I Know a Secret About Kohls….

Written by on · 31 Comments
Secret

Our son needed new dress clothes for his confirmation last weekend, so it was timely that we received a 30% off coupon in the mail from Kohls.  I usually don’t get excited about their coupons because they show up in my mailbox fairly often.  So frequently, in fact,  that I would never buy anything at Kohls unless I had a 30% off coupon in my hand. It should be fairly obvious that the regular price of their merchandise is simply over priced. With mailing in hand, we headed to Kohls to see what they had. On the shopping list for [...] Read more »

I’m NOT Paying More Than You Quoted Me!

Written by on · 36 Comments
Tori

Saturday was a day that my daughter has been looking forward to all school year. It was picture day for her dance class, and Tori and two of her closest friends were very excited to finally put on this year’s dance recital costume.  In the past we have made this day a special event by getting her hair done, and letting her put on a little bit of makeup. Most years we’ve paid to have her hair done, but the price to do that can be quite expensive even for a young girl. Vonnie had called around to get the [...] Read more »

My Wife Doesn’t Stop…..Until She Gets What She Wants

Written by on · 22 Comments
Phone

When my wife gets her mind set on a mission, her tenacity at achieving a goal is unparalleled.  This is true in every facet of life, including those times when she feels that she has been overcharged, or not getting what was promised to her. I got to see my fiery wife in action again this weekend. Back in our free spending days we had a subscription to Sirius/XM radio. We had purchased a detachable faceplate unit that fit into a mounting plate in our car, or on a portable radio that we commonly use outside. The $15 a month [...] Read more »

In Finances, Fitness and Life, Together We Stand, Divided We Fail

Written by on · 20 Comments
teamwork

Over the weekend Vonnie and I watched the movie “This is 40″ with a group of friends.   I won’t give away many of the details of the movie for those who haven’t seen it yet, but the plot revolves around the fact that the two main characters are about to reach that milestone age of 40. The movie focuses on the changes that go on in people’s lives as they move into middle age, and their reaction to those changes.  I cannot confirm or deny that both Vonnie and I may or may not be reaching this milestone age [...] Read more »

How Much Would You Pay For A Child’s Birthday Party?

Written by on · 38 Comments
ToriCake

A few years ago, I put together my daughter’s 8th birthday party for under $35. Her 11th birthday, which we celebrated over the weekend, was a different story. There’s a huge difference between the two ages, and we’re dealing with an entirely different set of rules. The suggestion of playing games for prizes now results in the newly perfected pre-teen eye roll. The last few years, having a sleep over with her friends as been the foundation for keeping the cost of her birthday celebration down. This year she was adamant she did NOT want a sleep over party because [...] Read more »

Cable TV Is Cheap Entertainment

Written by on · 52 Comments
CableTV

Our cable company has been advertising new packages and lower prices, so this weekend Vonnie and I stopped into the nearby office to investigate our options, and see if we could lower our bill. Thirty minutes later we walked out the door having been upgraded to their new gold package that includes 4 DVRs, almost every channel they have, and a broadband speed double what we had previously. AND a lower bill. Driving home with the new DVRs in the trunk, I thought about our decision and wondered if we had made the right choice.  The TV portion of our [...] Read more »

Beer, Friends, and Losing Control of your Spending

Written by on · 22 Comments
friends

My last few Monday posts have been a bit heavy and serious, so today I thought I’d talk about something a little lighter: Beer and Movies. Well, to be completely accurate, it’s more about my weekend spending relating to beer and movies. My house is a convenient central meeting point for my brother-in-law and his two best friends from high school. A couple of times a year they meet at my house, go out, and have a great time together. I’m always invited to come with. The first few times I felt a bit out of place, but I know [...] Read more »

Allow Me to Introduce Myself…

Written by on · 28 Comments
SuzCar_03.20.13RS

Editor’s note from Travis Pizel:  It is with great excitement that I introduce to you Suzanne Coblentz, a brand new member of Team EOD!  Suzanne is the Social Media Manager for CareOne Debt Relief Services, along with wearing many other hats.   She brought me on board as a customer blogger over three years ago, and is the person responsible for launching my blogging career.  She’s dedicated to helping people rid themselves of the shackles of debt, is a personal friend of mine, and is someone that I admire and respect immensely. She’ll be sharing her personal perspective on debt [...] Read more »

Personal Responsibility and Debt Relief Are Not Dirty Words

Written by on · 16 Comments
badword

Last week my story to pay off credit card debt was shared in a post on Business Insider, and subsequently picked up by Yahoo Finance.  I really appreciated the opportunity, and I think the article turned out great. There were many positive comments on both posts stating support for our journey, and for what we have learned and accomplished. There were also a fair number of comments questioning how we could have ever let things get so far out of control to accumulate such a massive amount of credit card debt as well as wondering what effects our debt has [...] Read more »

I Don’t Want To Be A Deadbeat Geezer

Written by on · 20 Comments
Old Man

Over the weekend my mom had major back surgery to correct her scoliosis. The surgery involved attaching metal rods to her spine to straighten it, and “rouging up” the vertebrae which would cause them to fuse together as she heals. My mom has a long road ahead of her as the estimated recovery time is at least a year. But the result should be a better quality of life than what she had, and definitely better than what her life would have become as her scoliosis continued to get worse. The nine hour surgery gave my dad and I the [...] Read more »

Are You Financially Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Written by on · 4 Comments
3121817819_bced0e0fe5

I am a huge supporter of financial literacy, for both kids and adults. Financial literacy has become more complex since I was a fifth grader back in the 80’s (I know I am dating myself here). The financial services industry has exploded offering everything from online trading to debt relief. Tax laws make filing taxes a DIY nightmare, unless you purchase software like TurboTax with a step by step guide. And, applying for a loan or a credit card of any kind requires reading twenty plus pages of fine print. In a previous article, The Great Debate Kids and Money [...] Read more »

My Secret Weapon In the Fight Against Grocery Overspending

Written by on · 34 Comments
Calculator

“Ha, I did it again!” I exclaimed to myself. My total was illuminated on the screen of the grocery store checkout register: $110.57.  It was the third week in a row that I was within just a few dollars of my estimate, and right on budget for the week’s groceries.  I had certainly done all of the pre-shopping steps to ensure success at the grocery store. I meal planned for the week, made a list of the items I was going to buy, and yes I had even estimated the prices of all the items.   Unfortunately, I’ve followed these [...] Read more »

Financial Peace Will Save My Marriage

Written by on · 18 Comments
peace Pic

Peace. It’s a word that’s been stuck my head. It all started with a post I read last week in which the author described how budgeting brought peace to her marriage. The title stirred something inside me.  A simple, but powerful word, that for some reason seemed to continuously pop into my mind over the weekend. Friday evening we were trying to decide what to do for dinner. None of the options left on our meal planning list sounded very good to the family. In a moment of frustration as my stomach growled, I suggested we go out to eat. [...] Read more »