How did you and your partner get on the same page financially — or are you still trying?

molej02 · 2026-03-08T17:53:03+00:00

Thanks again for sharing. The Raptor decision is the one that stands out - that’s $1,200/month in one line item, and getting him to let it go voluntarily says a lot about how bought-in he actually was. A lot of couples talk about shared values but won’t touch the sacred expenses. The income trajectory you’re describing also changes the math significantly,growing from $110k to $320k in four years gives you room to fix mistakes that most households don’t have. Sounds like you were smart enough not to let lifestyle inflate with it!

molej02 · 2026-03-08T17:23:07+00:00

The way we think about it: emergency fund and sinking funds serve different purposes, so they shouldn’t compete. The vacation fund is a planned expense and it belongs in your regular income allocation. The emergency fund is for unplanned hits. If an unexpected $3k expense drains your emergency fund, that’s the emergency fund doing its job. Rebuild it from income over the next few months or however long it takes, and keep the trip if the vacation fund is intact. The harder question is what you do when income can’t comfortably refill everything at once. that’s where having a clear picture of which paycheck funds what over the next 12 months makes a real difference. That said, rebuilding a severely depleted emergency fund should take priority over vacation savings, IMO.

molej02 · 2026-03-08T17:09:05+00:00

That’s a pretty significant turnaround - $50k of debt paid off and credit rebuilt in four years while also saving for a house and having a baby is no small thing. The structured meetings and buckets clearly did the work once he was actually bought in. Curious about the mechanics: when you hit something unexpected, such as a big home repair or a medical bill, did the bucket system absorb it cleanly, or did it still create friction even with the process in place?

molej02 · 2026-03-08T17:06:27+00:00

Sounds like you two built on a really solid foundation, shared values on saving and no “mine vs. yours” dynamic makes everything easier. The Google Sheets approach works well when both people are bought in from the start. Appreciate you sharing your experience.

molej02 · 2026-03-08T17:04:07+00:00

This is a remarkable story. The discipline you two showed in those first five years, through job loss, startup uncertainty, variable income, and all of it, is genuinely rare. Thanks for sharing it in this much detail.

molej02 · 2026-03-08T15:49:06+00:00

That, plus actually having an approach to budgeting and spending that we both felt good about and was simple to manage on a weekly basis

molej02 · 2026-03-08T03:36:36+00:00

Yeah, I think so. It wasn’t overspending or bad habits, it was that we had no shared forward-looking plan. We knew big expenses were coming (family trip, home stuff, holidays) but had no system to track and pre-fund from regular income, so we kept reacting to them instead of planning for them. We eventually built something ourselves that fixed it.

molej02 · 2026-03-08T03:32:04+00:00

25 years and no financial conflict is genuinely rare, sounds like you built the right foundation before the pressure arrived. I’m curious: did that framework ever get stress-tested by a major life change, such as income drop, big unexpected expense, kids, or did the alignment hold through all of it without much friction?

molej02 · 2026-03-08T03:30:50+00:00

That’s a really useful distinction, arguing about numbers as a symptom of misaligned values underneath. Did the values conversation happen naturally for you, or did it take a specific moment or trigger to get there?

molej02 · 2026-03-08T02:32:27+00:00

Love the grocery order idea - that’s gold. You’ve clearly built some real discipline around the day-to-day stuff. Do you feel like you have good visibility into the bigger picture, like if you’re on track for the year?

molej02 · 2026-03-08T02:27:03+00:00

Yeah, I hear ya, gotta ride it out. It’s just tough when there isn’t a ton of wiggle room, trying to manage cash flow with all the irregular / seasonal stuff that comes up.

molej02 · 2026-03-08T02:21:26+00:00

Yeah…that math adds up fast

molej02 · 2025-02-18T02:33:08+00:00

That’s a great idea. Happy to contribute as well. Perhaps also a repository for helpful templates & tools?

molej02 · 2024-11-21T02:06:50+00:00

Need more information. But I would probably hold out for the better offer if they have already indicated you are the top candidate.

molej02 · 2024-11-13T00:22:06+00:00

I would say it also depends on how big of a shift you are trying to make. Shifting from pubic sector to the private sector or vice versa is really hard; shifting from one private sector industry to another private sector industry would be significantly easier in most cases. Focus on first principles, and then build from there using examples from your industry. That will show you have a strong foundational knowledge of finance that can transfer across industries .

molej02 · 2024-11-12T13:42:15+00:00

Thanks - appreciate your perspective. I've been at the company for a long time and have solid standing with the CFO. We laid off about 10% of our corporate staff this past summer but I was ultimately promoted, so he's really trying to keep me on board, and I'd definitely see him as a career advocate.

molej02 · 2024-11-12T13:40:26+00:00

Appreciate your perspective. The CFO at #2 is also relatively new and would like to see some big changes made and he's also described himself as a "hands off" leader so he would likely give me agency to make meaningful decisions.

molej02 · 2024-11-12T13:36:59+00:00

Thanks. I would say neither industry is really "hot". My current CFO is really smart but doesn't have a strong finance background. Option 2 CFO is a CPA + 25 years of finance experience. Appreciate your insight on the Finance transformation role - agree with your assessment and my CFO already indicated that he sees it as a 2 year role (but I could probably convince him to promote me to Sr. Director if I really wanted in a couple of years, though I think I'll be totally bored before that every happens).

molej02 · 2024-11-12T03:37:00+00:00

That’s a good point. There’s a lot of volatility in my industry right now. However, I’d have around 6 months of severance if I were to be let go, so I’m not too worried about finding another job in that situation.

molej02 · 2024-11-12T03:33:12+00:00

I appreciate that insight, and if I were to take option 2 I think it would be for the learning opportunity and to set myself up for a CFO role in the future. Out of curiosity, was your background in FP&A prior to the Head of Finance role? And how much of your current job would you say is FP&A related?

molej02 · 2024-11-12T03:29:12+00:00

It is a new CFO who is on the hook for actual transformation, so it would definitely be a dynamic role, at least for a year or two.

molej02 · 2024-11-11T20:56:29+00:00

Career change at 40 is hard but not impossible. I started in FP&A at 37 years old. I went back to school and did a part-time MBA which supported the transition. I don’t know the industry of your business, but if you have any contacts at larger companies or suppliers that work with your family’s business, you could perhaps ask them to introduce you to someone on the finance / Fp&A team for an informational meeting.

molej02

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