Don’t Cheat Yourself By Living a Life of Half-Assity

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I was painfully making my way through a 14 mile run early on a Saturday morning. I was at mile 10, and struggling to find the energy or even the desire to pick up my feet and keep running. “If only I weighed less, this wouldn’t be so hard,” I thought to myself. Last October, when I crossed the finish line of the Twin Cities 10 mile race, I instantly decided I was going to run the full marathon in 2014. I had a full year to get lean, train hard, and run my best marathon ever. Yet here we […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 8/8

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On Tuesday night Vonnie and I went out  with our neighbors and played organized Bingo.  Yelling out “BINGO!” was quite a thrill, and as you can tell from the picture I was pretty stoked to win $50.  One may even say I was in the mood to fist pump! How about it, EOD Nation?   Get ’em up for Five of THE BEST posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump I Hate Cash from Money Ramblings 3 Frugal Tips for Foodies Who Love Eating Out from Frugal Rules Heads up: Credit Karma now shows your full credit […] Read more »

You Can’t Beat Kohls Return Policy

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Coffee drinkers are passionate about their morning go-juice. Maybe you’re one of these people, my wife certainly is. Which is why she was very concerned when her Keurig single cup coffee brewing system started acting up. Her particular model has a choice of three difference size cups, and even though she always chooses the largest of the three, she noticed that it just wasn’t filling up the cup as far as it should. She had to resort to running the cycle twice or even three times to get her morning cup of brew. It obviously was not working right. Consulting […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 8/01

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Welcome to August, EOD Nation!   August has traditionally been a challenging month financially for us, as it is when we pick up the things our kids need for the upcoming school year.  In years past this meant checking out Old Navy and Kohls because we had store credit cards for those retailers and we could get new clothes without having to spend any money immediately out of pocket.  Over the last few years, with the lines of credit unavailable due to our debt management program, we have struggled to save up the funds needed to get clothes and school supplies.  […] Read more »

Would You Bust Your Budget to Boycott a Business?

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We have a running joke at my house that I should never tell my brother-in-law where I purchased the food I cook for him when he visits. When I happen to accidentally say it out loud he plugs his ears with his fingers and loudly repeats, “LA LA LA LA LA LA LA,” as to try to tune out what I’m saying. The reason being that the vast majority of our grocery shopping is done at Walmart. He refuses to shop there because he disagrees with how Walmart generally pays and treats its employees. These kinds of boycotts are not […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/25

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After a summer that started out with so much rain that it caused flooding problems in many parts of the great state of Minnesota, it’s been awfully dry lately.  This morning, however, I woke up to the sweet sound of thunder and the pitter patter of rain hitting my bedroom window.  I LOVE aimlessly drifting in and out of consciousness listening to a thunderstorm, and I allowed myself to this pleasure for darn near an hour.  I can’t think of a better way to start out a Friday morning….especially when it’s followed by some fist pumping! Let’s get it on! […] Read more »

We’re Getting a Debt Consolidation Loan, and I’m OK With That

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Hot off the presses, EOD Nation, despite all you may have read, debt consolidation loans are not evil. Even after completing a debt management plan in which we paid off $109,000 of credit card debt, my wife and I knew we still had actions we had to take to really get our finances completely on the right path. One of those actions is paying off two additional lines of credit that could not be included in our debt management plan. Our goal was to consolidate these two lines of credit with a single consolidation loan. We applied for such a […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 07/18

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We’re headed to a wedding this weekend, something we haven’t done in quite a long time.  It should be a good time, as it’s for a daughter of a coworker and friend of mine.  Party with the work crew!  I’m guessing that all the usual wedding songs will be played at the dance, and there may be some fist pumping action going on.  But it won’t compare to the reaction to this week’s list of favorite posts, there were some great ones this week. Get ’em up! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Is It Possible To Live Without Credit? […] Read more »

The Lemonade Stand Review, and IPad Mini Giveaway!

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Whenever I pass a lemonade stand on the side of the street, I pull over. Regardless of where I’m going, how busy I am, or whether I’m thirsty or not I pull over and buy a couple of glasses. It’s a personal policy. I did the lemonade stand thing many times when I was a kid, and I know how discouraging it is to not have any customers. I also know how awesome it feels to have someone take the time to stop and help you reap the rewards of your hard work. I absolutely LOVE seeing a kid’s eyes […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 7/11

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It’s a very tired fist pump from me this morning, my friends.  The ringing of our home phone woke me up at 1:00am.  Being a software engineer part of a team that writes firmware for very large business class servers, I’m essentially always on call. I was called to look at a critical customer problem and worked most of the night.  Hopefully you guys can all back me up this week – so get ’em up. Have a great weekend! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 5 Causes of the Money Blues and How to Eliminate Them from The Heavy […] Read more »

Are Luxury Hotels Worth the Price?

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A car pulls up to a hotel, the owner gets out as a doorman removes the bags and a valet takes the keys and drives away.  Inside the lobby a well dressed person at the reception desk goes through the check in process while describing all the amenities the hotel has to offer.  Being able to stay at a luxury hotel where employees bend over backwards to do everything for you is portrayed as a symbol of pampering and wealth. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be? My wife and I spent the 4th of July weekend […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/4

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I’m away for the weekend celebrating the 4th of July in the great city of Chicago with some friends and family.  We had a great night last night at a dueling piano bar and having Chicago style pizza, and today it’s off to Navy Pier and the Dave Mathews Band concert.  We’ll wrap things up with going to Ribfest on Sunday….YUM!  How are you spending your 4th of July Weekend? Before we get into our usual fist pump routine, I wanted to mention that I had the honor of having a guest post published at mint.com this week.  I Don’t […] Read more »

Have We Learned To Use Credit Responsibly?

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The thunder and lightning carrying on outside represented my struggle well. Two evenly matched forces were doing battle inside my head. The need to save money whenever possible, and my solid stance that using a credit card to pay for something should be avoided at all costs. Let me be clear, I do not think that credit cards themselves are evil. When used correctly, they can be a valuable tool in a person’s financial tool belt that can actually save money.   However, I have a huge problem with some of the business practices and policies of credit card companies. My […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 06/27

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There are two events that have had me looking forward to this weekend: 1.) The new Transformer’s move comes out today.  Yes, I’m a big geek.  I loved them as a kid, and while some of the moves in the series haven’t been all that great, this one looks like it may finally live up to  the hype.  My son and I are going to go see it this afternoon. 2.) Sunday is my wedding anniversary.  18 years of wedded bliss with Mrs. Vonnie Pizel.  I’m looking forward to celebrating our lives together.  We’re just getting started! Can I get […] Read more »