Half Time for Our 2019 Goals – How We Doin’??

2019 - My Goals, Dreams, and Aspirations for "The Year of Change" #growth #goals #2019 #personaldevelopment #dreams

    As I said at the beginning of the year, 2018 was busy… We moved our fledgling dental office, MikedUp Blog kinda-sorta exploded (positively), I worked 3 jobs for a while, got too stressed out, then rebounded again, we took on a ton of debt (willingly), our business grew, and (most importantly) – we found out that my wife was pregnant (with #2 – Stella)!! Whew… I’m tired just from typing out that sentence. While all of those things are amazing (except for the stress – but that ended up being positive in the end), I knew that 2019 would need to be different if I plan to keep up at this pace. So in this post, I will introduce you to my goals, dreams, and aspirations for 2019 – “The Year of Change” (YOC).   This was the introductory paragraph I wrote for my 2019 Goals post back […]

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Is a Company Car Good For Your Business…?

Is a Company Car Good For Your Business...?

  I can honestly admit that when we bought our business a couple of years ago, I never once considered getting a company car… Now that I’ve read the guest post below, I’m beginning to reconsider.   You see, aside from the convenience and increased capabilities a company car could provide your business, it takes miles off your personal vehicles and keeps your employees covered and free from using their own vehicles as well. Which can keep more money in your pocket.   So, Is a Company Car Right For Your Business?   Let’s find out below…       Would your business benefit from going mobile? Having a company car is a great way to both expand your services and get your brand out there. Plus, employees get excited to drive company cars, and executives love having happy employees. It seems like there are no drawbacks to buying a […]

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What you Absolutely Need in Homeowners Insurance

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  When we set out to buy our home, we knew we needed homeowners insurance (because our lender told us so). But we had no idea what level of coverage we needed or what coverage was vital and what we could do without. I could navigate the hurdles of changing interest rates when we refinanced our mortgage, but when it came to coverage, I was lost. So today I’m stoked to share this post – homeowners insurance coverage explained.   With the ease of a sharp knife cutting through warm butter, I’ve made financial mistakes surrounding our mortgage… Like paying the mortgage twice in December (by accident) and waking up to a “Bank Overdraft” alert after paying our mortgage (among other things).   And because I’m still learning in the homeowners insurance department, I’ve enlisted the help of some of my friends at Consumers Advocate to help us all better […]

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I Remove Collision Insurance – We Get in a Collision

I Removed Collision Insurance - We Get in a Collision #Saving #AutoInsurance #Budget #Accident

File this under the “full disclosure” section of MikedUp Blog… Last week I wrote all about the awesome financial benefits we’d have by removing collision auto insurance from our decade-old vehicles.   “It’ll be great,” I said. “We’ll save hundreds… or thousands if we can stay in these cars for a few more years.” And in my defense, I wasn’t wrong on that point. But there’s that word: ‘if’   Well, it just so happens that one of our vehicles was in a collision… Precisely 3 weeks after I wrote the initial post and subsequently stopped the collision insurance. And as it turns out, there aren’t a ton of savings via lower premiums in 3 weeks. So the benefits of removing collision insurance on that car were about, roughly, close-to… $0.   And zero cents.     Ok, now that those numbers are out of the way – here’s the […]

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Proven Side Hustle Ideas For Us Who Have No Free Time

Proven Side Hustle Ideas For Us Who Have No Free Time

  2 Things… We’ve published our share of side hustle ideas on the blog before (side hustle take 2 – side hustle take 3) and I’ve tried my own hand at earning some extra cash on the side. But after a short while, I’d abandon most side hustles as they’d leave me with less time available and little money in my pocket.   I’d get stressed about using the time and not receiving immediate compensation (or very little compensation), identify that [insert side hustle here] didn’t fit within my 23 Proven Routines or Philosophies for a healthier life, and abandon ship.   But I can honestly say, I’ve never seen as complete a list of side hustle ideas (that exists below) until now. I’m starting to think that maybe I just hadn’t seen all that’s out there for us side hustlers to see… And, if I’m being honest, this blog […]

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Eliminate Collision Auto Insurance – Boost the Budget!

Eliminate collision auto insurance - boost the budget!

  So I did something crazy last week… I was having a conversation with our insurance agent and just went off on a tangent about collision auto insurance. “What do we save to eliminate it?” I asked him.   “Well, Mike. If you don’t have collision coverage, and you get into an accident, you’ll have to pay 100% of the repair costs…”   Continue reading below to see why that above statement, although true, didn’t phase me in the least. Because I went ahead and eliminated collision auto insurance for both of our vehicles… Then I had to think of a bullet-proof pitch to sell Monica on the idea. Here’s that pitch:     Let’s start with discussing the benefits of collision auto insurance. This should be pretty straightforward: If you wreck your car and you are at fault, collision coverage will pay for the cost of your vehicle repairs after […]

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4 Ways Mindfulness Can Help You Reach Your Money Goals

4 Ways Mindfulness Can Help You Reach Your Money Goals

  Mindfulness has been shown to positively impact many aspects of our lives, from physical and emotional well being all the way to career success. But, when it comes to your own personal finances, it can be to easy to overlook the benefits of mindfulness practices.    Today, we’ll help you understand exactly how meditation and mindfulness can yield those positive benefits.    As someone who’s been on the bad side of burnout, stress, and a near mental breakdown, I’ve seen first-hand how this daily practice can drastically change your condition and outlook. So if you’re someone who hasn’t tried meditation or doesn’t quite know where to start, let this post serve as yet more evidence in favor of understanding your thoughts and mental outlook.    My friend Bernz is here to clue us in. Take it away, Bernz…   (Photo courtesy of Justin Montemarano)       Unless you […]

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When the Status Quo Can’t Make you Wildly Wealthy but This Can…

When the Status Quo Can't Make you Wildly Wealthy but This Can...

  In a sweet Inception-like game, I wrote this post which was originally published on The Money Mix. It’s all about how we’ve used small business loans to advance our business and personal finances, and it’s packed with actionable intel. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!     “One hundred fifty thousand on the build-out, two hundred seventy-five on the business, and another couple hundred on the goodwill…” It was like a sick and twisted math problem, circa 1st grade, just adding up all the small business loans we had taken out. Was I stressed and burnt out, and (in an honest moment) just a little terrified…?   I was.   But, at the same moment, I would also admit to feeling as professionally “alive” as I had ever felt in the past. There we were, a married couple in our early thirties and now business partners. […]

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How to Make a Full-Time Income Working From Home

How to Make a Full-Time Income Working From Home

  About a month ago, we published a post about The 10 Best Work from Home Jobs for Stay at Home Parents in 2019. While many readers received some great ideas and enjoyed the post, there is a whole world of possibilities out there.   So, when The Money Mix approached me with this post to syndicate here, I was originally skeptical. But then I read through the post and saw that there were many differences in what they determine are the 10 Best Work from Home Jobs compared with what we had previously published.   If you found something in the first post that is helping you to earn a little extra income – Awesome! But either way – here are 10 more great options, each with an actionable and detailed explanation of how to get started earning yourself a work from home income.   Good luck!   This article […]

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Heads-Up! Early Retirement Can Be Bad for Your Health

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Whether you put in your 40 years with the company or are on the 10-year saving spree leading to FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) – you would be wise to glance past the finish line and consider some basic facts. It pains me to write this, but – early retirement can be bad for your health… I mean, really bad…   (Photo courtesy of MKulp Photography)   After years of hard work, early mornings, and late nights of working toward your career goals – that pot at the end of the rainbow can be one of the most dangerous ruses of your lifetime. In fact, retirement ranks in at #10 in terms of the average individuals most stressful life events (Source). Let’s start with the bad news.   Studies from these Harvard, US News and World Report, and Medical Daily articles all discuss some part of the frightening reality that early retirement has […]

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