Let’s revisit my post about Credit Scores, and dive a little deeper into that. Did you know the only way to have a FICO score is to have debt? No iffs ands or buts about it – if you want a FICO score you need to have debt, both new and old, constantly maintained DEBT. There really is no good way to look at that, no matter how you may justify it – the ONLY way to have a credit score is to have debt. How often do we bridge those two facts? All marketers and bankers and lenders did was give debt a new name (FICO) and a score-scale and made it a competition to have the best. In our rush and hurry to have an “awesome” FICO score did you notice you were enslaving yourself to someone else? And then to make you feel better about it they throw in “points” and “rewards”. Right. They just LOVE to give away “free” things to you. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you paid for those things to.

So, I’ve decided to question what the real purpose of a FICO score is, or to have “healthy” debt (That’s just as ridiculous as the Capital One “Freedom” Card. And the conclusion I have come to is I want nothing to do with it. I guarantee that a large margin of wealthy people carry very little to no debt – and it’s NOT because they have money to buy things so they don’t need debt; it’s because they avoided debt to buy things in the first place, and that freedom from interest and lenders enabled them to become rich. Think of all the extra money you’d have from your paychecks if it wasn’t already promised to to someone else. (And please don’t confuse expenses with debt)

You can never borrow yourself into wealth. That math never adds up. Discipline will always beat instant gratification.

What are some things you question the necessity of? School? The 40 hour work week? The requirement to go into the office? Vaccinations for your kids? Let’s have a nice discussion!

Now let’s say that you have a goal to be a professional basketball player, and you learned that Michael himself is teaching some basketball classes for a amazingly good deal – would you even hesitate to sign up? Wouldn’t it be amazing to sit at his feet and learn from his years of practice, dedication and experience? Imagine the kind of jump-start that would give you game.

Let’s change gears a little bit. I’m going to focus on something that several of my friends are endeavoring to do: Wedding and Event Photography. Sadly, there are a lot of people in this area that jump into Wedding Photography a little prematurely – I know cause I was one of them. And I never should have done it as early as I did.

Early last year I started taking some Photo Classes from Kenneth Linge, a local photographer who turns out to be a lot more then you’d expect to find in humble Orem Utah. You find out he’s an accredited Master Photographer; that he was the most award-winning photographer in Scandinavia (he’s from Norway) in the the 90′s. You notice that he spends half the year teaching seminars in Europe. You catch the Utah Valley magazine and notice that he shoots the cover every month and also gets some extra spreads in the magazine from time to time.

I’ve realized that he’s the Michael Jordan of portrait photography, a claim he’s going to deny when he notices I’ve written this post. But let me tell you why I think this.

Kenneth delivers – every time. If there ever was a photographer that I know that I can count on every single time to deliver an amazing portrait no matter who it is, where it is, or when it is, it’s Kenneth. He’s not just a master in his studio but outside his studio, not just during the best light of the day but any light of the day, not just on sunny but also cloudy rainy snowy sleety you-name-it weathery days. Not just beautiful people but round, short, tall, plump, chubby, rail-thin, awkward shape, big-head little-head no chin big chin kinda people. You can’t use the same kind of lighting and poses for every person – it needs to be as different and unique as they are; and Kenneth has the experience, the eye and the talent and knowledge to know what to do every time, to get that perfect portrait. Kenneth delivers; every time.

Beyond his photography though he’s a jolly, happy, kind, talkative person that loves to share and teach. His personal motto is ‘No Secrets’, and he lives up to it. When he recently did a killer studio setup for wedding dresses for Utah Valley Bride magazine, he didn’t hesitate to teach it in his next class. He loves to share, and he loves to teach.

To get to the point we have a genius master photographer in our backyard and he teaches classes for an amazing price. If you’re even thinking that you want people to hire you for photography then you need to take his Photographing People courses. You need to prioritize in your to-do list and put it above buying anymore gear. All the best gear in the world won’t make you a solid photographer if you have no idea how to light people, pose people and take advantage of the situations where you take those photos. His first class is a steal-of-a-deal at $300 and he’s teaching one on July 31, and another on September 4. He happily does payment plans if dropping $300 at once is too tough to manage – there literally is no excuse not to take them.

I repeat – if you’re going to charge people for photography then you need to take his class – you owe it to your soon-to-be customers to deliver the best product you can and his classes will give you incredible insight and tips, and it doesn’t involve spending thousands on lighting equipment. You’ll learn more things about photography than you can imagine from simple things to avoid to simple things to blow away everyone else.

His website for classes is www.intsop.com – sign up quick before the class is full!

** As a disclaimer he’s not paying me nor did he ask me to write this. **

Debt, buying what we can’t afford, borrowing money we can’t pay back, instant gratification, ultimately greed, has snowballed into a very catastrophic world economy. And what’s the best way to fix too much debt? By getting out of debt! And how do you prevent debt? By not borrowing! If we as a collective were not wise enough to only borrow what we needed, then it’s time to lose the privilege of borrowing by force: enter the bad credit score.

If having a crappy credit score prevents you from getting that department store card, or stops you from buying a boat you really shouldn’t buy, or getting a house 4x’s the size of what you need, then by all means, ruin your credit.

I’m attending Dave Ramsey’s ‘Financial Peace University’ right now and just covered Budget’s. Every time I’ve heard that word in my life the first thing I think of is ‘no more toys’. Which is a complete lie. At one point he talked about getting your budget in order, and then prioritizing your expenses. He said put Visa and Mastercard etc at the bottom, and if they fall “below the line” of what you can afford, then don’t pay them. He mentioned several people who were behind on their house but current on their Mastercard – all to protect a stupid score. He doesn’t hesitate to tell people to stop caring about their credit and start caring about freedom. Credit, inherently, is not freedom.

So, to those of us struggling with money and paying for things, take a deep think on that credit score you’re protecting and consider if it’s really important. If you have to give it some bad marks to get out of debt, then get out the red pen and start marking it. Once your out of debt and start building real equity in your life your score will heal itself, but hopefully you’ll be free enough to really not need it all that much.

We’re having struggles with Alicia’s engagement ring. When I bought it it was a size 7 and was great aside from being just a little too big for her, so we took it back to get resized. That took a week. Then, about 3 days after (if that) one of the black diamonds had fallen out. So shortly thereafter she took it back to Morgan Jewelers to get replaced. That took another week, plus a few days cause we couldn’t make it to the mall in time to pick it up. We figured that during the shrinking process some of the prongs holding in the diamonds must have been spread open a little bit. Well, less than 3 hours after getting it back a 2nd time ANOTHER diamond has fallen out. We’re getting to the point where the Jeweler seems to have the ring more than Alicia has had the ring. It’s getting quite annoying. The nice jeweler guy did tell us that if it keeps happening we can exchange it for another build of this ring, or just trade it in towards the wedding ring that I’ll be buying. I kinda hope that we just get a ring that the diamonds stay in on…..

Now. In the title I mentioned I was confused. In Elementary School I remember learning about plants, about photosynthesis, about how plants make oxygen. And you know what else I remember? Carbon Dioxide, or, CO2 is plants favorite food! So, makes me wonder, what’s with all the hype AGAINST CO2 from the enviro-nuts? People spending money to ‘offset’ their ‘carbon footprint’, which I find to be the freaking stupidest scam since ever. I mean really, how can you not figure that it’s a giant profit-making scheme.

OH, and let’s not get started about profits. The big rally cry from Liberals today is ‘greedy capitalist and their exorbitant profits ruining the world’. So I have to ask – do they not like money? When they have an opportunity to generate some wealth and revenue for themselves do they shudder at the thought? I’m pretty sure they don’t – I’m pretty darn positively sure that given an opportunity to make millions of dollars they’d jump on that horse faster than you would notice! So why, then, do they love to characterize big companies as big greedy things because they happen to have amassed fortunes? I just don’t get it!

Come to think of it, there really isn’t anything in the thought-process of liberals that I actually understand. I’m sorry if this post is offensive to anyone, but I really am just confused by the general hypocrisy and shallow thinking that seems to be infecting too many people.

In happy news, I’m just a few days shy from my wedding. Planning is coming along. We’re getting things figured out, food prep’d, flowers planted, dress bought, honeymoon planned (Eastern Caribbean Cruise, in case you’re wondering). I’m pretty excited about the cruise! Heck yes!

THE DETAILS: You’re going to ask, so I’m going to tell. We’re getting married on August 11, 2010 at the Salt Lake Temple. I’m waiting to hear back from my Mission President if he’s going to be able to perform the sealing for us; he’s a member of the First Quorum of the 70 and is able to perform sealing. I really hope that he can. It would be really special to me.

The next day (Thursday) is when we are going to have the reception in my parents backyard in Alpine. It’s a beautiful setting and it should be a pretty beautiful day to do it on. Katie had her open house there before it was even half finished and it went quite smoothly, so I imagine the same for me.

IN OTHER THINGS: Work is a mess, I’m stretched pretty thin and hope that I can make it out the other end. I’m working quite a few different projects and have been pretty stressed as of late, which is pretty new to me because I don’t get stressed out very often. I’ll keep you informed. I’d like to get into the habit of journaling more on here dangit!

A GOAL: I’ve decided I’d like to read the Book of Mormon one last time as single guy, so I started a few days ago and hope to be finished by the wedding day. Of all the times in my life to boost my spiritual level, now would be it. Anybody wanna join me?

Until now. As of May 14 the HOA is cutting off the TV and Internet services. Now, this isn’t that big of a deal, or it shouldn’t be, but the HOA is not decreasing the monthly HOA fee amount to compensate for this lack of service. So, now everyone in the little community gets to tack an extra $60/month to their already tight monthly budgets just to keep their TV and internet services.

This is such a scam. I talked to Kurt about this and he said the HOA plans to save away the money that was formally used for the TV and internet. Bull Crap. Save for what? A leadership cruise? That’s probably several thousand dollars a month in savings – where does it need to go? Let’s say that they now save $3,000/month because of this, what on earth do they need $36,000 year for extra? If I understand correctly, the HOA fees covers water, sewer, snow removal, lawn care, garbage and… anything else? (Maybe electricity cause I’ve never seen an electricity bill, and neither has Kurt). Nevertheless, what are they going to do with this extra money?

It’s a downright dirty scam. How are HOA’s legal? If I buy my property, who are they to tell me what to do with my property? I’ve heard pathetic stories of veterans being asked to remove American Flags hanging from their balconies, to an elderly couple who took in a 7 year old grand daughter who’s parents were druggies being evicted from their self-owned home inside a retirement community because the HOA rules said no one under 55 could live there. What on earth is wrong with people? It’s such a pathetic power grab.

Just give me 50 acres in the middle of nowhere and I’ll do whatever I darn well please.

So, I have to ask the President the following question: What’s wrong with NOW? His first major ‘milestone’ was the ‘stimulus bill’ that was immediately required to help save the economy (which is hasn’t). However, most of the $787B he allocated for that isn’t spent until 2012 at the earliest; so what was the hurry?

Then there was the Health Care Bill, which was of severe importance to pass immediately as well, however, none of it (other than raising taxes) takes effect for something like 5 years.

So, I have to ask, What’s wrong with NOW? Why can’t he spend all this effort passing ‘important’ legislation that actually affects NOW? Is it tough? It must be, cause apparently he can’t focus on anything unless it’s several years in the future. The only important thing he seems to do now is blame Bush for how things are, still. It’s not time to man-up and take responsibility to absurd unemployment and government debt; blame that on the previous generation of politicians. Oh, and parties. There’s always time to party.

Now. Let’s go backwards awhile. I requested a Paypal Debit card to be linked to my Paypal account so when money is there I don’t have to wait the 3 days or so until it ends up in my Bank Account. The card showed up a few weeks ago and I just didn’t notice. I grabbed the pile of letters from my parents and went on my way.

This morning I found it. I activated, and it’ll work just like a normal Debit Card. I really wish I would have noticed this when my card was stolen! Then I could have used my Paypal account while I wait for my bank to get me a new card.

NOW. I’m kind of wondering. Should I start using my Paypal card as my default? I can set it up to have whatever is in my account as the only money available, or I can set it to “overdraw” by just withdrawing money from my checking account when I spend more than is in my Paypal.

I’m thinking I’d keep maybe $150 max in my Paypal account at any time, and turn off the overdraw feature. That way, if my Paypal Debit Card is hacked the most anyone could use at any time is $150; and it would probably be less as I would only fill it back up to that when I’m low. If I need to spend more money then I’ll just use my normal bank debit card. Does this make sense?

I like this because it’s allowing me to have a buffer card that isn’t a credit card, so I’m still spending money that I do have and not going into debt regardless of how soon I can pay it off. Sure, it requires a little more maintenance on my part, but with how easy it is to get your bank account hacked this sure seems like a free method to save yourself a lot of trouble.

I think I’ve convinced myself to do this. Consider it done!

I wanna cook more. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but every time I wander around the grocery store I come home with the same crap cause I don’t really know what to make. Guess why I don’t really know what to make? I have no recipes! Tada! Pin a rose on YOUR nose if you guessed that.

So i went shopping, kind of. There is a fantastic iPhone app called Epicurious, and they have an even better iPad version. Loaded up with nearly 30,000 recipes I now have a huge recipe book with me all the time. And, what’s extra cool, is you find the recipes you’re looking for, add them to a list and then it’ll generate a shopping list for you so you can easily go buy all the ingredients. I think that’s pretty darn cool!

SO. I’m going to start cooking more, and trying to avoid processed foods and just make things from scratch. Even if I just ate the same food that I already eat but just make it from scratch I’m already a lot ahead. Anything packaged and already made is going to have a lot of junk in there, so it’s also time to start label shopping and skipping out on anything that has bad crap in it.

As a very cool bonus there are a few Indian dishes on Epicurious, and I’m excited to give them a whirl cause I really love Indian food. Heck yes!

The other day on the radio I heard an advertisement for the New Chase Freedom Credit Card. I had to laugh. I’m sorry Chase, but never in the history of time nor the future of existence will a Credit Card = Freedom, no matter what the perks are. Giving you 5% cash back means you had to spend the cash in the first place, and you can bet that their internal $$ numbers still puts them ahead of you with interest and such even with your 5% cash back.

I’m not calling false advertising or anything, but I have to just laugh at the irony here. I’ve been listening to Dave Ramsey a little bit on the radio and it’s just eye opening to realize that a lot of economic ‘norms’ are really just stupid ideas. For instance, a credit score. Yes, you need a good one, but what is it really? A ‘Get into Debt Score’, that’s the core purpose.

After having a few bad run-ins with credit cards in the past I’ve decided to get rid of them all and just hold out on purchasing things until I can pay them in full and walk out the door with total ownership. Do I get to wait a little longer than other people to get the newest coolest thing? More often than not, yes I do. However, it sure is a nice feeling a month later when there isn’t a payment due for it. And waiting never killed anybody – I’ve still managed to acquire some pretty cool things, and own them outright.