Jacqueline Burch got married and did what all newlyweds do, spent time with her husband. They continued down the road of "things you’re supposed to do"—had dinners out with friends, purchased a home, and had a baby! After her first son was born, she returned to work and he went to daycare. She knew she needed to invest for her future, but wasn’t quite sure how to do it. Aimlessly investing didn’t yield the results she wanted (shocker!) and upon realizing she was pregnant again, Jacqueline decided to get her finances in order. She and her husband cut all extraneous spending, paid off their outstanding debt, and even found a way to reduce childcare from $77/day for one child to $65/day for two. Jacqueline became an expert is optimizing her family’s finances —and a master at turning “we can’t afford that” into creative ways to accomplish anything. Her ingenuity includes teaching ski lessons as a way to afford skiing for her family of six, rehabbing a short sale house to live in, and continuing to live in a 932-square-foot house even after her fourth child was born. Jacqueline absolutely embodies the mantra "when you have the desire, you find a way, and when you don’t, you find an excuse.” This woman makes no excuses and always finds a way. If you are looking for a repeatable path to financial freedom, this is a can’t-miss episode. In This Episode We Cover: Jacqueline's journey with money On doing childcare, working full-time, and going to school Her mistake when she bought their first house How they started their FI journey How she discovered the concept of FIRE On budgeting the household expenses On increasing their savings from 11% to 35% after cutting off some of their expenses The benefits of being a ski instructor How she paid off her debts How she increased her savings rate Her money management saving strategy On doing private money lending Her life before and after working from home and leaving her job On childcare expenses On sending her four kids to a private school What retiring early looks like for them How she cuts her grocery bills On note investing The deal breakers for her when it comes to lending On the investment property she has On focusing on short- to medium-term investments as her investment philosophy How she plans the college education for her 4 sons And SO much more! Links from the Show Waffles on Wednesday BiggerPockets Money Podcast 07: How Breakfast Food Motivated Financial Freedom with Mr. and Mrs. Waffles on Wednesday Craigslist BiggerPockets Money Podcast 01: The Surprising (Scientific) Truth Behind What Makes You Successful with Mr. Money Mustache BiggerPockets Money Podcast 03: Cutting Your Grocery Bill in Half with Erin Chase from $5 Dinners BiggerPockets Money Podcast 20: The Simple Path to Wealth—Index Funds Explained with JL Collins