Frugal Five Meet Val

Val is frugal mom to 2 girls from Atlanta, GA

What is your financial life?

I am a working mom who waited until I was almost 40 to have my first child. . I have 2 daughters 6 and 9 years old. I work as a business analyst in the insurance industry. My husband also works in insurance more in the marketing side (we met at work 15 years ago). Our finances are pretty stable-we do not have any credit card debt and have 2 paid for cars. We did recently splurge on a vacation home that is almost paid off. Our home is almost paid off, we don't have one of those McMansion . It would be considered a smaller home but most people in our income bracket $200,000 but we both wanted a vacation home instead.

What is your budget buster?
The cost of upkeep on a second home


What is your favorite money saving tip?

Don't overspend. If you do not have the cash, you can't afford it.

If you had an extra $1000 what would you do with it?

It would go towards the vacation house payoff.


What is your best resource for frugal living?

I enjoy reading many messages boards including Women in Red msn message boards.