A big part of this blog from the beginning has been financial transparency.  I’ve shifted from sharing the details of our daily spending (what we used to do), to sharing the details of the business side of the blog.  It seems many of you are most interested in this one segment of our financial journey.  :-)

June was another slow month here (at least on the surface), with only one content based post the entire month!  Yikes!

The progress of the second guide, Sell Your Crap, has been extremely uphill.  Like Unautomate Your Finances, the scope of the project just continues to grow and grow!  It’s nearly 45+ days late in coming and I’ve even considered shelving it for a while and moving onto something else!

Thanks to some helpful consolations from trusted mentors, I’m staying the course and finishing the content as we speak.  It’s better launching 30-45 days later than expected than to launch a crappy product (or to not launch at all)!  I know when the time comes, I’ll be proud of what is certain my most ambition business undertaking to date.  :-)

Despite sparse posting, here are the numbers for June:

Net from UYF Sales:  $328.52

• Total Guides Sold (June):  24
• Income (less Paypal fees):  $407.48
• Affiliate Payments:  -$78.96

Additional Income:  $1560.32

• Freelance Writing:  $400.00
• Thesis/ScribeSEO:  $126.06
• Unconventional Guides:  $919.53
• Amazon:  $24.73
• Fire Starter Sessions:  $90.00

Direct Expenses:  -$110.90

• Hosting:  -$14.95
• Aweber:  -$29.00
• ScribeSEO:  -$27.00
• E-junkie:  -$5.00
• VodBurner:  -$9.95

Net (Income – Expenses):  $1777.94

This brings the average of the last 4 months (since monetization from guides) to:  ~$2020/month

July’s Business Plans…

June’s goal was to launch Sell Your Crap and to have that also increase Unautomate Your Finances do to store traffic and package sales.  Obviously, this goal will roll over to July!

Other plans including a complete revamp of the Militia Newsletter, which will become a weekly e-mail with 3-5 free giveaways, 5-10 useful/interesting links, and recaps of current and past content on the site.

Lastly, I’ll be coordinating a 15 mega-blog guest posting tour to help support launch and create some momentum.  I’ll be documenting the results, traffic, and other metrics to share down the road!

As you all know, 90% of my effort and content will remain 100% free.  I’ll continue to openly share our journey to eliminate our debt, our battle to avoid accumulating clutter, and the ups and downs as we attempt to pursue our passions!

For those of you on a journey to produce online income yourself, feel free to e-mail me any specific questions you may have!

Hope everyone has a fantastic June!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

photo by Matthew Simantov

A big part of this blog from the beginning has been financial transparency.  I’ve shifted from sharing the details of our daily spending (what we used to do), to sharing the details of the business side of the blog.  It seems many of you are most interested in this one segment of our financial journey.  :-)

May saw the lowest dip in income generated online, since the release of Unautomate Your Finances back in March.  This was expected and anticipated, although I did nothing to help it.  I had planned on guest posting and exposing new lists and audience to my first guide, as well as attempting to push forward the launch date of my forthcoming guide, Sell Your Crap.

Neither happened.

Instead, I posted only a few posts here, with absolutely no guest posts, no new exposure, no attempt at media mentions, and no additions, bonus, or specials on the first guide.  Not exactly a great business plan!  :-)

The only silver lining is that almost all of the income I received in May was very close to passive.  A far majority (as high as 90%) of the sales were initiated from old “evergreen” posts and content.

Here are the numbers for May:

Net from UYF Sales:  $481.81

• Total Guides Sold (April):  33
• Income (less Paypal fees):  $577.35
• Affiliate Payments:  -$95.54

Additional Income:  $525.97

• Freelance Writing:  $400.00
• Thesis/ScribeSEO:  $0.00 (under payout threshold)
• Unconventional Guides:  $125.97
• Amazon:  $0.oo (under payout threshold)

Direct Expenses:  -$110.90

• Hosting:  -$14.95
• Aweber:  -$29.00
• ScribeSEO:  -$27.00
• E-junkie:  -$5.00
• VodBurner:  -$9.95
• Kiva MasterMind: -$25.00

Net (Income – Expenses):  $896.88

A couple notes to highlight.  First, I had two new business products I affiliated with in May, but which technically paid the first few days of this month.  This is $1000+ dollars of income that was “earned” in May, but paid in “June”.  This helps prop up the month a bit.

I will also have a couple affiliate payments that didn’t meet thresholds and thus rolled over to June’s payout date.

This months brings the average of the last 3 months (since UYF release) down to:  ~$2100/month

While I’m not ecstatic about that number, it’s not terrible for a start.  The goal is to double it by the end of summer.

June’s Business Plans…

June will see the release of Sell Your Crap, my second premium guide.  This will have several modules, have extremely targeted value across different mediums, and will probably end up in the more traditional $30-$40 dollar range.

I don’t expect sales for Unautomate Your Finances to dip in June actually.  In fact, they will probably go up due to promotion regarding Sell Your Crap. I’d like to see UYF net between $800-$1000 itself.  My goal for the second launch will depend on the final content included in the guide and the price point.

As you all know, 90% of my effort and content will remain 100% free.  I’ll continue to openly share our journey to eliminate our debt, our battle to avoid accumulating clutter, and the ups and downs as we attempt to pursue our passions!

For those of you on a journey to produce online income yourself, feel free to e-mail me any specific questions you may have!

Hope everyone has a fantastic June!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

Over the course of this blog, I’ve shared the details of our debt, our income, and our spending.  Back in March, I took a big step in the business side of this site by releasing my first premium guide, Unautomate Your Finances.

As I continue to take steps to grow my business, I want it to remain open and transparent to the members of the community who help support it.  Last month, I gave a breakdown of March’s sales and income, as well as results from the product launch.

Every month moving forward (launch or not) I want to continue this habit of reviewing/sharing the past month and forecasting out the current month.  Here’s April’s numbers and my business plans for May…

Net from UYF Sales:  $1012.73

• Total Guides Sold (April):  83
• Income (less Paypal fees):  $1344.17
• Affiliate Payments:  -$331.44

Additional Income:  $746.24

• Freelance Writing:  $500.00
• Thesis/ScribeSEO:  $120.45
• Unconventional Guides:  $105.57
• Amazon:  $20.22

Direct Expenses:  -$185.90

• Hosting:  -$14.95
• Aweber:  -$29.00
• ScribeSEO:  -$27.00
• E-junkie:  -$5.00
• VodBurner:  -$9.95
• Tech Consulting:  -$100.00

Gross (Income – Expenses):  $1573.07

As anticipated, income in April is down from March (launch month).  Despite this, I’m not too disappointed in these numbers.  I wanted Unautomate Your Finances to hit the $1000 mark for the month and it just barely crossed right at the end.

May’s Business Plans…

I fully expect another 15-20% dip this month in passive sales of the guide.  With that in mind, I’ll be looking to help boost traffic and sales in order to try to keep income from UYF sales right around $1000 net.  This may include going after more interviews, reviews, and guest posting opportunities to achieve that.

I’ll also be sharing two business products this month from two of the people I respect most online.  As you can see from the above numbers, I am very careful about who I affiliate with or what content I share with everyone on this site.  Here are some reviews you can look forward to:

1. Danielle Laporte’s “Firestarter Sessions”.  Danielle’s hot new multimedia guide is coming out on the 12th and we already recorded an interview that I’ll be sharing with you.  Frankly, it’s one of the best interviews I’ve ever had the pleasure of giving. Danielle blogs over at WhiteHotTruth.com and is one of the most authentic and passionate bloggers I know.
2. Chris Guillebeau’s “Empire Building Kit”. Chris launched his Empire Building Kit last month, but only left it open for 24 hours!  Luckily, I was able to snag a copy and have been devouring it (tons of content, video interviews, and 365 daily e-mails over the course of a year).  On the 18th, he’s opening it up for another 24 hours and I’ll be affiliating with this second opening.  I’ll be doing a write-up of my experience so far, what I’m using the product for in this business, and a special bonus guide on what I learned from the first UYF guide launch.  It’s going to be a lot of fun for anyone interested in small business.

So from May 12th –> May 18th, we’ll just call it “blow up your business” week around here, as two of my favorite people finally share their expertise with the world! 

Sell Your Crap…

Last, but not least, I’ll be working heavily on my second guide, which will be titled “Sell Your Crap”.  I think it’s more realistic that it’ll be released in early June, however it could hit the digital shelves later this month!  Either way, it’ll be consuming a big part of the business side of things around here in May.

As you all know, 90% of my effort and content will remain 100% free.  I’ll continue to openly share our journey to eliminate our debt, our battle to avoid accumulating clutter, and the ups and downs as we attempt to pursue our passions!

I appreciate your support and am looking forward to an exciting May!

It’s been nearly a month since the release of Unautomate Your Finances and it’s high time I get around to sharing some of the details with you guys.

First, I want to take some time to showcase some reviews and mentions from around the web.  The project was supported by well over 30+ different blogs and communities and I owe these guys/gals a huge thank you.  Be sure to check out some of the reviews if you are still on the fence! 

I’ll also briefly share a couple e-mails from average readers who purchased the product.  I didn’t anticipate that so many people would take the time to send (sometimes really long and passionate) e-mail feedback.

Lastly, I’ll share the “nitty-gritty” financial details.  How sales did the first month, how much money I made, and a summary of my thoughts of the first month.  If you’re interested in any of this, have a scroll down!  Enjoy!

Reviews and Mentions from Around the Web:

Zen Habits

“…it teaches you to curb your impulse spending and become more conscious of your financial habits, so you can stop living paycheck-to-paycheck and take control of your money.”

Get Rich Slowly

“Baker shares solid personal-finance advice on saving for emergencies, coping with credit, and creating a realistic budget.”

Far Beyond The Stars

“My favorite part of the Unautomate Your Finances is Baker’s signature 2-page minimalist budgeting system, which is the simplest method I’ve seen to force yourself to acknowledge the money you’re actually spending during every transaction.”

Erica.biz

“I wish I would have had this book in 2007…it would have helped me save thousands of dollars!”

Being Frugal

“Unautomate Your Finances is one part inspiration, one part goal setting, and one part practical application.”

Frugal Dad

Free Pursuits

“This is exactly the guide I wish had existed before I became debt-free.”

The Minimalist Path

“Baker isn’t some financial adviser looking to make commission on your assets without doing much work. He is living YOUR life and shows you how to improve your financial situation…”

Frugal Homemaker Plus

Married with Luggage

Bible Money Matters

“Baker’s writing is entertaining, engaging and and well reasoned.   It’s also sprinkled with bits of wisdom from the likes of Albert Einstein, Billy Joel and Tyler Durden. That’s quite a diverse group, how could you not love that?”

Untemplater

“If you’re battling debt, want to monetize what you’re passionate about, or want to leave it all behind to travel the world for a year with your family, then Baker is the guy you need to talk to.”

Dragos Roua

“First of all, by reading this guide you’ll start to have a better understanding of what financial freedom means. This is the cornerstone of every effective financial strategy and the guide does a pretty good job at it.”

Life Excursion

PT Money

“This guide will no doubt challenge what you’re currently doing with your money and your life.”

Location 180

“The beauty of this product is that it teaches you everything that they should teach you in school, but don’t.”

Child Wild

“This is personal finance advice from your friend at the bar who happens to be smart about money.”

Ridiculously Extraordinary

“I’ve read it, it’s actionable, it’s doable. I like that type of shit.”

Wealth Pilgrim

“Adam takes readers through the steps of identifying what’s important and then shows them how to get it — immediately.  One step is being mindful of how we spend our time and money.  By unautomating, you do just that.”

Couple Money

“If you are struggling with finances or you want to optimize your system, this guide is a must read.”

Studenomics

“Baker’s passion for finances transcends into phenomenal writing and quality advice on reducing debt and dealing with money.”

Rockstar Lifestyle Design

“[Baker] has me thinking about finances. What I really like is that he isn’t Donald Trump or Motley Fool talking about finances. He is someone like me.”

The Daniel Richard

Money Smart Life

“Offers tons of action steps we can take to make sure we’re staying on top of our money and Baker does a good job of getting you fired up to take action when you read it.”

My Wife Quit Her Job

“All I can say is that this book is Adam Baker at his best. Even though I’m not in debt and have a pretty good fix on my finances, I read his book cover to cover in a single sitting…”

The Centsible Life

“Adam’s book offers you his unique perspective on mastering your personal finances. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I will say his book had me rethinking EVERYTHING.”

Beating Broke

Social Pollination

“Adam points out a bigger problem – that automation let’s our bad habits spin out of control without us noticing. We spend more than we should. We own more than we need.”

Working Your Way Around the World

My Next Buck

“Baker’s book really delves deep into the human spirit.  He approaches personal finance from the ground up.”

Thrilling Heroics

“Baker has developed a product that has fundamentally changed the way I think about money, and he and his wife Courtney are proof that you really can get conscious about how you spend, escape the debt “game” that the rest of the world is stuck in, and start to build the lifestyle you want now!”

Fiscal Fizzle

“This is a stimulating journey deep into the psychology of money management, with more practical advice fit into eighty-some pages than most bloggers could write in a lifetime!”

The Deliberate Path

“UYF flows like a conversation with a good friend from start to finish. The signature characteristics of authenticity and transparency that Baker has built his personal brand around shine through every word.”

The Amateur Financier

“Baker succeeds where many personal finance writers fail; he creates a complete personal finance plan that seems both easy to follow and highly useful.  Just reading through it made me feel motivated to remake my personal finance life.”

Becoming Minimalist

“the book does not promise any magic-bullet, get-rich quick schemes. it calls the reader to make intentional sacrifices and hard decisions about their finances and spending patterns.”

Johnny B. Truant

“Baker (as he’s known) and his family are living proof that “living as you want” and “decreasing debt and consumerist behavior” are not mutually exclusive.”

Financial Samurai

“In a world full of noisy messages, Baker puts together a wonderful book on how to simplify your finances through the process of unautomation.  Whether you want to eradicate credit card debt, or build financial stability for your future, Baker’s book will help you get there!”

Moolanomy

Trekeo

Note: I really tried to track all the reviews and links.  Courtney and I scoured Google, tracked backlinks, etc… If you wrote or linked to the project and I missed you… I’m sorry!  Don’t hate me!    Shoot me a quick message and I’ll add you ASAP!

Sampling of customer e-mails:

One of the most unanticipated benefits from the launch have been all the feedback from people who’ve read the guide.  Many of you, I’ve never met before and I’m honored that you’d take the time to send such passionate feedback!

Here’s just a few e-mails I’ve received:

*****

“I LOVE it. It spoke to me like nothing else I’ve EVER read about my finances. I get it. For the first time I bloody get it, and strangely enough it has led to a complete overhaul of my life starting with clutter. My wife has been amazed and my kids jumped right in as I went through the house and starting getting rid of stuff. I’ve got huge boxes in my living room here ready to go to the mission. It feels great.

I took the same approach with my email inbox, cleared it out – and then, more to the point – this organizational tsunami washed into my finances. For the first time ever I have a clear list of all my debts distilled down to what life costs me weekly. I averaged up my self-employed income and realized I needed to earn $200 more per week to begin turning my $ life around. Within TWO DAYS I’ve magically been able to line up another $200 / wk for the next 2 months.

This has been a remarkable process of taking charge of my life and it all started with your book. I am SO glad you are in the world and sharing your story.”

-Alex

*****

I love the honest, simple approach this takes with finances. It makes it seem entirely doable for me—unlike similar financial guides that make me feel I need to be a brilliant, pragmatic Indian mastermind or a middle-aged conservative.

-Samuel

*****

Hiya Baker,
I just ordered your UYF book yesterday and dug in last nite. You totally rocked it!.

Honestly, I feel I’ve had the finance thing figured out for awhile, and I was worried that your ebook might be a whole lot of stuff I already knew. (This happens so often when you buy an e-book, right?)

I hit the buy button because I thought: I love this guy’s work, and I want to support it. If the e-book isn’t great, no big deal. I’ve just made a donation to someone deserving.

Well – I was pleasantly surprised. You delivered great, useful content. I especially appreciated how you wove your family’s personal story into it. Very effective and engaging—which is all you want from a book. But you gave something more: Powerful commands, laid out in tiny steps (that make a huge difference) to take some ideas, right now, and go do them.

I took away some great tips on fine-tuning my already decent plan. I’ve decided to try the envelope method (been thinking about it — but the way you wrote about it inspired me). I’ve gotten down to one credit card (for “emergencies” living abroad — in case I can’t get cash out of ATM) but I HATE the industry with a passion and am on my way to opting out, too.

-Lisa

*****

Although my husband and I are debt (except for mortgage) free and are saving money each month, I still found a lot of worthwhile information in your ebook. One thing you wrote really hit home, though. At the bottom of page 60, “The higher the amount crawls, the more likely it is to start day dreaming about “better uses” for that money.”

This was so true for us. All that money sitting there with nothing planned for it except “someday something bad might happen”. It was too much for us. We ended up throwing most of it into mutual funds because we were too tempted to spend it. Now we keep a $5000 emergency fund. Whenever I read a personal finance article or book that recommends the 3-6 month emergency fund, I cringe a little, but also realize it’s not realistic for us to keep from spending money that is in an easily accessible bank account. Reading the above in your ebook helped lessen my guilt, though, so thank you!

-Stacy

*****

The Nitty-Gritty Numbers…

Many of you have inquired into “how the launch went.”  As you know, I’m a big fan of financial transparency (Courtney and I are working on getting our personal details together for a post next week).

I’ve always been upfront with my income and I don’t want my product launches to change that fact.  For those of you interested here are the financial details from the launch (March 9th) through the end of March.

Total sold in March:  345 guides

Gross Income (less Paypal):  $5216.20

Affiliate Commissions Paid:  -$1469.18

Expenses (Design & Launch):  -$440.00

Net Income (March):  $3307.02

Keep in mind that a large percentage of sales (50-60%) were in the first two days.  That’s natural, but it also means that the income over time will settle on a much, much lower number.  The guide is still selling at least a few copies everyday and April is off to a great start!

Overall, I’m absolutely stoked at the launch month.  I overshot my goals for my first launch and learned an absolute ton that can be applied to bring even more value to my audience with future products.  Most importantly, I have a genuine product that will always be part of the site, will provide the initial seeds of income, and will positively affect hundreds more people of the coming months.

Also keep in mind, that I made more money this past month than I did the entire first year of blogging.  It’s been a long process and a ton of work.  One product isn’t going to result anywhere close to full-time income over time.  But the framework is there.

As always, I appreciate your support on this part of our journey.  I share these numbers only because I firmly consider you to be along for the ride with me.  This is a big part of the “do what you love” process for us.  An authentic start to earning a living through helping inspire others.

Rock on!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

Last week, Man Vs. Debt turned one year old! Whoo-hoo!

It’s been one heck of a ride, but I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to build in this time span.  I wanted to take a very brief look back at the year past, but I really want to concentrate on what lies ahead in year two!

Here’s a couple statistics from my first year in blogging (most via Google Analytics):

• Subscribers: 5,621
• Visits: 372,946
• Pageviews:  769,029
  
• Pages/Visit:  2.06 <– proud of this number

Overall, I’m actually proud of all the numbers.  But more important than any single number is the community we’ve manage to wrangle up.  It’s hard to quantify or measure, but it’s an extremely active and passionate bunch.

A well-respected author/blogger at SxSw said he was amazed that when I introduced my first paid product that I didn’t have one (not a single one) negative comment about price and/or charging for content.

I told him what he already knew…  that my community was amazing and connected.  That most knew how much work I had put into it and that I would over deliver 95% of the time.  Even if someone had no use or no interest in the product (there are many in this group), they knew that the far majority (90-95%) of the content would be given away for free as it has been the last year!

I told him, “You know… I really think the majority of my readers are rooting for me to succeed.  I really feel that way…”

So a special thank you to all the people who take the extra step to comment, e-mail, or support the site in any extra way.  You guys are my primary motivation to keep at it.  Even when I slip (more on this later), it’s the community that brings me back up! 

Alright, here’s some more staty-stuff…

The top 10 posts by traffic in my first year blogging!

1. 67 Ways NOT to Sell a Car <- The only truly viral post I’ve written (Digg.com/MSN.com)
2. Debt Tsunami:  The Ultimate Method To Pay Off Debt
3. Dave Ramsey Vs. Suze Orman
4. 42 Ways to Radically Simplify Your Financial Life
5. Tyler Durden’s Guide to Personal Finance
6. Negotiation Tips for Beginners
7. How Much Crap Do We Really Need? <- The original list of our possessions
8. How NOT to Suck at Blogging <- 6-month blogging anniversary post
9. Travel Hacking for Noobs
10. 33 Ways to Thwart Identity Theft

And one more list…

Top Referring Blogs/Bloggers (not counting Google, Digg, MSN, etc…  actual blogs):

1. Get Rich Slowly
2. The Simple Dollar
3. Life Hacker
4. Zen Habits
5. Frugal Dad
6. WiseBread
7. ProBlogger
8. The Art of Non-Conformity
9. Free Money Finance
10. Budgets Are Sexy

Let’s transition…

The real reason I haven’t been posting lately…

Yesterday’s April Fools prank was only half a prank.  No, I’m not going to become a watchmaker that includes moving out of my house and leaving Courtney and Milligan.  No, I’m not accepting a full-time job.

What wasn’t a prank was the lack of recent posts.  Before yesterday it had been over 3 weeks since I posted.  By far, the longest void in the life of the blog so far!

And there was a reason for it…

I was burnt out. Crazy, burnt out. More burnt out than I ever have been before.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the guide really did take a lot out of me.  Especially the two weeks leading up to launch.  Not only that, but I only had a hectic 48 hours (after launch) to monitor things and get ready for an 18 hour drive to Austin, Texas for SxSw.

Don’t get me wrong, SxSw was an amazing time (I plan to do a post on my experience), but anyone that was there can tell you that it’s very exhausting.  There are a ton of brilliant like-minded people to meet, panels to attend, parties to go to…  you are basically full-on for 16-18 hours of the day (at least I was).

The business and personal benefits were (and still are) outrageous.  There’s not a chance I miss future SxSws, probably the rest of my life.  Nevertheless, it was terrible timing for me and the long drives both ways didn’t exactly help!

When I got home from SxSw I just crashed.  Hard.  I didn’t want to write another word of personal finance.  I didn’t want to answer any e-mails.  I didn’t want to blog and I certainly didn’t want to plan out the next launch down the road.

So for the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve been basically ignoring people.  I’ve let a lot of friends down (if you were one of them I’m sorry!) and lost a bit of momentum, especially after my first big launch!

But a lot of good things have come out of it, as well.  I spent a lot of extra time with Milligan, playing board games with Courtney, and started regularly attending BJJ practices again.  I’ve wasted a lot of time on the internet… I never get burnt out on that!

Seriously, though, I think these down periods are a key part of entrepreneurship.  Some people have consistency as a strength.  They can write day in and day out.  They stick to a strict schedule and can pump out seriously solid content.

That’s not me, though.  It never has been and it never will be.  When I’m on, I’m on it…  and when I’m off, well… now you know what that looks like to!

But now that the dust has settled, I’m ready to get back on the horse.  I’m ready to start feeding the monster again and seeing where we can take this thing in year two!

In the coming weeks and months, here are some things you can expect to see:

• A return back to some MvD basics.  April will be the first month we start back up the full “radical financial transparency” parts of the site. We’ll be sharing out budget, our daily spending, and all the details of this site (including income details of the launch, etc…).
• Mid-month we’ll be focusing on completely updating our “Stuff” list (everything we own).  It’s much, much harder now, but both Courtney and I still believe in the power of making a list.  Realistically, we need it now more than ever!
• Catch up on our travel stories. Remember the car wreck in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand?  Still wanting to get a couple Thailand videos?  I even want to write about my burn out adventure in Austin!  I’ll be catchy these up.
• More video. More “Do What You Love Show” with cool people living passionately.  And more video posts with just me.
• Sometime in May, I’ll be unveiling my second premium project…  “Sell Your Crap”.  I have some really intense plans.  It’s going to be epic.  O.k. maybe not epic.  But sweet…  It’ll be sweet.

The overarching plan is still in line with my kick ass 2010 goals, I set at the beginning of this year.  Actually, I’m right on track in almost every bullet point in that post.  (This may be a first… ever).

So now you know.  And knowing is half the battle.

Thanks for the awesome first year.  Thanks for your patience the last week.  And thanks in advance for the year that lies ahead!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

Note:  This is an April Fool’s prank post. Since it’s now *not* April Fool’s Day, I wanted to make sure that it’s clear up front.  I can’t believe I got so many of you guys (check out the comments)! 

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been posting much lately.  I’ll be the first to confess to that.

Despite this, support for both myself and the guide remain very, very high.  So, first…  thank you.  Second… I feel I owe you an explanation.

Here it is…

The buzz from the launch earlier in the month caught the attention of several people.  One of these people happened to be a local watchmaker here in Indianapolis.  Admittedly, I thought he was a little weird at first, but after talking with him for a while, I was hooked.

Turns out he’s got over 40 years experience in the industry.  Watchmaking is not something you can go to college for these days.  It’s still relies on the same master/apprentice relationship of many skills of years gone by.

Master watchmakers get to a point in their art where they elect to head towards retirement, but before they do… they pass down their knowledge to the next generation.  This particular master only takes on one apprentice every…  five years.

And that’s the length of commitment you have to make.  5 years to be fully accredited as a master watchmaker.  You don’t get paid for the first 3 years, either.  Fortunately, the master does provide a place for you to stay and three meals per day through these early years.

Strangely enough, the master saw or heard something in our conversations that made him offer me the apprenticeship.  I politely declined, but thanked him for such an honor.  After a couple days, though, I thought more about the offer…

And you know what?…  I’m actually going to do it.

It’s been a long, hard decision.  It’s taken several weeks of intense meditation.  While Courtney and Milligan will be close, they aren’t allowed to live with me during the apprenticeship.  All my time and energy must be focused on learning my new trade.

As far as Man Vs. Debt is concerned… I won’t be quitting completely.  I won’t be selling or anything like that.  I plan on writing at least one article per month to ensure that the site lives on.

My stint in making a living online was a fun journey, but it’s time for me to focus on an actual career now.  I need to put food on the table.  And in 3-10 years, I should be able to provide that security.  Who knows?  Maybe watches will be my new passion.

After informing my new watch master that I’d be accepting his offer, we went through a ceremonial acceptance ceremonial.  Luckily, Courtney recorded a portion of the ceremony for you on youtube (I was having a bad hair day).

Wish me luck!

It’s alive…  it’s a-liiiiiive!

I warned you yesterday it was coming and as it turns out I wasn’t bluffing!  Unautomate Your Finances is 100% live and downloadable…  right now!

And you know what?  I’m proud.  I’m really proud of it. I’m glad I took the time and the space to do it right.  I’m glad I didn’t half-ass it when I had the chance.  I’m glad I didn’t rush to launch it last week.

It’s here… and I’m pumped.

To be honest, focusing all my energy and passion into compiling this guide has been emotionally draining.  It was a big, big project I bit off (25,000 words is at least half of a substantial print book).  But it was a important process for me to go through.

In the end, looking back through our experience over the last 2 years and my experience sharing it will you over the past year was… enlightening.  And the end result… the product that sits ready for you today… well, I’m just excited now.

Seeing the end result has re-energized my passion for personal finance.  It’s reinvigorated my commitment to not only create an empowering financial life for Courtney and me, but to share this journey with as many people as will listen.

Some of you that have been around a while on this site have wondered when I was going to be back to “full steam”.  Well, I can assure you…  this guide is me kicking back down the door and announcing I’m here to stay!

And one last thing.  I can’t promise you that every premium product I release is going to impress you.  I can’t sit here and predict that I’ll hit a home run every time.  That would just be silly.  But I can tell you this…

Unautomate Your Finances will impress you. I’m positive of that.  I poured everything I could into it.  I packed it with every ounce of inspiration, psychology, and tangible tip I had.  And, most importantly, I kept it all very affordable (priced way less than almost everyone I respect in the online world suggested…).

Look, I’m not great at the “selling” part of this equation.  But I am good at one thing:  being transparent and being passionate.  So how’s this:

If you are on the fence… give me a shot.  Give the guide a test run. I set out to really blow some minds with this first one.  I’m trying to convert raving fans.

If for any reason you aren’t impressed, send me a one sentence e-mail asking for a refund.  I’ll grant it instantly, in full.  You don’t have just 30, 60, or even 365 days… this is available as long as I’m alive. I call it the “As long as I have a pulse” guarantee. 

Head on over and get a copy of the guide!

Some site changes:

Fans of the site will notice some changes to support the new guide.  I’ve added a small badge over into the sidebar and a banner on single post pages.

I’ve also added the MvD Store to the Navigation Bar.  Right now, it just directs to Unautomate Your Finances, but as I expand my products I’ll start to fill out a more diverse store front for you. 

Ways you can help the guide:

I’m insanely fortunate to have such a passionate following.  Many of you really, really believe in what our community has become here and I appreciate all your support.  If you’d like to help get the guide out in the hands of more people, here are a couple shortcuts to help:

• Give it a thumbs up on StumbleUpon!

• Share the guide on Facebook!

• Retweet the guide out to Twitter!

• Bookmark it on Delicious!

Note:  These links all help the actual landing page, not this particular post!    Thanks so much!

******

If you are a blogger, community organizer, or business owner and have an audience or customer base that could benefit from this content, there’s a 100% free affiliate program for genuine people who want to share!  E-mail me for details:  Baker @ ManVsDebt.com

It’s done.  Finally.

I’ve been blabbing about it for months and months now.  I’ve been stressing over it, adding to it, tirelessly compiling it and now it’s… done.

I literally can’t wait for tomorrow!

Starting tomorrow I’ll be focusing more on the benefits of the content, but today I just wanted to give a sneak peak of the features that are included in the guide:

• An 83-page, 25,000 word ebook containing three distinct sections on the Unautomation Theory, The Science of Unautomation, and Applying Unautomation.

• A 27-minute video interview with Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.  We talk about simplicity, minimalism, finances, and his own personal recovery story!

• A 29-minute audio interview with J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly.  J.D joins me on a call where we recap his financial story, focusing on what he dubbed “the 5 stages of personal finance” and what it’s like on the other side of the turnaround!

• A 2-page PDF budgeting template that coincides with the “Simple Budgets Suck Less” chapter of the book!

• A minimalist Excel budgeting template for those who insist on taking their budgets digital, but also want to keep it simple!

I appreciate all the support over the last couple of weeks!  I have a long list of people that I owe favors to for their help.  A special thanks to Leo, J.D., Chris,  Neal, Norcross, Jonathan, Kelly, Mike, Erica, Lynnae, and especially to my designer Dustin Koester for all their extra effort, support, and/or advice.

Lastly… Happy Birthday to my amazing wife, Courtney!

See you all tomorrow for what should be an exciting day (probably the most exciting in the history of the blog)!

I’m taking my own advice and purging my…  announcement clutter?

Alright, so I’ve had several cool things that have been happening lately that I wanted to share with you.  I’ve been waiting for the “perfect” time, which I’ve decided is, well… right now.

My First Premium Guide Launches THIS COMING TUESDAY!

That’s March 2nd, 2010 EDIT: LAUNCH IS NOW MARCH 9th!!!!!!!! here in the States.  The main eBook will be around 25,000 words (it’s growing even still) and will have several companion downloads (a couple budgets sheets and a interview with Leo Babauta from ZenHabits on his own story and advice for simple finances).

This has been an eye opening experience for me.  I’ve learned so much about myself and about launching a product.  I’m excited to impress you with my hard work!

Mark your calenders for THIS COMING TUESDAY. 

Oh, and of course, the guide will have a full affiliate program.  If you have a network or audience that could benefit from the project, shoot me an e-mail (Baker @ ManVsDebt.com) and I’ll get you the details!

Man Vs. Debt a finalist for SxSw Web Awards!

Over a week ago, I found out the ManVsDebt.com was selected as one of only 5 finalist for a SxSw Web Award in the “Blog” category.

This is actually a really big honor for me.  SxSw is one of the premier web and technology conferences… anywhere (actually it’s a premier music and film conference, too).  The SxSw Web Awards are eligible for people who completely redesigned or relaunched their sites in 2009.

To be a finalist out of the plethora of amazing blogs started and relaunched in 2009 is really, really neat.

I get some free passes to the actual conference ($550 value) and to the awards ceremony.  I’ll be heading down there for 3 days here in the second week of March.  If you are going to be in the Austin area, let me know! 

Oh and if I win… I have to actually give a speech!  Haha, that should be worth seeing. 

Vote for your favorite Personal Finance Blogs and Products:

Flexo (one of my friends and well-respected pf bloggers) launched the “Plutus Awards” this year to highlight the best personal finance resources in a dizzying amount of categories.

There are products such as best checking account or best online bank and, of course, blogs… such as Best Debt Blog or Best Religious Blog, etc…

Man Vs Debt is nominated in several categories here:

• Best New Personal Finance Blog (2009)
• Best Debt Blog
• Best International Personal Finance Blog
• Best Written Personal Finance Blog
• Best Non-Collaborative Personal Finance Blog
• Blog of the Year

If you’re a PF fan, please go vote for your favorite products and blogs (Plutus Awards)!

Help the best in all of the categories gain some recognition.  You can only vote once. 

Thanks for all the support these last few weeks.  I’m still working hardcore up until launch, but I can’t wait for Tuesday!

My next post will be a BIG one!

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

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:

• USA Today: More consumers just say no to credit cards

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.

Ways to stay connected:

• Subscribe through either an RSS reader or delivered by e-mail.
• E-mail me – Baker @ ManVsDebt . com – and introduce yourself.
• Join the MvD Militia! – a private e-mail list.
• Follow me on Twitter – @ManVsDebt
• Become a Facebook Fan

More MvD Content on Credit Cards:

• Bend Over…  I’ll Show You Where You Can Stick Your Rewards
• 42 Ways to Radically Simplify Your Financial Life
• 3 Habits of Highly-Effect Credit Card Users
• Is Your Credit Card A Tool … Or Are You?
• Yet Another 4 Reasons to Hate Credit Card Companies
• Cancel Credit Cards

Other Popular Content:

• Dave Ramsey Vs. Suze Orman
• Debt Tsunami:  The Ultimate Method to Pay Off Debt
• Negotiation Tips for Beginners
• Tyler Durden’s Guide to Personal Finance
• Travel Hacking for Noobs

If you’ve just arrived from reading the USA Today article, I hope you’ll take some time to browse the site and become part of the community here!

Talk soon,

-Baker