Hello everyone! I do not say this enough, but THANK YOU for reading and continuing to support Enemy of Debt! It really does mean the world to me. This week I received an email that really makes what I do here COMPLETELY WORTH IT!
“Hi Brad, Marvelous site! “Enemy of Debt” has not only saved me a tremendous amount of money, but the peace of mind from the extra money in the bank has been life changing! I have been captivated by your blog because the posts are relevant and touch all the ‘real’ areas of my life. Your motivation to realize that the amount of money I make is not the primary contributor to my ‘wealth’ has been huge. I really appreciated “Becoming Debt Free Is 99% Intensity and 1% Basic Math” because I feel it is important to remind myself (and others!) that saving money is not rocket science!” – EOD Reader Mail
It is emails like these that make me SO GLAD I didn’t sell Enemy of debt last summer. I considered it and even had a few buyers lined up, but ultimately, it was my good friend J Money from Budgets Are Sexy, and ALL OF YOU that made me decide to keep rocking the debt free message!
Thank You! 😀
Now for some quick updates.
Shredded Credit Cards Are The Best Credit Cards
Back in December, I told all of you about a contest put together by the good folks at Perkstreet Financial and Lending Club on ShredYourCreditCard.com. Let me just say, I heart Perkstreet Financial and have opened up a checking account where I can earn rewards by using my debit card all year long.
Any way, The Shred Your Credit Card contest has ended and winners have been selected. The contest was awesome and a huge success! 23 videos were submitted (including a video I made back in 2008 to inspire all you debt haters), over 300 comments, and more than 5000 votes were cast.
In my post, I said I would give $25 to someone who submitted a video because of Enemy of Debt. Well, unfortunately, no one submitted a video but a video was still chosen. That video won $50 for getting the most votes in one week and the $25 gift card as well. Congratulations to Lucia Giacomantonio for her unique submission where Lola, her debt free dog chewed up her credit cards to help save her from herself! Way to go Lola!
One Small Step For Me, and One Giant Leap for My Waistline
I’m going to try and make this SHORT. The bottom line is this.
I’m fat! (Yep I said it!)
Anyone who has really paid attention to Enemy of Debt knows, I am not afraid to say what’s on my mind. You’ll be happy to know I hold myself and my feelings to the same fire.
Over the years I have battled my bulging waistline. I’ve gone up and I’ve gone down. I’ve gained a bunch of weight and lost a bunch of weight SO MANY TIMES! This problem has cost me more than I’d like to admit to, but let me just keep it simple. It has kept me from taking Enemy of Debt in the direction I want to.
I want to make videos. I want to create a video workshop. I want to meet other bloggers without worrying about what they’ll think of me. Most importantly I want to be truly in your face about your debt free journey. I wish for it to be more personal, but my feelings about myself have really hindered all of my plans to do any of those things. I am quite frankly embarrassed.
I’ve not always been fat.
This is a picture of me in 2002 with my beautiful daughter, after losing 150 pounds in 9 months. I was in the best shape of my life and that’s exactly where I want to be again. It’s time I make it happen and stop all the talking and feeling sorry for myself!
Starting next week, ALL THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE!
I’m putting myself out there! And in doing so, I hope to inspire all of you wanting to pay off your debt to PAY OFF YOUR DEBT! I have written about the link between what it takes to lose weight and what it takes to become debt free. I’ve also written about the psychological reasons why we are most of the time our biggest obstacle in life.
I’m going to prove it and I am going to be more transparent than I’ve EVER been!
I recently finished a book called If I’m So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight? This book was to my motivation to lose weight, what The Total Money Makeover was to my motivation to become debt free!
Guess what? It’s a psychological approach to weight loss, something most people ignore. You can know how to get out of debt and not do it, just like you can know how to lose weight and never keep it off. I know how to lose weight but I have never dealt with the psychological reasons as to why I struggle in the first place.
It’s time to start. Expect my first video next week. I’m not sure how it’s going to go, but it is going to happen. I’m not running from this anymore!!
The Debt Elimination Challenge
Ahhhh! Now that that’s off my chest, let’s talk about my never-been-done-before reality series. LOL
Things are falling into place but most of what I can tell you, I already have. Now I am working out some of the details and those details are going to make or break my attempt to rock your world!
I’ll say this. You won’t be disappointed!! POSSIBLE CONTESTANTS: please know that some of what I have revealed will change and your commitment to actually see this through will have to change too. That’s all I can say right now but I wanted you to know that what will be required of each contestant has changed. Nothing that will cost you money — actually it will save you money — but when the time comes for me to reveal the details I will.
My goal is to make sure you are successful in paying off as much debt in 2011 as you can. Anything I can think of and implement to make that happen I will. The rest will be up to YOU!!
I ask you again. HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU ABOUT PAYING OFF AS MUCH DEBT AS YOU CAN THIS YEAR??
Have a great rest of the week! 😀
That’s terrific that you’re going to focus anew on your health. I’m looking forward to following your progress. I agree, there’s a huge mental aspect to weight loss and one that I’ve been working on for a few years now.
A group of locals are starting a new walking group. Holler if you ever want to join.
As for debt elimination, I’m not joining the challenge because the only debt my family has is our mortgage, which we’re already paying down as quickly as we can. With any luck, we’ll be mortgage-free in a decade or thereabouts.
Thanks Jen! Weight loss is such a hard thing to manage when it has been out of control for so long. I’m definitely interested in walking with the group when I can. When it warms up I plan to start hiking again — one of my passions — and Charlottesville is definitely a good place to live when you love hiking. (I plan on reviewing all of the trails on the Rivanna Trail and then doing the entire 20 miles at one time — I can’t wait!)
It is AWESOME that you are already debt free, except for your house, and that you are working on paying that off too! I love it!! Being debt free sure makes life a whole lot easier! 😀
I’m excited to see all the crazy awesome changes your life is gonna see when you start working on getting healthy!
I think this contest will help to keep you focused too 🙂 GOOD LUCK!!!
Yeah me too Brandi! I always try to find something to get involved in to try and combat this problem for me, but unfortunately I’ve never had to be completely transparent. The reality series was thought up by wondering how I could create something on Enemy of Debt that would help me lose the weight I need and motivate others to get rid of their debt. I’ve always said that if I ever went on the Biggest Loser I would rock it because I wouldn’t be able to handle failing in front of the world. LOL Plus I am super competitive! This is my Biggest Loser! 😀
It def looks like you have been busy! I think that the dog chewing the credit cards was an awesome video. I also wanted to commend you on taking a more transparent stance. It takes a lot of guts and trust to throw yourself out there like you are planning to do. The more I read about his reality series the more I want to see it so I hope it all comes together 🙂 Like I said in an earlier comment you totally have the support of Financially Digital if you need it!
Transparency works, but it is a scary thing especially when you are kind of shy and embarrassed about what you’re trying to be tranparent about. LOL Thanks for the support. I’ll probably be contacting you about the reality series in the near future. 😀
Brad did you know a guy called into the Dave Ramsey show that was on the biggest loser and won? How friggin cool is that! The Feb 1st show!
his name was Patrick, check him out!
No I didn’t know that! that is pretty cool! Dave Ramsey has a pretty cool motivational audio version of a staff meeting where he talks about how running a marathon was like getting out of debt. It was cool!
I have that cd Its the high performance achievement one and I love it. I actually posted it on my blog back in march of 2010 a month or so after I volunteered at the live event.
I linked you in that post too!
http://divinedebtfreedom.blogspot.com/2010/03/high-performance-achievement-8-steps-of.html
It’s a great and motivating audio cd!Dave’s awesome isn’t he? 😀 You still have me beat on the live event. I still haven’t been to one! LOL
well be prepared to be “one upped” again because im going to Tennessee to scream IM DEBTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
lol lol lol
I want to know when that happens because it will be posted ALL OVER ENEMY OF DEBT! LOL 😀
AWESOME!!!! You will be the FIRST TO KNOW!!!
Hi Brad! You look great just the way you are. However, if you still want to lose weight, I suggest going to a third world country full of poverty. From there, I swear you will never overeat again.
Have a read http://www.financialsamurai.com/2011/01/05/best-weight-loss-tips/
120% serious about paying off debt this year!!! I want it gone….and gone for good! 🙂
Good luck on your weight loss journey! I will be cheering you on lb by lb.
Awesome Erin! Wooohoooo! Debt be Gone!!! 😀
Thanks for the weight loss support as well! I need that as much as others need support eliminating their debt! 🙂
Reading your site for the first time, great stuff. Definitely adding the feed to my Google Reader account. As someone who has struggled with weight loss in the past I am so stocked for you, I have a feeling you are going to ROCK IT! I am excited to see your results. Good luck man. BTW…if you want to be really transparent with your weight loss you could get one of these Wifi scales which automatically posts your weight to Twitter and Facebook. http://www.withings.com/en/bodyscale 😉
OMG there is NOTHING you can’t do!! LOL That is awesome man!! I’m going to have to save up for that for sure! that is so cool! thanks for sharing man and thank you for reading enemy of debt!!