Hey everyone! Happy Friday. I’ve decided that every other Friday I will attempt to publish a short post that asks all of you readers a question. Today’s question is about what is more important to you: negotiating for a raise or working on increasing your side income.

Both negotiating for a raise and working on side income are important to me. Of course I want to work my hardest at my job, but my side income is also growing at a very good rate. Both are very important to me.

As everyone of course knows, I talk about extra income and working on side hustles a lot on my blog. It has pretty much taken over my blog, and that’s because it’s the main thing that I’m working on in my life and ours lives revolve around it right now.

Last week, Savvy Financial Latina published the post I Got My First Raise. In this post she said:

I wasn’t expecting a huge raise, but somehow the raise I got disappointed me. I should be happier my paycheck is increasing by $50 every two weeks, but somehow I’m not. $50 is not going to change my life. Don’t get me wrong I love that I’m earning $50 every paycheck. An increase in income is always good by me! I just don’t want to be stuck in the pool of workers who expect and/or are satisfied with a small percentage merit increase every year.

Side Hustles are worthwhile

Her post made me think. To me, a raise that I’ve earned from my job is usually a very small amount and insignificant to what I can/could make with my side hustles. However, when I first started my job, I thought that the only way that I could ever make more money would be from me earning salary raises. I never even thought about side hustles or that people focused a lot of time on income outside of their job.

Savvy Financial Latina said that she was disappointed with her raise. Why is that? Well, $50 is still good money, but it’s nothing life changing for her. This is exactly why I work towards side hustles and extra income. The amount you get from a raise, is usually very small compared to what you can make with a side hustle. Yes, sometimes a raise can be a decent amount, but what if you want to strive above and beyond the usual 3% raise each year?

The amount that you get from a salary raise is limited.  However, the work you put into your side jobs and extra income can become an unlimited amount of raises. There doesn’t have to be a limit on the amount of income that you make from a side hustle.

Raises are important also

On the flip side, of course raises are important as well. Raises and bonuses that a person earns can be more worthwhile because not everyone has time to develop a side hustle and increase their income that way.

For a lot of people, negotiating for a raise can be worth more than a side hustle because of growth. Maybe a person doesn’t want a side hustle because they are happy with what they make from their job and are content with their life. Nothing wrong with that of course, and this could be a good reason for why negotiating for a raise holds a higher value to someone.

In the post, Leigh comments and says that “huge raises early in your career make an incredible difference because they compound over your career! Then again, my salary has gone up by a bit over 33% of my original salary since I started working post-college about 3.5 years ago!” This is where salaries can come into play as well. A side hustle may not be sustainable forever, whereas your salary most likely will only increase from where it is now, and will add up over time.

So what about you?

Are you focused on increasing the amount from side hustles or is a salary raise more important to you? Why?

Sorry, this is not my house…

Today’s post is by my wonderful staff writer Jordann. Enjoy!

Last week’s post about how I’m not always a minimalist got a lot of responses to the fact that I live with my fiance, my dog and my cat, in a 400 sq. ft. house. Really, it’s more of a cottage. The story of how I came to live in this house is one of luck and a good relationship with relatives.

You can check out the whole story here. The bottom line is: By living in this small space, I’ve been able to reduce my rent to $100 per month plus utilities, which has enabled me to pay off $27,000 of debt in 17 months.

That said, living in such a small space with so many other creatures isn’t easy, even for a minimalist like me. Sure, the sacrifice is worth it for the monetary gain, but it can get stressful at times. There are a lot of problems that come along with small space living, so if you’re thinking about down sizing in order to save a little money or live somewhere more desirable, here are a few of my tips.

Adopt Space Saving Hobbies

As much as I love things like having a home gym, painting, and having an expansive indoor plant collection, I had to give up these hobbies when I moved into a smaller space that couldn’t accommodate all of that stuff. I didn’t intentionally stop these hobbies because I didn’t have enough space, instead, the hassle of lugging everything out and then putting it away became too much, and I started to gradually drift towards my more space-saving hobbies, like reading and blogging.

Have Boundaries

I love my dog and cat, but in such a small space, they can get on my nerves a bit. That’s why I have a strict “No pets in the bed” rule. Being able to stretch out while sleeping has makes me feel so much less claustrophobic and crowded, that this little space suddenly seems a lot bigger. Plus, I love seeing their faces in the morning after spending the night apart. Since we never break this rule, the pets don’t whine or fuss about it, they just accept it.

Take the Time to Clean

Since 400 sq. ft. is so small, it doesn’t take a lot of time to clean every inch of the space. That said, it can also get cluttered so quickly! With no place to hide stuff away and no rooms that I can just shut the door on and think “Out of sight, out of mind”, if I don’t keep up with the cleaning and organizing, this little house can become a disaster zone very, very quickly.

Take it Outside

Luckily, my tiny little 400 sq. ft. house is situated on a good-sized lot that allows us space in the backyard for a fire pit and room enough for the dog to play a solid game of fetch. Because of this, I try to get spend a lot of time outside moving around. This keeps me from feeling too cooped up in our little house and getting cabin fever. If you decide to move into a small space, make sure you have either access to your own outdoor green space or plenty of amenities within walking distance to get you out and about.

Remember that It’s Not for Everyone

I live in a tiny house because it affords me the opportunity to drastically reduce my rent and funnel more cash towards getting out of debt. Before living here, I lived in a 700 sq. ft. apartment, and before that, an 850 sq. ft. space. I don’t plan on living here forever, in fact I can’t wait to move somewhere a little more suited to my family’s needs. Not everyone is cut out for it, and it’s definitely not easy. It’s not something everyone should aspire to.

That said, if you’re thinking about downgrading your current living situation, living in a 400 sq. ft. space with two adults and two pets is totally doable. Heck, we could probably even throw a baby into the mix and still manage to get by (no plans to!). Living in a tiny space is a great way to save money in order to achieve other goals in life.

Have you ever lived in a small space to save money? Would you?

Photo Credit
Taking a Leap of Faith

Around one week ago I asked all of you a bunch of questions because I want to learn more about all of you. A lot of you said that the job you currently have is not your dream job.

I’m sure that a lot of you can imagine and/or see where my posts have been going lately. Last year I made the post Do You Want To Be Self Employed and I have been thinking about it ever since. It seems like passion has been taking over the personal finance world a lot lately, with Jen, Holly and numerous other wonderful ladies and gentlemen who have decided to strike it out on their own.

Then just the other day I was reading a post on Get Rich Slowly about how one reader quit her very promising and high-paying career so that she could enjoy life instead. And then after I read that post, I read about how another GRS reader actually QUIT his passion to take a boring job.

I’m not sure what I want to do anymore.  My side hustle income is higher than ever, and I’m constantly looking to diversify it. Right now, I am definitely at the point where I could take a leap of faith and start pursuing other side hustles that I love, and focusing on those 100% instead of my normal 8-5 office job.

I’ve had this Money or Passion post lined up for quite some time in my blog to-do list, and I’m glad I can finally publish it. I’ve been asking a lot of you for tips, and so many of you have been responding to my tweets and emails.

When I decided on my major at the young age of 18, I did everything that I could to graduate quickly. I managed to graduate after 2.5 years, and that was even with taking a semester off. I was in a rush for multiple reasons: I wanted something to occupy my time so that I could stop thinking about how sick my dad had become, and also because I “thought” that graduating with two business-related degrees would do me good.

I thought life was all about money at that time, and not about what actually makes you happy. I thought pursuing your passion as your job was only for “lucky” people or people who had a specific talent. I was going for the more “realistic and responsible” direction by going for business degrees.

For some, your passion might bring in the money for you, and that is awesome! I have multiple passions, and when all combined into my side hustles and a potential volunteer position that I want to start – this all creates my passion. Luckily, my side hustles bring in a decent amount of money.

Also, luckily our bills are not very high. Altogether our bills and everything are less than $3,200 per month (bills, mortgage, food, and so on) and we could manage this along with still saving without getting too worried. We would want to live on less income and save more to prepare for the unexpected though.

Why I want to go for passion and enjoy life instead

I’ve been thinking about life, the meaning of life, and where I want to go in life a lot lately. I can’t help it. With everything that has happened – mainly my father passing away and finding out that my grandfather passed away shortly thereafter, it’s hard not to think about how boring and routine everything has gotten.

I don’t want to wake up every morning and wonder where the day before went, and I don’t want to be begging for time to pass by just because I feel like I’m slaving away.

I want to continue with my side hustles (which would that become a part of my main hustle) and start a position at a non-profit that I love. I want the days to be enjoyed. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and complain like the world’s ending (which I’m sure W is tired of by now).

I’m still young. Today I am 24 (WOOHOO it is my birthday!). I have yet to take a break and pursue something that I love. Am I too old, too young, too naive to do this? I guess I’ll never know until I try.

I’ve always tried to be the responsible one. There have always been people who have relied on me, but now that they’re starting to do better as well, I have had the increased need to venture out and try something new.

So, what’s the negative/risk of pursuing my passion?

The instability of it all! The fear of the unknown. I am a big worrier, and I always feel like the worst happens when you least expect it. I’m afraid that I’ll throw all my eggs in one basket and then it’ll explode. I’m afraid that I might be ruining my future. What if something happens and I regret my decision?

Now, I could continue to do everything – work my job and all of my side hustles, but at what cost? I want to start to enjoy life more. Life isn’t all about money. Yes, I could do everything and make more money, but I don’t care about that anymore. At what point is the amount of money that you have enough for you?

To quote the GRS post that I mentioned earlier – what makes me hesitant to pursue passion:

Your career is just one part of your life. You might not become a much happier person just because you do the work that satisfies you the most. You have to consider the effects it could have on you as a person besides just having to do the work. You should do the work that gives you balance, and not the work you love the most.

Should I be looking at work just as a way to make money, and keep my passions completely separate? Am I naive for thinking that I can combine both money and passion?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and below are some tips to help you figure it out.

Determine why you no longer enjoy your job

Have you always not enjoyed your job? What has changed? If you at one point enjoyed your job, then you need to really think about what you could do to change your job back to your passion.

Test the waters

I do understand that in some circumstances, you may need to leave your job IMMEDIATELY.  However, if you can control your departure timing, see what you can dive into once you start your passion. You never know, your passion might not be exactly how you thought it was going to be.

Be realistic

I always include being realistic in my posts. It’s the most important step when deciding anything! Living in some make-believe fantasy world won’t solve anything. You want to set realistic expectations for what might or might not happen. Your passion might turn out not to be what you thought. You might find out AFTER you have already quit that you actually enjoyed your job a lot, and you might miss it.

What about you? Money or passion? Maybe BOTH?

What tips do you have for those looking to work for passion?

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. I’m still dreaming of my trip to St. Thomas and wish we were both still there!

Last week I was super sick. Not sure what happened but I was pretty much just crying in pain for 5 days straight. Of course it was a perfect weekend with awesome weather and I had to miss most of that because I didn’t start to feel better until Sunday afternoon! Oh well, just glad that I’m feeling better.

Yesterday was W’s mom’s birthday and we had a BBQ and it was a lot of fun. And tomorrow is my birthday

We would love to buy a house in his parents’ historic neighborhood, but they never go for sale. The house to the left went up for sale the other day and we have been seriously thinking about it. We drove by and took this picture and can’t stop looking at it. It’s over 100 years old but completely renovated on the inside and looks very nice. Oh if only we were ready to buy right now… Our current house is still awesome and we don’t feel like going through the process of selling it right now.

I announced the winner to my Novica giveaway but never heard from her. I announced a new winner and already sent her the certificate code. Congrats to Cat at Budget Blonde!

Student Loan Update

I know, I know, around a month ago, I said that my student loans would be done in either April or May. Then recently I said May for sure. Well, it looks like the official date will be June. We have the money saved, but it would drain our emergency fund, so we have decided not to. We don’t want to touch any retirement accounts or drain our EF.

Why will we not reach the May goal? Well, we came across some good investment opportunities and dived into that. W has been wanting to start a side hustle for quite some time, but I’ve always said no and that we need to SAVE SAVE SAVE. Well, that’s not very fair of me, so the other day he took some cash and started a side hustle with his dad in an area where they have expertise. I think it’ll work out great! The return is higher than what my interest rates on my student loans are, so I figured it was still a good value.

Have you slowed any debt repayment to take advantage of something like this? A good investment, a new house purchase, etc.? Tell me all about it!

Spending

Posts from my blog:

1. St. Thomas and $3,038 in Extra Income – Extra income was still up even though I was on vacation. That’s always nice to know!
2. St. Thomas Pictures – SUP, Parasailing, Relaxation! – In this post there are some pictures from our vacation. It was a great time!
3. My Minimalist Confessions – I’m not always a minimalist - I always love Jordann’s minimalism posts, and here’s another great one. She collects other items, and isn’t always a minimalist!
4. 12 Facts about Student Loan Debt that will make Your Hair Stand on End – How much do YOU owe in student loans? There are some crazy stats in this post.

Link Love

1. How much money do you need to make online to be happy? Yakezie - For me, I think the number is lower, just as it says in the article. I love everything that I do online, so it doesn’t exactly seem like a “job” to me.
2. I Quit My Job Club Thrifty – WOOHOO! This post makes me oh so happy.
3. Fort Building Kit for Adults Unique Gifter – Love this idea!
4. Dos and Don’ts of applying for a staff writing job My Multiple Incomes – Here is a great post for those of you who are looking for staff writing jobs.
5. Dear Parents, Charge Your Kids Rent Broke Millennial – I would definitely charge my kids rent, depending on the situation of course too though.
6. Why I shut down my profitable online business Debt Roundup – I would have done the same!
7. Taking the Plunge: Freedom Without Boundaries is Enslavement Frugal Rules – This is another great post relating to self-employment. You probably get the idea of where I am heading.
8. Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards of Summer 2013 Money Life and More – Good post for those who are looking.

Photo Credit

Today I have a guest post from Kevin and it’s all about student loans. Don’t forget to read my My $38,000 Student Loan Payoff Plan if you haven’t yet.

Getting a college education in the US today appears to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, graduates are in a better position than those without a college degree when it comes to getting jobs. Yet with the cost of education rising, tens of thousands of students are graduating with piles of debts they spend years paying off.

Sometimes they are not able to pay, with unemployment rates remaining high and stagnant. Dogged by debt collectors, they resort to public protests and hiding. To add more props to the terrifying reality show of student debt, here are 12 facts about student loan debt that will make your hair stand on end.

1. High debt and fear of loans

Two thirds of college graduates from universities across the country in 2011 had debts from student loans, an early 2012 study by The Institute for College Access & Success revealed. There is a total of $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt and the average debt is estimated at $26,600 per student. Fear of such high loans can keep students from receiving the education that they deserve.

2. Increase in loan averages

What is worrying is that the loan average for the country has risen by 5 percent from $25,350 in 2010 to $26,600 in 2011. This reveals the significant rise in the cost of education. In fact since the 1980-1981 academic year, the average tuition rate for 2-year and 4-year colleges has gone up by a whopping 144.6 percent.

3. High unemployment leading to loan default

As if the high cost of education isn’t bad enough, unemployment remained high through 2011 at 8.8 percent. This means that many students leaving college end up with no jobs and a high burden of debt. They enter into a life of debt slavery on leaving college and many quickly fall into default with no means of refinancing. In terms of statistical figures, one of every six student borrowers is a defaulter.

4. Total private loan debt at $150 billion

According to reports, outstanding private loan debt among American students stands at a whopping $150 billion. These private loans are issued by banks, schools, non-profit institutions and agencies sponsored by the state, as well as other financial bodies. They are also the least desirable types of loans with the highest costs.

While federal student loans offer the lowest interest rates and borrower-friendly repayment programs, many of these federal loans cannot be accessed by those that need them the most. For instance, students with fewer resources in low-income groups who have defaulted with federal loans in the past are not eligible for federal student loans.

5. $8 billion of loan default

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimated in a report published in October 2012 that of the private borrowers, there are more than 850,000 individual private loan defaulters, with a total default amount of a staggering $8 billion.

6. Poor loan servicing

The state-run and non-profit financial institutions that offer private loans send third-party collectors to recover the debt amounts. These debt collectors cash in on the plight of students who are strapped for cash. The New York Times reported in September 2012 that students dogged by collectors are often forced to change their phone numbers multiple times to avoid them. The CFPB reports that student complaints against private student loan companies include complaints of being unable to contact them at times of need, too much paperwork and delay in correcting errors among others.

There are 7 major companies that hold a monopoly in the area of state and federal student loan services. These include Sallie Mae, American Education Services (PHEAA), Citibank, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, ACS Education Services and KeyBank. Of these, Sallie Mae has received the highest number of complaints at 46 percent (of 2900 cases it handled in less than 7 months in 2011) followed by PHEAA at 12 percent. KeyBank has the least number of complaints against it.

7. Bigger costs than credit card debt

The government usually recovers 80 cents for every dollar on defaulted loans. This is much higher than credit card default rates – lenders for defaulted credit cards are lucky if they can recover 20 cents to a dollar. This is a problem because the government doesn’t have any incentive to prevent the defaults in the first place.

8. A problem for all ages

It’s terrifying for many how long the burdens of debt can be carried forward or how often parents are taking out loans for their kids. A New York Federal Reserve Bank (FRBNY) report published in early 2012 showed that 5 percent of all borrowers are over 60 and 11.8 percent are aged between 50 and 59.

9. Bigger than most other consumer debt

Total student loan debts stand only second to mortgage loans in the US. Delinquency rates on in the case of student loan debt is almost double that of any other consumer debts. According to the FRBNY report, 21 percent of all student loan debt is delinquent.

10. 10 % of borrowers owe over $54,000

According to the FRBNY report, in the first quarter of 2012, 10 percent of borrowers owe more than $54,000. A fourth of all borrowers owe over $28,000 and 3 percent owe over $100,000. The most unfortunate of these is the 1 percent that owes over $200,000.

11. Highest loan debts for students of for-profit institutions

This doesn’t come as a surprise, but the for-profit institutions and universities are the ones whose bachelor’s degree students have the highest loan debts. While public 4-year college graduates have median debts of around $7,960 (according to College Board reports) and around $17,000 for private colleges, the private for-profit college students have the highest loan debts at $31,190.

12. Highest debt in the Northeast and Midwest

In 2011, the state averages for student loan debt lay roughly between $17,000 and $32,000. The Northeast and the Midwest states had the highest average debts, with New Hampshire topping the list and Pennsylvania following close behind.

After having shared with you 12 facts about student loan debt that will make your hair stand on end, you can hardly expect me to say that it may not be entirely hopeless for you to get a college education despite the issues. But it’s true, it’s not so bad.

Over the last five fiscal years, the Education Department has made $101.8 billion from student loans with fixed interest rates. With the job market looking grim and the rising costs of education, there have been several protests staged across the country over 2011 and 2012. The government has taken note, and the White House plans to propose and implement a plan to benefit borrowers, by making interest rates on federal student loans proportionate to market rates.

In the meantime, students looking for loans should avoid private borrowing and look to federal student loans for help. There are some (rare) colleges and charities that will give you low or zero interest rate loans. But most of all, even if you have to spend some time shopping around for the best and reasonable loan rates offered, be sure not to give up on the education you deserve!

My name is Kevin Watts and I am the creator of Graduating from Debt. I was like millions of recent college graduates in heavy debt with very little hope. With the right attitude and discipline I took control of my financial picture and now I can say proudly that I am debt free.

How much do you have or expect to have in student loans?

What are you doing to eliminate them?

Today’s post is by my awesome staff writer Jordann.

I love being a minimalist. I love the freedom it gives me, and the financial power.

Over the years I’ve extended my minimalism to most areas of my life. From my wardrobe, to my furniture, to my book collection, I’ve been slowly and surely trimming away unnecessary items in my life for years now. The result is that I can live comfortably with my spouse in a 400 sq. ft. house, which helps us save all kinds of money.

There are some parts of my life, however, that minimalism hasn’t touched. In fact, there are some things I still love to have a large collection of. I know that, in these areas of my life, minimalism has failed spectacularly, but I’m ok with that. Here are my minimalism fails:

Workout Gear

I wouldn’t say I have a huge collection of work out gear, but I definitely have more than I need. I love to work out but I’m not naturally athletic, so being active can be a challenge for me.

To help combat this, I’ve collected a large selection of high quality work out gear. I definitely don’t need as much as I have, but I love adding to this collection, filling gaps here and there and keeping an eye out for the perfect piece that will make my runs that much more comfortable.

There are lots of women out there who have several times the clothing I do, so I don’t think I’m hoarding clothing by any stretch of the imagination.

Camping Gear

Camping, in itself, is extremely anti-minimalism. Having a large collection of camping gear that I get to use, at most three or four times a year (it’s usually closer to two) is such a waste of space and resources. The space needed to store this gear could be put towards something I’d get a lot more use out of, as could the funds required to maintain the gear!

Then there’s the sheer superfluous nature of camping. I have chairs that are just for camping, along with plates, forks, knives, a small BBQ, a cooler, tons of stuff that I already own, but have separate specific stuff just for camping.

I don’t mind though. I love camping and having this large bunch of equipment taking up space in my garage is totally worth it.

DVDs and Records

Ok, this isn’t my collection, and if I had my way it wouldn’t exist, but my fiance loves to collect DVDs of his favourite movies and vinyl records for our record player. He’s a film major, and some of his favourite movies he’ll literally watch over and over. So, for those particular movies (or TV shows) he’ll buy the actual DVD instead of just watching it on Netflix.

His collection is a reasonable size, and he doesn’t spend much money on it every year, so I don’t complain too much.

While minimalism has helped me so much to get where I am today, it hasn’t completely permeated my life. I still like to have a few small collections, that I get a lot of joy and use out of. I don’t feel guilty about these collections, because they don’t take up too much space, and they aren’t hindering my lifestyle. I’m not one of those hard-core minimalists who try to live on 100 items or less. I like my stuff, I just don’t need much of it to be happy.

Do you have any collections or hobbies that require a lot of stuff?

We had a TON of fun in St. Thomas. I’m still recouping, so for today please enjoy these pictures. I didn’t really use my camera and used my iPhone for nearly all of my photos, so sorry about all of the Instagram pictures.

I will do a full recap eventually, and if you have any questions about St. Thomas or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please ask below or email me so that I know what to absolutely include in my St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands’ recap post.

In the near future, I also plan on talking about blogging and getting freebies. Specifically blogging and getting travel freebies. Some of you know this already, but lately I’ve been able to score a lot of vacation freebies. These have included: free hotel stays, guided tours, snorkeling/kayaking excursions, dinners, drinks and so on. It is something that I just started with in the end of 2012, and I’m still learning more and more about it. Is there anything specific that you would like for me to include in the post? Look out for my post on Blogging for Free Travel soon!

Lastly, don’t forget to read my latest life update and extra income post

The lovely beach at the resort! Half of the beach is a little rocky, but the left hand side is perfect for getting in without it being rocky and hurting your feet.  The water is crystal clear and BEAUTIFUL.

This is our view of the beach from our hotel room. We could also see the pool from our room, and more of the bay, but I couldn’t fit it all in one picture.

I SUPed for my first time! I’ve been wanting to do this forever. I just got out on one with no lessons or instruction and didn’t fall! WOOHOO! And that means a lot because I’m terrified of kayaking in the ocean, and yet I was very far away from the beach on a standup paddle-board and still did good without scaring myself.

Parasailing for our first time ever! It was around $200 for the both of us (pictures included by the company). We were up in the air for around 10 minutes and it was a lot of fun. I definitely overcame a lot of my ocean and shark fears this vacation haha.

This is me on the first (maybe second) day of our vacation. The view is just so pretty! I could never get sick of this view.

Iguanas were all over the place. We noticed them on our last trip, but this past trip just had these guys crawling all over. You couldn’t even eat without 4 or 5 of them right at your feet!

This is my sister standup paddle-boarding. She was terrified but didn’t fall also!

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. We are leaving St. Thomas today and we had so much fun. I’m sad that my vacation is over, but I’m honestly ready to go home. I miss my dogs, oh yeah and I miss W It was a vacation with my sister and it was much needed!

A couple of you have asked me to do a full St. Thomas recap since you will be going on vacation there soon, so look forward to that! We both took tons of pictures. We spent a lot of time at the beach, got really sun burned, SUPed (for the first time!), went kayaking, and went parasailing (first time for this also). We didn’t leave the resort once in the whole 5 days but had tons of fun. Usually I explore the area where I go on a vacation to, but we decided to just stay and have a relaxing time at the resort.

I announced the winner to my Novica giveaway but haven’t heard back yet. If your name is Erika, please check the Facebook post where I announced the giveaway so that you can see if it’s you. I want to give you your certificate code!

Oh yeah, and go congratulate my sister, she is now a personal trainer! AND this is my birthday month so you all better be super nice to me for the rest of May. I kid, I kid, you should be nice to me all the time I definitely know what I want for my birthday, and that is a stand-up paddle board.

Spending

Posts from my blog:

1. Home Updates – How we Plan on Selling Our House Quickly – We have a tooooonnnn of things that we need to repair/replace/update in our house, but luckily most of it is pretty small.
2. Why You Should Start a Blog – So Many Positives – In this post, I talk about all of the awesome reasons for why you should start a blog. What are you waiting for?
3. How Being a Minimalist has Helped my Finances – This is a great post by Jordann. Hope you loved it!
4. I want to learn more about you  - I took an idea from another blogger and asked all of you a few questions. Loved the responses! Looks like W and I need to work on our food budget…

Link Love

1. Fighting Boredom and Restlessness as you Work on Long-Term Goals The Frugal Farmer
2. 3 Businesses you can run from anywhere in the world Young Adult Money
3. Why Having Two Jobs Pays off Budget Blonde
4. Do You Hoard Vacation Days Squirelers
5. What are you willing to do for money My Shiny Pennies
6. Pros and Cons of Living in a Smaller Home Retire by 40
7. Why I will never regret a dime spent on vacations The Happy Homeowner
8. Finance Carnival for Young Adults – I was included!

Photo Credit

Hey everyone! Happy Friday. I’m currently in St. Thomas and most likely I am having a blast. Well, actually, I’m probably sleeping right now…  I was inspired by Johnny and Joanna and their About You series, and wanted to do this on my own blog! I want to know more about YOU. I talk about myself probably a little too much on my blog, so why not switch it up?

Answer one question or answer them all

1. What is your job? Do you work full-time? Stay at home parent? Go to school? Is this your dream job?

2. What is your biggest pet peeve?

3. What are your financial goals?  To retire early?  Start your own business?  Pay off your house?

4. How much do you spend on food per month?

5. What would you do if you had no debt?  How much debt do you have?

6. What is your dream income/salary?

And here are my lovely answers:

1. I’m a full-time analyst and full-time side hustler Still unsure of what my dream job is…

2. My biggest pet peeve… Hmmmm… I have a long list: bad driving, people who don’t know the difference between “there,” “their” and “they’re”, or how about “it’s” and “its,” and so on, people who think I’m in middle school, and the list could go on for quite some time.

3. I have a lot of financial goals! I want to pay off my student loans, be financially independent and do what I love in life.

4. We spend too much… Lately we’ve been doing much, MUCH better and we are at around $700 a month for food. This includes going out to eat and drinks too though.

5. If I had absolutely no debt, I’d probably go crazy and reward myself (but not go back into debt!).

6. If my debt were gone (that includes no mortgage debt), I’m sure I could live on a small amount such as $40,000 and be perfectly happy.

Photo Credit

I didn’t always have minimalist tendencies. Though I never considered myself a collector, I did have a ton of clothing and furniture while in University, and the size of my book collection growing up bordered on the absurd side. For the last few years though, accumulating large volumes of stuff wasn’t really on my agenda anymore, it just didn’t hold the same appeal that it used to.

I didn’t know my new found feelings were called minimalism until I started trying to get out of debt, I realized what a great advantage my natural habits were, and how much they could help me if I was willing to hone them a little.

Minimalism Helps Me Stay On Budget

When I first started trying to get out of debt, I knew that I needed to cut my expenses and develop a budget. I also knew I needed to get a handle on my shopping habit. Even though I was no longer into collecting many material possessions, I still had the bad habit of purchasing dumb stuff like magazines and candy, which, when added up at the end of the month, represented a huge waste of valuable cash that could go towards paying off my $38,000 debt load.

So I set a budget, and challenged myself to cut out all of the waste that I’d been paying good money for.

The effect was amazing. Over the past 17 months I’ve given up almost all of those silly little money wasting habits I used to have, and not partaking in them has cleared my mind and my home. I used to get so frustrated with all of the stuff I’d end up dragging into the house. Receipts, wrappers, magazines, flyers and the like were the bane of my existence.

Now, that stuff never makes it into the house, because I never buy it in the first place. This has freed up a ton of cash in my budget, that I’ve put towards paying off my debt.

Minimalism Helps Me Increase My Income

Once I’d realized how much I love simplifying my life, I started looking around at all of the other stuff in my life that could be simplified. I had a lot of furniture that, after moving from the city, no longer had a place in my new, 400 sq. ft. digs.

So I sold it. Not only did I make a little extra cash on furniture that I wasn’t even using, I cleared out a lot of storage space.

Minimalism Helps Me Get out of Debt

By decreasing my spending and selling off extra possessions I had no use for, I suddenly had more excess cash available. So, naturally, putting that excess cash flow towards debt was the logical thing to do. My living expenses now are lower than I ever thought they could be. Instead of spending all of my income on clothing or furniture or a large expensive rental, I spend it on debt.

Now, if I really want a book, I’ll still buy it, but I’ll get the eBook version, and I’ll appreciate it that much more because it’ll be the only thing I buy this month.

The funny thing is, even though I’ve drastically changed my consumption habits, I’m still just as happy or even happier than I was before. Having healthier finances has made a world of difference in my peace of mind, as has stepping of the consumer hamster wheel.

Have you ever reduced your consumption to help your finances?

This was another awesome post by my wonderful staff writer Jordann. Hope you enjoyed it!