So…..this is who we are! Doug and Jen…married for almost 28 years and we still really do love each other!
We wanted to introduce ourselves and tell you a little bit about the good decisions we made to enable us to retire early…and live our BIG and adventurous lives!
When we were a whole lot younger!
Doug and I married in the spring of 1995 and were living in a small one bedroom apartment in southern Indiana. I was working as a dental hygienist and he was a new officer with the local police department. We each had small part-time jobs on the side, his paying a whole lot more than mine, and saved almost all the money we made. Even then we were making good decisions…most of the time…and focusing on our future selves!
Our first home
In the spring of 1996, we found a newly built 3 bedroom home in a small neighborhood and were able to purchase it and make it ours. It was a great place to start our family, and we have many happy memories of that little home! Doug and I brought two little girls into that home….one in 1996 and another in 1999.
Moving up
Early in 2002, Doug and I moved our little family to a smaller town in southern Indiana. We found a beautiful 4 bedroom home with a big yard in a very nice neighborhood. The home was going through foreclosure and we bought the house at a great price.
Our family grew in this new home as we added two MORE girls to our family! 2002 and 2004 brought the total of our family to 6! Those days were busy and very full of activities!
Making it all work
I was a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling our girls and Doug was still working at the police department. I was so grateful to be able to spend that time with our girls, but I knew it came at a cost.
Doug and I were always conscious of our spending, but it really was just about making small good decisions on a daily basis. When the girls and I went to the bigger city for activities, we took drinks and snacks with us from home. Making supper at home was something I did not only to save money, but to make life easier! Taking 4 kids out to eat was just crazy most of the time!
Doug worked a lot of off-duty jobs during that time, but he was an incredibly involved dad. He took the girls to St. Louis Cardinals games, camping, car races, and just made everyday life a whole lot of fun for them!
Looking out for our future selves
Raising 4 girls in a one-income family can be quite a challenge, but Doug has always been financially responsible and an incredible planner for our family. He knew years ago what he wanted for our family and hasn’t ever been afraid to make the good and sometimes tough decisions to get us there. He knew that identifying with our future selves would pay off!
After 28 years on the police department, Doug was able to retire in 2022. That was a special day for us and certainly cause for celebration! I retired from my position as a high school librarian that year, also. Living with purpose and enjoying our time together is better than we had imagined!
Over the past 8 years, we have helped two of our daughters through college and they are now successful women living their big dreams! Another daughter is working hard and achieving success in her own way…which we love! The last daughter is in college now pursuing her awesome path in life!
All of this is possible because we made small…and not so small…decisions over the past 28 years to achieve our goal of enjoying LIFE while we can! We made decisions that looked out for our future selves. Not just decisions that felt good in the moment! No one would say that we have deprived ourselves or our kids, but we were always mindful of our decisions and were always keeping an eye on the future.
Where we are now
It was a BIG day when we were able to make the final payment on our house last year! That was such an exciting day for us. The past several years we were so focused on getting to our goals that we made a concerted effort to be payment free….on everything!
Doug and I might be considered credit card super-users! He maximizes our benefits on every card we have and even the everyday purchases are benefiting us somehow. All of this takes planning and research, but trust us when we say it WORKS!
Early retirement can be a little scary for some, but we work well as a team and share the same goals. We hope that you are inspired by our story and want to learn more! Stay tuned because this year is going to be PACKED with new and exciting adventures!