Under Pressure: Teaching Our Children a Lesson in Wants vs. Needs

Written by on December 10, 2011 · Leave a Comment
santa child with christmas bows

“Mom, can I have a DS? Please! Everyone else has one.” I have heard this off and on for a couple years. My son really wants a Nintendo DS Handheld game system. He has asked for one for every holiday and birthday for years. I have been reluctant to purchase one for a few reasons. First, he doesn’t need it. He does have an older model Gameboy that was given to us for free. Second, I would rather he spend his time reading, playing outside, interacting with his family and using his imagination. Also, I just don’t have the money. However, [...] Read more »

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Just Say No to Inflatable Santa’s

Written by on December 8, 2011 · 9 Comments
inflatable santa

“Mommy please can we get one of those inflatable Santa’s?” This is the plea I have heard from my eight year old son since we began to decorate (with our already purchased) holiday decorations the day after Thanksgiving. My answer remains constant, “Not right now buddy, we don’t need an inflatable Santa.”  Unfortunately millions of Americans apparently do feel they need inflatable Santa’s, two Christmas trees, and thousands of twinkle lights to adorn their homes so they can feel the magic of the holidays.  According to a Bloomberg report, “This year U.S. consumers will spend $6 billion on decorations, the [...] Read more »

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19 Important Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping on Black Friday

Written by on November 22, 2011 · 3 Comments
Christmas shopping

Hello all! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? If you’ve been a reader for more than a year you probably know I hate Black Friday. There are many reasons for this and I won’t go into it again but I really have a problem with what the Christmas season has become. Really what we have let it become but I digress. Gobble up your turkey and say bye to your family because you have early sales to hit up! (Yes, this is sarcasm.) This year I wanted to provide a checklist of questions to ask yourself to make sure you are [...] Read more »

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This Year Just Say No to Chia Pets

Written by on November 10, 2011 · 13 Comments
chia pet

The holiday season is rapidly approaching; Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, whatever you call it, is about spending time with friends and family, enjoying a meal, and the true meaning of the holiday you choose to celebrate.  It is NOT about who spends the most, who has the biggest pile of gifts, or who got the most Christmas cards. Many of us take the true meaning and purpose of the holiday season and turn it into a spending spree only to find the credit card hangover in January lasts until next year when it starts all over again. The Target, Our Children [...] Read more »

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Christmas is Coming, Will You Be Ready?

Written by on May 25, 2011 · 8 Comments
Christmas is Coming

Here on Enemy of Debt, I have made it a point to get people to think ahead, especially when it comes to Christmas. In 2009, I challenged all of you to have a Debt free Christmas by preparing for it early instead of last minute. Today's post comes from Tyson Morgan and promotes the same idea of being prepared for something that happens every single year. Nope, Christmas is not an "emergency", although far too often, people are putting Christmas on plastic because they failed to properly plan for what's become a MONSTER CONSUMER HOLIDAY. I love sharing different perspectives from different writers, so I hope you enjoy today's post. Will you have a Debt free Christmas in 2011? Read more »

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Brad & J’s 2010 Christmas Stimulus WINNERS!

Written by on December 21, 2010 · 9 Comments
Christmas Presents

Photo Credit: www.metaphoricalplatypus.com Merry Christmas everyone!!4 Days Left! I am so very happy to announce the winners of Brad & J’s 2010 Christmas Stimulus!! First, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for giving me a reason to continue blogging. It’s because of you that I have been able to do this for almost 3 years now! I NEVER imagined that I would ever have a blog, let alone end up with nearly 1000 subscribers! You ROCK! I LOVE YOU ALL! In 2010, I added 600 subscribers, and in 2011 I fully intend on stepping up my [...] Read more »

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Brad & J’s 2010 Christmas Stimulus

Written by on December 10, 2010
christmas-stimulus-2010

Oh man!! Today didn’t come fast enough for me. I was a little antsy to say the least but the day has come. FINALLY! Last year, J Money and I decided to bring Enemy of Debt and Budgets Are Sexy together for something truly awesome! The economy was broken, unemployment was high, and we wanted to help. Brad & J’s 1st Annual Christmas Stimulus 2009 was born! Last year was awesome! We gave away $150 each and had a great time doing it! Two blogs, two giveaways, two winners, $300! We are extremely happy to announce the second coming. The [...] Read more »

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Brad And J’s 1st Annual Christmas Stimulus 2009

Written by on December 15, 2009

Are you ready to hear my super secret surprise? You should be because I am so excited to tell you about it! It all started with a post I wrote titled, “Help Your Neighbor Christmas Stimulus“. My idea at the time was to take a portion of your Christmas budget and use it to help someone close to you feel a little less stressed this holiday season. Originally, our Christmas budget was $250, and I pledged to take $150 of that, and use it to “help my neighbor”. Although I will admit we spent a little more than the $100 [...] Read more »

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Buying Bargains: How We Will Spend Less But Give More This Christmas

Written by on November 26, 2009 · 15 Comments

Is buying bargains high on your list of priorities? If not, you may want to reconsider. On Monday I told you I would share with you how my beautiful wife and I are saving money this Christmas. I also wanted to share with you some of the ways we are bringing in a few extra dollars to offset the unexpected expenses we’ve had in November. We donated more money this month than we budgeted so we thought it was a great idea to put our thinking caps on to earn extra dollars. Too bad I didn’t have my thinking cap [...] Read more »

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Enemy Of Debt Christmas Challenge #2 – “Help Your Neighbor” Christmas Stimulus

Written by on August 18, 2009 · 11 Comments

A Debt Free Christmas Is A Stress Free Christmas The first challenge I put out there was to make it through this Christmas WITHOUT accumulating ANY debt at all.  That’s right, a NO credit card Christmas.  I received such a great response to that post I wanted to step it up a notch.  I will be posting updates to allow everyone to share their debt free Christmas goals starting next month.  Start thinking about how much you want to spend this year and make a plan to start saving that goal amount.  No debt this Christmas!  You can do it! [...] Read more »

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“He Who Has Not Christmas In His Heart, Will Never Find It Under A Tree.” ~Roy L. Smith

Written by on August 5, 2009 · 13 Comments

The Spin-Off First I just want to thank everyone for participating in yesterdays discussion.  I enjoyed it so much and am pleased to see that all of you did too.  SO THANK YOU!  To be honest yesterdays post started as just another Christmas Gift idea article.  Then it transformed into what you enjoyed so much, so I left out the original idea to shorten the post. People go absolutely insane come Christmas.  They let guilt, popular opinion, and the need to impress others take over their wallets.  They say things like, “I have to get them something, they might buy [...] Read more »

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Have You Ever Had A DEBT FREE Christmas, And Will You Accept My Challenge?

Written by on August 4, 2009 · 58 Comments

An ‘Official’ Enemy Of Debt Challenge – Can You Have A Debt Free Christmas In 2009? You might think that a debt free Christmas is not possible, but it is!  Very possible!  You just have to think and behave differently with your money. With Christmas a little less than five months away, it’s time to start planning.  Actually, the best time to start is around February in order to decrease “wallet shock”.  (When you fund Christmas all in one month) We’ve all experienced it.  It’s when we realize in the 11th hour Christmas is upon us.  Usually it happens after [...] Read more »

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Bad Economy=Record Sales?

Written by on December 20, 2008 · 3 Comments

Bad Economy Should Equal More savings! Bad economy and record sales do not seem to go together, unless of course you are a credit card company.  As most of you know I deliver pizza for Papa John’s Pizza.  I have been there for just over 3 years and during this time my boss has been trying to reach a store record of one million dollars in sales for the year.  Even when the economy was booming he came close but never reached the goal. Here we are in what some refer to as the worst economic crisis since the early [...] Read more »

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