The last two weeks have been brutally cold in Minnesota.  Look, I know I live in Minnesota and this shouldn’t be unexpected, but an extended period of time where daily high temperatures struggle to break zero wears on a person.  Not to mention, I’m not looking forward to seeing my utility bill next month.  It might just put the deep freeze on my budget.  See what I did there? Fist pump for warmer  temperatures and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Wasting Somebody Else’s Money from Money Beagle 3 Keys to Knocking Out Your […] Read more »

Happy Friday, EOD Nation! Guess who has two thumbs and is done with work for the year?  >>>This Guy!!!<<<  That’s right, yesterday I said goodbye to my cubicle, and said hello to vacation.  For the next 10 days or so, I’ll be spending time with family, enjoying the holidays and relaxing. Fist pump for no more work for 2017, AND my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Be Like Me And Get Quotes To Save On Insurance from Money Beagle 8 Tips to Be Frugal Without Feeling Deprived from Life And My Finances Is Your […] Read more »

My daughter injured her wrist last Friday spotting a cheer team stunt at a high school basketball game.  She complained it hurt a little, but we figured she just sprained it.   Unfortunately,  it didn’t feel any better after a few days, so we took her to the doctor.  Xrays showed a slight fracture, so now she has a splint on it for a week or so to help it heal.  She is NOT a happy camper.  I suspect I won’t be a happy camper when I see the bill for it.  The good news is, my health savings account is […] Read more »

My son is home from college for winter break, which means changes need to be made to the grocery shopping list and budget for the next month.  At school, he has a meal plan that allows him to eat at the cafeteria as much as he wants.  Now that he’s home, I have to account for the extremely high metabolism of a teenage boy by stocking the fridge and cupboards with copious amounts of food at all time.  That being said, it’s great to have him home.  🙂 Fist pump for my son being home for the next month, AND […] Read more »

Welcome to December, EOD Nation!  Wait, what?  How did we get to December already?  Since it’s after Thanksgiving, it is now officially acceptable to put up Christmas lights.  We haven’t decorated our house for a number of years,  but I promised my daughter we would this year.  Scoping out lights at Walmart, I couldn’t believe how much it would cost for the number of strands of lights I’d need to decorate the front of my house.   Had I selected LED lights, it would be even more!  I felt a little bah-humbugish shelling out the cash at the register, but hopefully […] Read more »

Happy Friday, EOD Nation!  Did you enjoy your Turkey Day?  I sure did.  My wife and I had family over to watch the Minnesota Viking’s football game, enjoy a great meal, and have a nice day catching up.  I seemed to have heard something about some sales  going on last night or this morning.  Did you hear that?  I didn’t pay much attention because I was sleeping in and not spending money on stuff I don’t need. Fist pump for not spending money and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 7 Simple Ways to […] Read more »

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, which means I’ll need to buy my turkey soon.  I’ve been waiting for THE coupon to show up in the mail, and it finally arrived yesterday.  Every year the HyVee grocery store chain sends out a coupon for a free turkey with the purchase of a ham.  The ham is massive, and there’s no way we will eat it all on Thanksgiving, but what I can do is cut it into different size pieces and freeze them separately for later. Fist pump for huge hams, free turkeys, AND my favorite posts of the […] Read more »

I scored an awesome deal recently.  I’m a huge grilling and food smoking guy.  I own an offset smoker,  but have always had my eye on ceramic cookers like The Big Green Egg.  A Green Egg is very expensive however, and I would never drop $1000 dollars on one.  However, my neighbor down the street had a Chargriller Akorn, which is a less expensive ceramic cooker.  He upgraded to a Green Egg, and his Akorn was just sitting in his backyard.  I caught him outside and had a conversation with him, resulting in me buying his Akorn and accessories that […] Read more »

One of those unexpected, unplanned expenses just popped up on my radar.  My daughter was on her high school cheer team this fall, cheering during football games.  If you’ve had a child in high school sports/activities recently you know the cost is significant.  Our coach lobbied the school and got them to agree to have cheer as a winter activity as well.  The good news is my daughter gets to keep doing cheer this winter, but we’ll have to pay another activity fee to the school.  For once this is an unplanned expense that I’m happy to pay, since this […] Read more »

This morning snow fell from the sky in Minnesota.  Puffy white flakes so big they almost looked like snowballs.  After an abnormally warm fall, it appears winter is indeed on our doorstep.  I’m a huge fan of summer.  Huge.  But at this point, there’s something that sounds really good about sitting on my couch watching football with the fireplace on as I watch snow fall out the window.   How about you, EOD nation, you ready for winter? Now pump those fists for my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Five Affordable Alternatives to the iPhone […] Read more »

Marathon weekend is here!  We’re headed out of town tomorrow and staying overnight in a hotel for my marathon on Sunday morning.  I know they did this in larger cities for major marathons, but I was surprised to find out hotels jack up their rates even in smaller cities for races that attract a fraction of the amount of runners as the bigger races.  We’re paying at least twice the normal price for our room, but it’s either that, or get up 2 hours earlier on Marathon morning and drive there!  When was the last time you encountered higher hotel […] Read more »

Happy Friday, EOD Nation!  I received some unexpected news this week….I got a raise!  Whoohoo!  It’s not a life-changing, huge raise, but anything greater than zero helps, right? On a separate, but equally as exciting note, you’ll see that this week’s motivational links features a double shot from my friend John over at Frugal Rules.  Good stuff going on over there, be sure to check it out! Fist pump for raises, AND a double shot of money motivation! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Should You Buy Using 0% Financing? from Eyes on The Dollar 13 Motivational Money Quotes to […] Read more »

Happy Friday, EOD Nation!  Yesterday I did my peak run for the marathon I’m training for – 18 miles!  In a few weeks we’ll be traveling to the city hosting the marathon.  A hotel room, dining out, and some fun activities will require some funds, but it’s all accounted for in the budget.  It’s the kind of weekend full of experiences and memory making potential that makes me not mind spending the cash – it’s why I got to work each day.  What fun experiences do you not mind spending your hard earned cash for? Fist pump for marathon weekend, […] Read more »