Before You Start To Pay Off Debt….Do THIS

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The comment reminded me of myself four and a half years ago. A reader of a post featuring my get out of debt story asked for insight regarding how I handled unexpected expenses during my debt pay-off period. I’d like to say that I had done everything perfectly during my four and a half year quest to eliminate $109,000 of credit card debt, but there were plenty of bumps along the way. If I had to single out one thing as my biggest mistake, it would be not having an emergency fund in place from the very start. The importance […] Read more »

My New Decade Resolution: Paying Off My Mortgage Early

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As another year comes to a close, people will reflect upon their successes and failures of the past year. They will also look forward to 2014 and set goals for what they hope to accomplish in the new year. Having turned 40 over the weekend, I’m taking a bigger picture approach. I started reflecting on my life in terms of decades. I spent my entire twenties and half of my thirties being financially irresponsible racking up $109,000 of credit card debt. The second half of my thirties was spent recovering, paying off that debt through the help of a debt […] Read more »

Why Cash Only Weekend Spending ROCKS!

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Hearing colorful language coming from our home office, my wife stormed in to find out what was going on. I was reconciling our checking account, and even though it had only been a few days since I had last done it, I couldn’t make the numbers come out right. Between Christmas shopping, and being out of town for extended family gatherings quite a few transactions had posted, and I was obviously making a mistake somewhere. The arithmetic error was quickly found and fixed, but in the process I found something that could not be corrected as easily. We had spent […] Read more »

Debt Free For the Holidays

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Today’s post is a guest post from Jefferson, who writes for the family finance site, See Debt Run. The site began as a place to chronicle a family’s journey out of debt, but has evolved into a place to discuss a whole spectrum of topics around family finance. They discuss everything from saving money on groceries, to how to teach your kids about money, to even how to find out if your co-workers are making more money than you. Last year at this time, my wife and I didn’t get each other anything for Christmas. We didn’t have to. We were […] Read more »

Are Your Holiday Expectations Holding You Hostage?

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Are you stressed out about the holidays? It’s hard not to get stressed out just a little bit this time of year, especially if you’re struggling with your finances. With countless gatherings to attend and gifts to buy for loved ones, this time of year can be very difficult to handle when you’ve been fighting just to pay the bills each month. I read a post recently from a fellow debt relief customer who is in just that kind of situation. She is extremely stressed out because Christmas is getting closer every day, but due to some unexpected expenses, they […] Read more »

We Doubled Our Net Worth and You Can Too!

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Note from Travis:  I’m excited to announce a new addition to TeamEOD!   Steve Stewart, who hails from his home blog of MoneyPlanSOS, will be sharing with us a dose of no-nonsense personal finance once a month.  I’ve been a HUGE fan of Steve for several years, and know that he is an excellent addition to the team.   Please give him a warm EOD Nation welcome by leaving a comment below on his debut post here on Enemy Of Debt! Despite the blame-scream media’s coverage of The Great Recession and all the bad decisions Congress has made, my wife and I […] Read more »

I Slept In On Black Friday…..and STILL Got a Door Buster Deal

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My daughter caught a case of jealousy when her brother purchased his own computer after saving up for the better part of the year. Tired of butting heads with my wife for the use of a computer that contains her SIMS computer game, she decided she wanted her own computer as well. When we started talking about how much one that would serve her needs would cost, and how long it would take her to save up for it, there were tears. A lot of tears. When you’re eleven years old, eight months is an eternity. Daddy heart melt of […] Read more »

Credit Card Companies Think You’re Stupid

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Over the weekend I saw a credit card commercial that had me shaking my head. In the commercial, two woman are having lunch at an outdoor restaurant when one woman suggests the others’ friends are simply inviting her to events so they can pay with their credit card and earn credit card rewards points. When the bill comes, woman #1 whips out her credit card and offers to pay. The commercial ends with the two staring at each other, one wondering if she is being used, the other hoping her friend won’t figure it out. Seriously, do credit card companies […] Read more »

Challenge Accepted!

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So in my last blog I challenged everyone to come up with a financial savings strategy that I could execute as a 30 day financial challenge in November. So I chose two to try this month…I know such an over achiever.  I am trying Ali’s suggestion from the comments, to take the equivalent amount spent on non-essential items and place in a savings jar. I am also going rogue and trying an idea that I did last year and putting every single five dollar bill in a savings jar. With six days into the month I have saved $10.00 from […] Read more »

Paying Off Debt With Gazelle Intensity Isn’t Enough

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I’ve seen it happen to friends and family. It’s even happened to me. A person loses a large amount of weight very quickly through the use of a very restrictive diet. Unfortunately, as time passes the weight begins to return because the restrictive diet is abandoned. The question commonly asked is why would a person who had so much weight loss success just give up and go back to their old habits, reversing all their progress? To me, the answer is simple: being on a restrictive diet is not real life. Such a program teaches people one thing, to unconditionally […] Read more »

Waiting For An Emergency Will Cost You Money

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I looked down at the dashboard and noticed all the lights on the dash were flickering. Suddenly the radio cut out, and turned back on. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest when it happened a second time. When the radio came back on again, it was accompanied by a “ding” and several warning lights on the dash board which remained illuminated. Not exactly something you want to happen while driving in rush hour traffic. We carefully drove to my brother-in-law’s house, as we discussed our course of action. We knew the battery was due to be replaced, […] Read more »

You Can’t Out Earn Bad Spending Habits

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My doctor expressed some concern over my rising weight during my recent annual physical. I told him that I have a solid exercise regiment, working out six or seven days a week. Unfortunately, I use my massive amount of exercise to justify eating anything I want. What he said next shocked me: Losing and maintaining your weight is 80% diet. He must have seen the skepticism on my face, so he gave me an example. He asked me how long it would take me to eat a combo meal from a fast food place. My response was less than 10 […] Read more »

What Do Long Distance Running and Getting Out of Debt Have In Common?

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I walked down my driveway and accelerated into my normal running pace as I crossed the line separating the concrete of my driveway and the asphalt of the road. I was excited to head out for a Saturday morning run, the target distance being five miles. I hadn’t run outside much lately but I had been doing a lot of treadmill running, and was sure it would all come back to me. Except it didn’t. I was expecting an effortless run, as I remembered enjoying so many previous times. What actually followed was seventy minutes of alternating between running, walking, […] 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 »