I Just Turned One Hundred!

I looked at the old blog total, and I realized that this is my 100th post! What a milestone! I'm working hard on my book, but I thought I would take a second to reflect on what I've accomplished with this blog, now that my first century of posts has come and gone.


WHAT HAVE I ACCOMPLISHED FINANCIALLY?

I'm about seven months down my path to financial redemption. In that time, I done a few noteworthy things.

1.) I have have paid off:

- 8% of my SCHOOL LOANS!
- 26% of my CUMULATIVE DEBT!!
- 43% of my CREDIT CARDS!!! (with two paid off completely!)
- 70% of my CAR LOAN!!!! (with the rest to be paid next month!!!!!)

2.) I restructured all my credit card debt so that I no longer pay more than 2.9% APR, with the majority at 0% APR.

3.) I have begun to use credit cards, carefully, and to my advantage, as I describe here.

3.) I reallocated my 401K to a healthier disbursement.

4.) I have made a total of $32 from this blog! Ha! Ironically, that was mostly in the start. I think a few people clicked on some REALLY pricey ads.


WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH THIS BLOG?

This blog has been around the block. I started it in a panic one day, not knowing a thing about blogs or how to set them up. I heard about Blogging Away Debt on an NPR program, and I latched onto the idea in desperation, knowing that my financial health was starting to seriously impact the rest of my life. What's happened to the physical characteristics of the blog since then, and the actual content?

1.) I have revamped the layout twice. I like where I am today.

2.) I used to use a lot of pictures. I no longer do that.

3.) I read a few books and wrote some reviews. That was a good idea, because I learned some stuff. It's pretty time consuming, though. I'll probably do more of that in the future, when I get the urge.

4.) I found that people like information in numbered or bulleted format.

5.) I learned what a blog carnival is (Hello Carnival Of Personal Finance! Hello Carnival Of Debt Reduction! Thanks for stopping by!), and that it can increase your hits by a lot.


WHAT HAVE I ACCOMPLISHED PERSONALLY?

Sometime I get frustrated by the fact that my debt hasn't disappeared. None of this has been easy. I am, however, a really different person than I was when I started this blog.

Here's something I haven't mentioned to anyone--a few weeks ago, my girlfriend told me that if I hadn't started to act more responsibly with my money when I did, she would have broken up with me.

That was a shocker, but I don't blame her. Debt is a disease. It's like alcoholism. You can love someone who has a problem, but sometimes you can't have a relationship with them. My girlfriend is a rockstar PhD student who got her Masters at the London School of Economics. She makes 1/4 of what I do, but she travels internationally once a year, and attends conferences around the country two to three times a year. She has so little debt it's hardly worth mentioning. She is blazingly intelligent, she is beautiful, and really, I can't expect her to settle for some schlep who can't balance his checkbook. I mean, I'm a great conversationalist, but that only goes so far...

Since I started this blog, I started to talk to people about money. I tell people, frankly, that I can't afford things. I tell people, "I can't do that, sorry, I'm paying down my credit cards." My family and friends think I'm cooler because of this.


WHERE AM I GOING?

I have plans! That's a huge step! Here's where I'm going financially, and where I'm taking the blog!

1.) As I mentioned in this post, I intend to pay off my car next month, and pay off my credit cards by February.

2.) I have a plan to be DEBT FREE in 18 months, as I mention here.

2.) I'm looking at housing options. I want to see if I can buy a place where I can rent out a portion of it. That's a 6-12 month goal, with lots of figuring.

3.) I've been slowly, carefully, redesigning my blog for greater traffic and revenue. I like to use the analogy of packing up my house for my upcoming move: every day over lunch, I come home and pack two or three boxes. Over the last month, I've pretty much got the whole place wrapped up. Like the move, I'm slowly redesigning my blog. I'm slowly working on the quality of my posts. I'm slowly getting my name out there. I'm learning what people like to read, and what writing style they appreciate. It turns out it's not that difficult. People just want you to be consistent. The patient turtle wins the race.

Or whatever.

And, finally...


THANK YOU!

Thanks to those few brave people who read me on a regular basis! Thanks to those who have left comments and suggestions! Thanks to those who have written me with advice and encouragement! I look forward to who I will meet and what life will show me in the next 100 posts!

Thank you!

I am, as always, Indebted 2 You!