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Financial Thoughts and Personal Reflections at Age 35

Brent Pittman —  03/11/2013 — 4 Comments
Lego Birthday Cake

Credit Danacea

As this week marks my 35th birthday week–yes, we have birthday weeks in our family, don’t you?

This last year of my life has been super busy with us moving several times and continuing to help others with their personal finances through writing and coaching.

I’ve also dabbled with SEO writing, entertained the thought of becoming an financial advisor [Why I Don't Want to Become a Financial Advisor], and a bit of freelance writing.

Our net-worth shrank, but my happiness increased as I learned and pursued a career path that was much more fulfilling.

Financial Thoughts and Personal Reflections at Age 35

My thoughts on personal finance and money are mostly unchanged from last years reflections at age 34, below are a few recent thoughts.

  • I still dislike debt and I still don’t believe in “good debt”.
  • I calculate risk more heavily since coaching more couples though financial crisis. If you see enough “what if” scenarios, you’ll try to avoid them.
  • I believe more firmly that having an emergency fund is important for peace of mind and a building block for financial security.
  • You can’t make everyone happy–especially other personal finance writers.
  • After one of my beloved banks  [R.I.P. ING Direct] was sold to a company that makes me want to vomit, my trust in banks is weakened even further–could that even happen?
  • My confidence in “Buy and Hold” investing is strengthened after recent record highs on Wall Street.
  • A change in career paths is worth a temporary pause in achieving financial goals.
  • Life is too short to work a job you hate. Tweet this
  • And of course.. Money is cent everything (the original name of this blog)

Thanks for reading and joining me for year 35! Any suggestions, blog ideas, or guest post submissions email: info (at) ontargetcoach (dot) com

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Top 100 Financial Blogs to Follow 2013 (Infographic)

Brent Pittman —  02/20/2013 — Leave a comment

Hey look who made #42!
Top 100 Finance blogs to follow

An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

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We’re Moving (Again!) Time to Hitch the Wagons

Brent Pittman —  12/05/2012 — 15 Comments
Lego Horse Drawn Wagon

We’re loading up the wagons again! Credit zgrredek.

This is just a quick update about our offline happenings. If you’re not interested tune back soon for more financial nuggets of knowledge.

Yep, we’re moving again. If you’ve been following awhile, you might remember that we moved to “The Valley” earlier this year.

Now we’re on the move again. This time it will be a 1,400 mile road trip with a moving truck and a toddler. Needless to say it won’t be a quick trip, but we’ll get 22+ hours of family bonding time together.

Where Are You Going?

Glad you asked. We’re heading to Oklahoma. Yes sir. I’ll soon be an Okie. Moving from Los Angeles to Oklahoma will be a bit like the city mouse moving to the countryside. It will take a little getting used to, but we’re looking forward to being near family.

Los Angeles vs. Oklahoma Stats

  • Low Unemployment rate of 5.2% compared to 10.1% in California.
  • Cost of Living will be -36% lower while the rate of pay is -13% lower in OK than L.A.
  • Median sale price for a 2 bedroom home in Oklahoma City is $76,500; Median sale price for 2 bedroom in Los Angeles (Palms neighboorhood) is $543,196. Wow! We just might buy a whole block of homes!
  • A gallon of gas in Oklahoma is $3.12; California is $3.66. Difference of $0.54 a gallon! Nice!

Needless to say it seems to a bit cheaper and we might actually be able to be homeowners than lifetime renters. I will miss many many things in Los Angeles of course.

Places I’ll Miss in Los Angeles

  • Trader Joe’s I’ll miss your low priced organic and wholesome fair. We might just have to trek down to Dallas to stock pile your non-perishable goodness.
  • In N Out Burger- What can I say? Double Double grilled onions, Chocolate shake with fries? You’ll be missed my friend. You’ll be missed.
  • K-Town - I would drive the 405 in traffic just to eat your kimchi, bulgogi, bibimbap, and anything else put before me. Bae Go Pa!
  • Mosaic- Our tribe.
  • King Taco- This is like the Mexican food version of In N Out, only they serve tongue tacos!
  • Many cool summer date places.

I could go on and on, but this is just making me hungry.

What I Won’t Miss About Los Angeles

  • Being the only person in the room not in the movie or T.V. industry.
  • The 405.
  • June Gloom.
  • The 405.
  • LAX.
  • The 405.

I really do love L.A. I’ve lived here off and on since 2001. You are a part of me and I’m sure you’ll try to lure me back again with your 60 degree winters and 11 days of rain.

Until then our wagons are hitched and we’re making our own Oklahoma Land Run.

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End of Summer State of the Blog Address + September Blog Goals

Brent Pittman —  08/30/2012 — 5 Comments

standard-300Hi gang! I hope you’re gearing up for a long holiday weekend. I’m thinking BBQ and college football!

Around here our family is all orange. I went to Auburn and my wife Oklahoma St.– both big football schools. So you might see a lot of “War Eagle” and “Go Pokes” on my Twitter feed this season.

This article has nothing to do with money, but it you want hear intimate details–keep reading. O.K. not that intimate, but it should be interesting. 

Graphic Changes

You’ll notice a few slight changes to the look and feel at On Target Coach, but there’s a heap load of changes to the code and back end where the elves do all the work.

Last night I upgraded to an new WordPress theme called Standard Theme 3 (affiliate link) by @8bit and I’m geeking out about a lot of cool options.

If you’re a blogger, this is a premium theme that contends with the best.

Blogging Schedule

My posting schedule will be 3-4 times a week during the fall season, so I can focus on a growing abundance of financial coaching clients and freelance writing.

Don’t worry, we’ll keep good content coming, so be sure to subscribe by RSS to keep up with the updates. As always if you have any suggestions for topics let me know: info at ontargetcoach dot com.

Blogging Goals for September

Before I was married I rarely made goals, but my wife has converted me to the practice. I like challenging myself and seeing things grow–so I have to keep growing myself.

I took a picture of my blogging goals for September if you’re wondering about the details, just click the link in Twitter.

One of my goals is to start a email newsletter that you’ll get 1-2 max per month. This will be another opportunity to connect with my core readers with conversations and provide helpful information not posted on my blog. If you want to sign up for the newsletter it takes just a few clicks.

What are your goals for September or plans for Labor Day? 

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200th Post Giveaway: Gracias to My Readers

Brent Pittman —  08/09/2012 — 13 Comments
Thank you sign in spanish

Thanks to everyone for your support! Photo credit olgaberrios.

I sit here writing the 200th post on OnTargetCoach.com! I can’t believe I’ve made it to 200 already. I know this is just a beginning of writing about money, relationships, and careers in fun and interesting ways.

Hold on this is going to feel like a speech at the Oscars, I hope they don’t cue the music. I’d like to thank YOU! Yes, you Mr. and Mrs. Reader for reading this ole’ blog, leaving comments, sharing the articles on social media, and giving me helpful advice.

Thanks to my wife who lets me live my dreams to write and help others. Thanks to my fellow financial coaches, those who have guest posted here at OTC, my Yakezie team #5 and other Yakezie members and challengers [cue music].

Thank you to everyone else whose helped me along the way. The 500th post is just around the corner!

Random Stats at 200 Posts

  • 631 comments…ok about 1/2 of those are my responses, but 315 comments is sweet in my opinion!
  • Interesting Google Searches that bring people to my site: Hipster, billy bean peter brand, target engagement rings, costco birthday cakes, medical school for free, how to spend lottery winnings.
  • Top 5 referring websites: SkyDmagazine, Christianpf.com, Yakezie, Thedebtprincess.com, ArtofManliness
  • Since installing Google Analytics OTC has had 5,844 Unique Visitors, 33,388 pageviews, 3:09 average visit duration.
  • Alexa 183K, PR 2, DA 36, MozRank 4.09, Page Authority 46.

Top Posts at 200 Articles

If you’re new here, check out my top 10 articles.

200th Post Thank You Giveaway

Thanks to old, new, and future readers…you’re all awesome! Now let’s register for a few prizes.

This giveaway is for U.S. residents only (sorry, I can’t pay for shipping all over the world right?) that are 18 or older.

Use this cool contraption below to enter the contest.

<a Rafflecopter giveaway

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