All Hail Dave Ramsey

Not really...

Let me start out by saying that I like Dave Ramsey. He genuinely cares about America, our economy and the overall financial security of our nation's citizens.

I wasn't able to make it to the live, nationwide Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope webcast tonight. However, I was still able to get the same advice I would have received if I had gone, watched or logged on.

Yes, my friends, I found a secret. A secret that may blow your mind. Everything Dave Ramsey spoke about, other than his personal opinions, have secretly been stored in my head this whole time!

Why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait. I have! I just chose to ignore it. That particularly annoying sidebar of thoughts we call Common Sense is truly a magical human wonder. Just think. If I had listened in church, if I had payed attention in my finance classes, if I just didn't sign up for that shamanistic credit card once I was accepted into college - I would never be in the position I'm in: In debt!

This all reminds me of a book I read only 2.5 pages into: "He's Just Not That Into You." WOW. Chicks needed a book to tell them when a guy is ignoring them? How amusing.

Here's the funny part. When we all choose to ignore our CS detector we tend to value the advice and admire those who chose to obey theirs! We got ourselves in this crummy situation. Stop trying to blame other people. If you just worked hard, spent less than you made and didn't gorge yourself on super-sized McDonald's fries, no one would be committing suicide, or killing their families over money.

How much more clear should it have been for you when you first started really spending money and ignoring your brain? Don't tell me you didn't get that pit in your stomach when you signed the papers for a mortgage clearly over your head and ignored the red flags. Red flags like your salary barely covering the cost of your home, bills, motorcycle, baby formula, cool flat screen (on credit might I add)...etc.

The sooner people stop pointing fingers, take responsibility and own up to their own stupidity, the sooner the people who DO simply follow their CS detector can stop making money for telling us what we already know.

It was so sad to see Dave Ramsey as one of the most searched topics this evening on Twitter. The best part is that he doesn't follow anyone! Nope, not one person. He also has yet to post at the date of this blog's publishing. Does Dave really care about how he's affecting your life? Does he care about the other "free" tools online that could help you become financially secure? Or, just his book and DVD series? Just something to think about.

I actually admire Dave. He's one of the most honest guys in public speaking, he's a disciple of the Lord and he isn't ashamed to be fearless in a world full of incapable people. He saw a weakness 95% of our citizens and took advantage of the most obvious opportunity. Telling people how to listen to themselves. Miraculous.

Weekends are like Bowling with Beer

Weekends are like a really bad game of bowling because you drank beer. Just like any other game involving alcohol like pool, darts and cards, bowling gets worse the more you drink. 1st to 2nd beer: You get really excited at first because you knock down some pins and it looks like you're going to score a 280, maybe even a 300. 3rd to 4th beer: You bright ball gets acquainted with the gutter and you can't keep a spare streak. 5th-6th beer: You better have a ride home because screw even trying to hit the pins, you're just trying to not crush your toe, let go of the ball on your backswing or bowl in your neighbors lane.

Basically, this is how I view weekends.

I never cease to amaze myself with my time idiocy. Leading up to the weekend I always make a mental list of what I'd like to accomplish come Saturday. Considering my weekdays never allow time for the usual laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc., I leave those to my "boo" weekend to-do list and include other "fun" activities I need to do to keep my sanity during the work week. This is my first level of excitement (my 1-2 beers).

Saturday morning rituals include Kyle and I enjoying breakfast out at some rinky-dink diner, unless we have other plans. If all else fails and we can't decide on a random new place, IHOP or Beverly's Pancake House it is. By the time we arrive home, clean the house, pay bills, get some work done, catch up on emails, do laundry and so forth, it's 6pm before I get to what I longed to do on the weekend in the first place. My usual weekend excitement quickly diminishes once I look at the clock on my stove. (3 to 4 beer level of reality setting in). It's like I went to work today and just got home! NOOOOO!! Time for dinner, more emails, more painful loads of laundry and so on.

No more reading the new book(s) I bought, now collecting dust next to my nightstand; No more heading out to the lake to rollerblade, bike or run (something different than my usual yoga routine); No more joyrides looking at new real estate (a pricy hobby of mine). My night is fast approaching so I better take a shower (yes, if you see me on a Saturday afternoon I'm usually not fresh, sorry to disappoint).

If you were wondering what we spend our Sunday's doing, it's no surprise there. Work, work and more work. Sometimes, if it's a "really good weekend," we'll catch an early afternoon movie. (Here's the 5-6 beer step in the process because I just realized I have to get up and my workweek starts all over again).

This is why I think weekend excitement parallels that of beer drinking games. First, excitement of the never-ending weekend awaits you. Then, reality sets in and down you go as your weekend starts slipping away. Finally, you're waisted, mentally and physically because the weekend was supposed to refresh you, not kick your ass.

Oh well. Life goes on...

This analogy probably only makes sense to me, and that's okay. I'm cool with that.

Taxes are our friends

Hello April 15! Tax Day. Ooohhh, that icky feeling just crept back in my stomach just thinking about how Uncle Sam is shaking his head at me right now...

My day started out fairly calm until noon when I quickly tried to log in to my TurboTax account online in the hopes of filing a last minute extension. Before I really get into this (for those who filed back in January- I admit my life seems a bit backward. I freak about deadlines at work, but procrastinate with the government. Something's not right with my head, I already know this, thanks).

Back to TurboTax.com. I failed to remember my username, password, email account assigned to the site and then couldn't, for the life of me, remember the name of my first pet, car, favorite color, where I was born and all other security questions. My childhood must have NEVER happened. So, my account locked up. Fail #1.

Then, I Googled "tax extension." H+R Block popped up. I signed up for a 7pm appointment at a temporary taxing office 5 blocks from my house. Amazed at the convenience of online appointment-setting on a day like today. Email Kyle with the time/location...etc.

Kyle picks me up after work (that's another story in itself- the whole "car" situation). Go get dinner at Panera, otherwise we'll be 45 minutes early to H+R Block and I'm starving. Forget to pick up tax paperwork at home before heading to our appointment (fail #2).

Sit in nice little temporary H+R Block office and wait.... Twitter. Text. Play "Pocket God" iPhone app game, stare in amazement at the 90-yr-old receptionist who looks like she's going to keel over at any moment. Tax advisor greets us with glee- no, not really. But he's nice. Sits us down and by the end of our conversation he tells me that 1) I no longer exist in the IRS eyes because after getting married my label is now "Spouse," 2) Kyle has until 2011 to file his delinquent 2007 tax return and 3) We can still make it to the post office downtown and postmark our extension!

Kyle and I rush home, spend a good hour trying to figure out how much we would like to "estimate" owing the government (call H+R Block to confirm we didn't listen the first time on how to fill out the form- (fail #3)). Finish the file, grab a stamp and run out the door. Thinking we can wing-it by hitting up the Fed-Ex near our home didn't cut it (they can't postmark your envelopes at 9:30pm at night) (fail #4).

Alas, we hurry downtown and throw it in the mail. YIPPEE - we make the deadline. We cross our fingers the whole way home hoping the box of receipts stacked to the ceiling in our bedroom will make up for anything we DO owe the government. (We're convinced this is the future fail #5).

Then, realized I could have actually filed immediately at H+R Block if I had skipped a growling stomach steering me to Panera and swung by the house to pick up our paperwork. (Major fail #6).

I need to stop talking about taxes, now, or I'll be sick.

This photo depicts how I feel after recapturing the essence of tax-time. Yes, this is a photo I actually took and will explain later.

Been a while

So, it's been a while since my last post. I apologize. In fact, I've probably lost all my followers as a result. For that, I need to apologize to myself, I guess.

We are still at the "finally took down the walls" phase in our home remodel excursion. However, we've managed to maintain our composure despite the absence of "real" furniture, a kitchen we can cook in and the office (instead of bedroom) that we sleep in.

As we approach one full year in this lovely home, Kyle and I have discussed our plan moving forward.... Which is- "Just get it done already!"

Our remodel continued to be postponed because we were too busy. Literally. Kyle works full-time on our EIGHTDAY Studio business (www.eightdaystudio.com if you haven't already checked us out); Work, school and working on the sidelines for our company with Kyle has been keeping me busy. Now, after our first year anniversary, maybe we can start focus on finishing it rather than ignoring it.

First year anniversary, you say? Ah yes. That was a delight. Kyle surprised me by taking me back to the Skirvin Hotel (where we had our 2nd wedding reception). We stayed in another honeymoon suite, at chocolate covered strawberries, watched "Marley and Me," drank champagne, meandered over to Red Prime Steakhouse for dinner and laid in bed forever. It was delightful. But, now back to work...

So, the picture in this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with our remodel but is a reminder for me of how lucky I am to have married my best friend.

Hopefully next time, you'll see something happening on our home. But, I can't promise anything until my contractor calls me back!