Interested in saving more for yourself but sick of hearing about annoyingly complicated budget plans?

Money Spruce is all about tackling the easy stuff without altering every aspect of your life.

Want to save money for later in life but not really interested in simply maxing out your IRA?

Money Spruce features creative (and sometimes radical) ideas rather than simply repeating what’s already out there.

Are you just looking for simple yet unique ways to improve your money life?

Money Spruce will guide you through guerrilla tactics that attack debt and time wasters through never-heard-of, non-traditional strategies. Rejoice!

About Money Spruce:

Money Spruce started in January 2011 with a goal to deliver practical yet sometimes-radical personal finance advice that anyone can use in his or her daily life.  My goal is to challenge readers to consider less-traditional for dealing with money.  Along with providing strategies, Money Spruce gives practical and useful advice for money in everyday life. Money Spruce explores topics of frugality, credit, savings, and other finance issues while also considering the value of time and “green” living.  These topics encompass several of the key factors that increase happiness while reducing stress and worry.

About Me:

My name is Jeffrey Trull (you can call me Jeff, either will work).  I am 26 years old and living the freelance writer lifestyle in Portland, Oregon (when I’m not traveling). I work at the Collective Agency coworking space in Portland’s Old Town.

I have been attracted to the topic of personal finance by my desire to improve my spending and savings habits.  I’ve always been a sort of impulse buyer but have managed to curb that recently.  I save money where I can and have employed technological tricks to do so.

My real financial turning point was graduating college with credit card debt.  While my debts only amounted to $2,000, it was a terrible feeling that I constantly owed money and had to pay interest on the debt each month.  After that I was determined to educate myself through books, blogs, and any other advice I could find.  Here are a few of my money milestones I’m most proud of:

1)  I graduated college with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree with only $5,000 in student loan dept

2)  I have lived 2 years without a car (by choice, not because I couldn’t afford it), and I loved it.

3)  I live on $1000 a month currently while I am working full time as a national service volunteer yet I am still able to fully enjoy life!

I started this blog because I believe personal finance and spending habits need to change.  There are a multitude of financial mentalities and norms that are misleading or incorrect.  I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I’ve also taken unconventional paths to get to where I am today.  With a combination of learning how to live on a limited income yet still leaving an extremely awesome life, I feel I’ve succeeded in conquering money to this point in my life.  I don’t feel like I’ve had to make any sort of sacrifices in life.  I’ve simply learned to get more out of what I have.

A few things I’ve learned and strongly believe in:
1)  Free time is much more valuable than money
2)  “Things” often don’t bring me happiness
3)  Less is more when it comes to what I own

All said, I’m not any kind of money “expert”.  I’m a regular guy that’s interested in living a happy life and using money as a tool to get there.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey!  Please contact me and say “hello” using info or the form below.

Email: jeffrey at moneyspruce dot com

Phone: (978) 204-4574

Twitter: @jeffreytrull

Facebook: Money Spruce Page or my personal page.

Comments or questions are welcome.