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Paying Off Over $550k in Student Debt: Changing Your Mindset
As someone who promotes the idea of financial independence, the idea can be tougher for those that are coming out of school with an inordinate amount of debt. How can one think about financial independence when repaying your student loans is such an onerous task? This is why I was so intrigued by a recent…
Read MoreMy Financial Mistakes- And Why I Have No Regrets
I realized that I have yet to write a post dedicated to my financial mistakes. They are peppered throughout various other posts, but I thought I would go ahead and put them all in one place. Because who doesn’t like to re-live their mistakes and wallow in regret???? Actually, this post is dedicated to all…
Read MoreFinancial Goals: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” For me, my journey of 26.2 miles at the Chicago Marathon began with a single step, with a total of 47,006 steps according to my watch. I have written a post about what marathon training can teach you about personal finance. Now having two…
Read MoreStudent Loan Repayment Advice for Veterinarians: Where To Turn?
Updated September 2021 Let’s say you have a ton of student debt. You need help figuring out how to pay this thing off. Your veterinary program didn’t do such a great job on giving you the tools to do this before you graduated. So now you are on your own with your degree (yes!) and…
Read MoreCan You Raise a Family On One Income As A Veterinarian?
I recently came across a blog post titled “How to Survive the Pressure as a Sole Income Earning Parent” by blogger Financial Samurai. He includes a poll at the end of the post that asked “Who Earns in Your Household?”. He then shared the results on Twitter, where he questions “How do we get the…
Read MoreTen Years- Reflecting back and looking into the future
On September 15, 2008, the fourth largest investment bank in the United States declared bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers, founded in 1850, was en route to its demise. Due to its risky investments in subprime mortgages, the company could no longer sustain itself. This behemoth firm, which had over $600 billion in assets AND over $600 billion…
Read MorePaying Off Student Loan Debt: A Case Study
(Edited to add: The Student Loan Planner is now a featured resource on this blog! Find out more on my Student Loan Advice page!) It’s hard enough figuring out our own personal finances. Adding another person into the mix can make it much more difficult. Especially when that person has six-figure debt. In my case,…
Read MoreGoing Into Disney Mode
Five years ago, we decided to do what millions of people do every year. We decided to take a magical trip to Disneyland. My oldest was obsessed with the Pixar movie Cars. What better way to feed into this obsession than by visiting a theme park that had an entire section dedicated to this movie?…
Read MoreWhat Is Your (Net) Worth?
(Updated 2022) Part of the fun of personal finance (yes, it can be fun!) for me is to see progress. Progress in the right direction, that is. If you have a financial goal in mind, it is incredibly empowering to track your numbers and watch as you get closer and closer to your goal. I…
Read MoreA Trip To Costco And Spending Choices
I am a big fan of Costco. In case you don’t know about Costco, let me give you a quick overview. It is an international warehouse chain that requires an annual paid membership ($60 for a basic membership) in order to shop at their stores. It is now considered the world’s second largest retailer, the…
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