Welcome to MoneyCrush!

Typically you’ll find posts about goals, entrepreneurship, travel, and of course personal finance here.

But no matter what the stated topic, the true focus is the same: MoneyCrush is about helping you learn to love your financial life.

Want to know a little bit about my personal financial story?

Well, you know how the government used to send out a Social Security Statement every year telling you how much you’ve earned?

I actually like looking at mine, because it reminds me of where I’ve been.

Basically, I spent four years unemployed and making very little money — living way below the poverty line for most of those years. (At the lowest point, my taxed earnings were $2,375 for a year, not including unemployment compensation.)

I was also in debt, struggling to build a small business, and I had a negative net worth.

Today, life’s different.

Getting a temporary “one or two day” contract position that eventually turned into a full time job certainly helped matters, but I’d made good money before with no lasting impact.

The real turn around came from something else: I started paying attention to my finances, and taking action.

I read Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin’s Your Money or Your Life, and literally started tracking my spending before I’d even finished the book. I built an emergency fund, and began contributing to retirement with a vengeance. My husband and I got out of debt (including our house). I’ve learned how to make money and actually keep it, building my net worth and quitting my job to do my own thing along the way.

If I can change my financial life, you probably can too.

Not sure where to start?

Try my 31 Days to a Better Bank Balance series. (The first day is here.) Or browse through some of the categories down there to the right.

You can always drop me a note to say hi, or leave a question or comment. Hope to see you around the site :)