Motivational Monday: Mistakes Pave The Way To A Greater Success

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I caught a segment on a popular morning news program in which the CEO of Google was being interviewed. The line of questioning centered on the type of potential employee Google typically looks for and the kinds of ideas that would catch the eye of Google as something they would want to pursue. The CEO gave the example two potential ideas, one that would result in a car that could get 50 miles to the gallon, and one that would get 500 miles to the gallon. While the first idea would be more easily attainable and very useful in the […] Read more »

How to Get Ahead If You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck (Part 2)

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get ahead living paycheck to paycheck

In the first article in the series, I covered eight things that might cause you to end up trapped in a paycheck to paycheck life. In this second post, I’m going to show you a few things you can do to get your finances under control, stop spending more than you make, and end the paycheck to paycheck cycle for good. If you read the last article, at this point you’ve probably figured out some of the top reasons why you’re struggling financially. Once you understand those reasons, I explained that it was important to get your mindset right and […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 10/17

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The kids are off of school Thursday and Friday of this week so we decided to something fun with them.  We live about an hour south of the Minneapolis/St.Paul metropolitan area, and door to door it’s about 70 minutes to the Mall Of America.  In the middle of the mall is an indoor amusement park called Nickelodeon Universe.  I get all day ride wrist bands at a great discount (about 33% off), which helps with the cost.  We allowed them each to bring one friend, and we spent the day riding rides, checking out a few stores, and then meeting […] Read more »

Sunday Afternoon #LaundryBliss With Purex Laundry Detergent

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Laundry was on my mind as I was running errands last Sunday morning, because I knew I was out of laundry detergent. I stopped by Target just as they unlocked the doors, and surveyed the laundry detergent aisle for the best deal. I found a bottle of Purex laundry detergent boasting 10% more product than usual, advertising the potential of washing 90 loads for a cost of $7.99. That’s less than 9 cents per load! As I was standing in the checkout lane, anxious to get started with the day’s work, I thought about how I could have purchased my […] Read more »

How Does the Target RedCard Work?

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I was hurriedly going through the checkout lane at Target picking up some items on my way home from work when the cashier sprung a question I’ve heard a zillion times: “Are you going to be saving 5% with your REDcard today?” I shook my head, “No,” after which she asked me if I knew about the REDcard. I quipped at her my understanding of it being a Target Visa card that saves me 5% on my purchases. I told her that I didn’t like to use credit cards, but thanked her for the offer. I was surprised when she […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 10/10

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Happy fist pump Friday, EOD Nation!  I thought about you last weekend as I ran the Twin Cities Marathon, and fist pumped my way across the finish line!   I was ecstatic to see that the official pictures taken caught me mid fist pump.  I think I’ve finally found the picture I will use for these Friday posts, at least for awhile. I’m also happy to report that I’m back to walking normally, but I have not returned to running yet as my joints and muscles still hurt when I do impact exercises.  It will  be the bicycle for cardio for […] Read more »

Keep Workin’ Your Moneyplan Like Biz Markie

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This weekend I had a connecting flight in Baltimore. On the way to my gate I saw Biz Markie getting ready to board a flight to New Orleans. I checked his Twitter feed and found he would be performing in Baton Rouge that night. If you don’t know who Biz Markie is then just search YouTube for “Just A Friend”. Yeah, now you remember. What amazes me is that he hasn’t changed a bit. I would know, I saw him perform live at the Rosemont Theater back in the late 1980’s. How does a rapper who hasn’t released an album […] Read more »

What I Learned From Running The 2014 Twin Cities Marathon

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I sprang out of bed at the chime of my cell phone alarm at 4:30am yesterday. I quietly got ready for the day, gathered my things, and quietly closed the hotel room door behind me as to not disturb my sleeping family. I headed downstairs to the lobby to meet some friends and to walk over to the light rail station that would take us to the start line. In just a few short hours I would be lining up with over 11,000 other runners to run the Twin Cities Marathon. It would be my 4th time, and I had […] Read more »

I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup – 10/3

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Marathon weekend is here.  I don’t mean to beat you over the head with it…….OK, yes I do, but since it’s this weekend you’ll get to stop hearing about me and marathons for at least a few months until I run the next one in June.  🙂  This has been the slooooowest week ever because running this race has been taking up all my brain power.  It’s going to be a great day, I cannot wait! Something else I wanted to share with you is exciting news for a friend of mine and fellow blogger.  Prudence Debt Free, who has […] Read more »

The Power Of A Support System

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“Why does part of my brain keep wondering if I’m really going to be able to finish next week?” I asked my wife. At 8:00am on this coming Sunday the starting gun will fire, and I’ll begin a 26.2 mile run that is the Twin Cities Marathon. I’ve been training hard for the last 9 months, but a little piece of my consciousness seems to want to focus on how hard the last couple of long runs have been.   Then I think about how much further I have to run to complete the marathon and wonder if I’ll really be […] Read more »

How to Get Ahead if You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck

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get ahead living paycheck to paycheck

Some recent studies showed that more than two thirds of people are living paycheck to paycheck at least some of the time. That’s pretty incredible! It seems to be getting harder and harder to keep your head above water financially, and there is no lack of reasons why that’s happening. Some of it is because our attitudes about money have changed over the years.  Some of it is also because of the changing economy, and some of it is probably due to the fact that the world is rapidly changing, and some are getting left behind because they refuse to […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger Roundup – 9/26

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Who has two thumbs and is taking the day off today?  >>>> THIS GUY <<<< The kids are off to school, and Vonnie and I are off to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, MN for the day.  It’ll be a fun day of shows, comedy and eating.  Although I *need* to be relatively mindful of my eating as I am trying to keep the right kinds of fuel in me with my marathon just over a week away. Speaking of the marathon, I’m mentally preparing for it each and every day.  I’m anxious.  I’m excited.  I can’t wait.  Did I […] Read more »

How to Raise Financially Savvy Kids

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You’re counting on your kids to grow up into financially savvy, independent adults, but unless you take the time to teach them good personal finance habits yourself, they might not. Most American kids don’t take any personal finance courses in school; only 17 states teach personal finance in high schools and only six require students to pass a test in the subject before graduating. Even if you live in one of the states where personal finance is a part of the high school curriculum, researchers at Cambridge University have found that people develop their adult personal finance habits by seven […] Read more »

Credit Cards Are Officially NOT For Me

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Some use credit cards for as many of their day to day expenses as possible in order to rack up reward program points. Some even go through a process called credit card churning to earn points for signing up for a new accounts in exchange for cash, airline miles, or travel accommodations.  I know people that have taken their entire family on a free, or nearly free, trip by using such methods. Good for them, as long as they’re using their cards responsibly. But this kind of “beat the system” mentality is not for everyone. Not everyone has the internal […] Read more »