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 did not have the financial ability to travel but it was something I craved. I studied German starting in junior high school because I am a second-generation American on my Mom’s side from hard-working German immigrant grandparents.
I set my sights on school activities in high school and college that allowed me to experience travel I hadn’t yet at that point in my life and further became dedicated to pursuing 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 sites on seeing the world. I had the goal of seeing all 50 states, which I accomplished in 2019. I have also visited 35 countries on 5 continents.
Meeting Jeff, I learned for the first time basic money management skills like budgeting, that I had not truly understood until then despite already having a degree in Business Management. I saw budgets as limiting and associated them with deprivation that I recalled from my childhood. Jeff excitedly told me, “Budgets are freedom.”
I didn’t believe him at first, but now see that his money management skills that he shared with me have greatly enriched my life and that budgets are indeed freedom. The two of us make a great team as I am the one who pushes him beyond his imagined boundaries and he creates the financial plan (some parts admittedly a little silly, but it all adds up) to make those boundary pushing plans a reality.
Jeff’s Story
Hi! My name is Jeff. It took me a while to understand the value of travel. In my early years before even reaching 16 years old I got to see much of the United States via family road trips that my parents took me and my brothers on. I didn’t realize til later in life how much my parents had enriched my life by giving me these travel opportunities.
The first time experiences of seeing the Atlantic Ocean, seeing Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, seeing the Rocky Mountains, seeing the natural wonders of Yellowstone, and so many of the vast number of small towns throughout the United States all came thanks to my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Meeting Angie took my travels even further. Angie is an amazing travel planner. She is very good at creating schedules and blocking out times and keeping things organized, all things that make travel go much more smoothly. Angie is the reason I have seen so much of the world and what lies beyond the United States. All this travel has broadened my mind and given me new insights to the world.
I have found that there are friendly people everywhere in this world. And that most people are more similar to me than they are different. I’ve found that experiencing new cultures gives me new ideas and sparks new ways of thinking about problem solving. Thanks Angie for helping me realize the value of travel. I look forward to all the adventures we’ll have ahead of us!
Angie & Jeff Together
We met in 2003 via Match (when meeting online was still very new) and have been together ever since. When we met, Angie still remembers on an early date when Jeff said, “I don’t like travel because you don’t have anything to show for it in the end.” Angie nearly ended the relationship then! Luckily, she didn’t and now we both see the immense value of structuring your life in a way that allows maximum freedom for travel and that’s what we’re planning to share here.
Over the years, our friends have suggested this blog idea to us again and again. We cannot count the amount of times someone has said, “You should have a blog!” or “You should write a book!” So, we’re taking the advice. Our posts will range from money-saving ideas to silly money-saving things that Jeff does that perhaps you just want to laugh at to the travel we have experienced and how we have fit that into our budget while building and maintaining financial security. It will be part how-to and part entertainment. We hope you enjoy it!
