Greetings from vacationland! The family and I are on vacation in sunny Wisconsin Dells checking out water parks galore. We’ve been here in the winter, but never in summer and we are having a B-L-A-S-T. TeamEOD writer Suzanne’s post this week was very timely as it has really helped me pay attention to our budget. Being the competitive person that I am, I’m motivated to beat her C- grade on sticking to the budget. LOL. Even though I’m on vacation, I’ve managed to seek out the best personal finance posts of the week. Get those fists ready, it’s time to […] Read more »
Need to Make Extra Money? Try Freelancing
Need to make some extra money? Whether you need money to meet a savings goal, pay off some debt, or just make ends meet in tough times, freelancing is an excellent way to make money using skills you already have. What is Freelancing So what is freelancing? Freelancing is simply hiring out your skills for use outside of your normal job. Once upon a time (in the prehistoric days before the internet) it could be much harder to make money freelancing because there were only so many people you could connect with who needed your skills and knew you […] Read more »
Earned an A+ in fun and a C- for my Budget: Vacation Report Card
I am back from vacation. This trip was perfect; from the house we rented to the weather, everything about this trip gets an A+. My family has not had many opportunities to spend quality time together being spread out across the country. I know that my brothers feel the same way I do about how amazing this experience was for all of our children and it was pretty awesome for my Mom too. BUT Our vacation budget took a bit of a beating. Although we did not completely break the bank, there were several key lapses in judgment where spending […] Read more »
Couples Debt: Is it a Deal Breaker?
Good morning Enemy of Debt readers. My name is Kristina and I am the blogger over at Dinks Finance. Today the EOD team was gracious enough to let me chat with you about debt, commitment and marriage. I am thankful for the opportunity and I look forward to spending the morning with you. Dinks Finance is a blog for couples about couples regarding everything related to money. I have been with my boyfriend for almost 14 years, we started dating as a two broke teenagers in college – now at 32 and 33 years old we are both successful professionals. […] Read more »
The Return Of The 100 Foot Water Slide
It’s been over twenty five years, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Standing barefoot in the damp grass with the sun beating down on my back, I waited patiently. When it was finally my turn, I sprinted and dove onto the wet plastic. Refreshingly cool water sprayed on me seemingly from every direction for the few seconds it took me to travel the short distance to the pool of water at the end of the slip n slide. On Saturday I closed my eyes and remembered those days from my childhood and smiled. When I opened my eyes […] Read more »
I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 08/02
Who has two thumbs and is looking forward to a low key, low cost, recharge your batteries kind of weekend? Yeah, this guy. It’s been a hectic, yet very productive week both in software engineer world, as well as on the blogging front. The weather’s going to be fabulous, and I plan on spending a lot of time on my deck just watching the world go by. What’s on your agenda for the weekend? Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Don’t Rationalize Your Purchases; Do THIS instead from Money Talks Coach One Year Of Being Credit Card Debt Free! from […] Read more »
Four Years of Growth and Change
Yesterday was the four year anniversary of our first payment to our debt management program. When a person takes on a long and difficult task, many times it seems that in some ways the time passes in the blink of an eye. I tell you the truth that in this instance, that is not the case. It seems as if we have been fighting our way out of debt forever. Each of these 48 months have been a challenge. Most have been victories, some of them have not. But the constant in all of this is that we have always […] Read more »
I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/26
Last Thursday I registered for the Twin Cities 10 Mile run. Last year I ran the Twin Cities Marathon (which is run on the same day), but I just didn’t have it in me to marathon train this time around. The 10 mile run is a perfect because it’s still long enough that I have to do some serious training, but doesn’t put nearly as much strain on the body. Registration for this race is a lottery and I was very happy to find out on Tuesday that I was selected to be one of the participants! I workout almost […] Read more »
Review: Month One Using A Cheap Wireless Plan Through Walmart Family Mobile
I walked onto the baseball field and squatted behind home plate to warm up my son who was pitching. It was the last game of the end of the season tournament, and my eyes watered as he hurled the first pitch at me. Next year he will be trying out for the high school team. Is he good enough to be a pitcher at the high school level? Will he even make the team? These are questions I cannot answer, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this is the last time I would watch my son wind up on […] Read more »
I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/19
My son has his end of the season baseball tournament this weekend. I very much enjoy watching him play, so this is going to be a fun weekend. It seems odd to me that the season is over, and we’re barely past the midway point of July, but I think they do it this way to stagger the tournaments of the various age groups, and because football practices usually get into full swing in August. I’ve had such an incredibly busy week that I’ve barely been on social media at all, but I still managed to find some fantastic articles […] Read more »
Pain is NOT a Lifestyle
I walked by a chiropractor’s office a few weeks ago where a sign hung in the window that read, “Pain is Not a Lifestyle.” The meaning of the sign was obviously referring to physical pain. There is no need to walk through life in pain when the people inside the office can relieve it for you. But as I read the sign over and over, a wave of emotion and memories flowed through my consciousness as to how my life used to be full of so much pain due to my finances. I remember all the things I had once […] Read more »
Recognize the Good Amidst the Goofy – Consider the Flip Side
Sometimes we do things that are goofy and they can lead us into financial trouble. At other times we engage in frugal behavior and some of that can appear to be equally goofy. What can make our frugality appear misapplied is the minimum way in which the activities appear to save money or otherwise reduce our burden of debt. Saving a nickel here or there is just plain goofy, right? Well, what might appear goofy at first, could be beneficial if only we take the time to look at the flip side. Examining the opposite side of the coin can help give us a "would you rather have this instead" perspective, and that can be just enough to help us see the good in it. Often, outward appearances can mask a healthy mindset. Even if we don't appreciate the savings we see, we might appreciate the mindset that drives it, and sometimes the mindset is never more clear than when we examine the flip side of things. Read more »
I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 07/12
As a software engineer, I have to come up with innovative ways to solve problems in the code that I write. Sometimes that creativity leads to patent applications. One of the perks of my job is that my employer gives us a monetary award for each idea that is deemed worthy of a patent application by the legal team. In the last month I’ve had two such ideas marked as requiring a patent application, which will result in a nice bump in funds in an upcoming paycheck. Within the personal finance circles there’s a lot of talk about unexpected expenses […] Read more »
Goin’ Commando With Credit
If you ever ask me about how to get out of debt, I have a variety of answers, depending on the situation. Probably the number one answer I give is “spend less than you make”. When you start asking more questions about how to get started, I’ll usually tell you that the first step is to cut up your credit cards. You just don’t need them. They only serve as a drag on your financial situation. When you use a credit card to make purchases, it’s too easy to spend money without thinking about it, because swiping a card doesn’t […] Read more »