Welcome to August, EOD Nation!   August has traditionally been a challenging month financially for us, as it is when we pick up the things our kids need for the upcoming school year.  In years past this meant checking out Old Navy and Kohls because we had store credit cards for those retailers and we could get new clothes without having to spend any money immediately out of pocket.  Over the last few years, with the lines of credit unavailable due to our debt management program, we have struggled to save up the funds needed to get clothes and school supplies.  […] Read more »

We’re headed to a wedding this weekend, something we haven’t done in quite a long time.  It should be a good time, as it’s for a daughter of a coworker and friend of mine.  Party with the work crew!  I’m guessing that all the usual wedding songs will be played at the dance, and there may be some fist pumping action going on.  But it won’t compare to the reaction to this week’s list of favorite posts, there were some great ones this week. Get ’em up! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Is It Possible To Live Without Credit? […] Read more »

It’s a very tired fist pump from me this morning, my friends.  The ringing of our home phone woke me up at 1:00am.  Being a software engineer part of a team that writes firmware for very large business class servers, I’m essentially always on call. I was called to look at a critical customer problem and worked most of the night.  Hopefully you guys can all back me up this week – so get ’em up. Have a great weekend! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 5 Causes of the Money Blues and How to Eliminate Them from The Heavy […] Read more »

I’m away for the weekend celebrating the 4th of July in the great city of Chicago with some friends and family.  We had a great night last night at a dueling piano bar and having Chicago style pizza, and today it’s off to Navy Pier and the Dave Mathews Band concert.  We’ll wrap things up with going to Ribfest on Sunday….YUM!  How are you spending your 4th of July Weekend? Before we get into our usual fist pump routine, I wanted to mention that I had the honor of having a guest post published at mint.com this week.  I Don’t […] Read more »

There are two events that have had me looking forward to this weekend: 1.) The new Transformer’s move comes out today.  Yes, I’m a big geek.  I loved them as a kid, and while some of the moves in the series haven’t been all that great, this one looks like it may finally live up to  the hype.  My son and I are going to go see it this afternoon. 2.) Sunday is my wedding anniversary.  18 years of wedded bliss with Mrs. Vonnie Pizel.  I’m looking forward to celebrating our lives together.  We’re just getting started! Can I get […] Read more »

This Sunday is Father’s Day, so I’d like to give an extra special fist pump to all the dads out there!   The best gift I received from my wife for Father’s Day was very simple:  Time.   I’m a busy guy, constantly in motion doing things to keep the household running.  One year she told me that for the afternoon I could do whatever I wanted.  I decided to finally get to trimming the trees in the front yard of the home we lived in at the time.  I just couldn’t ever seem to find the time to get it done,  […] Read more »

Today’s the last day of the school year for my kids, and I’m celebrating.  This means that my morning routing just got a whole lot less complicated for the next three months.  I honestly think I’m more excited about the summer than they are.  Is that wrong? Extra special fist pump for summer vacation today, let’s get it on! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump The Importance Of Figuring Out Your Money Philosophy from Bible Money Matter Why I’m So Excited to Spend Money Again on Cable TV from Luke1428 Bad Money Habits and the Excuses We Make for Them […] Read more »

Last week was a complete whirlwind.  Party preparation, having people stay at our house a few nights, and then taking most of Sunday and Monday to clean up left me  exhausted by the time I had to go to work on Tuesday.   We combined our annual Memorial Weekend Luau themed party with a celebration for us completing our Debt Management Program at the end of January, and it was a fist pumping great time. So what am I doing this weekend?  Nothing.  Nada.  Zero.  I may just climb into bed after work this afternoon and fist pump from underneath my […] Read more »

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days…I’ve been on “vacation.”  What I mean by vacation is smoking brisket, dusting, organizing, cleaning, shopping, cleaning carpets, decorating and countless other things in preparation for THE largest party we’ve every thrown.  It’s a combination of our annual Memorial Weekend Party and celebration for completing our debt management program.  Which reminds me, I gotta make another trip to the grocery store. You’re gonna have to fist pump without me this week.  Nope, I can’t leave you hanging, I’m pumping both fists as I run out the door….. Posts That Make Me Fist Pump I […] Read more »

“Welcome To Jurassic Park” It’s the last line of my email signature at work, but  since it’s placed there automatically through my email preferences I honestly had forgotten it was there.  For some reason it caught my eye yesterday, and made me remember the reasoning for including it on each and every email I send. If you’ve seen the movie Jurassic Park, you may remember where the line is said.  It’s towards the beginning of the movie when the two paleontologists are riding in an open air jeep through the island seeing plants that they believe have been extinct for […] Read more »

We made our final payment to our debt management program back in January.  We wanted to have a party to celebrate, but we also wanted to save up the money to pay for it with cash.  We decided to take the time to save up some funds, and combine our celebration for completing our program with our annual Memorial Weekend Luau.  This will be our 18th consecutive year of having the party and we’re looking to kick it up a notch this year.   We have the funds and we have a reason to celebrate.  It’s gonna be a great time.  […] Read more »

I’ve found that one of the best ways to ensure a low spending weekend is to have a list of projects around the house to do.  That could certainly backfire as sometimes there are supplies that need to be purchased to complete those projects.  Here’s my agenda for the weekend: Go through and clean out master bedroom closet Clean carpets Replace broken outdoor outlet Workout like a beast There will be no cost associated with the first item, and the second two have only minimal costs (shampoo for our carpet cleaner, and an outlet) that won’t add up to more […] Read more »

I have two coworkers that flew all the way from India to work side by side with us here in Minnesota for the next few weeks.  I’m certainly excited for them to be here, however I need to be just a little mindful of how often I go out for lunches.  They will need guidance as to where might be good places to go as they are vegetarian and they are in an unfamiliar country.  On the other hand, I’m used to bringing my own lunch, and I don’t want to break my budget either. You’ve waited long enough for […] Read more »

Tuesday was payday.  I did the usual reconciling of the checkbook, paying the bills, and creating our budget worksheet for the remainder of the month.  Vonnie and I sat down to have our usual Payday financial discussion.  When we got to the part of how much we had in our checking account she stared at me and said, “What?  How come it’s so high?”  We went through the numbers in detail, and I explained that apart from not having to make a huge payment to our now complete debt management plan, we didn’t spend all of our discretionary funds from […] Read more »