Big Changes and Uncertainty Ahead

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Major life changes are occurring that may have  significant financial impacts for my family. Both my wife and I have had to make some very difficult employment decisions only time will tell if we’ve made the right choices. Me: Pulling Back On Blogging At my blogging peak I contributed to five different sites, but over the past few years I have slowly decreased that down to two. Recently, I resigned from a site that consumed a very large amount of my time. I decided I would rather spend the time with my family, doing projects around the house, or putting […] Read more »

What It Costs To Own Man’s Best Friend

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We brought our dog, Cooper, into our home ten years ago. He was just one in a litter of puppies a friend of a friend was giving away. We offered her $20 but she wouldn’t accept it. Now I understand why; She knew how much it costs to have a dog! If you are contemplating getting a dog for the family then be prepared to increase your annual budget by at least $1,200. That may sound expensive at first but it’s actually on the low end of owning a pooch. Here is a breakdown using our dog Cooper as an […] Read more »

My Favorite Part Of Having Control Of My Finances

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One of the most common questions asked of people going through the process of paying off a mountain of debt is what they will do with the extra money each month once the debt is paid off. Another similar, but slightly different question is to describe how life is different now that the debt has been paid off. I’ve been asked these questions countless times. It’s easy to give the standard answers of build a larger emergency fund, invest more, or save for the kids’ college. I’ve given all those answers. There’s certainly nothing wrong them, as they’re the answers […] Read more »

A Parent’s Job Is Never Done

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I heard an interesting comment at a wedding over the weekend regarding the current generation. An acquaintance was talking about how his brother was working with some recent college graduates, and how they work really hard on the job, but when they go home all they do is play video games. He described them as intelligent and hard working, but lacked the common skills of shoveling a driveway because all they did in their off time was play games. I laughed a little bit, shrugging it off as your typical older generation looking down on the younger generation sort of […] Read more »

A Conversation Overheard: Teenagers Ordering Pizza For The First Time

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Working at the kitchen table, I had my back to my twelve year old daughter and her friends who were watching TV in the living room. It was the first day of Spring Break, and they were excited for a week without school. I tried to tune out the sounds of whatever teenage girls usually talk about, when suddenly one of them said something that made my ears perk up. “We should order pizza!” The suggestion was meant to be a joke, but I listened to them begin to discuss some details such as what kind of pizza they would […] Read more »

Using Intermittent Spending To Stay On Budget

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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 »

Debt and Cleaning

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 Today’s post is from my friend Prudence, who hails from Prudence Debt Free.  I had the honor of having her guest post once before, and I’m very excited to have her back.  So please, give her a warm EOD Nation welcome! Should we hire house-cleaners again? A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with two colleagues about how we used to hire house-cleaners. “Do you hire cleaners?” I asked Cam. “Of course we do!” he answered. As a working couple with two small children, he and his wife found it made life manageable to have the services of a […] Read more »

Motivational Monday: Three Steps To Achieve Your Financial Goals

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A few months ago, I caught a link to a motivational video filled with inspirational quotes. I still watch the video almost every morning as I prepare to take on the world for the day. It centers my thoughts on what I am going to do that particular day to help me make positive progress towards the goals I am trying to accomplish. After several weeks of listening to this video, I wanted to find out who the voices in the video were. With the help of Google, I was able to determine one of the people featured was a […] Read more »

Warning: Shopping Without A List Is Hazardous To Your Budget

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My love of lists is almost legendary, my daily activities driven from them. I have different lists for different parts of my day: Things needing to be done at work, written on my office white board Personal life todo list written in a notebook on the kitchen counter Blogging todo list written in a notebook on my computer desk My lists help me not only remember things that need to be done, but also to prioritize them. My wife sometimes makes fun of me because of my lists, but she understands the importance I place on them. I commonly find […] Read more »

Instant Gratification Here, There, and Everywhere

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I felt myself becoming more agitated as I sat at the stoplight waiting for the light to turn green. I was on my way to the gym, and was anxious to get started. The light was seemingly taking forever, so I decided to figure out how long the light was red.  I was sure it would be a ridiculous amount of time. I remember that I had started a new track as I pulled up to the intersection so I would easily be able to calculate how long I was sitting there. After what seemed like an excruciating eternity the […] Read more »

My Apologies To Gazelle Intensity

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  I’ve never identified with the concept of gazelle intensity. My interpretation of it has always been one of extreme frugality, living with no frills for an extended period of time in order to throw as much money as possible towards debt and/or retirement. It always seemed to me that kind of perspective would have people essentially get zero enjoyment out of life while they pay off debt, or save for retirement. I always thought there had to be some kind of balance. I never understood why someone would purposefully and completely deprive themselves of everything. But over the weekend, […] Read more »

Get Ready For Cough And Cold Season With #HealthySavings Coupons From Pfizer

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It’s the beginning of November, and as a resident of the great state of Minnesota the temperatures are cooling off.  As people spend more and more of their time indoors and in close quarters to each other, cough, cold, and flu symptoms are more of a when than an if.  It’s time to stock up on all the products we need to find relief from runny noses, scratchy throats and any other ailment that the winter months throw our way.   Naturally I started checking ads searching for sales and coupons and found this month’s ad from Walgreens featured #HealthySavings […] Read more »

Motivational Monday: Mistakes Pave The Way To A Greater Success

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I caught a segment on a popular morning news program in which the CEO of Google was being interviewed. The line of questioning centered on the type of potential employee Google typically looks for and the kinds of ideas that would catch the eye of Google as something they would want to pursue. The CEO gave the example two potential ideas, one that would result in a car that could get 50 miles to the gallon, and one that would get 500 miles to the gallon. While the first idea would be more easily attainable and very useful in the […] Read more »

How Does the Target RedCard Work?

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I was hurriedly going through the checkout lane at Target picking up some items on my way home from work when the cashier sprung a question I’ve heard a zillion times: “Are you going to be saving 5% with your REDcard today?” I shook my head, “No,” after which she asked me if I knew about the REDcard. I quipped at her my understanding of it being a Target Visa card that saves me 5% on my purchases. I told her that I didn’t like to use credit cards, but thanked her for the offer. I was surprised when she […] Read more »