Budgets make me feel inadequate, but made me rich

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Last year I recorded a show about the 7 Common Denominators of the Wealthy. It was then I realized there were many commonalities related to having – and operating on – a household budget. With so many wealthy habits tied to being on a budget, why is it that most people don’t do one? It is because budgets makes us feel inadequate. It certainly has made me feel inadequate. Tell me if you’ve felt the same way before too. Budgeting makes me feel inadequate Think back to the last time you created a budget. How did that make you feel? […] Read more »

Defining Phenomenal

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Waking up in the morning and realizing you’ve reached the day on the calendar when you get to add one to your age tends to make a person think about what they have and have not yet accomplished in their life. Yesterday was that day for me. Combine that with the end of the year when many people think about what they want to change, or do better in the new year and the result is some serious thinking going on within my brain as I drift off into unconsciousness for the night. If I was being honest, I’ve been pondering […] Read more »

Motivational Monday: Three Steps To Achieve Your Financial Goals

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A few months ago, I caught a link to a motivational video filled with inspirational quotes. I still watch the video almost every morning as I prepare to take on the world for the day. It centers my thoughts on what I am going to do that particular day to help me make positive progress towards the goals I am trying to accomplish. After several weeks of listening to this video, I wanted to find out who the voices in the video were. With the help of Google, I was able to determine one of the people featured was a […] Read more »

Warning: Shopping Without A List Is Hazardous To Your Budget

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My love of lists is almost legendary, my daily activities driven from them. I have different lists for different parts of my day: Things needing to be done at work, written on my office white board Personal life todo list written in a notebook on the kitchen counter Blogging todo list written in a notebook on my computer desk My lists help me not only remember things that need to be done, but also to prioritize them. My wife sometimes makes fun of me because of my lists, but she understands the importance I place on them. I commonly find […] Read more »

What Your Credit Score REALLY Means

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I’m currently enrolled in a credit monitoring service, getting periodic updates about inquiries into my credit, and small changes up or down in my FICO score.   When we charged something on our American Express, I was notified of a balance change. When we applied for a consolidation loan, I was notified of the inquiry and of a slight decrease in my score. Everything made sense, until I read a notification that landed in my inbox last week. My FICO score had increased by 24 points, and I couldn’t believe the reason why. A few weeks ago, my wife was in […] Read more »

My Apologies To Gazelle Intensity

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  I’ve never identified with the concept of gazelle intensity. My interpretation of it has always been one of extreme frugality, living with no frills for an extended period of time in order to throw as much money as possible towards debt and/or retirement. It always seemed to me that kind of perspective would have people essentially get zero enjoyment out of life while they pay off debt, or save for retirement. I always thought there had to be some kind of balance. I never understood why someone would purposefully and completely deprive themselves of everything. But over the weekend, […] Read more »

Motivational Monday: Mistakes Pave The Way To A Greater Success

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I caught a segment on a popular morning news program in which the CEO of Google was being interviewed. The line of questioning centered on the type of potential employee Google typically looks for and the kinds of ideas that would catch the eye of Google as something they would want to pursue. The CEO gave the example two potential ideas, one that would result in a car that could get 50 miles to the gallon, and one that would get 500 miles to the gallon. While the first idea would be more easily attainable and very useful in the […] Read more »

How Does the Target RedCard Work?

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I was hurriedly going through the checkout lane at Target picking up some items on my way home from work when the cashier sprung a question I’ve heard a zillion times: “Are you going to be saving 5% with your REDcard today?” I shook my head, “No,” after which she asked me if I knew about the REDcard. I quipped at her my understanding of it being a Target Visa card that saves me 5% on my purchases. I told her that I didn’t like to use credit cards, but thanked her for the offer. I was surprised when she […] Read more »

Keep Workin’ Your Moneyplan Like Biz Markie

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This weekend I had a connecting flight in Baltimore. On the way to my gate I saw Biz Markie getting ready to board a flight to New Orleans. I checked his Twitter feed and found he would be performing in Baton Rouge that night. If you don’t know who Biz Markie is then just search YouTube for “Just A Friend”. Yeah, now you remember. What amazes me is that he hasn’t changed a bit. I would know, I saw him perform live at the Rosemont Theater back in the late 1980’s. How does a rapper who hasn’t released an album […] Read more »

What I Learned From Running The 2014 Twin Cities Marathon

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I sprang out of bed at the chime of my cell phone alarm at 4:30am yesterday. I quietly got ready for the day, gathered my things, and quietly closed the hotel room door behind me as to not disturb my sleeping family. I headed downstairs to the lobby to meet some friends and to walk over to the light rail station that would take us to the start line. In just a few short hours I would be lining up with over 11,000 other runners to run the Twin Cities Marathon. It would be my 4th time, and I had […] Read more »

Credit Cards Are Officially NOT For Me

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Some use credit cards for as many of their day to day expenses as possible in order to rack up reward program points. Some even go through a process called credit card churning to earn points for signing up for a new accounts in exchange for cash, airline miles, or travel accommodations.  I know people that have taken their entire family on a free, or nearly free, trip by using such methods. Good for them, as long as they’re using their cards responsibly. But this kind of “beat the system” mentality is not for everyone. Not everyone has the internal […] Read more »

Are You As Financially Savvy As A 7th Grader?

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My daughter and I always have a good time together. We have similar personalities, interests and senses of humor. She was aware of our situation as we fought to pay off over $109,000 of credit card debt, and even shared her perspective on our journey in a guest post here on Enemy of Debt. She apparently also paid close attention to how our view on money and what is important in life changed over the last few years have changed. I found this out through a conversation we had last weekend. We had gone to the mall to buy a […] Read more »

If You’re Going To Succeed, You Have To Have a Plan!

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One of the major components of marathon training is the long run. Once a week, I run much longer than any other day, gradually increasing the length of my run until I reach a distance of 20 miles.   I usually increase my long run by a mile a week. As I pass the 9-10 mile distance I start adding fluids and carbohydrate intake during my run. The weeks where I ran 12, 13 and 14 miles my long runs went horribly.  I didn’t have the physical energy, nor the mental motivation to keep going. In last week’s post I contemplated […] Read more »

Don’t Cheat Yourself By Living a Life of Half-Assity

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I was painfully making my way through a 14 mile run early on a Saturday morning. I was at mile 10, and struggling to find the energy or even the desire to pick up my feet and keep running. “If only I weighed less, this wouldn’t be so hard,” I thought to myself. Last October, when I crossed the finish line of the Twin Cities 10 mile race, I instantly decided I was going to run the full marathon in 2014. I had a full year to get lean, train hard, and run my best marathon ever. Yet here we […] Read more »