Killing Your Debt, It's Good Karma

So I figured that more folks than just the airmen that I was in tech school with could use this information.

 

"If you don't have a plan and you're not charting your progress you're wasting your time and mine." That's what I used to tell my athletes about their weight training. Your financial future is no different, if you don't have a plan, all you have is talk.

 

Thankfully there are some great (free) tools out there to help you get on track. In little over a year I've paid off $18,000 on my home equity line of credit, $6,000 in credit card debt, and $4,500 in student loan debt. It hasn't been easy, but it feels so good it was worth it.

 

The first tool is www.creditkarma.com Yes it's free. Yes they will know a lot about you after you enter in your information, but you'll also have a pretty powerful tool on how your journey out of debt affects (positively) your credit score. Yes, their will be credit card offers on just about every screen, but to date I haven't had one pull a gun and make me fill it out.

 

The first tool at CreditKarma shows you a composite credit score they call your "Transrisk" which is described as: "The standard Credit Score on CreditKarma is the TransRisk New Account Score provided by TransUnion. This risk score represents your likelihood of deliquency or non-payment of credit obligations. This score is based on information in your TransUnion credit report and ranges from 300 (minimum) to 850 (maximum). The score is calculated using TransUnion's proprietary model for assessing the credit risk of existing accounts and was constructed using a selected group of factors drawn from your credit records at TransUnion." I've found that mine is about 40 points lower than what my actual FICO score was when I was refinancing my home, but it was within the ball park.

 

The second tool on the sight is your "Auto Insurance Score" which gives you a general idea of what your auto insurer is using to give you your rate. If you're not calling at least every other year for auto quotes, you might want to start. Even $20 a month is substantial savings over the course of a year.

 

The final tool is your "Vantage Score" which their website describes as: "VantageScore is a new credit scoring model created by America's three major credit reporting agencies to support a truly consistent and accurate approach to credit scoring. This new score provides lenders with nearly identical risk assessment across all three credit reporting companies. Your VantageScore on Credit Karma was calculated based on information in your TransUnion credit report and follows a familiar academic scale for ease of understanding: A (901-990), B (801-900), C (701-800), D (601-700), F (501-600)."

 

The site also has some useful tools for showing you how your credit is affected by a late payment, reduced balances, and closing accounts. A great place to start.

Voter ID Laws

Just finished reading about Jame's O'Keefe's story about voter fraud and it made me realize that every federal employee and visitor to federal buildings has to show photo ID to get past security. I won't even get started about showing ID to the TSA...

Unless the federal government is discriminating on a daily basis to allow citizens and employees entry, there is no discrimination by asking for ID at the ballot box. 

American Outlaws

On a daily basis it seems I find something else that punches me in the face about the state of the American economy, yesterday it was this article http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-there-will-never-be-failed-us-treasury-auction-until-there that kicked me in the head. Daily I feel like I'm running behind in my quest to pay off my debt and learn how to fully take care of my family and myself. Trying to be better prepared, in case times get tough, or even if they don't (hat tip to Jack Spirko and if you're not listening to his podcast you should give it a try.)

So what does any of this have to do with the title? On another of my walkabouts that find me deep in thought, homesick, and wandering I happened to be walking by a cemetery as a group of bikers was leaving. This was not a small gathering of patched riders, and I saw a half dozen different patches, foremost of course the Hell's Angels patches. These were hard men living a hard life, but I'm sure each of them would tell you they were free. The thought struck me that if federal law enforcement couldn't crush these men, who flout their affiliation to the world, how much could "The Man" really do if TSHTF?

I Know Who You Are

What a year it's been. In early March of 2011 I left all I knew behind in Idaho for a job in Providence, RI on a mission to kill my debt and provide a better life for a family I didn't yet hold claim to. I was in love with a girl I'd known since elementary school, but I wasn't sure we could survive a year of separation.

Fast forward to Easter/Passover weekend. I'm back in the habit of my daily walks wandering Providence as a specter of solitude. In the last year I've grown increasingly pessimistic about America's economic future and had taken to browsing coin shops now and again while stationed in Mississippi for Air Force tech school. I wandered into a shop and had an interesting conversation with the shop keeper.

Either he works on the side as a psychic or I'm not alone in my musings. I get buzzed in (such an east coast thing) to his shop just after noon. It was just he and I in the shop. He looked to be in his late sixties, dressed in slacks and a blazer that had been well worn. I asked him if he had any junk silver, to which he replied he did, I asked him the price per dollar and it was the same that coinflation (great tool by the way) was showing. He brought out the coins and I went through each one making sure it was of 1964 or older minting.

At this point he said, "You're military aren't you." To which I replied I was, and this was where the conversation got a little troubling... I told him I got into buying a little silver every payday while in Mississippi. For the last year I've wondered if I was being paranoid, or over-reacting to the negative economic news I've seen... So where better to ask than at a coin shop with a guy who doesn't know me from Adam. I asked him how he saw our economy going. 

To which he replied, "I know who you are, and you're not alone" which completely took me off guard. He said he'd been in that shop for over 40 years, and he'd primarily sold coins to collectors and foreigners who had come from a country where they didn't trust their own currency. He said that's changed in the last two years, for the first time in his life Americans are beginning to not trust their own currency. 

Perhaps I'm not nuts afterall... 

Earning a bachelor's degree in two years or less, start to finish.

My intent in writing this e-book is pretty simple, I want to help people graduate from college with no debt and in the shortest amount of time possible.

Higher education is one of the biggest businesses in America. Look no further than the debt bubble we are in today in America. As of the publication of this e-book Americans have accumulated more student loan debt than credit card debt. That means the ivy covered walls of Academia, pronouncedly “non-profit” institutions, have done a better job marketing their products than Apple, Macy’s and Amazon combined. Yet, at the end of the day those institutions are still businesses and thriving only because they have paying customers. My goal is to help you save years of your life for earning rather than remedial learning, and still cut your total college bill by more than 75%.

“How is this possible?” “Why are more people not doing it if it is?” “Why have I never heard of this strategy before?” Those are the three questions I have heard most from friends, co-workers and young military members as I explained this process. It will not be easy, you will have to invest some money out of pocket, though far less than traditional schooling, and why in the world would any business tell you how to save 75% off their product?


My e-book at amazon.com is $1.49. It isn't long but it does have all the information you need to complete your degree in two years or less if you're willing to put in the work and jump through the hoops.

Things worth fighting for....

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Worship

Freedom of Fear

Freedom of Want

FDR said these were the four things quintessential and unique about America a month after Pearl Harbor. We weren't ready for WWII, Germany controlled most of Europe with a precision and ruthlessness unmatched. Less than a generation before America had seen it's sons come home with the wounds of trench warfare, their dead sons laid to rest on foreign shores with the finality that is war. Still Roosevelt knew that these ideals were worth sharing, worth dying for alone a long way from home. As they are still.

Saw these quotes on war bond posters that Norman Rockwell painted after hearing FDR's speech, his images as always honest, folksy, and real. The Tom Brady's and Eli Manning's of the world don't go to war, rarely is it the Pat Tillman's, instead it is the Shaw's, the Ramey's, the Beard's, the Torres', the Madison's, the boys from Indiana, and Colorado, and Alabama, and Alaska, the immigrant's son's, and the like that still answer the call on a daily basis. Imperfect men, all. All races, all creeds, believers, those who lost their faith, and lifelong cynics. The bond is indescribable. My regrets are many and none, depending on the day you ask me. But after seeing the posters tonight I worry about where we're at now.

Freedom of speech, to demean those who don't agree with us?

Freedom to worship, and to belittle those who still have their faith?

Freedom of Fear, when the boogie man is at every TSA checkpoint?

Freedom of Want, when our neighbors rely on handouts from taxpayers instead of work from their neighbor?

As a Coach I always ended criticism with hope, as I will here. Those same young men who went to fight, and bleed, and die, from Omaha to Iwo Jima would find their equal among the young men and women who serve today. Sadly, to paraphrase Rick Pitino, "FDR, Truman, and JFK ain't walking through that door anytime soon."

Paracord Bracelets

I've had a lot of spare time during my time here in Rhode Island and one of the skills I've picked up is paracord braiding. Since the goal behind my move to Rhode Island was to kill my debt I didn't want to go broke buying Christmas presents for the buddies who I lean on so much. That's where the paracord bracelet comes in, great gift for the modern survivalist who has everything. About 7' of paracord goes into each bracelet. 530 pound rated stainless steel fastener on three of them gives them even more utility.

The stainless steel fasteners came from Home Depot, $2.67 each. The paracord came from Amazon for $7.50, and the plastic snaps were $13.99 for 25.

It's a nice piece of gear to have with you, I always have at least seven feet of cordage (not to mention how much is available if you break the cord down into it's individual strands.)

If you're interested in learning how to make your own paracord bracelet check out YouTube for some great instructional videos.

I miss my ducks!

The garden the ducks patrolled.

So my adventure in backyard egg production began with the best of intentions. Ducks for fun and eggs. I did my research, I looked at Khaki Campbells online, great egg layers, friendly, but they just looked too plain. Then I stumbled upon Indian Runner Ducks - The Jester of the duck kingdom. Sounds simple right? A trip to Dunlap Nursery in Caldwell, Idaho was my next step.

Being a novice to the duck world, I walked in, asked for 5 Indian Runners and a large bag of chick feed. Just one small problem, that took me almost a month to realize, I was the proud papa to 5 gregarious Peking ducks. Another month or so later it also became clear that four out of five of my Pekings were never going to lay eggs - as their lack of quacking confirmed.

Don't get me wrong, the Pekings were fantastic personality wise, friendly and social. But I was dead set on the Indian Runner so I turned to Craigslist. I found a male and female pair for $12 bucks and took them home. Again, more lessons learned. Ducks are social creatures, but this particular male Indian Runner I brought home was very dominant, and even if he was only 3/4 as big as the juvenile Pekings he was running the roost. I'll get back to that story in a later post!

Ducks over chickens, Chevy versus Ford, Stick versus Automatic, it's the age old debate. I'll give you my reasons for choosing ducks. First and foremost I just thought they were hilarious to watch, and I enjoyed their personality as they wandered the backyard. Next the Indian Runner eggs were like clockwork, with Mildred (the Indian Runner) laying an egg almost every day. The eggs are about 25% bigger than chicken eggs, and they are amazing to bake and cook with due to the larger yolk. Finally, the ducks (Pekings and Indian Runners) were great for my garden!

Do you remember Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid teaching Daniel to catch flies with chopsticks? That was what it was like to watch the ducks grab flies from the air. The ducks terminated each and every slug, fly, and mosquito with extreme prejudice. Another plus over chickens is the ladies did a great job of foraging and feeding themselves while never tearing up my garden.

Cons, that egg that Mildred laid each day turned into a daily Easter Egg hunt everyday when I returned home. Duck eggs cooked by themselves are not chicken eggs, they didn't taste bad, but you knew there was something different going on. The ladies quack, most of the time it's not too obnoxious, but every morning when the sun first peeked up it was as if the ladies had won the lottery. Indian Runners are pretty shy, Mildred was always wary, where Matilda (my Peking) came running up looking for a handout every time I came into the back porch. The final downside, the ladies loved concrete, that wouldn't be a problem if not for that being the material that made up my back porch. Nothing a hose and push broom couldn't remedy in five minutes, but still hard to explain to citified friends...

I'll have to show in another post the simple cheap coop I built for them, it wasn't ideal to over winter them, but during the warm months it allowed me to keep them safe at night and compost there droppings in place. Each week when I mowed the yard I would cover last weeks droppings with saved newspaper, then dump a bag or two of grass in the coop. It worked out fantastically, I never smelled a hint of duck poop wafting through the back yard.

If you're thinking about getting some ducks, do it! You'll have a blast!