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How to take back your time and sanity by automating your money

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication, Giving, Investing, Saving, Spending, Tools

A few months ago I was helping a good friend of mine shop for wedding rings. He was marrying another long-time friend of mine and they had the big parts of their wedding handled (venue, date, guest list…) But, they still had some details left to work out, like picking wedding rings.My friend told me what he was looking for, I told him about my ring, and gave him some other ideas. Then just for fun, I sent him an article about a guy who hand-forged his own wedding ring…read more

Nov.09

Should you combine your finances or keep them separate?

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication

One of the first things Andrea and I had to do when we got married was decide whether or not to combine our finances. If you’re in a serious relationship, thinking about marriage, or already married, you’ll need to address this with your partner, too. (TL;DR: Andrea and I have took the pros of combined and separate finances while minimizing the cons of each. This happy-medium works for us. Read on for the details.)This isn’t a black and white issue. Despite what your family, culture, or other “financial experts” tell…read more

Oct.24

How To Cut Stress Like President Obama and Steve Jobs

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication

One of the best things Andrea and I have done for our relationship (and that I’ve also been doing more and more of personally) is learning how to make decisions before they need to be made. It’s something we’ve picked up looking at highly effective, world-class performers like President Obama and Steve Jobs. Republican vs Democrat and Apple vs Android debates aside, these guys reached the top of their game and credited their ability to make decisions ahead of time with getting and keeping them there. Here’s one, just one, example of…read more

Sep.20

How to Emergency-Proof Your Life

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Saving, Tools

One Friday a few weeks ago Andrea and I decided to go for a couple’s massage. While waiting in the “Tranquility Room,” a massage-y way of saying waiting room, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation another couple was having. Maybe it was my brief stint doing Intelligence work for the US government and the CIA guys I knew rubbing off on me, but I just couldn’t tune this couple out. As best as I could figure, the boyfriend/husband had just lost his job or something right before coming in…read more

Sep.04

How we paid off $62,000 in 7 months

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication, Debt

Shortly after we got married, Andrea and I got serious about our finances and paid off all our debt. It only took us 7 months.While I’ve previously shared the method Andrea and I used to pay off all our debts, knowing what to do, and even how, isn’t always enough. Sometimes we need to believe something is possible before we even try.Sometimes we need to know someone else has blazed a trail and succeeded, meaning it’s possible for us, too.Sometimes, we need hope.So in case this is one of those…read more

Aug.21

The Best Way To Pay Off All Your Debt

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Debt, Tools

When Andrea and I first got married we paid off $62,000 in debt in 7 months.Right here, right now I’m going to walk you through how we did it and you’ll soon realize you can do it, too. You’re going to get EVERYTHING you need to get a grip on your finances and break free from your debts.What would you do if you had an extra $100, $500, or even $1,000+ each month that you DIDN’T have to handover to Sallie Mae or Visa? How much less stress would you…read more

Jul.25

Answer 1 Question To Find Focus For Your Finances

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication, Debt, Giving, Investing, Saving, Spending, Tools

Andrea and I just got back from a wonderful, much needed vacation. It wasn’t the most relaxing trip, though if I’m honest. There were no drinks with umbrellas in them, cabana boys, or even cabanas. And we certainly didn’t catch up on sleep. Instead, we kicked off the trip by waking up at 3am.Normally, I don’t like waking up early. Even though I’ve been getting up before the buttcrack of dawn for over a decade, it’s still a struggle. Most days the snooze button is my friend. But not this…read more

What I learned getting lost in Singapore

Posted by James MacLean in Budgeting, Communication, Tools

Back in the summer of 2006 I spent a few days visiting Singapore, a beautiful, modern city-sized country in southeast Asia. One day, I was wandering around the Little India neighborhood with some friends. It was getting late and we wanted to head back to where we were staying. But first, we wanted to visit a store we’d seen earlier in the day. There was only one problem. We remembered where the store was, but soon realized we had no idea where we were. Not my finest moment. 😳 We were hopelessly…read more

Jun.27