Freezing Some Corn
One of our friends from church brought us 50 ears of corn this morning. I have been freezing it for use during the coming months. If you’ve never had home-frozen corn in the middle of October, you’ve never lived. For detailed instructions on how to freeze your own corn, check here.
Getting Something Off My Chest
I recently wrote a post about not borrowing money, and I received some comments about it, and quite a few emails. If you want to read that post, feel free to click here and them come back and finish reading this one.
Back?
Good. I just wanted to point something out. The name of this blog is NO Credit Needed. Not Some Credit Needed, or Good Credit Needed, or Great Credit Needed. Nope. If you check the first two words, they are “No” and “Credit”. I am always floored by people who are shocked by the fact that I talk about NEVER wanting to use credit again. Listen, I am not a fool. I am not undisciplined. I am certainly not crazy (I cannot tell if this dude is cutting me down or giving me a compliment… He has “crazy” in quotes..hmmm). Could I learn to manage my debt. Sure. Could I use a credit card, pay-off the balance every month, and use reward points. Sure. Am I an idiot who would have to stand back and watch his economic house crumble if I ever used credit cards or borrowed money. Nope.
I could use borrowed money if I wanted. I DON’T want to, and that is the ENTIRE point of this blog. I do this blog so that I can CHALLENGE the status quo of borrowing, paying interest, and THEN owning a thing. I want to save money, make interest, and THEN own a thing. It really is a simple as that. I do not look down my nose at people who borrow money. Frankly, I don’t care if you borrow money (in the sense that it would cause me to not like you or trust you or befriend you.) But, I see WAY too many people who are dying underneath a crushing load of personal debt, and I want to do everything within my power to help them “help themselves”.
So, if you come here and think that I am going to give out conventional wisdom about debt to income ratios, finding a good mortgage rate, or building a credit score… Brother, you in the wrong place! The POINT of this blog is to see if a family, in 2006, can live without borrowing money. The “why” behind this is centered in the idea of freedom. I want to be as “free” as a human being can be, within the constraints of society and the law. I do not fear credit. I do not fear credit cards. I am not an idiot, scared to death by the thought of borrowing money. I am, however, convinced that credit cards can be, will be, and are being abused by the VAST majority of people who use them.
Thanks for listening. I appreciate your thoughts, emails, and comments.
Peace out, G.
DORK!!
EBay Adventures (How I Got My Wireless Headphones For Free)
I like eBay. October 1st will mark my 7th year buying and selling using eBay auctions. While I believe that the prices eBay charges are a bit steep, you cannot argue with their business model and ease of use. So, whenever I feel that I am not saving enough money, or that one of my budget categories is going to be a bit short for the month (July = ELECTRIC BILL!!!), I will auction some things off using eBay. For the month of July, I have cleared about 200 dollars, which will more than pay my electric bill, and will actually allow me to save an additional 50 dollars or so. (I have more items up for auction, so my final July numbers will probably be about 500 bucks.) I could probably, if I were more passionate about it, make much more money, and even work eBay full-time. But, I digress. I wanted to do a quick post about how I used eBay to get some free wireless headphones. Here’s the deal:
I found the headphones on sale: I bought 3 pair at 30 dollars a pair.
I sold 2 pair at 60 dollars a pair (after fees / shipping /etc.)
that’s 3 x 30 = 90
And 2 x 60 = 120
For a 30 dollar “profit” and I can keep the third pair.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Of course, knowing me, I’ll feel guilty about keeping the last pair, and will sell them for 60 more bucks…
On Pace To Save 20,000 By Goal Date!
If you will check this post over at the NCN Network page, you will see that I have saved 13,000 dollar since February 27, 2006. My goal, starting in February, was to save 20,000 dollars by October 10, 2006. So far, I am on pace to meet my goal (and maybe even exceed it!)
Here’s the breakdown:
Days Between Feb 27 and Oct 10: 226 days
Days Between Feb 27 and July 13: 137 days
Days Between July 13 and Oct 10: 89 days
Amount saved so far: $13000 / 137 = $94.89 per day
Original per day amount needed to reach goal: $20000 / 226 = $88.49
Balance on Oct 10 if I save at current rate of $94.89 per day = $21445.14
So, I am ahead of the pace. But, I must note that a pretty decent portion of my savings came from an unexpected tax return. So, while on the face of things I am doing very well, I may struggle a bit to keep up such a pace. Imagine! Almost 100 dollars a day into my savings account! Yay!
By the way, 94.89 per day roughly averages to about 2900 dollars a MONTH. My wife and I bring home, together, about 5800 dollars a month in salary. So, almost exactly half of our take-home pay is going into savings. We have no payments, so we can both enjoy ourselves and save money. That, my friends, is what being free from debt is all about.
3 NEW ING Direct Referral $25 Sign-Up Bonus!
If you have been thinking about opening up a savings account at INGDirect (for your emergency fund, perhaps?), I have a few sign-up referrals available. Below are 5 links to the sign-up bonus. Simply click the TOP referral link, sign-up with ING Direct, and leave a comment that you have used a referral link. You will receive a $25 bonus in your account (with a minimum deposit of $250) and I will receive a $10 bonus in my account! We will both totally rock!
Referral Links
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Get to saving!
(Sorry, all referrals are gone!)
I Will Not Borrow Money
I’m pretty radical. I refuse to borrow money. I will not borrow money from anyone, not even a friend or a relative. I will humbly accept money as a gift, or proudly take money as salary for a job that I have done, but I will not borrow money. I will not borrow money for a car, for a house, for a boat, for a sandwich. I will not borrow money. I will not use a credit card, a home equity line of credit, an i.o.u., or a personal loan. Why?
Because, I refuse to be anyone’s slave. I want to be free. I want to work for my wages, use my wages to buy things that I can afford, and go to bed every single night knowing that only God controls my destiny. I will not be another man’s slave. I refuse. I will not bow down to the gods of CitiBank or Bank of America or Ford Motor Credit. I do not care how they “reward” me, entice me, trick me, or invite me. I will not be seduced by their promises and their plans for my future. I have a brain of my own. No amount of “cash back” is worth giving up my freedom.
I know, I know. You pay off your balances every month. You spend the same amount, even when using a credit card. Sure you do. Then why did you finance your last automobile? What if you had to come up with 1000 dollars for an emergency, tomorrow? Could you? Or would you have to go, hat in hand, to a relative, or to a credit card company, or to your bank, asking for a loan? Stop it! I am tired of seeing these beautiful banks, parking lots filled with fancy cars, built on the backs of people paying interest and penalties.
Our society, our children, our churches, our government, and our neighbors are addicted to debt. Are you ready to change? Are you ready to get radical? Are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Then get on a plan.
When I was a kid, there was a public swimming pool in a town near where we lived. At the bottom of that pool was a drain, with a grate over top of it. No one thought much about that grate. In fact, we kids would swim to the bottom of the pool, hook our fingers into the slats of that grate, and see how long we could hold our breath. One day, a little kid fell from the high-dive (this was before most high-dives were outlawed), and was knocked out by the contact his head made with the water. None of the people swimming noticed this little kid falling. They simply went about their routine of swimming and playing. Eventually, a few of the kid’s friends started to look around for him. Not seeing him, they told the lifeguard. Hurriedly, the lifeguard cleared the pool. At the bottom of the pool lay the little kid, sucked downward by the force of the water entering the grate. The lifeguard jumped in, pulled the kid from the bottom of the pool, swam to the side of the pool, lifted the kid onto the concrete surrounding the pool, jumped out, and began to administer CPR. Thankfully, the kid survived, but not without brain damage. Now, there were always two differing opinions as to what caused the kid to suffer brain damage. Was it the initial fall? Or was it the time spent, sucked down to the bottom of the pool, with no oxygen?
Everyone of us is going to fall, and be injured in our financial lives. We might lose our jobs, our loved ones, our health, etc. There is very little we can do to avoid falling. But, we can avoid the downward pressure of debt, sucking us to the bottom. We can fall, and we can have the financial foundation to get back up. Debt, however, robs us of that ability. It sucks us downward, holds us tight, and refuses to let go. Be strong, today! Before you fall, destroy the ability of debt to hold you down. Fight! Fight! Fight! Be free today, enjoy your freedom tomorrow, and stay free forever.
This super dorky post is brought to you by the inspired mind of NCN!
