Man Vs. Debt

Note: This is a post from Courtney Baker, chief seller and long-time running wo-man of MvD.

For several months now, I’ve been conducting monthly challenges.

They’ve included writing every day, not cooking for a whole month, calling old friends, leaving yelp reviews for businesses I love, walking 10,000 steps a day, tracking my expenses, giving ‘Gold Stars’, and organizing my spaces.

It’s been a fun adventure that has revved up my life! But, it’s hasn’t always been easy. Do you know how hard it is to walk 10,000 steps when it’s 35 degrees outside? I may or may not have spent a few evenings jogging circles around my living room!

Part of me wanted to create a challenge and actually stick to it. But mostly, I wanted to boost my happiness. It’s not that I’m not happy, I’m just trying to be even happier.

See, I’ve developed a lady crush on author Gretchen Rubin.

Like most of us, Gretchen realized that she wanted to “be happy”. But she wasn’t focusing time on understanding what made her happy or spending time doing those things. Thus, The Happiness Project was born. She explored happiness in various area of her life – work, marriage, parenting, exercise, friendship.

Gretchen realized that being happy was a difficult goal, because happiness is a process, not a destination. We should strive to be happier. This past fall, she released her follow up book Happier at Home.

In all her explorations, she always landed back on this list of paradoxes. Gretchen wrote this list specifically for herself, but I’m convinced she wrote them for me!

It’s amazing how well they apply to everything- even finances! Use this list to get revved up to pay off your credit card, clear out your attic, or finally pursue that things you’ve always wanted to do.

[I bet these paradoxes apply to your life, too...]

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Luther’s Success Story: Selling $6,000 in Crap and Taking One Backpack to South America

by Joan Otto

in Do What You Love, Sell Your 'Stuff', Success Stories

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.

Can you imagine getting rid of everything you own except for what fits in one backpack, and making $6,000 selling stuff you no longer need on eBay? For Luther Cale, selling his crap became the key that would open doors to a treehouse in India, a freak show on Coney Island, and a jungle in Ecuador. It’s also allowed him to write a book, 33 Ways to Reboot Your Life, to help others open the same doors.

Luther, who has made selling his crap into an art form, is content with so much less. “I still have some very nice things and everything I need. (I) look at my rooftop office in the Andes and hear the river flowing and see the trees to know that all is well,” he said.

Oh, and he’s gone swinging in the Andes, as you can see in the picture above. Now THAT’s cool.

[Here's a look at how he made it happen...]

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It’s Amazing What You Can Do When You Hustle: Joan’s Mid-March Financial Update

by Joan Otto

in Joan's Posts, Pay Off Your Debt

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.

Remember how I said last month that we needed to come up with $7,104 for the IRS before April 15?

And remember how I said I wasn’t going to take on new debt to do it – and, in fact, that I expected to make it AND have our credit-card balance total go down?

We’re on target to not only meet, but EXCEED that goal. I can’t even put into words how excited I am – and how this situation has really changed my view of our family’s financial picture.

[See exactly where we are...]

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Are 401(k) and 529 Plans a Good Idea When You’re In Debt?

by Joan Otto

in Joan's Posts, Money Basics, Pay Off Your Debt

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.

As part of our quest to come up with $7,100 for the IRS before April 15, my husband and I decided to cash out a 529 account we’d set up for our daughter’s education expenses. We pulled $2,500 out of that last week.

If you’re not familiar, 529 plans are kind of like 401(k) plans for education expenses. So, much like if we’d cashed out a 401(k) account, this $2,500 will be subject to taxes now that we withdrew the money.

I’ve mentioned before that 401(k)s, 529s and other plans with numbers instead of names aren’t my family’s preference for savings or investments. But why would I take a tax hit to help pay for the taxes?

Well, I’m actually not opposed to investing. I’m certainly not opposed to saving for future expenses. But there are four main reasons why managed savings vehicles like these aren’t right for us, and each of those raises a question I want to challenge you to answer about your own savings plan.

[Ready to challenge your thinking?]

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The Beginner’s Guide to Consignment Stores, Thrift Shops and More

by Courtney

in Courtney's Posts, Sell Your 'Stuff'

Note: This is a post from Courtney Baker, chief seller and long-time running wo-man of MvD.

For the longest time, I misunderstood the world of second-hand shops. I assumed that all shops gathered their inventory by buying goods from people directly, or from donations. I was completely oblivious to consignments.

I also was completely unaware that online marketplaces like craigslist, Amazon, and eBay are also considered second-hand shops.

It turns out there are four types of second-hand shops – consignment, pawn, classified and thrift.

[So what are the differences - and which should you use?]

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112

Who Keeps Track of Finances in Your Family?

by Courtney

in Courtney's Posts, Pay Off Your Debt

Note: This is a post from Courtney Baker, chief seller and long-time running wo-man of MvD.

It’s been ages since we hosted our last book giveaway and even longer since we’ve had a video! We’ve been adding to the MvD library over the past year, and it’s time to ship these good reads out to the community.

How To Be Rich: The Couple’s Guide to a Rich Life Without Worrying About Money

I’ve always struggled with reading financial books. I connect so much better with stories, which is why this book is refreshing. Chuck Rylant is a certified financial planner who has written a fictional story that peeks into the life of newlyweds Janet and Richard.

It starts with the ebb and flow of Janet and Richard getting to know each other, financially. A couple of pitfalls, an unplanned baby, and several avoided conversations later, Janet and Richard are suffocating under their debt.

Janet primarily tracks their finances. Her husband has a vague sense of where they stand, but couldn’t really toss out any numbers. And honestly, neither could Janet. She’s crumbling under the pressure that finances are her responsibility. It’s time to sit down and look at the damage, but both of them are avoiding it.

This story does have a happy ending – woohoo! – but Janet and Richard had to learn one really important skill…

[Check out my video review of this fun book!]

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Make a Grocery Plan that Works for Your Family

by Joan Otto

in Family, Joan's Posts, Money Basics

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.

I’m writing this post at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night, and Chris and I have just gotten back from a 2.5-hour trip to the grocery store. Everything’s put away, and we’re off the hook – for another two weeks, when we’ll do it all again.

Grocery shopping is a production for us. It’s a well-oiled production, though, and it’s evolved over the past 3 or 4 years into a system that keeps us fed, keeps us on budget, and takes as little of our time as we can reasonably expect.

We have two refrigerators, four basically-adult people in our house, five cats, a dog and a hamster. We want to shop as infrequently as possible. We have some food allergies. We rarely eat out at this point, so our “grocery” spending is easily 90% of our total food cost. There are certain brands we prefer to support, and certain products for which store brands are great.

The point of our shopping isn’t “just be cheap.” It’s a combination of all these factors, and today, I want to show you how it works. I’m not promising this is a great system for everyone – or anyone but us, actually. But I hope it’s “food” for thought!

[Here's how we do it...]

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