Vacation Meal Planning Adventures

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My family and I are currently on vacation with some friends and family. We packed up our vans and started our adventure last Thursday, taking a couple of days to drive from Minnesota to Florida. During our 3 day trip across the country we had no choice but to eat out. Eating at restaurants is not my idea of a great use of my funds, but in this case there wasn’t any way of avoiding it. However, once we got to Florida, we’re staying in a large rental house with a full kitchen. On the night of our arrival, we […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 4/1

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Greetings from the road to Florida!  I’m writing this in a hotel room in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois as my family and I make our way to Florida for a much needed family vacation.  We’re looking forward to having a week of fun in the sun, while still being budget minded. Here’s to vacations, and to my favorite posts of the week!   Posts That Make Me Fist Pump How To Budget Successfully as a Couple from Couple Money Five Ways You are Secretly Overspending from Master The Art Of Saving The True Cost of Wasting Money on Getting Wasted from Blonde […] Read more »

Book Review: Hustle Away Debt

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What’s the first thing you do when an unexpected expense pops up, or if extra room needs to be cleared in the budget? If you’re like most people, you tighten the spending belt. The entertainment budget gets cut, and monthly expenses are scoured for things that can be discontinued. When faced with a financial dilemma, most people will free up funds in their budget by cutting spending. What doesn’t occur to most people is that there’s another choice. Instead of slashing spending, why not increase income? Cutting spending generally means lifestyle deflation because there are less discretionary funds available. But […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 3/25

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Yesterday I woke up to 10.5 inches of snow on the ground from a late season snowstorm.  Although I once wrote a post hailing the money saving simplicity of using a shovel, I fired up my snowblower and made quick work of the pile of snow on my driveway.  What made it even sweeter?  The fact that my snowblower was given to me for FREE.  My father gave it to me as it was old (they’ve had it since I was in 7th grade, which makes it….gulp….30 years old!) and very heavy.  He purchased a newer, lighter version that was […] Read more »

Costco’s Breakup With American Express Is STILL A HUGE MESS

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Over the last few months, every time I dig my Costco membership card out of my wallet to show the person standing by the entrance I think about how the calendar is marching closer and closer to April 1st. That is the date the Costco American Express Rewards Card was supposed to cease to be accepted at Costco, and the transition to a Citi Visa was to be compete. The information I had was obtained only because I called both parties involved (Costco and American Express), not because they gave me any information. In their defense, Costco did send a […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 3/18

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Welcome to the weekend, EOD Nation!  This is the weekend where I put my 2015 taxes behind me.  I’ve already gathered all the information needed, and purchased/installed the software on my computer.  At this point it’s just a matter of plugging in the information and filing.  With taxes out of the way, I can focus on our vacation to Florida in two weeks! Fist pump for getting taxes done, vacation, AND my favorite posts of the week – including a shameless plug to my latest BBQ post! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump I Can’t Pay My Taxes: What Should […] Read more »

Applying Agile Principles To Your Finances

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I spent three days last week in a workshop learning advanced concepts of the Agile Methodology. If you’re in software or project management you may have heard of Agile as a methodology in which the requirements to achieve a goal are constantly reevaluated, and course corrections made through incremental and iterative work segments. One of the workshop facilitators stated that she found Agile practices spilling over into her personal life.  As she made that statement, I could feel my eyes roll back into my head. The thought that a project management technique used for complex software development being applied to […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 3/11

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In less than three weeks the Pizel family will be loading up the van and heading to Florida.  Our accommodations are paid for, and we’ve been saving up our spending money.  In my last paycheck I got an extra bump due to some patent activity awards that came in.  That’s extra cash that will definitely come in handy on our trip! Fist pump for bonus cash, and for my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Gently Used Car from Debt Discipline 4 Tips To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck from MoneyNing 5 Simple Ways To […] Read more »

Are Airline Ticket Change Fees Negotiable?

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I recently bought plane tickets for my son and I to go to Austin, Texas for a video game tournament. After some discussion the next day, we purchased two more tickets for my wife and daughter to make it a short get away for the entire family. We were scheduled to fly out Friday morning, and get home late Sunday night. As my wife and I discussed the logistics of the trip, she realized that with all the tournament activities, we wouldn’t have much time to do things with our son. She regretted not booking the trip to start a […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 3/4

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I’ve got a treat for you today, EOD Nation!  This debt thing that we talk about here on EOD isn’t just a US thing….it’s worldwide.  I’ve got a friend who lives in the UK who put her nose to the grindstone and paid off a ridiculous amount of debt.  Now, she wants to share how she did it, and how you can apply the same principles to rid your life of debt FOREVER.  Part one of a multi-post series of how to do it is up right now.  It’s relatable,  it’s detailed, and it comes from her personal experiences.  I […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 2/26

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I did something last night that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.   I registered for a class to become a certified competition BBQ judge!  It’s just a 4 hour class, and I have to travel about an hour north to the University of Minnesota, but it’s going to be so much freaking fun.  I don’t necessarily want to actually judge a competition (although that would be AWESOME).  I thought that learning how BBQ is judged, I might get some tips on what competition BBQ tastes like, and what is expected of it in order to improve my […] Read more »

Quality, Inexpensive Clothes CAN Be Found At Club Stores

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I’m not into brand names. I’m definitely not into brand name clothes; example: paying hundreds of dollars for a pair of jeans. My butt looks just fine without bling across the back pockets. I’m more than content cruising the aisles of Walmart, Target, Old Navy and the occasional trip to Kohl’s when I can combine a 30% off coupon with sale prices. I do recognize that occasionally I do sacrifice some amount of quality in favor of paying less. For the most part, I come out ahead for my money. Sometimes I get a cheap pair of shorts that rip […] Read more »

Fist Pump Friday: I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 2/19

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My family is going on a trip to Florida for spring break at the end of March.  We’re actually going with some family and friends, and we’re renting a house together for the week.  The payment for the house rental is due, so today I’m writing out a check for what we owe.  Paid in full using funds stashed away in the bank because THAT, my friends, is what is possible when you’re not under the crushing weight of debt. Fist pump for vacations paid in full, AND my favorite posts of the week Posts That Make Me Fist Pump […] Read more »