That helped to develop some personal charactersitics in me that I am proud of, like optimism and a willingness to take risks, but it also left me with a carelessness regarding my own finances. I was earning more money than my mother ever had, and I didn't have any children. If she could make it back then, I certainly wouldn't have any trouble now. So why waste any effort worrying about it?

But then my goals began to change. I started thinking about getting married, and buying a house, and having children. Things that cost much more money than I could come up with in a month, no matter how much I earned. I got honest with myself and realized that I had this hanging over my head, and no matter how much I ignored it, I really was getting worried about my future. I needed a new plan.

The Secret

I started educating myself about personal finance, and I learned some surprising things. The most significant was that earning a bigger salary doesn't naturally make it easier to save money -- it just makes it easier to spend. No matter how well I did in my career, I wasn't going to get ahead automatically. No, like so many other things in life, the key was patience and discipline. Nothing more complicated than that.

Unfortunately, I'm not known for my patience and discipline. I am naturally impulsive and distractible. But this was too important. If I didn't change something I would never have any money. I might have lots of nice things, but I wouldn't have security. I didn't want to live the rest of my life wondering where next month's bills were coming from.

So I started making some small improvements. I started living below my means by cutting out unnecessary expenses. This helped me pay off my credit cards without charging anything more on them. I didn't lease another new car when my term was up, but started driving a ten-year-old Nissan Sentra. I started to reverse my negative net worth. The small improvements added up and paid off. Today, just three years later, I am married and our net worth is about equal to our combined yearly salary.

Hello, Dollar!

No, we're not wealthy yet. But for the first time in my life, I know that we will be. We have a plan that guarantees it -- all we have to do is save a set amount of money each month, and there's nothing more liberating than watching it in action. I've learned a lot in coming this far, and I am constantly learning more. I've started this site to share what I learn, and to encourage you to make some small improvements of your own. The little successes add up surprisingly fast and whet your appetite for bigger ones.

In that spirit, "Hello, Dollar" is about:

• Helping impulsive and distractible people (like me!) become responsible with their money.
• Learning which actions will help or hinder us on our paths to financial independence.
• Making a series of small improvements, training ourselves one small step at a time to eliminate unhealthy financial habits and establish healthy ones.
• Encouraging each other and benefiting from each other's experiences.

Feel free to comment below, or email me (frankp [at] gmail.com) any time. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope we can learn from each other!