You Are What Your Record Says You Are

The title is a quote from Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells. The idea is that a team is as good or as bad as its record indicate.  Fans, commentators, and even players like to interpret – or rationalize – circumstances and game events so as to suggest that a team is better, or sometimes worse, than its record might suggest.  A lucky bounce here or a bad call there and those close losses...

Consumptive Footprint

I remember a day in the late 90’s.  More precisely, I remember a particular episode of self talk back in the summer of 1998.  At the time I was living in St. Louis and was only a couple short years out of grad school.  I don’t know exactly what prompted this specific contemplation but it was about money.  It was often about money in those days.  I was learning about money but in a...

Link Round-Up – No Rest For The Weary Edition

Hey everyone, I trust that today’s edition finds you well.  I’m a little compressed for time as my next deadline is quickly approaching and having just recently boasted as to my 6 month streak, I wanted to get something out even if I’m relying on others for all the heavy lifting. One of the treats in maintaining a site like this is the chance to interact with folks with whom I’d...

U-Hauled – A Case Study in CEO Letter Writting

Continuing to take the same actions while expecting new results has been called the definition of insanity.  For this reason, I sometimes cringe when Dave Ramsey advises callers to contact an offending organization daily until an issue is resolved. Calling “an idiot in an cube 300 miles away” over and over again may yield results but it also wastes time and causes much stress and frustration...

Same as Cash is NOT the Same as Cash

We see it in print and over the airwaves.  We hear it on the radio or even over the in-store loudspeaker.  We hear it so often that its meaning begins to evolve.   The words begin to lose their individual meaning in favor of the refined collective.  “SAME AS CASH” This phrase is usually surrounded by such contextual scene setters as “ZERO % INTEREST*” or “NO INTEREST*”. ...

Car Lease Saves Budget…?

Recently a reader commented on his grand plan to remove some uncertainly from his monthly budget process.  On the surface, and when introduced this way, it sounds like a good idea and something worthy of a second look.  However, that extra moment of review was at once comical and revolting, at least to my budgetary tastes. Now this article is not intended to blast a reader.  Only on a couple rare...

You Don’t Need More Overhead

I recently heard a small business owner weighing options for a business related decision.  Both options were viable and both offered a clear cost benefit analysis depending on how she planned to expand her business.  A fixed cost arrangement made sense if she planned to grow and expand her business while a per unit cost structure worked best if she planned to remain small and wanted to continue...