joan’s posts – $aving Money Tip$

admin April 28, 2014 joan's posts, money basics

Re-Evaluating Your Financial Priorities

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.Since I shared my report from the three-year mark of my battle against debt, I’ve been amazed at the kind words from so many members of the Man Vs. Debt community. From comments to Twitter messages to emails, it’s really reaffirmed my commitment to pushing forward and – even if it’s more eventually than I’d like – ending up debt-free and staying that way for life.That said, opening up about my slower-than-expected progress has also forced me to re-evaluate where I am, and whether what I’m doing is really in keeping with my truest desires financially and personally.As

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admin April 14, 2014 joan's posts

The Report from the Three-Year Mark: Joan’s Mid-April Financial Update

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.It’s official: I’ve been tracking my debt for exactly three years.While I didn’t post my first financial update on Man Vs. Debt until a year later, I first sat down and wrote my detailed list of debts – the one you see listed on my Joan’s Finances page – on April 14, 2011.Taking inventory and facing what I owed was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but the effect it’s had since then has been nothing short of amazing.In exactly three years, we’ve paid off $33,422.83 in debt.And since I’d figured out our worst-ever total debt (as

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admin April 7, 2014 joan's posts

Business and Hustling Lessons from the WWE Network

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.You guys are going to think I spend my Sunday afternoons watching America’s best not-exactly-a-sport sports, between today’s post and the one from last month about 4 Personal-Finance Lessons from NASCAR!I spent THIS Sunday watching… you guessed it… WrestleMania 30, thanks to my roommate’s subscription to the WWE Network, which I admit I watch with rather startling frequency.The funny part is, while I’ve enjoyed professional wrestling since I was in high school, I’d never spent any time – or money – on it since. Until WWE Network came out in late February.And now, even more than the wrestling itself, I’

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admin March 31, 2014 joan's posts, rants

You Want It. You Buy It. You Forget It.

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.Two summers ago, while visiting an art museum in Washington, D.C., we came upon an exhibit in the process of being installed. Huge letters and swaths of red, black and white covered every square inch of wall and floor.When I saw it, I took the photo above, hoping it would serve as a reminder to go back and see the finished exhibit and revisit the phrases plastered throughout.WHOSE VALUES?FORGET EVERYTHING.YOU WANT IT. YOU BUY IT. YOU FORGET IT.And while I haven’t gotten back to see the final installation of Belief+Doubt (I hope to – it’s on display through the end of this

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admin March 17, 2014 joan's posts, rants

The Great Pile of Unread Books

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.I love to read.It doesn’t really matter what it is – barring anything else handy, I’d happily read the back of a cereal box at breakfast – but since I was about 3 years old, I’ve rarely been without a pile of books in progress.In January, I set a goal on Goodreads to finish 75 books this year. I started out great – averaging almost a book a day.But life happens, and the books piled up into the stack you see above, unfinished and, in most cases, not even started!The mental drain of being “behind”Here’s the problem: I have serious issues with

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admin March 10, 2014 joan's posts, rants

Taxing Decisions: Joan’s Mid-March Financial Update

Image courtesy of our friend PT of PT Money (www.ptmoney.com) Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.Tax season is hitting full-force here in the US! Our taxes have been done since early February, thanks to my own OCD record-keeping and our accountant’s desire to get us in and out as early as possible each year, what with our 80 streams of income and all that.But after a couple years of paying in some hefty figures around this time of year thanks to self-employment taxes and some other strangeness, this year, we are getting refunds from both state and local.Those checks hit my bank account this week, and as I

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admin February 24, 2014 joan's posts

4 Personal-Finance Lessons From NASCAR

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.For those of you who didn’t spend Sunday watching the Daytona 500 – and bemoaning its 6.5-hour rain delay and multiple 8-car-plus crashes – well… you have my sympathy. (And my apologies, because you probably aren’t going to like today’s post if you’re not a NASCAR fan!)I’ve been an auto-racing fan since high school. I grew up going to local dirt tracks, and a NASCAR race was the first professional sporting event I ever attended.So while spending Sunday trying to watch the race AND get some work done, it occurred to me I could multitask… and share some personal-finance advice for

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admin February 17, 2014 joan's posts, rants

Should You Sell Unwanted Gifts?

Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.One of our readers shared the following story and question with me, and gave me permission to share it here:I’m trying to downsize and get rid of my crap to pay off my debt. I also don’t like clutter so I want to get rid of my stuff so my family of 3 can comfortably fit into 1100 square feet. But my father-in-law is the king of crap, and gives us stuff we’ll never use and never need. I have 2 hammocks (and live in an apartment), a circular saw, tons of memorabilia from our alma mater, garden gnomes, at least 3 universal remotes (for my 1 television), water