So, this is the second time that I’m writing a member post and much about me hasn’t changed.
My name is Khaleef Crumbley and I was born and raised in New Jersey, where my wonderful wife and I currently reside. I have seen a lot of poverty in my life – the place where I grew up is known for its drugs, gangs, teenage pregnancy, shootouts, and stolen cars – but I have also seen people with the resilience to rise above this!
I had a poor education in public school, but I had parents who invested their time and energy in seeing me succeed. For as long as I could remember, I “helped” my mother manage the household budget, pay bills, and even clip coupons. My parents both taught me the importance of hard work and determination!
I love studying the bible and learning about God, playing with kids, making spreadsheets, and making homemade pizza! I also love to teach – ANYTHING – the bible, finance, economics, Microsoft Excel, flashing ROMs on HTC phones, or anything else that I learn. My idea of fun is simply spending time talking about the bible and God with my wife and church family, or even going for a long drive while listening to jazz!
Because I didn’t take college seriously when I first went, I lost my financial aid and had to drop out because I couldn’t afford tuition. I then worked at a bunch of dead-end jobs for about 6 years, until I decided to go back to school. I wanted to go back so I could stop working at these horrible jobs, and so I could go to seminary.
I earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Rutgers University in Economics with specialized work in Finance, Investment Analysis, and Non-Profit accounting. It took me a total of 3 years to earn both degrees (I guess that’s what happens when you’re motivated)! I also studied Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations (with an emphasis on Ancient Greek culture and language), Music, and Math. My immediate educational plans include earning a second Master’s Degree, this time in Accounting, and sitting for the CPA and CFP exams. Then I hope to earn a doctorate in Theology soon after that.
I currently serve as Treasurer for OASIS for Children, Inc; a non-profit orphanage located in Haiti. After several years in corporate finance and accounting, I currently work in higher education managing government, non-profit, and corporate grants.
My ultimate goal is to honor God in all that I do. The most important things to me are relationships, first to God and then my marriage, my family, friends and church. If I was forced to lose all of my possessions and money (just be sure to take my debt as well ;-) ), but still keep my relationships, I would be more than happy!
There…pretty much the same as before, right? I will add a few other notes about myself in the section about my blog.
About KNS Financial
Since I also have an offline presence with KNS Financial, I’ll tell you what made me get started with it, and then move on to what you all came to see.
I hate that the majority of people in this country seem incapable of making wise financial decisions. For all of my adult life, my friends and family members have come to me for financial advice. I founded KNS Financial in order to assist people with financial matters in a more organized and systematic way.
I have always had a desire to take complex ideas and make them easy to understand and teach to people. However, my focus always lied in investing and not so much in personal finance.
So, I made a lot of bad choices and led an undisciplined life financially (which I’m still paying for), while all the time still studying investing. I was making minimum wage, and instead of trying to learn how to make more money, or at least manage what I had more efficiently, I studied the stock market!
Then I read 2 books by Larry Burkett, “Debt-Free Living” and “The Word on Finances” (more of a reference book). Both of these books opened my eyes to the fact that God actually cares about how I handle my finances. Up until that point, I just assumed that cheerful giving was enough!
From that point on I began to look for personal finance resources and discovered The Motley Fool. From there I learned a lot of practical ways to manage my finances, and realized that it was more about common sense than anything else. From that time it became my goal to teach people to do the same!
I currently prepare taxes through KNS Financial and eventually, I would like to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), so I can [legally] assist people with more complicated financial matters.
About Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet
As you can see, there are two separate (but related) areas of focus for my blog.
Fat Guy
I’m sure this doesn’t need much of an explanation. I am a really FAT GUY!!! Over the last year or more I’ve been trying to lose weight, but I always let things get in my way. While it is true that with the way my life is structured, I don’t have much time for anything else, it is also true that I’m not getting any younger and weight loss needs to be a priority!
I wasn’t always like this. I was into sports as a kid (playing the 3 major sports and wrestling), and even through high school – where I played football and baseball. I never liked to sit in front of a TV or playing video games, and I was always outside running around with friends.
Unfortunately, when I graduated from high school, I stop playing sports, with the exception of an occasional pickup game of football. That plus late night eating once I became a musician (I was always out eating at 3 or 4 in the morning after a gig) caused me to gain weight quickly.
I decided that I wanted to make my struggles public so that people would be able to offer their suggestions, tips, encouragement, and keep me in line!
I have actually had a lot of people from my personal life follow my progress through the blog.
I issued myself a challenge at the beginning of the summer to try and lose 15lbs in one month. Some of you followed that challenge (since I posted my progress every single day), and may remember that I started off weighing 290lbs! I’m only 5’6″ on a good day, so you can only imagine what I look like.
My goal is to lose about 100lbs – between 80 and 100 depending on what my body looks like! Oh, in case you weren’t following, I beat the challenge by losing 16lbs in 31 days, so now my goal is down to 84.
To me, the biggest problem in my life when it comes to weight loss is discipline. I know how to workout properly, and I know enough about nutrition to make proper decisions.
Now I just have to discipline myself to make the time and put in the effort, and then eat the right things!
Skinny Wallet
This is the second area of focus for my blog. We are in serious debt, and we are fighting to get out!
We currently have about $105,000 in debt (no, we don’t own a house). This is comprised mostly of student loan debt, but it also involves a lot of credit card debt, and a couple of small personal loans.
Much of this is the result of my mismanaging my finances when I was younger and only paying attention to investing and the stock market!
Our goal is to become completely debt free, and never have to borrow money again!
Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet
There are two points of intersection in these categories. First, in 2010, we spent $3,724 eating out!! That is bad for both our wallets and our waistline. Focusing on making healthy choices with our diet, and avoiding fast food and other expensive, calorie-drenched dining, will do wonders for both categories.
Secondly, both of these goals will take an extreme amount of discipline – especially since the average American completely lacks self-control in these areas.
So, over the next few weeks, I will consider exactly how I want to structure my updates on the site – probably daily for diet and working out, and weekly or bi-weekly for debt.
Faith
As many of you know, I’m a born-again Christian, and this dominates my worldview. Ultimately, I want to honor God with the way that I manage my health, time, energy, and wealth.
Being in better physical shape and having more energy, will allow me to be able to be a better husband, and to do more things on behalf of my church. Also, by being debt free, we will be able to better support our church financially.
These are both great motivations for developing the discipline necessary to make this happen!
Yakezie
Since I was already a Yakezie member when I started Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet, I automatically knew that I wanted this blog to be a part of this group as well. So I entered the Yakezie challenge back in February.
I have grown a great deal as a writer and website owner thanks to all of your support, advice, and guidance!
If anyone has any questions or simply needs some help promoting a book, article, giveaway, or anything else, feel free to contact me!
Open Door For Stories
One other thing I want to incorporate into my site is to have people who have been successful in either endeavor tell their stories.
If you have managed to become debt free – or if you have been able to avoid debt – I would love for you to tell your story on my blog!
Also, for people who have been able to lose weigh, get into better shape, or simply develop a consistent workout plan, I would love to know about it.
This also goes for people who are able to keep their grocery costs down, and are able to eat healthy without breaking the bank.
Basically, I want to give my readers a different perspective, and also give them inspiration (myself included)!
Links:
Here are my 2 favorite articles, along with ways to connect with me on social media:
Here is one of the tricks we use to pay off debt faster
A guide for hurricane preparedness that I put together (Irene did major damage to New Jersey)
Connect with me on Social Media
Oh, and I need to thank my wife for designing the logo!!!
Khaleef, thanks for sharing a little more about your upbringing here. Your parents sounds like great people who didn’t let challenges stand in their way. They have obviously passed that along to you. What I, personally, like about ‘Fat Guy Skinny Wallet’ is that you are tackling two issues that are so common in our society today, and you are discussing them in an open and realistic way. I think that is a great motivator for your readers to want to succeed at their own goals, be they large or small.
Thanks! I am definitely glad that my parents didn’t allow me to use any of those things as an excuse for failure!
I really hope to be transparent on my sit and allow everyone to see my struggles and victories, so they can be motivated themselves. That’s why I’m always looking for people to write about their own battles on the site.
Thanks for sharing, and congrats on making it in with a second blog! The name of your blog “Fat guy, skinny wallet” is catchy and funny, but also describes your average American today. I’m sure there is a huge audience that this blog applies to.
Now you just need to start a blog for the average American to be a little more in touch with current events and world news? :)
Thanks, Kellen! I am afraid of being just like the “average American”, so I have to push myself to try harder!
I have to admit that I am not in touch with current events and news at all. I find that I don’t have the time to keep up with everything.
That is a lot of schooling Khaleef!
What kind of financial organization is KNS Financial? RIA? etc.
It was an insane amount of hard classes to squeeze into 3 years while working, but it was only 3 years, so it doesn’t seem that bad anymore! lol
Right now, KNS Financial is just set up to do basic accounting functions – tax preparation, and some financial consulting. I am not licensed to give investment advice, but once I do this full time, that is the goal.
Discipline is truly the key. Thanks for telling us your story.
Thanks Dr. Dean! Hopefully, I will be able to meet my goals quickly.
Thanks so much for sharing your story Khaleef. Hearing how your family just never gave up is really inspiring. You still have that determiniation which is great. Strength emotionally and physically is very important to our success in my opinion.
Congrats on the second blog and best of luck.
Thanks for the encouraging words, Miss T!
Khaleef, you are a brainiac! Who knew? So do you ever get a chance to distinguish between ionic, doric, and corinthian columns? Great to learn so many new details about you.
I definitely can’t say that I’m a brainiac – I just love learning and teaching! I didn’t get a chance to study Greek architecture that much (but I got to study Roman). However, I did learn Ionic, Dorian, and Koine Greek language! ;-)
Two degrees in 3 years? I’d say that’s pretty disciplined!! Thanks so much for sharing more of your story and congratulations on getting another blog into the Yakezie!
Thanks Dana!
I just wish that I started at 17 – I would have had a Master’s by age 20! Actually, I had a lot of wonderful experiences before going back to school, and they had a major part in shaping who I am today.
Khaleef – Congrats on getting another site into the yakezie! I like FGSW mainly because you’re really open there with things that everyone struggles with.
I do also wonder like you why so many people are careless with their finances – who do they think is going to be there for them when something goes sideways on them?
Thanks Jeff! I really hope that my struggles end in victory so I can encourage others!
That’s a great story, Khaleef! Even though I recalled some of your background, I somehow missed the part of how you went back to school when a bit older than a typical college student and then got 2 degrees in 3 years! I’m usually impressed when I hear about people graduating from undergrad shooling in less than the standard 4, but you hit it out of the park!
Seems like you’ve got great intentions, and are working toward some important goals. That’s great.
Thanks Squirrelers! Hopefully, I can put more of my education to use in my consulting and writing.
My parents were quite similar. It’s great to have your parents teach you worthwhile lessons isn’t it?
I am so thankful to them for not allowing me to use my surroundings as an excuse!
Thanks for sharing your “new” story. Its cool to see you have both your sites!
Thanks! I hope to keep pushing hard with both of them!
Thanks for sharing Khaleef! We have similar stories in that I also decided to go back to school after working in a few dead end positions. And also in the fact that we prefered investing to getting out of debt as a priority. Right now I am working more on the debt and I will be debt free in 2 years! I would be interested in sharing my story with your readers. Especially if it would help someone not make the same mistakes I made with money in my early years out of high school.
Yeah, we definitely have a lot in common! I would love for you to share your story/experiences on my site. Just send me an email on my site (the link is at the end of the article).
Love the honestly Khaleef! Education is pretty pricelss though, so perhaps the $100K is worth it!
Thanks Peter. I can only give education the blame for about $66k of my debt, so it does include some bad choices and bad circumstances!
Congratulation! I hope you lose the 100lbs. It’s a long battle, but you will feel so much better afterward. All your degrees are amazing.
Thanks! I don’t know how I’ll react when I hit my goal. It’s been such a long battle already!
Thanks for sharing. It is a pleasure to get to learn more about you, where you’ve been, and where you are going.
Thanks! I just hope that I can continue to grow in every area.
Hey Khaleef thanks for sharing a little more about yourself and your second blog. All the best as you shave off a cool 84 pounds :) You can do it bud!
By the way, your enthusiasm for learning and teaching is clear to see in your blogs. Keep it up
Tim
Thanks Tim! I hope the 84 drops off quickly.
Thanks for sharing more about this blog. I stopped going to college two different times to take a break, and each time I quit, people worried that I wouldn’t go back. However, I always knew I would because I didn’t want to be stuck in crummy jobs forever. I had to laugh at this point in the post because you sound just like me when I would take a break! I couldn’t get back to school fast enough. Wishing you continued success on your weight loss and debt reduction!
Thanks Melissa! I definitely know how it feels to want to get back to school. I am hoping to be able to make quick strides in both categories!
Thanks for being so honest and transparent with this post. It really helped me get to know you better. Good luck with both of your goals. I look forward to following along. And great work with the orphanage. I really admire your commitment!
Thanks! I hope that I don’t disappoint you as you follow along.
Howdy Khaleef – Good job getting your second site into the Yakezie! Let me join your pound shedding crusade!
Thanks! I’m sure you can just get on the tennis court for a few minutes and you’ll be fine!
Congrats Khaleef! Awesome stories and great message about discipline. You sure are showing us! Many degrees, cutting weight, two blogs in Yakezie, the list goes on and on. Your blog name and logo is one of the best around!
Thanks Buck! Hahahaha…let’s just hope that I am able to keep this up (and add on all the other stuff in the back of my mind)!
Losing 16 pounds in a month is impressive Khaleef!
I really enjoyed reading your story.
Thanks Tushar! I hope that the other 84 comes off quickly as well.
Congratulations on getting your second blog into the Yakezie network and on losing weight. If you need some additional motivation for losing weight, you might want to check out http://www.youtube.com/shayloss This is a fat guy who is trying to lose weight and he’s lost about 40 pounds in the last few months. Just a thought. :)
Thanks Kevin! I am going to check him out when I get time. I love seeing people work hard to accomplish their goals.
Thanks so much for sharing… it is very encouraging and in light of all you’ve accomplished, I’d suggest you’ll be quite successful at losing the weight too. I’d love to share a couple thoughts on how I paid off debt and avoided debt, which is even more important going forward. Best to you going forward… PS I’ve read those books too – I like them.
Thanks for the encouragement! Let me know if you want to write about your battles with debt on my site.
Sounds really great. Thanks for sharing your story. It helps a lot to see people doing the best they can to improve their situation and others’ too. Good luck and have fun on the second blog!
Thanks Dan! I really hope that I can accomplish my goals and help people to do the same.
Congrats on having 2 member sites now, woohoo! That’s so cool your wife designed your logo too!
Great job with your summer weight loss goal. Have you ever considered going vegan? I went vegan for 7 days earlier this year after I got fed up with myself eating too much fried and junk food, and it felt great!! -Sydney
Thanks Untemplater! My wife designed both of my logos because I am so uncreative.
I never really considered a vegan diet – because that might prove to be too restrictive.
Thanks for sharing your faith and its role in your finances Khaleef. Glad to see Fat Guy Skinny Wallet as a member blog now. Good luck on your weight loss goals too!
Thanks Matt! Understanding what God expects from how we manage our finances has definitely turned things around for me.
Hi Khaleef – keep going on the 84 pounds. There’s a lot of distractions, but having a long-term goal helps.
Nice member post.
Thanks! I just have to get better at working through the distractions. ;-)
Welcome again! Your studies in Ancient Mediterranean cultures is neat–have you ever been or do you have plans to visit that area? I think a trip to Greece sounds fantastic!
I have never been, but it is on my list! I love studying how ancient civilizations lived – especially to see groups/kingdoms mentioned in the bible!
Hi Khaleef,
Congrats on getting the second site in! I have not stopped by and commented as often as I should have lately, but I am inspired by your journey through life and I enjoy reading about your viewpoint on things, especially the more controversial articles.
I don’t know if you’ve read “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, but it’s a quite fascinating book that deals with the western way of life and the impacts that has had on our health and so forth, and what we can do about it. In any case, I wish you the best of luck on your goals!
Thanks Kevin! I haven’t read that book, but it sounds like something I should read. I hope to be able to help others with my own journey, so it will be good see how others are able to describe these problems.
Khaleef, it was fun reading your second member introduction. :) I enjoyed getting to know you better AND meeting your beautiful bride at Fincon11.
Here’s to a successful year until we see each other again.
Kay Lynn, it was great meeting you as well. We had a great time – especially our pizza party in your room!
Thanks for all of your support.