What’s More Important: Your Financial Behavior or How Much You Make?

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What’s more important to you? It seems people put an incredible amount of thought into how much they make, but is that the smart thing to do? I mean making good money is definitely important, but should we wrongly list it as numero uno? What about behavior? Ignoring that is kind of like trying to disarm a nuclear explosive without ever having built a bomb. It’s going to EXPLODE! In that situation you have two choices; get out of the way, or blow everything up! Handling money without realizing you do not possess the habits necessary to manage it well, […] Read more »

Using What I Have Learned About Becoming Debt Free To Lose Weight

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Today is a big day for me. Today starts the beginning of a 3-month adventure that will hopefully turn into a lifetime of health and happiness. I just recently joined a team of five, four of the five being fellow bloggers, and we are trying to get our physical fitness under control the way we have our finances. The team of bloggers are Baker from Man Vs Debt, Paul from Fiscal Geek, Jessie from PF Firewall, and myself, and we are planning on winning the competition, which will pay the winning team $10,000!! I am excited! There is a fifth […] Read more »

I Love You Like A Blogger…”DAMN LAPTOP!!” Edition

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Hey everybody, Happy Friday!! First, I would like to explain why EOD feels like a ghost town this week. I have only posted one article, which was on Monday. I have recently had the opportunity to learn just how valuable my laptop really is WAS. Not all of it was because of my laptop though. To start the week off I had an exam to take on Tuesday and I needed to ace it to keep an A for the semester, so needless to say I spent the weekend, all day Monday, and some of Tuesday studying to make sure […] Read more »

Are You a Financial Rock Star or in Serious Danger? Take This Quiz to Find Out

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Hello and welcome fellow debt haters. Being that it’s Monday, you are either broke from the weekend and can’t wait until payday, or you are refreshed and ready to return to this weeks business at hand. I remember what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck and believe me when I say I NEVER want to go back. One of the best decisions I ever made, besides marrying the most beautiful woman in the world and being a dad, has to be improving my finances…hands down! I look back and wonder what I could have possibly been thinking to […] Read more »

Buy I’m Debt Free the Game, and Help Support Big Brothers Big Sisters

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Have Fun on a Budget Don’t like to read? Buy the “I’m Debt Free” game RIGHT NOW, so I can give 100% of my earnings to Big Brothers Big Sisters!! If you are a subscriber to Enemy of Debt then you are either working really hard to become debt free, or you simply enjoy my passion-filled rants on why debt freedom rules. If you are one of the few in this country that actually acknowledge debt to be a problem, and you are trying to get rid of it yourself, chances are you are making some less than favorable sacrifices […] Read more »

Your Interview With Local Psychologist Dr. Matthew Bowen Part 1

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Have you ever wondered why you behave the way you do with money? Perhaps if you haven’t you should, because getting and staying out of debt is all about your financial behavior. The way I see it, there are tons of “mathematicians” out there that are “in debt up to their eyeballs”. In a recent article I wrote called Becoming Debt Free Is 99% Intensity and 1% Basic Math, I made the case for why becoming debt free was more about your behavior and attitude, than it was about doing math. So if you really want to get out of […] Read more »

Should You Grow Your Nest Egg Or Pay Off Your Mortgage?

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If you have ever found yourself in a position to ask yourself, “Should I save more money or pay off the house?”, first I should congratulate you because you are gem in matters of personal finance. With the majority of people living paycheck to paycheck, having this problem is a pleasant one indeed. Be sure to check out the other articles written by my fellow Money Mavens team listed at the bottom of this post. A little diversity on the subject can’t be bad.  😀 So…should you grow your investments or pay off your mortgage? Just as I tell anyone […] Read more »

I Love You…Like A Blogger: Weekend Reading Edition

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Here are some of my favorite articles from the last few weeks. Enjoy! Should I Change My Career? Three Questions To Help You Decide – Wealth Pilgrim The Grass is Always Greener…and I Don’t Give a Damn! – Engaged Marriage Six Psychological Reasons Consumer Culture is Unsatisfying – PsyBlog Stop Identity Theft with a Security Freeze – Fiscal Geek What is Financial Freedom? – Green Panda Treehouse Newton’s First Law of Debt Reduction – Deliver Away Debt 12 Ways To Stretch A Dollar By Not Spending It – The Wisdom Journal Spend More With Plastic? – Joe Taxpayer The Absolutely, […] Read more »

Does Taking Advice From An Expert Relieve You Of Responsibility?

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Ever since I wrote My Beef With Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Robert Kiyosaki, I’ve been thinking. When it comes to taking advice from anyone, even if they are considered to be an expert, should we just do what they suggest without doing our own homework? I believe that we are still responsible for making sure that any advice that we follow is sound advice. Doctor’s are considered experts and you still hear people say “Did you get a second opinion?”. Being an expert doesn’t mean that you always have the right answers, it simply means that you should be […] 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 »

Do You Need Debtors Anonymous?

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Are you in debt? Do you have a problem with controlling your indebtedness? Until J Money over at Budgets Are Sexy posted about Debtors Anonymous, I had no idea it even existed. It does, and for good reason. Too many lives have become infested with debt and too many lives have been destroyed because of it. Is this you? Are you worried about your future? Do you have a plan? Are you willing to make some sacrifices in order to make that plan work? If so, that is excellent news because I know you can do it. I am a […] Read more »

Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #9

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Happy Friday!! I am excited to share with you today another debt free story coming from The Lone Star State. That’s right, Austin Texas! I really enjoyed this debt free interview from Deacon Bradley of Bradley Coaching. (Excellent resource!) I am pretty sure that Deacon Bradley and I share the exact same passion for giving as we complete our Total Money Makeover. Having money is nice, building wealth is nice, and even doing some fun stuff along the way is definitely a must, but for me, giving tops the list of reasons to become debt free. Helping others overcome adversity […] Read more »

Are You Looking For Answers About Money?

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Are you looking for answers about money? Aside from the coming here for motivation, you might want to check out Mint.com. They just added a new feature called Mint Answers – a question and answer community for personal finance. The best part is that it’s free!! You can ask a question as well as answer questions and the community votes on the best answer given. There are lots of opinions out there but the great part about this forum is that it gives you many insights into a subject which ultimately has many different right ways to do things concerning […] Read more »

My Beef With Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Robert Kiyosaki!

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Ever heard of Rich Dad Poor Dad? I have to start by admitting that I used to like Robert Kiyosaki. In fact, one of the very first books on finance and money that I ever read was his first one called Rich Dad Poor Dad. That book, to it’s credit, did change the way I looked at money, but it also reinforced the acceptance of debt in order to prosper, which by now I believe is not only nonsense, but horrible financial advice. The best part of that book was reading about and understanding the difference between how rich and […] Read more »