rants – $aving Money Tip$

Selling clothes online is a lot easier than you think. You have the potential to make back hundreds – even thousands – of dollars from selling your clothes. By selling your unwanted clothes online, you’re reaching a way larger audience than you would by selling locally. And you’ll get more bang for your buck compared to hosting a garage sale or exchanging items at your local thrift store. Even though you aren’t donating all those old clothes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, you’re still a good person. By selling your unwanted clothes online, you’re recycling, reducing carbon emissions and waste, and you’re not contributing to the toxic and destructive culture that is fast-fashion. You may consider selling your clothes

Frugal Living, Saving Money & Life Hacks

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 24, 2014 rants

Julian’s Success Story: How Going $42,000 in Debt was the Greatest Decision I’ve Ever Made

Julian Hayes II is a fitness and lifestyle coach and writer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He is the creator of 206 Fitness. Why 206? Not only is 206 one of his nicknames, but there are also 206 bones in the body. He believes anyone can achieve the body they’ve always wanted while still living a fun and adventurous life. Read more about him and download his free ebook on how to achieve the body you’ve always wanted while owning life at 206fitness.com and connect with him on Facebook & Twitter.I am $42,000 in debt and I’m absolutely loving life right now.Yes, you read that correctly.$42k in debt.To the majority of people, this sounds like an insanely large amount of money.Except me.Seriously,

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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 March 3, 2014 rants

You Don’t Need That MBA Degree: Continuing Thoughts on Higher Education

This is a guest post by Mariana Zanetti, who earned her MBA degree from one of Europe’s top business schools and has more than 12 years of international marketing experience in three countries. She is the author of The MBA Bubble and shared this post in response to an earlier Man Vs. Debt post by Joan titled Do You Really Need That Master’s Degree? When my Harvard MBA colleague told me that I should pursue a “top” MBA program twelve years ago, I did not doubt it. “Don’t worry,” he said. “For the important things, money will not be a problem.” So I applied, I was admitted, and I enrolled in the MBA program at one of the top European business

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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