#23 sell baseball cards Buy low, sell high. The baseball cards took awhile. I accumulated over 50,000 baseball cards when I was a kid. While the generation prior to me wishes it would have kept its baseball cards, I wish I would have sold mine at the peak of the market. Does anyone want my Will Clark rookie card? Anyone? Of course not. But, at one time it was worth some money. Because of remembering former values as opposed to realistic values coupled with memories my childhood hobby, I held … [Read more...]

#18 Itemize On Your Taxes Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22. I am not a tax professional and do not give tax advice. This is not tax advice. Seek the advice of a competent professional to see if you should be itemizing your expenses for tax purposes on an annual basis. Most folks don’t even attempt to do so. This will require you to track certain expenses and keep receipts. It’s totally worth it. We were able to save a great deal of money … [Read more...]

#17  The Queen Quit Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Winston Churchill. She did not abdicate her throne, she quit her job.  Years ago.  When the DSJ began, the QoF had a regular paying gig. Commonly, people refer to this as working outside of the home. Because working inside the home typically involves leaving the confines of the actual home, I’m not sure how that reference fits so I don‘t use it. Regardless of the phraseology, the QoF was earning an amount … [Read more...]

 #13 Anything Extra Goes To Debt Repayment Focused intensity over time multiplied by God equals momentum.  Dave Ramsey. No, this is not the same as #12. It is tempting to use extra income for something that you’ve been really wanting. This is not your first paycheck from your first job that you’re gonna blow because you wanna celebrate (shouldn’t do that either). There is a Dragon at your door ready to destroy your family. You better fight. Earning extra income did not increase our … [Read more...]

#12 Roll It Over Change your world one penny at a time. The Queen of Free. Every time and the King means every time we were under budget on a category of expenditure, the difference went toward repayment of debt. $2.00 under on the light bill - debt repayment. $3.50 under on groceries - debt repayment. We didn’t roll over the excess onto the next month‘s budget in that category. We also didn’t act like the government and force ourselves to spend the excess in fear of losing it. Again, … [Read more...]

#10 Buddy the Budget     Aim at nothing and you will hit it every time. Zig Ziglar A budget is liberating. It is not the B word. If you call something (or someone) a nasty name, even in jest, it becomes a truth. Call it a spending plan if you must. Call it Billy Bob. We call it forecasting. It doesn’t matter what you call it; just know what your income is and what your expenses are.  Ensure that expenses are less than income. At least every month. Track your spending for a couple of … [Read more...]