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Frugal, Intentional Living

I Didn’t Save Any Money Last Month

June 11, 2021 15 Comments

“How much is it? Actually, wait, you know what, just put it in the cart.”  After the words came out of my mouth, my sister looked at me like I had grown another head. We both come from a family of famed frugality, so she wondered what had gotten into me. May was my anti-frugal, […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Spending

Decorating Our New Home With Thrift Store Finds

July 28, 2020 31 Comments

My family was always thrifty. My winter coats came off the rack of the local Goodwill, my shoes never cost more than $10, and any time I wanted new clothing as a teenager my mother took me to the thrift store (to my horror). As a teenager, I hated it. I wanted the hottest fashions, […]

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Expense Reports, Frugal, Intentional Living, Travel

How Much It Cost To Move Across the Country

July 15, 2020 11 Comments

We did it! We moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, from New York to Santa Barbara, from sea to shining sea. This included selling all of our furniture, shipping our car, packing our stuff, and — last-but-not-least — trundling our cat along for the ride. Are you curious how much it cost […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Money

A Cross-Country Move During a Global Pandemic

June 15, 2020 14 Comments

Yes, we are moving cross-country during a global pandemic. It turns out that hospitals are considered “essential,” in times like these, so Mr. Mechanic’s residency will start in Santa Barbara on July 1st as originally scheduled. Last year we packed the car to the brim with our favorite things and drove it from Portland, OR […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Money

I Just Sold My Bike on Craigslist

May 13, 2020 17 Comments

I counted the bills as the man loaded my bike into his car. “Twenty…eighty…one-twenty, one-forty…” I made it to $350 and nodded, mentally saying goodbye to my metal steed. In two months we will be moving across the country. When we moved here, we shoved everything into the car and drove it three thousand miles […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Money Tracking

How Much Does It Cost To Adopt A Cat? A Comparison of Three Families

April 27, 2020 9 Comments

It’s been 6 months since Mr. Mechanic and I adopted MechaniCat, so it seems like a good time to do an assessment of how much money we’ve spent on our first pet. As with everything, we went the frugal route, so it will be interesting to see if we spent more or less than expected. […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Opinions

Why You Don’t Want Nice Things

April 20, 2020 18 Comments

We stepped into our grandparents’ new condo, dazzled by the decor. They had just settled into a retirement community and finished furnishing their place. I had never seen a place like it– not because of the space, or the view, or the decoration, but there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Of […]

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Expense Reports, Frugal

Ingredients for a Quarantine – March 2020 Expenses

April 2, 2020 1 Comment

March is usually the harbinger of spring, but this year the world got a wakeup call as it ushered in a new disease instead. Yet if we rewind to the beginning of the month, we only had a faint inkling of what would come. First Week: Portland, OR and Santa Barbara, CA In fact, March […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Social

3 Easy DIY Gifts You Can Make At Home

March 23, 2020 2 Comments

If you catch yourself thinking, “I am not crafty enough to do that,” think again! I simply followed tutorials at home with limited existing skillset and managed to make four pretty cool things, if I do say so myself!

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Expense Reports, Frugal, Money Tracking

Ringing In The New Year By Spending $777 – January 2020 Expenses

February 12, 2020 2 Comments
table covered in glasses and confetti

Wow, I just realized that I completely forgot to write up my expense report for January. I had to wrack my brain a bit to remember what we did! Mr. Mechanic had a rotation in surgery which meant that I didn’t see him much. I didn’t see much at all, really, as it started getting […]

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The Mechanic

I'm a mechanical engineer turned programmer with a pretty big DIY project: save enough money to become financially independent. Financial Mechanic is all about frugality, career climbing, and investing.

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Recent Posts

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