My name is Alison and I'm a stay at home mom to two little boys, on this blog I'll call them Bug and Monkey. Bug is three years old and Monkey was just born this past June. I've been married for six years to a wonderful man that I'll refer to as The Tall One. We're both in our late 20s.

One day I'd like to have lots of money. We were doing quite well with that, we both had college degrees and full time jobs (and even a baby on the way), but then The Tall One decide he wanted to go back to school...full time...for two years. That put a bit of a strain on the whole having lots of money thing and we're still working to pull ourselves out of it. It was ultimately a good thing. A wise man once told me never to be afraid to get married while I was still a struggling college student, because those struggles would teach me so much and bring my husband closer together. He was right.

I enjoy learning about personal finance and ways to make my money work harder for me. I love finding good deals on things I need (need being the key word, I try my hardest to ignore good deals on things I don't need). I love saving money by making things myself. I like finding things to do with my kids that won't break the bank. And I'll blog about it all

Learn more about my financial story here

The driver's side window on our Jeep fell down and wouldn't roll up (a common Jeep problem) and $470 later, it's been fixed. It's so frustrating that I have to pay so much to fix something that has no bearing on how the car runs. But after sulking for awhile, I realized that I'm grateful that I can pay the money to have it fixed. An amount very close to that was earmarked to go to savings this week, and now it won't and really that's not the end of the world because I'll still have enough money for my family's needs and the credit card will be paid off in full as always. So I go from totally irked to counting my blessings. Life's funny like that.

And I'll blog if I want to.

I've been tossing around the idea of starting a personal finance and frugality blog for awhile now. Why? Because I want somewhere to share my grocery store successes and failures. Serious. Paid Twice is a friend of mine and I love her blog. One reason being that she's obsessed with her grocery budget like I am. I read her weekly updates on her grocery trips and I want to share mine too, dang it!

But will this only be a place where I share my grocery stories. No. I've got some frugal tips up my sleeves (I think, maybe?), recipes I'd like to share, parenting stuff and things for kids, and my family's journey to a debt free life. I have a blog where I share what's going on in my family. I love to write it and I love it even more when people read it and respond. I'd love to write something that would reach a wider audience. So here it is. On the night of my 27th birthday, I've decided to go for it. I hope at least one person joins me. :)