About

ginna neel headshot

Hello Internet Friend!

My name is Ginna (pronounced “Gin-na”) and welcome to my little corner of the Internet. I’m a 30-something year old who thinks that the little things in life are worth celebrating and it takes a little bit of work and a whole lot of grace to live a life with intention. 

Here you can find posts on goals, family life, self care, and how to life a rich life without breaking the bank.

About this Blog

The My Pretty Pennies blog has evolved since it first began in March 2009. When I first started writing, I was fresh out of college and living in DC. I had just started a long distance relationship with J, and was navigating how to save, pay off debt and survive in a big city on an entry-level salary. During the first years of writing this blog anonymously, I learned that a little bit of hard work + a lot of faith can make big things happen.

After two years of long distance, I moved from DC to Raleigh, and then promptly got engaged. We got married on the coldest April day in 2011 (read more about our wedding here). We rescued our dog Leia in the fall of 2012 and we are best buds. After working a couple of jobs in the agency world, I found a job I love working in healthcare marketing. We welcomed our daughter into the world in 2016, and I learned what it’s like to balance life as a working mom. After my second daughter was born I quit my full-time job and am now staying at home and opened a consulting business.

Since I became debt free, this blog has evolved from a personal finance space to a lifestyle journal where I write about my faith, goals, recipes, healthy livinghome projects, and all of the pretty people, places and things that inspire. Here’s a recent post on why I write

Even though the sole focus of the blog is not on personal finance any more, I still share tips on how to be financially free and make wise decisions with your money. My perspective is that you don’t have to be rich to have a rich life. Experiences over stuff. People over luxuries. I believe that money has the power to change, and I think we can all change this world for the better, one pretty penny at a time.

About Ginna:

My husband J and I live in Durham, NC. I am a mom to two daughters, L was born April 2016 and M was born September 2017. I also have a lovable rescue dog who has been in our family since October 2012. 

Reading has always been a favorite past-time of mine, and recently I started a website dedicated to sharing the best and favorite in children’s books. Find out more at theKidBookNook.com.

Get to know me more:

Thanks so much for visiting — please feel free to contact me with any questions!

Find me elsewhere:

Disclaimer:

This blog is for entertainment purposes only, I am not a financial advisor or licensed financial professional in any state. All comments are property of their authors and do not represent my opinions.

On ads & referral links: In order to help supplement the maintenance and cost of running a blog, I have ads across the site and some of the links are affiliate links, which means I get a tiny portion of all sales using that referral code. I’ll be sure to let you know whenever there is a referral link so you’re aware. :)