Blogging Away Debt

Hi Friends! I hope you’re having a great Friday and beginning of your weekend!

I just had an idea I wanted to run by you all.

Soooo, when I first started blogging here last March (2014) I read a TON of financial books. Some that had been on my reading list for a long time and hand’t gotten around to yet (yes, I’m the dork who keeps a “To Read” list much like a “To Do” list), and some that you guys recommended when I first started blogging.

But now it’s been awhile since I’ve read a financially-relevant book and I’d like to bring them back for the summer. But why read them alone? Aren’t book clubs way more fun?

So I went down to my library and picked up this little diddy the other day:

Photo credit from Amazon (not a referral link). I took a picture of my library book but I’m having technical difficulties and none of my photos are loading to my computer. Don’t know if its a computer problem or phone problem but it’s really been frustrating! Techie people – any tips? I don’t even know how to diagnose what might be wrong… Moving on…

Wanna read it with me?

If so, I’d definitely recommend getting it from your library for FREE (they have physical copies, electronic download options, and even books on CD). I also saw on the Dave Ramsey website that they’re only $10 right now. Again – I’d save the cash and just borrow it for free, but wanted to provide some options. You may be able to find it cheap at a used book store, too.

So my plan is to read one financially-relevant book per month over the summer (June-August). I’ll let you know what I’m reading at the beginning of the month and if you want to join the book club then just pick it up and read with us! I’ll post my thoughts at the end of the month.

Also, this was kind of on a whim so I didn’t ask opinions on what to read this month, but if there’s a financially-relevant book you’re dying to read (or have read and would recommend) let me know in the comments section and maybe I’ll pick it for one of the other summer months to read.

Have a safe weekend all! See you on Monday!

Weekly Debt Update #16- Memorial Day Fun

by Matt Fildes

Happy Thursday everyone!

I hope everybody is having a great (and short) week thus far!

As I originally intended to post this on Tuesday, I want to talk about what we did for Memorial Day. Over the weekend, we decided to have my parents down for a couple days to celebrate. Originally, when I talked to my parents about coming down back in April, they were going to stay for one day (Saturday) and night. We ended up having such a good time that it turned into 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and 2 nights.

To prepare for our plans, which was to have a picnic, I ended up using a good portion of my monthly “fun” money ($50) to help out. I used this money to purchase the food we “needed” for some picnics. GF also pitched in by paying for 1/2 the picnic supplies plus beer. My folks got down to Erie on Saturday where we just hung out, talked and ate stuff we had around our house. We love having fires, so we spent a good part of the evening and most of the night just drinking beer and relaxing by the fire while our dogs played in the back yard.

Sunday was picnic day. Since Erie has such nice beaches, we were going to have our picnic down on the beach and hang out by the water and soak up some sun. Plans changed pretty quickly that morning. Erie has a very quaint little amusement park down by the water called Waldemeer. My mother thought it would be a great idea to have our picnic there and treat everyone to rides as a thank you for letting them spend the weekend with us. The park ride tickets aren’t expensive ($20-ish for all you can ride) and there’s never a wait to get on, which makes it a perfect place to spent a few hours. Here’s my and GF in the park:

Half way through our stay, I grilled out hog dogs, had some pasta salad and fruit that I got at the store the day before. It was an excellent way to spend time with my family. Later that evening, we had dinner and returned to the park to watch their Memorial Day fireworks (which everyone in Erie goes to watch).

On the actual holiday, the GF and I planted our garden/did some yard work while her mom visited and we had…another cookout! We finally used up the food we bought at the beginning of the weekend. All in all, I ended up only spending $30 for the picnic stuff plus gas to host our families. Last summer was our first experiment with gardening, and we seemed to overload the small plot with too many plants. This year, we’ve stuck to just our favorites: tomatoes, hot peppers, and cucumbers. Here’s a picture of the finished product:

Not only do we love our vegetables, but it’s also a financial save since we tend to go through a lot.

For anyone interested in my debt numbers since last week, here they are:

Loan Name	Interest Rate	Original Balance- May '09	Current Balance	Total Paid Off	Paid Since Last Week
Sallie Mae 01	5.25	$27,837.24	$23,896.61	$3,940.63	$88.62
Sallie Mae 02	4.75	$22,197.02	$18,750.50	$3,449.52	$69.94
Sallie Mae 03	7.75	$20,692.10	$0.00	$20,692.10	$0.00
Sallie Mae 04	5.75	$10,350.18	$7,339.83	$3,010.35	$67.81
Sallie Mae 05	5.25	$6,096.03	$0.00	$4,840.64	$0.00
Sallie Mae 06 and 07	4.75	$6,415.09	$0.00	$6,415.09	$0.00
Sallie Mae- DOE 01	5.25	$5,000.00	$0.00	$5,000.00	$0.00
Sallie Mae- DOE 02	5.25	$3,000.00	$0.00	$3,000.00	$0.00
AES	6.8	$9,000.00	$0.00	$9,000.00	$0.00
TOTALS		$110,587.66	$49,986.94	$60,600.72	$226.37

Like I posted last week- I reached the under $50,000 milestone! Something, I didn’t think I would ever reach!!

Have a great weekend!

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.

Summer Book Club

Weekly Debt Update #16- Memorial Day Fun