4 Reasons Procrastinating is a Horrible Idea

Written by on · 1 Comment

We all procrastinate from time to time, but it rarely contributes positively towards finishing a task, or resolving a problem. In fact, one could argue that procrastinating is the worst possible thing you could do. Let me tell you about an experience I had with procrastination this weekend: Over the weekend I needed gas for the lawnmower, so I put my gas can in the back of the van and headed for the gas station. As I was doing so, my wife stated she was concerned I was going to spill gas and recommended I put the gas can in […] Read more »

5 Things That Happen When You Spend Only Cash

Written by on · 4 Comments

In Friday’s roundup post, I mentioned that my wife and I were restarting our methodology of spending cash only for our day to day expenditures.   Here’s a brief look at how it works: Monthly bills are paid online out of our checking account Each Friday, cash for our personal spending is withdrawn from the ATM. Personal spending includes gas, groceries, allowance for the kids, and entertainment funds With this system we had been extremely successful managing our finances and staying within our budget.  As happens in life, we got lazy and began to let our structure slide in favor of […] Read more »

13 Better Money Habits You Need to Get Out of Debt

Written by on · 4 Comments
13 Better Money Habits You Need to Get Out of Debt

Developing better money habits that lead to getting out of debt is one of those things everybody knows they should do, but sadly most don’t.  I know Angie and I struggled for years with nagging debt that never seemed to go away.  It wasn’t until we changed our money habits and our mindset about money that we were truly able to make a full effort at getting out of debt. We Had to Change Our Money Habits We spent a lot of time putting band-aids on our finances, but never fixed the underlying problem.  When it came down to it, […] Read more »

Review: Kaiku Visa Prepaid Card

Written by on · 2 Comments

My wife and I are back on a cash only spending plan, and it’s working out fabulously. It keeps our spending in check and within budget. Some of the comments on my recent posts on this subject have made a valid point, however. Dealing with only cash means there are times when I may be walking around with a significant amount of cash in my wallet, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that makes me a little nervous. One solution to this problem could be a prepaid debit card. Not just any debit card, but a Kaiku Visa […] Read more »

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

Written by on · 22 Comments

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 »

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

Written by on · 28 Comments

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 One Reason For Eating Out That Is a Big Fat Lie

Written by on · 32 Comments

I think we would all agree that dining out is more expensive than cooking at home. We all go out to eat from time to time, but did you notice that we always seem to attach some sort of excuse to it? Whether we’re celebrating, or we’re on vacation, or we’re just too busy to cook it seems like we have to justify to ourselves a trip to a restaurant. Sometimes there are some valid reasons, sometimes there isn’t a reason other than we just want to and that’s OK. But there’s one excuse that we tell ourselves over and […] Read more »

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

Written by on · 22 Comments

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!

Written by on · 20 Comments

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 »

Breeze Through Your Taxes Through Preparation And TaxACT

Written by on · 2 Comments

This post is part of the TaxACT #BeatTheDeadline blog tour which shares tips on how to make tax time a smooth and easy process before the April 15 deadline. TaxACT provides the tools and guidance to help you confidently file taxes easy and fast. Do your own taxes today at TaxACT. You got this. When you think about doing your taxes, what picture immediately forms in your head? Is it one of sitting in front of the computer answering questions displayed on the screen by tax preparation software? Or maybe one of an appointment with an accountant? I’ve noticed something […] Read more »

Using Intermittent Spending To Stay On Budget

Written by on · 31 Comments

A body builder friend of mine recently posted a link to an article that caught my eye. The article described a diet methodology called Intermittent Fasting in which a person would consume all their food for the day in an 8 hour window followed by 16 hours of fasting. This wasn’t just some person’s half cocked idea about how people should eat, there was actually some science behind it. The thought is that eating all the food for a given day in a short period of time more closely resembled how our ancestors lived. Prehistoric man would spend the day […] Read more »

Find Your Financial Forever Pace

Written by on · 22 Comments

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 »

Save Money Effortlessly through Digit. Really? Yes REALLY.

Written by on · 12 Comments

It’s time for me to come clean, and be completely honest with you; I have trouble saving. Almost exactly a year ago, my wife and I made our final payment to our debt management program paying off $109,000 of credit card debt. With that final payment we freed up $2489 in our monthly budget. Having that extra breathing room we immediately did some things to better our overall financial picture such as consolidate some other debts and refinance our mortgage. But even after those changes were complete we still had a sizable amount of extra funds in our monthly budget. […] Read more »

Travel Hacking with Credit Cards is a Dangerous Trap

Written by on · 18 Comments

Here he goes again. That crazy Steve Stewart is about to start a ruckus and make people get very angry by telling it like it is. You see, I’m the killjoy that’s about to take away all your fun. I’m the grandpa who isn’t into “hip” things. I’m the old man who says you should do things the old-fashioned way. But I’m going to speak the truth, and the truth can set you free (debt free, that is):   Travel Hacking with credit cards is a dangerous trap Travel hacking has been around for years, but it is growing in […] Read more »