Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.
I’m a sentimental-items person. Still have my childhood teddy bear and blanket, love scrapbooks, and so on. But I’m also what I call a mid-range minimalist; I tend not to keep “stuff” unless I truly treasure and value it.
With that in mind, I asked on the Man Vs. Debt Facebook page a week or two ago, in the vein of selling crap that doesn’t enrich your life and keeping stuff that really is awesome:
What’s the oldest item in your home?
I expected a few responses, not more than 100! They were all great – except for the dozens of you who said “me” – smart alecks!
I want to share some of the answers today, and then leave you with some questions about what is and isn’t valuable in your own home.
[So what old stuff do MvD folks have?]
Note: This is a post by Courtney Baker, chief seller and long-time running wo-man of MvD.
Ages ago, I set a personal goal to start tracking my spending again and start planning things I wanted to buy. I was struggling to stick to my guns and keep myself accountable.
Frustrated and desperate, I needed a new strategy. I suddenly remembered podcasts.
Podcasts really boosted my momentum to pay off my debt and control my spending. Listening to a 5-10 minute segment on sticking to a grocery budget just before grocery shopping really affected the amount of stuff in my shopping cart.
Getting informed about why I wanted to pay down certain debts first made me want to pay them down even faster.
We make dozens of money decisions throughout they day. Listening to five minutes here and there significantly changed my momentum in paying off my debt. I felt informed, aware, and in control, finally.
[Dig in to these to rev up your own momentum!]
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.
So here’s the thing about me: I’m not rich.
You’re shocked? (Er, if so, maybe you should check out the scary details of my finances.)
What this means is, when it comes to books about how to become rich, I’m probably the perfect reader demographic, but maybe not the perfect reviewer demographic.
After all, why would you want to hear what I have to say about someone else’s ideas on wealth? After all, I’m not particularly wealthy, right?
Well, we’ll come back to this in a bit, because it’s the question I’ve been kicking around in my head as I read The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco, which is one of the many books on the collective Man Vs. Debt bookshelf that we’ve read, reviewed and then given away to a reader!
[Find out what's inside The Millionaire Fastlane...]
Note: This is a post by Courtney Baker, chief seller and long-time running wo-man of MvD.
Every year come April, we brainstorm new themes for Milli’s birthday party. But unlike most parties, our themes don’t involve princesses, Spiderman or Spongebob. Instead we have balloon parades, pinatas and zoo trips.
We also don’t have presents.
Several years ago, we started thinking of birthdays in a new way. We were participating in the 100-Thing Challenge, and a single birthday party could easily add an additional 10-15 little toy bits and pieces.
We implemented a “No Presents” rule that year, and we’ve never gone back.
Everything worked out very nicely until we realized that guests feel uncomfortable coming to the party without something. So, we started thinking of ways for our guests to participate in the party without bringing mounds of unwanted toys or spending unnecessary money.
[Check out some of our ideas!]
This is a guest post from Jenna Forstrom, the former community manager at Adaptu who’s now an account executive at a local PR firm. She’s still staying on top of her personal finances, selling (er – donating) her crap since she bought her first home a year ago, and brewing beer. Find out more on Twitter.
I know this is a little un-Man-vs.-Debt-like, but I’ve been CALLED to stay put.
Not to move around, but to buy a house and set roots.
I actually did exactly what Baker said not to and bought a house at the ripe old age of 25. My home is in Portland, Oregon, the microbrew capital of the world, home of the best coffee roasters, nestled between Mt. Hood and the Pacific Ocean. It is the best place on earth. There is just one problem.
Portland is also home to the largest homeless population in the U.S. Meth, black-tar heroin and alcohol are easy to come by in my city. Abuse and brokenness are all over the streets. So as someone who is fiercely in love with the city, I’m forced to make a decision. I can choose to:
- Ignore the problem.
- Or be part of the solution.
To be completely honest, I didn’t make the choice. The choice picked me.
[Click to read the full article...]
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.
A couple of months ago, Chris and I were browsing in a local antique store and he picked something up and said, “Hey, Joan, this is totally a Man Vs. Debt post!”
He’d found a 1939 pamphlet on “Money Management for the Family.” He loves old books and papers, and while he can blog about literally anything, I think he was mostly kidding.
The thing is, it turns out that MUCH of the advice is truly timeless and, dare I say, even a little familiar-sounding, so I thought it’d be fun today to share a few highlights.
[Check out this surprisingly timeless advice!]
This is a guest post by Ivan Chan. Ivan is the founder of Wealthy Without Worry, a Star Wars fan and a martial artist. He loves to share with other busy professionals personal stories and simple ways to manage money and worry less in life. Follow Ivan on Facebook and Twitter.
Your child is looking up at you with those big, sad-looking eyes.
“But why wouldn’t you buy this for me!?”
You don’t want your kid to grow up to be a spoiled brat. So what are you supposed to say?
Do you make up an excuse to delay the purchase because you think you spoil your child too much already? Do you give in to the guilt, knowing full well it will cost you later, perhaps in more ways than just money? Or do you give the famous response of “because I said so” because… well… just because?
While your mind is spinning like a hamster in its wheel, trying to piece together the right words, your child is still looking up at you. The tears are starting to flow now, about to be served with a full order of your kid’s flat-on-the-floor-heels-kicking-lungs-screaming tantrum special.
You can feel the judgmental gaze of everyone within earshot, burning into your back.
As a parent, this is a defining moment for you.
[What will you say???]
