"All of us must learn to live within our means again." - President Barack Obama
Taken at face value, who can argue with a statement like that? As a sound bite, President Obama's statement is an encouraging affirmation of good common fiscal ...
Continue reading I’m Just Askin’: Why Bother Being Fiscally Responsible Anymore?
An Easy Way to Compare Credit Card Reward Programs
I always assumed the cash-back card to be a better value than the one passing out airline miles, but I never did a detailed analysis to confirm my suspicions. For me it just made better sense to get a dividend check a couple times per year that I ...
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If Arnold Schwarzenegger Was My Household CEO
"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men!" - Arnold Schwarzenegger
While writing my 2008 State of the Household financial report I got this germ of an idea that kept popping into my head: What ...
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My 2008 State of the Household Financial Report (Part 4)
Today at work I was a bit distracted. This was entirely due to my anticipation regarding my earlier promise to finish this four-part series with a quick summary of my net worth. I hope most of you can forgive me; it's just that I feel like the ...
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My 2008 State of the Household Financial Report (Part 3)
Welcome to Part 3 of my State of the Household financial report for 2008. I've been very serious about running my household like a business for close to 20 years now. As a result, I have managed to compile detailed data across a long time period. ...
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My 2008 State of the Household Financial Report (Part 2)
Welcome to Part 2 of my four-part State of the Household Financial Report. If you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1 first!
Once again, here is the illustrative breakdown of my "outflow", or expenses, for the year in the form of a pie chart. ...
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My 2008 State of the Household Financial Report
As required by our household constitution, the household CFO is required to deliver the family financial report to the household CEO each January. ;-)
As such, the ever-dependable Honeybee has painstakingly tracked and recorded our finances for ...
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Using a HELOC as an Alternative to Refinancing
Recently I was talking with a buddy of mine, who happens to be a higher-echelon employee for a major bank, about my desire to refinance into a longer-term home loan in order to provide me with additional financial flexibility in the event I ever lost ...
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Top 12 Songs That Teach A Lesson About Money (Part 2)
We'll now continue with Part 2 of my list on the Top 12 Songs That Teach A Lesson About Money. For those of you that missed it, the list's first 6 songs, along with the complete explanation of criteria and qualifications that enabled a song to ...
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Top 12 Songs That Teach A Lesson About Money
Since this blog is focused on helping others achieve financial freedom, I figured if I was going to put together my personal list of the greatest money songs of all time, I at least owed it to my five loyal readers to ensure that the list was more ...
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Paying Off Your Mortgage Is a No-Brainer
As promised, with our home currently in the process of being refinanced for the fourth time since 1997, I have finished doing an analysis on whether or not to continue prepaying the mortgage early. After running the numbers, I have come to the ...
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Got a Fixed Rate Mortgage? Root for High Inflation.
With all the liquidity that the governments of the world have been releasing into the economy, I believe it will only be a matter of time before we begin to experience a nasty bout of inflation that will force interest rates into territory not seen ...
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Living Within Your Means Has Its Rewards
First off, I know I sound like a broken record, but I will repeat myself yet again because it is a key tenet of this blog -- financial freedom can be attained by anyone, regardless of income level! "Financial freedom", folks, is not a two-word ...
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Condition Yourself to Hate Paying Interest
God, do I hate to pay interest! To anyone. For anything.
I abhor paying interest, and I avoid it like the plague! You should too.
I think that most people who currently enjoy a life of financial freedom have this distaste of interest payments ...
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Budgeting to Meet the Household Strategic Plan
A household budget should be based upon a well-thought strategic plan for the future. I've already discussed how to establish your household strategic plan so you can begin to build a household budget that meets your long-term strategic plan. ...
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Why You’re Broke: You Don’t Audit Your Spending Habits
Now that I've outlined a top-level job description for the household CEO it is time to begin breaking down each of those six top-level tasks in a little more detail.
The biggest reason most people always find themselves broke and continually in ...
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What the Heck Does a Household CFO Do?
Being the household CEO can be a very lonely job indeed, but it doesn’t have to be. In multiple-person households, there may be others (usually the spouse) who will wish, or even insist, to be a part of the financial management process. Luckily, ...
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What the Heck Does a Household CEO Do?
Okay, so you've heard me preach that the job of household CEO is a relatively easy one. I've already discussed the primary qualifications that every household CEO must have in hand, but just what is it that a household CEO does?
To answer that ...
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The Sad Consequences of Fiscal Irresponsibility
The first step to becoming a successful household CEO is to understand the tragic consequences of fiscal irresponsibility. A household CEO that fails to understand this is equivalent to an automobile driver trying to navigate rush hour traffic with a ...
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Better Late Than Never
A recent article in Ars Technica stated that Technorati has tracked 133 million blogs since 2002. Consider this blog number 133,000,001.
So what if I am five years or so late getting onto the blogging bandwagon? Better late than never, right?
I ...
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