Welcome to 5k5k Start the Challenge today!

A little about me. I began this site in October 2008 as an effort to encourage and guide others down paths that I have traveled. I married my high school sweet heart right after high school and joined the Marines. My wife and I put ourselves through college, both of us earning degrees in education. The same month I finished college, my wife gave birth to our first child. She chose to stay home with our daughter so I took a management position with Wal-Mart. Over the first 8 years of our marriage we began to accumulate debt, and it caught up with us in 2004. I had just got off of active duty, after being recalled to active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and my wife and I were expecting our second child in a matter of weeks. We bought a new home that was over 50% of our take home income. One unexpected change in income nearly sunk us as our income was reduced by nearly $300 per month. We had been walking the tight rope of finances and the line was cut with no safety net.

We began to pay our way out of debt. Over the next 1 1/2 years we eliminated over $20,000 in debt. Since 2004 we have completely changed where we are financially.

My wife has returned to teaching now that both of our children are in school and last year I left my corporate job and took a 50% cut in salary to spend more time pursuing my own interest and to spend more time with family. Even with these changes financially we are able to save over 30% of our income and we paid cash for a 700 sq ft addition to our home. I want to share the process of how we changed our life financially and what I have learned about life and money along the way. I encourage you to join 5k5k.org and challenge yourself to improve your finances and your level of physical fitness. Begin your own success story today.