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We also thought it was important to address the first steps to take to reach financial independence… and also acknowledge that not everyone is currently in a position to get to financial freedom. The truth is, ‘just save more’ or ‘be frugal’ are not adequate pieces of advice if you’re in a tough situation. Sometimes, you need to do more than just cut back on consumerism.

I began tracking every penny that went in and every penny that came out. And although I didn’t feel like I could control my finances yet—because I was making so very little money that I didn’t have many choices about what to do with it—it gave me the sense of possibility someday. You know, if I kept this up and figured out how to earn a little more than what I was making as a telemarketer. Someday this would pay off and I would be in control of my money.

We’re all working so hard to save up as much money as we can, but how are we actually protecting that money from hackers and people who are looking to steal it?

I keep myself busy, and that keeps me from really feeling what isn’t working in my life. And that can allow me to plow ahead and not listen to voice that says, ‘Ahhhh… this is not working. This isn’t working.’ I’m like ‘Shhhhhhh! I’m working! I’m not gonna listen to you now!’ Because it can be scary, to look at what’s not going on.

I’m sharing my investing journey and current and past investment strategies in an effort to normalize the conversation and provide ideas as to what, why, and how I’ve done some of the things I have.

Allison Baggerly and her husband partnered together to pay off $111,000 of debt in 4 ½ years. They completed this difficult feat on two teacher’s salaries with two little kids at home.

Kicking people when they’re down is an ugly look and for those personal finance influencers who choose to continue to do that-you need to check your hearts. How is this helpful?

When we really got serious was when we had our first child, and we didn’t have enough money to fix our car that had broke down on the side of the road. And we had a thousand dollars worth of repairs, which—in the grand scheme of life—is not earth-shattering, but because we did not have it and we had an infant to cart around, we were really concerned. And so what does a person do when they can’t fix their car but they need a vehicle to get to work?

First and foremost, ‘I can’t afford it!’

Yeah, that’s a myth.

Biggest myth ever! And I’m like, as much as we have so many different things that are out there online that tells you, ‘yes you can,’ people still want to believe at the end of the day, no they can’t.

I just… I didn’t like how it felt. I knew we had all these student loans that we had carried with us from college, and so that was the real event that got us kicked into gear and started our debt-free journey.

A good mental model can help you determine what’s essential and what’s not essential. This is critical as we’re flooded with information regularly. Think about the amount of data that’s thrown at us even just related to investing. It’s a lot.

Talking about our financial situation is ‘too personal,’ and most of us carry a lot of embarrassment about our money situation. So, why are we more inclined to discuss sex than money? Why do so many of us continue to struggle with money despite all the available advice? Why do we feel so much shame around being ‘bad with money’?

I know that everyone who says the word ’empower’ and talks about ’empowering women’ means it in a positive way. Or at least, I hope most people do. But there’s something about that—we were talking earlier about ‘words matter’—that suggests someone granting power. That someone else has that power, and they’re deigning to give us a little piece of it. And that’s something that’s always felt weird to me. I think the thing for us to do is not to sit here and wait for someone to say ‘you may have some power.’ It’s to f— seize that power!

Following her divorce 21 years ago, she started her journey with less than $100, a mortgage to pay, and four young kids. She discusses how frugality played a large impact on her success and how her teaching career, with an average salary of 70K, helped cover her needs.

There’s a lot of connections between say, people who are in the extreme debt repayment space in the personal finance arena, and F.I.R.E. folks. It’s just that their energy and focus is just on a different end result. And I thought that I would talk a little bit about why I was reluctant to be called a ‘F.I.R.E. blogger’ but why I felt like it was important to be identified as a person who is ‘F.I.R.E.-focused.’