I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 12/5

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Great weekend ahead, EOD Nation!  We have our neighborhood Christmas party this evening hosted by one of our neighbors.  Tomorrow night we’re getting together with friends for an ugly sweater party.  Each gathering will require us to bring along some dish to pass, but throwing together some sort of appetizer or dessert will be super cheap.  Two nights of fun with friends, two nights with very little spent.  That’s what I like to call #WINNING. It definitely deserves some fist pump action….what do you have going this weekend? Posts That Make Me Fist Pump How To Save $200 On Your […] 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 »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 11/28

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I’m breathing a sigh of relief today, my friends.  In preparation for Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law’s house I spent all day Wednesday smoking a brisket, and got up crazy early yesterday morning to smoke a ham.  I got a great night’s sleep last night though. I hadn’t planned on going Black Friday shopping, but just for fun I looked through all the ads looking for anything that I was in the market to buy.  I found nothing.  The big goose egg.  Nada.  I woke up this morning refreshed and ready to take the rest of the weekend to recharge the […] Read more »

What Your Credit Score REALLY Means

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I’m currently enrolled in a credit monitoring service, getting periodic updates about inquiries into my credit, and small changes up or down in my FICO score.   When we charged something on our American Express, I was notified of a balance change. When we applied for a consolidation loan, I was notified of the inquiry and of a slight decrease in my score. Everything made sense, until I read a notification that landed in my inbox last week. My FICO score had increased by 24 points, and I couldn’t believe the reason why. A few weeks ago, my wife was in […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 11/21

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Whew, last night was a late one.  My neighbor hosts a Thursday game night from time to time.  I’m not exactly sure why it has to be on a Thursday and not on a weekend, but it is what it is.  We got going around 8:30 and played one game of Pandemic, and then a round of Ticket to Ride.  I walked in my front door about 1:15am.  One of the attendees brought along a variety of pumpkin beers to try, and there we ample amounts of snacks.  It was a fun, inexpensive…..and late night.  But don’t worry, I can […] Read more »

Holiday Party Recipes Using Tabasco Sauce! #SeasonedGreetings

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My favorite part of the holiday season is family gatherings. I get to spend time with loved ones that I don’t get to see nearly as often as I’d like. Family gatherings mean potluck meals, which gives me the opportunity to fire up the grill or smoker and show off my culinary skills. My wife’s family likes a little heat with their food, but when I cook I don’t want it to be hot just for the sake of hot.  There has to be good flavor to go along with it. To add that flavor to my delicious party food […] Read more »

Lowest Priced Unlimited Plans Through Walmart Family Mobile Will Help Me Reach My Marathon Goal

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When I ran the Twin Cities Marathon on October 5th of this year, there were several family members that cheered for me at various places throughout the race.  I was extremely thankful for their encouragement, as it brought a huge smile to my face and gave me a little extra motivation to keep going.   In the months preceding the race, I had periodically shared details of my training through social media and received support from friends and family as well as questions and suggestions from fellow runners.   I received so much feedback that I decided that as I begin to […] Read more »

Why You Should Walk Away From Free Offers

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Today’s post is from Douglas Goldstein, the host of the Goldstein on Gelt Show, as well as the author of  Rich as a King.  Please give a warm EOD nation welcome to Douglas! When you go shopping and you see a sign saying, “1+1 Buy one and get one free!” what do you do? Many consumers don’t stop to ask themselves if they need or want this product. The satisfaction that they gain from getting “the other one free” compels them to take up this seemingly generous offer even if they don’t need both of the items in question. But […] Read more »

Financial Discipline: You Play How You Practice

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“Well, hello stranger!” said a loud voice from somewhere behind the Subway counter.   I quickly found the familiar face smiling back at me. It’s the same young lady that is working at the nearby Subway most Saturdays when I stop in to get lunch for my family. Saturday Subway is a tradition of sorts at the Pizel household. As the cashier rang up my sandwiches, she asked me if I wanted to get one of my sandwiches for free by purchasing a $20 gift card. I politely declined. Buying the gift card would violate three of my foundational spending guidelines: […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 11/14

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Earlier this week I talked about gazelle intensity, and how I’m going to tap into that kind of laser focus for two things:  1.) my weight loss and marathon training and 2.) saving up $7000 for my tax bill by April of next year.  Today is payday, so the savings begin.  Unfortunately, I haven’t plowed all the way through my budget for the next two weeks, and I need to do that before I start what I hope to be one of those “goal thermometers” here on my Fist Pump Friday posts.  Therefore, you have a week to think of […] 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 »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 11/7

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  It’s been one of those weeks where the days just flew by.  I’ve been a bad blogger friend, as I opened my RSS reader for literally the very first time this week today.  My fellow personal finance bloggers write a LOT of articles in a week.   🙂  I’m happy this week is over, I’ve cleared the boards and ready to start fresh for next week. That in itself is worth a fist pump or two!   Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Dealing With Setbacks in a Debt Payoff Journey from Well Kept Wallet Introverts Rejoice!: Extroverts Spend More […] Read more »

Three Ways to be Simply Healthy at Sam’s Club

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I don’t have time to be sick. I don’t have the patience for it either. I’m used to running full tilt, doing several things in parallel at all times. So when my body fails me by falling victim to an illness during the flu season, I become frustrated at my lack of production, as well as my inability to keep my household running at maximum efficiency. When it comes to my family members, I hate seeing them not feeling well and not being able really do much to fix it for them. Which is why I find that the best […] 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 »