I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Archive for the ‘M-Network’ Category

My birthday was nice and mellow - I got two gift cards to Hobby Lobby totaling $35 to buy scrapbook supplies, and since they were having a 50% off sale yesterday on most scrapbooking merchandise I went there to use the gift cards right away. The albums I usually buy were excluded from the sale (of course) so I went with a different brand of album and bought two, plus extra inserts and a pack of paper, all for $34.93. I don’t think I’ll be using the 7 cents left on my gift card and I was pleased to get so close to my target spending without going over at all.

Also on my birthday, Free Money Finance started the Final Four Round of the Personal Finance March Madness. My Snowflaking: A Primer post is against a great post from Brip Blap, and if you’d like to cast your vote for the finalists, make sure to click on over today! I appreciate all the votes thus far!

And as a pre-birthday anti-present, my team in the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament was totally destroyed by Memphis in the sweet sixteen round. There’s always next year Spartans!

On that note, here are some of the posts from the M-Network and beyond I really enjoyed this past week:

• Gather Little By Little: Gazelle Intensity - How Fast Is it?
  • Gazelles go in spurts but are always watchful. Here’s one perspective on how their gazelle intensity works.
• My Two Dollars: A Simpler Way to Budget
  • This is a guest post from Four Pillars and I really enjoyed it and the perspective on budgeting. Although I am too much of a nitpicker and analyzer to let it work for me right now.
• The Dough Roller: Here’s the Real Deal on Dave Ramsey and Debt
  • I don’t know that I agreed with all of it but it certainly gave me loads to think about.
• Being Frugal: Tightwad Tuesday - More Homemade Cleaners
  • I love the idea of homemade cleaners, but don’t use enough of them. There are a few here I am going to try, specifically the dishwasher soap.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity: Harness the Power of Impulse Saving
  • This is a really nice idea and relates to my paying twice for impulse purchases, in a saving kind of way. But with dice! I am a nerd, I want a 20 sided die…
• All Financial Matters: An Interesting Piece on Target
  • Are Target and Walmart practically the same? Why does Target seem so much nicer?
• No Credit Needed: Moving Debt Is Not the Same as Paying It Off.
  • Indeed. I didn’t consider my credit cards paid off until the one I moved the balance to was done.
• My Dollar Plan: Analyzing Our Energy Use
  • I wish my utility companies had these awesome tools!
• Antishay Ventenne: More on Quality vs Cheap
  • Some more thoughts about what is worth the money to spend and what is not, for her, and ways to think about the difference.
• The Simple Dollar: An Ode to the Inexpensive Bean.
  • I love beans. And they are so cheap! These are some ways to use them. Don’t use the math in the post - it is in the end correct but presented incorrectly, but still beans are very cheap.
• Frugal in the Fruitlands: The Mystery Cash Box and the Sunken Cost Fallacy
  • This happens to me too, which is why I generally try to not take cash out at all unless I have to. Half price drinks at Sonic anyone, with the change? Argh. This post is great!
• Advanced Personal Finance: Did Stocks Return 0% Over the Past 9 Years?
  • The answer is yes, and no, depending on how you look at it, and made my head hurt at first but then I decided it was okay. I’m a nervous investor as it is.
• This Wasn’t In The Plan: The Raise
  • I tend to do this too, even when I say I won’t, I upwardly adjust to use new money coming in and don’t end up saving it - until I started really focusing on debt reduction. My spouse may get a raise at the beginning of May, and we’ll see if I can buck the trend and devote it all to our debt reduction goals.
• Are You Going To Be This Way…: Shrinking Package Sizes Screw Up My Recipes
  • I am a more off-the-cuff cook so I hadn’t noticed but - argh! Now I am irritated. Less food for the same money. Bah.
• Clever Dude: I’ll Refund That For You This Time
  • This makes me mad! I hate when companies try and take advantage. And after I rented from Enterprise and they gave me a car that the brake lights and blinkers didn’t work - I’m not too fond of them anyway.

And in the PaidTwice Rewind: I’m not a gazelle, I’m a cheetah. Although a few Ramsey fans got riled up by the idea, I stand by my thoughts that I tend to be a straight line kind of gal, for better or worse. My prey isn’t people though, it is that debt I keep chasing.

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Happy Easter everyone! This will be a more abbreviated link love edition so you can get back to enjoying the holiday with your loved ones if you celebrate it, or just enjoying Sunday.

First off, my Snowflaking post is in the elite eight of March Madness right now, against a great thoughtful post from Single Guy Money, and it is currently losing by a vote! If anyone wants to pop over and vote for the snowflaking in the comments, I would appreciate it! Thanks again for the support thus far, and if I win in this round, my charity, the Make A Wish Foundation, is guaranteed at least $100. Yay!

With that, here are some posts chosen as great this week:

• No Credit Needed: 5 Ways to Teach Your Children About Money
  • I loved this and bookmarked it to use with my kids!
• Blueprint For Financial Prosperity: Your Take - Pay for Academic Performance for Children
  • Did you get paid for A’s? Will/Do you kids?
• Mommy Gets Paid: Snowflaking the Mortgage
  • An unexpected tax return leads to mucho snowflaking! Read the process.
• We’re In Debt: A Few of Our Credit Missteps
  • I’ve made more of these than I’d like to admit…
• Credit Withdrawal: Newest Subprime Victims: Renters
  • When landlords feel the crunch, renters can be a casuality
• Single Guy Money: How To Buy a Reliable Used Car
  • Want to buy used but afraid of the lemon? Read how here!
• Moolanomy: Seven Key Factors to Build Alternative Income Streams
  • Diversify your income just like you do your portfolio
• Being Frugal: There’s No Shame in Renting
  • A response to the guest post here, Lynnae talks about why renting is right for her, and could be for you.
• Gather Little By Little: Finding a Budget That Works
  • A budget is a process and Gibble shares his with tips along the way for anyone searching
• Quest for Four Pillars: Vanity Scams
  • These scams prey upon our vanity… think impossible beauty product
• Remodeling This Life: 10 Things To Eliminate From Your Life Today
  • 10 things to let go of and make your life happier and more serene
• Mrs. Micah: Yoga Hack: Fitness Improvement
  • Mrs M combines her skills and passion and comes up with a program that works for her
• My Dollar Plan: UPromise Rewards - Free Money
  • UPromise hasn’t done much for me but maybe you can earn some free money!
• DebtFREE-Revolution: Idiot’s Guide- Stagflation for Dummies
  • A nice explanation of a concept I’d never even heard of before a few weeks ago, and hopefully we are not headed towards
• Prime Time Money: Millionaires in the Making
  • A profile of a couple working towards being milllionaires, their finances are similar to ours, except they have a 10 year head start…

Enjoy your weekend and have a mellow holiday!

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Free Money Finance has continued his March Madness competition for the best personal finance post of the past year, and this weekend began the Sweet 16 round. My post, Snowflaking: A Primer is up against an excellent post from The Simple Dollar. I have faith that the snowflakes will prevail! If you’d like, hop over to the competition post and put a vote for “Snowflaking” in the comments. Vive la Snowflaking!

There were a lot of great thought-provoking posts in the personal finance world this past week, so let’s get right to them! Here are some of my favorite recent posts from the M-Network and beyond, let’s call it my top twenty of the approximately 5 billion personal finance blog posts published on a weekly basis :

• My Two Dollars: We Bought a New Car to Prepare for Our Move. I admit I liked this post because I am a wee bit obsessed with Subarus. But do your homework! That way you will be satisfied and happy just like David is.
• Mrs. Micah - Finance for a Freelance Life: Living, Whether in Debt or Debt Free. This is a guest post from remodeling This Life that I think is telling me to live my life still. Something I have been really evaluating lately.
• Being Frugal:  Building a Square Foot Garden.  I really want to do this next year.  Really.
• Gather Little By Little:  Is the Economic Stimulus Package A Loan?  Gibble breaks it down and tells us if we’ll have to pay back the stimulus check (answer: no).
• Single Guy Money:  What I Hate About Walmart.  I hate Walmart.  I love Walmart.  Frankly, I am torn.  Actually, for a good rebuttal to this, visit What I Like About Walmart.  Although I have had really bad luck with Walmart brand clothes (I haven’t tried the Garanimals though since they have appeared there, I am talking about the Kid Connection ones).
• Moolanomy: My Dumbest Purchase Ever and Lessons Learned. I can’t help it, I love the vending machine story. I just do.
• Plonkee Money: My Kiva Loan Has Been Repaid - What To Do Next? Check out what Plonkee decides, I think it is a great decision.
• Cash Money Life: Which Debt To Pay First? A reader asks, Patrick responds, and I comment. What more can you want?
• No Credit Needed: What I’ve Learned From Watching Television Shopping Networks. I’ve also been thinking a lot about advertising and the role of the media… look for some thoughts tomorrow related to that from me.
• Small Cents:  Fighting Over Finances.  It is hard when you and your spouse have two different sets of priorities and get frustrated with one another over it.  I need to talk to my spouse a little more and a little less at him.
• Me Vs Debt: Debt Snowball Dilemma - The Promotional Balance. This is actually from two weeks ago but missed getting in last week’s roundup accidentally. If you have credit cards with promotional balances as part of your payoff plan, this is worth a read!
• This Wasn’t In The Plan: Crafts That Last. A economical and cute craft to do with your preschooler, I am definitely giving this a try!
• Five Cent Nickel: Seven Deadly Sins That Lead to Debt. Great post showing habits we might have that helped us get into debt. Be aware! Slay the beast.
• Antishay Ventenne: How Do I Deal With Overwhelm When Facing Clutter Attached to Memories? Great advice on how to deal with all the memorabilia we collect… I really want to reduce our belongings but I keep getting sentimental. This will help.
• My Dollar Plan: The Five Fundamentals of Financial Success. Just a great post about attitudes and plans for truly succeeding financially.
• Sense to Save: Wasting Food is So Unfrugal. What do you do to keep from wasting perishable food? Here are some ideas, and even more in the comments!
• Remodeling This Life: Being Debt Free Means I Can Live For Today. An excellent post about how without debt, your priorities can change. I’m unfortunately still living for yesterday - but closer every day!
• Odnal - Building Wealth, Bit By Bit: Does Snowflaking or Snowballing Make Sense Once Debt Free? I don’t know about snowballing, but snowflaking? YES! YES! Come join the Revolution already.
• Cheap Healthy Good: Recession-Proofing Your Diet: Food Strategies For a New Economy. Ideas on how to battle rising food costs without breaking the bank. Great resource and a great post!
• All Financial Matters: Building a Portfolio for Retirement. Yes, there is a lot of data here, but it is good! It looks at the conflict in retirement of being both a short-term and a long-term investor.

And in the PaidTwice Rewind, I’m not rewinding very far…  I am still working hard on learning to wiggle.  A little.  April’s budget will have some adjustments.  And I might wiggle a little this week.  Stay tuned!  (And go vote!)

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Did you remember to set your clock forward? I completely forgot all about it. Luckily for me, my spouse remembered, and he adjusted the clocks last night while I was sleeping. But as I sat down to write this I thought to myself all of a sudden - what time is it? Didn’t the clocks go forward? I am so confused!

My computer adjusted automatically it seems, so all is well. And since I forgot all about it, I didn’t spend the morning cursing the fact that I got an hour less sleep than I was “entitled”. I did wonder why my son let me sleep so late…

While I am pondering how I hate the clock moving forward yet love it moving backwards, I have some links to share of my favorite personal finance posts from last week. And later today I’ll relate my fun shopping experience - I took my three year old with me so you know it had to be fun.

Great Finance Links from this past week:

• Being Frugal: The M-Network Series on Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps. Lynnae wrote a great wrapup of the series highlighting a quote from each member’s post - check it out and visit all the posts again as well, they’re worth a second read!
• Brip Blap: 31 Causes of Failure #2 - Lack of a Defined Purpose in Life. This article says that 98 out of 100 people lack a defined purpose - count me in the 98. I have had loads of trouble in the past figuring out what my passion was and what makes me tick. Still do. Could probably write a (pretty bad and boring) novel about that…
• My Good Cents: CVS Is Coming For Me. Apparently, CVS is not thrilled by their coupons being spread through the internet. I’m irked at CVS. This is stupid. Don’t make coupons if you don’t want people to use them. I might have to start going to Walgreens.
• Money Rules, Debt Stinks: My Year To Stop Being Wasteful, Month 3. I too am a hoarder. My pantry at times has been TOTALLY out of control. I am doing okay right now but I fear for the future, I could slip back into hoarding too easily…
• Cheap Healthy Good: Finance, Food, and the Role of Personal Responsibility. This is a great discussion (read the comments too!) about how overspending and overeating are both related and driven by similar issues in our lives. Very thought-provoking.
• Sense to Save: Coins Can Be Snowflakes. Hurrah! More snowflakes! Hurrah!

And in my Public Service Announcement for the day, Gift Cards are a loan to the company and therefore can be abandoned by them, legally!! I read about that on two blogs this week, and it freaks me out. I think I might revise my glowing opinion of gift cards now.

• We’re In Debt: Another Reason why Gift Cards are a Bad Idea.
• Get Rich Slowly: Another Reason to be wary of Gift Cards.

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Over the past two weeks, the members of the M-Network have been reviewing Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to getting out of debt and putting yourself on the path to financial freedom. Come with me on a journey through Ramsey’s methods as evaluated and reviewed by the M-Network, and start or continue the path to financial peace.

First up was an overview of the entire project at Cash Money Life. Steps 0 - 7 were introduced and a short summary of each and where to find them was provided. To travel the road from drowning in debt to financial freedom, we need a road map, and this is where we find it.

Next up is Baby Step 0, which you won’t find on any list of steps but is truly imperative to accomplish the debt elimination goal: No More Debt. Ana at DebtFREE-Revolution and SGM at Single Guy Money both provided their viewpoints and thoughts on this important mindset shift - Ana as a devoted follower of Dave Ramsey and SGM as an “outsider” looking in. Both gave interesting commentaries and experiencesabout what the no debt mindset entails and the successes they’ve had with it.

We then travel to Gather Little By Little, where Gibble shares with us Baby Step 1: The $1000 emergency fund. This is a much-debated step - there are those who feel that everything should go to debt reduction and credit should be used in an emergency, there are those who follow the $1000 plan, and there are those who feel that $1000 is much too small, even as a temporary emergency fund while getting out of debt. Gibble gives his viewpoint, which is an emergency fund slightly greater than $1000 - but if you read Gather Little By Little, you know Gibble has 6 kids! That is a lot of people to be responsible for. We all have to adapt advice to our own circumstances and what makes sense for us.

Baby Step 2 was reviewed by me right here, and aptly it is about the Debt Snowball and using this method to eliminate all non-mortgage debt. I am not a Ramsey follower per se, in that I haven’t read much of what he’s written beyond the occasional website, but I am a fan of a snowball-like approach to debt reduction. I choose to aim my snowball from highest interest to lowest, because that is what works for me. Ramsey’s snowball is smallest balance to largest, for the psychological benefit of frequent victories. Again, know thyself. Know what works for you, and adjust accordingly. The snowflaking concept I discuss so much is truly a spinoff of the snowball, focusing on adding more and more small sources to the snowball as snowflakes to increase its effect.

We then go to Being Frugal to learn about Baby Step 3: The 3-6 month emergency fund. But wait, didn’t step 1 say $1000 for an emergency fund? That was when we were in debt. At the end of step 2, we’re debt free (except our mortgage if we have one). Now we need to save more and more and more until we have a fully funded emergency fund, which is 3-6 months of expenses. Not 3-6 months of salary, but 3-6 months of expenses, which is not (usually) quite the same. Lynnae goes through why you need it, where you should put it, and what isn’t an emergency.

Baby Step 4 is saving 15% of your salary for retirement, illustrated with great graphs by The Dough Roller. Now that we are out of debt and prepared for emergencies, we need to make sure we are prepared for our future as well. DR’s graphs really illustrate the power of compound interest and how time can really help you. It motivates me to save as much as I can as soon as I can. Too bad I’m still on baby step 2…

My Two Dollars tackles Baby Step 5: Saving for college for your kids. Ramsey makes the point that you need to save for retirement first (Baby Step 4) because your children have options for college, and you don’t have as many for retirement. But if you can save for college for your kids, the no-debt guru advocates helping your kids start off their adult lives with no debt as well. David shares his experience in his post with having parents who helped with his college education.

But what about that mortgage? Baby Step 6 is discussed at Moolanomy, which is Paying Off Your Home Early. Pinyo really lays out the hard facts for and against mortgage prepayment and comes to the conclusion that like many things, it is not a cut and dried decision, and really depends on the individual circumstances. For me, I fall into the “pay off early” camp, although I am a long way away from Baby Step 6 right now.

Which brings us to Baby Step 7: Build Wealth and Give! Plonkee Money does a great job of explaining how once you’ve got everything else under control, your job is happiness. Yours, those around you, and others in need. Build your wealth through investing, and give your wealth away to those less fortunate. As Plonkee so elegantly says: Step 7 is the rest of your life.

I hope the overview of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps was informative and enlightening, and contributed to the understanding of how to achieve financial peace. When money isn’t a concern or a worry but instead is a means to an opportunity, we will all have arrived. If you missed a step make sure to visit the above links to catch up on every detail!

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