My Personal Finance Journey

All posts by Jacob A Irwin

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 15 – Round 3, Posts 33-48

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 15th Stage (now the 3rd Round of the event) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 13th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Is it Time to Get Out of the Stock Market? (Time): Whenever we see highs or lows in the stock market we see an increasing number of talking heads telling us what we should do with our portfolios. The problem with listening to them is they have no idea of your personal situation. That said, these are great times to analyze your portfolio while remembering the importance of maintaining a long-term view of your investing.

VERSUS

  • How to Pay Yourself First (First): Personal finance folks often throw around the term “pay yourself first.” It is a bit big-headed of us to assume you know how to do that. Here are some steps you can take to put the most popular finance advice to work.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • Why an Early Start Makes All the Difference  (Early): I started to work, save and invest early, and it has allowed me to retire from the corporate world at age 29. This post shows how important it is to get an early start in your finances, and how much it would cost you to get to the same point if you start 5 or 10 years later. If you are off to a late start and should have started yesterday, it is not too late to get on track, but today is the best day to take control of your finances.

VERSUS

  • My Life Insurance Mistake (Mistake): Get an inside look at my encounter with the seedy underbelly of the life insurance sales world. Learn from my mistakes so that when the time comes you can avoid getting suckered into a bad deal.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today again with Stage 11, a flat 33 km time trial that finishes right in the shadow of Mont St-Michel. Surprisingly, I had never heard of Mont St-Michel, but after seeing pictures of it, it is definitely on my list of things that I would want to see if I ever visit France again. Apparently, it’s the 3rd most visited location in France, behind the Eiffel Tower and Versailles Palace (places I have been lucky enough to see in 2008 when I was over there).

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/b3rny/65665753/

The Future Landscape of Freelance Entrepreneurship and How to Prepare Yourself For Making the Jump to Self-Employment

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Shondell of Call Me What You Want, Even Cheap. She blogs about her recent car loan and mortgage pay off and a whole bunch more. Check out her blog right here.

What does the future hold for the traditional 9 to 5 desk-bound job?

It’s possible that things are not going to be same, according to a recent survey conducted jointly by Millennial Branding, a Gen Y consulting firm, and oDesk, a popular online work platform. The survey done on 3,200 freelancers worldwide revealed that 72% of them want to leave their regular job to hit the entrepreneurial road and 60% said they intend to do so within a year or two.

The number one reason given by the respondents for wanting to go out on their own is the desire to have the freedom to work whenever and wherever they want. To prove their point, a whopping 89% said that they find a corporate 9 to 5 job limiting and that they prefer to work on their own. This signals a major shift from a decade ago when a desk job in a corporate office was viewed as a matter of prestige and lifelong security.

The survey also revealed that the word “entrepreneur” has acquired an expanded definition. To the majority of those interviewed, the word no longer means “someone who has started a company”. Rather, it’s a mindset that sets one apart from those with a 9 to 5 mentality. According to this new definition, freelancing is a kind of entrepreneurship although all freelancers don’t necessarily start a company. In fact, everyone who makes his/her living through legal means without becoming an “employee” can be called an entrepreneur.

Another big shift is in the way that entrepreneurship has come to be viewed, according to the survey. It was revealed that a full 57% of the respondents representing the Millennial Generation (comprising those who are between 19 and 30 years old) see entrepreneurship as “entirely good”. This is a 10% more than the older generation. Not only that, 58% of freelancers classified themselves as entrepreneurs. The implication of this should not be ignored by companies.

It doesn’t mean that everyone who said that they will quit their job will do so and become entrepreneurs. It also doesn’t mean that the traditional 9 to 5 job is on the way out. What it means is that more young people are willing to make their living as freelancers than before. Freelancing is no longer seen as an option for the “jobless” but a profitable and respectable way to make a living.

The result of the survey has one big implication, which is more young people today are likely to begin their career as freelancers and then go on to start their own companies than ever before. If you are a young graduate or employed, then there is a high chance that one day you will opt to become an entrepreneur. It is never too early to start developing the mindset of one to prepare yourself for the day when it eventually comes.

Starting your business is no piece of cake. If you start without proper planning and adequate preparation, then the probability of failure far outweighs the probability of success. Therefore, you should not leave your current job until your part-time gig starts generating enough income to pay the bills and show clear signs of growth.

Here are some tips on how to prepare yourself for the life of an entrepreneur:

• Save every penny you can: Money is the key to success in any business. When you finally leave your job to devote fulltime to your business, you should have adequate savings to last at least six months. You should also have enough money to weather difficulties arising from non-payment by your clients, your business partner possibly ditching you and lawsuits by competitors or customers. So start saving every penny you can and stash the money in a bank account that is not easily accessible so that you will not be tempted to use it.

• Purchase benefits: When you are self-employed, purchase key benefits like life and disability insurance, and health insurance. In the event that a misfortune strikes you or your business, these benefits come in very handy.

• Pay all your debts: Running a business is hard enough; you don’t want to be saddled down by previous debts. So clear all your debts before taking the plunge. To minimize the chance of acquiring new debts, you can stop using your credit cards and spending money on things that are not absolutely necessary.

Despite the apparent charm of freelancing and entrepreneurship, leaving the security of your job is not an easy thing to do, especially if it pays you well. When you are on your own, every step of the way is fraught with risks. If you are not fully prepared, you may end up losing everything you have. The only way that you can cushion yourself from possible disasters is by being financially sound.

How about you all? Are you planning on eventually quitting your 9-5? 

If you were to make the change in the future, what would you do financially to prepare for the switch?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of Daniel Rashid.

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 14 – Round 3, Posts 17-32

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 14th Stage (now the 3rd Round of the event) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 12th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Credit Card Debt and Drug Addiction: Are They Related? (Addiction): While Dave Ramsey advocates the Debt Snowball method for paying down credit card debt and brain scan studies confirm the notion because of the limbic system’s joy at closing down accounts, nobody really tracks what happens after you close down an account. Specifically, nobody has studied the causes and incidences of relapse, where people who were on the road to becoming debt free suddenly veer off the path and rack up debt again. This article examines the neurological and behavioral similarities between credit card debt and drug addiction and suggests ways in which we can apply lessons learned from helping people with drug addiction to the process of getting out of credit card debt.

VERSUS

  • Which Is Harder: Paying off Debt or Saving Money? (Harder): Every week, I get asked whether someone should pay off their debt first or save instead, and every week I pretty much say the same thing: Go with whichever one makes you feel better. I often wonder afterwards, though, which side – indeed –  IS the easiest to accomplish? Is it debt cuz you hate it so much and there’s an absolute number attached to it? Or is it savings cuz having tons of money in the bank is sexy as hell??

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

VERSUS

  • How My Retirement Plans Got Derailed – Big Time! (Derailed): I left my secure job at a major bank to open a small retail store with my husband.  We struggled along for three years, using up almost all our savings and making the terrible mistake of financing the business with our many credit cards. Eventually we gave up and closed the store.  With no money and over $100,000 in credit card debt, we sank to our lowest point of despair.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today again with Stage 10, a flat ride taking the racers 122 miles from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo. It should be a day for the big sprinters to contest, so it should be fun to watch! 🙂

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Sunflowers,_Gogar._-_geograph.org.uk_-_45530.jpg

Why You’re Not Getting a Job After Graduating from College

The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Kevin Mercadante, who is a professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry.

If you are a recent college graduate and still have not been able to land a job in your chosen career field, you can take comfort in the fact that you are hardly alone in this situation. What is important is developing strategies that will keep this problem from going on too long.

But first, it’s important that you consider the reasons why getting a full-time position your field has been so difficult. Once you understand that, developing a strategy will be easier to do.

 

A weak job market

It is extremely frustrating to be unable to find a job at a time when the job market seems to be improving. And while it’s true that the overall market is improving, that improvement is extremely uneven. Perhaps nowhere is that more obvious than with recent college graduates.

Recent statistics indicate that there is a “mal-employment” rate of 36% for college grads under the age of 25. Even though the overall unemployment rate for recent college graduates is just 7%, that number hides the fact that many recent grads are either working part-time, or are working in full-time jobs that are not related to their major area of study.

These numbers can vary even more depending upon your major. For example, nurses and accountants are in high demand, while many other majors have a serious oversupply of job candidates.

These numbers are not meant to discourage you, but to paint an accurate picture of exactly where you’re at – and why.

 

High expectations

When you are fresh out of college, it’s common to expect a certain minimum pay level. After all, not only did you spend the last four years or more earning your degree, but you probably have come out with bills to pay, including student loans.

Unfortunately, the current job market for new college graduates does not justify high expectations in all cases and in all majors. There may be an advantage to taking a lower level position that is at least related to your major, that way you’ll least begin your career and can start building some experience.

It’s also important that you do not go too either without a full-time job, or without one related to your major. Long periods of unemployment – or completely irrelevant employment – can be career-killers in this job market.

 

Lack of work experience

This is the classic job hunters dilemma – you can’t get a job unless you have experience, but you can’t get experience unless you have a job. This is even more pronounced among recent college graduates because you’ve spent the last few years in school, rather than working in your major area of study.

However, the problem is compounded if you have never held a paying job of any kind during your college years. Some job placement counselors are highlighting this as an issue with employers.

No, a job at Starbucks will not provide any relevant experience if you’re an engineering major, but it does indicate that you have made the transition from student to employee.

An employer often wants to know that you have experience earning a living. A part-time job during your school years could be an indication that you understand the importance of punctuality, that you have worked with customers and under supervision, and that you even have one or two references that can verify your reliability as an employee.

If you don’t have a working history at all, that could be making your job search even more difficult. Employers today want to hire people can “hit the ground running”. They are not keen on training new hires in the basics of holding a job.

 

What you can do to improve your chances

Okay, that’s a fair description of what you’re up against. What can you do to overcome it?

Take control of the situation. Choose the career that you wish to have and develop career goals that you will stop at nothing to reach. Once you have these goals in place, you can start putting together a plan to attain them. Build your personal brand on your social media pages. Potential employers will research you before your interview, so make sure that your profiles are full of flattering images showing your hardworking and career-oriented side. Research every organization that you apply with and have a solid idea of what your job will entail. This will give you a much better chance of leaving a favorable impression during your interview.

If you’re still in school, get a job now. As we discussed earlier, employers want to know that you at least know how to hold a job. If you’re still in school, get a part-time job even if it is completely unrelated to your major. It will have some value when you graduate and are looking for your first full-time job.

Take a temporary assignment (this can work particularly well for a summer internship, which employers love!). There is a real shift from full-time, permanent positions to temporary and contract work, and it is happening throughout the job market. As a recent college graduate, this can be the perfect niche for you. It will offer you an opportunity not only to gain some experience, but also to make some valuable contacts in the business world. It’s not a perfect situation, and it may be only loosely related to your major, but it is most definitely a foot in the door. And when a future full-time employer is looking for references, you will have them.

Offer to work part-time in your chosen field. A lot of employers who will not consider hiring you for a full-time position may consider taking you on a part-time basis. This has become even more relevant now that the Affordable Care Act is rolling out, and requiring that employers provide health insurance for any employees who work at least 30 hours per week. If you indicate a willingness to work less than 30 hours per week, that could be a way to a job in your field.

Consider self-employment. If you’re unable to land a full-time position related to your major, you might want to give self-employment serious consideration. Investigate the possibilities for self-employment, both within your major and beyond. If the job market is this tough, you may find that self-employment is your only viable option. If that is the case, start as soon as you can and begin building up your business.

If a job that fits your requirements turns up, you can always drop the business. But if a job offer never comes – you’ll be ready.

How about you all? If you are a recent college graduate, are you having any difficulty finding a full-time job related to your major? If so, what are you doing to overcome the problem?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonbache/4625864479/

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 13 – Round 3, Posts 1-16

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 13th Stage (the first Stage of the 3rd Round of the event) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 11th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

VERSUS

  • Think Like An Entrepreneur (Think): Having the mindset and thinking like an entrepreneur is the #1 key to success in life.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • My Husband is Now WORKING FROM HOME WITH ME!!! (Husband): It’s important to work out a plan before leaping into self-employment.  It’s even more important when that entrepreneurial spirit hits both of the income earners of the household.  But after running the numbers, looking at worst case scenarios, and mulling the idea over…it was time for us to put on our big girl panties and jump in.  tour de personal finance stage 9 round 2    Here’s the post about the excitement and fear when we officially put all of our financial eggs in one basket and happily skipped away into the unknown…

VERSUS

  • You Know What Really Sucks? Cubicles.  (Cubicles): I used to drive a $400 car, live in a cramped apartment and wear only thrift-store clothes. When people hear me tell stories from those days, they say: “Wow, your life must have sucked.” You know what really sucks? Cubicles. Consumer debt. Getting shackled due to overspending. THAT sucks much more than an ugly car.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life takes its first rest day today. The race will continue tomorrow again with Stage 10, a flat ride starting in the northwest of France and continuing down across the center of the country.

***Photo courtesy of http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5075/5821509533_0a8bbb317c_o.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 12 – Frugal Living and Lifestyle Groups – Posts 57-64

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 12th Stage (the last Stage of the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Frugal Living” and “Lifestyle” categories of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 10th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Wine Retail Price Dispersions: A Closer Look into Wine Economics in the United States (Wine): Have you ever gone to a store to purchase wine one day and it’s a certain price, then go to buy the same wine in a different store later and you notice it is a few dollars more expensive?  Why is it that wine prices are so variable from shop to shop in the United States? This post dissects recent research into what creates these differences and how price dispersion is able to persist in the US market.

VERSUS

  • 10 Simple Ways to Suck at Life (Life): Ever wanted to know exactly what you need to do to make sure you fail at everything? Ever wanted to know what do to the exact opposite of to succeed? It’s all right here, in these handy, easy to follow, steps.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • 10 Wealth Creation Habits (Habits): Saving is great, and so is making money.  But the bottom line is creating WEALTH, and this post shares 10 tips on how to increase wealth.

VERSUS

  • 10 Things I Don’t Get (Things): Do you ever wonder why people do things that, to you, are the same as flushing money down the toilet? Here’s my list of ten time and money wasters.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 9, the second high mountains stage, taking the riders 165 km from Saint-Girons to Bagnères-de-Bigorre. After a brilliant performance and win yesterday for Chris Froome at the mountain top finish at Ax-3-Domaines, he was able to successfully defend the yellow jersey today despite being attacked for multiple hours across 5 climbs (and having his whole Sky Team being dropped).

In the end, Dan Martin and another rider got a few seconds lead from the peleton and won the stage! Nice job Dan!

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Christopher_Froome_TDF2012.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 12 – Frugal Living Group – Posts 49-56

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 12th Stage (the last Stage of the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Frugal Living”category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 10th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • It Pays to Have Your Small Claims Case on a Court Television Show (Television): Court reality television shows love to arbitrate stereotypical cases to get their paid audience members in an uproar (like the snot-nosed teenager who takes his friend’s car for a joyride and crashes or the girlfriend who cheated on her boyfriend and his credit card). It turns out that these people we love to giggle at might just be smarter than the rest of us. If you are willing to have your case tried in front of a national audience (not to mention people like Judge Judy), then read on to find out the rewards that await you.

VERSUS

  • Could You Live on Minimum Wage? (Wage): 4.4 Americans live on minimum wage. SPENT is a game designed to show the tough choices made everyday by the working poor.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • Financial Lessons Learned from The Bachelor (Bachelor): I’m a fan of the TV show, The Bachelor, on ABC. After a few episodes, I realized that  not only is the show about finding love, it can teach us about investing, debt and general personal finance as well. So what financial lessons has The Bachelor taught you?

VERSUS

  • Why It May Cost You More When It’s Free (Free): We’re all dazzled by the word “free,” but have you ever stopped to think about the costs tied to getting something for free? Free shipping or free items when your purchase reaches a certain dollar amount is great–if you’re already planning to spend that amount of money, but when you’re not? And what about all of the extra “free” stuff you’re collecting that you really don’t need? There’s psychology behind our strong urge to get something for free–even if we don’t need it–and there are ways we can combat our irrational thinking.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 9, the second high mountains stage, taking the riders 165 km from Saint-Girons to Bagnères-de-Bigorre. After a brilliant performance and win yesterday for Chris Froome at the mountain top finish at Ax-3-Domaines, he will be looking to defend the yellow jersey today. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 11 – Saving and Psychology Groups – Posts 41-48

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 11th Stage (the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Saving/Investing” and “Psychology of Money” categories of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 9th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Why an Early Start Makes All the Difference  (Early): I started to work, save and invest early, and it has allowed me to retire from the corporate world at age 29. This post shows how important it is to get an early start in your finances, and how much it would cost you to get to the same point if you start 5 or 10 years later. If you are off to a late start and should have started yesterday, it is not too late to get on track, but today is the best day to take control of your finances.

VERSUS

  • Are We Headed For Another Great Depression? (Depression): America’s economy has been struggling for nearly five years now, and there’s a division among experts and laypeople alike as to whether this is a crisis that we’re on our way out of, or if the worst is yet to come.  Are we headed for the 21st century version of the Great Depression?  How would we know if we were?  What are the warning signs?  And what would happen to America if another large scale depression hit our shores?

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • My Life Insurance Mistake (Mistake): Get an inside look at my encounter with the seedy underbelly of the life insurance sales world. Learn from my mistakes so that when the time comes you can avoid getting suckered into a bad deal.

VERSUS

  • 7 Habits of Wealthy People (Habits): Have you ever wondered what it takes to be wealthy? If you want to be rich then you need to imitate successful people. Here are 7 habits of wealthy people that will help you start building wealth today!

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 8, the first high mountains stage, taking the riders 121 miles from Castres to Ax 3 Domaines. The race finishes at the summit of Ax3, so it should be the first big challenge for the contestants for overall victory. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 11 – Saving-Investing Group – Posts 33-40

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 11th Stage (the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Saving/Investing” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 9th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Do You Want to Become a Millionaire? (Millionaire): Ever dream of becoming a millionaire, but think the only way to do it is winning the lottery? Well, I’m here to tell you that dedication and hard work can be just as effective. Find out how you can become a millionaire using two different strategies.

VERSUS

  • Is it Time to Get Out of the Stock Market? (Time): Whenever we see highs or lows in the stock market we see an increasing number of talking heads telling us what we should do with our portfolios. The problem with listening to them is they have no idea of your personal situation. That said, these are great times to analyze your portfolio while remembering the importance of maintaining a long-term view of your investing.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • How to Handle a Windfall (Windfall): It seems that just about every finance site in existence has at least one post about handling windfalls. But how many of these authors have firsthand experience in dealing with a significant windfall? Very few. That’s where this piece differs. I didn’t dream up a hypothetical list of things that you should do if/when you receive a windfall. Instead, I laid out the things that my wife and I did do when it happened to us.

VERSUS

  • How to Pay Yourself First (First): Personal finance folks often throw around the term “pay yourself first.” It is a bit big-headed of us to assume you know how to do that. Here are some steps you can take to put the most popular finance advice to work.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 8, the first high mountains stage, taking the riders 121 miles from Castres to Ax 3 Domaines. The race finishes at the summit of Ax3, so it should be the first big challenge for the contestants for overall vicitory. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Corniche_Aubisque_Soulor.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 10 – Debt and Retirement Groups – Posts 25-32

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 10th Stage (the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Debt” and “Retirement Planning” groups category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 8th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

VERSUS

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • How My Retirement Plans Got Derailed – Big Time! (Derailed): I left my secure job at a major bank to open a small retail store with my husband.  We struggled along for three years, using up almost all our savings and making the terrible mistake of financing the business with our many credit cards. Eventually we gave up and closed the store.  With no money and over $100,000 in credit card debt, we sank to our lowest point of despair.

VERSUS

  • Extreme Retirement is Fools Gold! (Gold): Doing anything extreme is unsustainable for any length of time.  Saving 60-70% to retire early so you could live a minimalist life is crazy!  I do not want to lower my standard of living in retirement, do you?

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 7, a flat stage taking the riders 128 miles from Montpellier to Albi. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight. Thanks!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Andre_Greipel_2_-_Sachsentour.JPG

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