Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Tricia

I’ve drawn the numbers, and here are the commenters that were randomly selected to receive a copy of Quicken 2005:

31 – Laura
27 – Amanda
21 – Nick
35 – Colleen
9 – Amanda

I’ve emailed everyone this morning, so hopefully I hear back from everyone soon. As for the book giveaway, I have heard back from everyone.

I know there have been a few comments as to why I did these giveaways. There were two reasons, 1.) to celebrate blogging one year and 2.) because I make money from advertising on this site. I wanted to give back something because without readers, I wouldn’t make money with advertising. Normally, all revenue from this site goes towards our debt. In fact, after I announced I was giving away something, I received a brand new advertiser that paid for the whole giveaway. I took it as a sign that it was a good thing that I was doing…giving away things that can help others take control of their finances.

Will there be more giveaways? Probably not for a while unless I receive items for free to giveaway. I may or may not do something similar to mark year #2 of blogging. It’s too soon to tell for that, and the one thing I know all too well is that life is unpredictable.

f you didn’t win a copy of Quicken, but are thinking of purchasing a copy yourself, please stick around. While helping these winners get set-up, I plan on writing a little tutorial and having it available for free for viewing or download (I haven’t decided on a format yet).

by Tricia

For me, writing this blog has been so freeing. My debt no longer feels like the big secret that it once was and I feel like some weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It sounds like some of you would like to give it a try as well.

If you are interested in starting your own blog, you can read my post, In Debt and Want to Start a Blog? Here’s How. That should get you started blogging. If you use a free blog site like blogger, you can have your own blog in a few minutes and it is fairly early to learn to use the program to write.

For those of you that do not wish to start a blog, but would like to declare your debt on the internet, you can always email me your story and I will post it on here. But, you must tell me in your email that you want me to post it. Otherwise, I will keep our email private.