You know those people who read like 10 books a month?  Well, that’s me, except I read magazines instead.  In fact, I devour the hell out of them. I literally just signed up to 6 new subscriptions and I’m on a high, baby! It’s the best thing to happen to A.D.D. people since coffee ;)

And just like with books, once you’re done reading them, you need another.  And another, and another. And for someone who used to not enjoy reading AT ALL – like, I’d maybe go through 1 book ever 5 years – this revelation has been a God send.  Especially when I found out you can actually *learn* from them instead of just looking at all the pretty pictures the whole time! (Which is still fun to do, of course) So before you go telling me I’m a fool for “wasting my money” on all of this stuff, at least consider the fact that I’m now a smarter fool, okay? :)

And actually, you’d be pretty shocked at the money I’ve already spent on some of these magazines cuz I used to buy them SEPARATELY at the airport every month last year!  Instead of signing up to a subscription like normal people do cuz I enjoyed the thrill of buying them so much on the spot and reading ‘em right away.  It was like crack to me, and it was less fun if I brought the magazine from home (I don’t know why?). So in reality, I’m actually SAVING a butt ton here.  And now that I don’t travel at all much anymore, I’m missing my fix! (And I’ve also ran through all my other four magazines already from the month, boooooo…..).

So what does my magazine collection include, you ask?

• Money ($14.95/year) — My all-time favorite magazine :)  Will never get tired of it.
• Kiplinger ($12.00/year) — This one ranks up there too. Pretty much all the money ones do, haha.
• Smart Money ($10.00/year) — Same here.
• House Beautiful ($15.00/year) — Just started checking out this one when I kept stealing them from my sister on beach week last year ;)  Figured now that I’m getting into house stuff again, it’ll be a good way to keep up my inspiration.  And a nice break from all the money reads too.
• Veranda ($15.00/year) — Picked this one up the other week when we had our $5.00 Groupon deal here, remember?  That’s 1/3 the original price! Not too shabby… (another good house/pic. book)
• INC ($12.00/year) — **NEW** One of the magazines I kept picking up at $5.00 a pop.  So def. worth $12.00 a year! Haha… though when I bought it, it was reduced to $7.00/year?? I must have snuck in before Amazon changed it. If you like businessy type stuff though, you’ll love this one :)
• Entrepreneur ($11.97/year) — **NEW** Another one I’d spend $5 bucks on every other month.  Some of our favorite financial/social media guys write for it too!  Including our own J.D. Roth :)
• GC ($19.99/year) — **NEW** A bit more expensive than the others, but a nice change from all that money/business/house stuff. This one’s for making me a better manly man ;)
• Fortune ($19.99/year) — **NEW** I got back and forth on this one, and probably could have done without this year (I took 2011 off from it), but my fear of running out of magazines to read at night got me to get back on the train again.  If I find myself overwhelmed at any point, it’ll be the first to get the chop.  Though it is an interesting read.
• Tattoo ($29.99/year) — **NEW** Definitely new!  My desire to get another tattoo has been rising every single year since I got my first one 10 years ago.  And while I can easily research and scour the web for cool ideas and what not, I prefer it in print to give my eyes a break from the computer screen.  I also love the culture behind it all, and actually do read the articles ;)  Though I don’t think my wife believes that, with all the half naked girls in them and all, haha…
• Inked ($29.95/year) — **NEW** I freakin’ LOVE the layout and pics in this one – a bit more upscale looking than Tattoo and the other mags, and I can go through them pretty fast anyways.  So now we get double the tattoo fun :) (Oh, and the price tags?? Man, they’re high! But considering they go for $8.00 a piece – no joke – it’s def. worth it to me, at least for the first year.)

Overall it’ll cost me $200 this year for over 140+ copies of my favorite all-time magazines. Which I’ll read mostly in-full, and then scan all the others for a nice “word break” with all the pretty images of houses/tattoos/sharply dressed models, haha… it’s a perfect concoction really ;)  (Also, I like how I have INC and INKED on there – almost the same word, but with totally different meanings!)

I even have a spreadsheet I keep that tracks all the prices I paid, their renewal dates, *where* I go to pay them (online vs. mailing check, etc), and how long I’ve had them for.  I HATE getting all those “You better renew now or you’ll never get these mailed again!!” trick notices they do to get you to re-sign up like 6 months earlier, it’s bonkers.  I never knew how much longer I had left, so I started the spreadsheet so I’m always on top of it going forward.  And then I found out you can look at the code they put on the notices too, which sneaks in the actual date it expires! Haha… did you know that?  It’s always small and black and very hard to notice if you’re not looking for it. And I never even knew you could buy mags on Amazon either!  That’s what really sent sent me over the edge last night ;)

So yeah.  My name is J. Money, and I’m a total magazine addict.  You’ll never find me saying to cut them out of your budget like coffee or TV (I hate those tips!) cuz for some of us they prove to be very very valuable – and fun – things in our lives. We all prioritize differently, right?

How about you?  Do you rake in the subscriptions too, or are you more of a book person?  Or have you given up reading all together, except for this insanely awesome blog here? ;) I wanna know!

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PS: I’ve picked up the book, “The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture,” while I await for new mags to hit the mail, and I gotta say – it’s pretty exciting stuff!  If you like trivia books, or even modern history for that matter, I think you’ll really enjoy this one. Another great A.D.D. book because every page is a new “summary” of a famous person or place or thing! Haha… You’ll like it.

PPS: Most of those subscription links up there are affiliates. I gotta at least *try* and get my money back if y’all find these helpful, right? ;)

Two weeks ago I decided that I was gonna start growing a beard for the first time in my life.  At first it was just cuz I was being lazy and enjoying the newly found freedom of having less projects on my plate, but after a few days of missing my “shave time,” I decided to just go for the gold.  I have no idea how long it’ll last, or how LONG I can even grow out the crazy thing, but I’ve always wanted to see what would happen so we’re giving it a shot :)  And who knows, maybe I’ll end up looking like Santa Claus! (Only hopefully not that white)

But the reason for me telling you all this, besides the fact I just wanted to share my new mission with you!, is that it reminded me a lot of growing our money.  Kinda like my mohawk post on the economy, here are a few ways producing a beard is like saving money.  Would you agree?

1. Both are easy to start, but hard to continue.  Every day for 15+ years my beard “started” – only I shaved it back off every 4 or 5 days.  And almost every day during that same time I put away a couple dollars here, or a couple dollars there.  That was totally easy.  But continuing with it?  Reminding yourself every day to KEEP GOING cuz the end game is much bigger than all the days before it?  Super hard.  It’s sinking in more as time goes on *now*, of course, but it took a lot of hard work and patience.
2. Both take patience.  Money doesn’t grow to a million dollars on day 1 – it takes thousands of days.  Same with this crazy mat of hair on my face.  It’s only been about 4 weeks, but it’s JUST now starting to resemble something other than a 5 o’clock shadow on there.  And I’m sure it’ll be doubly long in another 4 weeks!  But I gotta keep on being patient and working towards it for it to continue to grow.  Same with your money, or cutting out debt, etc. It all happens over time.
3. Both take hard work!  Okay, well, maybe not the beard – that’s one thing in life that just “happens” without an ounce of work, but certainly w/ the money ;)  You have to consciously remind yourself to stay on top of it all or it’ll get trampled over like it always has in the past.  Working on it one week is great, but if you don’t push more and more and pay attention *every* week, odds are it won’t grow as fast as you had hoped.  It doesn’t mean you have to go all 24/7 or anything, but you do have to be more aware than in your non-caring days. And sometimes that means going without some *wants* here and there.  It never kills us to skip over some stuff every now and then.
4. And lastly, both itch :)  My face, more literally, and my desire to save, more figuratively.  But with either you have to WANT IT BAD to make it happen.  There are pros and cons to each (The beard drives me crazy (it’s SO ITCHY!!) and makes me look like a vagabond, and the savings means I have to go without in other areas), but the end goal is more important to me in the long run.  At least for now – that beard might have to go if the Mrs. gets tired of being scratched all the time ;)

So the moral of the story is that if you want to become a millionaire one day, you have to start growing a beard.  Haha… or just work your ass off and remain true to your goal ;) I’d normally interject a question here relating to money, but instead I’d like to ask you your opinions on facial hair.

Happy Friday!

Guys:  What’s the longest you’ve ever grown your beard? Did you enjoy it in the end?
Gals:  What do you think about facial hair on men? Do you like it?  What do you prefer the most? (goatees, mustaches, beards, etc?) I know y’all love some Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, both of whom rock some mighty fine stubble every now and then.

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(Crazy beards by Ayleen Gaspar)

I just wrapped up a pretty cool blogging interview that you’ll see below, but I wanted to highlight that second Q&A there because I REALLY think it makes a big difference. Taking on tasks when you’re *in the mood.* (I also give y’all mad love in it too, so be sure to read the rest! :))

I know I’ve written about it before, but I think I’m gonna continue doing so as the years go on here because it gets proved to me every single day when working.  Like, even right now when I’m hyped up on coffee and ready to pound out some words before my motivation wears off!  Haha… Seriously, once 1 or 2pm hits, my writing creativity goes down the drain and if I don’t do it then, I’m screwed.  It’s like my brain just does a 180 and wants to work on anything BUT writing at that point.  So the trick is to know yourself well enough to work around yourself ;)

There are some other good tips in the interview too, I think – which is the reason I’m sharing it all so it hopefully helps! – but the main takeaway for the day is to learn how your mind works, and do you best to maximize efficiency.  Whether it’s paying your bills, hustling on the side, balancing your checkbook (do people still do that??), or maybe de-cluttering your closets.  I did that yesterday for 3 hours the second I was in “power mode.”  The first time in 6 months, so I jumped on it! Haha… and got a half dozen trash bags worth of donating to do now too ;)  Yeah tax write offs!

Anyways, here’s clips of the interview – I hope it helps!  If you’d like to read it all in Spanish, go over to Finanzas Personales Para Todos where my boy translates it for his audience, haha… awesome. (Actually, I think he broke it down into two parts, but still – pretty cool to read it in another language :))

Give us your 30 second story about Budgets are Sexy. How and why did you start? Why did you keep on going? Where is the blog now and where is it going?

I actually started the blog off a fluke – I was searching around for ways to budget better since I had just bought a house (Another fluke — I went apartment shopping for rentals, only to come away BUYING a place 3 days later – yikes!) and kept stumbling across all these personal stories about managing money.  I had no idea what a blog was, or any interest in even jumping into one myself, but the more I read, the more I got engaged and really kept learning day in and day out.  Then one day while bored at work I decided to just start one, figuring I had a bunch of crazy stories I could tell too.  And as someone w/ massive A.D.D., and no experience writing whatsoever, I figured it would either crash and burn or take off and give me something fun to do every day.  I had no idea it would become my life 4 years later or that I’d meet thousands and thousands of new online friends :) And that’s really what keeps me going, to be honest with you. The community we’ve all helped build over time.  Our audience in the PF niche is just incredible, and every blog out there helped to form it. I love it!

What have you learned about the way you handle your own finances? What significant changes have you brought to your own money management as a result of this experience?

I learned that I get really hardcore about stuff, really fast, and to just run with it for however long I’m in the mood :)  Which I know isn’t the right way to do things, but I’ve come to terms with it and I’ve managed to apply it to many different aspects of my life – esp. money.  When I save, I save a LOT and I do everything in my power to make it happen like it was some sort of challenge.  And then it fades away, and maybe I switch to paying off debt, or to earning MORE money, or whatever the case may be.  But as long as I’m taking advantage of the times I’m super focused and eager to get something done, it’s worked out for me pretty well.  And I highly recommend it.  Not being so extreme one way or the other (that’s never really good), but noticing the way your brain works, and tweaking our habits to move along with it accordingly.  The same can be said about doing your laundry, or writing that paper you’ve been putting off, or whatever.  The second you’re in the mood to do it, jump on it and ride it through!  You’ll get a TON more accomplished, and in a shorter amount of time.  It really is efficient.

What can you conclude – from your interaction with readers and followers – is the biggest problem people experience with money?

I think there’s two answers to that: 1)  People usually want the FAST way of doing things, and tune out when you don’t give them any sexy way to do that (because let’s face it, there isn’t one).  So the biggest hurdle I find is keeping people MOTIVATED to continue to want to do better, and get them into the habit of applying the “money concept” in small ways every single day.  Even if they realize they’re doing it or not.  Which brings us to #2)  People are lazy.  Everyone wants a lot of money and the perfect job or vacation/etc, but it takes ACTION to get to that point.  There’s a lot of talkers in this world, and unfortunately not as many do-ers. So if you can get in the habit of walking the walk, I think you’ll get a lot more out of your life both financially, and mentally. You just have to START.

If you could reset people’s minds with regards to ONE financial matter, which would it be and why?

That managing your finances is hard.  It really isn’t, it just takes motivation and some time to get a good game plan down.  It’s funny because it all boils down to a pretty simple rule – spend less than you make – but society gives us SOOOOO many chances to screw it up, or go around it somehow, and no one seems to notice until it’s “too late” (and I put that in quotations because I think it’s never too late to turn your ship around).  That’s the problem to this whole thing – everyone is doing it!  Everyone is buying homes and cars and big fancy electronics when it’s truly not a good fit in their budget.  I’m all for a lot of those things, but it has to make financial sense and land pretty high on the priority list.  There’s no problem splurging on the stuff that makes you happy, but if you’re gonna do it, you better cut the things out that land lower on that list of yours or you’re heavily skewed.  The second you overindulge, that entire “spend less thank you make” mantra goes out of the window.  And credit cards and loans don’t help w/ that either (even though I’m a huge fan of them when used correctly).

So really, I just urge people to PAY ATTENTION more to their finances, and learn what works, and doesn’t, so you can get back to your life and enjoy the stuff that’s important without being weighed down so much with the stress.  Everyone has a chance of financial freedom, but you gotta take that first step in changing your habits.

What has given you the most satisfaction during your personal finance blogging experience?

I think the overall change in mindset it gave me. That you can really build something from scratch, all by yourself, and turn it into something that literally changes your life in all different kinds of direction.  The blogging part itself is pretty fun, but ALLLLLL the stuff that comes out of it is even more so.  Like the friendships you make over time, the connections to your readers or other blog friends, and even career-speaking all the new *opportunities* that come up on a regular basis.  The blog is kinda that first foot in the door to be able to do a number of other things that may, or may not, interest you down the road.  And I think if you’re open to accepting new opportunities like that here and there, it really opens up the world to you and what’s possible. I never knew I had that entrepreneurial spirit, and I attribute 100% of that directly to starting the blog :)  I don’t think I could ever go back to a 9-5 anymore knowing what I do now.

If you had to motivate a person with troubled finances and had only 1 sentence to do it, what would you say?

Take action.  I don’t care if it’s saving 1 penny a day or working around the clock to cut down your debt, just take that first step to progress and do your best to continue pushing forward.

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(Photo by EvelynGiggles – haha, GREAT name!)

Seeing how today’s Friday the 13th, I thought we’d go over our darkest and deepest money fears we all have ;) Not cuz we’re sadists or anything like that, but so we can FACE these fears out in the open before they ever get too close! Sometimes just walking through some of this stuff can help make it less scary. And get you to become a little more confident in the process. That every day you’re going farther and farther away from this scary fear of yours!

I’ll go first.

I am deeply afraid of losing all my income, and not being able to provide for my family.

Like, I’m scared $hitless about this.  If the internet ever explodes, I am seriously in deep doo-doo! But since I really can’t do anything about that, I gotta focus on the stuff that I CAN control.  And here’s what I’m doing about that:

• I’m gonna continue to save my ass off. The more cushion, the better!
• I’m gonna get rid of ALL my debt – every last penny of it – so I don’t *need* as much money any more going forward.  Something I only recently realized after all these years…
• I’m gonna keep on learning and reading and just devouring all things financial, and otherwise, so I can stay on the top of my game and make sure I’ll see the end of the internet coming before it gets here ;) Not to mention helping to bulk up my mental arsenal.
• I’m gonna keep being REAL about my money – and not try and fool myself – so I can continue to make more accurate choices down the road. All based on real life numbers, and not magical ones that sometimes get stuck in my head.
• I’m gonna love the crap out of my family.  Not money-related, but if the world goes to hell, I’m hoping all my love keeps everyone sane and happy :)  Or at the very least, not mad at me! Haha…

Most of all that is pretty vague, but I like getting it “out there” to remind myself that we’re doing okay with all this so far.  Even though I post my numbers up, and it *looks* like I’m doing well to the average reader, it doesn’t mean I still don’t doubt myself, or wonder if I need to be doing something better, or differently, or whatever the problem may be in my head. I get scared and nervous just like the rest of you! No matter how much money (or not) we have on any given day.  I think it’s only natural, and reminding ourselves of what the point of it all is every now and then helps to put things in better perspective. The more attention we pay to our finances, the more confident we’ll continue to get!

How about you guys?  What are YOUR biggest fears? And more importantly, what are you DOING about them? Let’s put it all out there so it’s not as scary anymore, okay? :)  This day belongs to folklore and Freddy Kruegers, not us.  Let’s kill it!

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(Photo by LifeSupercharger, Text by J$)

I’ve been coming across a few pretty dope contests lately (if you can call them that?), and as a lover of currency and games, I thought it was something you’d might enjoy too :)  Who doesn’t like FREE MONEY for doing nothing, right?? (And more *free* than my post about tax reimbursements, haha… that’s a different kind of free.)

The first game I came across was from the Opie and Anthony Show that someone here forwarded over to me, and is featured in that video up at the top.  It’s been going on for about 3 years now, but to this day I don’t believe anyone has found the dollar yet? The concept is pretty simple:  Find the dollar bill he dropped in Times Square, and win $10,000! :) Of course, once it’s in circulation who knows *where* it could turn up (or not) again, but still what a chance! We could be holding onto it right now and not even know it! Haha…

In fact, why don’t you check to be sure? :)  Here’s the serial number:  F48859794A. If you have it, hurry up and claim your prize!  People are getting pretty clever with finding it too, posting up requests for the bill on forums and saying it has “sentimental value” and they’ll give you $100 for it, haha… tricky!!!  (If you Google F48859794A you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about)

And while you’re scouring through all or your bills right now, make sure to check out my friend’s site too – MoneyGraffiti.com – and see what “bonuses” he’s cooking up as well.  He’s recently dumped over 50 bills into circulation and is paying 100 x face value if you find one of them!  So you’re looking at $100, $500, and $1,000 prizes there – all for randomly coming across the right bill, pretty cool stuff.

Now the odds?  Pretty slim to none. (Though even more so if Money Graffiti had placed a prize on the exact same bill that Opie did! Haha.. THAT would be something ;))  Not only would you have to magically come across any of these bills, but you’d then have to make sure to be checking EVERY SINGLE ONE that comes into your hands too.  Which is not something easily remembered, unless you *really* make it a point to do so.  And who knows how many bills are just sitting in a bank or someone’s drawers or something too – they may never be found!

Over all though I LOVE this $hit. It makes money that much more interesting out there, and really adds a unique spin to things.  Especially the other clever stuff you’ll find at Money Graffiti with all the doodles and crazy things people do with money.  Remember those hobo nickels I talked about last year?  It all goes down into my “awesome” category for sure. I’m a nerd for this stuff!

Now get out there and try and win one of these prizes!  And then ask for change from all your friends and family, and keep searching until you come up a winner ;)  I’ll even give you added incentive:  For each winning dollar you find, I’ll give you an extra $1.00!  Haha… if that doesn’t sound sexy, I don’t know what does.

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PS: I once bought Dollar Dollar Bills Y’all.com in order to show off my own collection of awesome bills I found – kinda like this one. Or better yet, this one ;) But as you can see it still remains unfinished…

(Dope animation by Richard from Money Graffiti)

Y’all do okay w/ last year’s? You gonna pick the same ones cuz you forgot all year long? Haha… I’m gonna go back and search through my old posts now for mine (one of the pros of blogging is that it’s all recorded!).

Okay here we are…. it looks like I just had ONE for 2011, which is good cuz it was the only one I worked towards! Haha… To work for myself for 12 straight months WITHOUT looking for a job :) And guess what? I DID IT!! I can’t freakin’ believe it… it wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but I’m DAMN glad I went for it. The last thing I wanted to do was jump back into what was comfortable again and never give myself a decent chance. And as of now, I have no plans on joining the real world again! :)

I do, however, have two NEW resolutions for this year. Which kinda go against each other in the normal sense of things, but if I don’t go for them I’m gonna run myself ragged:

1. I want to work 50% less.
2. I want to make 50% more!

Perfect world, right? :) But $hit – you gotta set the goals right if you’re ever gonna push yourself to greatness! And with my new baby on its way in 2012, I’ll need both of these areas improved in order for us to be 1,000% prepared. Here are my quick thoughts on ‘em:

Working 50% less

It sounds pretty audacious w/out any background here, but the scary truth of the matter is I work anywhere from 10 to 16 hours EVERY single day. Even weekends sometimes. So if we choose, let’s say, 14 as a good average (most days I work 14ish), then that means I’ll be cutting down my working schedule to only 7 a day. Which is like a normal 9-5, right? :) There’s no way I’ll be able to do this right out the gate, but my plan is to slowly cut out the stuff that’s NOT important to me throughout the months (kinda like we should all be doing with our expenses!) and pour more concentrated effort into the few things that ARE. Of course, the hard part here will be determining what exactly that is, and *how* to unload the nonsense, but I have a good 6 months to go until Baby J comes out and I think I can at least get my time down by 60 or 70% by then for sure. I’m gonna do my best!!

TRACKING: Every time I sit down to work, I’m gonna mark it in my notebook so I can track it 100% and watch my progress, or not. It’ll be annoying, but def. do-able.

Making 50% more

Yeah, gonna be a lot harder on 50% less time! Haha… but I won’t be able to hit that until later in the year anyways, so that means I need to quickly be trading out the time that DOESN’T translate into money down the road to things that do. I can never quit doing emails or comments or tweets, etc since it all comes w/ the territory of blogging and maintaining friendships/partnerships/etc, but I CAN make sure not to START any new ventures that don’t have a chance of making anything anytime soon… so pretty much no more throwing things up in hopes it’ll make me rich one day! Haha… *ahem* GiveawaysAreSexy.com. In theory I should be making some money off that site since it eats up quite some time, but it’s kinda hard to do when you keep giving things away ;) Lesson learned! (It’s still pretty fun though, so we’ll have to see how I can fit it into the new mission without having to shut it down.)

TRACKING: I don’t have all the numbers in just yet, but it looks like I’ll have made $110,000 this year (gross), so to know if I’m doing well or not will be easy – I’ll need to hit $165,000 next year, which comes out to roughly $14k/mo – wow… never broke it down like that before. Gotta try though!

Now the beauty of all this is that if I can pull it off, my WHOLE WORLD will open up to be able to do WHATEVER I WANT going forward! Having more money AND more time is the whole structure of freedom, baby! And the more flexible I can make my new schedule, the more options I’ll have to swap things in and out as necessary too. It really does change the whole outlook. Just because I CAN work my ass off and make tons of money (in theory), doesn’t mean I should. Just like spending all my money just cuz I have it saved up, ya know?

I did my best to fit in every ounce of work I could this year – which was great cuz I NEEDED to know I could work for myself full-time like that! – but now that we know I can do it, I gotta make sure I don’t turn into one of “those” kinds of people. Where all you do is work work work and it consumes you and takes over your entire life. I love what I do, but what’s the point if you never have any time to enjoy anything else?

So the new plan will go into affect 3 days from now. And both can be easily tracked too, which is important for me. I need solid black and white goals in order for me to actually accomplish them. The more vague they are, the more likely I won’t do them :) Here’s to a successful 2012!

What are your goal(s) for the new year? Did you knock out the ones from last year?

I probably won’t, but it’s okay if I do! Haha… actually, every year I look forward to walking around downtown where I grew up, and just spending time w/ the family :) We walk into about 10+ stores (mainly book and antique ones), but I rarely come away with anything particular on these trips. Except for happy tummies full of tea and croissants, and a nice workout from all the walking we do, haha…

BUT, and I say this more for my own sake than yours, I think it’s PERFECTLY FINE to spend all the money you get for Xmas or birthdays on yourself and splurge when others are giving it to you. They WANT you to go out and pick up something you normally wouldn’t – they just don’t know what it is, exactly! So they trust you do :)

I’m a huge fan of saving and not overindulging all the time, of course, but in these specific instances I think it’s perfectly acceptable (and fun!) to go on a mini splurge-fest for yourself. Especially if there really is something you’ve been dying to get your hands on, but you can’t justify taking it from your own budget. You can’t save your money all the time (or pay off debt 24/7), and this is a GREAT way to relax a bit and unwind. And it doesn’t cost you a thing!

So while you’re reading this today, I’m probably out there looking around just waiting for something awesome to jump out and get me! But it’ll only work if it’s TRULY awesome. Just because I have the money to splurge right now, doesn’t mean I have to find something TODAY, right? (Right) So if I don’t get lucky, all that money will just sit on the sideline for now waiting for its turn to play :) And I’m pretty sure it’ll survive…

I’m all about spending money on myself, but not just for the sake of doing it. And one of the best side affects to this is that before you spend it *anything* then becomes possible! Who knows what you can find out there for your $60 or $100, ya know? That in itself is a gift to me. The ability to have money ready to spend at any time, as soon as you find something worthy of it. Your world becomes a land of presents, and it’s up to you to find the one that deserves to go home with you! haha…

We’ll see if I get lucky today or not, but either way I’m dedicated to spending it on something good… You only get a birthday once a year, right? ;)

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(Photo by waferboard)

WOWWWWWW!!! I finally get to tell everyone!! Do you know how long I’ve been keeping this hidden for??? Exactly 12 weeks and a day :) Which my wife specifically told me to keep hush just in case something bad happens to him/her in that 1st trimester (for those who don’t know about baby stuff, like me, it’s when they’re the most likely to be miscarried).

But today we cross that mark, and Mr. J. to the Poppa Money is one happy mother f*cker. (Will probably have to curb that language soon, huh?)… I haven’t really been blogging about it much cuz we were a bit scared at the possibility of maybe not being *able* to have kids cuz it was taking so long, but almost 2 years later after we started trying we are looking on the up and up :) And while this post right now probably won’t be much about the money aspects of it all, you better believe I’ll be divulging all of that craziness over the next 6 months till that baby pops! (OMG 6 months!!!). And I guess then forever and ever and ever too, haha…. Freaky! And AWESOME! And Scaryyyy!!!!

But while it was certainly all kinds of emotionally mixed earlier on over 9 weeks ago, we’ve now got it under control and it’s become our new way of life already :) Here’s a breakdown of how I found out, and how much I was in utter shock throughout the whole process:

• Nate and I are in Indianapolis, IN – a good 592.5 miles away from my home – getting ready for Love Drop #10.
• We are in Babys “R” Us (no joke!) shopping for our recipient’s newborn triplets, and every dang baby in that store was smiling at me.  I even make a joke to Nate about it and he says, “One day you’ll have one too.” Who knew THAT DAY was “the day!”
• After 5 hours straight of shopping (no joke, again) for diapers and baby formula and all kinds of doodads I don’t even know what are used for, I send Mrs. BudgetsAreSexy a picture text of the $1,500 of stuff we’re buying which fills up not only 4 large shopping carts, but also the check-out line as well ;)
• This text apparently triggers her to take a pregnancy test, as she was about to down a nice glass of red wine (hah!), and frantically calls me back leaving a voicemail along the lines of “Call me now! Call me Now! It’s IMPORTANT! But I’m safe, don’t worry.” – which I didn’t get cuz I was spending that $1,500 worth of said merchandise, and by the time I listen to it we’re in the car about to pull away from the store.
• I tell Nate to take the wheel cuz my wife’s freaking out (though I’m glad she ended the message with “I’m okay,” which is VERY important when you leave crazy messages like that), and I quickly shoot her a call back.
• Now I’m thinking she’s probably won backstage passes to NKOTBSB or something, cuz she’s always entering (and winning) contests like that, but as soon as she utters the words my mouth drops WIDE open and for a second the whole world freezes and I’m at a complete loss of thought.
• “I THINK WE’RE PREGNANT!”  She quickly gets out… *silence*… *silence*… *silence*, “OMG“ I finally manage to say. And then I tell her to go take like 10 billion more tests, just to make sure, and each one comes back positive :) “We’re gonna have a boobie!”

And the rest is history :) I fly back the next day after presenting Love Drop and holding all those babies imagining that they’re my OWN (and Nate telling me to enjoy my freedom while I can!), and we quickly start figuring out what to do and how to do it, and when to do it and all the rest that comes with the territory.  AKA we jump on Google for 10 hours straight and proceed to freak ourselves out :)

But that’s the beauty of it all right?  New soon-to-be parents trying to figure it all out, and filled with every single feeling under the sun.  And after trying for over a year and a half at that point, really still in SHOCK more than anything that it hit us when we least expected it. Or at least when *I* least expected it – sitting in the parking lot there of Babys “R” Us when it seemed more like an April Fool’s joke than the start to an incredible and exciting adventure!

And if you can see those pictures down there, our baby looks really healthy so far!!  We just did our latest rounds of checks and balances to see if he/she is high risk for any horrible diseases out there (blood work will come back in the next week), but right now all is good and I’m working on a new financial game plan as you would probably expect I’d be doing :)  In fact, I think one of the first things I managed to mutter out after the “OMG” incident was “I need to open up a savings account for her!” Haha… it’s funny what your brain tells you when you get such drastic news like that :)  And yup, I said “her” because I want a baby girl more than anything in this whole entire world, and I will not stop having babies, or practicing to have babies (ow ow!) until I finally get one in my arms.  But of course I’ll love that little booger no matter what it turns out to be!

So that’s my life over these last 9 weeks so far… quite a whirlwind, and incredibly hard NOT to slip up and say something on Facebook or Twitter or even here on the blog until we got close to that 12 weeks scare period.  You never know what the Big Man has in store for you at any point of a pregnancy (or life, for that matter) but no matter what happens going forward, I will never forget this overjoyed feeling I have right now, or even this instance here of sharing it all with you guys as I type this. I love y’all so very much for continuing to support my dreams of blogging this entire year (my 1 year fired-versary was last Thursday!!! WOW!!), and I’ll continue sharing our lives with you for as long as you continue to want to hear it :)

If you have kids yourself, or you know a lot about t ‘em, now’s your chance to share all your secrets with me! So I can make sure I’m the best father a little J. Money can ask for!  We still got a looooooong 6 months to go, but something tells me our lives are gonna change more than we can ever imagine :)  Here’s to love and happiness!

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PS:  Those are our real sonograms! Check out the one of him/her waving to us, haha…
PPS:  Remember how I was saving all that cash, but didn’t really know what to do with it yet, except for to keep storing it up as a nice safety pillow?  Well, I think we have the answer now :)

This morning I awoke to a killer email from one of my favorite people in the whole world – Miss Jenny Blake: Former 9-5′er at Google, and now publisher of all things AWESOME. She recently launched a new course aptly titled “Make Sh*t Happen,” and it turned out a case study I had helped her out with was getting a lot of positive feedback, thus the reason for the email – to thank me, and to totally make my day! (WOO!) Here’s what one person had to say about it:

All of the case studies have had some idea or thought that caught my attention, but this one I identified with completely. The fears, the path… and hopefully, eventually, the success.

It then got me thinking – maybe YOU guys would get something out of this too? After all, it’s mainly BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS that I am here following my dream of full-time blogging to begin with :) So while it’s long, and definitely in-depth at times, you’ll find the entire discussion we did together down below – unedited and pretty much exactly what comes out of me after a few beers and contemplating life. If you ever need help “keeping it real,” that’s certainly a good way to do it ;)

Here’s the story of how I accomplished my dream of blogging full-time…

Tell us about your goal: What did it involve? What inspired you to go after it?

Oh man, it involved a looooot of saving up and making sure it *was*, indeed, what I truly wanted to do. But the second the seed was planted I couldn’t get it out of my brain!  It was seriously like love at first site… errr…. type?

So as soon as I knew I wanted to go for it, I saved up roughly $40,000 and dove in.  Actually, funny story real quick – the day before I went to give my two weeks notice (I had a “normal” 9-5 making $70k) I got called in and told I was terminated ;)  So all those inklings of “what if” disappeared and I knew at that point that I was 100% on the right path of my life.  The worst thing for me is to wonder if I was making the right choice or not, but when things align like that you can’t help but to take it on full- force and just go for it.  And it’s a good thing too, or else I’d have been left out in the cold w/out a job!

COURAGE: How did you build the courage to actually do it? How did you know it was time?

I kinda cheated in that I planned for it far out ;)  The second I started making money from what I thought could only be a hobby (my blogging), I pushed harder and harder to keep doing better and making more until the end goal of going full-time was in clear view.  It took 3 years total to get to that point, but it wasn’t until year 2 when I realized it was possible.  And as soon as you allow an ounce of possibility to enter your brain, sometimes you just can’t stop until you make it a reality :)  It’s scary, and you second-guess yourself a lot, but there’s nothing like taking big risks out there and SEEING what your potential is like.  The worst thing in the world for me is to have an idea and not act on it — I’d rather fail and dust myself off again.  Most people in this life become complacent and just do enough to get by at work (not all people, but a lot of people), and I was like that once too.  But when you get empowered and realize you can change your course by putting in some extra work – AND that it could be in a field you’re passionate about! – it all starts flowing naturally.  You get on a rhythm and just keep on going until you reach that end point!  Or in this case, the beginning.

VALUES: Why was this goal important to you? What purpose did it serve? What underlying values did it honor?

It was important because it was a dream that meant giving up everything I knew about the working world.  No on in my family starting anything on their own, or built a business or anything, so I grew up thinking a traditional 9-5 was the only way to live in this life.  Which is totally fine, and I completely respect it — this life is DEF not for everyone — but as soon as I realized I could actually CHANGE it and make my own path, I was mesmerized. The idea that I could make money at doing something I actually ENJOYED was incredible.  It took a lot of work to get here, and I’m literally in the middle of a 16-hour day as I type this, BUT I can confidently say that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wanted my work to actually *matter,* and be something I could stand by and be proud of, and for the first time in my working life I have achieved that :)  I don’t ever want to go back.

SUPPORT: Who held you accountable to your goal? Were friends and family supportive, or did they think you were crazy?

Everyone thought I was crazy except for my close family and my blog readers.  EVERY time I mentioned quitting or thinking about going full-time I got nothing but positive feedback and support.  No one knew the income I was bringing in or not (though I share all my financials on my blog, due to the nature of it) but the idea that I’d be totally fine in their eyes REALLY gave me ammunition to keep on striving for it.  And even the people that were kinda worried about me, were only that way due to not understanding the business.  I’ve been at this for 6+ months now and I STILL get questions as to what, exactly, it is I “do.” Haha…  But as crazy as our ideas are sometimes, only YOU know what you truly want out of this life, and only YOU have the power of going for it or not.  There are haters all over the place trying to bring us down, but at the end of the day it’s OUR lives, not theirs.  Better to give things a shot than to just wonder all the time…

FEAR/DOUBTS: What were your biggest fears, doubts and insecurities before starting? What barriers (real or imagined) were in your way?

I had two biggest fears:

1)  That I’d run out of money.  I thought I’d be worrying every single day whether I was making enough, but it turned out it’s actually the farthest thing from my mind.  I think because I literally work alllll the time and I’m always concentrating on the project ahead of me, but also because I saved a boat load of money before delving in too.  Mix that with my cutting down of my lifestyle, and the fear has just kept at bay this whole time…. well, only 6 months since I started, but I feel like that’s a good sign ;)

2) The second thing I got worried about was that I’d get lazy or not motivated enough to keep pushing forward.  I can honestly say that it’s probably the farthest thing from the truth now :)  If anything, I work too much!  But you really just don’t know until you actually get out there and TRY it.

As for barriers, yeah, there are a few like not growing fast enough to sustain the business or something happening (like Google shutting down traffic to my sites) that would be pretty scary, but I’m really working hard on diversifying my “products” now so that if one falls through, i have some others to keep me going… that whole “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” type of thing.  I’m trying to set everything up so that I never have to return to the corporate world again.

THE DIP: Was there ever a moment/period of time that you felt you had hit a dip (felt like a failure and/or wanted to quit)?

Nope, not since achieving (or starting?) my goal.  I’ve had some pretty rough days over the course of J. Money 2.0, but never once have I doubted whether I made the right choice.  Cuz even if I “fail” and have to go back to work, I’d still be glad I gave it everything I got before having to concede like that.

Although, maybe you’re asking us about the time BEFORE we went all out?  In that case, I did question myself.  In fact, I questioned it every single day for 1+ years because it was all in theory until the big day came!  And that’ll drive a man bonkers!  The worst for me is just simply “not knowing.”  I’d much rather just find out and see what the results are than to keep going filled with questions.

SUCCESS! How did you feel after accomplishing your goal? What did you learn about yourself in the process? What are you most proud of?

Refreshed!!! And really, just ALIVE!  Time has slowed down sooooo much since going full-time w/ my blogging, and it just completely feels like a new world for me.  Full of possibilities and growth all over.  The great thing about *this* accomplishment is that it continues to give back :)  It wasn’t the end point of anything, but rather the beginning.

Learned about myself: That I hate wondering “what if” (as I’ve mentioned probably a million times already writing this, sorry), and that I can change my path any single day I want.  Going the entrepreneurial route gave me something that I haven’t had since the good ol’ college days, and that is FREEDOM.  Freedom to work on the projects I want, and that are important to me, and freedom to give it all up or change routes any time I damn well feel like it.  I set the schedule, and I set the projects, and if I ever get tired of it I can go back to a “normal” 9-5 and take orders from someone else again :)  Ultimately I learned that we are much more powerful than we think sometimes.

Most proud of:  DOING IT.  Not thinking about it, or working toward it, but actually getting up one day an DOING it.  All the preparation and planning doesn’t mean a thing unless you get out of bed and do it.  And the beauty after that is that you then have a benchmark to compare and track things by!  (if “it” wasn’t a 1-time event, of course).  I talked about quitting my job all the time for the 6 months leading up to it happening.  And I saved, and I planned, and I did everything I thought I needed to do to reach this final result.  But had I not pulled the trigger at that point (or, in my case, my employer pulling it for me), it wouldn’t had mattered cuz I’d still be thinking about how it might “one day” be in theory.

ADVICE: What advice would you give to future make sh*t happeners? What would you say to those who are afraid to start or afraid to fail? What advice would you give to others in pursuit of a similar goal to yours?

To just do it.  (I sound like a broken record! Haha…) Seriously though, you just never  know what potential you’re holding back until you get out there and give it a shot!  Yeah it’s smart to plan a bit and make sure you’re not doing something really really stupid in life, but at the end of the day it all comes down to making the decision to go for it or to just keep on thinking about it.  And I’m not gonna lie and say it’s an easy choice to make – it’s not.  But the only way people become great is by challenging ourselves and forcing ourselves to grow.  Anyone can sit back and let life happen to them – 90% of the population is doing that now.  But if you want something GREATER than yourself, and something you can be proud of and smile about every day, you’ll have to get up and start changing the way you do things.  And it all starts by taking a step.  It could be a big one, or it could be a small one, but if you don’t put yourself out there and start going for it, you’ll never really know your potential.  It’s cheesy as hell, I know, but it doesn’t change the fact it’s true.  The worst thing someone can do is not fully embrace their potential – so please don’t let that happen to you!

Advice to others with goals of blogging full-time:  I’ll keep this one simple:  IMMERSE yourself into the community.  Read all the blogs in your niche, comment all over the place, follow people on twitter, connect on facebook, do a butt ton of guest posts, and really just ask questions and try and follow what the successful people are doing.  You’ll have to pick up on SEO and monetization and all that kinda stuff too (the boring parts, I like to say), but it’s really about surrounding yourself w/ those who are living out their dreams already and in the position you one day hope to be.  Once you build some rapport with one or two of them, ask them if they could mentor you.  80% of the things I’ve learned (and most of the important stuff) came from others explaining it to me.  I still had to put their advice into motion and figure it out in my own time, but they were the ones who guided me and kept me motivated.  If you can find a good person to ask questions to or ping ideas off of, you’ll reach your goals much more faster.

SPECIFIC TIPS: What specific tips do you have related to your goal that someone pursuing that same goal could benefit from? Are there any tools or resources you recommend?

1. Always be yourself.  You’re gonna get jealous of the others, and always compare YOUR blog to the big guys out there, but if you HAVE TO stay true to yourself and blog/write/talk about whatever it is that’s interesting to YOU.  That’s why people come to your stuff every day – to hear what YOU have to say, not for summaries on others ;)
2. Be passionate.  Do it cuz you love it, and not to make money/friends/etc.  Of course, if you’re gonna try and go full-time you DO have to make money, haha, but that shouldn’t be the reason for the goal.  Love what you do, and do it well.
3. Watch what others are doing.  Don’t copy them as I mentioned in #1, but def. read their stuff and see what they’re up to – esp the bloggers who are full-time like you want to be.  And even better, ASK THEM for tips or advice or any questions you have on this stuff!  Most of what I originally learned came from talking with them and picking their brain.  And everyone likes sharing what they know :)
4. Comment/network/share/give back to everyone in your niche.  Help others when they come to you, and always share the love and be *nice* to everyone.  There’s plenty of money/link juice to go around – don’t hoard your ideas/tips.
5. BE YOURSELF.

Resources:

1. There are a ton of “professional blogging” tips out there, but I tend to stick with DailyBlogTips.com (my fave), and sometimes ProBlogger.net.
2. Other than those, it’s really about checking out other successful bloggers in your niche, or in general, and just poking around and asking them questions. It really is the best way to learn and grow.

I hope this helps some of you!!  Feel free to reach out to me anytime too if you’d like: j {at} budgets are sexy {dot} com. And if you’re looking for that kick in the pants to help YOU get started w/ your dreams too, consider signing up to Jenny’s next class. (The program helps people set a vision for their goal, build a support network, work through the dips that surely come up, and learn how to celebrate and expand the moment once they reach success.)  Have a blessed day everyone :)

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(Photo by Phillie Casablanca))

I don’t really know how to start this post, other than to say I really miss my grandma. Even though she’s been gone for a few months now, I’m constantly reminded of my grandparents w/ all the pictures I have up around the house. Specifically on the top of my drawers – one of the first places I look in the morning when I’m getting changed and putting on the bling ;) I’m a lot more at peace with it now, and incredibly happy she’s with grandpa again!, but reality set in a second time when I actually saw that inheritance check come through the mail this weekend. The card was even in her handwriting REALLY stopping me in my tracks.

My grandparents were never rich, but they always wanted to “leave something” with us to help their grandchildren pursue any of our dreams we were constantly cooking up. They had lived a long and very fulfilling life – my grandma being a clothes designer on Madison Avenue back in the day, and my grandpa a member of the Italian Consulate – but the parts I remember most was the incredible love they shared for our family. I have never seen anyone CARE so much for someone as they did – their whole life was about family, and family only, and they always made sure we knew it.

It’s funny. I remember being so embarrassed all the time by them growing up a kid – always hugging and loving on us every time they came around, and now no matter how much I want to see them, or just get a quick “I love you more” in our constant battles of affection, it’s no longer possible. And no money in the world can bring them back. (Sorry for being so sad – it’s all rushing in again :()

They were no strangers to the value of money either. If anyone taught me how far a dollar can stretch, it was them. I remember one day walking into a Goodwill – a place my grandfather had never known about, having been born and raised in Italy – and his eyes lit up like a little kid on Christmas! He was so impressed with me – that I had known the places to go to get the great bargains, and I literally had to stop him from bringing home ten or twelve 3 piece suits he really didn’t need! Haha… he couldn’t bare to leave such deals behind :) “Do you know how much these cost back in my day??”

But life is what it is, and at some point we all rise up and accept what’s next for us. Whether you believe in heaven or not, it’s comforting to know that we’re all in this together. We’re born the same way, and we all pass on the same way – whenever “it’s time.” What we DO on Earth though is the big difference. I’m constantly asking myself if I’m affecting people in a positive way, or if I’m being too negative and dragging others with me? If I’m hurting them, or leaving behind the values that my grandparents and THEIR grandparents taught to them? These are all questions I think about on days like this. What WE’RE going to leave behind when it’s time for us to move on.

So while today’s a sad day for us siblings, it’s also an opportunity to do something great w/ the money we were blessed to be left with. A not so small $20,000 each (of which my sister plans on using for the purchase of her new home, and my brother to pay off debts and save for his own financial future). Being a dreamer myself, just like my grandma, I’m thinking of investing it back into my business and self-employed lifestyle in hopes of solidifying my future even more. But I’ll be taking a little while before I make any definitive plans.

To me, this money is way different than any other $20,000 I have saved or invested into my financial game plan. This money represents 60+ years of hard work and tears over my grandparents’ generation – something I can’t even begin to fully comprehend. My grandfather always thought I’d grow up to become a banker one day, even before I knew myself I had a passion for money!, but the thing he didn’t realize was that I’m way too connected emotionally to stuff than I am for the numbers themselves. This money is much more important to me than all the rest, and I want to make sure I use it wisely and make them proud whichever way I go.

I’ll let you know what I decide to do, but for now it’ll remain in one spot. The same spot where my beautiful grandparents are – my thoughts. If yours are still living, do me a favor and let them know you appreciate them?

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(Photo by – JOE MARINARO. Not my grandparents, but exactly how they were :))