5 Ways to Shake up Your Routine

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News flash, we are all super stressed out. Okay, not a news flash. It’s actually pretty well documented just how stressed out most of us are these days. There happens to be a ton of advice on how to combat this stress. The advice is pretty standard and goes a like this: Work out more, eat less, use your vacation days to find a hobby while you are slowing down to enjoy the view and find any and all means to chillax. Although sound advice, the reality is it just feels a little like one more thing to add to […] Read more »

Surprise, High School Freshman – Real Life Starts NOW!

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Last week we took my son to his incoming freshman high school schedule pickup and orientation. I repeated something that I said to him last spring when we were having some difficulties making him put forth the required effort on his school work. “This year you start high school. This shit’s for real. It counts forever.” I then went on to try to explain the chain of events that starts with day one of his freshman year. Hard work, good grades, and school involvement will dictate what college opportunities will eventually open up in front of him in a few […] Read more »

Your Perspective On Money Changes….When You’re Paying the Bills

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My son looked at me like he didn’t believe what he was hearing. He believed that his parents have an unlimited source of money. My son has been saving his allowance as well as the money he’s earned mowing lawn this summer to get his own computer, and has amassed a pretty good chunk of coin. We had planned on a building a computer together as I thought it would be a cool father and son activity plus save us some money by assembling the computer ourselves. However, recently he found a pre-built computer online that had the required specs, […] Read more »

Four Years of Growth and Change

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Yesterday was the four year anniversary of our first payment to our debt management program. When a person takes on a long and difficult task, many times it seems that in some ways the time passes in the blink of an eye. I tell you the truth that in this instance, that is not the case. It seems as if we have been fighting our way out of debt forever. Each of these 48 months have been a challenge. Most have been victories, some of them have not. But the constant in all of this is that we have always […] Read more »

Summer Vacation is not What it Used to be…It’s Going to be Better!

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Every summer I begin the season with an acute case of “Mommy guilt.”  I have two children, an eight year old daughter and a four year old son.  When summer hits for these two there is not real change to their Monday through Friday routine. I take my daughter to a summer camp that is run out of the same daycare my son attends. Although my daughter is not in school, she and my son are both woken up early and out of the house in much the same manner as the school year. Why do I have “Mommy guilt” […] Read more »

Allow Me to Introduce Myself…

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Editor’s note from Travis Pizel:  It is with great excitement that I introduce to you Suzanne Coblentz, a brand new member of Team EOD!  Suzanne is the Social Media Manager for CareOne Debt Relief Services, along with wearing many other hats.   She brought me on board as a customer blogger over three years ago, and is the person responsible for launching my blogging career.  She’s dedicated to helping people rid themselves of the shackles of debt, is a personal friend of mine, and is someone that I admire and respect immensely. She’ll be sharing her personal perspective on debt […] Read more »

Are You Financially Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

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I am a huge supporter of financial literacy, for both kids and adults. Financial literacy has become more complex since I was a fifth grader back in the 80’s (I know I am dating myself here). The financial services industry has exploded offering everything from online trading to debt relief. Tax laws make filing taxes a DIY nightmare, unless you purchase software like TurboTax with a step by step guide. And, applying for a loan or a credit card of any kind requires reading twenty plus pages of fine print. In a previous article, The Great Debate Kids and Money […] Read more »

Can You Replace a Lost Receipt Using A Rewards Card?

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I hate clutter. Our kitchen counter seems to be a magnet for store ads, receipts and returned assignments  the kids brought home from school.  Every day I sort through a pile of paper to determine which need to be kept, and which can be tossed. With a motto of “when it doubt, throw it out,” you can imagine that occasionally I would get rid of something that we actually need. My son celebrated a birthday in January, and the only thing he wanted was a set of decent headphones to replace the low quality ones that came with his recently […] Read more »

Just Say No!

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I’ve always had trouble with the word no even as a child. My mom claims she would have raised my brother ten times before having to raise me again. I was strong willed, stubborn and loved to say, “no”. Not much has changed since then, I am still strong willed and stubborn, the difference is now I can’t say no, to anyone. Extra responsibilities at work? Sure, no problem. We’d like you to be the head room parent this year. Ok, I can do that! Would you mind being the website coordinator for football? Yeah, I don’t see why not. […] Read more »

Kids, We’re In Debt

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Preface: My wife and I were discussing various financial subjects over dinner one evening last week when  Tori, our ten year old daughter, blurted out, “I remember when mom told us we were in debt.”   After she told us the story from her perspective, I asked her if she would be willing to write me a blog post about it.  Immediately after dinner she sat down in front of the computer, and began typing away.  The following is the story of our journey out of debt through the eyes of our daughter. Three years and four months ago my mom […] Read more »

Are You the Next Pawn Star?

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One of my favorite shows to watch is Pawn Stars on the history channel. Watching episodes of this popular TV show has become somewhat of an event at our house. The show is educational, fascinating and largely about making money, what’s not to love? Long before banks, ATMS and check-cashing services, there were pawn shops. Pawning was the leading form of consumer credit in the United States until the 1950s, and pawn shops are still helping everyday people get by when they need to. The premise of Pawn Stars is a multigenerational family; The Harrison’s running a pawn shop in […] Read more »

7 Habits of Debt-Free People

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As an indebted individual I always admire those that live a completely debt-free lifestyle. My in-debtedness is for the most part to what most consider “good” debt; a mortgage and a few outstanding medical bills. My goal is to set up a payment plan for them and pay them all off by this time next year. I cut credit card debt out of my life in my late twenty’s only using credit cards to my advantage and paying the balances in full each month. Living debt free is a lifestyle choice that requires hard work and an affirmation for saying […] Read more »

Visa GiftCard: Bad Birthday Present?

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With the clock reading 11:20am, we didn’t have much time to get a present for the birthday party Tori was invited to at 1:00pm. Scrambling, we asked our daughter what her friend might enjoy receiving as a gift, but unfortunately she couldn’t come up with much.  The one good idea she did give us was a gift card to a popular clothing store for kids, but we didn’t have the time to go to the mall to get it.  Vonnie suggested getting the birthday girl a Visa gift card that could be spent practically anywhere, further stating we could even […] Read more »

A Family Night At the Movies for $5.50

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We were operating on a shoestring budget due to overspending during some vacation activities the first half of July. My kids had been interested, and in my daughters case begging, to be go see Ice Age 3 Continental Drift as a family. Going to a movie can be an expensive excursion, especially if you visit the concession stand. Our usual movie going technique is go see the movie as a matinee, when the tickets are $4.50 per person. However, even that was more funds than we felt comfortable shelling out. With a little creativity, my family of four were able […] Read more »