Go Ahead And Make Your New Year’s Resolution

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A growing trend has emerged in recent years, I like to call it resolution shaming. Tomorrow is January 1st, the start of a brand new year and many will use the turning of the calendar as an opportunity to put the past behind them and begin working on new financial goals. In response, others will mock resolutions makers because many will abandon their goals within days or weeks. I say screw ’em. January 1st is the perfect time to begin working on a new financial goal. Why You Should Make A New Year Resolution One thing that sets humans apart […] Read more »

Spend Money On Things That Give You Goosebumps

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Personal finance blogs talk a lot about how NOT to spend your money. I’m trying to give spending a positive twist, and help you decide how you SHOULD spend your money. Last week I gave a list of things I don’t mind pulling my wallet out for. This week I’m going to take take it in a little different direction and help you determine what things belong on your list. Another way to look at useful spending is to think about things that really enhance your life. In many cases, these may be experiences or hobbies. A clip of a […] Read more »

Achieving Your Goals: Focus On Behavior, Not The Outcome

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Staring at the scale, I already knew what it would say. It was the designated weigh in day to check my progress towards my weight loss goal. I knew I hadn’t lost weight. It wasn’t because the scale hadn’t been on my mind. I thought about it every day. The fact that I thought about it, and only it, so often was exactly the problem. I had focused on the wrong thing, with disastrous results. Focusing On The Outcome is The Wrong Way To Achieve A Goal I was focused on the wrong thing, thinking constantly about what the scale […] Read more »

What NFL Wide Receiver Adam Thielen Can Teach Us About Finances

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I’m a huge Minnesota Vikings fan. This year’s team is doing really well for a lot of reasons, but one player that has a special place in my heart is that of Adam Thielen. Thielen actually played Division 2 college football at little known Minnesota State University, Mankato. That just happens to be my alma mater. He wasn’t recruited out of high school, went undrafted at the NFL draft, and had to pay to display his skills at a regional combine. He was invited to Vikings training camp, and was added as a practice squad member that year. From there […] Read more »

Have You Given Up On Your Financial Dreams?

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Parents tell children they can do anything they put their mind to. We encourage them by stating they can be anything they want. The sky is the limit! We want our children to be successful, and tell them they are only limited by their imagination. I know I’ve certainly told my kids these exact same things. But let me ask you a question; When was the last time you told yourself these things? Do you believe it? We tell children they can accomplish anything they put their minds to, but as adults we don’t believe this for ourselves. Life tends […] Read more »

3 Things You NEED to Do To Be Successful

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I love a good motivational speaker. I have some favorites that I listen to every day on my way to the gym, and have an entire bookmarks folder dedicated to motivational links. I seem to find them while I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed, or just browsing the internet. When I agreed to go to a technological conference for work, I didn’t think for an instant I would come across any motivational material. I was wrong. The subject matter of the conference was disruptive innovation. There was a guy from Intel, and a handful of entrepreneurs on hand as speakers. […] Read more »

Say NO To Your Fears

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A friend mentioned over the weekend that she wanted to do more adventurous things with her husband. She didn’t want to wake up 20 years from now, and look back at all the things they talked about doing but never did. Our conversation made me think of a recent experience of my own. I crossed the finish line of Grandma’s Marathon in just over 4 hours and 23 minutes. After a volunteer put my finisher’s metal around my neck I took a few more steps, and my lower body completely cramped up. I could barely move my legs, any step […] Read more »

Want To Achieve A Big Goal? Better Know Your “Why!”

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The street corner marked the end of my eight mile run, and upon reaching it I peeled off my tank top. It was soaking wet from being in the rain for just over an hour, and I rang it out as I walked the final block to my drive way. I opened my front door to see my wife looking at me with eyes wide open and a smile on her face. “I look out the window and see this beast walking up the driveway without a shirt on!” She went on to explain that it wasn’t just the fact […] Read more »

9 Tips For Creating Discipline With Money

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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 »

Tell The Joneses To Go To Hell, They’ll Respect You For It

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It’s taken me over 41 years of walking this earth, but I’m finally getting a grip on the person I want to be. It’s been building for awhile, but my perspective was reinforced at a gathering with friends over the weekend. It was our monthly gourmet club get together, which is basically a modified potluck. The host picks the theme and prepares the main course, and the rest of the guests bring an appetizer, side dish, or dessert that matches the theme. It’s a great group of friends, and we always have a lot of fun. It’s also an event […] Read more »

The Effect Of Debt….We’ve Come A LONG Way

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I know that my life is very different now that we’ve eliminated $109,000 in credit card debt. We have breathing room in our budget, we have the freedom to decide what we do with our money, and life is just over all less stressful. But every now and then, something happens that brings me back to the days when we were struggling and reminds me just how much better off we are without the weight of debt holding us down. My smoker is in need of some maintenance. The rope gasket I had installed on the cover of my smoker […] Read more »

Want Success? Make The Choice!

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There is a redemptive power that making a choice has. Rather than feeling like you are an affect to all the things that are happening Make a choice. You just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, how you going to do it. Just decide. -Will Smith (actor) This quote was stuck in my head all week, and it inspired me to view the world through a different perspective. I walked to the vending machine with every intention of buying a soda to go with my lunch. When I arrived at the bank of vending machines, […] Read more »

Find Your Financial Forever Pace

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The fact that the weather app on my phone said the outside temperature was in the mid thirties was reinforced by the water dripping from the roof of my house. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and I was stretching out for my first long run outside in months. Nine miles to be exact. The first few miles are always the hardest. Even though I thoroughly stretch out before I start, it always seems to take a few miles before everything gets loosened up. During my run on Saturday it took about 4 miles, at which point something […] Read more »

Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life

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I’m always the first one of our family to throw back the covers and climb out of bed on weekend mornings. My goal is always to get up, get to the gym, and get home before anyone else even thinks of getting up. One such Saturday morning I was composing a note to leave on the kitchen counter as I was preparing to head out to the gym. My wife likes to know what time I left so she knows approximately when to expect me back home. So, I ripped a piece of paper out of a notebook and wrote […] Read more »