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FANTABULOUS CORRECTION!!! It is 8:03pm CST on October 31st and it has been brought to my attention (thanks Tim!) that we just hit an Alexa ranking of 49,852!!! WE REALLY DID IT!!! WOOT for hitting the 50,000 goal by the end of today!!! *Doing the happy dance* Doing the happy dance*  12 comments  http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/correction-yakezie-alexa-ranking-update-%e2%80%93-49852-we-are-awesome/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/correction-yakezie-alexa-ranking-update-%e2%80%93-49852-we-are-awesome/trackback/BFS is a member of the Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge! My ranking last week was 51,783 and is now 50,018! The original goal was to be in the top 200,000 by July 4, 2010 and you helped me blow that out of the water in 2 months…a whole month early! Then we were shooting for 100,000 by July 4th and we hit that goal too!!! After that we started a new goal of 75,000 by the end of August, and I thought there was no way, but we hit that out of the park by August 15!!! Most recently, we were shooting for 50,000 by Halloween! Thanks to all of you, we pretty much did it – 50,018 is a win in my book!!! THANK YOU!!! Oh, and Happy Halloween!!! I’m using this coming week to decide on our next goal. I think it will be a combination of a target Alexa ranking and RSS subscribers, but we’ll see…maybe unique visitors…choices, choices. In case you didn’t know, Alexa traffic rankings are determined by the numbers of hits a site gets by people with the Alexa toolbar. If you want to be part of this ranking community, you can download the Alexa toolbar here. If you are a Yakezie member and don’t see yourself on my member list, please send me an email or leave a comment here to be added. I copied the list originally in early March and updated it in mid-June. Please let me know if you are still missing. Thanks! If you are interested in seeing how I went from an 8 million plus Alexa rank to about 60,000 in less than 7 months, you can see My Blogging Schedule over at Crystal Clear Thoughts. BTW, I am going to start posting blogging stat and income updates at the beginning of every month starting this Monday (11/1) since so many people, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, seem interested. This update will be posted on all 3 of my sites – Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, Crystal Clear Thoughts, and Dog’s Life For Me. Each site will have it’s own stats and income listed. We’ll see whether blogging full time by 2012 is nutty or not! 6 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/yakezie-alexa-ranking-update-50018-i-am-considering-this-a-win/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/yakezie-alexa-ranking-update-50018-i-am-considering-this-a-win/trackback/My Favorite Posts this Week
Guest Posts from BFS on Other Sites
Thanks for having me over for the day! Guest Posts on BFS
Thanks for the guest posts and the day off! I loved the fact you all covered so many subjects that I neglect. Thank you. If you would like to guest post on BFS, please send me an email with your idea or post and I’d love to have you over for the day! If you are a business, please email me for more details. Thanks! Blog Carnivals that Included BFS
Carnival hosts, please email me if BFS is included in your carnival so I don’t miss it in my roundup, thanks! I know how much time these things take, so as always, I am truly grateful! Other Info
Top 5 Referring Sites to BFS
Feel free to email me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests. As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my “lurkers” too. To check out new content, please also check out my other blogs, 8 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/weekly-favorites-and-gratitude-24/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/weekly-favorites-and-gratitude-24/trackback/The following is a guest post by Hannah Navi of Billy’s Savings Club, an online savings solution. Billy specializes in price comparison for services like moving companies, which helps you save money. It’s rather simple to throw away money (with or without realizing it) by getting products that you don’t really need. But as I was brooding over it, I realized that spending too much is a habit that is just as bad as wasting money. The difference between spending too much and wasting money is that overspending means spending more for something that you’d be buying anyway, while wasting cash also revolves around spending cash on items that are generally unneeded (even though they are often very nice). And so, I brooded for a long time about how we can avoid overspending and I’ve come up with the five following tips to help prevent that dilemma. 1. Consistently look for stores that will hit the price of their participants or at the very least, offer a price-match assurance. I’ve recently discovered that many companies actually do honor price match requests, even though they may not readily supply this service. Here are a few businesses that will top their rivals (or, at the very least, equal the cost) – Staples, Diapers.com, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Sears. Some companies also provide price adjustments if the item you purchased goes on sale within 7-14 days. Keep an eye on costs to see if you’re eligible for a reimbursement at any of the following stores -
2. Look for coupons, discounts or deals. The most sure-fire method to get a bargain is to frequently pursue it. One simple way to find a deal on almost any item is to Google it. Chances are you’ll track down deals on almost everything you’re looking to buy – you can even find Target coupons. 3. Wait for price cuts. Unless your desired item is price-fixed, chances are strong that it will go on sale at some occasion in the next couple weeks or months. Enjoy further discounts if you can double up discounts on the sale price. 4. Purchase a knockoff. I hate to say it, but having a name-brand doesn’t mean much these days. Getting a pricy designer or branded item will lead to overspending, when you can get an awesome look and superb quality with a good knockoff. The best part about purchasing a knockoff is that you can afford to replace it when the trends oscillate. The same things hold true for electronics, by the way — you may not want to buy the cheapest MP3 player, but there are an assortment of picks that can supply years of consistent service, even if they don’t have a little apple on the back. 5. Cut down on membership costs. Do you have a gold membership to the gym or a gold credit card that is running you money each month? Why not stop overextending by giving up costs that aren’t really critical. If you’re not taking advantage of that extra spa time or aren’t hitting your credit limit, you don’t really need these pricey upgrades, and moving to typical memberships can prevent you from overspending on a consistent basis. Crystal’s Questions: How do you prevent overspending? Any tips you’d like to add? 16 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/5-tips-to-prevent-overspending/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/5-tips-to-prevent-overspending/trackback/Today I’m guest posting at Bucksome Boomer and staff writing at Sweating the Big Stuff. The following is a guest post by Freddie Taylor, the managing editor with Invest With Passion, the #1 Real Estate Investing Magazine online. IWP focuses on providing practical and useful information on real estate investing, small business, and personal finance. The idea of real estate investing may not be fun to you. In fact, you may despise the thought of it right now. But maybe after we have a short conversation, I can change your mind. When you think of real estate investing, what comes to your mind? You are probably thinking about hard work, long hours, and lots of head aches. You feel this way because you know someone that knows someone that was in real estate or was a real estate investing and they have nothing but sour news about it. This is how we get our perceptions of many things in our lives. But today I want to show you a different way of looking at it. The 4 ways real estate investing can be fun Now that you have scrolled down the page and glanced over the list already, let’s discuss each one of them individually. And don’t feel bad, when I am skimming articles I do it all the time. Helps you save your time just in case there are any useless run-on sentences in this article something like this one. (lol, just kidding. That is the only one..I hope.) 1) Learning is Fun Be honest with yourself, you love to learn. There is something special, magical and fun when you learn something new. You know it is an integral part of your future plans. Learning bridges the gap in your knowledge and helps you to be successful. This stirs happiness inside of you. If you consider real estate investing, you have a steep learning curve ahead of you. Focus your mind on the end result of what the knowledge can do for you. Relax and enjoy the process, learn the basics before taking any rash action. This is not an area where you want to make a bunch of bad decisions. 2) Challenges Are Fun Real estate investing can be fun if you are up for challenges. Many aspiring people love a good challenge. When they push on a thing, it pushes right back on them. And it takes their coy and their wits in order to solve the thing. This feels good to people. This is how real estate investing works. It doesn’t matter if you are landlording, flipping, or wholesaling properties; there are challenges all around. Can you negotiate a good contract when your buying a home, making a deal with a partner or professional? They are all around you in this business and will push you to learn and do more. Many people find the level of challenge to be rewarding. Because when you purchase and sell your first home for a chunky profit, you appreciate all you have done to get there. There is no lack of effort, sweat and toil, but the rewards are sweet and fun to receive. You might even do a little dance. 3) Profits Are Fun I eluded to it in the above paragraph a bit, but profits are fun! I don’t think you will find many people that will disagree with this statement. If you make more and more profits, there is more and more money fit the budget so you can make sure in contains the fun stuff. And isn’t that why you are here in the first place…to budget in the fun stuff? 4) Helping the Economy is Fun It is true. Real estate investing is great for the economy. Money is being borrowed, loaned for purchases, construction, marketing, closings, and more. Papers need processing. Transactions must be managed. The appraiser, home inspectors, real estate agents, and attorneys have to be paid as well. There are auditors in the process and more. You get the picture. All of this activity because you decided to be a real estate investor. It helps the market. We didn’t even get into how it makes the neighborhoods look better. Depending on the scale of investing you are doing, you could be beautifying the neighborhoods or building the neighborhoods. Next time you hear people talking about their real estate investing stories, remember there is a fun side as well. Not everyone lost in this business, nor will lose. Real estate investing has been here for centuries and gets a bad wrap, but can also be extremely rewarding, profitable, and fun! Crystal’s Comments: He got me with that scrolling thing, lol. 12 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/4-ways-real-estate-investing-can-be-fun/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/4-ways-real-estate-investing-can-be-fun/trackback/Welcome to the Festival of Frugality #253, which is going to have frugal and funny Halloween costume ideas* thrown in throughout! I hope you enjoy it and come back to visit BFS! Editor’s Picks
“Get a bag of moss from the craft store’s floral isle. Glue it all over some old clothes and a hat and go as a chia pet.”
“Wear a raggedy old pair of shorts and t-shirt, and go unshaven if your a man. Mess your hair up. Get a garden tiki torch from the party supply store. Go as a recent loser from Survivor.”
“Dress in a business suit and carry around a big jar filled half way up with thumb tacks. Go as the ‘tacks collector.’”
“Dress up as you normally do. If someone asks what you are, tell them you’re a werewolf. If they ask why you have no hair or fangs, explain that it’s not a full moon.”
“Get a large box. Cut a hole for your head and arms. Wrap it with gift wrapping paper and put a big bow on your head. Make a large gift tag out of construction paper that says, “To: Women, From: God.” This year, you can honestly say you’re God’s gift to women.”
“Dress like a mailman. Get a stuffed dog and sew it’s mouth to your pant leg.”
Wrap yourself in aluminum foil with a pointy foil hat on top and a white tie or strip of cloth around your neck. You’d be a Hershey’s Kiss.
“Throw a white sheet over your head, and cut a hole for your head to come through. Wear a yellow hat and paint your face yellow with make up. Go as a fried egg.”
Thanks for checking all of these great bloggers out! If you are interested in being part of next week’s festival, just enter by Monday! It will be hosted at the Magical Penny next Tuesday, 11/2! *The quoted Halloween costume ideas came from eSSORTMENT. The other two came from me. 36 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/festival-of-frugality-253-frugal-halloween-costume-edition/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/festival-of-frugality-253-frugal-halloween-costume-edition/trackback/The following is a post from Andy on behalf of PayPlan. In this day and age of consumerism, many of us have accumulated debt in one form or other. The current economic climate, however, has forced us to stand back and take stock of our finances and in particular, our accumulated debt. It is essential to take debt management seriously in which case you could reduce or indeed alleviate the stress that comes with it. If you believe the amount of your debt is unmanageable, you may consider using a debt consolidation company. When you take out a debt consolidation loan with a company, they arrange for you to have just the one debt with just one manageable monthly repayment which is suitable for your financial constraints and therefore will no longer have many creditors (those you owe money to), however you must be aware that the repayment term may be quite lengthy. Do your research and if you feel a debt management company will be most beneficial to you, sign up with a reputable company such as PayPlan. Prior to signing up with a debt management company, you may wish to evaluate exactly how much debt you have and with whom. Set up a spreadsheet and record the total amount owed with the end date of any agreements. Then separately record your regular expenditure such as mortgage, credit card payments, utility bills, food and clothes etc. Refer to your bank statement(s) for specific details. Enter information on a monthly basis or a yearly basis where appropriate. Your monthly net income less your regular monthly expenses is your disposable income. Once you have a comprehensive figure of how much debt you have, you can begin to set targets to wipe out this debt using your disposable income. Make sure your targets are specific, achievable and realistic. Do not distress yourself by setting unachievable targets such as 50% reduction in debt in one month. Hitting your targets can be beneficial and motivational. Set short-term goals such as eradicate one credit card debt by Christmas and long-term goals for example clear all credit cards within one year. Now you have established exactly what debt you have and what your disposable income is, look to reduce your debt repayments. Price comparison websites are a good place to start for your utility bills and day to day spending. You should also look to reduce spending on items such as food, clothes, entertainment and travel costs. Try walking or using public transport. Should you rearrange your financial affairs with a company such as Payplan and have set your goals, you must see them through. It is usually a long process to be in credit again so do not give up. Many company’s can offer support should you find the new regime hard to stick to, will be understanding to your goals and will not make them so tough that you go back to your old spending ways. Planning, perseverance and some help will see you through. Crystal’s Comments: If I had a stack of debt, I would try to get the interest rates lowered and debt consolidation may be one way to do it. But, I would protect myself and make sure I would truly be helping myself if I went that route. I am personally a huge fan of the snowball method of debt repayment although I’d go this route – make minimum payments on all of the debt and then throw a ton at the highest interest rate debt first. Good luck! 8 comments http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/debt-consolidation/ http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/debt-consolidation/trackback/ |
   
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