The Other Kind of Freedom

Monthly Money Man on July 3, 2026

Every July 4th, we celebrate freedom — but the freedom that changes your life doesn’t get a parade, fireworks, or flags. That’s financial freedom. We fire up the grill, watch the fireworks, and take a moment to appreciate what it means to live in a country built on the idea that people deserve to be free. It’s a big idea. A worthy one. But most people spend their entire lives chasing financial freedom without ever quite reaching it

And here’s the thing — it doesn’t look the way most people think it does.

What Financial Freedom Actually Looks Like

Let me tell you about my day.

My mechanic handled my car. A contractor worked on my AC. I picked up two fast casual meals so I didn’t have to cook. And I spent the day doing work I love.

No yacht. No beach in the Maldives. Just a regular Tuesday where my time was mine.

Last week looked different — I paid my kids and my nephew to handle the majority of my 12 yards of mulch and a load of stones. Saved about 20% off a professional rate, the work was just as good, I made sure of it, and instead of writing a check to a business I put that money in three kids’ pockets. That’s everybody winning.

Two different days. Same idea. I had the freedom to let others handle what I didn’t have to do myself — because I’d built enough financial breathing room to make that choice.

That’s financial freedom. Not a number in a bank account. Not early retirement on a tropical island. It’s optionality — the ability to decide how you spend your time because you’re not trapped by financial pressure.

Most people celebrate freedom every Fourth of July and then go back to living paycheck to paycheck the other 364 days. They’re not free — they’re just busy.

Living paycheck to paycheck means every unexpected bill is a crisis. Every job you hate, you keep. Every dream you have, you defer. That’s not freedom. That’s the opposite of it.

Financial freedom is buying back your time. Every dollar you save, every debt you eliminate, every investment you make — you’re purchasing more Tuesdays like mine.

And the earlier you start, the more Tuesdays you buy.

The Conversation Worth Having This Weekend

Here’s where you come in.

This Fourth of July weekend, while the kids are around and the mood is light, try this. Ask them one question:

“If you never had to worry about money, what would your perfect Tuesday look like?”

Let them answer. Don’t redirect. Don’t correct. Just listen and write it down together.

Then tell them — that’s the goal. That’s what we’re building toward. And here’s how we start.

The Freedom Day Challenge

This is an exercise you can do with your kids this summer and it will teach them more about financial freedom than any lecture ever could.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Give your child a task or small job to earn a set amount — $5, $10, whatever fits your family.

Step 2: Tell them they can use that money to hire a sibling or you to do their chores for one full day.

Step 3: They spend that day doing whatever low cost or free activity they choose — a bike ride, a board game, a trip to the park. Their call entirely. They own that day.

Step 4: That evening, sit down and ask them — how did that feel?

Then connect the dots. That feeling of having your time be yours? That’s what financial freedom feels like. And every dollar you save and invest is buying you more days like this one.

It works because they don’t just hear about financial freedom — they experience it. And once you feel it, you want it forever.

Starting the Journey Early

You don’t have to wait until your kids are teenagers to make investing real for them.

When my boys were young, if one of them said “Dad, I want to buy stock in that company” — we did it. I’d purchase a share or two inside my own brokerage account and keep a simple spreadsheet tracking their holdings. At the end of the year I’d pay out their dividends. Real investing. Real money. Real lessons.

No special account required. No paperwork. Just a parent making the concept tangible before it had to be.

When they’re ready for the next step — typically around 14 or so — a custodial brokerage account lets them invest in their own name with a parent or guardian co-signing. That first account is a real act of financial independence. Their money, their decisions, their future. If they have earned W2 income, its not too early to start their ROTH IRA.

The earlier they start, the longer compounding has to work. And the sooner they feel what it means to own a piece of something, the sooner financial freedom stops being an abstract idea and starts being a destination they’re actually climbing toward.

This Fourth of July, Celebrate Financial Freedom Too

We are lucky to live in a country that was built on freedom. Take a moment this weekend to appreciate that — it’s real and it matters.

And then take one more moment to think about the other kind.

The freedom to wake up on a Tuesday and decide what happens next. The freedom to not panic when the car breaks down. The freedom to work because you love it, not because you have to.

That freedom is buildable. It’s teachable. And it starts with a conversation at the kitchen table this weekend.

Start the climb.

See you at the top.

Fill Your Summer Without Emptying Your Wallet

Monthly Money Man on June 26, 2026

Every summer has a moment that defines it before it even begins.

For me, it’s the last day of school. My boys come through the door and suddenly I’ve got two-plus months where they’re looking at me like — okay Dad, what’s the plan? The pressure is real. And my plan has always been the same: enjoy every single minute.

But enjoyment doesn’t happen by accident. Neither does staying on budget. The summers I remember most — the ones my kids still talk about — weren’t the expensive ones. They were the ones where we had just enough on the calendar to keep things moving, and just enough flexibility to do whatever we felt like on any given day.

That’s the system for turning local summer adventures on a budget into the summers your kids remember forever. And it’s simpler than you think.

Step One: Pull Out Your Calendar and Look for Empty Space

Before you spend a single dollar on summer entertainment, open your calendar. All of it — June, July, August. Look at what you already have and more importantly, look at what you don’t.

Those empty slots are opportunities.

Now open your local community calendar. Most cities, townships, and parks departments publish summer events online — festivals, parades, free concerts, 4th of July fireworks, outdoor movie nights. Go through the entire summer. When something looks interesting, put it on the calendar.

Here’s the key: you don’t have to go. Writing it down just means you have something there if you want it. It’s a menu, not a commitment.

Then expand outward. Check the neighboring town. Check the county. Check your state parks calendar. You’ll be surprised how much is out there that costs nothing or next to nothing. Some of our most fun nights were free events where we packed a cooler, and invited friends — and honestly, those nights were better than plenty of things we paid for. When something is free, it’s easy to say yes, easy to invite people, and easy to just show up without any pressure.

Step Two: Build Your Boredom Buster List

Even the best-planned summer has dead days. The weather turns, plans fall through, or everyone just wakes up restless with nowhere to be.

That’s where your boredom buster list comes in.

This is separate from your calendar — it’s not scheduled, it’s just waiting. A running list of ideas for home and for getting out. Think about the people you’re spending summer with. What are they into right now? Dinosaurs? Trains? A topic from school that sparked something? Sports, music, cooking, building things?

Build the list around their interests and your budget. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Some of our best summer days were completely unplanned — we just grabbed the list, picked something, and went. Our family was big into board games, so at the start of every summer I’d pick up at least one new one. By August there was always a rainy day or a slow evening where breaking it out was perfect. Plus we had years of games already waiting on the shelf.

The list is your backup plan. And having a backup plan means boredom never wins.

Step Three: Build In at Least One Tradition

This is the part that costs the least and sticks the longest.

Every summer we spent a day at Lake Michigan with family. Picked a beach, built our annual sandcastle, packed a cooler full of food we were going to eat anyway. The kids got bigger, the sandcastles got more elaborate, and we photographed every single one. Some years we’d pick a different beach just to mix it up — but the day always happened and it was always happened on the coast of Lake Michigan somewhere.

Other than gas, that tradition cost us almost nothing. What it gave us was everything.

Another one that became a summer staple for us was flashlight tag — a nighttime game that costs nothing and gets better the more people you invite. Everyone grabs a flashlight, one person seeks, and the chaos begins. We’d plan it last minute, call a few neighbors, and end up outside until way too late. Some of our loudest, best nights of summer.

Think about your summer on a budget and what your version of that looks like. A yearly hike. A backyard movie night on the first Friday of summer. A road trip to a place you’ve never been. Traditions don’t need budgets — they need intention.

The Financial Angle Nobody Talks About

Here’s what most people miss: a planned summer is a cheaper summer.

When you have nothing on the calendar, boredom fills it — and boredom is expensive. You end up at the theme park on impulse, or buying things to fill the time, or saying yes to stuff you didn’t really want to do just because nothing else was happening.

A State Park annual pass, a cooler bag, and a community calendar will take you further than you think. We’d pack a lunch, grab the pass, and have a full day of hiking, canoeing, or fishing for practically nothing. That same money spent on a family trip to the movie theatre disappears before the previews end— a family of four can hit $100 between tickets and concessions without even trying.

The goal isn’t to have a cheap summer. The goal is to have a full one — full of memories, full of moments, full of the kind of days your kids will still talk about when they’re grown. Kids don’t care about summer on a budget, they just want to have fun.

That doesn’t cost as much as you think. It just takes a little planning before the last day of school.

See you at the top.

Summer Spending Done Right

Monthly Money Man on June 5, 2026

Part 1 of a 4-Part Summer Series

Last summer I rappelled down a waterfall in the Costa Rican jungle with my boys. The flight there cost us about $30 a person.

I’ll explain that in a future article — because points travel is a whole conversation worth having. But I mention it because people around here ask me some version of the same question every spring: “So, what do you have planned this summer?”

I’ve built a bit of a reputation as the dad who always has a plan. What most people don’t know is that I built this system about fifteen years ago, when the Summit was a camping trip two hours from home and the budget was tight. The system didn’t change as our finances improved — it just had more to work with.

That same summer we hit Costa Rica, we also grabbed some kayaks with a few friends and spent an afternoon floating a local river. At one point, a beaver swam right up alongside our kayaks. The kids still talk about it. That trip cost almost nothing.

And one evening, we took my mom to the free airshow at the local airport and watched jets light up the sky.

Three very different experiences. One summer. One budget. One system.

Today I want to walk you through it — because whether your summer spending budget is $500 or $5,000, the same approach works.

What Most Finance Experts Get Wrong About Summer

Spending money on experiences doesn’t get a lot of love in the personal finance world. Some experts treat it like a guilty pleasure — something you do after you’ve checked all the responsible boxes.

I disagree. Respectfully, but firmly.

We’ve spent the last six months building your foundation together — safety nets, debt strategy, investing basics. That work matters. But so does this question: what is the point of climbing if you never stop to enjoy the view?

Your kids are growing up. Life is short. You’ve worked hard, and summer is one of the few stretches of the year where the whole family has space to breathe together.

Planned, intentional summer spending on experiences isn’t a detour from the climb. It’s part of it.

The Three Layers of an Epic Summer

I take whatever summer budget we have and sort it into three layers. Every year, same system.

Layer 1: The Summit

This is your one big bucket list experience for the summer. The thing you’ll talk about for years.

It doesn’t have to be international — it just has to feel epic to your family. A national park road trip. A week at a lake cabin. A camping adventure somewhere you’ve never been. One per summer. Give it the budget it deserves, and if you can, book it early. Prices are almost always cheaper in January than in June.

Layer 2: The Day Hikes

These are your medium-range experiences — memorable without being extravagant.

A kayak trip down a local river. A weekend at a waterpark. A baseball game. A day trip somewhere new. These fill the calendar between the Summit and everyday life. Aim for two or three depending on your budget, and don’t underestimate them. Some of our best memories have come from a $40 afternoon on the water.

Layer 3: The Boredom Busters

This is where the magic actually happens — and it’s the layer most families skip.

Boredom Busters are the low-cost, high-creativity activities that fill in all the gaps. A free airshow. A neighborhood game of flashlight tag after dark. A new set of pickleball paddles. A backyard movie night. Fireworks at the park with grandma.

These aren’t filler. They’re the connective tissue of a great summer. When there’s nothing big on the calendar and the kids are starting to melt into the couch, you pull from the list — and suddenly the day has a plan.

The families who have an epic summer aren’t always the ones with the biggest budget. They’re the ones who never run out of ideas.

Your Assignment Before Next Friday

Here’s what I want you to do this week.

Set your summer budget. Sit down and figure out what you realistically have available for summer fun. Not what you wish you had — what’s actually there. If the number is $1,000, that’s a solid Layer 2 experience and a full Boredom Buster list. That can be a genuinely great summer.

If money is tight this year, lean hard into Layer 3. Free festivals, library programs, state park trails, an airshow, a river walk. Summer doesn’t have a minimum spend requirement — but it does reward a plan.

Then make your three lists. Dream a little. What would your Summit look like this year? What are a couple of Day Hike ideas your family would love? And start a running Boredom Buster list you can pull from all summer long.

Don’t overthink it. This is supposed to be fun.

Next week we’re getting into vacation planning — how memberships, timing, and a little strategy can make a real trip more affordable than you think. It’s one of my favorite topics, and I think it’ll change how you look at summer expenses going forward.

You’ve done the hard work this spring. Now let’s make sure you actually enjoy the climb.

See you at the top.

Fun Money — Allow Yourself to Breathe and Take in the View

Monthly Money Man on February 27, 2026

In January, we built our basecamp. We mapped out the year, set our financial intentions, and committed to the climb. In February, we focused on building our safety net — the cash reserves that catch us when life, as it always does, throws something unexpected in our path.

But here’s something every experienced climber knows that the guidebooks don’t always tell you. The mountain will break you if you never stop to breathe. If you put your head down and grind every single day without a moment to look up and take in the view, you won’t make it to the top. Not because the mountain beat you, but because you forgot why you started climbing in the first place.

That’s what this week is about. Fun Money.

Why Fun Money Is Not Optional

I want to be direct with you. Fun Money is not a reward for when you’ve “made it.” It’s not something you allow yourself after you’ve checked every financial box. Fun Money is a required line item in your budget — as essential as your rent, your groceries, and your emergency fund.

Here’s why. One of the most common reasons people abandon their financial climb isn’t because they lack discipline or intelligence. It’s because the journey feels like punishment. Every dollar is accounted for, every purchase is scrutinized, every impulse is denied. That works for about three weeks before human nature wins and the budget gets thrown out the window entirely.

The most successful financial plans I’ve ever seen — and after nearly three decades of living, studying, and advising on personal finance, I’ve seen a lot of them — are the ones that build enjoyment into the system from the beginning. Not as an afterthought. Not as a cheat day. As a planned, intentional, guilt-free category in the budget.

At Monthly Money, we’re not just about reaching the top. We’re about enjoying the climb. Because what’s the point of summiting a mountain you hated every step of?

Where This Idea Comes From

I’ll be honest with you about something personal. I grew up in a home where money was a constant source of tension. I watched my parents argue about finances more times than I can count, and eventually that financial stress contributed to their divorce. I was eleven years old when our family split apart, and I made a promise to myself that day — I would learn everything I could about money so I would never feel that powerless again.

But I also made a quieter promise. That when I built my own family, money would not be the thing that tore us apart.

My wife and I have been together for a long time, and I won’t pretend we’ve never had financial disagreements. Every couple does. But one of the systems that has genuinely protected our marriage — not just our budget — is Fun Money. We built it into our financial plan from the beginning, and it has diffused more potential arguments than I can count.

How the System Actually Works

Here’s the practical framework my wife and I use, and that I recommend as a starting point for any couple.

We set aside 3% of our combined net income — that’s take home pay after taxes — every single month. That 3% gets split in half. Half goes into her individual savings account. Half goes into mine. It happens automatically through a scheduled transfer so we never have to think about it or negotiate it in the moment.

That money is earmarked for one purpose only — to spend on whatever each of us finds meaningful, no questions asked and no justification required. If she wants to buy a piece of art for the living room or a pair of earrings I’d never understand the appeal of, that comes from her Fun Money. If I want to book a fly fishing trip or a river rafting adventure, that comes from mine. We don’t debate it. We don’t negotiate it. We simply say “it’s Fun Money” and move on.

I cannot overstate how many arguments that three word phrase has ended before they ever started.

Now, 3% is a baseline and a starting point — not a rule carved in stone. The best percentage is the one that two spouses can genuinely agree on and actually afford. If 3% of your net income works out to $100 a month, that’s $50 each. That might not sound like much, but here’s the beauty of the system — you don’t have to spend it every month.

I am a natural saver. There have been stretches of six months or more where I didn’t touch my Fun Money account at all, just letting it accumulate quietly while I focused on other things. And then one day I’d look at that balance and book something that genuinely filled my soul — a day of fly fishing in a mountain river, a challenging hiking expedition, an outdoor experience that reminded me why I work as hard as I do. I don’t place much value on material possessions. What I value is experience, adventure, and time in the wild. My Fun Money account makes that possible without a single dollar coming out of our family budget or a single conversation that starts with “do we really need to spend money on that?”

My wife has her version of that same freedom. And because we both have it, we’ve never had to fight over it.

Tony fly fishing in a mountain river enjoying his Fun Money outdoor adventure
This is my Fun Money in action — a trip to a mountain river that I saved up for month by month. Worth every penny.

What This Looks Like in Your Budget

If you’re single, Fun Money still belongs in your budget — it just looks a little different. It’s the category that gives you permission to spend on what brings you joy without derailing everything else you’re building. It’s the concert ticket, the weekend trip, the dinner out with friends that doesn’t send you into a guilt spiral afterward.

The Monthly Money Method is built around capturing the difference between what comes in and what goes out, then deploying that difference strategically. Fun Money is a strategic deployment. It’s not waste. It’s not weakness. It’s the investment you make in your own sustainability as a person who is playing a very long financial game.

The climbers who make it to the top are not the ones who never rest. They’re the ones who know when to rest, how long to rest, and how to use those moments to come back stronger for the next section of the climb.

Your Assignment This Month

Look at your current budget and find Fun Money. If it’s not there, add it. Start with 3% of your monthly net income and divide it equally if you have a spouse or partner. Set up an automatic transfer to a separate savings account on the same day every month — payday works well. Name the account something that makes you smile. And then give yourself genuine permission to spend it on whatever matters most to you, without guilt and without explanation.

The climb is long. The view along the way is part of the reward.

See you at the top.