Poooof!! And The Government Said Let There Be…Three Billion Dollars! Now this is just getting silly! This post is about DEBT! The Cash For Clunkers program has been, or is in the process of being revitalized. Yep, that’s right. Two billion dollars out of thin air, or maybe I should say, out of your children’s children’s front pocket. Debt is dumb and so is this ridiculous program! Let me see if I understand this correctly. The Government taxes you into servitude, creates a program in which you are said to receive FREE money by giving you up to $4,500 in […] Read more »
Government Reliance Vs. Personal Responsibility- Wait Or Create?
Now I have said this before, but I’ll say it again. This is not a political blog, and I intend to keep it that way. However, with so many things happening right now in Washington that a) involves money and debt, and b) involves you, I think it’s relevant. I want to compare Government reliance to personal responsibility. I think personal responsibility has more benefits, delivers greater success, and allows us to be more free in the process. I think Government reliance robs us of incentive, and keeps us inside the box where our options are limited. We all know […] Read more »
Warren Buffet Invests In Educating The Children, Will It Pay Off?
Warren Buffet And Investing For Kids I found the video below on The Wall Street Journal website. Apparently coming this Fall, AOL will be featuring an animated series where Warren Buffet teaches kids about investing. (Pay attention kiddies!) You Should Know Smart investing is something you definitely want to learn, and it is REALLY important to remember that whenever you are ready to invest, KNOW AND UNDERSTAND your investment. Don’t put your money into anything if you don’t understand how it works. Also, contrary to what you will hear EVERYWHERE, there are no “secrets“! There are tips and strategies based […] Read more »
The Enemy Of Debt Extreme Makeover
Howdy folks! I have finally done it! As some of you know I have been very unhappy with my layout, and have struggled with my options and a better solution. That solution suddenly appeared, and after researching I decided it was just what I was looking for. For all you bloggers out there, if you are in search of something AWESOME, google “Thesis Theme”. There are tons of videos and stuff to read to see if it is for you. I want to ask you to bare with me as I twist and tweak the theme. I currently have tons […] Read more »
Million Dollar Club
I decided to join J. Money’s Million Dollar Club. Setting goals is the way to put your plans into motion. Brian Tracy says that a goal not written down typed out, is just a dream because it has no energy. You are definitely more likely to accomplish your goals if you put them down on paper. It gives you something to follow and each time you scratch an accomplishment off of the list, you gain motivation. Hmmm, that sounds familiar right? Your Total Money Makeover is the same kind of plan. You do each baby step, one step at a […] Read more »
The Dream Budget: Your Debt Free Potential! What’s Yours?
What is the “Dream” Budget? I have referred to this before in earlier posts, but I have never actually written a post about it. Basically a dream budget is the budget you would have IF you were completely debt free. That’s right, no car payment! No mortgage payment! No credit card payments! No debt at all! I always ask my Financial Peace University classes to do a dream budget. I believe that when you see how much you could do without debt in your life, it will inspire and motivate you to set that goal. This exercise should not […] Read more »
Week In Review: Best Of My RSS Feed Edition
These articles are some of my favorites from blogs I follow via RSS Feed. I really could have added another five articles but didn’t want to cause a brain overload. After all it is Friday! Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend! Oh yeah, you’ll notice I finally was able to “left-align” my sidebars and comments section. You’ll also notice that it caused my navigation bar to left align. Ugh! Web Design will likely be my next class in the cross hairs. Money Help For Christians presents Debt: Upside Down And Backwards. You can find a guest post over at Debt […] Read more »
15 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Twice
Reading Rocks! Recently, Newsweek published an article with what they called, 50 Must Reads Now, And Why. Now I am certain some of the books they picked are great reads, but I am also sure that they left better ones out. So I came up with a list of financial books I think everyone should read. More than half of these I have read, and the rest are on my to-read list. The ones that I haven’t read have been highly recommended by others with great enthusiasm. These books will help you in everyday life, and will motivate, inspire, and […] Read more »
Fully Funded Emergency Fund – Do It Your Way!
Go Get You An Umbrella! You’ve reached baby step 3! You now have NO DEBT except for your house, and are ready to beef up your savings. Congratulations! You are climbing a mountain and are two-thirds of the way up. Can you see the top? Pretty soon you will be at an overlook that you at one time thought was impossible. Keep moving forward! There may be times when you feel as if you are moving too slow, but just keep moving! Now isn’t the time to stop! Now you should be more motivated and here’s why. When you were […] Read more »
Hope Is The Dream Of A Soul Awake
“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” As some of my most loyal readers know, I eat, sleep, bath, and drink personal finance. It’s sometimes all I talk about, definitely all I think about, and I seriously love blogging about it! I absolutely NEVER EVER pass up an opportunity to discuss with someone the benefits of debt freedom. My co-workers and friends, even the ones that aren’t completely on board, seem to know deep […] Read more »
Week In Review: Frugality Edition
My Top Two Frugality Posts Of The Week I like Living Off The Grid from Frugal Dad. Here he talks about how the accumulation of stuff has caused us to become slaves to our own lifestyle. Shawanda Greene from You Have More Than You Think wrote The Case For Frugality and I must say, she did an excellent job of making the case. The title alone grabbed my attention because it reminded me of one of my favorite authors. She makes the point that if you live a frugal life, you will have more time and money to spend doing […] Read more »
Individual Responsibility – A Challenge
Enemy of Debt And Frugal Freedom Living Team Up! Another friend of mine over at Frugal Freedom Living created a page (excerpts below) to highlight our similar beliefs on individual responsibility. Clair Schwan contacted me after reading a few of my articles and we talked about success, personal responsibility, and of course debt freedom. Clair is a good friend to have and has put together a very insightful website to help you see frugality in a different light. I know people that view frugality as something someone who is greedy and wants to hoard money partakes in. It’s quite the […] Read more »
One Good Turn Deserves Another
I have been blogging for over a year now but I can honestly say that I really didn’t know blogging until I met J Money over at Budgets Are Sexy. He is the first person I met blogging that I became friends with. I admire his frugality and extreme dedication to saving and investing. He is not even 30, yet he has more savings than the average person in their 50’s. We communicate back and forth quite frequently and have much respect for each other. We have even been known to duke it out, in a friendly fun kind of […] Read more »
HELP! I Had To Use My Emergency Fund!
Even The Best Plan Has Snags Having a baby emergency fund is an essential part of starting a healthy financial plan. It gives you some wiggle room in order to handle what life throws at you (mainly the little things), while paying off your debt with gazelle intensity. If you have no debt, then you should have 3/6 months of savings in your fully funded emergency fund. Life happens at the most inconvenient time, but if you have an emergency fund, it’s not so stressful. Needless to say, when that time comes you will need to know what to do […] Read more »