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Is Total Debt Avoidance Really Best? 2007-09-28 15:36:49 “All debt should be avoided”, “We should all try to live completely debt free”, “Don’t pay interest for anything”.
I feel like I’ve been hearing this debt-free mantra everywhere lately. Living debt-free is a fantastic goal to strive for.
Debt, as a general concept, is a negative thing to have. Having no financial obligations and enjoying complete freedom in how you spend your money is ideal. But when going into debt is the only way to achieve something you feel is truly worthwhile (within a reasonable time frame) is it still to be avoided at all costs?
I think there is a balance to be found; a balance between living below your means and enjoying life and what’s important to you. While debt can have a negative impact by decreasing your ability to build savings, some debt can actually enable you to further your career, build wealth, and acquire property. Following blanket statements like “never incur any debt” could Read more:Total
, Avoidance
Smooth AND Solvent: Make The Moisturizer Switch 2007-09-28 08:00:20 Now that we know some ways companies try to artificially inflate the value of their products, how do we decide if we can happily switch to a cheaper brand?
Everybody sees the value of things differently. Some people might even tie their confidence in their looks to a using a specific product. That kind of brand loyalty is hard to overcome. As a rule of thumb, don’t buy any luxury item without comparing the actual benefits to what you could get from the cheaper competition. Let’s look at ways to find a good replacement for that pricey moisturizer.
Look at the ingredients
Make sure you are getting what you think you are from your pricey moisturizer and are not falling prey to “fairy dusting”. The products are listed in descending order based on the amount used in the product’s formulation. If the active ingredients you are looking for appear at the end of the ingredient list it is unlikely to have much of it. Also, more ingredients doesn’t nece
Are Luxury Moisturizers Worth The Price? 2007-09-27 18:56:25 Cosmetics and beauty products were a hobby of mine. An extremely expensive hobby that helped get me into debt. I have tried many of the expensive face moisturizers out there. As recently as just last year I was using up the last of my Crème de la Mer moisturizer ($125 for 1oz). That was the most I had ever spent on a single jar of moisturizer.
I really enjoyed the “high-end” moisturizers you get at department stores or from Sephora (my old addiction). They were soothing and comforting and somehow special. I never knew why exactly but I felt they were better than their less expensive counterparts. They just *were*. After all, my skin looked great! It must have been because of those luxury products, right?
When evaluating my spending habits I started looking at what I was getting for my money in these moisturizers. Was it really the expensive and exotic ingredients in these high priced products giving me that nice skin or was it the fact that I was simply using a Read more:Luxury
, Worth
Finding a New VoIP Provider 2007-09-27 08:00:46 It sounds like Vonage is going through some rough times right now. We’ve been using Vonage for, I think, a couple of years now. We’ve been really happy with the service, and have two lines with them. One is our normal home line, and the other line Melissa uses for some of her charity work.
Some people have suggested we just drop the home phone altogether and go purely with cell phones. I don’t like that idea as much. For me, my cell phone has always been more about giving me convenience to call people when I’m out, and not for the convenience of getting a hold of me. I’m selective about who I give my cell phone number to, but I don’t mind giving out my home phone number. I guess it’s more of a habit than anything else. Having separate home and cellular numbers just fits the way I want to live.
If you haven’t heard about Vonage’s latest trouble, several months back, Vonage lost a battle with Verizon over some patents. It was unclear Read more:Provider
Tightwad Wednesday - Flushing Less Water & Dry Milk 2007-09-26 19:55:56 Each week, I will test out two tips from the The Complete Tightwad Gazette, and on the following Wednesday
I’ll review how they went and evaluate if it is worth my time/effort/money to continue with it.
Well, again we have mixed results. I suppose that is to be expected though - it wouldn’t be a challenge if it was easy. Let’s get on into it.
Bottle in the Toilet Trick
This Tightwad tip was to help lower the amount of water used for each flush which can help save money on your water bill. You place a bottle filled with rocks in your toilet tank to displace some of the water. This reduces the amount of water used in each flush.
Eric was less than thrilled that I decided to do this Tightwad tip and was very reluctant to even try it. He doesn’t like the idea of having something in the toilet that could mess up its operation or leave a mess (sand). And quite frankly, he just didn’t like the idea of less water when he flushes.
After fiddling with trying to find r Read more:Flushing
The Surprise Rebate! 2007-09-26 10:34:23 Rebates can be a fickle mistress. Sometimes it seems like a gamble on whether or not you will actually get that rebate you so painstakingly prepared. You might get it in the mail or you could get rejected for something small or for seemingly no reason at all.
A while back I saw a $10 rebate in the paper for buying 10 of the sort of products I use. Most of the time I ignore smaller rebates but this one was substantial and it beckoned to me. I had a handful of coupons I could use for the products included in this rebate and with the current sales I could get a very good deal. With this rebate I had to buy all 10 items in one shopping trip so I knew I couldn’t afford to mess it up. There would be no second try.
After buying the items, cutting off the UPCs, and getting all the paperwork in order I did my final check before sealing the envelope. I noticed something. Staring me in the face was one UPC for an item of the wrong size. I was mortified and felt sick. S Read more:Surprise
, Rebate
The Roundup - Stone vs Brick Accents Edition 2007-09-25 16:01:22 Everyone tells us that building a home is extremely frustrating. I’m starting to see what they were all talking about.
The builder just called to inform us that it is standard to get stone accents on the exterior instead of the brick we had chosen. That’s news to us because we were told we had to choose a brick for accents and stone was never even an option. After all, the exterior of the home is already that same stone. How is that an accent?
This is the third case where something was said to be “standard” that they are attempting to change after we signed the contract. Unfortunately, I hear this behavior is “standard” among builders. Sorry for the rant everyone, I just needed to vent.
Let’s move on to some great articles!
More Buffet Strategies: Olive Garden’s Never-Ending Pasta Bowl @ Punny Money - This is a really funny read about a man and his eternal struggle to eat-all-he-can-eat. It even includes pointers on h Read more:Stone
, Brick
, Accents
, Edition
The Lost Arts? 2007-09-25 10:10:22 Sometimes I wonder if I should have taken Home Economics in high school. For me, it was a choice between that and computer science and I chose the latter. Although computer science helped prepare me for a career in the tech industry I feel like I missed out on learning some of the essentials for running a household that could help save money.
It seems most of my friends didn’t take Home Economics either. Are students are getting this knowledge at home instead? I didn’t and neither did a lot of my friends. Are frugal household skills that were once widely practiced becoming less common knowledge with younger generations? Are you proficient in these “lost arts”?
Sewing & Repairing Clothing
I have absolutely no idea how to sew. How many people do you know actually sew? The other day a button fell off Eric’s pants and I realized I’d have to dig up my little sewing kit and figure out how to sew it back on. I just never had the oppor
The Downside to Debt Consolidation Loans 2007-09-24 06:30:10 When I started my first job after college, I didn’t own much. I had my car, some hand-me-down furniture, some clothes, a TV and VCR, a computer, some books, and a variety of other small things. I didn’t have much in the way of assets, and the furniture I had was really starting to show it’s age.
I managed to get a good job and it payed well. Considering I had so little when I moved, and I thought I was doing well, I decided to “move on up”. I upgraded my TV from a 13″ to a 27″. I bought new furniture, including new couches, coffee table, entertainment center, and end tables. I bought some movies, new books, and a smattering of other things. Before I knew it, I had $12,000 in credit card bills. By some people’s standards, that might not seem like a lot. For me at the time, it was huge. My father had always told me to avoid debt, and never carry a balance on your credit card. He’s never had to pay a finance charge on his credit card b Read more:Downside
, Consolidation
, Loans
, Debt Consolidation
Top 6 Things I’m Looking Forward To In The New House 2007-09-23 19:02:32 Today we went and looked at the new house and it’s really coming along. We’ve had some delays but they have progressed to the electrical stage now. We can begin to get a real feel for what the house will look like even though it is just the framing, roof, and plumbing. I’m starting to get excited! It’s really happening now and we’ll likely be moving by the end of the year.
There are many things I’m looking forward to in the new house. Overall the house will be better suited for us and that will simply make life easier.
The top 6 things I’m looking forward to:
1. A bigger, better kitchen - This is the thing I’m most excited about. Our current kitchen is small and has only about a foot of usable counter space. I’ve had to resort to placing covers over two of our four gas burners to give us more usable space. Cooking is my true love and having space to stretch out will make such a difference. The new home will ha Read more:Forward
, House
Defensive Driving: My First Ticket 2007-10-03 14:42:18 I got my very first speeding ticket this week.
I simply didn’t realize I was in an active school zone. It was the furthest thing from my mind at that time. I saw the sign as I drove in but 30 minutes and a vet appointment later I forgot about it. With no schools/children in sight it never occurred to me. I just wasn’t paying attention which isn’t like me.
I had just left my 14 year old kitty at the vet for major surgery and got pulled over less than a minute down the road. I literally had just turned out of the vet’s parking lot. I honestly had no idea I was in a school zone. I’ll probably be mumbling that all week.
The officer had already written the ticket and wasn’t going to consider a warning despite my clean history. So now I get the pleasure of paying a hefty fine and taking defensive driving to keep it off my record.
We were lucky that we got a bonus recently so we will use part of that money to cover this fin Read more:Defensive
, Driving
, First
, Ticket
Couponing Strategies - “Separate And Save For Sales” 2007-10-02 18:58:42 If you already read Couponing
Successes posted earlier today you will be familiar with the examples used in this post. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure to check it out.
The reason most of the coupons I used this weekend were about to expire (literally, they expired that day) was because I was holding on to them waiting for the best deal. I had been holding onto to some of them for several months at that point. I find that it isn’t always the best plan to immediately use those freshly clipped coupons unless the items happen to already be on sale (e.g. Walgreens frequently runs sales corresponding with the newest coupons).
When I’m clipping coupons I set aside the very best coupons I definitely want to use and keep them separate from the rest by paper-clipping them at the front of my coupon file. The rest of the coupons that I might use get sorted into the pockets based on product type (breakfast, cleaning, etc). Don’t put the “gotta use” cou Read more:Strategies
, Sales
Couponing Successes 2007-10-02 11:17:07 This weekend I got my biggest coupon savings total ever - a whopping $40.05 or almost 30% on the bill. I’ve had much higher percentages before but only on targeted trips where I only bought specific sale items and didn’t buy fresh food for the week. Although I was thrilled, I was a little embarrassed because the checkers were so impressed they called over other employees (including a manager) to look at the total.
As anyone will tell you, if you are eating primarily fresh foods this kind of savings is unlikely to happen. We did buy a lot of fresh food but this week we also stocked up on some staples and convenience foods with coupons that were about to expire. This week was not representative of a normal shopping week for us - we typically save around 20% in coupons.
I thought I’d share some of the great deals we were able to find:
BBQ Sauce - Yes, BBQ sauce is usually cheap but we got it really cheap. Eric eats the stuff by the gallon so we can’t affo Read more:Couponing
How We Chose Our Credit Card 2007-10-01 08:00:16
Recently, my wife and I were looking at our credit cards. We got to thinking about credit cards after reading a post over at The Simple Dollar, and decided to consider changing our card. At the time, we had no idea we’d wind up with the same card that was discussed there.
I’ve had the Citibank AAdvantage card for years. In my previous job, I traveled constantly and racked up many, many miles on American Airlines. I used this card to increase the number of miles I had (I had a goal of hitting a million before travel burnout kicked in). Even though I quit that job years ago I still had this card (and was still racking up miles). After flying so much for work I have little interest in flying for pleasure right now. Earning more miles was no longer a valuable benefit to me and on top of that I was being charged a yearly fee for those rewards. It was time to change cards to get a rewards program that made sense for our current lifestyle.
We view credit cards as a conven Read more:Credit Card
The Roundup - Busy Weekend Edition 2007-09-30 19:08:00 This was a really busy weekend for us. We had several friends and some family over to the house the last couple of days. One of our friends came over and we helped her with her wedding album and to look for her first house. I think she’s really excited about searching for the new house. Saturday night, Melissa’s parents came into town unexpectedly (they were going to drive in on Sunday morning). Not only did they come in early, they had a serious car problem on the way down and we had to find a new part for them. Everything worked out great in the end, and we had a fabulous dinner and a great time visiting. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty darn good weekend.
I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to catch up on my blogging or keeping up with my blog reading, but here are a few of the articles I read :
Golbguru at Money, Matter, and more Musings, brings up some great things to consider about your security online. This is an area I feel very stro Read more:Weekend
, Edition
Investing In My Roth IRA 2007-09-30 08:52:03 Recently, I talked about how I have switched my Roth IRA from the insurance company to my brokerage account. I started doing some research on where I was going to invest things, and came to the conclusion that I would be investing all of it in Vanguard Exchange Traded Funds after doing some math. The Vanguard ETFs have the lowest expense rations, even lower than their mutual funds, and offer a reasonably diverse portfolio.
There is only one problem, and that is brokerage fees. When I started calculating if ETFs or Mutual Funds would be better, ETFs won out easily for large investments, but with the smaller investments (like $1000 or less), if I had to figure in the brokerage fee, the mutual funds came out ahead. There weren’t huge differences, but because this money is going to be invested for 25 or more years, I wanted to ensure that I would lose as little as possible to expenses and fees.
So, I’ve been taking some time to find out the best place to put my Roth IRA (I& Read more:Investing
Reducipe - Chicken Divan 2007-09-29 11:49:52 Reducipe
Pronunciation: ri-doos-uh-pee
Function: noun
1 : a recipe that can help lower your food costs in a variety of ways
a : by scaling back an expensive recipe to be less pricey but still just as tasty
b : by turning an already inexpensive meal into something special
c : by using leftovers in creative ways to stretch their use
There are many different interpretations of the classic Chicken
Divan casserole; most of them have some combination of chicken, broccoli, and cheese. I love the creaminess of this dish and we happen to favor the kind that uses curry powder. Paired with rice it makes a very satisfying meal. It also reheats very well for leftover lunches.
This recipe is a favorite for using up leftover shredded chicken. It is perfect if you are running low on leftover chicken since it tastes great even with very little chicken in it. To me, the chicken is simply an ingredient in this dish, n
The Roundup - House is Getting Closer Edition 2007-10-14 15:29:41 Every time we go and visit the new house on the weekend more and more is done. We’ve been squirreling our money away in anticipation of a completion date in late December or January. Now it might happen sooner than that even. Even though we have been saving up as much as we can, we really wanted those last few months to put away some more because we know we’re going to find things that we will need to get for the new house that we didn’t anticipate. Now we also need to start preparing with the movers for an even earlier timeframe. It’s stressful and exciting all at once!
Here are some of my favorite articles from this week:
BripBlap wrote about 6 ways you are passing up free money. All great things you need to think about and make sure you aren’t missing out on. I’d add two more to that list : ESPP (if you have an option to get that at a discount from your employer) and the medical Flexible Spending Account (FSA) if you can get it.
Lynnae @ Be Read more:House
, Edition
Thinking About Your Emergency Fund 2007-10-13 16:28:29 If you’ve been reading much on this blog, or pretty much any personal finance blog, book, forum, or magazine, you probably know the importance of an emergency fund. Everyone should have an emergency fund. The “Why” is easy - you need to have some money to fall back on in case of an emergency. This keeps you from going into debt to fund your emergency, and provides a safe cushion for rough times.
Any amount of money is good to start. The question then becomes how much is enough? I’ve seen a lot of different answers for this, but most people seem to suggest between 3 and 6 months living expenses. Why that much? If you lose your job it might take you 3-6 months to find a new one. If you can avoid debt, you’ll be much better off in the long run.
At first, we started looking at our living expenses and calculated a number that seemed much larger than what we thought it would be. We based everything on our current budget.
The key for us was to think of Read more:Emergency
Reducipe - The Budget Breakfast Sandwich 2007-10-13 11:37:59 Reducipe
Pronunciation: ri-doos-uh-pee
Function: noun
1 : a recipe that can help lower your food costs in a variety of ways
a : by scaling back an expensive recipe to be less pricey but still just as tasty
b : by turning an already inexpensive meal into something special
c : by using leftovers in creative ways to stretch their use
This is one of Eric’s favorite breakfasts. It is simple and best of all cheap! I think the combo of the buttery toasted bread, crispy fried egg, and creamy American cheese is classic and comforting. Sometimes simplicity is sublime!
If you are looking for a way to use up leftover hamburger buns make this sandwich the next morning. Every time we get hamburger buns we have several leftover so this recipe comes in handy!
Keep in mind that this recipe can be changed to use up any leftovers you might have. You can use any type of bun or thick bread for this really. If all y Read more:Breakfast
, Sandwich
Keeping Out of Debt - The Speakers 2007-10-12 08:37:02 I’ve got some pretty crappy speakers. They’re from a set I bought almost 15 years ago. They work (well, 3 of them work and that’s enough.) But they aren’t very good quality and I’m not sure how much longer they’ll last. They don’t sound too great, but they are making do.
They definitely aren’t essential, but they sure do make watching movies nicer than just using the speakers on the TV. And for music or radio from the stereo receiver, it’s kinda tough to get that working without them. I do have a portable Sony CD player that gets radio though. That should be enough.
If they go out tomorrow, I’ll be fine. I’ll “suffer” through. But part of me wants new speakers. So now I’ve started allocating some money in a separate account (thanks to the sub-account functionality at ING) and I’m saving up until I have enough to buy them. This will ensure that I don’t get into debt for something I view as a
Who DOESN’T Have A BB&B Coupon? 2007-10-11 17:27:37 I have a mountain of those 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, 25 of them to be exact. I know I can’t be the only one with a glut of these around the house. They have been sitting in a drawer gathering dust for over a year now. I don’t even remember the last time I shopped there.
Why do I have so many?
My family had been giving them to us to use with purchases after our wedding. I thought we might use the money we received as wedding gifts to get some kitchen essentials but we actually ended up using the money to help pay off our honeymoon. So there was no shopping at BB&B after the wedding and no using these coupons.
I also get them in junk mail constantly. These coupons must come in the mail every week or so. They seem to be everywhere. Last year I started saving and as soon as the wedding was over I stopped. Almost all of them are long expired but they still take them regardless.
I am shocked that people shop there without a coupon when the co Read more:Coupon
The Carnival Review #6 2007-10-11 11:32:08 This week was another fine week for carnivals. When you get a chance make sure to go check them out!
Carnival
of Personal Finance #121 was held by Ask Mr Credit Card. We are honored to have made editor’s choice this week with Eric’s article on choosing our credit card.
Carnival of Capitalists 4th Anniversary Edition was held at Businesspundit. My article on why a grocery store is shutting down was our first submission to this long-running carnival. We have heard that it can be difficult to make the cut with this carnival so we were thrilled to see that we not only made this edition but we were an editor’s choice as well! Wow!
Festival of Frugality #95 was hosted by My Retirement Blog. My article talking about coupon strategies was included.
Carnival of Debt Reduction #108 was held by BeingFrugal. Eric’s post describing our plan to remain debt-free was included.
Carnival of Money Stories #29 was hosted by Moneymonk. My article on resisting the al
Tightwad Wednesday - Six Cheap Salad Dressings 2007-10-10 20:47:14 Each week, I will test out two tips from the The Complete Tightwad Gazette, and on the following Wednesday
I’ll review how they went and evaluate if it is worth my time/effort/money to continue with it.
This week I decided to focus on all 6 of the “Homemade Salad
Dressings” listed on p.230-232 of my The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Amy states:
The following collection of salad dressing recipes cost 30% to 50% of bottled. For example, 16oz of bottled name-brand dressing runs between $2.35 and $3.45. These homemade recipes cost between $0.45 (for the Italian) and $1.45 (for the blue cheese) per 16oz.
Our favorite dressings are about $3 for 16oz after we use a coupon. That equals about $0.19 per oz.
I went to the store and equipped myself with enough salad fixings to test all these recipes over the past week. Eric got a new recipe everyday with his salad and he dutifully reported back his impressions. Because it is just Eric and I sampling the recipes I decided to cut Read more:Cheap
Invasion Of The Ants! 2007-10-10 10:59:34 Last night our home got overtaken by ants. Seriously.
We have had some ants in the kitchen before but you expect to have them in the kitchen, especially since we leave out cat food for our kitties. We would vacuum them up and treat with repellant and the problem would go away for a while. It was never a huge amount of ants anyways, just enough to be noticeable and annoying.
Yesterday, when I woke up, I noticed there were a few little ants on the carpet near my bedroom dresser. I thought it was strange but there were only two or three so I thought it was a fluke. After inspecting and failing to find more invaders I vacuumed the area and went on my merry little way.
That evening, as I got ready to go to bed, I walked around near my dresser and saw a massive pile of ants in the middle of the carpet. Apparently, a kitty had vomited while I was gone during the day and it attracted a ton of ants. It was horrible! I vacuumed them all up and treated the area. I also set out Read more:Invasion
Renting vs. Selling - What Makes More Sense? 2007-10-09 21:06:38 Our move is coming ever closer and we’re in a unique position where there is the possibility we could keep our current house and rent it out. The typical price a tenant will have to pay to rent a home in our area tends to be higher than our current mortgage costs. Even after taxes and home owner’s insurance (and maybe even a home warranty), we might still be pulling in a slight profit.
Home prices have gone up in our area pretty significantly. We’ve got some equity in this house that we could use to invest for our future, or to pay down the mortgage on the new house. The idea of eventually making a reasonable profit renting the house out to folks, and maybe even paying off the house while it earns that profit is also appealing. But there’s more to the picture than that.
We’re not sure we want to be landlords. The whole idea of having to make sure other people have the rent in on time, or to deal with problems that happen in the house (who wants a 4 Read more:Renting
, Sense
Avoiding The Block: Get The Knives You Really Need 2007-10-08 17:55:13 You don’t need a big block of knives. I would bet that you won’t even use half of them more than a few times. My old knife block sits gathering dust in a corner and I suspect it’s in good company.
As someone who cooks A LOT and has worked in commercial kitchens I know that there are only a few knives you truly need. The other 20-or-so knives get sporadic use at best and even then, one of the three essentials could probably have accomplished the same job. Depending on who you speak to, having an army of knives suited for specific tasks could be either luxurious or cumbersome. I’ve even seen a knife specifically meant to cut sandwiches. But when you are on a budget and want the biggest bang for your buck the true “everyday” kitchen knives are the way to go.
I believe that cutlery is one area where quality and functionality trumps sheer quantity. You may think that cheap set of 30-knives is giving you more for your money but it just isn’t t Read more:Knives
I’m Responsible For One Of The Worst Interviews Ever 2007-10-19 17:05:21 Shortly after leaving my consulting job I got a position within the same industry that required much less travel. After a few months at my new job an old work acquaintance (let’s call him David) contacted me to see how I was doing. I explained that I liked the new position with this smaller company and he asked if I could get him an interview.
David said he was a newlywed now and had a baby on the way. He needed to slow or eliminate his traveling. He said that he really needed a new job as soon as possible because he would have to quit the consulting lifestyle when the baby came in just a few months. He sounded like he really needed help. His resume looked good so I agreed to pass along it along to my new boss.
Mistake #1 - Passing along a resume for a guy I barely knew to my brand new employer.
I told my manager that I hadn’t worked with David much but the experience I did have working with him was positive. My manager reviewed the resume, noticed he Read more:Responsible
, Interviews
A New Car - On Our Terms 2007-10-18 22:07:35 A few years back, we knew it was time to get a new car. Melissa’s car was on it’s last legs, at least in my opinion. Melissa disagrees, saying I didn’t understand the delicate workings of a supercharged muscle car. All I know is if it was raining outside, the car’s electronics would stop working. It was pretty bad.
Repairing the car was kind of out of the question. Melissa had a lot of custom work done on the car so the repair would have had to be performed by a specialty mechanic, and it was looking like it was going to be very, very pricey. Besides, it was a 2 door sports car, so we decided it was time for a new (larger) car.
Knowing what we know now, we probably would have considered a used car for a lot less money, but back then, we were looking only at new cars. We didn’t want to spend too much on a car, but we had some requirements in mind that didn’t make it cheap. We wanted a larger car, that was safer, with room enough for us to pa Read more:Terms
The Carnival Review #7 2007-10-18 12:00:26 It’s that time again, folks. Carnival
time! Lots of good reads this round. Check them out when you have a chance.
Carnival of Personal Finance #122 was hosted by Mighty Bargain Hunter. It’s an interesting read with a “Dr. Zeuss” theme this week. I can’t imagine how long it took him to do that, especially with so many submissions. Eric’s post on contemplating our emergency fund was included.
Festival of Frugality #96 was held at FIRE Finance. I love the Festival of Frugality - it’s one of my favorite carnivals. My post about the kitchen knives you really need made the cut.
Carnival of Money Stories was hosted by Free Money Finance. Eric’s post on finding missing money was included.
Carnival of Debt Reduction #109 was held at DebtFREE-Revolution. Eric’s post on how he plans to keep out of debt when he buys speakers made this edition.
Make It From Scratch #35 was hosted my Nini Makes. This autumn themed edition wa
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