Fight Interest

I was listening to a prominent author and speaker yesterday and he referenced Benjamin Franklin’s The Way To Wealth. I had never heard of it, so I decided to look it up. It is an essay that Franklin wrote under a the name of Richard Saunders (best known as the author of Poor Richard’s Almanac).

I’m posting it here for your reading pleasure. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be going through the passages and pulling out some to discuss. It’s a good read!

Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth”

I have heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors. This pleasure I have seldom enjoyed; for tho’ I have been, if I may say it without vanity, an eminent author of almanacs annually now a full quarter of a century, my brother authors in the same way, for what reason I know not, have ever been very sparing in their applauses; and no other author has taken the least notice of me, so that did not my writings produce me some solid pudding, the great deficiency of praise would have quite discouraged me.

I concluded at length, that the people were the best judges of my merit; for they buy my works; and besides, in my rambles, where I am not personally known, I have frequently heard one or other of my adages repeated, with, as Poor Richard says, at the end on’t; this gave me some satisfaction, as it showed not only that my instructions were regarded, but discovered likewise some respect for my authority; and I own, that to encourage the practice of remembering and repeating those wise sentences, I have sometimes quoted myself with great gravity.

Judge then how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a great number of people were collected at a vendue of merchant goods. The hour of sale not being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times, and one of the company called to a plain clean old man, with white locks, “Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Won’t these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we be ever able to pay them? What would you advise us to?” Father Abraham stood up, and replied, “If you’d have my advice, I’ll give it you in short, for a word to the wise is enough, and many words won’t fill a bushel, as Poor Richard says.” They joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him, he proceeded as follows:

“Friends, says he, and neighbors, the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly, and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. However let us hearken to good advice, and something may be done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says, in his almanac of 1733.

“It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service. But idleness taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute sloth, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle employments or amusements, that amount to nothing. Sloth,by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says. How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep! forgetting that the sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave, as Poor Richard says. If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest prodigality, since, as he elsewhere tells us, lost time is never found again, and what we call time-enough, always proves little enough: let us then be up and be doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do more with less perplexity. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy, as Poor Richard says; and he that riseth late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night. While laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him, as we read in Poor Richard, who adds, drive thy business, let not that drive thee; and early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

“So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times. We may make these times better if we bestir ourselves. Industry need not wish, as Poor Richard says, and he that lives upon hope will die fasting. There are no gains, without pains, then help hands, for I have no lands, or if I have, they are smartly taxed. And, as Poor Richard likewise observes, he that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling well followed, or neither the estate, nor the office, will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious we shall never starve; for, as Poor Richard says, at the working man’s house hunger looks in, but dares not enter. Nor will the bailiff nor the constable enter, for industry pays debts, while despair encreaseth them, says Poor Richard. What though you have found no treasure, nor has any rich relation left you a legacy, diligence is the mother of good luck, as Poor Richard says, and God gives all things to industry. Then plough deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep, says Poor Dick. Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow, which makes Poor Richard say, one today is worth two tomorrows; and farther, have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today. If you were a servant, would you not be ashamed that a good master should catch you idle? Are you then your own master, be ashamed to catch yourself idle, as Poor Dick says. When there is so much to be done for yourself, your family, your country, and your gracious king, be up by peep of day; let not the sun look down and say, inglorious here he lies. Handle your tools without mittens; remember that the cat in gloves catches no mice, as Poor Richard says. ‘Tis true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak handed, but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for constant dropping wears away stones, and by diligence and patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks, as Poor Richard says in his almanac, the year I cannot just now remember.

“Methinks I hear some of you say, must a man afford himself no leisure? I will tell thee, my friend, what Poor Richard says, employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and, since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; so that, as Poor Richard says, a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. Do you imagine that sloth will afford you more comfort than labor? No, for as Poor Richard says, trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease. Many without labor would live by their wits only, but they break for want of stock. Whereas industry gives comfort, and plenty, and respect: fly pleasures, and they’ll follow you. The diligent spinner has a large shift, and now I have a sheep and a cow, everybody bids me good morrow, all which is well said by Poor Richard.

“But with our industry, we must likewise be steady, settled and careful, and oversee our own affairs with our own eyes, and not trust too much to others; for, as Poor Richard says,

I never saw an oft removed tree, Nor yet an oft removed family, That throve so well as those that settled be.“And again, three removes is as bad as a fire, and again, keep the shop, and thy shop will keep thee; and again, if you would have your business done, go; if not, send. And again,

He that by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive.“And again, the eye of a master will do more work than both his hands; and again, want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge; and again, not to oversee workmen is to leave them your purse open. Trusting too much to others’ care is the ruin of many; for, as the almanac says, in the affairs of this world men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it; but a man’s own care is profitable; for, saith Poor Dick, learning is to the studious, and riches to the careful, as well as power to the bold, and Heaven to the virtuous. And farther, if you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself. And again, he adviseth to circumspection and care, even in the smallest matters, because sometimes a little neglect may breed great mischief; adding, for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail.

“So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one’s own business; but to these we must add frugality, if we would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will, as Poor Richard says; and,

Many estates are spent in the getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.If you would be wealthy, says he, in another almanac, think of saving as well as of getting: the Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes. Away then with your expensive follies, and you will not have so much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes, and chargeable families; for, as Poor Dick says,

Women and wine, game and deceit, Make the wealth small, and the wants great.And farther, what maintains one vice, would bring up two children. You may think perhaps that a little tea, or a little punch now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little entertainment now and then, can be no great Matter; but remember what Poor Richard says, many a little makes a mickle, and farther, beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship, and again, who dainties love, shall beggars prove, and moreover, fools make Feasts, and wise men eat them.

“Here you are all got together at this vendue of fineries and knicknacks. You call them goods, but if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you.You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but if you have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor Richard says, buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries. And again, at a great pennyworth pause a while: he means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straitning thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths. Again, Poor Richard says, ’tis foolish to lay our money in a purchase of repentance; and yet this folly is practised every day at vendues, for want of minding the almanac. Wise men, as Poor Dick says, learn by others’ harms, fools scarcely by their own, but, felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum. Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a hungry belly, and half starved their families; silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, as Poor Richard says, put out the kitchen fire. These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called the conveniencies, and yet only because they look pretty, how many want to have them. The artificial wants of mankind thus become more numerous than the natural; and, as Poor Dick says, for one poor person, there are an hundred indigent. By these, and other extravagancies, the genteel are reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly despised, but who through industry and frugality have maintained their standing; in which case it appears plainly, that a ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees, as Poor Richard says. Perhaps they have had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think ’tis day, and will never be night; that a little to be spent out of so much, is not worth minding; (a child and a fool, as Poor Richard says, imagine twenty shillings and twenty years can never be spent) but, always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom; then, as Poor Dick says, when the well’s dry, they know the worth of water. But this they might have known before, if they had taken his advice; if you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some, for, he that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing, and indeed so does he that lends to such people, when he goes to get it in again. Poor Dick farther advises, and says,

Fond pride of dress, is sure a very curse; E’er fancy you consult, consult your purse.And again, pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy. When you have bought one fine thing you must buy ten more, that your appearance maybe all of a piece; but Poor Dick says, ’tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it. And ’tis as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell, in order to equal the ox.

Great estates may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore.‘Tis however a folly soon punished; for pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt, as Poor Richard says. And in another place, pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. And after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered? It cannot promote health; or ease pain; it makes no increase of merit in the person, it creates envy, it hastens misfortune.

What is a butterfly? At best He’s but a caterpillar dressed. The gaudy fop’s his picture just,as Poor Richard says.

“But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities! We are offered, by the terms of this vendue, six months’ credit; and that perhaps has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But, ah, think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him, you will make poor pitiful sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose you veracity, and sink into base downright lying; for, as Poor Richard says, the second vice is lying, the first is running in debt. And again to the same purpose, lying rides upon debt’s back. Whereas a freeborn Englishman ought not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: ’tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright, as Poor Richard truly says. What would you think of that Prince, or that government, who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or a gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude? Would you not say, that you are free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about to put yourself under that tyranny when you run in debt for such dress! Your creditor has authority at his pleasure to deprive you of your liberty, by confining you in gaol for life, or to sell you for a servant, if you should not be able to pay him! When you have got your bargain, you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but creditors, Poor Richard tells us, have better memories than debtors, and in another place says, creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times. The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are prepared to satisfy it. Or if you bear your debt in mind, the term which at first seemed so long, will, as it lessens, appear extreamly short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as shoulders. Those have a short Lent, saith Poor Richard, who owe money to be paid at Easter. Then since, as he says, the borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor, disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free. At present, perhaps, you may think yourself in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little extravagance without injury; but,

For age and want, save while you may; No morning sun lasts a whole day,as Poor Richard says. Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever while you live, expense is constant and certain; and ’tis easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel, as Poor Richard says. So rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.

Get what you can, and what you get hold; ‘Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold,as Poor Richard says. And when you have got the philosopher’s stone, sure you will no longer complain of bad times, or the difficulty of paying taxes.

“This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom; but after all, do not depend too much upon your own industry, and frugality, and prudence, though excellent things, for they may all be blasted without the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered, and was afterwards prosperous.
“And now to conclude, experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that, for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct, as Poor Richard says: however, remember this, they that won’t be counseled, can’t be helped, as Poor Richard says: and farther, that if you will not hear reason, she’ll surely rap your knuckles.”

Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the vendue opened, and they began to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his cautions, and their own fear of taxes. I found the good man had thoroughly studied my almanacs, and digested all I had dropped on those topics during the course of five-and-twenty years. The frequent mention he made of me must have tired any one else, but my vanity was wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own which he ascribed to me, but rather the gleanings I had made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine. I am, as ever, thine to serve thee,

Richard Saunders.

July 7, 1757.

This thought popped into my head today. Why? Because I just started a diet and there seems to be a lot of press about food prices. Yes, food prices are on the rise because overall, the price of most commodities is on the rise. We’ll talk about strategies for dealing with rising prices in a future post. On this one, I’ll just focus on the diet affect on a food budget.

Fast Food
It is true enough that Burger King will charge you less for a Whopper value meal than it does for a salad. But what usually happens when we buy a value meal? We agree to upsize it. Have you looked at the ticket afterward? In many cases, you have spent more than you would have for a salad and a water.

Now take it another way, what if we don’t go for the salad, but instead, we downsize our meal. What if we get a smaller burger. Maybe not the best thing we could eat, but it is usually lower in calories and it costs less.

Groceries
I’ve seen TV dinners that cost less than $3 and of course Mac-n-Cheese is bound to please at just over a buck a shot. But that isn’t realistic. When we grocery shop, we are there to buy food, real food. So, yes, we plunk down $6 for a box of cereal and another $4 for a gallon of milk. We buy the 32 oz jar of spaghetti sauce and the noodles to match.

But diet isn’t always about what you eat, it is about portion control. I just checked out a box of Life cereal in my pantry. I figure I would get five, maybe six bowls of cereal out of a box. The box has 19 servings. That means I’m eating three to four servings each time I eat breakfast. Going forward, I’m going to go through cereal half as fast as I did in the past. And that spaghetti sauce? How about cooking enough pasta to match up with the sauce and then keeping the unused part for another meal?

Health Care
Everyone gets sick. But did you know that fitter people get sick less? There are many illnesses that are tied directly to fitness such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. If you’re under the care of a doctor and/or taking medications for any of these, you know the cost is huge. It is my hope that through diet and exercise, I can stop taking my meds and will have less reason to visit my doctor.

Other
When you’re fitter, you are able to do more things. A couple of examples that come to mind include, being able to walk where you might have driven (saving on gas). And being able to do your own lawn work or other labor, where you might have had to pay someone to do it for you before.

So, in general, I think I might spend more money by selecting healthier items to eat, and I might have to buy more clothes as I lose weight, but I’m definitely going to save in the long run.

As I noted in the blog post The B-Word, I got into financial trouble when I was faced with an unplanned expense and had no savings, or financial foundation.

How is your financial foundation?
Probably not where you need it to be. Most financial advisers recommend that you have three to six months worth of living expenses in savings or liquid investments. You’ve done a budget so you know how much that is. How close are you? Does the number seem overwhelming? It likely does when you’re living paycheck to paycheck.

How do we get there?
I like to call it Baby Steps. Just as a baby crawls before it learns to walk, you have to start crawling. Try this to start:
For the next month, take one dollar per day and put it in an envelope. At the end of the month you should have about $30 in that envelope. Take that $30 to a local bank or credit union and open a savings account. Say no when they ask you if you want an ATM card.

Next month, push for a little more. Try $10 per week. What we’ve done is set a bottom threshold (crawling) and from there we work toward incremental improvement (pulling up, standing, then walking). Try to modify your spending habits over time in order to have more to save.

Let me know how you’re doing!

Now we put it all together. By now you have a good idea of how you spend money from Part 1 and you’ve organized your expenses into a month with Part 2. Now you can plan the next four months. Why four months? First, it is easier to plan four months than a full year. Second, we expect to see improvement and with a bite-sized plan we can continue to push for each period to be better than the last. Finally, four months prints out nicely on a single page.

I have created this Budget Spreadsheet for you. Don’t have Microsoft Excel? Download OpenOffice, it’s free. On the spreadsheet, I’ve included an example budget.  You can see where I’ve kept it up-to-date with the actual expenses.  You should also see how I can understand where I am overspending.  This is valuable data for us to consider as we go forward.

I encourage you to ask me any questions you may have about the spreadsheet in the comments below.  I’ll be sure to respond to all of them.

This is part two of a three part series on budget preparation.  Hopefully by now, you’ve been documenting your daily purchases and you are beginning to see your regular daily cash outflow.  Now for the heavy duty stuff.

Get your bank and credit card statements for the past three months. Before going on, take a moment to consider whether this three month period captures your spending habits appropriately. If not, consider picking three months that do.

Classify each item under a category for your budget (e.g., rent, mortgage, insurance, car note, debt payments, food, gas, utilities, daycare, etc.). It is best to break it down into details for the anlaysis. You will roll items up into a summary for your loan listing.

Identify the ATM and other cash transactions. Add them all up and divide by thirteen. This is your weekly average cash spend. How does that compare to the cash spend you tracked in step #1? If it is off a good bit, you should analyze why. Did you have any unusual items in one of the months? If so, consider bumping up that category in your cash spend and recalculating the allocation. Allocate your cash transactions between “necessary” and “discretionary” based on the percentages calculated from your cash spend tracking.

Create a three month budget. Do you have any expenses that happen quarterly or annually? You’ll have to adjust your quarters for that. Finally, calculate an average monthly budget (See example here).

The first part of budget preparation is to determine what your current spending patterns are. We do this to ensure that the budget you set is achievable.

Get a small notebook and track your cash spending for two to four weeks. Be specific - what, when, where, how much, and why.

Do you spend $100 per month stopping at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts instead of drinking the free coffee at work? Are you more likely to buy a candy bar and soda on the days you skip breakfast? Knowing (and acknowledging) these tendancies can offer some opportunites to improve.

Now take each item and classify it as:
1) Necessary (expected and unexpected)
2) Discretionary

Note - You may split some items across the categories if you bought something at a higher price for convenience or chose a higher quality product.

Now calculate the relative percentages of “necessary” and “discretionary”(See example here).

This post is part one of a three blog series on budget preparation.  Each part is extremely important in setting a good foundation for proper debt management and financial security.  Look for part two coming soon!

What’s Not To Like?

For some reason, the word budget seems to bother most people.  For this reason, some writers have resorted to calling it a spending plan.  Perhaps it is the math, or more likely just the discipline of it (budgeting is not easy or fun).  But get this, budgeting is one of the most important things you can do to reduce debt.  Yes, to be successful on the Money Journey, you must prepare, maintain and live by a budget!

A budget gives you a clearer path to where  you’re going.  As a result, you’ll make better decisions.  You wouldn’t close your eyes while driving, would you?  I didn’t think so.  Trying to manage your money without a budget is really the same thing.  You’re bound to hit something and not be prepared for it.

Life Has A Way

Has this or something similar ever happened to you?  I had a steady job that paid me enough to cover my rent, food, gas and insurance.  I didn’t have a budget.  My car, which was paid for, broke down and needed $600 in repairs (almost as much as I made in a month).

I also had just received my first credit card offer.  I applied and was approved with a $1500 limit, more than enough to cover the repairs.  I had my car back a few days later and a slab of plastic in my back pocket.  Life was great!

Now my stops for dinner at Pizza Inn increased in frequency.  Where I would have driven on home for dinner when I was low on cash, I now had plastic.  I hardly noticed the balance tick up because the payment was so low.

Three months later, I was in a fender bender.  With the low relative value of the car, even this small amount of damage was deemed to total the car.  After the deductible, my insurance company wrote me a check for just under $500.

I didn’t want another clunker, which is all the $500 could buy.  And now that my credit card balance was over $1000, I knew I didn’t have enough available credit if the clunker broke down.  So I bought a more expensive car and took on a car note.  With a wreck and a more valuable car, my insurance went up.  Where I had been in a comfortable position, I was now squeezed.

I figure I ended up paying over $2000 to repair a car that was at best worth $750.  Why?  Because I hadn’t planned for my car to break down (despite being a clunker) and I turned to debt as a solution before assessing all available solutions.

In short, I didn’t have a budget.

I hope you’ll follow this Budget Series.  We’ll discuss how to prepare, maintain and live to a budget.  Not fun, but well worth it!

When you ask someone, “What is money?”, you’ll often get slightly different answers. Most young people will answer that money is what you use to buy things (or some variation of that). But as you learn about money, you’ll come to realize that it is much more than that.

A Bit of History

Throughout history, we have used bartering as a way to get what we want or need. Bartering is merely trading a good or service for a good or service. If you wanted some new shoes you might perform a service to buy the shoes from the shoemaker. The more you want or need, the more you’d have to trade to get it.

The barter system is still in use today, but it isn’t always convenient to find someone who has what you need and wants what you have. You can thank the Chinese for inventing the concept of money. Money is a stored value that is acceptable to everyone. Over time, money has taken different forms. When you hear the word money, you probably think of the green paper bills we use in the United States.

Money and Emotions

Beyond its physical form, money has an emotional side. When you hear the phrase Bank Reconciliation, do you feel anxious or afraid? Or was more of a feeling of frustration? Is it the math or the money?

Yes, making decisions about money often involves math. Please don’t let that stop you from making the best decision! Use a calculator or a software program like Quicken or Microsoft Money, but don’t make poor decisions out of fear. Every time we make a poor money decision, it costs us. I’m sure you know making money takes work. When you waste money, you have to work that much more to get what you need or want.

Fear isn’t the only emotion that negatively affects money. Pride and envy are also bad emotions when it comes to money. When someone sees someone else get a cool new toy, such as a phone or car, they want one too. This is a natural feeling. When people make these envy purchases it is referred to as, “keeping up with the Jones.” Succumbing to this impulse can create a financial nightmare and destroy any progress you may have made on your money journey.

The Money Journey

I call it the money journey because financial success is much like any trip you take. When you take a trip, you usually have a destination in mind. And in the instances where you don’t know how to get to a place, you’ll need a good map and directions (hopefully that is where this blog comes in). Finally, just as the terrain and weather can change during a trip, the rules of money can change. You can’t be complacent or you may lose your way.

If you take nothing from this blog, please remember this: In the quest for financial security, knowing how to manage money is just as important as knowing how to make money.

There was only the carefree life of a child.  As we reached adulthood, most of us began collecting debt.  It probably started with a credit card, or perhaps a car note.  In either case, debt became a part of our daily life.  But you’ve found this blog because you’re ready to change that.  You’re ready to say good-bye to debt.

With this blog, we will explore ways to reduce your debt faster.  We’ll expose the scams.  And hopefully lead you down a path of freedom from debt, just like when we were children.

Enjoy!