Fat Boy Chronicles

July 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you’ve been using Netflix Streaming for any amount of time you know what it’s like to come across a movie that looks interesting but turns out to have terrible acting, terrible plot, or terrible production quality. I recently cancelled cable so it feels like I’m experiencing the terrible options on Netflix streaming more and more, but I’m glad I kept watching Fat Boy Chronicles despite the terrible acting.

The movie is based on a true story of a fat freshman who is smart but fat, likes a cute girl, but gets picked on constantly because he’s fat. Here are three things I love about the story:

  • 1. The kid had an IHHE moment. You could slowly but surely see it coming, and then it happened. The I HAVE HAD ENOUGH moment. The kid was ticked. He was not going to eat the same ole junk food any more and he put a plan in place to exercise.
  • 2. The kid pursued the girl. Little did the fat kid know the girl he liked also had issues. He liked her for who she was rather than what she was going through and he pursued her. He invited her to church. He pressed in to have difficult conversations with her.
  • 3. The kid faced adversity. By the end of the movie all the immature morons had reason to respect the fat freshman. He had helped them. He had helped himself. He had won the girl. Who couldn’t respect a kid who faced so many challenges and overcame them all in such a positive way…

    • Sometimes we have to have a true IHHE moment to motivate us to fight through the situations and circumstances we face so that we can accomplish the things we want to accomplish, and we just might help others in the process. I love that message! If you can handle the terrible acting I recommend this movie, otherwise just take my word for it – the story is good.

    Filed Under: Money, Personal Growth

    Boastful Pride

    July 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Sometimes those of us who are working hard to win with money get so excited about what God is doing in our life we are genuinely overflowing with joy.  But sometimes we notice those around us are not so enthusiastic about our success as we’d hoped they’d be.  It could be that they’re jealous, but it could also be that our genuine excitement is overflowing in a way that is perceived as less than Godly.

    Consider the following statements that someone winning with money could say and notice the difference between the first one and the second one in each pair of statements:

    I’m blessed.
    I’ve never had more money in the bank.

    Debt freedom is worth every sacrifice.
    I own this and that and I’m looking to buy that over there.

    God has given me the resources to bless others.
    My business is growing so fast I’ve hired employees to handle everything.

    Do you see how the second statement in each pair could easily be taken as prideful or arrogant, especially in certain settings or situations?  Notice the prideful statements are all longer than the more modest alternatives.  That could be a sign to those who just need to shut up and say less.  Sometimes less is more.

    I know many families that have had amazing financial success in their life.  They have truly been blessed and there is a lot to learn from all of the hard work and sacrifice that seems to be common among them all.  But one of those families stands out like a sore thumb among the rest because of how they’ve handled the success.  I have to believe deep down inside they remember their humble beginning and I have to believe their hearts are right.  But I can’t help but wonder what they’re thinking when they host parties or events at their beautiful home and the highlight of their hospitality is the tour they give to spotlight all the awesome features of the house.

    Why do they do that?  Are they just that naive about how weird that is?  Maybe they’ve allowed pride to creep in and they want to show off so much that as soon as someone arrives a new tour begins.  It just seems the attitude about their success is so different than others with similar success.  None of my other wealthy friends or acquaintances have ever done house tours, unless asked of course.  It certainly wasn’t the main event except for this one place – and it’s every time you go there.

    I’ve challenged myself – am I envious of what they have?  Not so much.  I don’t really want anything they have.  Anytime I notice someone else not so happy about my success I think of what I might have said or done that might have given them a poor perception, or I wonder if they’re envious.  It’s easy for us to never challenge our own attitudes and actions by simply dismissing everyone else as jealous (this screams prideful).  The old saying “perception is reality” is quite often literally true and we should keep ourselves in check.

    This is something I sometimes feel self conscious about (not that I’ve arrived at some prestigious level of success or anything, but I’ve learned a lot about how to win with money and pray for continued blessings).  I want my excitement for winning with money to encourage others, even challenge others sometimes, but I don’t want that excitement or inspiration to get lost in translation by being prideful – with words, attitudes, or actions.

    Is this something you think about too?  How do you keep pride in check?

    Filed Under: Business, Money, Personal Growth

    Receipt Rebel

    July 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    “WHAT IS THIS FOR?” Ever had that question in your house when someone didn’t provide the receipts for their purchases?

    One of the things we’ve noticed in our house that causes frustration and tension when it comes to managing the financial details is the receipt rebellion. One spouse is tracking spending and comes across transactions that there are no receipts for, so they don’t know what category to assign.

    We use Quicken. For our finances it is the best solution. We electronically import our transactions directly from all our banks, check that they are categorized correctly, and save them so that we can track how much is spent in every category. The software does a lot more than that but tracking spending is it’s main function for us.

    It is easy to categorize transactions from the gas station and usually the grocery store or pharmacy, etc. But what about places like Wal-Mart? A transaction at Wal-Mart could be for several different categories. If there’s no receipt we’re wondering, “WHAT IS THIS FOR? WHERE IS THE RECEIPT?”

    The solution – have a central place for receipts to be dropped, or at least keep them in our wallet or purse so that when transactions are recorded we both know where to find them.

    What do you do to prevent the receipt rebel from causing a mess at your house?

    Filed Under: Money, Relationships

    Freedom!!!

    July 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    It was July of last year that Shawna and I reached debt freedom except for our house. I know of no better time to celebrate it than Independence day. July 4th will forever have a new meaning to me. It is not only a reminder of our country’s independence but a reminder of our personal freedom from debt. Thank you God for both.

    Happy July 4th everyone!

    Filed Under: Misc, Money

    Smokin What I’m Sellin

    June 29, 2012 by 1 Comment

    Just for the record, I’M LIVIN THIS STUFF! When I travel all over the place for I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. teaching how to not be broke I’m not just talking about nice ideas that are only for broke people. I’m talking about stuff that I actually do and I’m fired up about it right now because I just made some overdue changes in our budget.

    Health Insurance

    Over the past few years our health insurance crept up by over $200 per month from the original monthly premium when we signed up with the particular company we had. We just shopped it and saved $100 per month. That’s $1200 per year!

    Cable

    Over the past few years our cable promotions have run out and I fell in to the trap of letting them upgrade me to something else in order to get the next promotion, so our cable bill crept up to almost $100 more than original. I’m saying NO MORE to that crap. I will not be treated with less regard than a new customer who gets the best deals. The cable is OFF and we have an antenna that gets all the time wasting TV we really need, and that keeps another $100 per month in the bank, or $1200 per year!

    Newspaper

    Coupons are awesome! But we admit we’re not diligent in using them. When we were flat broke we absolutely had to in order to save every penny we could. (We do take advantage of other ways to save on groceries, but we have chosen not to be “Extreme Couponing” people. We do Aldi, Sams, online coupons, mail coupons, and other ways that don’t involve newspaper coupon clipping). But for months we’ve still been paying for the weekend newspaper delivery that we only signed up for originally in order to get the coupons. Now I find myself being more enticed by the sale ads of stuff I don’t need, so that’s even more reason to get rid of the newspaper. Cancelling our subscription saves us $9.99 per month which is almost $120 per year.

    If you’re doing the math just those three things saves us over $2500 per year of TAKE HOME PAY which is about the equivalent of $3300 of gross income. That’s a freakin Disney vacation worth of saving!!!

    I’m not done yet either. Our next move might be paying some insurance premiums annually instead of monthly to save hundreds per year, and I’m hacked off at Wells Fargo for charging me unnecessary fees so there might be some banking changes in our near future.

    What are your next moves to keep money in the bank and increase your bottom line?

    Filed Under: Money

    Earning The Right To Celebrate Success

    June 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    My kids recently reminded me, once again, of a principle even many adults need to learn. It is the fact that unless we did something to contribute to something that is a success then we really don’t have the right to celebrate it as though we were a part of it.

    Sports fans are my favorite example of this. I’ve always been a bigger fan of actually PLAYING sports as opposed to watching, so I’m not a rabid fan. But some people go nuts over sports teams they merely cheer for. Statements like “we won last night” are my favorite because to me it sounds like the person saying “we” actually competed at something. When I find out they were watching something on TV I’m let down about this person’s participation in a competitive event.

    Ok, so maybe cheering could be very loosely accepted as participation or contribution to a success, but it’s nowhere near the same as those who actually get in the game. I recently taught my kids this lesson about giving.

    They attended VBS (vacation Bible school) at a local church where there was a competition between grades to see who could raise the most money to give to a worthy cause. Our competitive child (I will not name) came home boasting of how awesome their grade was doing winning the competition. Shawna and I knew they had not given anything to this effort other than cheers. Normally we would have given them money to contribute but in this scenario we immediately recognized a teaching opportunity.

    We explained to both our older two kids that unless they gave they really couldn’t celebrate winning as though they did something. We also encouraged them to give from their money (they earn money for doing work around the house), but we did not give them our money to simply pass it on. They needed to have skin in the game.

    The end of VBS event took place and at the end our kids grade was awarded for giving the most. On the way home the boasting commenced again “we won, we beat the older kids”, and we questioned again, “Did you give anything?” Of course the answer was “no, we forgot” which I interpreted as “what, from OUR money”. We reminded the kids that unless they actually gave something they really didn’t earn the right to celebrate the success as though they did give something. They could cheer for their classmates but they couldn’t really say “we won”.

    I see the same thing happening all the time with adults at churches. Great things are happening, all the signs of church success are there, people are being reached for Jesus. When the pastor reminds everyone that all that success is possible because of generous givers there are people in the crowd who celebrate that success as though they actually did something, as though they had skin in the game.

    I have no apologies for issuing a tough love challenge to believers who are not givers. Anybody can sit in the stands and cheer. Put some skin in the game.

    Filed Under: Faith, Family, Money

    5 Ways to Resist Advertisements

    June 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Advertisements are EVERYWHERE! Whether we like it or not, admit it or not, or are even aware of it or not – advertising influences our spending behavior. Marketers and advertisers know it or they wouldn’t continue to find new and innovative ways to grab our attention with their persistent and consistent messages that all boil down to “buy this”. Here are some simple things to help resist the bombardment.

    1. Stop watching commercials (even better – turn off cable and use netflix or hulu).  Commercials have one goal – get you to want what they’re selling.  Don’t watch commercials.
    2. Learn how to use the Unsubscribe link in your email.  Every “deal” site wants a spot in your inbox, but many of us are buying stuff we wouldn’t buy otherwise because of these “deals”, or worse yet we buy the deal but then never use it.  Click unsubscribe from those things.
    3. Tear up direct mail and return it in the prepaid envelope.  Sounds mean, I know.  But when we get in the habit of denying those “offers” we prevent getting more obligations we regret.
    4. When you get a coupon in the mail that says “$10 Off Your Purchase of $50 or More” sell it on ebay to someone who is already planning to spend $50 or more at that store. $10 off is not $10 saved if you have to spend $50 on something you don’t need.
    5. Learn the art of saying NO, not right now, maybe later, we don’t NEED that, or simply “that’s not in our budget”. If none of that works ask this question, “Which one of our goals are we going to rob from to spend this money?”

    What would you add to this list?

    Filed Under: Money

    Tsunami

    June 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    A friend of mine recently asked me why I haven’t updated my blog in a while. Well, several reasons, but none of them are really good ones and are probably more like excuses and failures to manage my time. I like writing and I need to do it more.

    Anyway, that friend said my writing is like an occasional Tsunami, there’s either a lot of it or none of it and it comes in big waves. Nice analogy friend – thanks. Hey, I’ll call you next time I want feedback. No, really – I’ll call you. Just kidding. Thanks for the gentle kick in the pants.

    So I guess I’m writing this to say two things.
    1. Make time, even if it is just a little time, on a regular basis, to do what is important to you.
    2. You should see more posts from me, at least for the next little while.

    Filed Under: Misc

    Recent Reading

    March 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Here are some links to some great stuff I’ve read over the past couple of weeks.

  • It Only Grows In Secret

    • – silence about temptation gives sin a place to grow into fruition.

  • Together

    • – creating the bond of friendship, mutual understanding, and warm affection.

  • Covenant or Contract

    • – four ways you could be pushing your marriage towards contract instead of covenant.

  • Why Sarah Went On A 365 Day Spending Fast

    • – this should challenge and inspire everyone’s perspective on spending behavior.

  • Seven Ways To Destroy Your Marriage

    • – don’t fall in to any of these traps.

    Filed Under: Reading

    Waymaker

    March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    20120319-222413.jpg

    People much younger than me might not even know what I’m talking about, but I remember when it wasn’t uncommon for people to have a CB in their personal vehicle (as in truck driver CB – communication device. My dad was the coolest CB dad I knew because he would talk to the truck drivers and they would work together to make their way down the busy highways of oblivious people who tend to block the way… Thus my dads call sign, or “handle”, was Waymaker. He drove a 1978 Chevy very similar to the one in the picture above.

    If only I had a CB now it might make driving more fun. Truckers are still communicating with us. When you let them change lanes to pass a slow mover they flash their lights to say “thanks”. When you get up close behind them to catch a draft for a little while they might do the same light flashing but in that case it means “back off this isn’t safe” (yes I’ve done that in the past to save gas and it works but isn’t safe and truckers don’t tend to allow it unless you’re CB friends and I don’t have a CB).

    I can’t help but think of how much fun my dad had actually talking to the truck drivers and working with them to get through traffic faster. It makes me think of how much more fun we have as married couples when we actually talk to each other and work through life’s obstacles faster, not merely co-existing on life’s highway and flashing lights back and forth because we’re in the same lane, really talking and enjoying the journey we’re sharing.

    Filed Under: Relationships, Stories
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