Carrying debt can make you unhappy.  It ruins relationships, stresses you out and results in what I’d call slavery.  Here’s my manifesto on why debt is bad and what you need to do about it.

Almost daily I read about how banks aren’t loaning money to consumers.  I’ve also read how Citibank (and other credit card companies) are shocking customers by implementing punishing interest rates of up to 29.99% to their customers across the board.

While touted as major crisis by the media, I think both of these lending roadblocks are good for you and me.

How so?  Because both lead to less personal debt.  If the banks aren’t loaning money, then you can’t acquire debt.  If the credit card companies are levying punishing interest rates, then people hopefully will be reluctant to get into more debt.

I view personal debt as slavery. But it took me several years of getting kicked in the head to learn that the hard way.  Debt, especially credit card, car loans and home equity, gives the control of your future earnings to other people.  In the case of the credit cards, think of it this way.  Someone might be paying $50 a week in interest.  Then the credit card company decides they want $100 a week and there’s nothing you can do about it.  They’ve got you by the short hairs.

Outside a mafia Don, who else can make this type of arbitrary decision about your money?  (Well, the government can with taxes, but that’s a discussion for another day…)

But while we are on the government, I’ll toss up a thought you might not have considered.  Why do you think the US government is so comfortable with such staggering levels of debt?  (~$12 Trillion currently)  It is because we the people are so comfortable with such high levels in our personal lives.  The government is a reflection of the people’s attitudes and values.  If we don’t think twice about carrying a boatload of debt in our personal lives, we will elect people who don’t mind carrying debt into the public sector.

I think if we are to be adults, we need to leave behind the childhood getting what we want today just because we want it.  Only a mature mind can delay gratification and admit they cannot afford something at the present.

When did admitting you can’t afford something become shameful?  It seems that if my buddy can afford a Lexus and I cannot I should feel ashamed?  Why?  Shame is the child mind speaking, not the adult mind.  An adult thinks “I can’t afford to pay cash for it, but I am managing my finances in such a way that I will one day be able to.”  That is what true financial optimism is.  Using credit to fool yourself that you can afford it now, but pay for it in the future is a pipe dream.  It’s one of the leading causes of unhappiness and divorce for people in the US right now.

There is nothing shameful in admitting we can’t afford something.  What’s far more shameful is deluding ourselves that a little bit of debt and the resulting slavery isn’t harmful to our attitudes, relationships and future well-being.

When we use credit instead of cash we can pay 10%, 20% or more for something than it’s actually worth!  Just think.  You buy a flat-screen TV today on credit for $1000 at the end of one year you’ve paid $1169.76.  That’s if you pay it off in 1 year.  Most people “revolve” into several years.  It’s quite possible that same TV that cost a cash payer $1000, costs someone who uses credit $1,500!  Are you really that well off that you can afford to spend such a high percentage more than people who save up and pay cash?

And then consider when you eventually do pay off the TV.  In a year, best case, is the TV worth $1,169.00?  No, of course not.  It’s probably worth $800.  So the person who paid cash has lost $200 while the borrower lost $369 – nearly twice as much!  That’s why we hear of people who can’t afford to sell a car they can’t afford.  The car is worth $8,000 but they owe $12,500 on the loan.

I think we should invest the time to do the math as I’ve done above.  The math will reveal the traps others have set for us.

We have only a limited time to work and build success while we live on this planet.  The money we make can be used to produce more money or it can be used to dig us into the hole of slavery.  Paying later for stuff we get today seems small, almost inconsequential early on – but becomes a noose that strangles as the years wear on.  Are we so content that we will delegate the value of our future earnings to other people without as much as a sigh that we are embracing years of servitude?

Whatever happened to saving up for what we want?  Have we come so far that saving is passe, not cool or too old-school?

We need to become uncomfortable with having debt at any level.  Debt should be a painful ache until it is eliminated.  Cash and cash only needs to be our battle cry if we are to become financially successful and avoid the slavery that debt imposes.

If I’ve struck a nerve or opened your eyes, I encourage you to share this with your spouse, friends and relatives.  And send it to your elected officials.  Only through building awareness of debt’s shackles and gaining the support of those around us, can our futures be free.

I’ve known from years of experience that by trying something new and having fun, creativity surges. Even if you fail, by trying new things, you get out of your world and into the unfamiliar.

So today, I decided to try baking a pie from scratch. A pumpkin pie, in fact. Funny thing is, I don’t care for pumpkin pie all that much. But as I’ve said about a million times, it’s the journey.

If you’d like to follow my progress and make your own pie, I will be posting the recipe and my updates on my Twitter stream today. Feel free to heckle me along the way if you like.

My Twitter stream http:/www.twitter.com/brad_isaac

– Brad Isaac

Last night I was trying to start my dishwasher. It was late. I didn’t want to wash dishes by hand. But for some reason, I couldn’t get the machine to start.

I went to check the breaker, flipped it back and forth a few times to make sure it was on. Tried the machine again. No luck.

Then I considered a half-hearted search for the manual. But knew I probably wouldn’t find it.

I thought, it’s probably not gonna be much fun to pay that bill, but on the other hand it’s pretty late at night. I knew I shouldn’t be worrying too much about it, there was nothing I can do. So I went into the other room and started reading a book, thus do nothing.

As I read, my thoughts kept drifting back to the dishwasher. I knew the problem was electrical.

I continued reading.

Suddenly it occurred to me that sometimes there is a light switch on a neighboring wall – possibly in another room that controls the electricity to dishwashers. I started flipping light switches and eventually found the culprit. The dishwasher fired right up – thereby saving me $100 or so in calling a repair service.

Doing nothing takes patience. It takes getting away from the problem as much as possible. But sometimes nothing is the best action we can take.

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ~Mark Twain

I didn’t get the best grades in college. Isn’t it funny how by saying I didn’t get the best, it implied I failed? That’s a discussion for another day. But I made mostly A’s and a few B’s. And a C thanks to Chemistry… blah!

There are two reasons I wasn’t valedictorian. One, I didn’t have valedictorian set as a goal – in fact it wasn’t on my radar. But two (and more importantly) I was too busy getting an education to be bothered with too much study.

A college degree is good to have on the outside – it shows people outside yourself you have certain levels of proficiency and smarts. But it doesn’t contribute much to your education – where you will spend most of your lifetime working hours doing.

An education is exploring your passions and natural talents.

For me, much of my college career was spent writing, hacking my computer and improving myself via self development. Is it odd? weird? strange? to see I am still doing those things today and making a living from them?

I think coming to terms and honestly deciding where one’s true interests are is half the battle. It makes getting a true education almost effortless. And it is where you will make your greatest contribution as a human being.

Just make the decision earlier rather than later.

Today’s post was written by Dion Baker.  He is a writer for The Intangible Wealth and a respected song writer, poet, and visual artist.  And he also shares my love of ants.  – Brad

Today I went to the craft store with my wife to return some items we recently purchased. While she was being helped at the register, I decided to venture off into the store to see what else they had in stock. Not too far from the register, I saw several items on the clearance shelves. I perused through the shelves to see if there was anything of interest; not much. The mix of colorful ribbon and Spiderman bookmarks on sale didn’t quite hold my attention. I continued checking out the products to my right and guess what I found? A small pile of children’s books! As I walked toward the books there was a small book at the top titled, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Now, I’m excited…

So I picked up the book and started reading.

Here’s the synopsis of the story. There was the Grasshopper, the Ant, and other insects. It was the summertime and the Grasshopper was always being lazy, idle, and playful with his time. The weather was pleasant and he felt he should enjoy it, so he chose to be lazy and not work. But each time he saw another insect they weren’t being lazy, they were working. When he saw the Ant she was carrying food for the winter. He saw the Bee and he had yellow pollen all over his feet from toiling in flower nectar. He saw the Spider and she was threading her web. The Grasshopper was surprised that they were working while the weather was so beautiful. So he told them, “What are you doing? It’s summertime! Put down the work and have fun!” But they all said, “No, no, Grasshopper. We need to work and gather food for the winter! And you need to be gathering food for the winter too!” But the Grasshopper kept playing and never took heed to their advice.

And then the inevitable happened; winter came.

The snow piled and the wind blew and the Grasshopper was left hungry in the frigid cold. He was so cold and hungry that he asked the Ant for shelter and food. The Ant was appalled at the Grasshopper knowing that he spent his summer days in laziness and didn’t heed their advice to work. So the Ant told him:

“If you play all summer, you’ll go hungry all winter”

Summer represents the times that things are easier and winter represents when things are more difficult. Each of these is only a temporary season that comes and goes during our lives. Summer doesn’t last forever and winter is inevitable. When things are easier for us that is the best moment to prepare for the moments they will not be.  Therefore, the best time to ease our sickness (winter) is by preparing ourselves when we are more healthy (summer); the best time to prepare ourselves for difficult financial times (winter) is by saving money when we do have money (summer). The perfect time to gather what we need is during the time we don’t need it.

The Grasshopper didn’t bother gathering his food during the summer. Consequence: when the winter came, he had nothing to eat and was very cold. Why did he end up like that? He spent his days of vitality – when he had the most time and conditions were most comfortable – to indulge in laziness.  We should learn from him, but we should not be like him. Instead, we need to follow the model of the other insects. How so?

Invest our time in accumulating resources of value.

If we do that, the winters won’t feel as cold and hunger won’t trouble as much or at all. As the summer draws to a close, we are reminded that comfortableness is temporary and difficulties are inevitable. I challenge you to reflect upon your last 90 days and think about yourself in terms of your activity. Have you been the Grasshopper or the Ant?

- by Dion Baker from Intangible Wealth

During a baseball game recently, an aquaintance told me he recently became unemployed. His specialty is building exquisite homes. So it’s not surprising the economy of the housing market destroyed his ability to get new contracts.

I asked what he is up to now and discovered he’s doing handyman work. He also stressed if I needed anything done, to give him a call.

Of course I’d call him. But it occurred to me he wasn’t doing a good job of selling his expertise.

Let me explain. What is your highest level of expertise? And can you explain it to me in a provocative way so that I want to take action and hire you today?

We can get into elevator speeches and closing methods, but what it boils down to is putting pre-thought into your message.

Instead of making someone else brainstorm possible ways they could use our services, we need to do the thinking ahead of time so they don’t have to. And wrap it up into a nice pretty package with a big bow on top.

What if he said “recently, I’ve been rescuing homeowners from $5000+ roofing and siding repairs by applying a specialized gutter and storm drain solution that costs only $350.00″?

I probably would have hired him on the spot. But since he left it up to my imagination, I’ll just call him when something breaks or I need something painted.

Thinking is hard. Most people don’t want to do it. Especially in these tough times, thinking ahead and selling your expertise is the difference between winning the jobs you want versus getting whatever scraps other people can dream up.

– Brad Isaac

Today I visited a farm with my family.

They had goats, sheep, guineas, chickens, peacocks and turkeys to name a few. It was a relaxing tour. But it also reminded me about a time when things were simpler.

As someone born in Topeka, Kansas the farm is not alien to me. Although I never lived on one, some of my extended family members did. My grandfather’s neighbor grew potatoes and I’d often go help dig them to pass the time. I’d visit my other grandparents where we’d drive out to the farm and return with ‘bushels’ of corn, peaches and snap beans. Regrettably, I still don’t know what a bushel is.

But what is clear about the old way of farming is the work was clear. You shucked corn until every ear clean. You dug potatoes until there are none left to dig. There was time for thought and time for talk. And there were harsh consequences for farmers if they did not do their work.

Today’s work is not so clear – especially if you are working on yourself. Your arms won’t rot off in October because you didn’t harvest push ups today. You probably won’t starve to death in December because you forgot to plant the seeds of your small business in April.

That’s what makes getting ahead these days so persnickety. Consequences for inaction can take years to appear.

The solution is we must all work on our fortune telling skills. It’s not as hard or mystical as it sounds. We can use imagination and logic to see the result of not acting today, tomorrow and the next.

You don’t need a crystal ball to see what happens after 3 years of drinking a bottle of vodka each day. Nor do you need one to see what happens after 3 years of developing a profitable service that helps thousands of people.  Successful fortune telling means seeing the future and altering your behavior accordingly.

Leaders call this having a strong vision.

While dropping my kids off at school this morning, I heard them arguing about musical instruments. For 5 minutes I listened to “you will have to play the recorder in your grade!” followed up by “no I won’t!”

Dumb arguments aren’t confined to kids. I once sat in a 2 hour meeting where two people argued over which shade of green to pick for a sidebar on a webpage.

I think before entering into any argument we need to ask ourselves 3 questions:

1. What do I get if I win?
2. What do I lose if I lose?
3. What is the cost of this argument?

I advised my kids: If the answer to questions one and two are nothing then say “okay” and talk about something else.

Costs can come in the form of wasted time & energy, hurt feelings and loss of respect (to name a few). Some arguments are worth having. Others do not benefit us in the least – and only cost us.

So if we’re going to argue, I’m going to make sure there is a benefit to winning or a loss to losing. Otherwise, you can have this win. I’ll save up for when we have something important to argue about.

Although I don’t get the opportunity to take many naps, I like mine to be quick and refreshing. I hate to sleep over an hour and wake up more tired than I was when I laid down. Twenty minutes is just about right for me.

Frequently, I use Pzizz generated naps to help me accomplish this. I’ve written before about Pzizz power nap software. Basically, the software generates a new relaxing soundtrack for you to listen to each time.

Before, you had to fire it up on a Mac or PC desktop and generate MP3s to download to your player. However, I found out today, they released a version for iPhone and iTouch.

At $2.99 in the app store it’s a great deal since their software is normally $20 and their stand alone device runs $60 (I think). Anyway, I bought a license today and tried it out. The settings were the same and it generated the same sounding pzizz nap as it’s big-brother.

The only difference was it played the nap in it’s own player I noticed there didn’t appear to be a fast forward or rewind (no extending naps by rewinding). But that’s a small issue compared with the strength of it generating a fresh new soundtrack every time.

If you own an iPhone or iTouch and would like to recharge your batteries more often, I recommend you give it a try. Pleasant dreams.

It’s common for people with big goals to get frustrated, maybe even angry they aren’t going as fast as we’d like them to go. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to discuss this with a friend. He was mad that he didn’t burn enough calories during his workout plan – his goal is to get in shape.

First, I asked “What commitment did you make to yourself?”  He said that he hadn’t really made a commitment except that he wanted to get in shape.

It may seem like an argument of semantics, but I disagree.  He did make a commitment to take action.  But he may not have been entirely conscious of the commitment. It may have been as simple as “I’ll exercise every day for 30 minutes.”  Otherwise, what is there to be angry about?

Let me give an example.  You are meeting a friend for dinner.  She says she’ll be there at 7 o’clock.  7:45 rolls around and she finally arrives.  You are angry – or at least irritated.  Why?  Because she broke the commitment.  If she had said “I’ll be there sometime tonight.”  And she still arrived at 7:30 are you still mad?  No. She didn’t break the commitment.  My friend had a commitment that he felt he broke, but I’m not sure he was aware of what the commitment was.

Clarify Commitments

Conscious or not, I think we should be aware of our commitments and clarify them.  If my friend could put his finger on what he’s expecting from himself and write it out, then it’s easier tracked.  It will all boil down to yes or no questions “Did I exercise 30 minutes today?”

Choose Reasonable Commitments

Commitments should be stuff you can do.  If you’ve never exercised a day in your life, and you are holding yourself to 2 hours a day of 7 days a week, that’s a recipe for failure.  Like the saying goes “inch by inch….”  To be successful, we must commit to that “inch” 3-5 times a week.

On the other hand, one inch every 3 or 4 weeks (depending on how you feel at the time) just isn’t going to cut it.

Rewards and Punishment

I’d also recommend rewarding good behavior and punishing bad.  Say after a day of working out you can enjoy a DVD movie, popcorn and a glass of wine.  Then after a week of working out for the days committed treat yourself to an evening out.  But if you miss a day, then no enjoyable activities that same night.  No DVD, no popcorn, and you sure as hell aren’t getting any wine either. The punishment must be swift and you must stick to it.

Holding your own feet to the fire can be tough, but it’s crucial. Saying “oh just this once I won’t meet my commitment but I’m still going to watch my favorite show” undermines progress.  The next time you don’t feel like doing it, it becomes that much easier to shrug off.  An evening of “adult time-out” might just motivate you to meet your commitment right then and there so you can get it over with and get back to the fun.

If you see a reward at the end of the tunnel ONLY for meeting your commitment and a punishment for not doing it, then doing what you need to becomes second nature.

Arguably this is very BF Skinnerish, but it works.  It’s worked for me on countless occasions.  I had frequent rewards in place.  And I had rewards every week for weekly success.   But I also had punishments for not doing lined up too that I forced myself to stick to.  I still weep thinking of all those nights of Counter-Strike I missed just because I couldn’t get my act together.

No dessert can be just as effective on adults as on our kids…