Follow Me Out of Debt | Get out of debt and get into prosperity!

How much are you spending every month on daycare? Are you continuing to work and only seeing a few hundred dollars a month because the rest of your hard-earned money is going to a daycare facility? There's no shortage of daycare facilities, and there's no shortage of parents who need these services.   Be advised that there are alternatives to daycare. I realize that it's not always possible, espec...

Find out how you can complete some inexpensive home upgrades that won't break the bank. When we're in the process of getting out of debt, or working on any other personal financial goal for that matter, we can easily get bored of our surroundings. We put a cap on spending, and this limitation prevents us from doing any kind of upgrades in our home. Most of the time, this is because we consider upg...

It's time to celebrate! We have officially saved up our initial $1,000.00 for our starter emergency fund. Needless to say, I'm excited. We started this journey on December 18, 2016, so it has taken us a little over two months to save up our first $1,000.00. We had some setbacks along the way, including a huge setback that happened right before we started this journey to the tune of a $1,200.00 une...

We've all heard the saying that actions speak louder than words. The reason that you've heard the saying before is because it holds true throughout the ages. Gaining knowledge and planning are both important steps when we set out to accomplish a goal, but the result of whether or not our goals are achieved are based completely on the actions that we take.   When we're in the process of getting out...

Wise (and rich) folks will tell you that everything is negotiable. Whether you are a buyer or a seller, you'll want to brush up on your negotiation skills. Knowledge is power when it comes to negotiating, so make sure that you do your homework before you start your negotiation process. You'll want to have as much organized information as possible before you come to the table, so it is important to...

Nobody cares more about your money than you do. You are the only one to experience the pain of a poor financial decision or an unexpected expense. On the other end of the spectrum, you are the only one who will experience the excitement when you pay off that first debt (or all of your debt).   Personal finance is personal. It's as simple as that. It applies directly to you, and it affects you posi...

Is the roof over your head causing you a lot of stress? Is it preventing you from reaching your financial goals? If so, it may be time to consider whether or not you may have purchased too much house.   Generally speaking, you should have a house payment of no more than 25% of your take-home income. If it's in the 30% to 35% range, you're still okay (although this is not ideal). However, if you ar...

Many of us have been there, but I will admit that this is the first experience that I've had with this. We recently found damage to our vehicle while it was sitting in a parking lot. The individual who damaged the vehicle didn't leave a note. When I contacted my insurance company, I was a bit surprised to find out that this is the norm. As a matter of fact, I was told that it is very rare for some...

Don't waste time. Three little words that mean so much, but for whatever reason, it's easy to forget sometimes. We have jobs, relationships, etc. that tend to make it challenging to be mindful of how we're spending our time. We get tired. We want to crawl up on the sofa and sit in front of the television and binge-watch Netflix the moment we have a little free time.   When we do this, we're cheati...

On today's episode, I'll be talking about budget-friendly vacation tips. We all need a break sometimes. We all need to spend some quality time with our families. We need to relax for a bit and pause our laser-focused intensity of getting out of debt to have a little fun for a while.   I'll talk about how you can accomplish this through hotel savings and discounts, car rental discounts, and how you...

Do you use vision boards? If you don't, have you at least heard of vision boards? On today's episode, I'll discuss how this show was a direct product of one of my vision boards from a long time ago. I'll also discuss how vision boards can help you with your financial goals as well as any other goals that you're currently working towards accomplishing.   Don't worry. Vision boards aren't some sort...

More money isn't going to solve your problems. I'm afraid to break the news to you, but even if you were to get a huge raise tomorrow or won a small lottery prize, you'll still have the same exact problems that you've experienced financially. It boils down to this: behaviors matter. If we consistently make poor choices with our personal finances, throwing more money at the problem won't fix it.   ...

Car payments are horrible. I used to not have a car payment, and I loved it. That's not the case right now, but I can't wait to go back to having paid-off vehicles. It was a good time, and I miss those days dearly.   Let's be serious for a moment. There's nothing good about having a car payment. In most cases, when we have a car payment, we are spending a significant amount of money every month th...

It's time to take a week off... from spending! Mark the week off in your calendar, and plan your spending freeze. During this spending freeze, you won't be spending any money at all (with the exception of paying bills). It does take some preparation beforehand, because prior to your spending freeze, you'll want to make sure that you fill up the gas tanks and buy your groceries for the week as well...

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward our organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."   This quote is from Andrew Carnegie, the person who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. You're probably wondering what this has to do wit...

Amazon.com is pretty amazing. It's a global retail leader, even in comparison with bricks and mortar stores, and there's a good reason for that. You can find some great deals and discounts on Amazon.com, and I personally visit the website quite frequently.   On this episode, I decided to provide not only information on great ways to save on Amazon.com, but I'm also providing an easy link that will...

Exercising your way out of debt may sound a little strange, but stick with me on this one for a moment. When we decide to do something to improve ourselves, we will generally ride the wave and take on other ways that we can improve ourselves at the same time. For example, when we decide that we want to start an exercise habit, we tend to tie in an improvement with our diet at the same time. The re...

Do you know that it's actually healthy to talk to your kids about money? Even at a younger age, it's a good habit to get into to show your children how money works and how money is affecting you or you and your spouse.   Kids are generally perceptive. Even if you attempt to hide your money problems, your kids will know more than you think by taking clues from your comments, actions, and perceived...

Have you ever heard of a grocery store called Aldi? If you have one nearby you, you'll want to check them out if you haven't done so already. While there are plenty of choices for most folks as far as grocery stores go, you won't save more money than you will at your local Aldi store.   My wife and I used to shop at three or more grocery stores to try to save some money. We tried clipping coupons....

If you're like me, you likely have a bunch of stuff sitting around your house that you haven't touched or even thought about in years. It's time to go through those things and get them sold! Nowadays, it's so incredibly easy to sell what we no longer use. When we do this, we can earn some extra cash that we can use towards saving up for our starter emergency fund or getting a boost on paying down...

I'm inviting you to join me on a little side project that I'm doing for this show. I want to help you with whatever it is that you are struggling with right now with regards to your journey to get out of debt and into prosperity.    Over the next several weeks, I'll be collecting e-mails from anyone who wants to contact me directly with their current struggle, question, or problem. If you would li...

From personal experiences as well as from the experiences of others, I have compiled a list of five simple steps to help you to get out of debt. These steps and actions can be applied to whatever strategy that you are currently implementing towards completing your goal.   First, I'll discuss why you shouldn't bury your head in the sand. I'll discuss how to ensure that you don't do this, because do...

Money arguments and money fights between spouses can be debilitating and frustrating in a marriage. There's a reason why money fights are in the top five causes of married couples filing for divorce. It's a touchy subject, and both spouses likely have different views on the topic of money.   When these differences come to the surface, rather than agreeing to participate in an all-out battle with y...

When you are focused on an important goal, sometimes those who are closest to you tend to say negative things that have the potential to suck the enthusiasm right out of you. These naysayers will tell you precisely why you will fail at your goal, and they will commonly bring up how other people live in order to show you the foolishness of your plan simply because you are trying to be different.  ...

Completing your budget for the month feels good. It's a big check off of our to-do list, but our work is not finished quite yet.   Our budgets are usually done month to month, and each month we need to ensure that we don't overstep our bounds as far as the budget goes. How do we keep ourselves motivated to stay on track for an entire month so that we don't mess things up?   The key is to regularly...