Decluttering Is An Opportunity To Make Money

Written by on · 2 Comments

It hasn’t happened for awhile, but walking through my home I could tell it was time. It was time for a good stuff purging, which also happens to be a great opportunity to put a little extra cash in my pocket. I grabbed a notebook and pen and started writing down things I believed I could sell in our latest round of decluttering. I went through my home making a list of things I could sell. Lawn Mower The handle is held on by a makeshift bolt, it leaks oil, and earlier this spring the cable that controlled the self […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 5/27

Written by on · 4 Comments

Memorial Day weekend is here!  It’s the unofficial start to summer……although the kids have 2 weeks of school left.  The holiday weekend is a good reminder that we need to adjust our grocery shopping list, and our budget, to account for the kids being home during the day.  For me personally it means I can sleep a little later as I don’t have to make sure kids are up, fed, and off to school.  Yup, that’s right….in a few weeks I’ll get to sleep in to 5:30am!!! Fist pump for sleeping in! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 2/3rds of […] Read more »

Driving Vs. Flying – How Much Did We Save?

Written by on · 14 Comments

My son and I were walking from the beach to our rental home while on vacation in Florida. We were discussing our travel plans home as the next day we were to begin the multiple day drive back to Minnesota. “So, it’s cheaper to drive than it is to fly, right?” he asked. Without hesitation I stated it was much cheaper for our family to drive. I didn’t doubt my answer, but I wondered just how much money we were saving. I decided to do the research and find out. Traveling By Car   Fuel: Our family van averages 25mpg […] Read more »

Friday Fist Pump: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 4/8

Written by on · 2 Comments

A week ago the Pizel family was driving across the country from Minnesota to Florida.  Today, we begin our way back.  It’s been a great vacation.  We spent countless hours at the beach as well as in the pool at our vacation home.  I’ve maintained my workouts, gone jet-skiing, and gone on a dolphin boat cruise. PLUS, We’ve saved a ton of money by cooking most of our own meals. But I’m ready to go home.  More than ready.  As soon as I hit “publish” on this post, we’ll be packing up the van and heading north.  Hopefully I’ll bring […] Read more »

Paying Off The House Wasn’t Our #1 Priority – but we did it anyway

Written by on · 8 Comments

Attention, Attention, EOD Nation!  I interrupt our usually scheduled program to bring you a very special post from our friend Steve Stewart, who has some very exciting news to share with us!  Take it away, Steve!!!! Today is the day! My wife and I are going to the bank and paying off the house! This is our Christmas gift to each other – and it is just what we wanted!  We purchased our home in 1999 on a 5/1 ARM, then refinanced it (twice) by 2003. I’d like to say paying off the house was our #1 priority, but it wasn’t.  […] Read more »

How Overpriced Is The Olive Garden? The Post Where I Say “Hell No” To Takeout Pasta

Written by on · 31 Comments

It’s no secret that I dislike going out to eat. To be specific, I don’t like going out to eat just to order something that I could make as good at home, at significantly less cost. I don’t mean to dwell on this subject, but eating out is just such a colossal waste of money.  The absolute worst offender is anything pasta related, including a favorite restaurant of my wife and daughter; The Olive Garden. Look, it’s not The Olive Garden’s fault that they garner such hate from me, it’s just that taking a family of four there for dinner […] Read more »

The Best $250 Gadget Ever Purchased

Written by on · 8 Comments

A friend of mine suggested I stop fighting with my old, cracked iPod Nano and replace it with something more current. Call me cheap, frugal, or nostalgic – I just can’t bring myself to part with my old friend (the iPod, that is). Gadgets are exciting! Gadgets are fun. Gadgets make life easier. They are also expensive. Americans spend thousands of dollars on new gadgets – sometimes all at once! A new TV, new phones for the family, and upgraded game systems sit under the Christmas tree each year. There is nothing wrong with that, of course – as long […] Read more »

My Favorite Part Of Having Control Of My Finances

Written by on · 16 Comments

One of the most common questions asked of people going through the process of paying off a mountain of debt is what they will do with the extra money each month once the debt is paid off. Another similar, but slightly different question is to describe how life is different now that the debt has been paid off. I’ve been asked these questions countless times. It’s easy to give the standard answers of build a larger emergency fund, invest more, or save for the kids’ college. I’ve given all those answers. There’s certainly nothing wrong them, as they’re the answers […] Read more »

Choose Role Models To Drive Internal Change

Written by on · 8 Comments

Over the weekend, my cousin’s husband ran the Green Bay Marathon. His official time was 3 hours, 7 minutes and 18 seconds, with an average pace of 7:09 per mile. His time was good enough to qualify him for the Boston Marathon. I’m in complete awe at his accomplishment, as it’s something that I hope to do some day as well. It wasn’t hard to be just a little jealous. I was thinking about my inklings of jealousy as I was driving around running errands yesterday afternoon, and then relating it to my post last week about the Joneses. Were […] Read more »

9 Tips For Creating Discipline With Money

Written by on · 6 Comments
9 Tips For Creating Discipline With Money

I frequently get questions from my readers about how to resolve their various financial problems.  The questions range from not being able to save enough, to tackling huge amounts of debt, to how to stop living paycheck to paycheck. One of the common themes I’ve discovered in the hundreds of emails I’ve received, is that most of those readers tell me the root of their problem is a lack of discipline. Lack of Money is Not the Problem Learning discipline when it comes to money is not always easy, but it’s necessary if you want to get ahead financially.  Many […] Read more »

13 Ways You Can Save Money On A Low Income

Written by on · 3 Comments
save money low income limited income

I get a lot of questions from readers wanting to know how they can save money on a low income, so I thought I would write a post about some of the suggestions I’ve been giving out that can help you put money in the bank, even when you’re living on a limited income.  I’ve also included some great resources along with the suggestions that will help you get started putting money in the bank right now!   You Can Still Save Money On A Low Income When you’re living on a small income, it can be especially hard to […] Read more »

Four Ways to Tackle Your Debt and How to Decide Which One is For You

Written by on · 6 Comments
tackle your debt

Did you think that to tackle your debt is simple and straight forward? Think again! You see, when we first realised how much debt we had all I wanted was that it disappears. Oh, I know this would have taken magic I regretfully don’t possess. It may have been done by going bankrupt were we ready to take the consequences. This wasn’t our way and we did it ‘the proper way’. We reduced our spending by developing and using the ERR strategy for money management. We learned how to make more money. And we put it all against the debt. […] Read more »

Getting Real To Get Out Of Debt

Written by on · 7 Comments
get out of debt

Editor’s note: The world can seem a bleak place when you are in debt. You look on your life, and the lives of the ones you love, and there is nothing than debt, strict budgeting and denial of your most sacred and cherished wants. It isn’t like that. There is life after debt and there is nothing like the story of a debt-survivor to make you see this. Today we bring you Jon’s debt story and hope you’ll be inspired. Jon is a fellow blogger who paid off his debt and is now building a decent investing portfolio. My name […] Read more »

A Conversation Overheard: Teenagers Ordering Pizza For The First Time

Written by on · 4 Comments

Working at the kitchen table, I had my back to my twelve year old daughter and her friends who were watching TV in the living room. It was the first day of Spring Break, and they were excited for a week without school. I tried to tune out the sounds of whatever teenage girls usually talk about, when suddenly one of them said something that made my ears perk up. “We should order pizza!” The suggestion was meant to be a joke, but I listened to them begin to discuss some details such as what kind of pizza they would […] Read more »