Hope for your financial life and beyond

The Biggest Home Security Issue Everyone Is Missing

When it comes to home security issues, we typically think of analyzing and paying for the basics: quality dead bolt locks, an alarm monitoring system, and multiple smoke detectors. Maybe we also purchase a dog for the heightened sense of awareness they bring. These are all commonplace methods to deter entry into the home and keep us feeling safe.

home securityYet there happens to be another major home security issue that is usually overlooked. This one is so big it’s hurting individuals and destroying families. Though we know it’s out there we refuse to take the necessary steps to stop its incursion into our home.

What could be so devastating?

The lack of internet security as it relates to online access of pornography.

Your failure to attentively monitoring the use of technology – mainly the access to apps and the Internet on computers and mobile devices that have become the main tool for the distribution of pornography – may be causing untold damage to your family.

Why the Internet Is a Big Home Security Issue

[Read more…]

Sharing the Results of a 4-Month Blog Commenting System Experiment

Today I’m guest posting over at the Yakezie network about my four-month blog commenting system experiment.

As long-time followers know, I started this blog using the third-party commenting system DISQUS to manage all reader comments. In response to an article written by Sam (of Yakezie and Financial Samurai) I discontinued using DISQUS in favor of the standard WordPress commenting system. I did so to conduct a four-month experiment to see how or if it would improve my reader engagement. My experiment is now over and my post at Yakezie today shares what I found.

Click the following link to read my post at Yakezie: “My 4-Month Experiment Not Using a Comment System – Was It Effective?”

[Read more…]

Why My Kids Love That We Are Not Buying Christmas Presents This Year

I love Christmas! Giving and receiving gifts is one of the highlights of our family’s year. In my mind nothing beats it for family togetherness and sharing expressions of love.

no Christmas presents As a parent though, I’m often hit with a January hangover. My headache comes from watching the majority of the presents I bought for my children lie dormant in a corner of their room. I would say that over 80% of the toys my wife and I purchase the kids each Christmas are played with a couple of times and then left to collect dust. That’s frustrating considering the money we shell out for them.

So last year we asked them to make a list of the items they wanted. They did. We bought them. Same issue occurred.

I’m not mad at the kids. I guess we just have trouble hitting their toy sweet spot.

So just the other week my wife and I decided to do something different this year. We aren’t buying any Christmas presents. To our surprise, when we told the kids what we were doing, they were 100% enthusiastically behind it.

Our Alternative to Christmas Presents

[Read more…]

We’ve Been Robbed! Dealing With a Theft at Our Home

basketball goalLast Saturday I pulled out the leaf blower for the first of several fall sessions of blowing leaves out of the yard. I went around the side of the house to begin clearing leaves out of our secondary driveway. As the motor roared to life I looked around and something didn’t seem right. It only took a few seconds before the puzzlement lifted.

OMG…our portable basketball goal had been stolen!

You know the five stages of grief people experience when dealing with a relationship loss? I went through all those in about 30 seconds (except I skipped bargaining). Honestly though, after reaching acceptance, I reverted to anger for the rest of the day. That’ll make sense when you find out the details.

So, step 1…inform the wife, so she can experience the five stages herself.

Step 2…get on Realtor.com and start looking for another house. OK, that’s not exactly what we did but wouldn’t you feel that way? Talk about feeling violated and insecure and vulnerable. It’s a sickening feeling knowing people have been traipsing around your house.

We decided to call local law enforcement and a sheriff arrived within 10 minutes. We knew the likelihood of getting our goal back was close to zero but felt it was our responsibility to report the theft. I want to live in a secure neighborhood and the more they know about the area the better.

He asked the basic questions you would expect for a police report. When was it stolen? What did it look like? How much did it cost? How long have you had it? We answered as best we could and then thanked him for coming. Dejected, I went back to my leaf blowing wondering how and why someone would do such a thing.

My Discovery

[Read more…]

Reasons I’m Thankful to Be a Stay at Home Dad

Six months ago I announced that I was quitting my job to become a stay at home dad. That decision was the culmination of a four-year life transition that saw my wife begin a new career so we could become a one-parent-stay-at-home family. We didn’t know at the time how it would turn out but were willing to give it a shot.

So far it’s been spectacular!

I Am Thankful written on chalkboard

Life has certainly changed and for that I’m very thankful. Not that life was so bad before. However, in the past six months I’ve witnessed multiple issues our family used to have melt away because of what I now do. Plus, I’ve seen new avenues open that could not have been pursued in our previous state of life.

What’s Changed That I’m Thankful For

[Read more…]

A New Reason I’ll Avoid the Mayhem That Is Black Friday

Whack FridayMany of you will rise out of bed at 3:00 am Friday, grab some coffee and head out the door to go stand in line at your favorite retail store, hoping to get a jump on the holiday shopping season. It’s an annual tradition, this Black Friday shopping trip that gets so many people worked up into a frenzy. I’m sure many people love the action and excitement of it all.

Me? Meh…I find it not enthralling. I’ll take my extra hours of sleep.

There are a host of reasons I chose not to shop on this day. Thanksgiving turkey hangover. The crowds. Getting prepped for the OSU/Michigan game (yes…I do this a day early…Go Bucks!).

But this year I’ve added another reason why I’ll just never go shopping on this day.

[Read more…]

There Can Always Be Redemption

Hidden Nuggets Series #64 – “For with the Lord there is mercy; and with Him is abundant redemption.” – Psalm 130:7

Andy Dufresne Recently I’ve been talking about some topics that are all interconnected: dealing with failure, making mistakes and asking for help. I’ve been in a reflective mood as 2014 comes to a close. Some great things happened this past year but like the rest of you there are some things that I wish had happened differently.

In my younger days I used to think that every mistake was the end of the world – that there could be no recovery from big time failures. I’m realizing more and more the folly of that line of thinking. There is always room for redemption no matter how hard we might fall.

Not that redemption would come easy mind you. It could be the toughest of challenges to redeem yourself in the eyes of others who have seen you fail. Trust, confidence in and respect for would all have to be earned again.

The possibility of redemption remains a possibility though. Those who understand that can move on. Those who don’t, sink only deeper into an emotional despair. This can be clearly seen in the lives of two of Jesus’ followers who both made mistakes and took completely different routes in dealing with them.

A Story of Redemption

[Read more…]

Blogging Mistakes I Made That You Can Avoid

I’ve been at this blogging gig for over two years now and boy, have I produced my share of small and whopping blogging mistakes. They weren’t all in the beginning either. I just made another one last month that has really got me frustrated.

blogging mistakesNone of these have or will cause me long-term damage. Most have just created more work for me. Some happened out of ignorance and some because I just wasn’t thinking.

The worst part is that all could have been avoided if I’d read more or asked for help. As I shared Monday, I’ve had a real problem with asking for help and am slowly learning to overcome it.

Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Here is a list of blogging mistakes I’ve committed that you should avoid. If you are looking at starting a successful blog to make money or just to have fun, don’t fall into these traps.

Not understanding keywords

[Read more…]

I Need Help But Don’t Want to Ask

i need help“I can do it myself.” It’s a familiar refrain I often recite in my head. Even though it may seem obvious to everyone around me that I need help, I choose not to seek it. For some reason, my human nature resists reaching out and asking for assistance.

Why is that? What keeps me from admitting I need help? Why can’t I see the circumstances for what they are and then choose to rely on others to help me power through them?

Logically I should always ask for help when I need it. It would make my life run with greater efficiency and reduce much of the stress I place on myself. However, I’ve come to know this…I’m often an illogical person. I can rationalize away the greatest problem and convince myself I can handle it.

Sadly that’s a recipe for a stagnant life.

Why I Don’t Seek Help

From my life, I can quickly identify six reasons why I’ve refused to ask for help. What could you add to this list?

[Read more…]

Moments Like This Make Blogging Worth It

What drives a blogger to write?

map of the PhilippinesIn my 2+ years of blogging myself and after reading countless other blogs during that time, I’ve concluded there are three reasons why someone would start a blog:

  1. To make money
  1. To make a difference
  1. To share details about their life

In broad terms that pretty much covers it. However, it’s not an either or proposition. A blogger could narrow their focus to one of these tasks or accomplish all three at once. It simply depends upon that person’s goals and objectives.

I’m going out on a limb to say in the field in which I write (personal finance), the overwhelming majority of bloggers would concede reason #2 has to be a part of what drives them. How can I say that? Because I’ve read their blogs and personally talked with them and this issue always comes up.

We are – somewhere deep down in our nature – desiring to see the things we talk about help other people with their finances.

So we do what we can to reach as many people as possible. And the other day I got a message from an unexpected source that made me realize – really for the first time – that what I’m doing is worth it.

You’re Writing From Where?

[Read more…]

An Audacious Goal Recap: What Bloggers Learned From Writing For 31 Days

writing on paperAfter hearing Jeff Goins speak at FinCon in September I became inspired to push myself as a writer. So I embarked on a challenge for the month of October where I would write 500 words a day for 31 straight days. This isn’t unique to me as there are similar writing challenges being promoted around the web at certain times of the year. But I thought I’d give it a go to see what I could learn and accomplish.

I encouraged some of my blogging friends to join me. To my surprise 19 signed on. So 20 of us set out to encourage one another and see how much we could write in October. Here is how it went and here is what we learned.

What I Learned From Writing For 31 Days

I successfully completed the challenge, writing 500 words a day for 31 straight days. The fewest words I wrote was 501 (think that was when I was sick) and the latest in the day I finished a writing assignment was 11:30 p.m. (almost missed that day).

This challenge drove home several points for me:

[Read more…]