Now THIS is the fire that you need to have to get out of debt, jack. Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, showed up at the UT men's B-ball game decked out in a full cheerleader outfit to support the team and to pay back men's coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl went shirtless last month at a ladies' game and painted himself orange and white to support the dames on the court. Brings a smile to my kisser, bub.

You don't need body paint and pom-poms to deep-six your consumer debt and build wealth. But you need gazelle-intensity. You need the drive to stop using plastic and pay cash for everything, like Dave talks about on The Dave Ramsey Show. You need to save money for emergencies and retirement. As far as debt goes, you gotta sell out to get out.

You may think that not using credit is weird and you wanna be normal. Well, let me clue you in ... normal is broke! Normal is credit card debt and payments out the wazoo. Don't be a sucker. Don't be normal, be weird. 'Cause I'm here to tell you ... weird RULES!

Let's get the debt-free word out, baby. Add my blog to yours. Here's looking at you, kid.

I ran into Chicken Little yesterday, and guess what he was talkin' about? He was giving me his stock market report, telling me all the jazz about how the Dow Jones had a bad day yesterday. Well, little chicken, let me give you the real stock market information ... Wall Street has up and down days, but over time, it makes some serious dough.

Every once in a while, the market puts the D-O-W-N into Dow Jones. Even though the market took a bit of a nose dive yesterday, that's no reason to panic about your investments. When you invest smart, you know that you can ride out the tough spots, baby.

The best invest is growth-stock mutual funds with good track records. Even after a bad day, they'll recover and come back like a lost puppy in a Disney film. If you don't believe me, then listen to The Dave Ramsey Show. I'd say he knows a thing or two about the dough.

Let's get the debt-free word out, baby. Add my blog to yours. Here's looking at you, kid.

I hate my job. That's what a lot of joes and jills are saying nowadays, according to a survey by the lab boys. People all over the country don't like what they do, and they're just working for the weekend. Surprise, surprise ... the job pay doesn't make much of a difference in whether you say "I hate my job" or not, either. Going to work with a frown on your kisser is no way to live, baby, so don't live that way. Life's too short.

Don't be a sucker. You gotta love what you do. No, there's no perfect job, but there are plenty out there that will get you fired up about going into the office. Once you find one, it's like your favorite dinner every night.

And not only will you do better and make more money, but you'll spend less dough in the evening since you had fun that day. That leaves you more cash to get out of debt, which is a heckuva lot easier if you learn how to make a budget. Get more good info like that from The Dave Ramsey Show.

Let's get the debt-free word out, baby. Add my blog to yours. Here's looking at you, kid.

Another poll is out, this one dealing with credit card debt. The Bankrate survey says that 49% of people either worry about their debt or refuse to answer the question about it. That leaves just over half that don't think about it.

Here's what the poll doesn't say. If you have plastic debt and are worried about it, then you need to get out of debt. If you ain't worried, you need to wake up! You're paying 20 percent interest on a dinner and drink that you had three weeks ago! These people need credit card debt help in a big-time way, baby.

I say, eliminate credit card debt. Live on less than you make, like Dave says on The Dave Ramsey Show. Do that, and you'll never have to worry about making the payoff next month or some loser collector calling you. If you have no debt, you can be one of those people that give money away. And that's cool as a cat, jack.

Let's get the debt-free word out, baby. Add my blog to yours. Here's looking at you, kid.

Scorsese. Hudson. Mirren. Whitaker. The Departed. They're more than just names, jack ... they're success stories. Every one of these joes and jills was an Academy Award winner last night, but it didn't come cheap. It took years of hard work, chances taken, then one day ... BOOM; the big payoff. It's the stuff that dreams are made of, baby.

You may not walk down the aisle and accept a little golden trophy, but that doesn't mean you can't win. If you've got mountains of bills and are looking to get out of debt, then get gazelle-intense and send your debt up the river. Create a budget and focus all your extra cash on making a baby emergency fund, then getting out of debt.

It takes hard work and dang sure won't be cheap, but the payoff is priceless. Financial freedom ... no bills to anyone. That's free advice ... more to be found on The Dave Ramsey Show.

Here's a news flash, baby ... I believe in selling out if it means getting out of debt. For some of you joes and jills, that might mean getting a second job. It ain't fun, but it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be the way you pay off debt. I've known plenty of people that took a second job throwing pizzas or papers, and once they deep-sixed their debt, they said it was like pulling 10 pounds of smiles out of a 5 pound bag.

When I first started listening to The Dave Ramsey Show, I learned how to make a budget. Once I saw that I needed some extra cash, I bit the bullet and took on a second job. One of the best things I ever did, baby. Nothing like knowing that you're putting extra dough toward making the creditors shut up. It's worth it and then some ... the sooner you start, the sooner you get there.

Every day, in every country in this crazy world, people need help and other people offer it. Speaking of helping the poor, the boys in Uganda are out in force to train an army to give some help to the Somalians. I'm not much about politics, jack ... but when it comes to people who need aid, I'll be first in line.

Helping the poor. The best thing you can do with the dough, baby. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face. When ol' Davey boy announces a giving theme hour on The Dave Ramsey Show, I turn it up extra loud. Doesn't matter if it's across town or across the globe ... if you've got the means, then give the green.

Use giving as a reason to get out of debt. Don't gripe about not having the five bucks for a double latte ... that kind of dough will feed a starving kid for two weeks in most places. Create a budget today and put giving at the top. Once you're out of debt, give more. Simple, simon.

Ever gotten so ticked about not coming out on top that you thought you were gonna blow? Hollywood's own Martin Scorsese, one of the Academy Award nominees who hasn't won in five tries, might be feeling some of those butterflies come Sunday when the red carpet rolls out for the Oscars. Scorsese might be the Academy Award winner when the envelope is opened, but if ain't so, you know what happens? He goes right back to work.

We all got things that irritate us in this crazy world, but that's no reason to whine and complain. If you have tons of consumer debt that you need to pay off, then don't do the "poor me" routine, baby. Get gazelle-intense and get out of debt, like Dave talks about on The Dave Ramsey Show. The longer you mope, the longer you miss your chance at big-time piles of dough.

More news from the boys in Washington, this time about a test score. Word in the press says that even though a good bit of high school seniors are taking tougher courses, their national test scores in reading and math are going south. For one, I'm proud of the kids stepping up to the challenge of the harder materials. Second, I'm all about book smarts, baby ... but I know they ain't the end-all-be-all of success in life.

Getting a good education is crucial, but your GPA won't mean J-A-C-K in the real world. Dave said it best on The Dave Ramsey Show. What bosses want to see are that go-getter hard-working attitude, honesty, perseverance and creativity. I'd hire a high school grad with the burn to succeed over some college graduate who thought the world owed him something any day of the week.

One more thing. Doing good in school doesn't punch a ticket to big-time piles of dough, either. Only go to school debt free, and be smart enough to create a budget and stick to it, pay off debt and learn how to start saving money.

So I'm surfing this morning, blogging ... all that jazz. Then I see a blog on Pet Peeving that catches my eye, and it's a good one. I don't talk much about running a small business around here, but when I do, I got two words for ya, baby: debt free.

It ain't easy to be a small business owner, and owing a pile of dough to the bank when you're not turning a profit is a recipe for cement shoes. Do it for too long, and you won't be offering small business services for very long. If you need tips on how to start, listen to Dave Ramsey or check out the Small Business Administration site.

Dave talks about it at live events and on The Dave Ramsey Show ... he started his biz in his living room on a card table. He didn't need to pay off debt, 'cause he didn't have any. Create a budget? He did that too, and didn't spend what he didn't have or save. Do the same and get ahead. Simple, simon.

Extra, extra. For anyone who's had their head under a rock for the last few years, the cost of affordable healthcare is going up. The boys in Washington are now saying that in another 10 years, $1 of every 5 bucks that you spend will go toward healthcare. It's something that's gonna cause big-time problems for a lot of joes and jills, but it doesn't have to for you ... if you've got a good head on your shoulders.

If you learn how to make a budget and invest smart, you won't sweat it when the cost of seeing a health care professional skyrockets. You'll have a fat wad of dough saved up, and doc bills will hardly mean jack. Invest 100 smackers a month for 40 years and you'll have a nest egg worth 1.1 megs. The interest generated from that will be almost six figures, which means you'll retire with dignity. There's some Dave Ramsey Show material for you, baby ... listen and learn.

Every once in a while a story comes along that makes you feel like losing your lunch all over again. And here it is, jack. This jazz says that being debt free can be costly. I say ... if you believe this bull, then get a clue! Some yahoos out there say if you are debt free, it'll cause your credit score to go belly-up, and you'll have trouble getting approved for a home loan. Forget the FICO, bub ... go with someone who does manual loan underwriting. Having debt ain't worth it.

Just like Dave says on The Dave Ramsey Show, debt is dumb. Getting out of debt makes your situation less risky, and that's something that's priceless, baby. When you bring home your paycheck, you get to keep it. It's a lot easier to learn how to start saving money when you have some dough. Get on the Baby Steps and deep-six your debt, then get used to debt free living.

I tell ya, baby; here's something that'll put you on one side or the other of the rich man, poor man fence. The Verona Fair in North Italy just ended, and it was a who's who and what's what of toys and gadgets for the rich man. This is one of those deals where Donald Trump would need to know someone who knows someone who could pull some strings to let him in. We're talkin' helicopters, 1.5 million euro watches, samurai suits of armor and hot tubs with separate ice buckets for champagne bottles, all for sale.

It's nice to have stuff. Now, you joes and jills have heard me rant and rave about stuff not having you, about learning how to make a budget and about getting out of debt. But this is something more. If you're so wrapped up in having the best and only the best, you're setting up for a lifetime of chasing the next "best thing". Don't fall for that, jack. Dave talks about it on The Dave Ramsey Show ... find happiness in the things you can't buy, like time with your family or helping people out.

It wasn't but 20 years ago that Iron Mike Tyson was the most dangerous fighter on the face of this crazy world. Now, the Mike Tyson picture is different. Handcuffs, ugly tattoos and getting KO'd in the second round by some second-rate glassjaw that we'll never hear from again. Now MT has checked himself into rehab to get some help with his addictions. It ain't pretty, but it's a start, a silver lining, baby.

Sure, lots of people have lives that sound like a country music song, but quitting when times get tough is the surefire way to keep things tough. No matter how far down you are, be it life or money, you can get up. With each step, things get better. If your marriage is on the rocks, start talking to each other and get help. If you're strapped for cash, create a budget, deep-six your consumer debt, and crawl out of the hole. Get more info from The Dave Ramsey Show.

I'm all smiles today, jack. Why, you may ask? Have a seat and I'll explain. Seems that the financial blog of yours truly was named one of the Top 100 financial blogs to watch in 2007 by Wisebread. How's that float your boat, baby?

Of course, I couldn't have done it without Mr. Dave Ramsey Show host (Dave Ramsey), my fans, and The Man Upstairs. But it's not about me. It's about learning how to make a budget. Why make one? So you can pay off debt? Why do that? So you can build wealth and give a bunch of it away to help people. That's what we're really about around here.

So here's the deal ... help me spread the word. Put this blog on your blogroll. Let's help get people out of debt so they can get their lives back, baby. The quicker people learn to deep-six their consumer debt, the bigger their smiles. Let's (blog)roll.

Nobody likes it when you have to pay tax. And we're getting to the time of year when Uncle Sam tells you if you've bankrolled him enough.

You want to arrange it so that when April 15 rolls around, you don't owe jack to the IRS, and you don't get anything from them. I laugh whenever I hear about some genius who says he didn't have to pay tax and got a big check from the revenue boys. Here's how the system works; if you get a big check, it ain't a late Christmas present, bub. The government is just giving back what you overpaid! Don't be a sucker. Just like Dave talks about on The Dave Ramsey Show, make it so you

Nobody likes being Uncle Sam's payroll, but it's part of what comes with living in the good ol' U.S. of A., baby. If you are careful when you pay tax, just like you need to be with getting out of debt or learning how to make a budget, then you won't dread mid-April. Like them apples, jack?

The competition is fierce and the world is watching, baby. The American Idol audition field has been narrowed down to 24 joes and jills who are competing for the top spot.

Sure, lots of rocker wannabes had to go home after getting blasted by Simon and the gang, but the ones who remain have had plenty of adversity to overcome, too. They didn't quit, worked hard, and now they've punched their American Idol ticket and are on the biggest stage this side of the Super Bowl.

It's almost the law ... if you wanna win, you go all in. Just like when you're working the Baby Steps, baby. You can't just "get around" to saving dough or think about getting out of debt. You need to sell out and get fired up, like Dave says on The Dave Ramsey Show. Don't waste any more time ... create a budget and get gazelle-intense. Pretty soon, you'll win. Simple, simon.

The snowstorms may be over, but the good folks in the Northeast and Midwest ain't out of the woods yet. After days and days of the white stuff piling up, all those joes and jills can start putting things back in order. But it won't be easy. You're looking at no electricity, lots of shoveling and enough windshield-scraping to put anybody in a bad mood. Life threw a curve ball, baby, and tens of thousands of people got beaned.

Don't get caught off guard by Murphy. It may be snowstorms or a car wreck, but life happens. So be ready. Get started on your Baby Steps. Save up your baby emergency fund, then deep-six your consumer debt with the Debt Snowball (no pun intended). Then, once you stock away 3-6 months of expenses, Murphy will visit less, and you won't notice him as much. That's good advice straight from The Dave Ramsey Show.

Love funny stats? Well, this number may not get you laughing, jack. But you need to hear it just the same. Looks like people across the country will spend 17 billion smackers on Valentine's Day activities this year. That's everything from overpriced flowers to slipping the host a 50 to get a decent seat at your favorite restaurant.

Here's a tip ... the best things in life and love are free, baby. Why spend 80 bucks on a meal when you can cook dinner for your dame at home? It'll mean more to her. And it'll free up some cash that you can use to get out of debt. That holds true for any holiday ... don't let a special occasion be a budget buster. Create a budget for your home to get out of debt, and stay out by not blowing a chunk of change on Heart Day. Don't think that's just me talking; The Dave Ramsey Show would say the same thing.

One bad apple spoils a bunch. That's true in the orchard or the office. When you got a bad employee, then going to work is about as fun as doing a nickel in the cooler. Some joes and jills are bad employees because they've got a rotten-garbage attitude. Others might be unpleasant because they haven't found their calling, see? If you work in a dead-end job and know you can do something better, get off your keester and make it happen, jack!

You hear me talk about how to make a budget, about how to pay off debt, about how to save an emergency fund. You need dough to make it happen. You need to excel at your job to make money, so don't waste your time or talent doing something that you hate. Life's too short, so make the days count. You were put here to use what you got, baby. Do it. Heard that one on The Dave Ramsey Show.

Need one more reason to save some dough on gifts and still have a Happy Valentine's Day? Don't do flowers. Odds are, the overpriced roses that you plunk down your hard-earned cash for are crawling with toxic product, jack. Seems that good ol' Columbia, where 62 percent of the flowers sold in the U.S. come from, sprays its roses with more product than a hairdresser salon on prom night. There's something that should make the front page of Bad News.

Roses are overpriced around this time of year anyway, baby. So before you go blowing perfectly good dough on something, think about what else you can use the money for. How about starting a baby emergency fund? If you have that, then start deep-sixing your consumer debt. Pretty soon, you'll have so much moolah that you won't know what to do-lah. If you wanna give your sweetheart a great gift, do Valentine's Day activities like make dinner for them or give 'em something from the heart and not the flower shop. For more info, tune in to The Dave Ramsey Show.

Here's one that'll knock you over. Seems the lab boys have discovered that sleeping on the job can reduce your risk of heart problems, see? It may be true, but some joes and jills are gonna use it as an excuse to take it easy at work and let others pick up the slack. Here's my take on it, bub. If you're sleeping on the job and you're not a mattress tester, you're a crook. You may not be taking cash out of the register, but if you're catching Zs on company time, you're stealing.

Take a nap on the weekends and find a job that lights your fire. When you are excited about going to work, you will excel, which leads to piles of cash, which leads to deep-sixing your consumer debt, if you're smart. You save dough and pay off debt when you create a budget and stick to it. Guess where I got that? That's right, baby ... The Dave Ramsey Show.

This one ain't exactly an extra value meal. Take six world-class chefs, throw in a bunch of food dishes that most people can't even pronounce, add some vintage wine and charge 25,000 a head, and what have you got? An expensive dinner in Bangkok, baby. Seems that rich folk from all over the world flew to Thailand for a 10-course meal on Saturday that made Bangkok the most expensive restaurant in the world for one night. Talk about pricey.

Eating a fancy-schmancy dinner or taking a nice trip is fun when you have the money. Problem is, too many joes and jills want to live like kings, but end up paying a king's ransom in credit card interest to do it. Bad math, jack. By getting out of debt and remembering to invest smart, like they say on The Dave Ramsey Show, you're the odds-on favorite to retire rich. Don't just think about it ... do it.

Not too many things scare me ... but this one does, jack. Have you noticed that guys from all over are coming out of the woodwork to say they are the father to Anna Nicole Smith's daughter? It's bad enough that the girl will probably grow up in a world without good role models, but what's even worse is this ... she stands to inherit a few hundred million, so these yahoos are already licking their chops at the chance to stake their claim as her daddy.

No amount of dough is worth going stir-crazy over. You need to have more in your life than just that. You hear me talking all the time about how to pay off debt, about making a family budget and knowing to invest smart. You also hear me talk about using your cash to help out joes and jills who are down on their luck. You need heart to do that, baby, so have one and help out, like they talk about on The Dave Ramsey Show.

Hot enough for you? For most people, there's too much heat on, so media bigwig Richard Branson is plunking down 25 million to the first one who can find a way to put global warming greenhouse gases on ice; get 'em out of the atmosphere, see? The whole earth global warming debate gets me as much as the next guy, so hopefully someone can find a fix.

I tell ya ... 25 million smackers is a lot of dough. But the odds say that you won't invent something or win the official lottery jackpot, or any of that jazz. You want a big pile of cash? Just like Dave talks about on The Dave Ramsey Show, after you get to Baby Step 4, invest smart ... put 15% of your gross pay in good mutual funds, and watch it grow. It's the best invest you can do. You get rich quick by getting rich slow. It's a surefire money-making scheme, baby.
CHECK OUT MY VALENTINE'S CASE ON THE STORIES PAGE!

Some joes and jills graduate from high school and are all ready to go for a career as a doctor, lawyer or some other high-profile gig. They get starry-eyed when they hear about knocking down 90 grand a year in the courtroom, or double that in the emergency room. That's all nice and good, but do you know about the 7 to 10 years of schooling, the 60+ hour workweeks, or the six-figure student loan that almost everyone gets just to make it through all that?

If you have the drive and the cash to be a big-time medical or legal hotshot, then do it, baby. But if it doesn't light your fire, or if you're gonna accumulate a Capone-sized ransom in federal student loans to get your degree, then you're in the wrong business. Dave talks about that stuff on The Dave Ramsey Show all the time. Learn how to budget money so you can out of debt. Do that, and you'll save tons of dough in interest by not taking out a loan, and you can start your baby steps as soon as you pluck the sheepskin out of the chancellor's hands, jack.
CHECK OUT MY VALENTINE'S CASE ON THE STORIES PAGE!

How's this to get you into the Valentine's Day spirit, jack? Some archaeologists in Italy unearthed a 5,000-year-old pair of skeletons. Looks like the skeleton couple died holding each other, see? When these two said their vows, maybe they left out "til death do us part." If you look through their skeleton system, you're bound to find some heart.

Time to get sappy for a second. Around this time of year in this crazy world, take a few extra minutes and spend 'em with your bub or dame, baby. Marriage and money is a big deal. Couples fight about the dough all the time, and they don't need to. They just need to get on a plan and keep themselves on the straight and narrow, like Dave talks about on The Dave Ramsey Show. Once they create a budget, and figure out how to spend cash, get out of debt and work together, then that's just one less thing to fight about. You can stick to arguing about toilet seats and in-laws after that.

There's stupid tax, and there's stupid acts. Some joe in Japan performed the second of those when he decided to steal a car from the coppers to get home. The reason? He was too tired to talk. It's a funny story, and hopefully they won't throw him into the cooler, but stealing cars is a stupid decision in a world full of them. Maybe the dumbest move of all is to get yourself under a lot of consumer debt.

You don't need to learn how to steal a car ... you need to learn how to make a budget, bub. Lots of joes and jills in this crazy world are just walkin' around, clueless about where their dough goes. Think about how much you pay out each month in payments. Now picture it staying in your bank account for more than 10 minutes ... that's what happens when you eliminate debt from your life, baby. Stress turns into smiles. Get more info about it on The Dave Ramsey Show, and make it happen.

Hate to bust your bubble, baby ... but times they are a changin'. Just take a look at this 362-year-old Swedish newspaper. Since 1645, the press boys in Stockholm have been churning out the morning paper for all the yeels to read. As of January 1, the news in Sweden from these people will go digital only. Hate to see tradition go out the window, but life goes on.

Some things change as years fly by, but some don't need to. One thing that doesn't is good money advice. You need a plan so your money doesn't get away from you, so you need to learn how to make a budget. Having debt is stupid, so deep-six your consumer debt. You also need to invest smart, so you have a good pile of dough for when you call it quits on the career. One thing that won't ever change for me? Listening to The Dave Ramsey Show.

We've all got our stupid tax stories; you hear them all the time on The Dave Ramsey Show. But Turner Broadcasting Systems has taken it over the top, jack. Seems the boys at TBS wanted to promote the new flick "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", see? So they put flashing electrical devices in subways and on bridges in Bean Town that looked like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force characters. Next thing you know, joes and jills all over town are going crazy-ape, thinking that the electric signs are terrorist bombs. Pony up the 2 million, Ted Turner, and don't do it again.

Stupid tax doesn't have to be in the millions. If you don't create a budget, then you don't know where your dough goes, and that's plenty stupid. That's a mentally-challenged moolah matter, baby. Don't let it happen. Make a personal budget, save your baby emergency fund, get out of debt and on with your life. Simple, simon.

Ask yourself this question, jack: if you needed to drop what you're doing right now and help someone out, could you do it? Case in point ... the disaster flood in Indonesia. About 340,000 joes and jills are in trouble and out on the street. When you talk about flood disasters, this one is right at the top of the list. They need help, see? You may be able to give a little, but here's the kicker: when you're out of debt, you can give away a pile of cash easy.

You never know when a bad dose of Lady Luck is gonna knock at your door, or someone else's. But if you pay off debt, like they talk about all the time on The Dave Ramsey Show, then you'll be able to give like there's no tomorrow, and have tons of fun doing it. Do good with your dough in this crazy world, and you'll never go wrong.

You'll have to forgive me ... I'm as down as a Chicago Bears quarterback after the defensive line gets a hold of me. The Chicago Bears Super Bowl dream came crashing down last night in front of 90 million joes and jills. It was a great season and you gotta give props to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, but I would've liked to see a different outcome in the Indy vs. Windy game.

You know what happens when things don't go your way, in life or money? You keep going, baby. You think a winner throws in the towel after a mistake, or when some bad luck hits? Fat chance. A real winner picks himself up, shakes off the dirt, and goes right back into the fight, just like the Bears will this off-season. So when you've racked up a bunch of consumer debt, don't be a pansy and give up; fight back and create a budget. Once that happens, you can start to pay off debt. Put that in your Dave Ramsey Show pipe and smoke it, jack ... it's good advice.

That's right, woodchuck chuckers ... it's Groundhog Day. Famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil popped out of his hole today, and blurted out that he didn't see his shadow, which means spring will be coming six weeks early, baby. Being from Chi-town, I'm all about cold weather. But when spring is due, I'm all for it. It's a crying shame that you can't know when bad things in life (like too much winter) are gonna hit, but that doesn't mean you can't be ready for it.

You can probably see where I'm going with this, jack. You can't predict when bad weather or bad luck will strike, so you need an emergency fund. Just think of it ... a big pile of dough saved for when that rainy day hits (and you know it will). Getting one is simple enough. Just pay off debt, then save up the cash. It's one of those old Dave Ramsey philosophies; be ready for Murphy.

Pop quiz, ladies and gents; what do you call 89 years, a stint in WWII, 300 million sold books, multiple Broadway hits and Oscar-winning screenplays? You call them Sidney Sheldon. The author who has more credits to his name than MasterCard and Visa combined passed on this week and left a list of accomplishments that's longer than Capone's rap sheet. I'm actually a big fan of Sidney Sheldon novels, his mystery works are something else.

Was his middle name Superman? Probably not. He was just an average joe who started doing what he loved, baby. Before you know it, he's got more awards than Streep, Streisand and Nicholson put together. Don't be someone who does the whole 'Thank goodness it's Friday ... oh goodness, it's Monday' bit. Do what you enjoy, and the dough will follow suit. You'll look forward to learning how to make a budget, then you'll get out of debt. Want more good advice like this? Then listen to The Dave Ramsey Show.

Ever hear of the Great Depression? Well, that's the last time Americans saved less than they do now. The personal saving rate of the average joe has dropped to the lowest level in 74 years, to the tune of negative 1 percent. People are spending more than they make. It burns me up to read that. We live in the richest country this crazy world has ever seen, but we save no dough. It's a crying shame. You need to do savings first, and not many people are.

Time to go into bugsy mode. You want to blow all your cash and not save an emergency fund or for retirement? It's big-time stupid and you're setting yourself up for a sad retirement. Don't come crying to me in 40 years when you're too old to work and you're as broke as a bookie after the underdog wins. You need to start saving yesterday. Deep-six your consumer debt by learning how to make a personal budget and start piling up dough for emergencies and retirement. You hear this on The Dave Ramsey Show all the time, so do it.

The 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl team was one for the ages, bub. Names like Payton, McMahon, Singletary and The Fridge brings a smile to your kisser (unless you're a Patriots fan). The Bears 46-10 win in Super Bowl XX was so impressive that the Chicago Bears football team that'll take the field Sunday in Miami has been fielding question all year long about that '85 squad. The media has been comparing this team to that one, and it gets on the players' and coaches' last nerves, see?

Don't worry about filling big shoes ... do the best YOU can at what YOU do. Leave a legacy that's yours, jack. Do good stuff and do it right, and don't worry about the yahoos who are stuck on yesterday. There's no one else in the world like you, so don't try to be somebody else. Wanna do something worthwhile? Then try getting out of debt so you can do a big-time money donation to whatever charity you want. Lots of subjects about money and giving are tackled every day on The Dave Ramsey Show, so tune in and learn.