Courtney, Milligan, and I had a small feature in a USA Today article on not using credit cards. The article went live today and can be found in Money page 2B in the print version (you can’t miss huge picture). It can also be found online here:
As some of you know, Courtney has a passion for photography, so she got a kick out of having an official photographer’s credit for the family photo that was used in the print version.
For those of you who are new to the site, you may want to head on over to our About Us page where you can find more about the community and our story.
This infographic was made exclusively for MvD by PersonalLoans.org, a Personal Loans Blog brought to us by the people behind the Consumer Media Network.
I really appreciate the effort that went into creating the actual graphic, dubbed “Too Much Credit”. I thought the comparison of overall credit card transactions along side of percent of budget spent on food was fascinating.
I like Baker’s 42 Ways to Radically Simplify Your Financial Life. Each one of the suggestions in his article is absolutely relevant and rewarding on its own, but together the tips form the quadragintaduo-fecta of financial simplicity. Although I love the number forty-two for reasons obvious to Douglas Adams fans, doesn’t it seem a little, well, complicated for a theory of simplicity?
Simplicity boils down to one concept: eliminate anything that is unnecessary. If you take this mantra to heart, build your personal philosophy around it, and keep it in mind when you make every decision, there is no reason to follow a list of suggestions. The answers will be obvious — any choice that fits the philosophy will be the correct choice to make.
I’ve still got my head buried in the production of “Unautomate Your Finances“, however over the weekend I was alerted to the fact that my friend (and MvD reader) Jared Matthew Kessler just became 100% debt-free!
After a ten year, up and down battle with debt, Jared has emerged the victor! You can feel his joy in his writing and I wanted to share his story as inspirational for others stuck in a long-term battle.
As most of you have heard by now, Haiti has been really taken by surprise by a recent earthquake.
The news reports aren’t improving either. It looks like it’s going to be a really tough couple of months years ahead, let alone what it will be like over the next week of search, rescue, and clean up.
I’ve read and strongly believe that aid within the first couple weeks (even the first couple of days) is very critical in these situations. At the same time, I know that many are conflicted as they want to make sure donations are being used to actually help those in need.
Recently, charity: water sent out an e-mail (and a blog post) about donating directly to their partners in the region. I trust the mission and the objectives of charity: water and therefore wanted to pass along the information, in case any of you haven’t seen it yourselves.
Haiti was hit yesterday by what could be considered the worst natural disaster for the region in the last 200 years.
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.0, shocked the country just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, collapsing buildings and cutting water and electricity services in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Aftershocks of 4.5 magnitude or higher continued through the night and early Wednesday, thwarting immediate aid efforts for an estimated 3 million affected by the quake. Thousands are expected dead or injured and many more will be displaced with their homes reduced to rubble.
charity: water’s two local partners, Partners in Health and Concern Worldwide, are reacting to the disaster swiftly and comprehensively.* We need your support. In the interest of immediate relief, we’re asking that donations be made straight to our partners.
To donate to Partners in Health’s efforts, click here.
To donate to Concern Worldwide’s efforts, click here.
Already one of the poorest and densely-populated countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has struggled to overcome the effects of a slew of rough storms in 2008 before this week’s disaster. More than 4 million people (42% of the population) already lack access to safe drinking water. Disasters undercut development efforts tremendously.
If you have a non-profit or source that you trust and/or have given to, you can list it in the comments below.
Courtney and I will be using the charity: water partners listed above.
As I alluded to in my 2010 goals, I’m one of the contributing founders to a new group blog which goes live… today!
Untemplater.com is a multi-author site focused on helping GenY’ers answer that one burning question… “What the hell am I gonna do with my life?”
In addition to the 6 core founders (each well respected GenY voices… at least the other 5 besides me!), a couple dozen of the brightest minds in the niche have joined up to contribute as authors.
At the beginning of every new years, there are usually two sects of people:
Those who endorse ‘resolutions’ and goal setting at this time of year.
Those who are critical of this process: “It’s the same as every other day”.
I can see both sides.
I get the fact that most resolutions are too vague or too unrealistic. But at the same time, there’s a lot of energy right now. There is a ton of optimism for the new year and the new decade. People are fired up, dreaming big, and digging down deep.
Wouldn’t it be a waste not to tap into this atmosphere?
I, for one, am going to buy into the hype. I’m going to declare my intentions for 2010 in public. It helps me to write them down. It helps me to shout them from the rooftops. I’m going to focus on building momentum now.
February will be here soon enough. I’ll worry about it then. If all this buzz only gives me one great month, I’ll take that.
As I alluded to in my 2010 goals, I’m one of the contributing founders to a new group blog which goes live… today!
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