hear ye, hear ye all lords and ladies in the court of the queen and king of free. there will be a grand celebration. for those of you keeping score at home, that's the second major announcement in the span of a week.  please mark your calendar for May 12, 2012 from 3-5p.m. this is the date of our debt free party.  i'm sure the QoF will send out a most royal notice, but the short of it is said party will be held at stones crossing church http://stonescrossing.com/Home.  hope to see you … [Read more...]

hear ye, hear ye all lords and ladies in the court of the queen and king of free.  there will be a most royal of tournaments.  your humble KoF shall decide the locale of his firsl meal at an eatery outside his castle by tournament. there will be no jousting. it's not that kind of tournament.  the KoF prefers a bracket.next sunday is selection sunday.  64 central indiana restaurants will vie for the honor of being the king's first restaurant meal in 2 years and (by the time of the championship) … [Read more...]

if you toil for four years to pay off over 127K in debt, you may wanna shout.  if you get the opportunity to shout during the dave ramsey show, you take it.  dave's principles were instrumental in us slaying the debt dragon.  it has always been the goal to scream we're debt free in studio.  it's a big deal and an honor that we even get to do it.  but, as i sit with the QoF on the eve of our ceremonial screaming (wait, that somehow doesn't sound right), i begin to pontificate.  could i mess this … [Read more...]

over the last four years you could have ended every sentence i spoke, wrote, or even thought with, "i'm on my way to nashville."  maybe not every one. but, definitely the sentences where i declined to do or buy something or made any financial decision whatsoever.  this isn't like ending a fortune from a fortune cookie with, "in the bathtub." that's just weird.  being on the way to nashville has purpose.  it is intentional.  it has meaning.  when you have purpose, you eliminate distractions. you … [Read more...]

winning hurts. not the actually winning, but the process. unless it's ferret legging, then the winning and the process hurts.  but for the most part, people don't win because it hurts.you will get knocked down on your way to success.  is the goal you are pursuing worth getting back up? is it worth the risk of getting knocked down again? and possibly again? i already channel too much rocky balboa, so i'll spare you the reference to mickey begging rocky to stay down as he lay prostrate on the mat … [Read more...]

it was like a graduation, but better. all change is loss. with a graduation, inevitably there are things you will miss. grief ensues with a graduation. there is no grief here. none. the dragon, is dead. we. are. alive. such is life. for something to live, something must die. the air is cleaner. joy abounds in even the smallest of details. my feet have not made contact with the ground. the pressure and intensity of a donneybrook/slobberknocker/pier 6 of a street fight is over. no … [Read more...]

it was like a graduation, but better.  all change is loss. with a graduation, inevitably there are things you will miss.  grief ensues with a graduation.  there is no grief here.  none.  the dragon, is dead. we. are. alive.  such is life.  for something to live, something must die.   the air is cleaner.  joy abounds in even the smallest of details.  my feet have not made contact with the ground.  the pressure and intensity of a donneybrook/slobberknocker/pier 6 of a street fight is over. no … [Read more...]

https://www.kingoffree.net/2012/03/t-minus-34-days/

34 days until we're debt free.34 days until we can save more34 days until we can give more34 days until we reach our goal34 days until i eat at a restaurant34 days until we breathe a little easier34 days until we change our family tree34 days until this four year journey concludes34 days until we watch numbers go up rather than down34 days until the evil student loan sorceress dies twenty years early34 days until we instill hope in others that this. can. be. done.34 days until something that was … [Read more...]

for those of you new to the court, the royal family has been battling the once dreaded debt dragon since april 2, 2008.  previously, the dragon and i corresponded back and forth. feel free to catch up, here and here.  the dragon is marked for death, but the dragon is hard to kill.  it wrote back with a dying beast's gloating vengeance.  i've never copied any of the dragon's correspondence before (too disturbing), so this may be the only excerpt i'll ever share:     "from hell's heart, i stab at … [Read more...]

well sure i can read.  i just can't capitalize when i write. or i don't. i'm not supposed to be able to read though.  a recent post of mine opened a flashback floodgate. even before my miniature self began chanting "i'm number one," one of my elementary school's non-teacher personnel labeled me.  think early kindergarten king. much smaller, still the same sized head.  the king had coordination issues and apparently didn't pass a military boot camp style obstacle course test (read: balance … [Read more...]