A little about me… I grew up relatively poor in a small town in North Central Texas. Not so poor that I ever went hungry, but poor enough that I learned how to watch every penny spent out of necessity. To this day my mom refuses to eat bologna. All her and my dad could afford to eat while she was pregnant with my older brother was plain bologna sandwiches. The Early Years Growing up my dad has always been a mechanic and my mom’s always worked simple retail or office jobs to help make ends meet. Neither of my parents graduated from high school. My dad dropped out in the 10th grade and my mom got her G.E.D. Thankfully, they are two of the hardest working people I know. I consider myself very blessed to have two parents who have always given everything possible to provide the best life they ever could for my brother and me. Growing up without a silver spoon instilled a quick appreciation for a hard work ethic and the value of things. However, it always left me with a hunger for wanting more. Early on I thought I simply wanted more money for more stuff. As I’ve gotten into my early thirties now, as many people realize at some point in their lives, the thing I truly want more of is TIME. More This combination of desire and drive as a teenager pushed me to get an engineering degree. Even though I didn’t absolutely LOVE school like some, and we could barely afford it, I knew if I worked hard enough I could do it. I also knew getting that degree could lead to more money than I’d ever seen before. Though it took a lot of personal growth, maturing, depression, sleepless nights, an arrest or two, and a couple of years longer than I’d hoped, both of those became true. I competed my degree and quickly began making six-figures after graduation. It didn’t take too long for me to realize a couple of things though. First, I was trading all of my time for money. Second, those old folks who always told me money doesn’t buy happiness were right. To be honest, my day job pays well enough that I could stop being “thrifty”, go to work, live in comfort, and retire in another 30 years. Plenty of people do this and there’s certainly nothing wrong with it if you’re happy. But I want MORE. Time ≠ Money I also always heard that time is money. Time doesn’t EQUAL money but money can BUY you time. Money can’t add more than 24 hours to anyone’s day. However, it can free up more of those hours if you aren’t sitting in traffic or traveling across the state (or world) to make money to pay your bills until you die. If you’re reading this, I bet you’re like me and the growing number of people these days that want out of the rat race. Maybe you simply want to earn a little more to make ends meet and live more comfortably. Maybe you’re ready make your own money instead of someone else’s. My purpose for the page and everything that follows is to keep track of my personal growth and to hopefully help a few of you a long the way to the destination so many of us are after. Financial Freedom. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around! I look forward to growing together!