accountability | Enemy of Debt: Where Behavior Meets Reality

P90X Your Finances this Year

Written by Suzanne Cramer on January 5, 2012 · 5 Comments

Unless you have been living under a rock, chances are you have heard of the P90X workout system and its charismatic fitness guru, Tony Horton. On January 1, 2012 I started the P90X system and have embraced both the diet and exercise requirements, hoping to take my health and fitness to the next level. I don’t know about all of you but I need a regimented diet and exercise plan to have any chance of staying on track. In fact last year I completely fell off the wagon and gained 30 pounds! I made 2 resolutions for 2012: Get healthy [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Behavior, budget, Change, debt, determination, financial planning, pay off debt, personal finance, saving money, savings

Did You Get What You Wanted for Christmas?

Written by Travis on December 29, 2011 · 6 Comments

So, how was your Christmas? Mine was simply fabulous. In fact, it was the most enjoyable Christmas I’ve had in years, thanks for asking. What made this Christmas so different? Come with the spirit of Christmas past as we revisit the Pizel family holiday tour of 2011: First, we see a family of four sitting in their living room on Christmas morning. There aren’t as many presents under the tree as their had been in previous years, but the kids don’t seem to notice. Both children got several gifts that were at the top of their list, and they are [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Budgeting, life, Money Management

Changing My Money Mind in 2012

Written by Suzanne Cramer on December 22, 2011 · 10 Comments

It’s that time of year when we all vow to change our ways and resolve to go on a diet, quit smoking, or get out of debt. How many of us actually have a plan in place to make our resolutions a reality? Unfortunately most of us don’t and this is why we are doomed to fail before we even start. Yes, money is necessary to support our lifestyle, but do we let it determine how we live our lives? The fact is many of us do. We allow ourselves to live up to or above our means which often [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Behavior, budget, Change, credit cards, Debt Elimination, Emergencies, goals, pay off debt, personal finance, saving money

An Uncomfortable Conversation

Written by Travis on December 1, 2011 · 22 Comments

With me sitting on the edge of our bathtub, and my wife brushing her teeth as she prepared for bed we began a very serious budget discussion. We were on day three of a week long visit from our Kentucky friends and were burning through our discretionary funds at an alarming rate. We needed to reign in our spending, and ensure we kept ourselves on budget, or we were going to run out of money fast. The next day the four of us were planning on going shopping for the supplies needed for Thanksgiving Dinner. As a group, we had [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Budgeting, Money Management, Personal Responsibility

The Most Important Money Advice You Will Ever Receive

Written by Jessica on November 12, 2011 · 9 Comments

You do not need to buy a bunch of books from Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman or David Bach to get this kind of advice. You don’t have to go to week long seminars to learn this powerful tool either. You don’t even have to leave your home. Look no further than this blog post and you will get the most valuable money advice you could ever need. The power of this strategy is amazing! It will teach your children a valuable lesson. It will save you thousands of dollars. It will help your marriage. It will even allow you to [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, debt, just say no, money, Personal Responsibility, Priorities, sacrifice, saving money

Is Blood Thicker than Inheritance Money?

Written by Suzanne Cramer on October 13, 2011 · 15 Comments

According to study by the AARP roughly 2/3 of baby boomers are expecting some sort of an inheritance and are spending it before they even have it. They dig deep holes of debt with inheritance money in the back of their mind; failing to understand using inheritance money to pay off debt is not a sound financial plan. In fact inheritances often don’t turn out the way those expecting them think they should. A Family Torn I have a friend who recently had a grandmother pass away. Her frugal lifestyle and previously deceased husband’s good business sense left her with [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, debt, financial planning, Giving, inheritance, Motivation

Should you “Occupy Wall Street”?

Written by Paul Puckett on October 11, 2011 · 14 Comments

You may be aware of a growing social protest movement that began on Wall Street a few weeks ago. According to their website: “Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.” And now this protest is metastasizing and spreading to 25 [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Change, Economy, Investing, Personal Responsibility, Priorities

Personal Accountability – Placing Blame Where It Belongs

Written by Jessica on October 8, 2011 · 4 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was playing around with a blog post in my head. I like to have full conversations with myself in there and often times I’ve got most of a blog post outlined in my head before I’ve even sat down at a computer. Working titles for this post were flowing around more easily than the actual text itself. Some of them were “Ode to Capital One: A Tragedy” and “Capital One has Ruined the Nation.” My favorite, however was the ever so poignant title “Eff You Capital One!” I spent more time thinking of catchy ways [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, blame, placing blame

Don’t Stink. Budget!

Written by Travis on September 8, 2011 · 11 Comments

If you’re a regular reader of Our Journey to Zero, you know I’ve been on a serious fitness kick now for over 8 months. Getting in shape is all about getting in the habit of exercising. Now that I’m in the habit of exercising, it feels wrong to not work out every day. It just feels like something is missing. Recently I skipped two days in a row for probably the first time this year. I was downright cranky. There are a lot of people who want to get in shape and lose weight. So why don’t they? They say [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Budgeting, Change, life

Do Our Parents Money Decisions Define Us?

Written by Suzanne Cramer on September 1, 2011 · 15 Comments

From a young age I was given the ability to choose how I would spend my money. I was raised in a “typical” family unit with two hard working parents and a younger sibling. We weren’t rich, we weren’t poor we were considered middle class, I suppose. My dad worked long hours as a small business owner (he was a mechanic) and my mom worked part-time so she could take care of us. The family business was passed onto him by my grandfather who came to the states with nothing except the clothes on his back. Read more »

Tags: accountability, debt, Debt free, goals, Kids and Money, Motivation, personal finance, savings

Lessons for Investors from Irene

Written by Paul Puckett on August 30, 2011 · 3 Comments

Millions of Americans were affected by Irene, whether it was a hurricane or a tropical storm. The debate, for many, seems to center on whether reporters and forecasters “over-hyped” the strength of the storm as it approached the East Coast. The answers to that debate are not relevant but there is one lesson we can learn from the experience of forecasters as they plotted the probable track and strength of Irene. At a very basic level, there are two parts to forecasting hurricanes. The first is performed by computers and this generates a variety of possible tracks and levels of [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Change, determination, Emergencies, hurricane irene, Investing, money, personal finance, Priorities

Financial Lessons for the Kid in All of Us

Written by Travis on August 25, 2011 · 18 Comments

While gathering my things after a workout in the locker room of my health club, I noticed a little boy about 3 years old wanting to go look at the scale. Each time he wandered towards the scale, his dad would grab the boy and guide him back to the locker area. The man instructed the boy to stay by him as he finished getting dressed after swimming. The boy would stand near his father for a few seconds, then start walking back towards the scale. The father would again grab him, indicating that the boy could see the scale when he was done getting dressed. This repeated itself several times, each time the boy becoming more insistent that he wanted to see the scale, each time his dad becoming more firm that he stay next to him. Read more »

Tags: accountability, debt, Debt Elimination, Personal Responsibility

Becoming the Leader I Need To Be

Written by Travis on August 11, 2011 · 7 Comments

In my day job as a software engineer, I am a technical team leader responsible for ensuring that a team of 8 operates efficiently, completes work items on time, and with quality. My team respects both my technical and leadership abilities. There is chaos in the absence of strong leadership. I see that every day. Where weak, or even no leadership is present, projects flounder in failure until someone takes control of the situation and drives it to completion. The same thing applies at home: Parental: without strong parental leadership to instill a moral compass and discipline, children may lack [...] Read more »

Tags: accountability, Debt Elimination, family leadership, financial responsibility, financial responsiibility, leadership, Personal Responsibility

Enemy of Debt’s 2011 Race to Freedom

Written by Brad Chaffee on February 28, 2011 · 20 Comments

Happy Monday everyone!! I apologize for taking so long to update you on the "Reality Series"! I was hoping to do so on Friday of last week but ended up battling a power outage due to high winds. The main delay, however, was in trying to work out possible sponsorship. I didn't want to move forward until I found out where I was and now I know. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one company excited about the prospects of my reality series idea. I would like to thank Perkstreet Financial for believing in my very spontaneous and highly ambitious project. (YOU GUYS ROCK!) Unfortunately, in order for it to work in the long term, I needed to have more sponsors on board. Needless to say, sponsorship was a bust this time around. Read more »

Tags: accountability, community, Debt Elimination, determination, finance, FUN, Motivation, pay off debt, personal finance, race to freedom, reality series