Tag: tips

This One Tip Will Get You Out of Debt and to FI Faster Than Any Other

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By spending less, you’re “eating better.” You’re not wasting your money on dumb purchases that you really don’t need, just as you aren’t filling your face hole with Ding Dongs and lard.

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I have done a LOT of research over the past 10 months. I have read books and blogs, listened to podcasts, attended seminars, watched YouTube videos, and met with one incredibly trustworthy and knowledgeable financial planner.

Here are just a few of the books I’ve read:

  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad
  • Start Late, Finish Rich
  • The Automatic Millionaire
  • The Millionaire Next Door
  • The Simple Path to Wealth
  • I Will Teach You To Be Rich
  • The Latte Factor
  • The Total Money Makeover

Podcasts I have (or continue to) listen to:

  • Bigger Pockets
  • Choose FI
  • Motley Fool
  • The Money Guy Show
  • Mr. Money Moustache

You get the idea.

I have spent the better part of a year listening, absorbing, planning, and evaluating how to get out of debt, and how to get on the road to financial independence once and for all. It’s why I’ll pay off over $50,000 worth of debt this year alone, and it’s why I have a plan to be totally free of credit card debt by the end of 2020.

In the process of doing this, I think I’ve hit on something big that I want to share with all of you. Once I understood it, it changed my life totally, and given me the understanding of the mindset I need to really achieve my goals.

The one thing you need to do to pay off debt and achieve financial independence is…

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Friday Five: The First 5 Things You Should Do if You Are in Debt

Dave Johnson4 Comments

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The “Friday Five” are five items to help you in your journey to financial freedom. They might be 5 tips, they might be 5 tricks, or they might just be 5 items of thoughts. In any case, it’s Friday, and I’ve got 5 “things” for you, so here we go!

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As you can see, I’m trying something new with the Friday posts here. I like having some themes that I can dock to, such as the “Thursday Think Tank,” and the “Tuesday Tip Jar.” On top of this, I feel like you kind of don’t want a long post getting in your way on a Friday, and would prefer just to get out there and enjoy your weekend.

So these “Friday Five” posts will be a bit shorter, and get right to the heart of the matter, of hopefully providing you with 5 items you can use to help with your financial health and success.

So here goes! We’re going to kick the first one off with the first 5 things you should do if you find yourself in debt.

Back in January, my wife and I found ourselves in a buttload of debt. If you aren’t familiar with some of these fancy financial terms such as “buttload,” just know that it was a LOT. If you check that fancy little diagram/chart in the right column of this site, you can see we were just north of $126,000 in Credit Card and Student Loan debt.

Even though it took us years to get into this position, it was a smack in the face once we took a hard look, put it all together, and realized just how bad off we were. We didn’t really know what to do first, and just felt an initial sense of helplessness.

Debt can be super-scary, and you may not know where to begin. So let me give you 5 good initial areas to focus on if you find yourself in a similar situation:Read More »

Tuesday Tip Jar: Amazon Subscribe and Save

Dave Johnson1 Comment

Welcome to a new feature on the blog called the “Tuesday Tip Jar” where I will share awesome savings and financial tips as I find them. I might not have something for you every Tuesday, but when I do, you’ll find it here!

Starting Debt (01.01.19): $126,310.77
Current Debt: $109,710.00
Total Paid Off: $16,600.77
Income Going to Savings: 2%

For some of you this may be one of those “duh” tips that you’ve known about forever, but it was new to us, so I thought I’d share.

Like everyone else, we have things that we buy every single month without fail. Think of things like toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc.

If you do as well, then you should know that Amazon offers some pretty good prices on these items as it stands, and if you shop around on the site you can even find prices that beat Costco in some cases.

BUT…!Read More »