Hello there. Welcome to the Frugal PhD blog. My name is Amanda and I am the Frugal PhD. I went to graduate school at a large university in the Midwest and currently work as a postdoctoral researcher in California. There, I live with my fiancé Dennis—I call him Mr. Frugal PhD—and our Australian Shepherd/Lab mix dog Furiosa. She has spirit eyes–one brown, one blue.

When I completed my degree in 2015, I realized that I knew a lot about my subject area, but I wasn’t much of an expert in my own finances. After graduating I decided it was time to apply the dedication I put into my research into my own financial life. This blog documents my journey to learn more about how to organize my finances and live a happy, sustainable lifestyle. In a way, it’s me deciding to get a second PhD, only this time it’s a self-directed path to getting smart about finances and frugality.

I created the Frugal PhD blog to offer accessible posts about personal finance that anyone can understand. You won’t find dense scholarly analyses or anything that requires advanced knowledge of statistics or economics here. My goal is no jargon, and no nonsense. What you’ll find on this blog is information on financial strategies, and tips about investing and saving. I’ll also cover topics like managing debt, professional and academic life, as well as lifestyle hacks you can implement to save some cash. Whether you’re here because you got a later start on your finances too, or simply because you want to get smarter about your money, I hope you’ll join me on this exciting quest of learning and living. Please, leave me a note if there are specific topics you’d like to see me cover on this blog. Thanks for visiting.