Why “Go Big or Go Home” is Destroying Your Budget

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In the U.S., we like our space and we like big. We drive big cars, we like big houses, and one of our favorite phrases is even “go big or go home.” We are obsessed with size in every way, shape, and form, and it is destroying our budgets. The greatest offenders to our larger than life attitudes include: Your Home In other countries, even the industrialized ones, it isn’t uncommon to see a family of 5 sharing a small apartment. In the U.S., however, we expect everyone to have their own large room and there to be adequate space […] Read more »

Buyer Beware Hidden Charges May Be Affecting Your Bottom Line

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You are one of those people that diligently budgets for every expense, cuts costs wherever possible–a sheer genius when it comes to personal finance. So why does it seem you just can’t get ahead as a middleclass American citizen doing all the right things when it comes to sticking to your budget? The economy has taken its toll on just about everyone, both consumers and business. In fact either you or someone close to you has likely fallen victim to a foreclosure, layoff, or downsizing. When you fill up at the pump you wonder when a gallon of gas and […] Read more »

Did You Get What You Wanted for Christmas?

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  Photo Credit: Carolwrightgifts So, how was your Christmas? Mine was simply fabulous. In fact, it was the most enjoyable Christmas I’ve had in years, thanks for asking. What made this Christmas so different? Come with the spirit of Christmas past as we revisit the Pizel family holiday tour of 2011: First, we see a family of four sitting in their living room on Christmas morning. There aren’t as many presents under the tree as their had been in previous years, but the kids don’t seem to notice. Both children got several gifts that were at the top of their […] Read more »

Just Say No to Inflatable Santa’s

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“Mommy please can we get one of those inflatable Santa’s?” This is the plea I have heard from my eight year old son since we began to decorate (with our already purchased) holiday decorations the day after Thanksgiving. My answer remains constant, “Not right now buddy, we don’t need an inflatable Santa.”  Unfortunately millions of Americans apparently do feel they need inflatable Santa’s, two Christmas trees, and thousands of twinkle lights to adorn their homes so they can feel the magic of the holidays.  According to a Bloomberg report, “This year U.S. consumers will spend $6 billion on decorations, the […] Read more »

An Uncomfortable Conversation

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With me sitting on the edge of our bathtub, and my wife brushing her teeth as she prepared for bed we began a very serious budget discussion. We were on day three of a week long visit from our Kentucky friends and were burning through our discretionary funds at an alarming rate. We needed to reign in our spending, and ensure we kept ourselves on budget, or we were going to run out of money fast. The next day the four of us were planning on going shopping for the supplies needed for Thanksgiving Dinner. As a group, we had […] Read more »

No Restaurants in November 2011 – Do You Have a Checklist?

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Hello guys and gals! So here we are two weeks after starting my “insane” challenge of avoiding restaurants for the entire month of November. I’m excited to see where each of you are and how you’ve managed to do so far. It’s been fun no? LOL I have done perfectly so far but surprisingly had a hard time last week. It wasn’t even because I “wanted” to eat out. It was more of what I referred to in my last post where I talked about not planning meals and being out and about around meal time. Needless to say I […] Read more »

No Restaurants in November 2011 – First Week Peek Plus Recipes!

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If this is your first time visiting last year I hosted my very own No Restaurants in November challenge. The point was to save some money and hopefully curb some bad eating out habits while being transparent about all of it. I revealed how much we spent in October of 2010 and our savings at the end of November. The challenger was a huge success in terms of popularity so I decided to bring it back every year. If you want to know more about it read No Restaurants in November 2011 – for the rules of the road. It’s […] Read more »

Day 1: No Restaurants in November 2011 – Let the Savings Begin!

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Time to break out the cookware!

So today it begins. No Restaurants in November baby! If you missed the rules I am giving myself (and possibly you) click here to see if you have what it takes. Yep those are challenging words! :D Have you decided to be TOTALLY WEIRD by participating in such a thing? WARNING: Your friends may laugh at you. You may get called some names. Your actions may cause people to feel judged. If this happens to you, please tread carefully. Unpredictable behavior may ensue. I get it. It totally sucks to be the only person at work with a bagged lunch, but guess what? It also sucks to be broke and/or keeping yourself from reaching your goals. Read more »

No Restaurants in November 2011

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Recently, I ran a poll about what challenges you the most about becoming debt free and I thought the results were great. There were 70 voters total and the results can be found here. Today, I want to talk about one of the TOP 5 challenges picked by you and am excited to bring back something I did last year that was very popular. Of course I’m talking about my No Restaurants in November challenge! According to my EOD Poll, 37% of you picked EATING OUT as one of the five things that challenged you the most about becoming debt […] Read more »

Three Keys to Financial Fitness

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I was planning on writing about a new survey from Prudential Retirement Services today. It is a very interesting survey from 2006-2011 of primary or joint financial decision makers who are between 45-75, have a household income of at least $100,000 ($50,000 if already retired), household investable assets of at least $100,000, and retirement savings of at least $100,000. Many who fall in this “retirement red zone” have serious concerns about their ability to maintain lifestyle in retirement. For those of you who would like to read the study, here’s a link to the Prudential website: http://news.prudential.com/images/20026/2011ChangingAttitudesAboutRetIncome.pdf It is worth […] Read more »

Sorry, School Fundraiser – You’re Not In My Budget!

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The inevitable packet came home from school with my daughter last week.  That same night, the doorbell started ringing signalling the beginning of the school fundraising season. Whether you have school aged children, or you’ve experienced that knock at the door, you know what I mean. Kids trying to sell you products that you cannot possibly live without at an inflated price all in the name of helping their school. The motivation given to the students is a ladder of prizes – the more you sell, the better the prize. Of course every student begins the fundraiser with hopes of […] Read more »

Don’t Stink. Budget!

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If you’re a regular reader of Our Journey to Zero, you know I’ve been on a serious fitness kick now for over 8 months. Getting in shape is all about getting in the habit of exercising. Now that I’m in the habit of exercising, it feels wrong to not work out every day. It just feels like something is missing. Recently I skipped two days in a row for probably the first time this year. I was downright cranky. There are a lot of people who want to get in shape and lose weight. So why don’t they? They say […] Read more »

A Top Priority: What to Consider When Budgeting for Roof Maintenance

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This is a guest post by Herbert Norton. Photo Credit: Mart T Clark Having a roof over our heads is something we often take for granted. And yet, like anything else, roofs are not indestructible. The longevity and performance of a roof is affected by many factors, including the sun, wind, rain, ice, snow, condensation, and just plain old age. Like other aspects of maintaining a home, keeping a roof intact often requires making significant decisions and carefully weighing different options. Here are some important things to consider so that the cost of maintaining your roof won’t send you spiraling […] Read more »

The Super-Charged Guide to Financial Freedom Review

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How do you increase the likelihood of you completing your financial resolutions? Reading! That’s right! Reading a book, or books related to the goals you want to accomplish increases the chance that you will succeed. That’s not to say you’ll accomplish what you set out to accomplish by simply reading a book. The book acts as a resource to teach you new ideas, but it also helps you stay motivated with your “eye on the prize!” Depending on your goal, it may take more than one book to help you cross the finish line. I read The Total Money Makeover […] Read more »