Cable TV Is Cheap Entertainment

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Our cable company has been advertising new packages and lower prices, so this weekend Vonnie and I stopped into the nearby office to investigate our options, and see if we could lower our bill. Thirty minutes later we walked out the door having been upgraded to their new gold package that includes 4 DVRs, almost every channel they have, and a broadband speed double what we had previously. AND a lower bill. Driving home with the new DVRs in the trunk, I thought about our decision and wondered if we had made the right choice.  The TV portion of our […] Read more »

Beer, Friends, and Losing Control of your Spending

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My last few Monday posts have been a bit heavy and serious, so today I thought I’d talk about something a little lighter: Beer and Movies. Well, to be completely accurate, it’s more about my weekend spending relating to beer and movies. My house is a convenient central meeting point for my brother-in-law and his two best friends from high school. A couple of times a year they meet at my house, go out, and have a great time together. I’m always invited to come with. The first few times I felt a bit out of place, but I know […] 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 »

Personal Responsibility and Debt Relief Are Not Dirty Words

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Last week my story to pay off credit card debt was shared in a post on Business Insider, and subsequently picked up by Yahoo Finance.  I really appreciated the opportunity, and I think the article turned out great. There were many positive comments on both posts stating support for our journey, and for what we have learned and accomplished. There were also a fair number of comments questioning how we could have ever let things get so far out of control to accumulate such a massive amount of credit card debt as well as wondering what effects our debt has […] Read more »

I Don’t Want To Be A Deadbeat Geezer

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Over the weekend my mom had major back surgery to correct her scoliosis. The surgery involved attaching metal rods to her spine to straighten it, and “rouging up” the vertebrae which would cause them to fuse together as she heals. My mom has a long road ahead of her as the estimated recovery time is at least a year. But the result should be a better quality of life than what she had, and definitely better than what her life would have become as her scoliosis continued to get worse. The nine hour surgery gave my dad and I the […] 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 »

My Secret Weapon In the Fight Against Grocery Overspending

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“Ha, I did it again!” I exclaimed to myself. My total was illuminated on the screen of the grocery store checkout register: $110.57.  It was the third week in a row that I was within just a few dollars of my estimate, and right on budget for the week’s groceries.  I had certainly done all of the pre-shopping steps to ensure success at the grocery store. I meal planned for the week, made a list of the items I was going to buy, and yes I had even estimated the prices of all the items.   Unfortunately, I’ve followed these […] Read more »

Financial Peace Will Save My Marriage

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Peace. It’s a word that’s been stuck my head. It all started with a post I read last week in which the author described how budgeting brought peace to her marriage. The title stirred something inside me.  A simple, but powerful word, that for some reason seemed to continuously pop into my mind over the weekend. Friday evening we were trying to decide what to do for dinner. None of the options left on our meal planning list sounded very good to the family. In a moment of frustration as my stomach growled, I suggested we go out to eat. […] Read more »

It’s a Win-Win: Get Rewarded for Saving

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I recently heard about a really cool concept that started abroad and is making its way to the US—prize linked savings accounts. Just for doing what you’re already (hopefully, should be) doing, you are automatically entered to win a prize. Yes, adults like prizes and anything that is free just like kids do.; a novel idea that has more people thinking about saving for their future. This comes at just the right time, with the rate of savings in America at an all time low. A report issued by the non-profit Corporation for Enterprise Development, found almost one third of […] Read more »

Ostriches and Finances Don’t Mix

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An Ostrich is a large, flightless bird native to Africa which many people believe will bury it’s head in the sand when it senses danger. As the story goes, the ostrich thinks that it is completely safe if it cannot see the pending threat. It hopes that when it finally raises it’s head back above the ground, the threat will be gone, and everything would be ok.  Not very intelligent. Yet in the past I’d insist upon doing the exact same thing with my finances. I wouldn’t pay attention to how much I was spending, completely ignoring financial danger. I […] Read more »

The Financial Pothole: Temporary Tax Cuts

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In the opening days of 2013 congress pushed through legislation to avoid the so called “fiscal cliff” preventing the taxes of the vast majority of Americans from going up, and automatic massive spending cuts  from kicking in. The news wasn’t all good, however, as the payroll tax decrease was not extended. This means everyone’s paychecks would be reduced by 2% effective immediately. This is a double whammy for me, as it most likely is with many people, since the first of the year is also when the new rates for my medical insurance kicks in. I received my first pay […] Read more »

“No More Frivolous Spending!”

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I have a confession to make…It’s been over a year since I tracked my household’s expenses. Yes I know better, yes that is horrible, and yes unfortunately, it’s the truth. My boyfriend and I have been living together for about a year and a half. Prior to his “moving in” we tracked both of our expenses and built a household budget that was fair and worked for both of us. We haven’t looked at it since. In fact, I pay all of our household bills and manage the finances for his business. He has NO idea where his money is […] Read more »

Our Story: An Interview on Talk Credit Radio

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About three months ago, I was honored to be a guest on Gerri Detweiler’s Talk Credit Radio program.  I was thrilled to share Vonnie and I’s debt story and answer Gerri’s questions regarding  how it has changed our lives forever.  She has been generous enough to provide me with a link to audio streaming of the interview, and I wanted to share it with The EOD Nation.  Click on the picture of Vonnie and I below to hear the interview.                 I’d love to hear your thoughts on the interview, or answer any […] Read more »

Don’t Let Debt Hold You Back

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2012 is rapidly coming to a close and it’s time to start thinking about your goals for 2013. If you have debts consider developing a plan to make 2013 the year you get out. Interest Affects Your Bottom Line The exercise of defining all of your credit card debt and the subsequent interest rates should be a top “to do”. Start by pulling your free annual credit report and seeing what you owe and at what rate. Create a spreadsheet, document or put a pen to paper listing your debts. Then calculate how much money you are spending each month […] Read more »