Cash Money

All right youngsters. It's time to pay attention to your finances. But it isn't easy is it? It's so much easier to ignore the fact that you incurred debt.

Until...

Joe Bill-Collector finds you. And good ole' Joe won't back down. But how did you get yourself in this predicament? I'll tell you some sure fire ways to avoid Joe calling you at your work and threatening to kidnap your first born if you don't pay your credit card bill.

1. Don't get in debt. Just don't. Unless it's for something useful. What's a useful debt?

-Reasonable/useful automobile (not that new Audi you want)
-A house
-A college education

But be careful...there are traps in these debts mentioned above. Truly think about whether you can afford a car payment. Also, don't incur extra student debt unless you're planning on using if after college as a low interest loan to pay for a home. In which case, you probably don't want to tell your loan counselor that you really don't need $20,000 for college but only $2,000.

2. Stop eating fast food. It's SUCH a waste of money. And I'm of course a hypocrite on this subject. I signed up for a mint.com account and realized that in the month of May alone I spent $122.00 on fast food. That's ridiculous!

3. Avoid ATM Fees. I've also accrued $33.00 in those fees in the past five months.

4. Invest, but invest smart. I haven't yet walked down this path but I will soon enough. It's good to have a little money in the market and know how it works.

5. Finally, don't ignore what is going on with your finances. Don't intentionally not pay a bill. Work with the company to figure something out so you can INCREASE YOUR CREDIT!

I repeat...DON'T IGNORE WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOUR FINANCES!

Visit for some good ideas on how to manage your finances and see trends in your spending.

Good luck!

Caffeine

Okay. This is probably going to be the post I'm most proud of. I've successfully quit drinking caffeinated soda. I was addicted to Diet Coke. If you look back you will even see a post in which I talk about how caffeine is taking over society and how I can't live without Diet Coke.

It was true. My morning would start with a 32oz Diet Pepsi. If it was a really long day I would reach for a "Venom" which is a low carb energy drink. Energy drinks are also extremely bad for you. I would/have used these drinks to get me through all nighters in college and 60+ hour work weeks.

What have I learned since I quit the habit? One...it's a habit for sure. Two, you don't know how your body actually feels if you're sedated with caffeine. One of the active ingredients in Exedrin is caffeine. It helps in lessening the amount of pain you feel because it spikes your energy levels. Beyond that, diet drinks can also mess with your metabolism and make you feel more hungry than you really are.

Regardless of all the articles and voicing of Oprah, I feel better. But please don't do it cold turkey. You will have the most unimaginable headache in your life if you just simply quit caffeine. Ween your way off of it. Drink more water and eat more vegetables to outweigh the affects of a caffeine free lifestyle.

Good luck!