Your Perspective On Money Changes….When You’re Paying the Bills

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My son looked at me like he didn’t believe what he was hearing. He believed that his parents have an unlimited source of money. My son has been saving his allowance as well as the money he’s earned mowing lawn this summer to get his own computer, and has amassed a pretty good chunk of coin. We had planned on a building a computer together as I thought it would be a cool father and son activity plus save us some money by assembling the computer ourselves. However, recently he found a pre-built computer online that had the required specs, […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 8/16

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Happy Friday EOD Nation, I’ve got a favor to ask of you!  I’m attending the Financial Blogger’s Conference in St. Louis in October, and part of the conference is something called the Plutus Awards.  These awards are given to blogs  that are the best of their type.  Last year Enemy of Debt won Best Debt Blog, and I’d LOVE to throw EOD into the mix again.  How can you help?  You can click on the link below and throw a vote for EOD!  By clicking on the link, it will fill in the appropriate field to vote for EOD, all […] Read more »

Inexpensive but Awesome Dessert Using Philadephia Cream Cheese!

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Summer potluck cookouts are a favorite activity in our neighborhood. There are two people that are legendary for bringing mouth-watering desserts that everyone looks forward to being the last taste to linger in their mouths as they walk home. But I’ve got a recipe that could change all that and make me the undisputed king of desserts. I’m about to unleash the scrumptiousness of my strawberry cheese pie made with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It’s a simple recipe that only requires a few ingredients: 9 inch Graham Cracker Crust 8oz package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese 1 Cup Powdered Sugar 1 Cup […] Read more »

Hotel Room Fees Exposed!

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I opened the hotel room door to find a flyer labeled “Express Check Out” laying on the floor. Our vacation was over, and it was time to settle up with the hotel for our accommodations. I opened it up and sat down on the bed to examine it for accuracy. The daily room rates were as expected, but there were so many different taxes listed that I began to wonder exactly what those amounts were for. Normally I just assume the hotel is charging the government required taxes, but I was feeling especially frisky that morning and decided to verify […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 08/09

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Greetings from vacationland!  The family and I are on vacation in sunny Wisconsin Dells checking out water parks galore.  We’ve been here in the winter, but never in summer and we are having a B-L-A-S-T.  TeamEOD writer Suzanne’s post this week was very timely as it has really helped me pay attention to our budget.  Being the competitive person that I am, I’m motivated to beat her C- grade on sticking to the budget.  LOL. Even though I’m on vacation, I’ve managed to seek out the best personal finance posts of the week.   Get those fists ready, it’s time to […] 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 »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 08/02

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Who has two thumbs and is looking forward to a low key, low cost, recharge your batteries kind of weekend?  Yeah, this guy.  It’s been a hectic, yet very productive week both in software engineer world, as well as on the blogging front.  The weather’s going to be fabulous, and I plan on spending a lot of time on my deck just watching the world go by.  What’s on your agenda for the weekend? Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Don’t Rationalize Your Purchases; Do THIS instead from Money Talks Coach One Year Of Being Credit Card Debt Free! from […] Read more »

Four Years of Growth and Change

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Yesterday was the four year anniversary of our first payment to our debt management program. When a person takes on a long and difficult task, many times it seems that in some ways the time passes in the blink of an eye. I tell you the truth that in this instance, that is not the case. It seems as if we have been fighting our way out of debt forever. Each of these 48 months have been a challenge. Most have been victories, some of them have not. But the constant in all of this is that we have always […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/26

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Last Thursday I registered for the Twin Cities 10 Mile run.  Last year I ran the Twin Cities Marathon (which is run on the same day), but I just didn’t have it in me to marathon train this time around.  The 10 mile run is a perfect because it’s still long enough that I have to do some serious training, but doesn’t put nearly as much strain on the body.   Registration for this race is a lottery and I was very happy to find out on Tuesday that I was selected to be one of the participants!  I workout almost […] 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 »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 7/19

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My son has his end of the season baseball tournament this weekend.  I very much enjoy watching him play, so this is going to be a fun weekend.  It seems odd to me that the season is over, and we’re barely past the midway point of July, but I think they do it this way to stagger the tournaments of the various age groups, and because football practices usually get into full swing in August. I’ve had such an incredibly busy week that I’ve barely been on social media at all, but I still managed to find some fantastic articles […] Read more »

Pain is NOT a Lifestyle

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I walked by a chiropractor’s office a few weeks ago where a sign hung in the window that read, “Pain is Not a Lifestyle.” The meaning of the sign was obviously referring to physical pain. There is no need to walk through life in pain when the people inside the office can relieve it for you. But as I read the sign over and over, a wave of emotion and memories flowed through my consciousness as to how my life used to be full of so much pain due to my finances. I remember all the things I had once […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 07/12

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As a software engineer, I have to come up with innovative ways to solve problems in the code that I write.  Sometimes that creativity leads  to patent applications.  One of the perks of my job is that my employer gives us a monetary award for each idea that is deemed worthy of a patent application by the legal team.   In the last month I’ve had two such ideas marked as requiring a patent application, which will result in a nice bump in funds in an upcoming paycheck.    Within the personal finance circles there’s a lot of talk about unexpected expenses […] Read more »

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 »