Weekly Roundup #4

Welcome to my 4th personal finance weekly roundup.  Every week, I share my favorite blog posts about family and finance.  I focus on articles that share ways to save money, increase your income or teach your children about finances.  But first you get to see a funny video.

Photo Credit: Colin-47 via Compfight cc

I don’t know what the weather is like where you live, but here in the Midwest, it’s C O L D.  The wind and rain make everything…just…soggy.  In honor of the crazy drop in temperature this week, here is one of the funniest news blooper videos in existence.  Of the 4,671,748 views it currently has on YouTube, at least 32 of them are mine.

Video Credit: FOX 10 Phoenix

Now onto some stellar blog posts to encourage, inform and inspire you on your financial journey:

Rachel at Smart Mom Smart Ideas put together a list post called 10 Ways to Earn $500 a Month Working From Home.  I know many people who are doing the things on Rachel’s list.  I’ve also met many who are trying really hard, but aren’t bringing in that kind of money yet (I’m raising my hand).  Do you know what the people who are making it have in common?  They hustle their tails off, they don’t quit when everyone else would (during what Seth Godin calls “the dip”), and they stay neck-deep in community with other hustlers.  I’m working on that “community” part for you guys.  Stay tuned.

If that sounds like you, then check Rachel’s list out.

Michelle at Making Sense of Cents wrote about The Power of a No Spend Challenge.  A title like that initially makes me want to scream repeatedly “Run away!  Run away!” in a British accent.  After reading her personal evaluation of the challenge, I actually felt intrigued and motivated to do this in my own life.  You don’t have to stop spending everything, just certain categories.  It can be for a week, a month or a year.  The silver lining is when you find ways to obtain the no-spend item (i.e. coffee, donuts) for free.

Speaking of not spending, can we talk about bartering for a minute?  I came across a post this week by Ruth at Living Well Spending Less called Try Bartering.  I love the advice she shares because I’ve just been exploring this more in my own life.  A good friend and I are both mothers and writers, so we’ve teamed up to watch each other’s children one morning a week while the other person spends time writing.  Our kids have new playmates and we get to chase our dreams.

Have you bartered before?  Share your experience in the comments below.

A big reason why I do this weekly roundup is because of the wealth of wisdom offered by so many OTHER bloggers in the personal finance network.  For example, Brian at Debt Discipline is a father of three teenagers and wrote a fantastic blog post called Steps for Preparing Your Children for Adulthood. The title alone should tell you what kind of impact this information could have on young families today.  If you’re raising little ones, you’re raising pre-adults.  Be encouraged; read Brian’s post.

Jim at Wallet Hacks wrote about a great concept in his article called How to Build an Opportunity Fund.  It’s not about debt and it’s not about emergencies.  It’s a fund strictly set up for the fun things in life.  For example:  Giving money to family, friends or charities, saving up to pay cash for an RV and traveling the country, starting a business debt-free.  Saving money can have a lot of fun rewards, but it takes time and a plan.

That wraps up another fantastic week of personal finance awesomeness.  I really hope these posts were beneficial to you.

I’m curious:  If you started a No-Spend Challenge tomorrow for 30 days, what is one thing you would stop buying?  For me, it would be fast food and candy (it’s those stinking checkout lane Kit Kats…).  Leave your answer in the comments below.

I’m also tempted to go all out and not use Redbox for a year.  I’ve never done a challenge that long, but we rarely use Redbox.  Your thoughts?