Three Reasons To Decline a Credit Limit Increase

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The email was from a credit card provider and the subject line said “Congratulations!” I opened the email to find out that I was being offered a $3000 credit line increase. The line of credit in question was one we used for our hotel bill on our trip to Austin, Texas as the card gave a significant percentage cash back for travel expenses. We hadn’t used the card literally in years, and I’m guessing that the use of the card prompted the issuer to sweeten the pot for us to continue to use it. I was about to click on […] Read more »

5 Reasons People May Overspend With Credit Cards

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Staying out of debt is as easy as spending less than you earn. Sounds simple, right? If it’s so simple, why do so many people find themselves over their heads in debt? Sometimes life just happens. An unexpected catastrophe, or medical emergency and you’ve got enough debt racked up for a lifetime. In other cases people just consistently overspend, and find themselves waking up one day saying, “How did I get here?” Having paid off over $109,000 in credit card debt, I know a little something about the latter situation. So how do people get into such a situation? Why […] Read more »

Is Professional Carpet Cleaning Worth the Cost?

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As we reach the 12 year mark since we built our home, we find things are starting to show signs of wear, and a possible need for replacement. On the top of that list is the carpeting. With two cats and two children that have grown up within the walls of the house, there are spots in every room and the stairs were a disaster. We clean the main rooms of our home once a year on average using a carpet cleaner we purchased at Walmart. It does a decent job, but it won’t get out really tough stains, and […] Read more »

How Are You Wasting Your Money?

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I like to re-evaluate all our expenses every couple of months to make sure we’re getting the most value for our money. Priorities and interest change over time, and therefore how we choose our money will change over time. Weeding out those monthly expenses that don’t add any enjoyment or use to our life will free up funds for activities that do. I went through one of these exercises over the weekend, and found several monthly expenses that we will should discuss whether continuing them is in our best interests: Magazine Subscription I had a subscription to Runner’s World for […] Read more »

What A New Cell Phone Will Teach My Son About Personal Finance

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No contract cell phone options have been around for awhile. A few years ago we actually switched to a no contract plan with AT&T which significantly reduced our cell phone bill because the four phones in my family were all considered paid in full. We enjoyed the lower cell phone bill for about six months, then we all upgraded our phones. When we upgrade our phones, our monthly bill went up significantly. The bill went up significantly because monthly payments for the phones were now included in our overall bill. I kept my eye on the date where the phones […] Read more »

The Expectation of Spending Money

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Every Sunday evening, my wife and I recap our weekend spending, and then do any budget adjustments required  due to higher than expected spending. After the conclusion of this activity recently, I broke the good news that we had stayed well within our allocated weekend funds. As soon as the words left my mouth, they felt wrong. I was confused as to why they felt wrong, after all isn’t that the goal? Isn’t the goal to live within our means by creating a budget, allocating a finite amount of funds for bills and other activities, and then spend less than […] Read more »

My Daughter, A Shopping Mall Trip, and A Scary Situation

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I had a scary situation with my teenaged daughter over the weekend with what happened during a shopping trip to the mall with her friends. It was touch and go for a few days, but I’m now confident that everything is going to be just fine. One of her friends asked her to go to the mall shopping on Friday afternoon. Between her allowance and Christmas gifts she had amassed a tidy sum of money.  She thought a shopping trip to get some new clothes would be a fun way to spend time with her friend. When she returned home […] Read more »

The Dangers Of Swiping A Card

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If you’re a regular reader here on Enemy Of Debt, you know that I’m a firm believer that cash is king. I’d much rather throw down some greenbacks than swipe a card. Every reason that I love paying for things with cash was reinforced by a situation with my daughter that occurred over the weekend. As I waded through my email, I noticed three email receipts from Apple for purchases made through iTunes. I hadn’t made any purchases during the week, so I was interested to see what had been bought, and by who. The agreement with my kids is […] Read more »

Review: Kaiku Visa Prepaid Card

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My wife and I are back on a cash only spending plan, and it’s working out fabulously. It keeps our spending in check and within budget. Some of the comments on my recent posts on this subject have made a valid point, however. Dealing with only cash means there are times when I may be walking around with a significant amount of cash in my wallet, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that makes me a little nervous. One solution to this problem could be a prepaid debit card. Not just any debit card, but a Kaiku Visa […] Read more »

Four Ways To Take A Load Off Your Money Management Chores

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Looking back at almost a decade of debt-elimination and investing, I can see that one thing has contributed to our financial success: Automation. Not only has automation made things easier, it has also forced us to be diligent. Here are four ways to automate your finances and take a load off your money management chores: Bill-pay Our bank offers free bill-pay. It allows us to set up regularly occurring bills like cable, cell phone, and city utilities. In the old days we would have to write a check, lick a stamp, and send it off in the mail. Now, when the […] Read more »

Are You Lying To Yourself About Your Finances?

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Today’s post is one of a network of posts throughout the personal finance blogosphere taking part in the Financial Literacy Awareness Carnival.  The Carnival is being hosted by Shannon at The Heavy Purse honoring April as Financial Literacy Month. Once you finish this post, head over there to check out other great articles linked to by the carnival. Enjoy! Are you lying to yourself about your finances? Don’t be so quick to answer that question, maybe you should think about it a little harder. You will never reach your full financial potential if you’re lying to yourself about your finances, […] Read more »

Seven Things My Son Needs To Know About Having His Own Debit Card

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My son, who recently turned sixteen and got his driver’s license, also just scored his first part-time job. For the first time in his life he will have the responsibility of scheduled work shifts, but will also enjoy a biweekly paycheck. With a steady income, as well as the expenses of gasoline, car maintenance and insurance that come with driving privileges, he will be traveling new ground in financial responsibility. When he came home from the required drug test for his new job he was told that he could have his paycheck direct deposited into a bank account. My son […] Read more »

Credit Cards Should Have A Warning Label for People Like Me

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I could tell by the writing on the envelope resting on top of the stack of the day’s mail that it was the settlement check I had been waiting for. I am included in a class action lawsuit against Chase in which they are accused of pulling a “bait and switch” by offering customers a fixed, low interest rate to lure new customers to transfer balances and then later jacking up the minimum payment policy. This happened back in 2009, and resulted in my inability to meet my monthly financial commitments. It was also the driving factor that caused my […] Read more »

Reduce Expenses and Get Out of Debt – Use Mental Toughness

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When I was a two-mile runner in high school, many of the runners complained about aches in their sides from running long and hard. It was just part of the game. If we were going to push ourselves, it was going to hurt. During a race, you can't just stop and rest a while when it starts to hurt, you have to keep going. Nevertheless, the pain and fatigue affected many runners and their ability to improve their times. Our track coach offered a solution, he called it "mental toughness." It's a concept that stuck with me and has served me well. Sometimes we just need a mental image, a concept, a focal point to help us achieve success. This was the concept for me. Read more »