Do NOT Start Your Christmas Gift Shopping

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If you are thinking of going Christmas present shopping in the very near future, stop. Seriously, put down the checkbook, wallet, or purse because now is the worst possible time to do so. You’re guaranteed to pay full price, and there’s absolutely no reason to pay full price for any Christmas present. The Price Hike I’ve had my eye on a smoker at Walmart that has been on clearance for weeks. As grills, lawnmowers and other summer seasonal items were put on sale to make room for Christmas trees and snow blowers I noticed a smoker regularly priced at $274 […] Read more »

I’m Not Spending a Penny On My Wife For Christmas, and She’s Going To Love It

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I’m not spending a penny on my wife for Christmas this year, and she’s going to absolutely be thrilled about it. With the holidays approaching, conversations of gift ideas are being had between spouses, family members and friends. My wife and I were having a discussion about tasks that needed to be done yet to prepare for hosting Thanksgiving at our home. She got a little off topic, listing other less Thanksgiving critical tasks she wanted to have done. Sensing I was about to go into my usual speech about prioritization and doing only the things absolutely needing completion by […] Read more »

Nobody Likes Being Reminded Of Their Mistakes

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A high school science teacher from Iowa ate nothing but McDonald’s for six months. Maybe you’ve heard this story before, or maybe you’re thinking this was another one of those attempts to show the public the evils of fast food. If you fall into the later category, you might be surprised to learn that the man lost about 60 pounds, lost 21 inches off his chest, waist, and hips, and significantly lowered his cholesterol. The caveat here is that while he did eat fast food for every meal for 6 months, he also stuck to a 2000 calories a day […] Read more »

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

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“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 »

Just Say No to Inflatable Santa’s

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“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 »

19 Important Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping on Black Friday

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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 »

Christmas is Coming, Will You Be Ready?

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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 »

Brad & J’s 2010 Christmas Stimulus WINNERS!

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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 »

Brad & J’s 2010 Christmas Stimulus

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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 »

Brad And J’s 1st Annual Christmas Stimulus 2009

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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 »

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

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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 »

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

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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 »

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

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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 »

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

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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 »