Hey guys! I’m thinking of doing a new series here where I share a bunch of cool/random/interesting stuff that goes down in my world every week, and wanna know if you find it helpful. It’ll be mostly $$$ related stuff of course, but I’ll also include personal and blog/business items as well.
Let’s try it now and see how it goes, eh? 🙂
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Best news of the week!
My wife’s dissertation is not only finished, but also approved and ready to be defended – woo! Which means in a short few weeks she’ll have a PHD and start looking for jobs to get her career (and salary) going again. I can’t tell you how happy my wallet is right now 🙂 And this may even mean no daycare for however long it takes her to land a gig too, saving a cool $2,000/mo! Which is about a $36,000 salary alone if you factor in taxes, *face palm*.
Other financial wins this week…
- Saved $21.86 more through Digit
- Invested $11.28 more through Acorns
- Made a $25.00 donation to support a friend’s cause (I have a rule that I have to donate to places my friends ask me to since I suck at donating anything on my own accord 🙁 This forces me to actually do it while also helping out a friend!)
- Got $153.00 back in taxes! Which is good or bad depending on how you look at it 😉 I’d say the big win here is really just FINISHING my taxes to begin with, haha… What a pain in the ass. And I don’t even do them myself – I use an accountant similar to these ones, https://www.portebrown.com/services/tax-services! Who I gladly pay to make sure it gets done right too so I don’t have to fear going to jail. And I’m only half kidding about that. But no really, I recommend hiring in the help, it makes a big difference!
- Maxed out my SEP IRA! Details on that when I drop our latest Net Worth update next week…
Financial losses this week…
- $114.23 – Cost of replacing my Frankencaddy’s battery so it can drive again. Though I wonder if this is a tax write off since it now counts as a side hustle? 😉
- $66.76 – The amount Baby Nickel’s specialty acid reflux medicine costs… and that’s w/ insurance!
- $500,999 – Speaking of insurance, that’s the value of the time I just spent dealing with Obamacare trying to prove that neither my 11 mo old or 2 and 1/2 year old brings home any income. It literally took me over a month to do this, and thank goodness they finally mailed me something saying we’re straight now, ugh… I also had to prove my own income too, but that was even easier since all I had to do was run my yearly “Income & Expense Summary” via Outright.comwhich I use for tracking all business $$$. A HUGE time saver right there, I’ll tell you what… If anyone’s looking for a good way to track their biz $ I highly recommend them! In fact, I’m even on their testimonial page! Haha…)
Cool stuff that went down around the Blog:
But first a PSA: Sometimes stuff breaks here (sorry!) but thankfully this week was not one of them. If you ever see something jacked up or that you wish I’d add here, please let me know!
#1) We now have a mobile app! Okay, well this actually happened last month but I keep forgetting to tell you 😉 And actually it’s not really an app-app so much as it is a redesigned site specifically fitted for phones/tablets. The next time you’re on yours bring up BudgetsAreSexy.com and let me know what you think! It’ll even let you save a nifty icon I created to your home screen so I’m just one click away – woo!
#2) I may or may not be in the works of starting a podcast 🙂 I’ve told myself over the past year or two I’m not going to do it unless I can find the perfect co-host so I don’t bore myself (or you guys) to death, and out of the blue this guy/girl? crossed my path and it just clicked. I don’t want to say too much until I know what the hell I’m doing (FYI – I have no idea what I’m doing!), but as soon as things are more squared away I’ll start sharing some of the details… Also, I need you to hold me accountable so I actually go through with this! I think it could be really fun/educational for all of us!
#3) One of my articles was blasted out to Republic Wireless subscribers! Giving me a total nerdgasm! Haha… Been a huge fan of theirs ever since switching over last year and saving $100+/mowhich completely jump started our Challenge Everything series we’ve got going on. So thanks RW! And here’s the funny part about this article they picked up (“7 things I learned about money in 7 years blogging”) – it almost didn’t get written! I was worried it would come out lame but decided to sit down and start typing it out anyways and it went on to become one of my more popular articles in recent history 🙂 Sometimes you just gotta give things a shot!
#4) Our food battle from last week? Over 300 comments between the two (here’s the instigator andhere’s the backer upper) sharing all kinds of awesome tips, banter, and a few heated debates. I had no idea people were as passionate about their food as they are politics 😉 Seriously. You should go back and check some of them out if you haven’t already – jam packed with details and emotion.
#5) Lastly, don’t forget to enter our book giveaway! The One-Page Financial Plan by NY Times columnist Carl Richards (and overall doodler extraordinaire).
Cool stuff other people are doing around the financial community:
#1) Luke from ConsumerismCommentary.com and our financial blogger “Plutus Awards” is building a foundation. Which is bad ass because it’ll now mean our online financial community will have a centralized place to do good and give back. And since my older philanthropy project, Love Drop, has been closed for over a few years now, I’ll have a new place to latch onto and get better about said charity sucking 😉 So thanks, Luke!
#2) I also had a fun call with Jason from Phroogal.com who’s about to embark on an epic 30 day / 30 location cross country tour to spread the good financial word around town. And I’m not one to usually drop that damn trendy word, “epic,” but it fits too perfectly here so whatev. Check out his list of the 30 pit stops in the right column of that link and see if you can make any of them. They’ll be chatting $$$, featuring cool speakers/founders, and in some areas offering free food and booze! 😉 And if you work for a financial institution, maybe try to involve them too?
#3) Then there’s our hustler friend, Lil’ Vee – remember her? Who rocked that $10,000 savings challenge late last year and writes as hilariously as our new foodie friend Braden does? Well, turns out she’s launching her own financial blog here shortly which I’m thrilled about. She has some damn good ideas for helping people make money, and an even more fascinating back story. I’m hoping she divulges all so we can learn from her!
Some new financial services/products I came across this week:
These are some of the companies that were forwarded to me, whether by reps or fellow readers letting me know about them. I literally get over 20 a week and thought featuring some of the more promising ones here might help. I’ll still review those companies I love and use myself more in-depth (like Digit, Personal Capital, etc), but this is a way for me to highlight some others that might never get such treatment. Since obviously not everything I like or need will be exactly what you like or need 🙂
Let me know what you think, or if you’re already using any of them!
#1) EveryDollar.com – This is a spankin’ new budgeting site from the legend himself, Mr. Dave Ramsey. I haven’t poked around it yet but it’s free to use and here’s a clip off their site (they also have a paid upgrade version too):
Budgeting should be easy and – dare we say it – FUN! Focus your money on what matters: day-to-day spending, knocking out those pesky debts, and building wealth… EveryDollar is based on a proven plan that’s helped millions of people take control of their money, get out of debt, and save so they can live and give like never before! Whatever your life goals may be, EveryDollar will help you get there.”
#2) Kaiku.com – These guys rock reloadable prepaid Visa cards. Now, I’ve never actually used a prepaid card before, but if I did I’m pretty sure I’d be lured in by them as their marketing to the younger millennial crowd is spot on. They make prepaid cards look cool!! Or are prepaid cards already cool? I literally have no idea, haha… But check these things out:
Anyways, since I’ve never used or researched one before, I emailed back a rep over there asking about fees and how they compare to others in their field. This is what they sent back: “Yes, most prepaid cards do have monthly fees, and our fee is among the lowest of our competitors. Here is a link on a couple of fees you may run into: https://www.kaiku.com/fees.” So if you’re looking for one, maybe they’re an option?
#3) DarrenDaily.com – I was forwarded this by my friend Tom Corley who writes one of my favorite blogs on “rich habits” and author of the same name book. I signed up for a week but not a big video guy (I thought it would be text-based) so ended up unsubscribing. If you don’t mind video, or even prefer it, then it might be right up your alley. Here’s what he emailed:
“Darren Hardy is the publisher of SUCCESS Magazine. Every morning he posts short success tips and inspirational ideas that help kick-start my day. I like them so much I wanted to share his posts with my friends. I promise you’re going to find something that will help you. It’s free, but don’t think it’s not valuable. It is!”
And then a notice you might find handy from the IRS: “Free File offers free tax services to all taxpayers, providing a fast, safe and affordable option for anyone who still needs to file. Taxpayers can use Free File to e-file their tax return or an extension at any time, day or night. Filing with Free File is one of the quickest ways to file your taxes and to receive your refund. Visit www.IRS.gov/freefile today to find the tax software option you need.”
Lastly, new FINPONYMS!
Courtesy of those continuing to add to our FINancially Passionate acrONYM list, haha…
- MINKY – “Multiple Income No Kids Yet”
- TWERP – “Tightwad With Early Retirement Plans”
- MILF – “Money Intense Loving Family”
- WOBANOWA – “Won’t Buy Anything – Not Worth Advertising To”
Never a dull week over here, I’ll tell you that much 🙂 What did you think about this wrap up? Useful? Boring? Want to see more of them overtime?
Have a happy (and safe) Easter weekend everyone! Thanks for reading the blog!
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Monopoly money bags photo by Lord Jim