7 Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day on a Budget

7 Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day on a Budget

My wife and I are not big on celebrating the Valentine's Day holiday. It all started while we were engaged. I booked a reservation and had an elaborate evening planned for our date. Sadly, I picked a restaurant that overbooks reservations on this special day. Therefore, we stood in a line waiting an hour to be seated. Yes, we waited an hour after our reservation time to get into the restaurant. That was the last Valentine's Day that we tried to celebrate on Valentine's Day!

Year of Frugality: Month 1 Update

Year of Frugality: Month 1 Update

It's hard to believe that January is already over! We had a relatively productive month in the Summit of Coin household. We prepped for our buy nothing new challenge by purchasing birthday gifts for our nieces and nephews this month. We covered January thru May. That means over the next four months, we won't be buying any gifts or anything else new!

Where Do You Come From (Financially)?

Where Do You Come From (Financially)?

My life is completely shaped by the fact that I grew up in a small town of less than 2,000 people and I went to a school that had one building for K-12 grade (my class was the last class to attend all years of their schooling in the same building). My life experience is different than somebody who grew up in the city and attended five different schools for K-12. I propose we change the question a little bit. What would the conversation sound like if we asked a slightly different question? This is not a question you have with a brand new acquaintance, but a discussion you have with a significant other or an accountability partner.

Is It Time for us to Start Looking for a Newer Car?

Is It Time for us to Start Looking for a Newer Car?

Over the entirety of this blog, I have continued to preach the importance of buying used cars, driving these cars until their wheels fall off and always buy cars in cash. What would push me to think about getting rid of my old car? It's simply one number:

The Beauty of Investing

The Beauty of Investing

At the beginning of this month, I was listening to a podcast (like usual). It just happened to be the Dave Ramsey Show and Dave was going on a rant about the media. He was frustrated that the media only reports the doom and gloom of the stock market crashes, but never reports positive stock market reports.This frustration stemmed from the fact that the S&P 500 earned 20% in 2017 and there was no mention of it on the nightly news. The nightly news may mention a daily gain or loss, but rarely mentions the gains over the course of a year.