Why Cash Only Weekend Spending ROCKS!

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Hearing colorful language coming from our home office, my wife stormed in to find out what was going on. I was reconciling our checking account, and even though it had only been a few days since I had last done it, I couldn’t make the numbers come out right. Between Christmas shopping, and being out of town for extended family gatherings quite a few transactions had posted, and I was obviously making a mistake somewhere. The arithmetic error was quickly found and fixed, but in the process I found something that could not be corrected as easily. We had spent […] Read more »

Debt Free For the Holidays

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Today’s post is a guest post from Jefferson, who writes for the family finance site, See Debt Run. The site began as a place to chronicle a family’s journey out of debt, but has evolved into a place to discuss a whole spectrum of topics around family finance. They discuss everything from saving money on groceries, to how to teach your kids about money, to even how to find out if your co-workers are making more money than you. Last year at this time, my wife and I didn’t get each other anything for Christmas. We didn’t have to. We were […] Read more »

Are Your Holiday Expectations Holding You Hostage?

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Are you stressed out about the holidays? It’s hard not to get stressed out just a little bit this time of year, especially if you’re struggling with your finances. With countless gatherings to attend and gifts to buy for loved ones, this time of year can be very difficult to handle when you’ve been fighting just to pay the bills each month. I read a post recently from a fellow debt relief customer who is in just that kind of situation. She is extremely stressed out because Christmas is getting closer every day, but due to some unexpected expenses, they […] Read more »

We Doubled Our Net Worth and You Can Too!

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Note from Travis:  I’m excited to announce a new addition to TeamEOD!   Steve Stewart, who hails from his home blog of MoneyPlanSOS, will be sharing with us a dose of no-nonsense personal finance once a month.  I’ve been a HUGE fan of Steve for several years, and know that he is an excellent addition to the team.   Please give him a warm EOD Nation welcome by leaving a comment below on his debut post here on Enemy Of Debt! Despite the blame-scream media’s coverage of The Great Recession and all the bad decisions Congress has made, my wife and I […] Read more »

Warning: The Long Term Effects of Debt Will SHOCK You

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Before we enrolled in our debt management plan, many of our credit cards had very high interest rates, some as high as 29.99%. We were making very little progress on the actual balance of our accounts, our payments going mostly to line the pockets of the credit card companies. I know I’ve paid an insane amount of interest to creditors because of our overspending. With the finish line of our debt management plan in sight, I wondered how different my financial picture would look if I had invested that money instead. What I discovered SHOCKED me. Ground Rules First let’s […] Read more »

How Does It Feel to Pay Off $100,000 of Debt?

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Last Thursday we made the October payment to our debt management plan. After hanging up the phone, I leaned back in the chair to let the gravity of the payment sink in. To be honest with you, my bottom lip trembled a little bit as tears started to form in the corners of my closed eyelids. With our 52nd payment, the amount of debt that we have repaid through our debt management program has hit the mark of $100,000. Sitting in a conference room at work with the door closed, I couldn’t quite figure out the exact reason behind my […] Read more »

Emergency Fund: Time To “Man Up”

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I dreamt about finances on Friday night, which was odd for me because my dreams typically revolve around a very different subject matter. I’m almost positive the source of my dream was my increasingly frequent thoughts about the status of our emergency fund, and the fact I mentioned them in my roundup post last Friday. In my dream Vonnie and I were talking to a financial planner who was telling us the same thing I stated in my post on Friday. Each budget period we should set aside a fixed amount of money into our emergency fund and not touch […] Read more »

Paying Off Debt With Gazelle Intensity Isn’t Enough

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I’ve seen it happen to friends and family. It’s even happened to me. A person loses a large amount of weight very quickly through the use of a very restrictive diet. Unfortunately, as time passes the weight begins to return because the restrictive diet is abandoned. The question commonly asked is why would a person who had so much weight loss success just give up and go back to their old habits, reversing all their progress? To me, the answer is simple: being on a restrictive diet is not real life. Such a program teaches people one thing, to unconditionally […] Read more »

What Do Long Distance Running and Getting Out of Debt Have In Common?

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I walked down my driveway and accelerated into my normal running pace as I crossed the line separating the concrete of my driveway and the asphalt of the road. I was excited to head out for a Saturday morning run, the target distance being five miles. I hadn’t run outside much lately but I had been doing a lot of treadmill running, and was sure it would all come back to me. Except it didn’t. I was expecting an effortless run, as I remembered enjoying so many previous times. What actually followed was seventy minutes of alternating between running, walking, […] Read more »

Review and Give Away: Are You Ready To Be a Soldier of Finance?

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I had too much debt, no savings and had no idea how to build a real budget and live within my means. In June of 2009 my finances were a mess and I needed help badly. There are thousands of families with their finances in the same state of disarray today, and looking for something or someone to help them get on the right path. I had the opportunity to take an advanced look at a new book by blogger and Certified Financial Planner Jeff Rose which aims to help people in  situation just like mine. Soldier Of Finance leans […] Read more »

The Return Of The 100 Foot Water Slide

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It’s been over twenty five years, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Standing barefoot in the damp grass with the sun beating down on my back, I waited patiently. When it was finally my turn, I sprinted and dove onto the wet plastic. Refreshingly cool water sprayed on me seemingly from every direction for the few seconds it took me to travel the short distance to the pool of water at the end of the slip n slide. On Saturday I closed my eyes and remembered those days from my childhood and smiled. When I opened my eyes […] Read more »

Review: Month One Using A Cheap Wireless Plan Through Walmart Family Mobile

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I walked onto the baseball field and squatted behind home plate to warm up my son who was pitching. It was the last game of the end of the season tournament, and my eyes watered as he hurled the first pitch at me.  Next year he will be trying out for the high school team. Is he good enough to be a pitcher at the high school level? Will he even make the team?  These are questions I cannot answer, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this is the last time I would watch my son wind up on […] Read more »

Save Money by Being Your Own Florist? Yes You Can!

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What’s the key to a successful marriage? That’s a loaded question, and quite honestly I think the answer is unique to each couple. But if I had to give one generality that I think could possibly apply to everyone, I would advise people to listen to their partner. I’m not referring to giving a nod and throwing in an agreeable statement every time there’s a pause in your partner’s voice. I mean really listen to what they’re saying. The amazing thing is, your significant other will actually tell you what they want. About a month ago, my daughter had her […] Read more »

Save Money By Buying YOURSELF A Gift Card!!

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I wasn’t happy as I walked into Applebees to purchase a $50 gift card. A well liked member of the staff at the elementary school where Vonnie worked was leaving and her coworkers had come up with the idea to have everyone pitch in and get a gift card as a going away present. Vonnie volunteered to get the gift card even though some people weren’t going to give her their share of the funds until the next day. Past experience told me that we were going to get the shaft because someone wouldn’t pay up. The bartender handed me […] Read more »