Start now. That is the best advice I can give for anything you want to change about your life. No matter what it is you want to do, take at least a few minutes today to do something that will get you started on your new plan.

I have lost 18 pounds since I started this blog in September. I still have plenty of pounds to lose, but I woke up feeling good this morning- I feel lighter and the same clothes that were a tight fit a few months ago are loose and will soon be too big. I would not feel this way today if I hadn’t made the effort back in September to start something. I started small, only trying to walk for 5-10 minutes  per day and limit my calorie intake, but that was what I needed to get the ball rolling and start building momentum.

Setting a goal to walk for only 5 minutes may seem somewhat small and meaningless, but if you are coming from walking 0 minutes per day, 5 minutes is a huge improvement. The point is, no matter what the situation or what your goal is, changing your life can start today and it can start with something small.

Choose something you know you can do. Don’t wake up one day after months of inactivity and decide that you will jog for 30 minutes and lift weights. That is not realistic! Diets can fail for many reasons, but I believe the problem with a diet is the difficulty of making massive changes overnight. You aren’t building new habits if you take that approach. You are trying to force yourself to behave in a new, uncomfortable way- the odds of success are very slim.

No matter what you want to change in your life, I encourage you to start it now. Take the time to write down your long-term goal (perhaps losing 60 pounds or paying off $25K of debt). Think about where you are now and think about what you can do now (or at least today). Choose something that you can take care of in 5-10 minutes. It could be something simple like walking down your street and back, making an extra payment on a credit card, starting a budget, or getting a how-to book at the library- whatever you can do today, in a short amount of time, that will start you down the path to reaching your long term goal.

Decide what you will do today, then do it today and repeat it tomorrow.

There will be setbacks, there will be days you fail to keep up the pace, but the point is to build new habits. After a few weeks have gone by you will find yourself with a new point of view and that long term goal will seem a little bit closer.
Start now!

By Eden, Wed 9 Jan 2008, 10 Comments, Categories: Goals, Life

*update* I think I left the door a bit too wide open for me on this issue. I just needed to remind myself why I don’t want another credit card.  The question is still a good one to ask, but I finally know that the answer is no for me.

My article on taking a look back at our first cash only Christmas was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by We’re In Debt (great site by the way, I recommend subscribing if you don’t already). The ‘King of Debt‘ at We’re in Debt made an interesting comment on my article-

I would argue that they could have earned rewards using their credit cards, but cash only is just that, cash only with no possibility of spending more.

I don’t disagree with the comment but part of my get-out-of-debt plan is cutting up my credit cards and closing accounts as I pay them off so going out and getting a rewards credit card isn’t an option for me right now.

This topic really just brings us back to the old argument of what we are doing with PERSONAL finance and why we have to consider the emotional and non-mathematical parts of the equation. Looking strictly at the numbers, yes, you would be better off spending your money on a rewards credit card and paying off the balance early each month (never carrying a balance). That is true IF you have the discipline to pay off the balance on time AND the discipline to not spend more money because you are using your rewards credit card. Can you honestly say you are never tempted by your rewards points to buy a little more than you had planned before? Maybe you aren’t and if so, you are the person that should be using this strategy. If I am honest with myself, I know that I would be tempted to spend more money in order to earn the rewards. If I spend less money using cash (and debit cards) then that is how I need to pay for things until I develop better discipline with my spending.

Taking control of your personal finances really requires a focus on the human and emotional aspect of your money (we are starting with the assumption that your finances got out of control like mine). I can’t just look at the numbers, do a little math, and suddenly be out of debt. That is part of the process, but I have to understand what got me here. Honestly, I think I’m a shopaholic. I thought that seemed crazy at first, but after reading this great article by J.D. at Get Rich Slowly, I really think that is me. Like most men, I don’t get any joy out of going to the mall or shopping anywhere in general, but if I sit down at my laptop with a cup of coffee and visit Amazon.com, I could easily spend and spend some more without thinking about it. In fact, I did just that when I got my Amazon.com rewards credit card! Oh how I loved racking up those Amazon points- well, guess what? I couldn’t use that card wisely and it only took a few months for me to max it out. Is that stupid? Absolutely that is stupid. I am not trying to suggest that a rewards credit card is evil, but in the wrong hands it certainly is. No offense to anyone who has struggled with alcohol, but this is much the same situation- the bottle of beer in itself is not evil, but in the wrong hands it can do great damage.

I am not trying to argue with the comment regarding the benefits of rewards credit cards. If I didn’t make it clear, I absolutely agree with that opinion. However, I want to stress the fact that this strategy is not for everyone. You need to know yourself, be honest with yourself, and do what works for you to save money and take control of your finances. I am not saying that I will never use a rewards credit card. I may get to the point where I can have the discipline to use it as a personal finance tool and actually earn money with it, but I’m not there now. I actually admire the people who are able to do this- they must truly be wise and disciplined. Frankly, I love seeing people ‘stick it’ to the credit card companies and earn money using the very same piece of plastic that is the downfall of so many others and costs most people thousands of dollars a year in interest charges. I can’t argue with the math, I just know I can’t trust myself in that area yet.

By Eden, Mon 31 Dec 2007, 5 Comments, Categories: Credit Cards, Life, Spending

I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go with the idea for this web site when I started, but I did hope to learn a lot along the way. Between doing research and writing articles here and reading lots of other great blogs around the Web, a few things come to mind as the most important so far.

• There will be setbacks.
• Patience is a requirement.
• No matter how much debt I pay each month, it doesn’t feel like enough.
• A $1,000 emergency fund sounded like a lot until I needed to use it.
• Losing weight is harder than paying off debt.
• There is no perfect plan for everyone to follow.
• The only universally applicable money management tip is to SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN.

What have YOU learned in your journey- whatever stage you may be? If I get enough tips I’ll create another post with links to the authors. Thanks!

By Eden, Sat 15 Dec 2007, 14 Comments, Categories: Life

I need to lose weight. I want to lose weight. Sounds believable, doesn’t it? I think I believe it. However, I’m not doing much about it on a daily basis right now. I have had a little success so far, I’m down about 14 pounds since starting this blog, but I still have a lot of weight to lose and my progress has basically come to a stop over the past few weeks. Apparently thinking about losing weight and reading about it doesn’t actually cause you to lose weight!

It’s time for action. I don’t know why I can’t motivate myself to exercise regularly, but that has to change.

I need a plan. I made a plan before, but I didn’t write anything down. Now it’s time to change that. Here is my beginning exercise plan.

• Monday – Friday: 20 minutes on the treadmill, doing intense interval training on M, W, F and doing casual walking on T and Th. I’m also going to do sit-ups and push-ups immediately following my treadmill time, but I need to give that a try to see how to best balance the number of reps and how many days of the week I should do those before I make an official plan.
• Saturday – Sunday: one 30 minute weight lifting workout. I’m going for high intensity, minimal rest with this.

This is my simple plan. I want to start small- this is relatively small, though this is a massive improvement over what I am doing now.

What makes me think I can go from almost nothing to exercising 6 days a week? Well, I don’t exactly know how to answer that except to say that I HAVE to start working out. If I can’t spend about 2 and a half hours a week exercising I won’t be able to achieve my weight loss goals. I have to make exercise a habit.

There is no magic solution to help me start a regular exercise program. I have to take the initiative to wake up 20 minutes earlier and do the exercise. If I feel tired I have to push myself to get on the treadmill anyway. I don’t like the way I feel at my current weight and that isn’t going to change if I don’t do something about it- NOW.

I will use this blog as a source of accountability for my plan. Look for more posts about this over the next week or so. Please share your tips or ideas for getting started and overcoming this first hurdle. Now you can sit back and watch me succeed or fail!

By Eden, Fri 14 Dec 2007, 13 Comments, Categories: Fat, Goals, Life

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, happens to be a billionaire and a blogger. His public persona comes across as a bit wild at times, but I think he has some very solid wisdom behind that. His blog is worth reading (usually) and he wrote a really interesting article yesterday, Warren Buffett, Taxes and the Presidency.

Warren Buffett has been all over the business press recently suggesting that the very rich, those on the Forbes 400 list, are taxed advantageously to the rest of the workforce. That it makes no sense that his tax bill as a percentage of income is lower than that of his secretary or housekeeper.

He is absolutely right.

Is this a fair system? I don’t know if that is the right question, but I think it would be hard to make a case for the above scenario being the right way to do things.

Its also wrong that those who must live paycheck to paycheck find themselves paying the same amount of taxes on consumables as the super rich. That 8pct sales tax on life’s basic necessities is real time cash out of pocket, a far greater percentage of income and much more expensive money than the federal taxes we pay the following April 15th.

This is a brilliant point. 8% on every purchase for people making under $30,000 a year is going to hurt the wallet quite a bit more than it does for the person making $300,000. A consumption tax is often touted as the most fair tax system, but I think it clearly is not (at least not a flat consumption tax without considerations for income).

Right now I hate paying taxes because I feel like I’m giving money to a known crack addict. However much you give, its not enough. They will buy their crack, get a short term high and soon be back asking for more.

The federal government , whether in Republican or Democratic hands is the same way. No matter how much you give, they are always asking for more, more, more. Always spending on the ridiculous, without remorse and without the ability to restrain itself. Just like a drug addict.

If you are going to raise my taxes, I want somethings in return.

Raise my taxes by 1 pct, by every 1 pct you cut federal spending. Your choice of raising taxes on luxury items, or on annual income of 10mm dollars per year or more. Cutting spending means the government needs to raise less which allows you to raise the income threshold on which you charge this “Forbes 400 surcharge”

This is really the problem. Our government is simply out of control with spending money and nothing can change for the better until that problem is solved.

I also have one more tax suggestion that I think will create so many jobs in this country that it really wont matter what else our politicians do.

If we really want to stimulate job creation in this country, take the same approach to small business with fewer than 25 employees that we take to Internet taxes. Outlaw them.

No taxes of any kind on small businesses with fewer than 25 employees. No employer payroll tax. No state or local taxes. No taxes on earnings. Nada. The business owners will pay income taxes on their personal income they pay themselves, but not corporate earnings

Wow! I really like that idea. Mark Cuban for President anyone? 

There is a lot more in the article worth reading and I recommend you check it out. How often can you get the opinion of the super-rich on taxes and things that could actually affect their bank accounts in a big way? Kudos to Cuban for taking the time to write this.

By Eden, Wed 12 Dec 2007, 2 Comments, Categories: Finance, Life