Marathon weekend is here.  I don’t mean to beat you over the head with it…….OK, yes I do, but since it’s this weekend you’ll get to stop hearing about me and marathons for at least a few months until I run the next one in June.  🙂  This has been the slooooowest week ever because running this race has been taking up all my brain power.  It’s going to be a great day, I cannot wait! Something else I wanted to share with you is exciting news for a friend of mine and fellow blogger.  Prudence Debt Free, who has […] Read more »

Who has two thumbs and is taking the day off today?  >>>> THIS GUY <<<< The kids are off to school, and Vonnie and I are off to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, MN for the day.  It’ll be a fun day of shows, comedy and eating.  Although I *need* to be relatively mindful of my eating as I am trying to keep the right kinds of fuel in me with my marathon just over a week away. Speaking of the marathon, I’m mentally preparing for it each and every day.  I’m anxious.  I’m excited.  I can’t wait.  Did I […] Read more »

This weekend the 2014 Financial Blogger Conference is taking place in New Orleans.  It’s the 4th year of the conference, and the first one Vonnie and I are not attending.  The conference has traditionally  been a fantastic shot of motivation to keep my blogger juices flowing.  I’m a bit down that I’m missing it this year, although I am grateful to follow along virtually by reading blog posts of my friends and fellow bloggers attending, as well as through the steady stream of Facebook updates.   Hope to be back at next year’s conference. In the meantime, it’s Friday, which means […] Read more »

We’ve had some house guests this week, my parents on Tuesday night, and some friends of ours from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area Wednesday and Thursday night.  Since my city, Rochester, MN, is the home of the Mayo Clinic we offer up our home as a place to stay when friends and family are referred there for tests.  While the circumstances for seeing people isn’t always the best, we’re always happy to spend time with loved ones, and take a bit of stress off of their need to come to town. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the cooler temps […] Read more »

Yesterday’s high in Rochester, MN was close to 90.  Today it will struggle to get our of the 60’s.  Guess what peoples,  Fall is officially on it’s way.  While I LOVE summer, Fall’s cooler temperatures and lowered humidity makes for great running weather.  There’s also the start of the NFL season (first game kicked off last night!) to soften the transition away from summer. Along with those cooler temperatures comes the turning off of the AC, the opening of windows, and MUCH lower utility bills.   My electric bill literally gets cut in half for the next couple of months, and […] Read more »

Here we are, the last weekend of Summer.  I have to do a 17 mile run,  a fantasy football draft, some last minute school shopping, and our neighbor is having a neighborhood party.  We’ll be throwing back a few cold ones, grilling some food, and putting together the 200 foot slip-n-slide down the hill of the park that extends from our backyards.  It’ll be a busy but fun weekend, and except for the school shopping part. relatively tame on the checkbook.  Then, next week it’s back to school for the kids, and back to her job at the school district […] Read more »

Happy Friday, EOD Nation! Bob from Christian PF had an article over at the Huff Post this week that listed some great budget spreadsheet resources for readers…….and the EOD zero based budget spreadsheet was among those listed!  What an honor and privilege – thanks Bob, that gets me in the mood to fist pump! Check out that article and the rest of the best that had my fist flying this week below! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 4 Reasons Your Budget Isn’t Working from Luke 1428 A Lesson in Extreme Couponing From the Checkout Lane from Frugal Rules Summer […] Read more »

We’ve picked up all the supplies our kids need for school.  That was the easy part.  All we had to do was go to the school district website  and print off the recommended list of items.  This weekend comes the more difficult part of getting ready for the school year. We’re going clothes shopping. My son will find shirts he likes in just under 0.5 seconds.  Finding jeans that he likes….well, that’s another story. I had no idea that teenage boys could be so picky about jeans.  The good news is, I’m not even sure that my daughter needs anything.  […] Read more »