With Great Power…
Well, hosting the carnival certainly “spiked” the old site hits number. For those who checked out my blog and decided to subscribe to the feed, or book-mark it, I’d like to say, “Welcome.”
Here is a brief synopsis of who I am and what I do here on my blog.
I am 30 years old, and so is my wife. We have two kids, ages 5 and almost 2. I began this blog in April of 2005, with a goal of paying off ALL of my debt by October 10 of 2005. You can check out the “pie-chart” on the right to see my progress. On April 6, 2005, I had a total debt of 11510.22 dollars. Now, I owe 5376.52 dollars. I have paid off more than 50 percent of my debt, so far.
I follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, with a few personal modifications. My very, very simple goal is to live my life WITHOUT borrowing money, ever again. If you click around my various posts, you will see that I talk about my finances, my life, my goals, and things I like. I hope you find it interesting.
(As for reaching my October 10 goal, I do not know if I am going to make it. Right now, it looks VERY doubtful. I KNOW I will be debt free by Christmas, but I really, really want to push towards 10-10. What will my NEW goals be AFTER I get out of debt? Well, here they are, in no specific order.)
1. Fully funded, 10k emergency fund at INGDIRECT.
2. 15 percent of my salary, and my wife’s salary into retirement. 5 percent will go into my 403b and 5 percent into her state retirement. The other 10 percents will go into Roth IRA’s.
3. 2000k each into Coverdell ESA’s for my kids.
4. Pile up as much cash as possible for car-replacement fund, and future home purchase fund.
Well, hope you have enjoyed my blog so far, and I hope you come back for more.
(Oh yeah, I also talk about losing weight…but, I’m not very good at it, so it’s mostly just talk. And yes, I do love to use commas.)
Learn To Be Debt Free…Carnival of Debt Reduction
Hi, Welcome to the second ever Carnival of Debt Reduction.
Below, you will find posts from a variety of different personal finance bloggers. (PFBloggers for short). Click around, and I think you will find some very useful information about credit, credit scores, and getting out of debt. Thanks for stopping by.
First, check out this post at Fighting Debt Blog.com. (Site no longer exists…)
The author is a young man, trying to get out of debt. This post is about a supposedly “beneficial” loan from his bank that turned out to be anything but. Click around his blog a bit, and check out his current financial situation.
Then, click on over to this post at Frugal For Life.
Dawn is the Queen of Saving Money! The very last part of her post is a great reminder to everyone who is in love with the idea of borrowing, borrowing, borrowing. Dawn’s site is just FILLED UP with good information. You will find hours and hours of good things to read at her site.
Okay, now that you’ve been inspired and informed, check out Blue Print For Financial Prosperity.
This article deals with the effects on personal credit cards when you carry a balance on a zero percent card. Great stuff, with links back and forth between various sites and points of view. Blue Print is one of my favorite blogs, and Jim deals with much, much more than just getting out of debt.
Now, time to click on over to My Money Blog.
What a great piece on the dangers of online pay-day loans. This blog is updated regularly, and the information provided is always entertaining and informative. (Check out the right hand side of the page, and you can track “My Money’s” progress!)
Back so soon? Well, check out Five Cent Nickel.
Good old “Five Cent” decides to take on the one and only Dave Ramsey!
This article points our some of the “mathematical” flaws in Dave Ramsey’s plan. If you want personal finance “musings” that will make you think, you have to check out “Five Cent”.
One of the largest personal finance blogs out there is next. Click here to head to Free Money Finance.
This is a great site for all things “finance”. This particular article references and inspiring tale of someone who was in debt, and decided to DO something about it. Please, you will do yourself a favor if you spend some time checking out the fmf site.
All of the above articles were submitted to me for the Carnival, and I am very pleased to host them. Here below, I will list a link to an article I wrote, and to several of my favorite posts from various sites. Thanks again for stopping by, and be sure to click, click, click!
Okay, here is my favorite post that I have written. It keeps me motivated and I like to revisit it from time to time! No Credit Needed.
Consumerism Commentary has an article on free credit reports.
Credit Card Victim has a post about credit card myths.
Defying Debt in 2 Years has this really, really funny
Hello, Dollar! presents an article about interest rate basics. (”Hello, Dollar!” HAS to be the best pf blog title of them all. So cool)
Me Against The Credit Cards talks about financial struggles and issues. A really, personal blog. Great stuff.
Mighty Bargain Hunter suggests a … Carnival of Debt ACCUMULATION … I shall have no part in it, I say, NO PART!
Smart Money Daily has this post from WAAY back in February that I love.
Stop Buying Crap (the 2nd best pf blog title in the land) has this post about credit card origins.
Well, that about does it. You should have plenty of clicking to do for the next few ours. (Don’t let your boss catch you!)
You can click over to Mighty Bargain Hunter for a schedule for the Carnival of Debt Reduction.
Free Money Finance will host next week!
Update: Thanks for all of the emails, and thanks to all who are checking out the Carnival. Also, thanks to instapundit.com for the mention.
Where’s The Cake?
Alright, we are DOWN TO THE WIRE. If you would like to be included in next week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction…Get your posts in NOW.
Quick question for all the pf bloggers out there? Do any of you know of a podcast dealing with debt reduction? If so, hook me up with a link. (I know Dave Ramsey makes one hour of his show available for podcast. I am looking for something “independent”.)
On The Road Again…
Well, I was able to put just a tiny bit towards our debt this week. I scratched and clawed and found 100 bucks more. This makes my totals look like this:
| Account | 04/16/05 | Paid So Far | 09/23/05 |
| Auto 1 | 2656.33 | 2656.33 | 00.00 |
| Auto 2 | 3255.23 | 3255.23 | 00.00 |
| C Card | 5598.66 | 222.14 | 5376.52 |
| Totals | 11510.22 | 6133.70 | 5376.52 |
So, I now owe 5376.52, down from 11510.22 in April. YaY! BUT, I really, really doubt I will make my original goal of being debt free by 10/10/2005. UNLESS, and here is a bit of good fortune: The folks at the place I work are doing a “gift card” shower for my wife and me, and we just might come into a really nice amount of free “money” to spend at places like Kroger and Target, etc. I am totally and completely flattered that so many folks care about us and the work we do! Any amount will be appreciated, and a large amount just might put us over the top! We shall see.
Remember! Get those Carnival Submissions in NOW
You Wash ‘Em, Then!
Well, most folks list the things that they have done to save money. Here are some things that I have not done, but could do, but will not do, because I don’t want to.
1. Use cloth diapers instead of disposable. I am sorry, but that’s just gross.
2. No more satellite t.v. Come on, I gots to have my NFL, ESPN, and Comedy Central.
3. No more eating out. I like to eat out.
4. Turn down the hot water heater. Sorry folks, I loves me some hot, hot, hot showers.
5. Turn up the air conditioner. Dude, I am “chunky”. “Chunky” folks need the A.C. End of story.
6. Cut my own hair. Ummm..Listen, I am 30 years old, and I still have my own hair, and it looks like I am going to have most of it for a long time. The least I can do is take it out for a nice trim now and then.
7. Grow my own food. I struggle to keep a house-plant alive. I will not stake my nutritional future on my ability to learn to grow, harvest, and store my own produce.
8. Use generic baby formula for our child. I know it’s the same, blah, blah, blah. The doc says Isomil Similac Advance. The baby gets Isomil Similac Advance. Period.
9. Use home-made cleaners. Dude, how OFTEN are you cleaning your stuff that you need gallons of cleaner?
10. Wear “second-hand” clothes. Listen, I might borrow a shirt from a relative or a friend, but I, like, KNOW these people. I realize that their are some folks who HAVE to wear second-hand stuff, and God bless them. But, as long as I am able, my kids and I will wear new. It might come from Target or K-Mart, but it will be new.
Now, if you have been able to do some of the above things, then you are awesome! I wish that I had your ability to adapt and change. Perhaps, someday, I will learn to do without some of these things.
But, I really, really doubt it.
Quick note, it looks like the folks over at All Things Financial are in the path of Rita. My prayers go out to them!
Simplification Strategies Part 1
I check out several blogs every day, especially Personal Finance Blogs, and I am always amazed at the things that I learn. But, I must admit, sometimes the vast amount of information that is out there about personal finance can be overwhelming. So, I decided to do a few posts about organizing and simplifying your money management. Part 1, below, is a chart for organizing your bills and payments. You CANNOT create a budget without proper knowledge of where your bills are coming from, and where your payments are going. The chart is pretty easy to understand.
| Bill Organization | |||||||
| Name | WebSite | Address | Phone | Accnt | Pymnt | Freq. | Due Date |
| Bank of America | www.com | 123 Street NY, NY | 555- 555-5555 |
155555 | 25 | M | 5 |
| Honda Credit | www.com | 124 Street NY, NY | 556- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 200 | M | 7 |
| Power Company | www.com | 125 Street NY, NY | 557- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 100 | M | 15 |
| Dish Network | www.com | 126 Street NY, NY | 558- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 75 | M | 21 |
| Local Phone | www.com | 127 Street NY, NY | 559- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 50 | M | 15 |
| State Farm | www.com | 128 Street NY, NY | 560- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 50 | M | 8 |
| Cotton States | www.com | 129 Street NY, NY | 561- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 200 | Q | 9 |
| Local Gas | www.com | 130 Street NY, NY | 562- 555-5555 |
1555155 | 50 | Q | 1 |
Now, you have a better idea of where your money will be going, and when it will be going out. Please note, in the Payment category, you can put the actual amount (if constant) of an average amount.
Now, here is what I do with this information. For every account that has a website, I go to that site, and bookmark the login page. I have then created a favorites folder in my browser that contains each and every site from which I receive a bill. I can go, as often as I want, and check the balance or the bill from every single provider. I have also set-up my online bill-pay so that I get most of my bills sent electronically, instead of on paper. In fact, I only receive two actual “paper” bills a month.
Once you begin to “see” how many bills you have to pay in a years time, you can begin to develop a better budget plan for your money.
