Houston, we have a problem. Haha! Just kidding. Freddie here, and the family is at another outlandish location on our vacation. In this case, it really lives up to the title of “outlandish”; we’re on the moon! I can’t really believe it myself, but here we are amongst the stars and celestial bodies that dot the skies at night. In case you can’t tell. I’m pretty excited.

Our moon, the lunar satellite that revolves around the earth, is truly a remarkable thing. Not so much for what it is by itself, but what it has represented to mankind throughout the years. In ancient times, the moon was viewed as a type of deity, a god that watched us from afar.

As time passed, and we learned more about it, the moon came to be viewed as a frontier in exploration, a place that seemed so far, but we longed to see and experience for ourselves, to set out feet upon and proclaim loudly that we had reached it. It became an ever-present challenge that we, as a civilization, had to conquer.

And then in the 1960’s, we did. As competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to reach the moon first became known as the “Space Race”, we worked harder and faster to reach the peak of that most intimidating of plateaus. In the end, we, as the human race, were all winners.

We shot for the moon, and succeeded. Even if we would have fallen short, as Michelangelo once famously remarked, we would have landed amongst the stars. It reminds me of the way people deal with their finances. Sometimes people are just scared to try, and they hold themselves back. But when you try, you can never really fail. If you fall short, you learn, and you try again with the knowledge that you’ve acquired.

Challenge of the day: I want you all to shoot for the moon. Think about your ultimate goal in regards to your financial strength. What do you want to do? Do you want to buy a new car? Own a house? Have your own business? Whatever it is, I want you to start working towards it. Even if you come up short in your initial efforts, you’ll learn something about your method and yourself.

Let us know what you think! Comments! See you later!

Greetings from the Golden Gate! Fern here, and the family has made it out to the west coast! Finally some sunshine and warmth! We’re here in San Francisco taking in the sights: Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, Lombard Street, Telegraph Hill, and of course, the world famous cable cars. The most stunning sight to see, though, is the bridge that welcomes seafaring travelers to the city: Golden Gate Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1937, and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion.

Before construction of the bridge, the only way to cross the bay from San Francisco to Marin County was by a ferry ride, which took about half an hour to complete. As the population and the city began to grow again in the wake of the famous 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, taking a ferry across the bay became increasingly unreasonable, as residents and tourists would often have to wait for extended periods of time just for a ferry to become available.

In spite of criticism of the project ranging from doubt that it could be completed due to fog, wind, and swirling currents, to mocking of the proposed color, the city went ahead and hired Irving Morrow to design it in an Art Deco style.

Today, the bridge is easily the most recognizable bridge in the United States, and arguably the world. It’s constantly undergoing maintenance to make sure that it’s safe in case of a disaster. That kind of reminds me of the bridges that we have to build in our financial lives. The bridge separating where we are, and where we want to be.

I think that would be a good challenge for the day. Sit down with a piece of paper and honestly write down how you see your financial situation as it stands today. Then, on the other margin, write down how you would like to see yourself living. And be honest. No writing down that you want to live like a rock star of famous actor. Be realistic, but set some goals that you can honestly reach if you put forth the effort to do so. Then, between the two columns, create your bridge: the steps you’ll take to get from one reality to the other.

Let us know how it worked out in the comment section, or journal your thoughts. Good luck!

Hello, Frugal followers. Fern here, and it’s been a dizzying, whirlwind of a vacation thus far, and there doesn’t appear to be any signs of it slowing down any time soon. We’ve already been around the entire globe, and today the family finds itself at one of the most famous sites in American history: Plymouth Rock.

The rock is said to have been the first solid ground that the original pilgrims set foot upon in their search for religious tolerance. It’s been widely regarded as the birthplace of the new American colonies.

The truth of the matter is that this is a bit of a myth. The pilgrims didn’t set down upon the rock until 1620, while the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia was established in 1607, according to historical records. This doesn’t change the meaning in the story, though.

After a two month long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, in which the crew and passengers were beset with disease, death, hunger and strife, the crew came across the rock which would become the foundation for their settlement. That rock was their security, it was their anchor in the new land. It let them know that they had not worked and struggled in vain.

The story kind of reminds me of how, as a mother, I have to be the rock of my family. Sometimes, when we’re going through tough times financially, it’s my responsibility to be there for the rest of the family as their source of stability; to let them know that we’re not just working towards a non-existent goal. It’s tough, sure, but it’s a parent’s job.

And that’s your challenge for the day. Talk to the rest of the family and let them know that, even in these dark financial times, when the clouds are the color of pitch, the rain and thunder are torrential, the waves whip violently around you and the water is deep and foreboding below, they can always come to you to be their rock.

Let us know how you feel about the challenge by sounding off in the comment section, or write your thoughts in your journal. We’ll see you tomorrow!

Creative Commons photo by midgefrazel.

Greetings and salutations, Frugal friends! Frannie here, and I’m with the family as we hit the last couple of stops on our amazing and informative vacation. Today, we find ourselves at the birthplace of America as we know it: Independence Hall.

The Hall was built in 1753 and served as the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress, the colonial representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence. It was also home to the Constitution Convention in 1787, which gathered to discuss the problems with the Articles of the Confederation. The result of that convention was the U.S. Constitution.

The Hall is so rich with history that it has been declared a World Heritage Site. And who could question a decision like that? Not when George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Adams and James Monroe were among the great American patriots to have graced the hall.

Of all the amazing things that happened here, the one thing that stands out to me was the Declaration of Independence. Tired of being overtaxed and under represented by the monarchy of England, this group of men set forth to announce their freedom from the tyranny of the crown and establish, as it states in the Declaration itself, “a more perfect union”. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

So, where are we two-hundred years later? Are we truly “free”? Sure we don’t have to worry about the British knocking down our door, and we have certain unalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution, but when I see millions of my fellow Americans buried beneath tens of thousands of dollars of debt, it makes it difficult for me to say that we are truly “free”.

That’s where the challenge of the day comes in. If you haven’t already, make a vow with your family to finally shake off the chains of your financial burdens, and commit to making yourself truly “free”. Highlight your debts and the measures you’ll take to get them all paid off. Craft your family’s own “Financial Declaration of Independence”. Then sign it with as much gusto as John Hancock did.

Let us know how you feel about the challenge in the comments. See you tomorrow!

Hey everyone! Freddie Frugal here with the family as our vacation keeps rambling along like a Ford Model T. We’ve already seen so much, I’m having trouble storing all the various facts and tidbits of historic information that we’ve learned. Frannie, of course, has no problem, and has taken to quizzing me about the places we’ve already been. She’s such a nerd!

Speaking of Frannie’s nerdy tendencies, today’s stop was her idea. We’ve ended up in Keystone, South Dakota to take a look at what she calls “the visual representation of the first one-hundred and fifty years of American history”: Mount Rushmore.

The mountain was turned into a sculpture of four of the most famous American president: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

What’s really amazing about this is the how huge it is, and what a massive undertaking it took to create it. It took fourteen years spanning from 1927 to 1941 to finish the project. Imagine that.

When work had first begun on the sculpture, it was just a giant side of a mountain, no distinguishable characteristics to speak of. Then, over the course of those fourteen years, it gradually began to take shape and form. You could see a nose here and an eye there, until eventually it became what it is today.

Think of the dedication, the sweat, the blood and all that hard work that it took to sculpt that piece of art out of the side of an otherwise average mountain. Kinda sounds like the work and effort that goes into carving a beautiful piece of art out of an average financial situation, doesn’t it?

I think that’s what the challenge of the day should be, don’t you? Take a look at your finances and just start chipping away. Cut out that trip to the convenience store for a candy bar or two, or the soda from your grocery list. Just like the people who made Mount Rushmore what it is today, you have to start somewhere. Or maybe you’re already don’t some dynamiting, and now it’s time to focus on the details to really make your finances a work of art.

Tell me what you think in the comment section, or just log your thoughts in the journal. See you tomorrow!

Hello, my Frugal following friends! It’s Frank, and I’m here with the family at The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey.

The family is a little low on walking around money right now, so we decided to make a little pit stop here and see if we can’t sell off some of our wares for a little extra coinage. What are we selling, you ask? Well, I’ve got a rather large stamp collection that I’m auctioning off, Fern is selling homemade mince meat pies, Freddie is selling baseball cards, and Frannie is selling a book she’s been writing on the tenants of existentialism in modern financial interactions. I’m not quite sure what that means, but my little girl sure is smart.

For those of you who don’t know, the Grand Bazaar has been open for almost five hundred and fifty years (wow!), and is known for the diversity of the products sold. You can find jewelry, spices, vases and pots, and maybe even a magic carpet if you know the right person. The bazaar has over twelve-hundred shops and can bring in almost half of a million visitors on a good day.

I’d say that’s an ample opportunity to make some serious money if you’ve got something that people want to buy. So far we’ve been doing okay, but Freddie is really cleaning up. I didn’t know that American baseball cards were such a hot commodity outside of the U.S., but then again, I didn’t know what falafel was until we went to Egypt!

So what do you think your challenge for today is, folks? That’s right! It’s time to start your own little bazaar! Gather together some items that you can part with, and have a yard sale! Extra income is great wherever you can get it, and nothing is as simple as the common yard sale. They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and some men won’t mind paying top dollar for their treasure. Anyways, take whatever you earn and put in into your emergency fund.

Tell us how you did in the comment section. See you later, Frugal friends!

Hello, everyone! It’s Fern, and as we make the last few stops on our trip, I had to convince the family (well, really just Frank and Freddie) to make a brief stop at the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States: Harvard University

Aside from showing Frannie where she’ll someday be attending law school (thank goodness for scholarships), and where Freddie will someday, well….visit Frannie while she’s in law school, I wanted the family to see a place where education and intelligence are the most valued traits in people. Too often you’ll find that ambition trumps intelligence in the real world. People placed into positions of power and authority simply because of their cut-throat nature rather than their intellectual merits. I truly wanted the kids to know that there are places where their minds matter more than anything else.

Education and learning has long been the most important aspect of my life, and I hope that I’m instilling that value in my children. Knowledge is the most important variable in any problem and situation. You may have the tools to solve a problem, but if you don’t know how to use them, they are useless.

And that’s very similar to your finances. You have to educate yourself in regards to how you spend, what you’re spending on, and know how to use the tools designed to help you do it the right way. In The Frugality Game, you’ve already learned how use tools like the Envelope System, the “Keep, Limit, Lose it” tool, and the “Track Your Spending” tool. You’ve come a long way from where you were just a few short months ago. You’ve grown intellectually as a person and as a consumer. Maybe it’s just the maternal impulses in me, but I am very, very proud of you for making it this far.

But there has to be a challenge for the day, and today’s is a good one. I want you to sit down with your kids and teach them the value of using tools like The Envelope System in order to create financial stability. You can use your envelope system to show them how it works, or maybe give them a handful of monopoly money and see how they do on their own. The key is that you provide them with the knowledge and guidance necessary to help them grow and become financially independent adults.

Let us know how it went in the comments section. See you later, friends!

A somber hello to you, Frugal friend. It’s Frank, and the family is still on its globetrotting trek. Today, we come to you from one of the most famous sites in American history, and the place where many young men lost their lives: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The small town of Gettysburg was little more than a tavern and a railroad station when it became the site of one of bloodiest conflicts to ever occur on American soil. In 1863, the northern troops of the Union met and engaged in battle with the southern troops of the Confederacy.

While historians will cite many factors in the start of the Civil War,  it was closely tied to the issue of slave labor. Many felt that the United States could no longer allow the exploitation of human lives to line slaveholders’ pockets with gold, and the conflict that followed was a direct result of that. Families on both sides lost many lives before the Union eventually emerged victorious, and the Thirteenth Amendment permanently outlawed the use of slave labor within the country.

The confederacy’s use of slaves has always troubled me, as it was a group of wealthy individuals taking advantage of and exploiting helpless people for their own gain. If there’s one thing that Frank Frugal cannot abide, it’s social injustice. You can still see people, to this very day, doing everything they can to scam or use somebody to their own ends. That’s not the right way to do it. Nobody has to suffer in order for you and your family to make it in this world.

Time for today’s challenge. Sit down and make an oath with your family that you’ll build your financial strength the right way. No shortcuts, no scams, no taking advantage of others. Just good old American hard work and elbow grease.

Let us know what you think in the comment section, or feel free, as always, to log your thoughts privately in your journal. That’s what it’s there for. See you tomorrow, Frugal friends.

Hello, baseball fans! Frank here with the family at arguably the most famous and sacred locations in all of sports history: The world famous Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Chicago has always been a great sports town and has given rise and fame to names such as Michael Jordan, Gale Sayers, Walter “Sweetness” Payton, Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux. To say that the city is a Mecca of sports would probably be an understatement.

Today, though, we’re here at the corner of Clark and Addison on Chicago’s north side, taking in the splendor that is Wrigley Field.

Designed and built in 1914, it has been the home of the Cubs for nearly one hundred years and is as iconic as the team that plays on it. That team, however, has become a symbol of futility over the last century, as it has tried and failed every year since 1906 to win the World Series and bring a championship back to Chicago’s north side. The team has suffered through poor pitching, lethargic hitting, awful defense, and even (if you’re superstitious) a curse.

You know what, though? For all the trials and tribulations that the franchise and the city have faced in their seemingly never-ending quest to reach the top of the baseball mountain, they keep playing. Every April you can count on the Cubs taking the field and playing their best, even if sometimes their best isn’t good enough. They’ve been the favorite, they’ve been the underdog, but in every case they were out there on the field playing their hearts out. For all the disappointment, they never stop trying.

That’s what I want you to keep in mind for today’s challenge. Think about all the things that you tried to improve your financial situation that you gave up on, either because it wasn’t paying off the way you expected, or didn’t give you the return you wanted as quickly as you thought. Pick something you gave up on, like your dog walking side business, or your brief foray into botany, and give it another try. Just don’t expect it to pay off immediately. Even if it never pays off, you’ll have the knowledge that you can persevere, and you won’t give up just because things got tough.

Comments or journal, it’s up to you! See you tomorrow, Frugal friends!

Salutations, friends of the Frugal family! It’s Frannie, and the family and I are in the United States, taking in some of the most historic sites our beautiful country has to offer. Today’s stop? Boston. We’re visiting the most famous seafaring vessel of early American history, the USS Constitution.

The Constitution was commission in 1794 by George Washington and eventually launched in 1797. Among numerous skirmishes on the sea, her most famous battles occurred during the War of 1812, when she defeated numerous British ships.

The most famous of those battles was against the HMS Guerriere, which was French-built, but captured and rebranded by the British. Over the course of the confrontation, the Constitution and Guerriere pelted one another with canons and gunfire, even crashing into each other on a few occasions. In the end, though, Guerriere was reduced to a mass of floating rubble, while the Constitution sailed proudly back to port. The battle earned the Constitution the nickname “Old Ironsides”, a moniker that has stuck with her to this very day.

When I think about the ship, I always think about the constant bombardment that people are under these days. People are made to feel like less that they are for not falling into the habits of spending recklessly. Instead of being revered (like Paul Revere!–had to get another U.S history reference in there!) for being conservative with their money, and not spending beyond their means, they are ridiculed, called cheap, and often turned into social pariahs for all their effort.

Well, I for one, have had enough. I’m taking a page out of the USS Constitution’s book and strengthening my hulls and preparing for the assault. When it’s all over, I know that I’ll still be standing, while the financial waters around me are littered with the broken shells of the insult-hurlers vessels.

That’s your challenge for the day. Talk to the family about strengthening your defenses, and not abandoning your principles just because you may be told that you’re not cool or popular because of your beliefs. When the dust settles, your family will still be standing.

Let us know what you think, or write in your journal. See you later!