Grace Pomroy
Stuck in a Season of Waiting

Lately I feel like I’ve been stuck in a season of waiting. My husband and I have been dreaming of putting down roots in the Pacific Northwest since the first time we visited Oregon seven years ago. While we are just months away from making that goal a reality – we hope to buy a house sometime this summer – we are still in transition. In addition to waiting as we search for the right house, I spent the fall waiting to get an appointment with a doctor about a health concern I was dealing with, spent the winter waiting for medical tests, and am now spending the spring waiting to fully recover from surgery.

Stuck in a Season of Waiting
Grace Pomroy
How to Handle a Big Income Gap in Your ...

It’s not uncommon for couples to have an income gap between partners – in fact, it's the norm. According to data from Morning Consult and Insider, nearly three-quarters of Americans reported they had some income imbalance with their partner before they started dating. And while that imbalance can flip-flop as partners change jobs or receive a raise or bonus, at times it can be significant. This might happen when one partner retires, decides to go back to school, or opts to stay at home with the kids. This might also happen when one partner gets a big promotion or receives a large inheritance. How can you manage your finances so this imbalance in income doesn’t throw your relationship off balance? Consider these steps:

How to Handle a Big Income Gap in Your Relationship
Grace Pomroy
My 6 Favorite Money Psychology Hacks

I’m a big fan of the Financial Feminist podcast. A few weeks ago the host, Tori Dunlap, shared a money hack that she had heard about from another financial educator on Science Finance: Before making an impulse purchase, ask yourself: “How many ‘taco dollars’ does it cost?” That particular financial educator really loved tacos, so he judged each purchase by asking, “How many tacos could I buy for the cost of that item?” Concert tickets: 20 tacos. Cupcake: 1 taco. Fancy hotel stay: 83 tacos. Then, he would ask himself: “Is it really worth that many tacos?”

My 6 Favorite Money Psychology Hacks
Grace Pomroy
The Power of the Icebreaker (Part 2)

My last post on things that can jumpstart your financial life in 5 minutes or less got me thinking  about one of the most effective steps I ever took during our marriage: asking my husband an icebreaker question about our life together. That word icebreaker is key: these are questions designed to get conversation going, not shut it down. And that means the question has to be open-ended and asked with a spirit of genuine curiosity of learning what your partner thinks.

The Power of the Icebreaker (Part 2)
Grace Pomroy
Welcome "The Earner" Money Personality

Long-time readers of this blog are familiar with the four money personalities I discuss: the giver, the saver, the spender, and the acquirer. Over time, though, I’ve learned that while people tend to understand the first three, they often stumble over the last one. On first blush, people generally thought the “acquirer” referred to someone who liked to accumulate or collect things. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The acquirer was someone focused on how money came into their life, not what was done with the money after it was received. 

Welcome "The Earner" Money Personality

saving

The Journey West: How We're Preparing For Our Big Move

The Journey West: How We're Preparing For Our Big Move

Exactly one month from today my husband and I will be packing up our apartment in downtown Minneapolis and beginning the first leg of our long journey west to Gig Harbor, WA. While to some family, friends, and coworkers this seems like a spontaneous move, this journey has been years in the making. My husband first started dreaming of living on the west coast when he was in grade school and did a report on the state of Oregon. For me, it started with work trips I had the privilege to take out to Washington and Oregon. We both were drawn in by the breathtaking mountains, awe-inspiring shoreline, diversity of wildlife, and more temperate weather. The last few years we have slowly and methodically prepared for our next adventure.

This is Why (Again)

This is Why (Again)

A few weeks ago I experienced an unexpected medical issue and ended up heading to the Emergency Room. Don’t worry — I’m feeling better now! As my husband and I waited in the hospital for test results, I found myself reflecting on the costs of the tests that had already been run and the tests yet to come. I remarked to my husband, “I can’t wait to see the bill for this visit!” And he looked at me and said, “It doesn’t matter. You come first! We have great health insurance and money built up in savings just for this purpose. We are prepared for moments like this.”

Food, Food, Food

Food, Food, Food

Anyone else feeling the weight of the higher than normal grocery bills? While we may not be spending as much money on gas, travel, or entertainment, we are still spending money on food. We strive to find the best way to make nutritious meals that take as few groceries as possible so we can limit our trip, and that has proven to be challenging, at least for us. As someone who usually takes pleasure in the entire process from planning meals to picking out ingredients to making the meals each night I quickly realized I had to shift my mindset. I couldn’t buy groceries the same way I used to do – dependent on having all the ingredients to make the meal “just right.” I’ve had to be more flexible. I’ve also had to shift my focus from making meals we love (and I feel like making) to focusing on meals that use rely on pantry staples and use as few ingredients as possible. It brought me back to my days in graduate school when I had a very tight grocery budget and I had to weigh whether or not each item was really worth it.

All About Emergency Funds

All About Emergency Funds

About a year after I finished graduate school, my grandfather passed away unexpectedly. My husband and I were exactly a year out from our wedding. I still remember getting the call as my mother-in-law and I were driving home from wedding dress shopping. I was working hard to save up for my contribution to the wedding and pay off at least one of my student loans before I said “I do.” It seemed like every dollar that came through my bank account was already earmarked and accounted for. My mom asked: “Can you come home for the funeral?”

How to Financially Prepare for the Holidays

How to Financially Prepare for the Holidays

Can you believe the holidays are just around the corner? While they can certainly bring a lot of joy, they can also bring a lot of stress, particularly to our financial lives. A few weeks ago, Emilie Aries from BossedUp interviewed me for her blog on just this topic! Below I’ll share a few tidbits from the article, but I invite you to follow this link to read the whole article.

This is Why

This is Why

It happened to me.

About six weeks ago, my business partner and I were driving back from a wonderful day of speaking to leaders in East-Central Wisconsin. When we were about two hours out from Minneapolis, I looked at my phone and saw that I had five missed calls from my husband. Now my husband is the type of guy who rarely calls twice in a row – why would he call five times? I called him back and was greeted by the voice of a paramedic who assured that my husband was breathing and conscious but he had been injured in a serious car accident. I immediately fell apart. As someone who travels often my worst fears had been realized. He was hurt and I wasn’t there to be beside him when he needed me. My business partner and I continued the longest two hour drive of our lives inching ever closer to my husband’s side.