This weekend I’ll be putting my first application of fertilizer on the lawn.  It’s early in the season and all the different varieties needed for the season are available, and in many instances on sale, so I’ve picked up all my fertilizer needs for the growing season.  Later on, the one I want may be hard to find, because as we all know retailers tend to not have a great selection of products for a given season when that season actually arrives.  Who would want to buy the Fall fertilizer application in Fall, right? Get your fists in the air […] Read more »

The methods needed to be successful in achieving a goal always seem to draw parallels to each other, no matter what the subject.  Being a gym rat and an exercise freak, I commonly compare physical fitness to financial fitness.  You can’t workout hard every single day, your body just can’t handle it for long stretches of time.  Eventually you need to take a day off, or at least have an easy workout to give your body a break.  With financial fitness, you can’t spend a lot of money every single weekend.  Your budget just cannot handle it.  Last weekend was […] Read more »

My daughter turns 15 today!  She’s looking forward to getting her driver’s permit, although to me it just doesn’t seem like she should be able to get behind the wheel of a car.  I guess that’s going to take some getting used to.  The good news is that with a learner’s permit our insurance doesn’t go up.  I’ve got another year before I have two teenagers on my car insurance. Fist pump for birthdays, and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Are You Afraid to Spend Money? from MoneyNing How to Be Content with […] Read more »

I’m putting together this link post from Florida at about 12:01am.  My limit of vacation length is about 4 days before I really want to get home.  I’m on day 9, so that should tell you a little bit about my current perspective and mood.  I need to get back home to get back to making money, instead of spending money!  How long do you last on vacation before you feel like you’re going to go insane? Fist pump for going home, and for my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump The Psychology of Credit […] Read more »

I filled out my tax return a few weeks ago, but I just hit the “submit” button last night.  I wanted to let them settle for a bit, then go over them again.  After verifying everything looked correct, I sent them to the IRS.  The government must have agreed with the awesomeness of my returns as both my Federal and State returns were accepted within a few hours.  I got a refund back from federal, and owed some to the state.  All together I owed a few hundred dollars, which is the best our taxes have turned out in years.  […] Read more »

This is the big weekend our daughter has been waiting for.  We’re taking her (and some of her friends) to a Panic! At The Disco concert in the Twin Cities.  The ticket was a Christmas present. It’s only an hour north of where we live, so that’s not a big deal.  But now the weatherman is saying there’s a chance for snow late Sunday night.  Hoping we don’t get stuck in Minneapolis/St. Paul for the night! Fist pump for concerts, AND my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Keep Money Simple Stupid from Budget And […] Read more »

A friend and coworker of my wife is retiring today.  It reminded me that it’s been awhile since I checked the progress of our retirement accounts to ensure we’re on track to meet our financial goals for retirement.  I’m expecting to see a good rate of return so far this year, since the stock market has been moving up in crazy like fashion. But it’s definitely time to check in with my 401K investments and make some adjustments if necessary.  When was the last time you analyzed your road to retirement? Get your fists up for big stock market gains….and […] Read more »

Welcome to a Friday, SNOW DAY edition of the Fist Pump!  We’re in the midst of a blizzard warning here in southeastern Minnesota.  We’ve already received about 7 inches of snow, with another 6 expected during the day.  We bought some extra supplies yesterday before the snow started,  so we’re just fine being snowed in for a couple of days. Fist pump for bizzards, and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 15 Benefits of Amazon Prime from Young Adult Money Will There Be Fewer Costco Coupons? from Money Beagle How to Stay Motivated After […] Read more »

With this weekend’s temperatures reaching 50 degrees or higher it sure doesn’t feel like February.  It did, however, remind me that spring is not that far off.  It’s time to start saving money away for lawn fertilizer which will be found on sale within the next month! Fist pump for spring, AND my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Three Immediate Actions to Reduce Debt from DINKS Finance 4 Tips to Avoid Temptation When Paying off Debt from Frugal Rules 5 Ways to Reward Yourself for Financial Progress from Eyes On The Dollar To Refinance […] Read more »

Technology can make our lives easier.  My wife found a great example of this a few days ago when trying to schedule a hair cut for my son.  Instead of calling the salon and asking what times were available, she was able to view open time slots online and get our son on the schedule.  The tool required we pay a certain percentage of the service to reserve the time slot. $8 was charged to our debit card, and our son was off to get a haircut later that day.  Unfortunately, when it was time for him to pay the […] Read more »

Superbowl weekend is here!  Many people will go to a sports bar to watch the game, but that’s just not my kind of atmosphere.  We’ve hosted large Super Bowl gatherings in the past, but I’m just not feeling that either.  We do plan to get together with some friends and cook up some yummy finger type foods and hopefully enjoy a good game.  I’m not hopeful about the commercials, they’ve been subpar the last few years.  What are you doing for the big game? Oh, and don’t forget to get those fists up for my favorite posts of the week! […] Read more »

I went with my son to renew his driver’s license yesterday as he turns 18 next week.  The person who helped us at our local government center asked if he had incurred any driving violations, to which he answered, “No.”  This gave him a small break on the price of the renewal fee.  I didn’t know this discount existed, and apparently it’s a one time thing. It wasn’t a huge discount, somewhere on the order of $6 or $7 bringing the total down to $21 and change.  But saving money is saving money, right? Get those fists up, it’s FRIDAY! […] Read more »