announcements

• check out an announcement of my upcoming guest post at clever dude!
• the book giveaway contest ended on saturday, winner to be announced soon!
• a new blog carnival has begun, known as the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Jubilee!
• the DBN group writing project results will be posted this week
• fwp lost her job on friday in a company layoff

carnivales

this week, i hosted an issue of the finance fiesta, and participated in the following pf blog carnivals:

• festival of frugality: veterans’ day edition — profile of a 21-year-old saver, investor
• finance fiesta #22: catching up edition * — consumer debt and poverty
• carnival of financial resources #3 — profile of a 21-year-old saver, investor
• working at home carnival #111 — beginnings of a crocheting entrepreneur
• rich life carnival #19: blueprint edition — take advantage of your work perks!
• carnival of financial planning — set aside $1000 for you, now!
  

* hosted

next week, i will be hosting an issue of the festival of frugality!

debt bloggers network (dbn) roundup

last spring, on a quest to be debt free wrote about her garage sale and results.  apparently she made $100 from 8 hours of selling in a group effort.  seeing this article’s title immediately piqued my curiosity, as i decided this weekend that it would be a great idea to hold a garage sale at our house next weekend.

quest to be debt free saw the money as debt snowflaking money.  how inspiring!  i too will hold the garage sale to sell off the SO’s and my stuff that we don’t need or want any longer with the hopes of earning money that we might apply towards our respective debts.  alternatively, i was thinking of putting aside any profits for our japan fund, but i reminded myself that right now debt reduction takes precedence over savings (for a fund fun especially).

lulugal’s article this time last year on what she would do if she won the lottery at save money made me smile.  i recall fantasizing about a similar scenario in my head only a few months ago as well.

it is great that her first priority is to pay off her debts for all of the various possible amounts she lists she might win.  it probably should be everyone’s first priority, as i can only imagine it would make life so much easier, less stressful and less burdensome for anybody with debt.  i know without a doubt that i too would apply such funds to debt first, everything else second.

i enjoyed ryan’s analogy of debts to holes at debt reduction formula last year.  he advises against digging additional holes by borrowing more and more from others.  instead, focus on finding ways to fill up the hole(s) that you already have.

it really has felt as though my various debts have been ‘holes’.  at times, when i am discouraged and wonder if i’ll ever pay off my consumer debts, i see these holes as bottomless pits.  pits where i feel as though i am throwing away my money earned without hope of relief.

extending the metaphor, i look forward to the day that someday, my own hole(s) will be not just filled, but overfilling and turn into hills! meaning that i will have an abundance of ‘dirt’, or money in the form of awesome savings.

i am encouraged to see that our dbn team (along with many others in the pf blogging community) has been finding and continue to find ways to eliminate our respective debts through earning additional income, prioritizing the role of extra income, and understanding what debt is.

as for myself here at FWP, i share with you my story on the beginnings of my debt about a decade ago.  it can be quite challenging trying to understand money, credit, and debt, how to use financial resources, and not to abuse them as a new adult.  i have learned much from my own experiences.