Maybe it’s because National Poetry Month (April) just wrapped up, but lately, I’ve been silently repeating the old Langston Hughes poem – the one that gave rise to the title of Lorraine Hansberry’s quintessential mid-20th century play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” – over and over and over again. In case you’re not familiar, I’ll refresh your memory:

Thanks for reading the RSS version of What Happens To A Dream Deferred? which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

Blog Carnivals that Included MWD

• Yakezie Carnival at Family Money Values
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Master the Art of Saving
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at Hurricanes, Panties 
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Planting Our Pennies
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Making Sense of Cents
• Yakezie Carnival at Thirtysixmonths.com
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Financial Conflict Coach
• Yakezie Carnival at The Ultimate Juggle
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Freeat33
• Carnival of Retirement at Dividend Monk
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Dividend Monk
• Yakezie Carnival at The Frugal Toad
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Making Sense of Cents
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Money Pros
• Carnival of Retirement at Midlife Finance

Also, as a thank you for reading these carnival updates, I’ll start including at least one giveaway that I’ve seen open recently.  :-)

Giveaways

• FREE How to Get Rich: Wealth Building Guide for the Financially Illiterate in Kindle format now through Sunday (tomorrow)!!!
• Bike Lane Living with United by Blue Bike Bag Give-Away! - Two Bags!  Enter by May 13th!

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Thanks to These Blog Carnivals – May 2013 which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

“He’s a great husband and a great father,” I found myself saying to a few friends over drinks one night, as we discussed the relative merits (and demerits) of our spouses. Then I paused.

“So what’s there to complain about?” one of my friend’s chimed in.

“Well, he’s a lousy head of household,” I replied. My friends just looked at me, an obvious expression of confusion on their faces.

My Head-of-Household Definition

For most of us, our familiarity with that term – head of household – is limited to the IRS’s description of it. My husband’s never filed his taxes as head of household; he never earned enough income to file federal taxes until we were married, and since then, we’ve always filed jointly. What I was talking about here (and what my friends failed to understand) was my husband’s inability to manage our household, at least financially.

In our family, I am in charge of:

• Paying all the bills. That includes everything from our mortgage payment to our daughter’s preschool tuition to the credit card statement. I can’t remember the last time my husband paid a bill, to be honest.
• Keeping track of all our tax documents, then getting them to our tax preparer (aka, my dad).
• Setting our monthly budget and making sure we’re living within it.
• Managing our investments, including our stocks, retirement accounts, and kids’ college savings.

You get the idea.

It’s Not All Bad

On one hand, I’m happy to be in charge of all these financial responsibilities. I’m a money-minded person, after all, and all this comes naturally to me; my husband, on the other hand, is a recovering spendthrift whose parents never instilled the value of money on to their son (they weren’t negligent with their own money – they just didn’t see the need to teach him about handling it). But on the other hand, I fear I’m doing my husband a great disservice. If I were to die tomorrow (my overly-superstitious Catholic-self is performing the sign of the cross as we speak), my husband wouldn’t know where to find half of the accounts in my name – he’d never be able to collect my life insurance policy, because he wouldn’t know where to find it.

It’s not that he isn’t a part of our family’s financial decisions: we talk about money a lot, and make virtually all our decisions as a couple. I don’t even spend my Christmas or birthday money without checking in with him first. But when it comes to executing our financial plans, I’m the real “head of household,” while he’s simply a clued-in bystander.

I know this isn’t the way it used to be. My dad, like his dad before him, is the money-manager in his marriage. Taking control of the family’s finances used to be considered a man’s job, and for some of my friends, it still is. I once had a friend who told me she had no idea how much her husband made, how much they paid for their house or mortgage, how much they had in savings, and if they even had any type of retirement accounts. I found this proposition absolutely horrifying – I’ve never felt that ignorance was bliss, especially when it comes to money – and told her as much. “It’s what works for us,” she replied, neither thrown off by my harsh judgment nor by her own lack of information.

Sometimes, I ask my husband if it bothers him that I tend to take over all our family’s financial transactions. “Not really,” he answers. “You like that stuff; if I did it, it would only be out of obligation. Plus, you’d have to spend a lot of time showing me how to do everything, and I know you think that’s a waste of time.”

This man knows me far too well.

Who is the financial “head of household” in your family? Does your family’s situation ever bother you?

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Who’s Your Real “Head of Household”? which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

Many of you know that my family is selling our home and moving because I found a new job. It’s been almost two months since the house was listed, and I must admit that it feels like our house will never sell.

We sold our first house in 2008 when all the housing mess was going on, and maybe I’m repressing memories, but it seems like it was easier to sell then. Granted, there was a homebuyer tax credit for first time buyers back then. We were also selling a home within the price range of a first time buyer, so that probably explains much of the difference.

I also read a recent article that said despite overall progress, sales of existing homes are slightly down. The article said also that sales of expensive homes were increasing. What I take from that is a lesson that if you try to play around in the middle, you will get lost in the sea that is the middle. Our house is not priced low enough for a young family, yet it is not expensive enough for the upper middle aged couple looking to expand.

One thing I learned from the housing crisis and the ensuing actions by the US federal government and treasury department: the rich get bailouts, the poor get handouts, and the middle class gets left out.

For those that play around in the middle, and by that I mean live a middle class life, it is tough to get ahead. Hell, it tough to get even, to get back to zero. When we paid off our debt last year, sending the final check on the same day we boarded a plane for two weeks in the sunny Adriatic, it was hard not to experience a variety of emotions. The first was jubilation for being debt free (minus the house) for the first time since graduating high school. That joy quickly turned to “oh shit I don’t have any money saved!” I thought about the two paid-for vehicles back in our garage, and instead of pride I felt fear of what would happen if one just died. A vehicle is a debt, even when it’s paid off, and as I recently wrote, having one can be an intangible asset in our lives, especially if we live in a place with no mass transit options.

So, back to our home selling issue.

We are having a few problems:

• The home is at the higher end of the price spectrum for the neighborhood. It is move-in ready and except for eventually needing to replace the driveway, but there isn’t much needed to do to it. This means there isn’t much room to get your money back on improvements.
• It has a small, crappy yard. We were never dog owners and prefer public parks and fields to backyard activities. We are finding that many people will sacrifice their own comfort (buy a smaller house, etc), if it means more yard for their dog or children. This is something I don’t quite understand, yet I acknowledge that it exists.
• Uncertainty. This means I don’t know why the ‘eff it isn’t selling, and maybe the answer is uncertainty. Maybe there is something about the house we can’t see that makes people hesitant or uninterested?

Despite our lack of progress, we get mainly positive feedback. Positive, yet hesitant. “The house was great, yard not so much.” “House was great but wants the storage of a traditional basement” (Our home is a split level with tons of closet space. I take this to mean that these folks are weird hoarders who hang out in musty basements).

Stay Positive, “It’s Only Money”

Despite all this concern, I am staying positive. We haven’t even hit the Average Days On Market yet, and after all, it’s only money.

We are not underwater on the home and in fact, can lower the price quite a bit and still break even. We aren’t facing the problems many have every day, and for that I’m grateful.

Which brings me back to the point of the middle class – if you can’t have wealth, you might as well have fun. Now this could sound like excuse-making for those who spend wildly and rack up debt, and for many it is. I heard it before: “you can’t take it with you.”

Those who say that are right.

But it is also right to take responsibility for your life, pay off your credit cards and stop living like a drone for Procter and Gamble and Toyota. Take some time to make a monthly budget. Take some time to think ahead. Maybe invest in some dynamic mutual funds.  If you change your expectations, can you retire early?

If I do some research, will I stop repeating the retirement garbage from the retirement-for-profit industry that tells you that you need multiple millions in your bank and coupled with a modest return rate and the right choices, you can die in twenty years with…almost exactly what you retired with?

What fun is that?

We buckled down for quite a few years and made a lot of sacrifices, but that was to get to a point where the problem of selling a home is not a crisis. Even if it doesn’t sell, I can attempt to rent it and cover expenses. I have enough cash saved up to pay on it for over a year before it becomes empty.

This is what financial freedom means. The ability to take a job and move on a whim, and not be tied to a job or a city because of money. The ability to work only when needed.

A wise man once told me: “It’s only money. You can always get more money.” I think that is some of the best advice I’ve ever heard, but it’s easier spoken by someone who has it. It does remind us of those times when we have it, and those times when we don’t. Sometimes life just rains on you and thousands of dollars are sucked out of your bank account for car repairs and broken furnaces.

But if you develop a philosophy of money that allows you to question the rules and motives of those making the rules, you can break free from money and it’s power of people.

Because when that older, wiser man was giving me that advice, it was in response to a story I told him about the mayor of our city killing himself because he squandered nearly a million dollars from his dead aunt’s estate, money that was supposed to go to a religious charity.

“You can always get more money,” he replied, shaking his head.

If you are living in America or Canada or Europe, you can probably always get more money. Our social safety net is not going to let you starve if you are a normal person down on your luck. That gives us the freedom to take risks with our money, or the comfort to punch a clock from 9-5 and retire without a great deal of needs.

If you think of life as a game, it’s more fun. If you play your cards right, you will probably get a great deal of 1-Ups and Respawns, but you will also get kicked in the junk quite a few times as well.

Make sure you take a moment to live your life. Take your vacation days every year. Reclaim your lunch hour. Sit in the sun and leave your smartphone inside on the desk.

Save money in advance for large purchases. Pay ahead of your credit card statement. Start thinking five years ahead, and stop thinking about your next paycheck.

Life is a game. Money is a game. But it’s a game where you can decide when you’ve won, so don’t set the goalposts too far or you’ll wake up one day like Ebenezer Scrooge, too frail to wheel yourself onto a filthy cruise ship for that vacation you never took. Set a savings goal, and once you get there, relax.

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Selling Our House Update which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

Blog Carnivals that Included MWD

• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at PF Carny
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Making Sense of Cents
• Yakezie Carnival at Making The Life You Want
• Carnival of MoneyPros at The Savvy Scot
• Carnival of Retirement at Midlife Finance
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at My Personal Finance Journ
• Carnival of Retirement at Making Sense of Cents
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Family Money Values
• Yakezie Carnival at Young And Thrifty

Also, as a thank you for reading these carnival updates, I’ll start including at least one giveaway that I’ve seen open recently.  :-)

Giveaways

• My Personal Finance Journey is hosting a April 2013 Give Back ($25 to you and $25 to charity) until April 30!

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Thanks to These Blog Carnivals – April 2013 which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

We’ve been watching a lot of college basketball lately in our household, and one commercial has caught my attention. It’s for a financial services company, and the crux of the ad is “When did you know?” (I’m intentionally not naming the company, number one because this isn’t a sponsored post, and number two because I don’t remember the business’s name.) They’re basically asking consumers when they knew they were responsible adults; my husband and I both agreed that we started feeling like grown-ups when we were able to successfully manage our family’s finances. But we disagree on something to: exactly when that successful money management began.

My Husband’s Case

My husband believes we’ve been successfully handling our family’s finances from very early on in our marriage. We tied the knot during our last few months of school (grad school for me, undergrad for him), but by our eight-month anniversary, we were both gainfully employed, working full-time jobs with benefits. His version of success begins at that point.

My Case

I, on the other hand, think our successful management of our family’s finances started much, much later. Sure, we both had jobs with benefits eight months into our marriage; we bought a house 15 months in; we bought our first brand new car 27 months after tying the knot, and another one just shy of our fourth wedding anniversary – we also had debt, piles and piles of it.

Is that responsible money management? While it may be the status quo for most Americans these days, it’s not exactly ideal.

To answer the ad’s question, “When did you know?”, for me it was the month before our five-year anniversary. That’s when my husband and I sat down, looked at our family budget, and realized that we were wasting great gobs of money on things we not only didn’t need, but in many cases didn’t even want. We were spending over $1,000 a month on child care, while I felt like I was letting someone else raise my child; we were shelling out $200 a month for someone to clean our house, even though I found scrubbing toilets therapeutic. Examining our budget meant cutting out some luxuries, rethinking our priorities, and making some serious changes – changes that put me on the path to leaving my full-time job (the one with all those benefits that made my husband feel like a real grown-up) in order to ultimately become a work-at-home mom.

Over the next six months, we put our family’s finances into real order. We paid down debts; we shopped around for everything from car insurance to Internet providers; we redoubled our efforts to build our nest egg. When it was all said and done, I’d left the rat race behind and was able to find work/life balance doing my job out of my home office.

And that’s when I started feeling like a responsible adult.

What about you? When did you start feeling like a real grown-up? Would your spouse or partner agree?

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Feeling Mature about Your Family’s Finances which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

Because my family and I will be moving in a few months – likely to a place with parking limitations – I am again thinking about selling a car and becoming a one-vehicle family.

The first question is, which vehicle stays?

We have two paid-for vehicles: a 2005 Chevy Cobalt and a 2008 Ford Escape. The small sedan has 130,000 miles on it, while the SUV has a few less. The older car is beginning to enter the darkness of old age. I just replaced all four knees and I need to put in a new A/C. The Ford seems to be okay.

Since we are moving to an urban area, we will likely have to rent parking spots in a garage or lot, but because we are moving to an urban area, I can take public transit to work every day. This means that for the first time in 16 years, since I started driving, I won’t need a car.

But that still leaves the original question: which vehicle stays?

The small car has the advantage of greater fuel efficiency and is easier to park in tight places. But it was a base model when I bought it, meaning it lacks some features like cruise control. I drive it 400 miles a week now and believe me, my right hip aches from pressing that gas pedal to the floor. Which brings up another problem – it’s losing any semblance of pep, and the acceleration is becoming weak. This is not what you want when you are getting dumped from an on-ramp going 30 mph into four lanes of 65 mph. With that being said, I must mention that the car has never had any engine trouble or malfunction, it’s just doing what engines do when the body falls apart around it.

The Ford Escape has the advantage of being younger and it still can accelerate rapidly if floored. And it has air conditioning, and cruise control! It has a taller cabin so the kids, well one of them, can stand up. It’s not much bigger than the car so it could still be parked most places, though it is not as easy to see what you are doing when you are parking.

Comparing them side by side, each car has its pros and cons for where we are going to live. But the Ford Escape has the potential to last longer, and doesn’t face repair needs totaling almost $1,000 like the Chevy. I believe that the Chevy will be easier to sell because it has a lower price tag, near $3,500 as compared to $9,000 or so for the truck.

We wouldn’t even be in this position if we drove vehicles with upside-down loans. If we were in that scenario, we would have to add another $100/month to our debt load to rent a parking space to keep a payment for something we no longer need. This is how debt traps us and inhibits our freedoms. Luckily we have lived with paid-for vehicles for more than a year, and that $700/month goes into our pockets.

I’ve written that an expensive car is the fastest way to get to the poorhouse. We’ve all seen cars parked in driveways of homes that were barely worth more than the cars. It is one of the few places where Americans collectively agree that we are going to demand and spend more than we need, an Anti Wal-Mart Attitude. People no longer blink at $30,000 loans for cars worth $23,000 as soon as they leave the lot.

The Financial Samurai has posed the 1/10th Rule for Car Buying, offering that your car purchase should be no more than a 10th of your annual salary. If you make $50k, you get a $5k car. This seems a bit tight, but I think it is close. To abide by this, you must accept that cars aren’t that cool, and that you will probably never afford a BMW.

Sam’s rule does create an interesting dynamic – it forces people to publicly display their income through the car they drive. I’m sure that rich people are getting annoyed that someone making $39k thinks he’s a baller driving a Mercedes. It’s getting to the point where these cars aren’t pure status symbols. The 1/10th Rule would put people in their economic places.

Evil or Asset?

Eight years ago I bought a new car and probably spent almost $25k on it over its lifespan. Same for the other car. That’s fifty thousand dollars in lost opportunities. But cars are a part of American freedom, and they allow us to live where we want to live and move by our own choosing. I’ve never owned a fancy car (unless you count the used Buick Riviera I drove in college that had a moonroof and tan leather), and I don’t aspire to.

So if we are moving to a place where cars aren’t needed, why not sell both? To be honest, that would be a big step that we aren’t ready for yet. Though we could still take the train back home to see family, we’d be completely dependent on family to pick us up and drive us around. I suppose we could rent a car one weekend each month, but that would probably be more expensive than keeping a car in a garage. Plus, with two kids, it’s easier to keep them corralled and safely transported in a vehicle when making daily trips to soccer practice, etc.

I guess that makes cars a necessary evil, but I am warming up to them again. Financial God once wrote that he envisions a future where cars are the mass transit solution, and talks about a giant fleet of driverless cars weaving about the thoroughfares of America. This struck me as an interesting picture, and as cars become more efficient. Is supporting something like this a guarantee that high speed rail will never catch on in America?

Sell the Cheap One

So I’ve decided to sell the cheaper car. It will be an easier sell and leave us with a vehicle that should last a few more years. It is nice to know that if something changes in the next few months, we could sell the one with more value.

One thing that has been bothering me is that I don’t have a car replacement fund. I am not setting aside a specific amount each month to save for a new car. Instead I am just saving cash in a general savings account. Maybe I’ll just gamble that the Ford Escape will last me until some point in the future where I am more able to do it.

The fact is, driving is a debt that is almost impossible to pay off. Even if you live somewhere that you don’t need a car, the cost of living will more than make up for any savings.

If any twentysomethings are reading this, take it from me: a nice car isn’t worth it. Resist the urge. Push your junker to the limit. Buy him some new shocks and struts. Change his oil. Save your money.

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Cars: Necessary Evil or Asset? which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

Blog Carnivals that Included MWD

• Yakezie Carnival at Aaronhung.com
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at Money Life and More
• Carnival of Retirement at Joe
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Family Money Values
• Carnival of Retirement at Master the Art of Saving
• Yakezie Carnival at Debt Black Hole
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Debt Roundup
• Yakezie Carnival at My University Money
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at Brick By Brick Investing
• Carnival of MoneyPros at The Happy Homeowner
• Carnival of Retirement at Freeat33
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Nickel by Nickel
• Y and T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty.ca
• Yakezie Carnival at Financially Digital
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Thirty Six Months

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Thanks to These Blog Carnivals – March 2013 which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

The linens I’ll sleep on tonight are nearly eight years old. The car I’ll use to drive my daughter to preschool in the morning was purchased four years ago next week. My favorite pair of jeans – the ones I still consider to be “brand new” – have been hanging in my closet since August 2010. There’s an old saying that everything’s old that’s new again – but in my household, I’m starting to wonder: at what point do our belongings start to feel old?

When Everything’s Old

When you feel like you live in a world where everything’s old, you may start to feel dissatisfied with what you already have. Sure, you may own that 13-year-old car, but when it feels old, clunky, and headed for the junk heap, you are more tempted to see the newer things your friends, family members, and colleagues have and feel jealous.

I’ve got a perfect example. For years, I’ve been perfectly happy with my ancient cell phone. In fact, I’ve felt downright proud that I was making do with a cell phone I got for free almost six years ago. But lately, I keep seeing all the new gadgets my friends have, which make my cell phone not only obsolete, but make me a certified Luddite. My phone feels old, even though it’s not serving me any differently than it was six years ago. Only my perspective has changed.

When Everything’s New Again

On the other hand, if you can change you perspective so that everything feels new again, you’re less likely to be compelled to keep up with the Joneses. An outdated wardrobe only feels old if you’re unhappy with it and unable to make use of it; ancient electronics or that big, bulky CRT television can feel like you just bought them if you’re satisfied with your purchase.

This is why people buy used cars – or, as I call them “new to you” cars – or purchase pre-existing homes. These people don’t think, “Man, I’m buying something that’s old/used/past its prime.” Of course not! If they did, they wouldn’t have made the purchase in the first place! Rather, they’re excited about the investment they just made. To them, it doesn’t matter that what they just bought is a year old, five years old, 20 years old; to them, it feels brand new.

Why It Matters

This is a case where perspective is everything. In my house, truth be known, just about everything is – if you’re talking just about age - fairly old. I’m not talking antique, but consider this: my husband and I still use the dishes, linens, towels, silverware, small appliances, etc., that we received at our wedding shower, which was eight years ago. Although there are times when I feel like I’ve been married forever, I don’t look at these material possessions as old. To me, they are just as useful today as when I first opened them years ago. They don’t feel old because they still serve a purpose; and as long as they serve a purpose, I hope I’ll be able to avoid a serious case of the “gimmies.”

How old do you have to own or use something before it starts to feel old?

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Fact or Fiction: Everything’s Old That’s New Again which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!

We’d been married for exactly eight hours when we left the reception hall and headed to the honeymoon suite a few floors above the ballroom where we’d just finished dancing the night away with our families and closest friends. My new husband helped me slip out of my ridiculously large wedding gown and we climbed into bed.

But what you probably think happened next didn’t happen. At least not then. We had more important things to do first.

In the corner of the suite was a luggage trolley with all our wedding gifts piled on top of it. Like kids on Christmas morning, my husband and I dove headfirst into those cards and packages. 60 minutes later, we were the proud owners of eight place settings of Fiesta Ware, more wine and beer glasses than I cared to count, and enough towels of various sizes to furnish a dozen bathrooms. We were also $5,400 richer.

Starting an Emergency Fund Was Our Priority

At the time, my husband and I were both finishing up school; my husband was in his last year of undergrad, where he was on football scholarship, while I was two months away from earning my master’s degree. Neither one of us was bringing any liquid assets into our marriage – we were literally starting from broke.

We decided to use our wedding registry to combat this. Instead of registering for everything Bed, Bath, & Beyond had to offer, we kept our wish list to a minimum. We only asked for what we needed, keeping our registry intentionally small. Whenever someone asked us what we wanted for our wedding, we were honest: we wanted quick cash. We also let our closest family and friends know this, and encouraged them to spread the word. Maybe it was tactless, but we were young, naive, and poor; we figured our guests would rather help us build our financial future than buy a cut-glass trifle dish we’d never use.

Putting Our Wedding Gifts to Good Use

That’s how we came to be in the possession of $5,400 in cash and checks on the night of our wedding. We were like actors in a movie, throwing the cash around the room and laughing with all the giddiness of drunk newlyweds.

To be honest, the amount of money we received as wedding gifts blew us away; we were anticipating a fraction of that and far more unwanted picture frames and serving dishes. So we faced the first financial quandary of our young marriage: what would we do with the surplus?

We both immediately thought about our honeymoon. Instead of going on a real trip, we’d planned to stay a single night at an upscale hotel with a legendary restaurant in the New York Finger Lakes. It was all we could afford at the time; we’d budgeted $300 for the room and dinner. My husband proposed we use some of that $5,400 to go on a more luxurious, exotic honeymoon. Constraints on our time, however, prevented us from taking such a trip; it would be our fifth anniversary before we finally took a “real” honeymoon.

I suggested we use some of the money to buy furniture. We’d just moved into a second floor, two-bedroom walk-up, which we’d furnished with my double bed – the same one I’d grown up sleeping in in my parents house – and a 5-piece dining set. Other than that, we had next to nothing in terms of furniture. I was hoping to buy a couch, loveseat, a coffee table, and a few things to decorate the place. The day we returned to our apartment after our one-night honeymoon, though, a friend who’d just graduated offered to give us all her old furniture if we’d simply come pick it up. We agreed.

In the end, we couldn’t agree on what to buy with that money, so we did nothing at all. In addition to our brand new joint checking account, we opened a new saving account, too; the entire $5,400 was our first deposit. It became our nest egg and our emergency fund.  It has kept us from needing a short term loan.  And at least a portion of that initial $5,400 has remained in that account ever since.

What did you do with the money you received at your wedding? How did you start your nest egg?

Thanks for reading the RSS version of Starting Your Nest Egg: Investing In Your Marriage which originally appeared at Married (with Debt) Please click through to comment if you enjoyed!