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Blogger State of The Union.

by J. Money on Wednesday, June 19, 2013

how's my blogging t-shirt

Whelp friends, we hit 5 Million page views earlier this month! How awesome is that? :) That’s almost a million for each year I’ve been blogging – pretty sick stuff (we’ve also had over 1,850 articles published and over 50,000 comments! CRAZY!!). I can kinda get now when people say “the first million is always the hardest,” haha… it’s true at least in the blogging world!

With all these changes in my life lately, I’ve also been asking myself what the future will/should hold in terms of this blog. When you’ve been around the block for a few years certain questions start bubbling up, and at some point you have to listen to them. Things like, “Is this blog still doing what it was meant to do?” “Are people getting anything from it still?” “Am *I* getting anything from it still?” “Should I spend more time growing it or less?” And on and on…

Now I don’t know the answers to all of them, but I can tell you I’m not ready to stop just yet regardless of the answers :) I do still enjoy rambling on to you folks, and I love confusing people when I tell them I blog full-time for a living, haha… And I DO think it’s still doing what it was supposed to back in the day – which is:

To start conversations about money in an open and friendly environment.

It may not have been that way at first (I was just trying to keep myself busy at work instead of getting on MySpace 24/7! Which tells you how long I’ve been blogging for, haha..), but over the years that’s what I’ve turned its mission to. Chatting about the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to our personal finances. Or rather, MY personal finances. I forget there was a time when I thought it was taboo to spill it all out in the open ;) It’s much more fun aired out!

I also have to point out that after all these years the level of haters here still remains at an incredibly low level. Almost non-existent even, which is a tribute to YOU guys and shows y’all have some good respect for your fellow financial neighbor. I’m amazed at all the blogs I go to where people are bashing each other left and right, and I’m just SO thankful we don’t have any of that nastiness here on this site. We may get heated at times and disagree (which is great!! We love passion and perspectives!) but rarely do I have to go in and delete someone’s nonsense.

SO THANKS  TO ALL OF YOU FOR BEING SO COURTEOUS AND NICE!!! There’s no way I’d still be blogging if I had to deal with jokers all day and night. You guys really are the best, I mean it.

In fact, here… Let dig up my old prize for people I used to hand out back in 2008. These were fun to make when I had like a billion extra hours every week to play ;) Here you go:

sexy saver certificate

Click the picture or download it, and then print! Extra brownie points for snapping a picture of it on your wall or fridge or somewhere else cool :) It’s the little things in life that turn me on, haha…

So I think things will stay business as usual here for the most part, but I do want to figure out a way to add even MORE ways to get the convos flowing better. Perhaps by adding a forum of some sort on the site? Or some other doodad where we can all get to learn from each other more and share ideas? I know the point of blogs is usually to get one person’s perspective on stuff, but I feel like adding an extra level on that to continue the conversations would be even sexier. Maybe a more secretive place where we can share that’s even more private? (cue evil laugh) I dunno…

What do you think about that? Would you participate if we started some sort of forum here? I’m going to research it more and see what I can come up with… In the meantime, keep on sharing your thoughts in the comments as they really are the heart of this whole operation here. I’m just the guy who kicks it off and helps you waste a little time at work ;) You know, instead of getting on MySpace.

On a side note, this site now qualifies as the longest job I’ve ever held in my entire life. Pretty wild.

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[Awesome t-shirt pic by Rochelle, just rochelle]

{ 30 comments }

The $750 “No Excuses” Hustler Giveaway!

by J. Money on Tuesday, June 18, 2013

hustlers don't sleep shirt

Okay guys, If you’ve been sitting on your patukuses waiting to start that side hustle of yours, now’s your chance to get on it! My friends at Deals2Buy.com and I are partnering up to give one of you lucky s.o.b.s $750 worth of whatever it is you need to get that hustle of yours launched and out the door. And if you’re already rockin’ one, we’ll help you upgrade!

We know money can be an obstacle with this stuff, so we’re clearing that hurdle today and giving you no excuses to get out there and finally kill it :) Need a new laptop? We got you. Digital camera? Done. 20 chickens and 3 goats for that organic farm? No problem! Okay, well maybe that’ll be a problem – where do you buy goats these days? -  but we’d happily take up the challenge ;)

The point is, we want you to go out and finally start that dream of yours. And sometimes all you need is a little push to set things into motion.

About our partner:

deals2buy logoSister site to RetailMeNot.com, Deals2Buy is all about the deals and saving you money. They’re known for their computer deals & gadgets more than anything else, but they also offer discounts on watches, home goods, toys, clothes, and pretty much anything else that’s a great deal out there.

You can find their site at Deals2buy.com (d’uh), and we thank them for fronting us the money to do this giveaway today! So awesome of them!!

How to win this $750 Prize:

Okay, so if you want to enter today’s giveaway you REALLY have to put some thought into what it is you actually *need* for this side hustle of yours. Is it merely a “thing” or two to get you started, or is it some type of service? Do you need advice on anything, or is it simply a matter of getting X,Y, and Z and being on your way?

We want you to use this $750 as efficiently as possible so you can put aside the excuses and get right to it. WE WANT YOU TO KILL IT!

So step #1 to entering this contest is answering the following question:

“What hustle will you be starting (or continuing), and how can you use $750?”

Leave your answer down in the comments below, and then follow on to step #2:

Step #2: Share this giveaway with at least one other person. It can be through Twitter, Facebook, or some good ol’ fashion emailing action. However you do it is fine by us – we just want to get the word out and people thinking more :) Here’s a blurb you can use:

“Want $750 to start a side biz? Check out the “No Excuses” Hustler Giveaway by @BudgetsAreSexy & @Deals2Buy –> http://budgetsaresexy.com/go/hustler

That’s it! Tell us you’ve shared it, along with your answer to how you’d use this $750, and you’ll be entered and ready to go. We’ll leave this up until the end of the month (June 30th), and then the esteemed panel over at Deals2Buy along with yours truly will review ‘em and select a winner. So make your entries good as this one ain’t random, baby!

Good luck, my little hustlers!

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Giveaway ends 6/30/13 @ 12 pm EST, open to residents of the U.S. and Canada, 18+.

[Bad-ass shirt snapped by Andrea Whitmer]

{ 63 comments }

RGIII and USAA Team Up! What What!

by J. Money on Monday, June 17, 2013

Just saw this press release and I’m grinning from ear to ear:

“USAA announced that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III will support its military appreciation efforts this year. This agreement supports USAA’s Official Military Appreciation Sponsorship of the NFL and the Washington Redskins. The 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year was born on a U.S. military base and grew up in military communities across the country as his parents served in the U.S. Army.”

Two of my favorite enterprises coming together to kill it :) Yeah USAA and RGIII!!! Keep it real, babies… Best thing I’ve read all day.

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Help A Reader: Buy a House to Prevent Uncle Sam?

June 17, 2013
Thumbnail image for Help A Reader: Buy a House to Prevent Uncle Sam?

Got an interesting email over the weekend, and thought you’d enjoy reading and chiming in :) Can’t say I’ve heard of this one as a driving force to go out and buy a house! Haha… Though bonus points for the creativity. Here’s what our dear reader sent over: Hi J$! My husband has recently secured a nice, but temporary for now, gig that will bring . . .

24 comments Check out the full article →

Noodling Some Googlings

June 14, 2013
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Woot Woot – haven’t done one of these in a while… You know, when I check the stats to see what kinds of craziness people are typing in to get to this site? Makes me feel all types of legit and stuff, haha… Or at least sane, for that matter :) Here were my favorite questions I found in the past 24 hours, along with . . .

32 comments Check out the full article →

National Debt, Retirement, and 401(k) Loans?

June 14, 2013

Hidey ho, love birds! Here are my favorite posts from around the web this week – starting with one who says my blog is her favorite ever ;) A sure way to catch my attention! Haha… Everyone, go check out Kara’s new blog and show her some love: karaschaoticlife.wordpress.com. Thanks, Kara! Here are the rest of the ones I enjoyed: It’s just a job @ . . .

7 comments Check out the full article →

Happily Squished: Learning to Live in 270 Sq. Ft.

June 13, 2013
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(Guest post by Cat from Budget Blonde) High up on a hill on a little Caribbean island called Grenada sits the cutest, tiniest 270 sq. ft. apartment you ever did see. It has no couch, no TV, no central AC, and no dishwasher, but despite its shortcomings, I’m proud to call it home. While one person could definitely live here comfortably, I share it with . . .

62 comments Check out the full article →

Thoughts From a Wealthy Neighborhood

June 12, 2013
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So it’s been over a week and a half now chillin’ at the mother-in-law’s, and so far everything’s going superbly. Every day we hang out together, drink coffee together, and even have dinner at a normal time of night together – 6pm. Down 5 hours from our normal late-night feeding we were trying to break ;) I’m actually feeling like a responsible adult these days! . . .

48 comments Check out the full article →

Do NOT Be Like My Wife!

June 11, 2013
Thumbnail image for Do NOT Be Like My Wife!

She’s going to kill me when she sees this, but I just wouldn’t be doing my job as a personal finance blogger if I didn’t talk about this today ;) She’s completely off her rocker! Here’s the deal. You know how we’re living with my mother-in-law (her mom) right now? Well, as part of her agreeing to let us stay there, she kindly asked that . . .

81 comments Check out the full article →