this week’s carnivals

this week’s carnival of debt reduction #158 at nodebtplan includes my post, Using the tax refund towards debt payment

this week’s carnival of personal finance #171 is up at sound money matters.  my post on a craft as a source of income? is included under ‘career’!

festival of frugality #171: ‘the host bailed out edition’ at my two dollars includes my post on, what recent lifestyle change has been saving you money?

unfortunately, carnival of money stories #178, for which i had submitted move on after a setback, has been postponed until next week.

look out for a possible inclusion of one of my posts in tomorrow’s #31 edition of the money hacks carnival at moolanomy!

my carnival thoughts of the week

the simple dollar wrote about various ways to declutter and make income from that clutter.  he brings up a lot of commonsense, sound suggestions.

i am rather a minimalist myself, and have pretty much sold all things that are only ‘things’ to me, such as dvds, furniture i don’t need, rarely used motorcycle gear, etc.  i not long ago sold my marin bicycle that i had not used in months on craigslist, and earned a few hundred dollars.  i encouraged the SO to sell his gios bicycle that he hadn’t ridden in years also on craigslist, for which he received $500 he can use on other expenses!  it was just sitting in the basement gathering dust after all.

the author brings up a good point of keeping/purchasing things with high value to you — on this note, i value my various books (especially self-help ones), and so keep the ones that i foresee referring to repeatedly.  the rest, i sell to a used book store called half price books or on amazon, or donate to charity.

i have also sold various items on ebay, and irregularly encourage my SO to do the same for things i suspect he no longer needs, uses, or wants.

cash money life has a guest post on 10 ways to pay your debt off faster.  this article resonated with me because i only very recently adopted the number 1 way:

1. Get serious! It isn’t going to do you any good to decide to pay off your debt if you aren’t serious about it.

i agree wholeheartedly!  the ‘true intent’ is key.  the other 9 suggestions come much more easily with this right mentality:

i consolidated my debt and cancelled and closed all my previous credit cards; i’ve decluttered by selling and donating things i no longer need, want, or use; i’ve decided to go into freelancing my web development skills and to sell my crochet projects on the side in addition to my regular day job; i share my progress and desire to be financially strong with the SO and a few close friends and family; i only spend now what i have in my checking account, no more; i’m working on either dipping into my ira a bit to pay off part of my debt, and/or transferring some to a 0% balance transfer on a new card if possible; and i am constantly reevaluating my progress and situation.

please come back later this week to see which other interesting personal finance blogs’ posts in particular caught my eye and brain!

readings & activities

i am scheduled to host an edition of the carnival of debt reduction in a few months, for the week of 11/3!

i have also volunteered to host a future edition of the carnival of money stories!

i am now a member of the money hackers network!  check out the lower left section on the MHN home page for the latest (randomly selected) personal finance related blog posts by fellow money hackers.  one of my posts might even be included!

i am currently rereading my copy of the richest man in babylon.

a few weeks ago, i finished reading you’re broke because you want to be.  i am preparing to write a book review, coming soon!

i took too long to finish reading the wealthy barber and maxed out the number of times i can renew it from the local public library (oops!!).  i’ll have to check that out again later and continue reading it for a future book review here.

personal progre$$ report

i am currently waiting to see if my $6400 balance with the credit loan service will get balance-transferred to a 0% for 6 billing cycles jo-ann’s fabrics mastercard.  i suspect i will know by next week.  if this works out, i plan to either put the card away in my filing cabinet with the intent of only keeping my balance transfer on there for at most 7 months, and/or using it for jo-ann’s fabrics-related purchases only through a pseudo gift-card system.  then i will pay $1000 a month towards the balance transfer until it is paid off.

on the other hand, if that does not work out for whatever reason, i may take out $6000 from my ira, pay off the remaining $6400 with it and upcoming income, and then ‘pay back’ my own ira $1000 a month to replenish my supply.

a few days ago, i inadvertently went over my balance on my ing checking account — oops!  it appears i have miscalculated my recent financial activities and put away more than i could afford into my emergency fund.  i took $200 back from it and stuck that in my checking account.  unfortunately, i will incur a few cents? worth of fees for the $81 overdraft.

i have put away about $1100 towards my emergency fund.