A Taste of Financial Freedom

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On Saturday Vonnie turned the big 4-0.  Forty is the age where people question their place in life, reflect upon what they have or haven’t accomplished, and question their mortality. In other words, their 40th birthday can leave a person feeling old. I wanted to give my wife a day of fun that would make her feel special, and help ease her way into her fifth decade on planet earth. The night before her birthday I told Vonnie that she better get some rest because she was in for a very busy day. She started to ask questions, but I […] Read more »

Are No Contract Phones The Best Wireless Option?

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Last fall my family finally made the plunge into the smart phone world.  We were enjoying a cheap wireless plan as we limped along with phones that were over two years old, but envying the features and conveniences that come with smart phones.  With our scratched, dented, and worn out phones showing signs of giving up we pulled the trigger and signed a two year contract with AT&T. Multiple readers suggested that I should have checked out no contract options. I was very excited to be given the opportunity through the Collective Bias Community (#cbias) to try such a plan […] Read more »

Worrying Doesn’t Accomplish Anything. Take Action. Now.

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“Are you making yourself old again?” I heard Tori’s friend say to her from behind me as we headed off to dance class. I had never heard the phrase before, but I immediately understood what she meant. She was referring to the scrunched look on Tori’s face which was a result of the unusually rough time that just occurred at home as I had to continuously poke and prod her to get dinner eaten, dressed, and out the door on time for class. The wrinkles on her face made her look old. But even more than just making her look […] Read more »

I Know a Secret About Kohls….

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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 »

Be Honest with Yourself First

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“The lies we tell other people are nothing to the lies we tell ourselves.” ― Derek Landy Self-deception is nothing new for human beings. Researchers have been studying why we lie for decades and the reasons run the gamut from self-preservation to biological imperative. Lying to yourself can be a useful tool if you are attempting to overcome a psychological obstacle or maybe psyching yourself into a stronger performance. Where things seem to take negative turn is when you lie to escape accountability or hide serious issues from yourself. Personal finance is one area where people seem to lie to themselves […] Read more »

Personal Responsibility and Debt Relief Are Not Dirty Words

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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 »

Credit Cards Should Have A Warning Label for People Like Me

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I could tell by the writing on the envelope resting on top of the stack of the day’s mail that it was the settlement check I had been waiting for. I am included in a class action lawsuit against Chase in which they are accused of pulling a “bait and switch” by offering customers a fixed, low interest rate to lure new customers to transfer balances and then later jacking up the minimum payment policy. This happened back in 2009, and resulted in my inability to meet my monthly financial commitments. It was also the driving factor that caused my […] Read more »

What Will You Do…With Your Tax Refund

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If you are one of the millions of Americans slated to receive a tax refund this year, why not make your refund work for you? Of course you will be tempted to splurge on a vacation, start home renovations or maybe even buy something frivolous, but why not use it to improve your financial situation. If you are struggling with debt, have little to no emergency fund, or haven’t even begun to think about retirement those refund dollars could make a big difference. Reducing your debt and preparing for the “what if” are a great way to reduce daily stress […] Read more »

Just Say No!

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I’ve always had trouble with the word no even as a child. My mom claims she would have raised my brother ten times before having to raise me again. I was strong willed, stubborn and loved to say, “no”. Not much has changed since then, I am still strong willed and stubborn, the difference is now I can’t say no, to anyone. Extra responsibilities at work? Sure, no problem. We’d like you to be the head room parent this year. Ok, I can do that! Would you mind being the website coordinator for football? Yeah, I don’t see why not. […] Read more »

Life is about Experiences, not Money

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Yesterday, I ran the Twin Cities Marathon for the third time. I’m not an elite runner, so my goal isn’t to win, but to simply finish with the best time possible. But I approached this one a bit differently than the previous two. I wanted it to be about more than just an internal struggle to finish. I wanted to fully experience everything the marathon had to offer. Marathons across the United States have become more than just a race, they have become events with cheer zones, bands playing along the way, people dressed up in costumes and spectators with […] Read more »

7 Habits of Debt-Free People

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As an indebted individual I always admire those that live a completely debt-free lifestyle. My in-debtedness is for the most part to what most consider “good” debt; a mortgage and a few outstanding medical bills. My goal is to set up a payment plan for them and pay them all off by this time next year. I cut credit card debt out of my life in my late twenty’s only using credit cards to my advantage and paying the balances in full each month. Living debt free is a lifestyle choice that requires hard work and an affirmation for saying […] Read more »

The Joneses Are Buying an iPhone5. What Should I Do?

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One of the coolest gadgets ever made is about to release the latest version — the iPhone5! All you hear around the water cooler is how your friends and co-workers have already pre-ordered it and are actually losing sleep in anticipation of its release. Your drab, but functional iPhone4 seems like the first phone ever made and the pressure to upgrade is pulling at your purse strings. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the iPhone! It has revolutionized how we interact and surf the web, interact with our friends and family, and in my opinion is quite possibly the best invention […] Read more »

Chase Put Me On the Road to Financial Recovery, But it Cost them $100,000,000

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I recently received an unexpected letter in the mail from a law firm. Curiously, I opened the envelope, and read the title of the enclosed letter: Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement and hearing to Chase Credit Cardholders I was instantly reminded of the terror that I felt back in June of 2009 when we received five identical envelopes in the mail from Chase; one for each of the credit card accounts we had with them. The letter inside stated that terms of our accounts were being changed, and the minimum payment percentage was being increased. Our monthly payment was […] Read more »

Does Your Wallet (or Purse) Reflect Your Financial Goals?

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If you love sitcoms, you may be familiar with a show that aired during the 1990’s called Seinfeld. If so, surely you remember an episode that mocks the size and fatness of George Costanza’s wallet. He would put everything in his wallet including money, receipts, numbers, coupons and even candy. I was sitting in my office the other day and became painfully aware that my wallet had become just a little too thick. It was time to do one of those periodic cleansing of the wallet to purge those things that I don’t need to be sitting on for 10 […] Read more »