by masmad

Accountability is one of the main reasons that I started Oh My Aching Debts.  This has been a difficult week for me. I suppose it’s because I haven’t been feeling well but I just haven’t done … Anything but work and sleep! Have you ever had weeks like this?

I have a mental list of things that I need to do. I need to call Capital One and try to work out a settlement. I am dreading doing this so I keep ‘forgetting’ it until it’s too late in the day.

There is a series of posts on Once A Month Cooking that I have been brooding over for a week or so. I have done all the research and gathered all the information. I just can’t seem to get motivated to actually organize it.

I got two filing cabinets FREE!! Thank you, Julia! I need to go through all of the papers, records, etc and get them filed before they overwhelm me.

So here is my online to do list because if I put it here, I have to do it:

Tomorrow:

1. I am going to call Capital One and I will post the results.
2. I am going to organize the business files and move them out of the portfolio envelope and into the file cabinet.
3. I am going to get the menu plan organized for the Once A Month Cooking Day and get it posted by Tuesday morning.

I need you all to hold me to it and kick me dead square in the bohunkus (SP?) if I don’t do it.  I’m pretty sure that having made this commitment, I will follow through but just in case….

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In thinking back over the amount of time that I spend maintaining, promoting and updating the blog and really thinking about whether it was worth the time I spending, I realized that if I had not been researching personal finance for my blog, I would not have known how to negotiate to reduce my debt.  Frankly, I probably would have thrown my hands up in the air, buried my head and let them get a judgment against me.

 I also realized that I have changed my lifestyle significantly not only because of my focus on my finances but also because of the education I have gotten from reading other personal finance and frugal living blogs. 

While I am still not swimming in money, I am in much better control of the money that I do have.  I know where it’s going and that it’s being spent on things that bring the most value.  Mostly, I feel in control of my life again and that is a very, very good feeling.

The following blogs have been most influential in helping me to understand where I was, what the problems were in my planning and how I could change.  These are listed in no particular order and are most certainly not the only blogs that have influenced me. 

 
The Simple Dollar  Trent has great material with everything from budgeting to cooking.

Being Frugal  Lynnae introduced me to frugal living and taught me that being frugal didn’t mean doing without.

I’ve Paid for This Twice Already  Introduced me to the concept of snowflaking and while I haven’t been able to snowflake my debt away yet, I have been snowflaking money into my emergency fund. 

It’s Your Money  Michael has a TON of cool tools and articles on his site.  If you want a spreadsheet for anything including Etsy and bless his heart, it’s all FREE.

Brip Blap  Steve has a little bit of advice for everything that has to do with improving your life.    

My Two Dollars  I identify a lot with David at My Two Dollars, like myself he started blogging while teetering on the brink and has made it back to a comfortable life.  I have dug around in his archives quite a bit to see how he did it. 

 There has been a lot of moral support from fellow bloggers as well.

Bouncing Back From Bankruptcy  BB has jumped in with advice and moral support at times when I thought that I would give up if I could only find a way to do it. 

Oh Horsefeathers  Mrs. Mom is the person who told me about Dave Ramsey and got me started on the hunt for more information.  She has also been tremendous moral support when things are going badly and someone to share the successes with when they go well.

My thanks go out to all of the above and so many more.  So after looking at some of the unexpected benefits of blogging, I need to sit down and go through my plan, update my spreadsheets and revisit my goals for the year.  Look for a goals update in the next few days.  It’s hard to believe that we are 2 months into 2008 already.   

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I think I may be taking Frugal to a new high in 2008 as my average net profit from my first four months of business was approximately $500 per month. Eeeek!! I’ve been lucky in that my first four months of business coincided with some additional income that I had coming in but that is gone now and the reality is that I have to find a way to increase my bottomline fast or learn how to cook dog hair.

Business has been picking up every month but not enough that the January outlook is acceptable and probably not February either. By March, I should be doing ok if I continue to get new customers at the same rate as Sept-November.

If anyone has any ideas on how to advertise a pet grooming business on tight budget, shout them out. Internet is pretty much out, as there is no broadband available here. Dial up is painful so no one surfs much. I am going to be doing an email campaign and I am doing a referral discount. Word of mouth has been the best advertisement I have found so far.

In the meantime, anyone have any dog hair recipes?

photo courtesy of jvh33

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This helps me in any number of ways. I suddenly realize that I am not alone. There are thousands of people out there struggling with the same things I am. Some are better off, some are worse off and some have succeeded in turning things around.

Their failures and successes keep me motivated. The lessons they have learned are things that I can learn from without having to go through them myself. I can identify with their struggle and learn from their mistakes.

So if you are feeling broke and alone, you might be broke but you aren’t alone. Here are some people who are right there with you.

Being Frugal talks about How to Save an Emergency Fund when Money is Tight and while you are there you might want to check out Things I’ve Learned About Money By Not Having a Lot of It

Me Vs Debt writes about Finding Balance on a Tight Budget including financial plans for 2008 as well as some low cost ways to help your health and well being.

I’ve Paid For That Twice Already tells a little about how they got where they are today in Our Story So Far Part 1: Change is in the Air

The Simple Dollar looks back at his financial Meltdown and then goes on to look at the Road to Recovery

These are just a few of the Personal Finance Blogs out there. Most of them have been where I am, and maybe where you are and many of them have successfully found there way back. We can do it!!!

Happy New Year!!!

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