About Green Mama: I’m a 30-something middle-class working mom with two young kids: my four year old son (often referred to as BigGuy) and my one year old daughter (referred to as Girly). I also have two more guys in my life, my life partner of 10-plus years (referred to as Hubby) and a big black Lab (referred to as Doggy). We live in the Pacific Northwest, although we hope to connect with people from across the globe through this blog.

Beyond balancing our family budget, I try to balance my life. My family literally requires a lot of “care and feeding,” which means
that I have to be strategic to get any “me” time. I work full time in a community-oriented position, which is both challenging and
satisfying. I work hard, but also prioritize play time. I love the outdoors, gardening and any sport that gets me in the water. I’ve
always enjoyed writing and believe that this blog will help me get beyond the daily family juggle to see a bigger picture view of how we are interconnected. I hope you will share this journey with me.

About our Family Finances: We are a dual income family, yet we spend more than ever before. I’ve always been pretty responsible with my money, but “life” can easily distract me from making it a top priority. Due to an almost $2k monthly child care bill, we truly need to balance the budget each month. Otherwise, we are starting in a pretty good place: we are able to pay the mortgage on our “dream home” (a 1904 Victorian), our only other debt is my college and graduate school loans, we have a small emergency fund, and a modest retirement fund. Financially, our short term goals are to track our family budget better, spend with our values in mind, and increase our emergency fund. Our long term goals are to retire well, save for college, travel as a family, and share the wealth. As a busy working family, our first dilemma is how to streamline our finances and keep our eye on our short and long term financial goals.

My Partner in Inspiration: As mentioned in my very first post, my twin sister was my inspiration for starting this blog. She has been very successful with the DINKs Finance blog that she has been co-writing and administering for the past four years. She has agreed to be my partner, and share her blog savvy to make this the successful entrepreneurial venture we hope it will become.

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It’s a humorous how-to book about how I live large by spending little. As a life-long upscale frugal person, I’ve managed to dress well, vacation in Italy, collect art, and eat out as often as possible without breaking the bank.

• I wore a brand new $1200 gown to my son’s wedding, that I found at a garage sale for twenty bucks.
• I entertain wealthy friends by inviting them to exotic (and cheap!) ethnic restaurants
• I picked up a geranium twig on the street, stuck it in the ground, and now have a flowering wall in my back yard.
• I barter all manner of good and services: gave my neighbor some public speaking coaching and she brought over a complete chicken dinner large enough to last the weekend.

More tips and funny cheapskate stories on my blog.  Happy Savings!

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