About Us
Welcome!
On a middle-class budget, we’ve traveled to all 50 U.S. states, nearly 50 countries on five continents, and sailed on 25+ cruises. We believe travel freedom comes from daily thrifty living – making intentional financial choices every day so we can spend more on experiences that matter most. If you’re looking for practical travel advice, destination guides, cruise tips, and ways to stretch your travel budget further, you’re in the right place.
We’re Angie and Jeff, the team behind Thrifty Living Travel Freedom.
Angie’s Story
Hi! My name is Angie. I was born in the Chicago suburbs and raised in rural Northern Wisconsin by an amazing single mother. Growing up, we didn’t have the financial ability to travel, but it was something I always craved. I studied German beginning in junior high because my maternal grandparents immigrated from Germany.
I set my sights on school activities in high school and college that allowed me to experience travel for the first time, and I became determined to pursue as much travel as my life would allow. My career is in higher education, and as soon as I began working full-time, I set my sights on seeing the world. I reached my goal of visiting all 50 U.S. states in 2019. I’ve now visited over 50 countries across five continents and sailed on 25+ cruises.
Meeting Jeff changed more than my romantic life – it changed the way I viewed money. Despite already having a degree in Business Management, I had never truly embraced budgeting. I saw budgets as limiting and associated them with the deprivation I remembered from childhood.
One day Jeff excitedly told me, “Budgets are freedom!”
That sentence changed my life.
I didn’t believe him at first, but I now know that his money management skills have greatly enriched my life and that budgets really are freedom. Together, we make a great team. I’m the one who dreams big and pushes us beyond our imagined boundaries, while Jeff creates the financial plan (sometimes in admittedly quirky ways!) that makes those dreams possible.
Jeff’s Story
Hi! My name is Jeff. It took me years to truly appreciate the value of travel. Before I was even 16 years old, my parents took my brothers and me on road trips across much of the United States. At the time, I didn’t realize what an incredible gift those experiences would become.
The first time I saw the Atlantic Ocean, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, and countless small towns across America all came because of my parents. Those trips shaped me more than I realized at the time. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Meeting Angie took my travels even further. She is an incredible travel planner who somehow keeps every itinerary organized while making the most of every destination. Angie is the reason I’ve seen so much of the world beyond the United States, and those experiences have broadened my perspective in ways I never expected.
I’ve learned that there are friendly people everywhere in the world and that we’re far more alike than we are different. Experiencing new cultures has given me fresh ideas, challenged my assumptions, and even changed the way I approach solving problems.
Thanks, Angie, for helping me discover the true value of travel. I can’t wait to see where our next adventure takes us.
Angie & Jeff Together
We met in 2003 online through Match, long before meeting online was common, and have been together ever since.
We both still laugh about one of our earliest conversations when Jeff said, “Travel is a waste of money because you don’t have anything to show for it in the end.” Angie nearly ended the relationship right then! Thankfully she didn’t, because today we both believe that investing in experiences creates memories and perspectives that last a lifetime.
Over the years, friends, family, and coworkers kept asking us the same questions: “How do you afford to travel so much?” “How have you been on over 25 cruises?” “What’s your favorite destination?” Those conversations eventually became Thrifty Living Travel Freedom.
We believe travel freedom begins long before you book a trip. It’s built through intentional everyday choices, smart financial habits, and spending money on experiences that matter most. That’s the philosophy that has allowed us to travel to all 50 states, over 50 countries, and sail on 25+ cruises while living on a middle-class budget.
Today, we share practical travel tips, destination guides, road trip ideas, cruise advice, and the everyday money-saving habits that have made our adventures possible. We hope our experiences inspire you to discover that travel freedom isn’t reserved for the wealthy – it’s something many people can achieve with thoughtful planning and intentional living.
