Share Your Debt Free Bucket List. Win $500 towards Killing Off Your Debt!!

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Yep, you read that correctly! One of YOU is going to win $500!! Enemy of Debt and Life Insurance Finder have partnered up to help you reach your debt free goals. Life Insurance Finder is an Australian based company that allows you to compare and select the right life insurance for you and your family based on your needs. All you have to do to enter is tell us what's on your Debt Free Bucket List, plus if you want 10 EXTRA ENTRIES you can write about this giveaway on your blog. Don't have a blog? Not to worry because you'll have the chance to earn up to 5 EXTRA ENTRIES by tweeting about the giveaway. Please read and follow the instructions below to ensure your entry is accepted. Read more »

I Hear the Secrets that you Keep…

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I do, I hear them; the denial, self talk, and the inevitable, “What am I going to do?” They are secrets you keep from everyone; your family, your friends, and even your significant other. You’re in debt. It doesn’t matter how it happened, what matters now is that you do something about it.  That’s where I come in. I am a certified credit counselor for CareOne Debt Relief Services and everyday I talk to people about their debt. Sometimes I am the first person they have admitted this to and they are scared, apprehensive, and skeptical. I would be too; […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 6

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This week's lesson is Buyer Beware which is mostly about advertising and marketing. It was interesting because it's easy to forget that almost every company, big and little, has at least one full time person whose only job in life is to figure out how to get your money. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. He started out by saying how we are living in the most marketed culture in the history of the world. Which I totally believe is true. Look back at TV from even 20 or 30 years ago. There is way less marketing built into shows and sports. Well, put it this way, how could it NOT be true. They certainly aren't marketing to us any less, that's for sure. Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 5

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This week is called “Credit Sharks in Suits” and is about dealing with creditors. If you missed the previous week’s reviews you can catch them here; Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4. The Class I had a complaint that in the first week that Dave uses extreme language and examples to make his point. He follows that up again in this lesson. He went on a long rant about how debt collectors are evil scum. Which I don’t disagree with the fact that the debt collection industry is out of control and basically unregulated. I mean, there […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 4

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This week's lesson was "Dumping Debt". Which everyone says is the best lesson. Maybe it had been built up too much but I was actually a little disappointed and bored. (Don't shoot!) I was expecting more of a motivational speech about getting rid of your debt, but instead it was "myth busting" of debt myths. Which maybe was boring for me because I'm already fully on board with debt free living. I don't need my myths busted. There was some powerful stuff at the end with clips of people sharing how they are living debt free and how amazing it is. At the end Dave yells at the top of his lungs "I'M DEBT FREE!!!!" which pretty much made you want to leap out of your chair and yell "YEAH!". Read more »

Eliminating Debt is Like Fixing a Car – Persistence Pays Off!

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I hate cars. Let me be more specific: I hate the fact that I know very little about cars. So little in fact that someone could completely make something up, I’d believe it was a real problem, and pay through the nose to fix it.  So, when the check engine light began to blink on and off in my car while it felt like it was about to stall, I knew that I was the one that was in for a ride. I wrote a previous post in the CareOne community about the problems we’ve been having with the car, […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 3

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Week 3 of the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University is "Cash Flow Planning". Which is basically advanced budgeting. We made "quickie budgets" in the first week of class but this week we dove deeper in to budgeting. I actually missed the live version of this class because I was getting my party on at the Financial Bloggers Conference. I have the audio version of this lesson in my kit but Brad was kind enough to lend me the video version that he had, so in the end I did get to watch the presentation. There are lots of forms and worksheets that go along with this class so it was nice to be able to follow along with the video. Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 2

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This week at Financial Peace University was called "relating to money". I really liked this lesson a lot. Dave talked about getting on the same page with your spouse financially. I was taking notes so that I could write this review and I have a page and a half of scribbles. One note I wrote says "If you agree on spending you agree on values. You will feel like a team, which means a happy marriage. You must work together." I wanted to stand up and yell in the class "YES!! Are you guys listening to this!! Write that down!" Read more »

Three Keys to Financial Fitness

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I was planning on writing about a new survey from Prudential Retirement Services today. It is a very interesting survey from 2006-2011 of primary or joint financial decision makers who are between 45-75, have a household income of at least $100,000 ($50,000 if already retired), household investable assets of at least $100,000, and retirement savings of at least $100,000. Many who fall in this “retirement red zone” have serious concerns about their ability to maintain lifestyle in retirement. For those of you who would like to read the study, here’s a link to the Prudential website: http://news.prudential.com/images/20026/2011ChangingAttitudesAboutRetIncome.pdf It is worth […] Read more »

Debt Free News #21 – Congratulations Amy

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The Enemy of Debt Questionnaire – Congratulations Amy! How much debt did you have and how long did it take you to pay it off? I took a 401(k) loan in 1997 of $8,000 for a down payment on my condo. My mortgage was $34,800 for 15 years. I paid off the mortgage in 2005. I paid off the 401(k) loan in 2001. I bought a new SUV in 2006; did a dumb thing by trading it on a new model in 2008; the car loan was paid off in 2010 (it started out about $25,000.00 – stupid, I know […] Read more »

Financial Peace University Week 1

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Last week I started attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. If you are not familiar with this course it's a 13 week program where "you'll learn how to beat debt, build wealth, find bargains, invest for the future, give like never before, and much more!" Each lesson is 2 hours long and includes a one hour video of Dave Ramsey speaking and then an hour of discussion in the classroom. Here is the link to the Dave Ramsey site if you want more information about the course. I also did a longer write up myself about the course over at Money Talks which includes my reservations about attending. Every week for the next 13 weeks I'm going to be writing about my experience about the class. So you guys are going to get a full in-depth review of Financial Peace University. Read more »

Two Giveaways and a New Business Venture

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Today I wanted to take this opportunity to share some things with you in case you missed it over the weekend. Many of you know Budgets Are Sexy but did you know that Giveaways Are Sexy too? Well they are, and my friend J. Money is making sure of it. This week I am sponsoring a sexy giveaway!! I have offered up a Financial Peace University Lifetime Membership Kit ($119 value) and you are invited to enter the giveaway. After you finish this post be sure to head over and enter your name to win!! Read more »

Life is so Beautiful, Why Waste it Shackled with Debt?

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As I stared into the beautiful face of our newborn, Hannah Rose, at 7:29 a.m. on Tuesday morning, tears of joy streaked down my face. All I could think about — besides how lucky I am to be blessed with such a wonderful family — was just how beautiful life really is. Those who know me know my children are EVERYTHING to me, and I wouldn’t want to waste a single moment of it unable to take advantage of the complete happiness that being a dad brings. Just like with anything else that travels through the depths of my mind, […] Read more »

An American Tale: A Life of Credit and Debt

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Credit Cards. In my college years, those two words meant freedom. They provided me with a sense of security. They allowed me to finally purchase anything I needed without having to ask my parents for help. Credit cards were the answer when I was hungry or late on a bill payment because my checking account was low. They provided a means of fun. I didn’t have to say ‘no’ to myself anymore. I could go out to dinner at a place that didn’t have a drive-thru. I could go on spring break to Florida. I could buy concert tickets when […] Read more »