I have uploaded the latest episode of the No Credit Needed Podcast. I hope that you like it. Let me know.

I have updated all of the No Credit Needed sites, with new templates and new ad layouts. I hope you like. (I’ll be tweaking things over the next few weeks…)

I have a cool post about some eBay stuff that I am working on… I’ll probably have it up later today.

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My wife and I had a long talk last night about our personal finances. It’s pretty refreshing to be able to sit down and really communicate with one another. For years, we were simply floating along, “living just like everyone else”, knee deep in debt, broke, and frustrated with our finances. Now, we talk about money, budgets, debt, our future, and anything else money related. And, we have actually learned to LISTEN to one another. That’s right. We actually take the time to be quiet and hear what the other person is saying. My wife rocks!

We are both really stoked about the idea of having our emergency fund almost funded. We were talking about what our “next” personal finance project will be. I think that I am actually going to get into some personal selling of wholesale products. I’ve been researching this for a long, long, long time, and I think that, once we have our emergency fund in place, I am going to go ahead and begin a side project of buying and re-selling. I am excited! The idea of being debt free, having a fully funded emergency fund, AND creating a new income stream is totally awesome. I’ll let you guys know if we decide to go in this direction, but, needless to say, it is really fun to know that we now have OPTIONS.

We are determining our future, through planning, cooperation, and communication. Seriously. No more floundering, working paycheck to paycheck, living for the end of the month. Nope. We are going to be RICH!

Guess what. You can do it too. Yep, little old you. You see, it doesn’t take massive amounts of income or winning the lotto. Nope. It takes: Making a plan, sticking to the plan, getting back on the plan, believing in the plan, and working the plan. That’s it.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that this post will “push” you towards your personal finance goal! Get out of debt! Save some money! Make some new income! Change your life!

(I need some uber-white teeth and a comb-over, and I’ll be rocking the motivational-speech circuit.)

Peace out… Dork!

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John, over at Mighty Bargain Hunter, suggested a group writing topic: Preparing For or Dealing With Job Loss.

Here are my ideas on the subject:

1. Create an emergency fund. (I am currently building up an emergency fund of 20,000 dollars in my ING Savings account.)

2. Keep important “life” documents handy (or copies thereof). Life insurance policies, wills, social security cards, birth certificates, etc. When times get tough, you may need to apply for government assistance. You will probably need one or more of these documents.

3. Maximize your non-job related income. Do you eBay? Yard sale? Barter? Learn how to make money on you own.

4. Create a budget… NOW! Learn how to live on a budget BEFORE your “have” to.

5. Understand your retirement account alternatives and options. (Find out how, and where, to move your current 403b or 401k) Do you really want to leave your money with an organization that you no longer work for?

6. NETWORK! Do not wait until you are “canned” to “look” for new employment. Start today by talking to friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends.

7. Be realistic. Your job may seem perfect (Enron anyone?). Understand that you, your job, and your talents may be (are?) replaceable.

8. Read, read, read, read, read, read. The more you understand about you job, other jobs, and the economy as a whole, the better prepared you will be in the event of a job loss. Remember, education does not STOP with formal schooling.

9. Learn a new skill, a new craft, a new technique. Specialize to make yourself less disposable, and specialize to make yourself more employable.

10. Get out of debt! The fewer “fixed” monthly payments you have, the more freedom you will have when / if you lose your job.

Great idea, John. You rock!

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Here you will find links to information about Personal Finance Carnivals and Festivals:

Carnival of Debt Reduction
Carnival of Personal Finance
Festival of Frugality

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Here are the top 10 things I do that help me to keep my personal finances organized:

1. Limit the number of “paper” bills. Almost all of the bills that I pay monthly can be received online or via email. I “print” a copy of each bill to a file on my hard drive, for future reference.

2. Limit the number of “paper” checks. In connection with number 1, I pay almost every bill that I have via Wachovia’s online bill pay. Wachovia offers a free checking account, has good service, offers a local branch, and has free online bill pay.

3. Use an “accordion” style portable file box. I use one of these, which I purchased for about 7 dollars at Office Max, and I keep all of my bills in it. Once I pay a bill, I keep the original bill in one of these file boxes, arranging bills via alphabetization.

4. Do a daily, weekly, or monthly “sweep” of my desk / office / kitchen counter. This will be different for almost everyone. Depending on how many bills you receive, how much mail you get, and how much room you have for clutter, you need to design a system which allows you to “clean up and clear out” all of the necessary / unnecessary paper work that you have accumulated.

5. Throw junk away. Seriously, most people keep way, way, way too much stuff in their homes. Get rid of non-essential stuff.

6. KEEP the stuff you need. As a parallel to number 5, remember to keep documents, bills, and paperwork that you might need. I don’t really focus on how long I am supposed to keep a document. I keep everything that I need, organized in my file boxes, underneath our bed. I don’t follow a 3 or 5 or 7 year rule. I keep all important documents. If you will organize them, you will find that they do not take up THAT much space, and you will create peace-of-mind, knowing that your documents are available.

7. Buy a big plastic “storage tub” or “storage box”. If you are like me, you will find that some days (or weeks) you do not have the time (or the energy or the desire) to get organized. This is where the big plastic storage tub comes in handy. Take all of your accumulated paperwork, and literally throw it into the tub. Place the lid on the tub, and put the tub up, out of your way. When you have time to concentrate, get the tub, empty its contents, and file accordingly. The storage tub has done more to reduce clutter in our home than any other device!

8. Talk to your spouse (family, children, etc.). Get everyone on board with organization. Like rowing a ship, everyone must needs be going in the SAME direction, with the SAME intensity.

9. Know thyself!!! Are you a “hoarder”? Are you “forgetful”? Try to understand WHY you put things off, and then take steps to change your behavior. Do not define yourself by your struggles!

10. Relax. ENJOY the idea of being more organized. If you can only take one single organizational step per day (or week, or month)… TAKE IT!

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I’ve decided to revamp the No Credit Needed Blog. I wanted to go for a 3 column look so that I could run a few ads, have a more polished look, and have a little more control over how the blog looks. So, what do you think? Good, bad, no big deal, horrible, awesome? Thanks for any and all comments and suggestions.

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