We had a failure that was the catalyst to change and a tool that would help us change our relationship with money. Now we needed to get out of debt. We needed to get serious. We needed Dave Ramsey. Full disclosure: our household has kind of moved away from some of Dave Ramsey’s ideas since 2010 when fully committed … Read More
You’re at the mall, it’s the 12th of the month and you want to buy sunglasses. Do you have the money? If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, it depends on whether the mortgage will come before or after your paycheck. It might also depend on your checking account balance. This is normal for many people. … Read More
I experienced a financial setback that got my attention enough to make some serious changes in my life. I needed to assemble a team that could help me meet my goals. A friend of mine had told me about budgeting software that he had loved that fit with how I liked to budget. I hadn’t taken You Need … Read More
“We don’t take credit cards, only cash.” It was November 2009, and I was locked into a project to improve our house in several ways to prepare for our third child. As with most home projects, reality quickly surpassed our budget. That was OK. I was going to use my credit card. Nevermind that I … Read More
In the last post I wrote about a mistake I made where I focused too much on The Grand Vision and not enough on solving small problems. At the time, I felt that accomplishing The Grand Vision was going to be awesome and would save the world, and would mean that there would be a parade held … Read More
Late last year I started an initiative that sought to improve our delivery processes and tools. I spent a few weeks talking to people throughout our organization about what the problems were and how we can best address them. And from that I came up with The Grand Vision. The Grand Vision was an awesome elevator … Read More
Late last year I began seriously working on improving how we deliver updates to our software to restaurants. One of the most interesting parts about my job is how many aspects of technology become incredibly difficult when you have a frying machine twenty feet away instead of a data center technician in a lab coat. … Read More
Every year I sit down and create a specific set of goals for my projects. The goals are always aggressive, and every year I wonder to myself how we are going to do it. Most years we spend the first few months trying to come up with a strategy for even making the goals possible. This … Read More
“Thank God we’re in marriage counseling so my wife can finally get her crap together.” A thought that most people have when they enter the marriage counselor’s office. I came into the office that day of Les Carter, with my wonderful wife, ready for some change. I had a list of things. She was this. She was … Read More
When I was a Junior in college, I was on a path to graduate from college debt-free and with a marketable career in business and technology. I had a great job at a fine dining restaurant in downtown Dallas. I had a group of friends that I hung out with regularly. I was growing intellectually, … Read More