ThrivingTwogether

No D?

Carlos Boozer was known as an outstanding offensive player. He was also known as a very weak defensive player.

During his career he played for the Cavs, Jazz and Lakers before retiring last year. 

His coach  often benched him during important times so he wouldn't allow opposing teams to score.

He usually missed the best part of games, the end of game.

With money, as in basketball, defense matters.

Offense:

Generally incomes rise with experience and education.

Thus you can expect to earn more as you acquire industry-specific knowledge and apply it to your profession.

Defense:

Outstanding financial stewards plug leaks, they play defense with intensity.

When spouses don't play defense, they often miss out on family time by virtue of divorce or overwork.

They know that financial death can happen from a thousand cuts or from ignorance or from deception.

Tight defense involves tracking expenses, numbering expenses, competing (with yourself) to reduce and prevent expenses and eliminating current expenses.

Don't be left out of the most important part of your family's life because of poor defense.

(Photo courtesy Pacoperez6) (Original blog form 2013 was entitled No Defense) 

The Bosch Dishwasher (and the $100, 18 years of dishwashers)

Melissa and I calculated our total purchase price (minus rebates and selling used dishwashers)  for dishwashers in eighteen years of marriage.

It was $100.

Pretty cool.

By being frugal for eighteen years, we were able to buy a new Bosch dishwasher.

And it has every feature and warranty we could think of.

 

 

It is used

I recently had a very tough, almost depressing, budgeting session. 

A lady met with me to get a hold on her finances, but she seemed more interested in excuses than making and keeping money.

At one point I suggested a used car might be good for her since her housing is currently 100% of her budget, her income is low and she recently declared bankruptcy. 

Her reply? "It is used."

Her car is a 2013 model. And she pays about $350 per month. 

I explained that used (to me) means about 10 years old and with no loan--especially since she just declared bankruptcy a few months ago. 

She countered, "My bankruptcy lawyer told me it would be a good idea to buy the car to improve my credit."

This lady is not only broke, but she is mentally poor. She accepts unproven, false theories from the uninformed. 

I explained that she is the only one who can change her financial fate.

Will she?

I hope so. 

Wait, Google it and buy at a discount

$120,000 for a timeshare or $1,800 for a smoke alarm? Those were two money questions I heard this last week.

A couple told me about spending over $100,000 ensure they vacation every year.

That's a ginormous price to pay to guarantee vacations happen.

Vacations are fun IF you pay BEFORE you vacation. Never finance vacations.

Another couple was looking at a very pricey fire alarm. The salesman wanted over $1800 for his "life-saving"unit.

With a quick Google search, I found a similar unit for $75.

Lessons?

Pay as you go.

Search.

Buy at a LARGE discount.

Wait.

A Stetson, a ranch and some cattle

My dad wishes he had been a rancher. He grew up on a Utah farm, spent two years in Texas and currently lives in Florida. But for one 25 year stretch he worked in New York doing work he abhorred and spending too much time away from home.

In Texas there is a saying about pretentious people: big hat, no cattle.

My dad isn't pretentious. He has a big Stetson cowboy hat AND the cattle. His "cattle" are debt-free vehicles and a debt-free house.

Recently I helped a couple (from Texas) who had a "big hat but no cattle": Nice financed vehicles, a large rent payment on a prestigious home and multiple credit cards with outstanding balances.

They're getting better though. They're paying down debt.

How about you?

A big hat and no cattle?

A big hat and much cattle?

My advice is to get the ranch, the Stetson hat and the cattle....in cash. And do it now.

$600 for a windshield?

Last week shortly before I went out of town on a business trip I had one of those days. One of those days where something unexpected happens threatening to ruin your budget by a few hundred bucks.

I had noticed a couple cracks in my windshield and wanted to get it replaced. Unfortunately because I was heading out of town I had to wait a few days to get it fixed.

The windshield installer told me I would need to get body work done on the top of my car for the windshield to be properly installed. I told him I didn't want to spend a few hundred dollars on the body repairs and to try to replace the windshield without the repairs.

It worked. I didn't have to spend a few hundred dollars to fix some minor body damage . And my comprehensive deductible was zero so my windshield was no cost as well.

Essentially I paid nothing for a potential $600 repair ($209 windshield and $400-700 body work).

I had to buy a $22,000 car

A new friend of mine told me how he had to take $22,000 out of his retirement account to buy a new car.

Why? Because he 'needed' a new car to replace his old one. Unfortunately that insanity will continue unless he changes his thinking. His wife's car is old and he might need to replace that one as well.

Often we don't need a new car or a new home.

We should get nice things but we need more than new things.

What we need is a new mindset. Change your way of thinking.

When something is old, fix it up where it out or do without.

Or simply upgrade for less money. Expand experiences and lifestyle, contract costs.

Make vehicle buying an asset and income generator or a least a breakeven point. But absolutely don't make buying cars a depreciating liability or a drain on your wallet.

Prosperity and abundance are available for less: less cost, less rushing, less silly decisions.

Early and often

I hate weeds. Especially Morning Glory.

Morning Glory likes to infiltrate my yard everyday from May until September.

Each morning my sons pick and thrive away a handful of Morning Glory weeds.

Over the last few years we discovered daily, early weeding is better than weekly or monthly weeding binges.

Early and often.

Same goes for savings. Ditto for debt reduction.

Early and often are hallmarks of discipline and prosperity.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

5 not-so-quick, but real ways to get of debt

Getting out of debt is tough, but staying out of debt takes real discipline. There are no easy fixes to financial challenges.

Simple decisions combined with hard work multiplied by time yields immense success.

1. Involve your children and spouse in saving for a major vacation/camp-out/trip. This cuts spending and teaches massive responsibility.

2. Talk about your shopping list (big and small purchases) with your spouse. Knowing desires clarifies your focus. And a focused budget gets results.

3. Give. Giving when you don't have is the best way to get more and manage what you have better.

4. Pray and then act to fulfill your requests. God and you can never fail permanently.

5. Avoid new debt. Remove any temptation. For my family we chose to limit our credit cards from several to one.

Temporary techniques are many. And permanent principles are few.

Permanent principles create lasting results for me and you. 

 

Related articles

Paying off your biggest debt

Debt is like...

Running a red light

As I listened to Enya on my commute tonight I reflected on a time when I wasn't very calm.

A few years ago, on my birthday, I ran a red light on my way home for lunch.

When the policeman caught up with me (a mile or so later) he ticketed me... right in front of my local church.

I was angry and humiliated.

Running the red light was emblematic.

It symbolized my tendency to push and force situations. To contort people to accomplish my agenda.

Often debt-reductionists tend to push too hard. It's tempting to coerce a spouse into inane money schemes when forcing a money goal.

Often calm, steady persistence is the solution to pushy, forceful racing.

I decided tonight to increase my Enya consumption and thereby decrease my
pushiness.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

Hampered: 3 money mistakes to avoid

1. Talking your spouse into anything. Instead listen and create a better, complete solution.

How many spouses with 'brilliant' ideas convince their unwilling spouse to foolishly invest?

2. Believing you must (immediately and expensively) fix everything that breaks. This is especially true with vehicles and home appliances.

Pause and pause and then wait and stand still and then research multiple options before blowing hundreds or thousands on 'needed' repairs.

3. Don't trust in your own wisdom. Rather look to God and those who serve Him to craft your thinking.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

The case of the $2,700 laptop (plus 27% interest)

Some frugal friends visited with us during the Holidays and told us about one of their friends.

Their friend browsed a  laptop store and fell into a consumer trap.

A salesman convinced her to finance a laptop (because she was broke) for several years at 27% interest.

The next morning she called to cancel her purchase (buyrer's remorse), but was told she would need to pay a $500 cancellation fee per her contract.

So the friend decided to keep the overpriced, financed laptop instead of paying the $500 ransom.

My wife and I commented that we bought a laptop during Black Friday with Windows 8, touch screen and some other features suitable for our family for around $250. In cash- after our previous laptop died.

Lessons from this anecdote?

• Develop discipline to resist unscrupulous salesmen.
• Look to get more value for less price
• Pay as you go
• Live within your means
• Read what you sign

 

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

SIT (self-inflicted trials)

The legendary former Indiana Hoosiers Coach Bob Knight taught his players to overcome self-inflicted mistakes in order to win.

He became the winningest coach in Division I Men's basketball with his philosophy.

Coach Knight instilled the idea that knowing and conquering self guarantees victory.

He called it negative thinking, looking at one's problems (in order to fix them) instead of merely looking at the good.

Simultaneously see the bad (and fix it) and savor the good in yourself and others.

Many marital and monetary mistakes are SIT mistakes: self-inflicted trials.

Paying mortgages last instead of first, financing instead of paying as you go, and buying and then arguing instead of discussing and then buying.

Seek to eliminate SITs while optimistically enjoying the good in life.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

You don't know anyone who has, do you?

Innocently my nephew asked me if I know anyone (at least one person) who bought a car in cash.

I know several people who bought vehicles with a lump sum payment and so I answered affirmatively.

I told him disciplined people save to buy affordable vehicles. I told him that both of my vehicles were bought with cash on the one payment plan.

Then I thought of many wise friends of extremely modest income who live in paid-off homes (they bought modest homes & refused to constantly extend the mortgage).

Disciplined, focused people live within their means and providently provide for posterity.

They pay off vehicles (and even homes) in a very quick manner.

How can you ensure that your next vehicle purchase will be the one payment plan?

What will it take to believe and work towards paying off your home in a rapid manner?

 

 

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

Playing through injury

A few weeks ago I took a charge during a pick-up basketball game. My wrist was injured as I tried to catch myself before slamming to the floor.

It has hurt everyday since my fall.

Consequently I decided to take a few days off of strength-training this week. I thought a few days of rest, away from weights, might allow my wrist to heal.

The rest didn't seem to help.

During my few days away from the gym I read a blurb from Michael Jordan about injuries. In effect he said he played through most injuries to set an example of leadership for his team-mates.

Playing through injury seems counter-intuitive. Isn't rest the best option?

Occasionally we need to play through our so-called injuries and let them go away as we continue to move.

• Work through a headache occasionally instead of going home early.

• Pay off a car before trading it in on a newer model.

• Get counseling for a troubled marriage instead of quitting.

• Pay off a creditor honorably and rapidly instead of defaulting.
• Slog through a new business venture for a few years.

Of course even MJ missed most of a season with an injury. There are times when we most slow down and even stop.

Most often, though, we should play through our injury (challenges) so we can obtain our goals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

When to wash a blender

I love to drink protein smoothies. But I don't like washing the blender.

My wife taught me to clean the blender immediately after making a smoothie instead of leaving the dirty blender in the sink.

It's easy to clean a blender immediately after use. Water and little soap and it's clean.

When a blender sits for several hours it takes twice the effort (or more) to get it clean. You scrub and scrub and have to use extra dish detergent.

Accumulating debt is like leaving a dirty blender in the sink. Payments last for months or years causing the purchase price to treble. The pain of paying off the silly debt seems unbearable.

Pay cash and see how easy it is to build financial fitness.

 

 

 

(Photo courtesy freedigitalphotos.net)

Better than losing

On a treadmill at my local gym I remembered the words of a former boss. He was physically fit with a narrow waistline and great energy. When I asked him his secret he said, "It's easier to avoid putting weight on than to take it off."

On the treadmill I was trying to take weight off whereas I should have avoided the high calorie foods.

Then I thought of how long it took to pay off student loans that could have been avoided. Next I thought about credit card servitude-bondage that lasted for years.

My conclusion? Avoid debt like it's a 5,000 calorie meal!

Debt avoidance trumps debt elimination.

It's absolutely relative

We have enough wealth to be very, very happy. Our absolute wealth is staggering.

But.

But when we compare our wealth with others our relative wealth is never enough.

Comparison breeds discontent.

Forget comparisons (relativity). Embrace facts: your absolute wealth is sufficient regardless of others possessions.

 

(Photo courtesy dream designs)