Extreme Circumstances Call For Extreme Measures

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Have you ever considered someone to be a little too extreme when it comes to their money? Maybe they were too extreme in saving for their emergency fund, paying off their debt, or just never seemed to do anything fun at all. How’s your financial situation? You might be having fun, but are you prepared for that rainy day that will come? Are you the grasshopper or the ant? When we were paying off our debt we said no to almost everything. Nowadays we are a little more relaxed with how hardcore we are and how much we sacrifice on […] Read more »

How We Spent Money To Save Money

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You’ve probably heard the phrase, “you have to spend money to make money“, but have you ever heard of spending money to save money? I’m always excited to share ways to save money, and quite frankly, I’m SICK of being ripped off by cell phone companies. So we decided to actually do something about it instead of just complaining. Stupid Cell Phones I started long ago with Sprint, which at the time had the worst customer service ever. This was a long time ago and I just couldn’t find a plan that worked for me as much as it worked […] Read more »

Manage Your Money Week 3 – Death By 1000 Cuts

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Welcome to week 3 of the Manage your Money Challenge! We’re half way through the month and I am excited to see how much these challenges seem to be helping you. We were down to only 9 participants last week but I am still so excited. Those 9 are really taking this budgeting stuff seriously, and the comments and openness have been so wonderful. Thank you so much for your participation! Let’s get to it, shall we? 🙂 This Weeks Prize Winners! (via Random.org) Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Relating With Money – Michelle Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Junior – […] Read more »

Manage Your Money Week 2 – Teamwork, Accountability, and Kids

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WOW! Out of the 44 that signed up, only 12 showed up, leaving 32 people MIA. That’s alright though, there is still a chance to redeem yourself. Don’t give up before you even start! How are you going to change things if you don’t do the work? I know it’s hard! I know you’re scared! I know you’re intimidated! But you have to make some changes, and you may as well start now. You are still welcome, and can win some prizes. Make the changes now! To the ones that showed up, and blew me away with their honesty and […] Read more »

Manage Your Money: Wants Versus Needs

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Manage Your Money 2010 Budget Challenge!   {{{{{{Trumpets Blaring}}}}}} I am very happy to announce that we currently have 40 people participating in this challenge, including myself. That is AWESOME! New sign ups will be permitted until midnight on Wednesday March 3rd. If you know any procrastinators out there that planned on joining you better let them know. 😀 Before I fill you in on the first challenge, I want to be sure everyone is clear on eligibility. In order to be eligible for the wonderful prizes that are available, YOU MUST, I repeat, YOU MUST participate in the comments […] Read more »

Manage Your Money Pre-Challenge Post: On Paper On Purpose

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Hello all! I hope you are all excited to be taking part in the first ever Manage Your Money Challenge here on Enemy of Debt. If you have not already signed up, please do so now. I am excited to be working beside you on this. Now before we get started I want to say this. I do not inherently love budgeting. BUT, there are a lot of things that I have to do in life that do not thrill me but are necessary. So I do them. Budgeting can be simple, hard, boring, exciting, or as my good buddy […] Read more »

It’s Your Money, YOU Spend It!

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Hello debt haters! A few weeks ago I received an email from a reader that suggested I write a post about how other people spend your money for you. I have to admit it is a great post idea, and I am really surprised I had not come up with it earlier. You see, I have my own issue with this very problem. Kelly in Cleveland Ohio wrote in: “I’d love to see an article on “When others spend your money for you”. For example, a 50th wedding anniversary for my fiance’s parents. We were just notified that we’re paying […] Read more »

The March 2010 “Manage Your Money” Challenge: Featuring Pocketsmith – Are You In Or Out?

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Howdy folks! Two of my 2010 resolutions for Enemy of Debt in the year 2010 were to 1) Engage subscribers more actively and 2) Build an active and supportive EOD community. That’s why I have decided to ask you to participate in a new feature post at EOD called “Manage Your Money”. OTHER MANAGE YOUR MONEY POSTS Manage Your Money Sign Up Manage Your Money Pre-Challenge Post: On Paper On Purpose I Love You…Like A Blogger! WEEK ONE CHALLENGE: Manage Your Money – Wants Versus Needs (Mandatory participation to win prizes) WEEK TWO CHALLENGE: Teamwork, Accountability, and Kids (Mandatory participation […] Read more »

Gift Cards: The Envelope System Of The 21st Century?

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Tried And True Method Have you ever tried using the envelope system? If not, you should really give it a try because it helps keep you on the budget by not allowing you to overspend in specific categories. It also helps you shop for deals because you know when that money is gone—it’s gone. So maybe it doesn’t feel as cool to pull out the envelope marked “groceries”, to give the cashier exact change. I have one question for you though. When it comes to managing your money, do you want to be cool and broke, or freakishly weird with […] Read more »

Where’s The Budget? Download Here For FREE!

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  More than expected, I have received emails about finding my budget download, so I wanted to post it here one more time.  For the record my FREE budget download is in the right sidebar, as well as in the navigation links above.  I realize my navigation links are kind of hiding above but I do plan to address that issue very soon.  Web design is certainly not my specialty, but I will be working on it. I am planning to give my site a transformation to allow all of you a more friendly experience when you visit.  What I […] Read more »

7 Tips To Make Your Budget Work

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1. Maintain An Emergency Fund Of $1,000 This is very important!  If you do not have an adequate emergency fund when life happens to you, you will feel defeated.  It has a very negative impact on your desire to budget when you have to reorganize EVERYTHING to pay for emergencies.  If you have an emergency fund all you have to do is cover the emergency without reorganizing the entire budget. 2. Remember That You & Your Spouse Are On The Same Team The friction caused by disagreement will often cause the budget to be a flop before it ever has […] Read more »

EOD Deluxe Budget 2.0

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  EOD Budget has finally been upgraded!! (EOD Deluxe Budget Version 2.0) If you have been wondering where I have been, here is your answer.  I have been working hard to upgrade the EOD Budget so that your budgeting experience will be easier, better, and faster!  I have added lots of new features including an Allocated Spending Plan and a Checkbook Registry.  I have added some new content to the Savings Worksheets, as well as implemented a color coded system so you know what areas need your information.  Yellow cells are the only cells you need to enter your info […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey for President 2008

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President Ramsey? No, Dave Ramsey isn’t running for President, but if he was, I would probably vote for him.  He has expressed his opinion and has made it clear he does not want the job.  Personally, I do not blame him, but boy would it be nice to have a Government with a ZERO-BASED BUDGET?  It would be nice to have someone who knows how to cut expenses and knows the difference between a want and a need.  Someone who knows all to well how it feels to hit rock bottom, and someone who knows how to bounce back by […] Read more »

Budget Fix

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Hi everyone!  This is just an update to let you know that if you downloaded my budget before today, but after the launch, you need to download it again OR make 2 changes yourself. (Recommended) I was trying to make it account for spending more than you budgeted by making the remaining to budget, cell i37, change to let you know you needed to adjust the budget.  The fact is that when you see a red number in the “D” Column you should know that you need to make an adjustment somewhere to compensate for overspending.  The point is to […] Read more »