Meet the Mrs.

My name is Jennifer and I have asked my husband to let me contribute to this blog as well. As a full-time mom, I approach wartime living and frugality from a different perspective. After reading the previous posts on this blog, you've probably noticed that my husband is a "big picture" kind of guy. I tend to be more focused on the details of daily living.

Let me start by saying that there is nothing in my background to encourage me towards a wartime lifestyle. While not spoiled as a child, I generally received what I asked for. I was encouraged to attend a very expensive private college. My own ambitions at 17 years old made it appear that an expensive education would be easily paid for once I had my big career in TV.

I had my first credit card almost as soon as I turned 18. Credit card companies were more than happy to line the breezeway of my school trying to attract the lucrative business of future yuppies. By the time I met my husband, I was using my card for just about every purchase and making minimum payments each month.

When we married, he used his savings to pay off the ~$2000 debt on my first credit card. We rarely used them for our first two years of marriage. And with his influence, I became a wise steward of credit cards.

Now, I've left 2 careers (one that paid more than we will ever make again, and the other as a teacher) and living a frugal (but not necessarily wartime) lifestyle is a necessity. I have less money now than ever in my post-college life. And I have a mortgage, 2 vehicle payments, 1 child, and another on the way.

I'll be trying to explore ways to live a wartime (rather than merely frugal) lifestyle on a day to day basis. In every way you might imagine, I still have a large learning curve here. I fail in some small way daily. I'll try to be honest with you about those failures. I'll also try to share my victories as well.

Image courtesy About.com.