This post is a continuation of the post Who am I? Have I made every financial mistake possible? But you don’t need to read that post to get value out of this one.

As I mentioned in my “Who am I?” post, June of 2017 changed everything. I was playing football in the back yard with my oldest son when he threw the ball over the fence. It’s about a six-foot fence backing up to the main road through the neighborhood. The following is an ACTUAL CONVERSATION that took place:

Me: “Well, there goes that football.”

Alana: “Come on, go get the ball.”

Me: “Babe, I’m not going to jump the fence and break my leg over a dollar store football.”

Alana: “Oh, come on. You’re not going to break your leg!”

Me: Jumps fence and breaks leg. I wish I was making this up.

Here’s a pretty amazing picture of the hardware inside my leg. I’m still shocked this is ME!

So three surgeries and about three months later (because let’s be honest, I don’t remember much of those three months because of the pain medication), I realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be. I had gained a bunch of weight, I was distant, and I had a short temper with my kids. Definitely not who I wanted to be.

I searched for help online, and I came across the Dad Edge Podcast (formerly the Good Dad Project Podcast). I dove in and consumed countless episodes related to health, fitness, growth mindset, self-case, and finances. In particular, I came across the episode with Vincent Pugliese and achieving financial freedom on a modest income.

I quickly devoured his book Freelance to Freedom and then a friend in the group connected me with Vincent and I joined his mastermind group in January 2018.

Since joining the group, just about 4 months ago, Alana and I have paid off more than $30,000 in debt (freeing up more than $1150 per month in obligations), begun investing in our companies’ retirement programs, and started this blog/business.

All of this is possible because there was that little voice in the back of my head whispering, “There’s got to be a better way.”

I hope that when you hear that little voice, you listen as closely as I did. I don’t think I’m doing anything particularly special. I’m following my passion and I’m hoping that doing so can help shape families the way I’m now intentionally shaping my own.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy hearing about our adventures through the world of teaching our kids money. I hope this blog helps to spark conversations between you and your kids. I hope to provide you with tools and tips to increase your kids’ financial literacy.