This is Otis. He is my best friend. In fact, it was meant to be that way. He is man's best friend. I am a man, and he lives at my house; therefore, he is MY best friend. Every time I look at him I think about the first time I saw him.

I was on the lookout for someone to watch football with on Sundays. I had been married a month, and Mrs. Planner asked too many questions about football during the game. Obviously, you see the problem. I convinced Mrs. Planner that we should get a dog. We were kinda broke at the time, but we felt that we wanted a dog. Broke people looking for a dog should go the Humane Society, not to a breeder. We went to a breeder. We had no idea how much this mongrel was going to cost, but we went anyway. Long story short (too late) he came running around the corner when we got to the breeder's house. We fell in love and committed to buy him right away. I then asked, "How much?". The breeder gave me the price (which I am too embarrassed to type). We clearly had no business spending that kind of money on "Man's best friend", but we did. Yes, I made two payments on a dog. We made a very big emotional financial decision. Would I do it differently now? No, but I might wait a little longer before getting him.

Most big financial decisions are emotional. A house, a car, a dog, a TV, an espresso maker (okay, I'm weird...but you know that by now). How do you prevent emotional decisions? How do you walk away, when you should? My answer is to simply ask yourself if the purchase is on the same financial path as your financial goals. For example: Do I need to buy this model home right now? Do all the rebates and deals really affect my financial goals? Or try this one. Is my 36" TV really that bad? Do I need a new TV, or does that prevent me from contributing to my kid's college fund? Tough questions, but most people don't ask them.

By the way, Otis is great to watch football games with. Except that he lays across my knees with his bony chin. Most importantly though, he doesn't ask questions about football during the games.

****Keep myself out of the doghouse side note: Mrs. Planner doesn't ask questions during the game any more. I'm quite proud to report that she can name 32 out of 32 starting NFL quarterbacks. Can your wife do that?