Motivation — Coping with “Slow to No” Progress

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We became debt free in late 2009, which is when we officially started saving our big emergency fund. Here we are almost 2 years later, and we are back at square one — ZERO! This post has been a year in the making! The first year of debt freedom, we had $9,500 before it started to go downhill. We weren’t wasting our money on frivolous spending, but we added a new baby into our world as well as lost an income. If you add up all of the savings that has vanished in the last year that could have been […] Read more »

Headed Out of Town…

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Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know I am headed out of town for about 7 days. I will not be back until late next week and I will be completely unplugged. Okay not completely because I have the iPhone but I’m not going to be blogging that’s for sure. I’m going to see my 15 year old daughter! This is a last minute trip so I have had to be pretty creative to keep the costs down. When I get back I will write about how I did. Until then feel free to check out the archives […] Read more »

The Perfect Father’s Day

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The perfect Father’s Day could be so many different things to so many different dads. In a consumer-happy society, to me it seems that the real meaning of most holidays has been heavily diluted by the idea that, the more you spend the more you love someone. I reject that idea and have written about it as recently as Mother’s Day. An article I read inspired What Kind of Mother’s Day Gift Would You Prefer?, which really irritated me because it suggested that people in Oregon loved their moms more because they spent on average $137. Whooptie-freakin-doo right? Just like […] Read more »

Do You Worship the “Not So Mighty” Credit Score?

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When you were younger, do you remember hearing countless people advise you to “build your credit”? Those same voices were buzzing around in my head until I got a clue in 2007! “You’ve got to build your credit” they’d say, and the reason is usually based on the myth that says in order to be financially responsible you must build your score. I despise this myth most of all because from what I see, it has ruined more lives than it has helped. Think about it. 18 year old after 18 year old has inserted themselves into the murky waters […] Read more »

Reader News: “Today I Mailed Off My Last Car Payment!”

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Earlier this week Money Momma (an awesome EOD reader), left a comment on a post I wrote called It’s Not a Myth, It’s a Lie; You Don’t Need a Car Payment stating that she finally mailed off the very last car payment. I can’t tell you how excited I get when I receive news like this from my readers, but this meant an awful lot because I know just how hard she’s been working to pay off that vehicle and eventually become debt free. I DID IT!!!! Today I mailed off the last car payment. We had $1000 saved for […] Read more »

Debt Free Checklist: Plan a Special Meeting

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Back in May I wrote a post called Your Debt Free Checklist, which listed steps you would take action on and complete to become debt free. I also mentioned in that post that I would break down each step on the list into a series of articles. This is the first post of that series and it covers setting up a special meeting with your spouse. Some have asked me why I haven’t left it open to anyone in a relationship. Why did I specifically mention “spouse”? That’s actually very simple. I know some people that aren’t married that combine […] Read more »

June Love Drop – Help the Aubin Family

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Hey guys! The Love Drop team is at it again! Last month they gave over $9,200 worth of cash, goods and services to their recipient, the Stalnaker family, who had been going through a financially hard time due to the effects of the BP oil spill on the Louisiana economy. The family was in need of a car and the Love Drop team was able to surprise them with one, making it one of the most exciting Love Drops ever. You can watch how it all went down in the video below. This month they rally behind the Aubins – […] Read more »

Financial Peace University Kit Bundle Giveaway Winner

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It’s time to announce the winner of the Financial Peace University Kit bundle!! At first I planned to announce the winner like I have the others, but I decided to do this instead. I also added some prizes to this bundle as an extra special thanks from me. As I’ve stated before I really truly wish I could give everyone something. I really have enjoyed getting to know so many of you over the years and I can’t thank you enough for all of your support and participation. The winner of today’s giveaway has me really excited because she really […] Read more »

Financial Planning for Retirement – Be Conservative, Responsible, Realistic, and be Successful

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Not long ago I had the good fortune to gain insight with respect to one family’s financial planning that was centered around retirement. This had been a young couple with children, with both the husband and wife having lived through the Great Depression and bleak economic times surrounding World War II. Talk about a life lesson in stretching a dollar! What struck me as unusual was the constant focus, from the very beginning, on retirement and taking care of their children. It was unusual in a very good way. This couple knew that the future was coming. They knew that […] Read more »

Six Important Questions to Consider When Improving Your Finances

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Are you sick and tired of struggling week to week, month to month? You probably know it doesn’t have to be that way but just haven’t quite figured out how to get the ball rolling. (or keep it rolling might be more accurate) Most of the time we tend to use techniques other broke people use whenever they want to break free. The problem is most people, especially broke people, haven’t a clue as to how to turn things around. We usually need a push in the right direction, from the right person. That certainly describes our old financial patterns […] Read more »

Christmas is Coming, Will You Be Ready?

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Here on Enemy of Debt, I have made it a point to get people to think ahead, especially when it comes to Christmas. In 2009, I challenged all of you to have a Debt free Christmas by preparing for it early instead of last minute. Today's post comes from Tyson Morgan and promotes the same idea of being prepared for something that happens every single year. Nope, Christmas is not an "emergency", although far too often, people are putting Christmas on plastic because they failed to properly plan for what's become a MONSTER CONSUMER HOLIDAY. I love sharing different perspectives from different writers, so I hope you enjoy today's post. Will you have a Debt free Christmas in 2011? Read more »

Mortgage Free – Why This is Essential for Traditional Retirement

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Who in their right mind would argue that being mortgage free is the only way to be if you expect to retire in some traditional way, with a house of your own? That would be me. As they say, "opinions vary" and "results vary." But, if you pay off the mortgage before you retire, that eliminates a large financial obligation essential for living - someplace to live. That's one of the big reasons it makes sense to me. From my vantage point, as an early self-retired individual, I see being 100% debt free as an essential part of having peace of mind when you retire, and I'm up on my soapbox to explain why. Gather 'round my financially fit friends and lend me your ears. Read more »

The Government Wants to Raise the Debt Ceiling, But Should They?

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As most of you know I am no fan of the United States Government, especially when it comes to how they spend money. Republicans and Democrats alike have continued to spend like crazy on some of the most ridiculous and unnecessary budget items and it’s put the country in a terrible situation. There has been talk from many groups about whether or not the Government should raise the debt ceiling. Some say we need to stop with the out-of-control spending and others contend that not raising it would cause the U.S. to default on it’s debt obligations. I’m sure you […] Read more »

Should You Take Care of Your Parents Regardless?

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Should you feel obligated to support your parents at or before retirement — regardless of circumstances? That is the question a caller asked Dave Ramsey on the radio last week. Here was his situation. His spouse’s family wanted to put together a fund that would support their parents for the next 25 years. He and his spouse were obviously affected differently by this question but ultimately agreed that it was not their responsibility to totally care for them financially, especially since the parents said they weren’t willing to go to work. They weren’t unable to work, they just didn’t want […] Read more »