Tag: inspirational

Four Eggs on Six Figures

Dave Johnson5 Comments

190720

I will not for a moment claim to have a life as hard as some folks do in this world. Not even close. So please don’t think that I don’t have perspective. I’m not looking for you to feel bad for me, but instead providing insight into the sacrifices that my family and I have had to make. I’m also giving you insight into just how badly we had “effed up.”

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In my very first post on this site, I talked about not being able to afford to buy my son a piece of pizza at a lacrosse game. I mention that while this is not unheard of for many families around the world, it was just plain silly that I couldn’t do so given my six figure salary.

I’ve had several people ask me just how bad things got, and just how close my wife and I were to a financial catastrophe when things hit rock bottom in January. I think some like to see just how far we’ve come and encourage us to keep going, and frankly I think a few are just buttholes who want to revel in how far down the drain we had swirled.

“I knew they bought a house they couldn’t afford.”
“Well what did they expect? They ate out 5 nights a week and bought new cars every other year!”
“If Dave could just stop buying television sets for a minute, they might have the money to pay the bills!”
“How can you be that fiscally irresponsible?”

Buttholes aside, I do think it is important to share our lows. If this blog is only about the highs and wins, it doesn’t really do anyone any good.

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Tangent: I’m now actively recruiting for my new band, Buttholes Aside, and we are looking for a bass player. Must be willing to wear spandex. Serious inquiries only.

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My wife and I need to be reminded of those lows, and reminded of the sting of those lows, even if we have made tremendous gains.

Trust me when I say that last part was by no means boastful. I can see that stat tracker in the column on the right just as well as you can, and I know we have a LONG way to go, but allow me to explain how far we’ve come…Read More »

I May Have Coined My First Inspirational Quote While Going Into Mild Cardiac Arrest

Dave Johnson1 Comment

190621

I make it to the top of the hill, and I am DYING. I’m wheezing, I’m sweating, and one guy cutting logs in his yard asked me to keep the sound of my beating heart down a bit because he couldn’t hear his chainsaw.

Starting Credit Card Debt (01.01.19): $126,310.77
Current Credit Card Debt: $109,570.87
Total Paid Off: $16,739.90
Income Going to Savings: 2%

It’s beautiful here in my neck of the woods right now. Temperatures crest just above 70 degrees, and that’s perfect jogging weather for me.

I never used to be a jogger and I still can’t really say as though I enjoy jogging, but I do like how I feel after a good run. When you’ve hit that “jogging wall” where you feel like you’re going to collapse, you tend to drop into an almost meditative state. At least I do. Half the time I will be running and then suddenly snap back into reality and realize that I’ve covered a couple of miles but don’t really remember much of it at all.

As I’ve said in previous posts, when I exercise I tend to push myself pretty hard. It’s really the only way I know how to properly trick my brain into forgetting about things like finances and credit cards.

So today I was running hard. I had hit about 1.75 miles at an 9 minute mile pace, which isn’t bad considering… well… I’m old.

I rounded a corner of a road I hadn’t run on before, and there in front of me was a gigantic hill. I was exhausted by this point, but I knew if I made it to the top without stopping, it would be roughly 2 miles, and then I could turn around and head back to hit 4 miles in total.

I began charging up the hill. I try to sprint up hills so that I can just get them over with. When I’m coaching youth lacrosse I often tell kids that are running sprints for conditioning, “Remember that the faster you get these over with, the faster you get them over with.” I take this same advice when I’m running up a hill. Why prolong the agony?

I make it to the top of the hill, and I am DYING. I’m wheezing, I’m sweating, and one guy cutting logs in his yard asked me to keep the sound of my beating heart down a bit because he couldn’t hear his chainsaw.

As I paused briefly at the top of the hill before setting out on my return home, it hit me. My first inspirational quote I’ve ever thought of…Read More »