About G.E. Miller

Hi there! I’m G.E. Miller, the founder, owner, and sole author of 20somethingfinance.com – an independently owned and written personal finance site for individuals looking to improve their financial situation. After graduating from Michigan State University with a business degree, I worked for 16 years in non-profit and tech, and founded this site along the way to share what I’ve learned from the thousands of hours I’ve put in to personal finance education and practice. I’ve also written for the original personal finance app (Mint) and last remaining personal finance magazine, Kiplinger.

Aside from this site, I’m a husband, friend of dogs (cats are lovely too), cyclist, DIYer, backpacker/hiker, Michigan State athletics fanatic, investor, and a total personal finance nerd.

Using the principles I’ve researched and written about on this site for well over a decade, I went from zero savings and significant debt after graduation, to paying off all student loan, credit card, medical, auto, and mortgage debt in my 20s and then saving over 85% of my income and becoming financially independent in my 30s. No trust fund. No inheritance. No windfalls.

About 20somethingfinance.com

At 16+ years, 20somethingfinance is one of the longest running personal finance blogs in the world, with nearly 1,000 articles in the archives. If you’re new here, you can find and subscribe to get all new articles sent to you, for free. And bookmark my recommended products page, which is a cliff notes of money savings products and tips for the site (and updated frequently).

Also – don’t let the name of the site scare you off. If you’re not in your 20s, I no longer am either (but the site is stuck with the name), and 50%+ of the readers here are over age 30. Improving our personal finances is a lifelong pursuit.

Now, on to the more detailed and dramatic personal story on why this site exists…

The Best Years?

It took a lot of work (and plenty of luck) to reach a good place financially. I grew up in a lower middle class, one-income family. I worked throughout high school and college to help pay my way through a public university.

tired

I graduated from college firmly into a recession, with a business B.A. from Michigan State University. After 300+ applications, I finally hit the workforce and started making just $30k per year while working 50-60+ hours a week at a job that did not require a college degree. Financially, I had zero wiggle room – my cell phone, cable, internet, utility, car, fuel, rent, insurance, credit card, student loan, and food expenses were eating all of my income. I had zero savings to speak of and significant debts.

With no escape in sight, I started to question whether this typical American work-spend-repeat lifestyle to keep up with the latest consumer indulgences was sustainable for me.

Taking Action

I felt like I needed to take action. I realized that if I were going to be successful in the game of life, I needed to veer off of the typical life path. But, my finances were holding me back. So what did I do? I started hacking them.

I got married and we had a cheap wedding – keeping the cost to under $2,500. I sold my heavily financed home and moved to take a higher income job. Instead of buying a bigger home, I bought a smaller one. I then sold our second car to get rid of the payments and started biking to work. I sold half of my personal belongings, cut my recurring monthly expenses, became (mostly) vegetarian, slashed my grocery costs, and stopped dining out almost entirely once I learned how to cook. I maxed out my 401K and IRA contributions. I stopped trading stocks and started investing. I stopped paying for my company’s traditional PPO health insurance and switched to an HDHP and HSA, so that they started paying me. I DIYed housing projects. I re-worked my wallet and started using credit cards to my benefit, including plenty of free travel. I switched to products and services that saved me a lot of money vs. ones that only took money away. “Stuff” and material status stopped mattering to me.

As a result, my expenses declined drastically while my income increased. I eventually reached a personal savings rate of over 85% of what I earned – 34 times the average U.S. savings rate of 2.5%. In short, my finance hacking was allowing me to save, in just two years, a higher percentage of income than most do cumulatively, OVER THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. And that income has had plenty of time to compound.

Deprived?

Did all of this lead to a feeling of deprivation? Not at all! I felt excited, driven, and determined. Instead of fear and resentment, I started feeling empowered and hopeful about the future and was motivated to do even more. Financial independence became an inevitable path, not just a fantasy.

The downsides? There are none. I have easily adjusted. I have all the stuff I need and more. And I’ve become more creative, less materialistic, and much more satisfied and in control in my life.

I have a comfortable home, a great wife, and an awesome dog. My wife and I bike, backpack, travel, cook, entertain, we’re in good health, and we have zero debt. We’re not missing out on a thing that matters.

What’s Next?

Let’s take this personal finance journey together. I’ve learned a lot over the years that I want to share with you. And I want to learn from you as well.

If you get fired up about:

  • financial independence
  • hacking your spending to boost your savings
  • reducing wasteful consumption and minimizing your impact on the environment
  • learning the basics of personal finance & sharing ideas with others
  • investing your savings
  • being healthy, wealthy, well-rounded, generous, and setting your own path in life

… then you are in the right place.

Actions to Take

If this all sounds good to you, you can:

1. Start by getting new 20somethingfinance articles delivered directly to you (for free), via email:

2. Check out the full archive of every article in chronological order.

3. Refer to this list of money saving tips/products I recommend for some quick and easy wins. I update it weekly.

~ Best Regards

G.E Miller

Founder, owner, author: 20somethingfinance.com

Contact Me

If you’d like to contact me, please do so here, comment on an article (probably the best route) or put pen to paper to the following mailing address:

20somethingfinance.com

PO Box 271 | Dexter, MI 48130 | USA