Money & Career

The founder of LaVigne Organic Skincare shares the surprises and setbacks of launching a beauty brand

We just booked our annual pilgrimage to warmth - Florida. My Mum, the lucky gal, spends the winter there and I’ve always managed to get away for a visit. But right now with two kids and a tight budget, going south is going to be tough.

I wrote this post about how we’re managing our expectations about our retirement lifestyle based on what we can afford to save (no, I won’t be the lady on the sailboat!) - now, we’re managing our expectations about what our house can and should do for us.

We were off to such a promising start. As we embarked on our debt diet, we reined in our habit of ordering takeout at the end of an exhausting day. We were saving money, eating better and getting smarter about how we shopped. Then Christmas came... and we fell off the wagon.

Eight years ago this month I walked away from a good job with solid benefits to go freelance. A few friends thought I was crazy - most were really supportive. They’d watched me struggle in my job for a couple of years.