I never had a desire to teach financial principles.
My real passion is science. I started my Master's degree in Education hoping that one day I could teach my favorite topics, Chemistry and Theoretical Physics. (Yep, I'm a card-carrying geek.) I have long dreamed of spending whole semesters describing the nature of Pi, Zero, and Probabilities to eager young minds. (A really major geek!) I know that not everyone shares my science passion, so I'll leave that story for another day.

First, please know that my own financial situation is not unique. Ten years ago, my husband Brad and I were both employed in corporate America, living the DINK (dual-income-no-kids) lifestyle to the fullest. Suddenly, WHAM! A mid-life pregnancy (the first of four), and our income tumbled by almost half. And that is the nature of life, isn't it? Our unexpected expenses competing with sudden erosion of our incomes.

I was abruptly faced with that question that we all face: what do I do now? It was at this point that I started stumbling on to some fundamental principles about money, principles that can power anyone to wealth accumulation and financial independence. It all started when my husband handed me a magazine article entitled "Live on $17,500 a Year," written by a Maine housewife with six children named Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision"). Amy was the author of The Tightwad Gazette, a book dedicated to doing more with less AND still living a contented life. After reading this book, my new job (in addition to stay-at-home mom) was to slash our family's expenses without deprivation or starvation. I then read Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, a volume that encouraged people to understand the philosophical nature of money. Together, these two books became my gold standard for financial health and well being. By adapting the concepts in these books and inventing new ones of my own, I found that my family was saving more money then we ever had while I was working a full-time job! My husband was dumbfounded at how such simple steps produce this miracle when our income had dropped by so much.

At this point Brad was offered a new job in southern California, which is not exactly the haven of the cheap carefree life! We made the move, but I knew that I had to develop a solid financial plan for my family, one that would promote wealth accumulation and financial independence. My vision was to have enough assets so that my husband could retire from corporate life in only 14 years. So, I dug even deeper into the literature on frugality and financial well being, implemented the principles, and BANG! Brad retired from corporate life in only seven years - even while we added three more children and were challenged with a series of serious medical conditions.

How did we do it? We followed universal principles of wealth accumulation. How do we know that these principles are true? Simple. We used them to gain our own financial independence, and I have been helping other families to collect wealth by mentoring them in these same concepts. The whole focus of SmartCents is to teach other people how to succeed with money as well. Learn how for yourself by reading my new book, Money…It's Not Just for Rich People! or by attending a seminar.