I’m Jen, personal finance writer and co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast

My husband, Travis and I got married on October 3rd, 2015 with almost $78,000 of debt between us. Through frugality and side hustles, we paid it off in 23 months and have been debt free since August 31st, 2017!

Since then I’ve become a bestselling author on Amazon, mom to the most adorable baby boy, and our story has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Women’s Day, Business Insider, and more.

I started Modern Frugality to help my friends and others who want to pay off debt, learn to do it efficiently, stay motivated on the journey and achieve a lifestyle full of joy and contentment.

10 Things About Me:

1. More than anything, I want to love all people like Jesus loves people (not very good at it but always improving.)

2. I’m a [recovering] pescatarian.

3. I love iced coffee.

4. I’m now a full-time personal finance writer but before that I was an acupuncturist.

5. I’ve done four half marathons and have no desire to do a full. I think I’ll stick to 10Ks and 15Ks from now on.

6. I used to design T-Shirts. It got me in Money Magazine!

7. I worked as a caregiver at foster group homes for three years and hope to be a foster mom in the near future.

8. I love CrossFit. I am the worst at CrossFit. I don’t talk about CrossFit.

9. My husband and I met at his house and the only reason I talked to him is because I was three glasses of wine deep. I will never start a blog about dating.

10. The other reason I started a blog is to have an excuse to look at more gifs.

Growing up no one taught me about personal finance. There was never any talk about retirement, investing, or budgeting. When I went to college I had no clue how to pay for it so I took out loans and a credit card to get by. This is not just my story, 42% of our generation have student loans averaging upwards of $28K and consumer debt on top of it.

I want to show people that living frugally isn’t boring or just for privileged people. I want to encourage you and help you along your journey in controlling your spending, paying off debt and ditching the scarcity mindset that holds you back. So if you’re ready to live an intentional life with your finances,

let’s be friends.

Connect with me on Instagram at @modernfrugality and join the Frugal Friday newsletter at the bottom of this page.