Alyssa Explains It All

Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!

I first heard from Alyssa in 2020 and have grown to admire her upbeat attitude and healthy relationship with money. I enjoyed hearing her story, and hope you do too!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

Hi! I'm Alyssa. I’m 40 years old, married, and have two children. I live in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, work around 28 hours per week as the VP of a small insurance agency, and my husband is a self-employed attorney.

I spend my free time volunteering for my church, watching The Bachelor, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals games, and reading Substacks. And, of course, shuttling our kids to school and activities.

My interest in saving money comes from my upbringing. My parents are very frugal, but it wasn’t until college that I realized we were as well off as our friends’ families, even though we didn't spend money the way they did. We grew up in a smaller old house my dad worked on himself, bought used cars, didn’t have cable TV, wore secondhand clothes, and were at the library so much the librarians became friends. Our vacations were visiting extended family.

I spent my teen years a bit resentful that I couldn’t buy cool clothes or go to Hilton Head for spring break. And, since we didn’t have cable, I had to beg friends to tape *NSYNC's appearances on MTV on VHS tapes for me so I could watch them.

But later on, I realized the power of our families’ sacrifices. My husband and I graduated from college with zero debt because our parents paid for it. When we went to buy a house, our parents had set aside funds to help us with our down payment. They retired early enough to provide free childcare for us, and saved enough to not depend on us for full-time caregiving from us as they age.

We’re grateful for this help, and we want to be able to provide the same for our children someday, even if it seems much harder than it was 30 years ago!

My husband and I are trying to make similar financial choices and teach our kids these lessons. We live in an old house and mostly work on it ourselves, we drive used cars, economize on streaming services, wear secondhand clothes, borrow everything we can from the library, and spend most of our family vacations visiting family. We prioritize saving money so we can focus on spending time with each other rather than chasing more money. 

Tell us about a recent money saving win

One of the ways we’ve kept our expenses low has been only owning one car during our 17 years together. We commute by bus or bike, and we have local family members and friends who could lend us a car if needed.

But we knew that we’d eventually need a second car as our morning school dropoff and commute became more challenging. By Summer 2022 it was time to purchase our second car.

We did a few test drives, looked at Consumer Reports, and narrowed down to used Kia Sedona minivans with ~50,000 miles. I wanted three rows and my husband wanted cargo room for his Facebook Marketplace purchases.

Of course, used car prices were at all-time highs! Our best options locally were upwards of $30,000 for 2017 Sedonas with more than 60,000 miles. My husband was ready to buy, but I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it.

Finally, my husband texted me with a "joke": What if we drove to Saratoga Springs, New York (three states away), to buy a car? There, he’d found a fully loaded 2017 Kia Sedona with just 35,000 miles on it for $25,000, which would have cost us at least $10,000 more locally. In fact, we were driving to New Jersey next week anyway to visit family, and Saratoga Springs was less than three hours away.

And so our plan unfolded—we had a local mechanic check the car, we drove 700 miles, and a few days later we’d saved $10,000 on a car. Also, it’s hard to admit, but I love the minivan life. Everybody in, you'll all ride in sweet, sweet comfort!

What are you planning to do with the money you saved? Is there anything you're saving for?

We try to live off my salary and pretend my husband doesn't make any money. It’s not easy, but we get pretty close (depending on childcare costs)!

Our savings priorities include saving up for taxes (self-employment and property), retirement, and college. We also give to our local church, to family members who are missionaries, and we support other charities.

We’re also saving up to gut remodel the original 1925 bathroom in our house, which currently has the original tub, 500-gallon toilet, console sink, and wall tile in PINK (see photo below). We expect this to cost around $40,000.

On the fun side, I’m seeing Madonna in concert in December, and now that *NSYNC has reunited, my sister and I need to be ready if there is a tour or residency. Also, we’re planning to drive all the way to Boston next year for a family trip. Suggestions for kid-friendly activities are welcome!

Have you successfully implemented any other Saving Money with Andrew tips? Do you have a favorite post?

I always appreciate the small wins and little tips to save money. Andrew also got me hooked on cashback! Last summer we went through Rakuten to book two hotel rooms for a road trip and got 10% cash back on both!

Coming off this big win, are there any words of wisdom you'd like to share with the Saving Money with Andrew readership?

My favorite frugal life tip is to do as much of your grocery shopping as possible at Aldi! Not only do we save so much money on groceries, but their limited selection saves us a lot of time and brainpower. Instead of a wall of ketchup; there are two, and they're the same but one is big and one is small. We get our weekly shopping done in 15 minutes for $100, with our kids in tow. 

And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:

Everyone is talking about Beckham (on Netflix), and they’re right—this four part documentary is a fantastic account of one of the most famous (and stylish) soccer players in history. If you enjoy at least one of soccer, the Spice Girls, or 90’s nostalgia, you’ll definitely have fun watching this.

Also:

• At $40,000, Luxury Disney World Vacations Drain Wallets of Die-Hards

• The Cannabis That People Are Using for Anxiety Is Probably Making It Worse

• Science has an answer for why people still wave on Zoom (I always wave!)

I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories