Category: The Road to Debt Free

Ok, this is where the rubber meets the road.

January 30, 2015

6 Mistakes Broke People Make

As a follow up to the wildly popular (and somewhat controversial) post I ran last week, entitled 6 Lies Broke People Believe, I’ve written a new post outlining some of the mistakes broke people make. As we’ve talked about before here, it is often The Broke Mindset that keeps people struggling financially. Once a person learns to recognize themselves in these oft-made mistakes, they can begin to take the first steps to retraining their minds in a way that promotes positive financial decisions. Read more

January 28, 2015

The Best Things in Life Are Free – Or Dirt Cheap

As we continue on with the year of gazelle intensity, we continue on to work to find stuff to do that fits within our budget. The best things in life are free, as they say. Or at least “dirt cheap”. We had a wonderful Saturday this past weekend. It’s near the end of January here in Minnesota, but Saturday brought us a 45 degree, sun-filled day. If you don’t live here/aren’t from here, you have NO idea what a treat this is. January usually brings subzero temps and the worst of winter in general. But Saturday was like waking up to heaven on earth. Read more

January 19, 2015

5 Reasons I’m Choosing to Stay Out of Debt

Happy Monday, Frugal Farmer friends! Today we welcome our friend Sarah, from over at The Frugal Millionaire. Sarah’s going to share with us today her top reasons for avoiding credit card debt. Welcome, Sarah!

A little backstory: When my husband and I met, we were in about $7,500 of combined credit card debt. We didn’t want to be one of the many millennial couples drowning in debt, so before getting married, we decided to tackle this debt plus my car loan and his student loan, totaling more than Read more

January 15, 2015

6 Lies That Broke People Believe

I grew up poor. Really poor. Without the help of the welfare system, our income for EVERYTHING after the mortgage payment would’ve been $50 a month for my mom to raise 3 kids on. Being broke sucks. It’s tough, both on adults and on kids, not knowing where your next meal will come from or if there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that you’ll be able to pay the rent each month. Because of the turmoil I suffered as a poor kid, I resolved at an early age to never be broke. But I was broke, for a good portion of my adult life. I’m still recovering from the lies I believed and the mistakes I made regarding money. As such, I’ve finally pinpointed some of the lies that make and keep people broke. Today we’ll talk about the lies that broke people believe, and what to do about them. Read more

January 8, 2015

How We’ll Accomplish Goals That We Failed At Last Year

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we failed in 2014 to accomplish goals we set in terms of debt payoff. Although we, in total, spent less than we did last year, we didn’t put nearly as much toward debt as we did in 2013, our first year of working toward debt freedom. After diagnosing our mistakes, we’ve now got a plan in action to make sure we accomplish our goal of drastically reducing our debt. Here’s how: Read more

January 5, 2015

4 Debt Payoff Mistakes We Made Last Year

As I mentioned in our 2015 goals post, we didn’t put as much money toward paying off debt in 2014 as we would’ve liked to, and I’ve diagnosed 4 debt payoff mistakes that hindered us from performing as well as we could’ve last year. Here’s a list of those 4 debt payoff mistakes, and what we’ll do (and what YOU can do) to make sure we don’t repeat them in 2015. Read more

January 2, 2015

2015 Goals for The Frugal Farmer Family

It’s been an interesting year here goal-wise for the Frugal Farmer family. We did well in some areas, crappy in others. In my true over-analyzation style, I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks assessing our 2014 behaviors, analyzing what we did right, what we did wrong, and working to form a more successful plan for 2015. I’ve also been praying LOTS to God for wisdom in how we can do better. Read more

December 18, 2014

Are You Acting in Your Own Best Interests?

As you consider your 2015 goals, this is the question I want you to ask yourself. Are the decisions you make on a daily basis decisions that are in your own best interest? For instance, blowing your year-end bonus on shiny stuff might sound fun at the get-go, but it is really the best thing for you? Will you regret that shiny purchase later if you are unexpectedly laid off from your job or if you find yourself neck-deep in debt for some reason? Read more

December 8, 2014

May I Suggest Some 2015 Resolutions for Your Money?

As 2014 comes to a close, many of us are considering our 2015 resolutions. Having had nearly two years now immersed in the personal finance blogging world, I’d like to share some thoughts on what might be beneficial 2015 resolutions for those not yet bitten by the Financial Freedom bug. If I, knowing what I know now, were to be starting new in gaining control of my finances, here are some of the things I’d consider putting on my 2015 resolutions list: Read more

October 13, 2014

Why You’ll Never Be Happy Keeping Up With the Joneses

Many of us have gotten the message, however there are still a large number of people and families chasing after the “privileged” life of the Joneses. Having been a troll of the Joneses for many years, my family and I have finally learned the truth about the perceived happiness of the Joneses’ lifestyle, and friends, it’s all based on a web of lies. We’d like to share with you today what we’ve learned about the lifestyle of the Joneses, and why we believe you’ll never be happy keeping up with the Joneses’ Read more