The Beginning

      I've been kicking an idea around in my head for a few months (years?) I've always had a love for money. Yes, an absolute, complete and total love for money. When I was young, I loved to count it, as I got older, I liked to save it and look at it in my bank (don't judge me). I'm perfectly comfortable blaming this love of money on my father. Starting around age 7, he would take me to run errands with him every Wednesday. Without fail, we'd go to the bank, then the post office, and then to the library and then to McDonald's. First the bank, to transfer money (rob Peter) then to the post office (to pay Paul), then to the library (because I loved to read) and then to McDonald's (because what kid doesn't love McDonald's). It was on our weekly Wednesday trips that I learned the idea of "floating" a check (ask your parents) and how to write out deposit slips. It was at McDonald's that I learned the concept of waste - if I didn't finish my meal - every bit of it - I'd have to pay for it. For a child that only earned $5 a week in allowance, that $3.00 meal could be quite costly. I think it was the Wednesday runs that taught me the lengths my father had to go to to make ends meet, or at least get them closer together.   I've been very clear, from a very young age what money and (and can't) do for you, and I've been fascinated with it ever since. Hence, the idea that I've been kicking around in my head - an investing/saving/giving blog. I want to write about money - in plain English. 
     So here's the thing - everything you ever wanted to know about saving, budgeting and investing is on the internet. A Google search of "investing advice" brings up 176,000,000 results (in 0.30 seconds, thanks Google). So then why is it that folks' eyes glaze over when you ask them to discuss their 401K plans, or what their investment strategies are or even what their financial goals are for the next year? I think it's because no one writes about these things in bite-sized pieces. The easiest way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. (I never knew why anyone would want to eat an elephant, but I digress). So let's get started...let's talk about mutual funds, budgets, savings, 401Ks, etc., ad nauseam, one bite at a time.