I think that article is completely accurate

Fred is very very good at helping people get out of debt, but his seven-step plan is deliberately oversimplified. Anyone who gets to the point of having significant money to invest would be well served by seeing a financial advisor and thinking about a more sophisticated analysis.

That said, I’ve got money in my 401k in bonds from times past, but I’m not adding any bonds at the moment, because it really is a bad time to buy them. And when I found myself saying “growth-stock mutual funds” to my 83-year-old mother, I took a step back and said that with her aversion to risk and possibly short time frame she was better off staying out of it.

I just read the article on CNN

Although I have some of the same criticisms of his investment advise (All 4 investment categories are sans bond funds, the 12% rate of return though possible is most likely improbable, investing in loaded funds, etc.) I am a little surprised at the ferocity of the opposition from the professional financial community.

We (my wife and I) have been at BS 7 since 2007, got there using DR principles, but we have our own investment strategy that is not at all like the one DR professes.

Curious at what this community thinks…

I’m excited:

1. that I got the house taxes paid (woohoo!!) and
2. I will be caught up with the mortgage AND
3. I have several nibbles on the 3 remaining pups, AND
4. the ex is coming to collect his stuff tomorrow, AND
5. When I got home I saw that the majestic old Elm tree had fallen down, roots up due to the storms this week (I know that’s NOT the exciting part lol) AND it had avoided the fence that I spent last week repairing to keep my sheep in. Definitely the Hand of the Divine at work there.
6. I do believe I can pay off 2 of the 4 credit cards; oh and the last one
7. I only have to pay 67c on my electric bill!!!

So counting my blessings and SO grateful!

Anthea

PS On the down side, the Dr thinks I’m this close to pneumonia so I have instructions to take my antibiotics and rest this weekend – no sheep wrangling.

I’d been in the corporate world for a number of years

and when laid off, I just sooooooo wanted something different. Like working at home.

Gads, what a mistake.

Just like anyone sucked into a cult, I did everything I could to please. Throwing money hand over fist to “their” phone service, their advertising loops, thier web sites, their, well, you name it.

Hours and hours spent on the phone, tons of money (about $1K loan) to fly to “conferences”. Which were really nothing more than other schmucks like me following orders. Sure, the seats were filled, but that is the name of the game, isn’t it? Keep the newbies hyper and wanting the life advertised?

In reality, I truly wanted to believe in the product and sell it. Oh, silly me. What it really entailed was selling false dreams to someone else. And I could have done that if there was any true substance in the propositon.

Instead, after six months and thousands of dollars, I couldn’t stomach it anymore. Such as meeting members of my upline who left no doubt they had blatantly lied. (Honey, you are way too tall and way too big boned to have ever been a size 4, unless of course when you were 11.) Inablity to get my direct supervisor to explain how to actually sell the “cover” product and not just the biz. Rooming with a person who I finally got to admit that she’d spent EIGHTY GRAND to get to the level just above me.

And, of course, being at a conference and watching young protegees of the upline suck down a saucer full of “product pills” instead of any dinner.

End of the week, he wants to retire so bad

and this mandatory 10 hours a week is wearing him out. Plus he’s concerned about ds going out of town for 5 weeks of walk down. Ds has never done a walk down of this sort and neither have 3 of the other four that are going.

There are still a lot of variables in the game plan, like this week for numerous reasons dh only got 8.5 hours ot in, and the week of Thanksgiving and the week he goes to AU there won’t be any of course unless something is worked out. He’s been having some trouble with his legs and is just exhausted.

Didn’t help we had the top come out of a big cedar come down in the storm day before yesterday and it’s now on the back deck and stairs. It also looks like it took out quite a bit of another tree, one of our big pine trees, on its way down and so he’s going to have to do chainsaw work this weekend that he is NOT looking forward to.

So the good news was exactly what he needed to hear.

Came home from work today all worn out and depressed, it was a sad thing to see

So I took him aside and put a smile on his face (not not that! Shame on you!).
What I told him was that I had been running and re-running the numbers for the last month because I couldn’t believe it was true, but what I found that was as off today’s paycheck IF the overtime keeps on the way they say it will between now and the end of the year, IF all the monies that are scheduled to come it do come on time and for the amounts we believe they will come in AND Johan stays away (that’s the scary part) we will be paying off a credit card every 30-45 days between now and the end of April!!! The first one, the Best Buy should die by the end of November or mid December(only 1975 to go on that one) and then others will fall in a row every 30-45 days. It is possible that we could be cc debt free by April 30! (If we don’t take a big tax hit) It’s a LOT of IF’s and dodging Jhoan, but dh has been smiling ever since.
I know it certainly made me a happy camper when I first discovered it about a month or so ago.

And amazingly, this one is in California in the Bay area !!

It’s called Patten University, a private, 4 year college, fully accredited. Quote “Our Unique low costs and monthly payment schedule helps you budget for your education and AVOID DEBT.”

Upside: Tuition is flat rated at between 1316 and 2000 a semester, (there’s a $400 add’l campus fee), they don’t take FAFSA, you can pay as you go by the month, roughly $350, basically a part time job, and they are in a nicer part of Oakland. No difference between a California resident or a non-resident. Has an online program same as campus, same rate.

Downside: really limited programs of study (if you want to be a teacher, it might be the place for you),

I get the feeling it has a stringent honor code, kind of like BYU. Nothing in writing that I see, but when 2 of the 7 degrees offered are Biblical Studies and Pastoral Studies…that might be the first hint they’re not looking for party-ers and pot-heads.

I have the same one

My only complaint with it is that you have to have the gauge checked every year for accuracy through the local extension agent. I’d prefer the one with the weights instead but won’t give this one up. Besides I got it as a birthday present.

But I do LOVE the size of it.

Thanks for the link to the second one, I think I may splurge and get that so I have it.

I did notice a couple of new accessories in the accessory pack which would be handy to have; namely: the large LCD digital timer and Jar Wrench. The kitchen tongs are not as handy as the tongs that I have (Oxo brand all metal) and I did purchase an additional stainless steel wide mouth funnel which I found worked better for me.