The March 2010 “Manage Your Money” Challenge: Featuring Pocketsmith – Are You In Or Out?

Howdy folks! Two of my 2010 resolutions for Enemy of Debt in the year 2010 were to 1) Engage subscribers more actively and 2) Build an active and supportive EOD community. That’s why I have decided to ask you to participate in a new feature post at EOD called “Manage Your Money”.

OTHER MANAGE YOUR MONEY POSTS

  1. Manage Your Money Sign Up
  2. Manage Your Money Pre-Challenge Post: On Paper On Purpose
  3. I Love You…Like A Blogger!
  4. WEEK ONE CHALLENGE: Manage Your Money – Wants Versus Needs (Mandatory participation to win prizes)
  5. WEEK TWO CHALLENGE: Teamwork, Accountability, and Kids (Mandatory participation to win prizes)
  6. WEEK THREE CHALLENGE: TBA March 15th (Mandatory participation to win prizes)
  7. WEEK FOUR CHALLENGE: TBA March 22nd (Mandatory participation to win prizes)
  8. BONUS CHALLENGE: TBA March 29th (Mandatory participation to win prizes)
  9. FINAL POST: TBA April 1st

Each challenge will be different, or introduce you to a different approach to managing your money by using different services or software. For instance the challenge listed below, will be introducing you to a calendar-based budgeting system put together by the folks over at Pocketsmith.com. (details below)

Other challenges may include other budgeting applications in order to give you a closer look at what service is best for you and your family. We all have different likes and dislikes. Budgeting can be fun, especially if you create a clear and concise plan. Try something new. Do a budget.

The March 2010 Manage Your Money Challenge

FEATURING: Pocketsmith (A calendar-based budgeting system)

This will be a 31 day challenge, that begins on March 1st and ends on March 31st. You may sign up now for your FREE Basic Membership, to familiarize yourself with the program. I have been given a complimentary 12 Month Premium Membership so that I may evaluate and learn the calendar-based budgeting system for myself. I will use this to my advantage, in order to better help you with your questions about the site and the budgeting software.

Personally, even with my limited experience using this system, I think I am going to like it. Visualization is the key and the one thing I like already is the fact that you can look at a calendar and see all income, and every expense right there. There are multiple features that help you plan and forecast your financial plan down to the detail. So far I like it.

Remember that any budgeting system you use takes time to learn, and it usually takes more than one month to master the skill. Let’s learn as much we can together! Are you with me?

If you have a budget that you already use, consider trying this for at least one month. I am very used to my EOD Deluxe Budget 2.0, but have decided that it will be more beneficial for me to give this a try. The way I see it,Β  the more you try the more you know what you like. This budget may be for you, but you won’t know until you try it. I am looking for it to save me time, and keep me motivated to stick with my robust financial plan.

Sponsorship

Currently, Pocketsmith.com is sponsoring this challenge by offering a very generous 12-MONTH POCKETSMITH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP upgrade to three of you absolutely FREE. That’s a $180 value—$60 per winner! I will be searching for other sponsors to enable me to giveaway additional prizes as well. Any other sponsors, and prizes, will be announced on the March 1st launch post. I myself, will be giving away four FPU DVD lessons and a No More Mondays book by Dan Miller. πŸ˜€

March has four full weeks plus two days in it, so I will put together four different lessons/challenges, as well as a bonus challenge. The winners of the 12-MONTH POCKETSMITH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIPS will be announced on March 31st, but I am hoping to have multiple winners each week, depending on the level of sponsorship I receive. (details below)

How You Can Help

You can be a sponsor by pledging to give personal finance books, gift cards, basically anything you want to give away, provided it is appropriate. Please email me at freedom@enemyofdebt.com or contact me on Twitter at @enemyofdebt. You will of course gain a spot/link on each “Manage Your Money” post, as well as a short bio to help spread the word about your website or blog. (*website or blog must be approved by me.*)

Current Prize List: ($260 in prizes)

Weekly Prizes (March 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th)

  • Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Cash Flow Planning (8th) $20 Value
  • Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Dumping Debt (15th) Awesomely inspirational!
  • Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Relating With Money (22nd)
  • Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: The Great Misunderstanding (29th)
  • Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey) book
  • Financial Peace Revisited (Dave Ramsey) book
  • Financial Peace Junior Kit (ages 3-12)
  • No More Dreaded Mondays (Dan Miller) book
  • A Gift To My Children (Jim Rogers) book
  • $25 Gift Card (Staples)
  • $25 Gift Card (Amazon)
  • Two iPhone “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball Apps
  • Two Android “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball Apps

Updated: February 16th

Budgeting, paying off debt, relating to family and friends with money, and giving are such great lessons to learn!

Bonus Prize (March 31st)

  • Financial Peace University Membership Kit ($100 value)

Grand Prizes (March 31st)

  • 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith ($60 value)
  • 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith
  • 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith

SPONSOR LIST

To Enter

To enter this challenge all you have to do is:

  • subscribe to Enemy of Debt. (There will be a secret password at the end of your email/rss feed that you will need to claim your prize.)
  • go to Pocketsmith.com to sign up for your FREE Basic Membership.
  • leave a comment below stating your intention to actively participate.

To Be Eligible For Prizes

  • ANY Prize – YOU MUST complete all three entry requirements above.
  • Weekly Prize – YOU MUST participate in post for that week.
  • Bonus Prize – YOU MUST participate in 3 out of the 5 weeks. (week 5 only consist of 2 days)
  • Grand Prize – YOU MUST participate in all 5 weeks.

Questions, Answers, and General Support Help

One of the things I want to accomplish with this, other than introducing you to a great budgeting system, will be to strengthen and provide community support here on Enemy of Debt. We will be using the comments section of each post to offer support to each other. Any questions, answers, or helpful info about Pocketsmith’s budgeting system and website, will be compiled into one post for later review by any and all readers. Your participation is appreciated. Pocketsmith also has plenty of support help to guide you in the process.

That’s pretty much it! I hope to see you participate and become an active subscriber in your journey to better financial management.

See you on March 1st! Please spread the word, thanks. πŸ˜€

photo credit

About Brad Chaffee

56 Responses to “The March 2010 “Manage Your Money” Challenge: Featuring Pocketsmith – Are You In Or Out?”

Read below or add a comment...

  1. We are so doing this!

  2. shannon says:

    I am in!

  3. Adam says:

    I am in too πŸ™‚

  4. Sherry says:

    I’m in. I signed up for the calendar.

  5. J Money says:

    Put me down for a $25 Amazon gift card prize πŸ™‚ A nice present for managing your money!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      AWESOME!! Welcome aboard Sherry, Adam, Shannon, Beckey and Jeff!! Can’t wait to get started.

      J. Money you are the man! A nice present indeed sir! πŸ˜€

  6. Donna Korzun says:

    All signed up and ready to rock and roll

  7. Ernest S. says:

    I’m in as well. Thanks for offering this great opportunity!

  8. Julie says:

    I’m in!

  9. Michele says:

    I am in!

  10. Brad Chaffee says:

    Donna, Earnest, Julie, and Michelle: Welcome aboard!

    EVERY TIME I see another person sign up for this challenge it makes my day! The best part is that I will be going through the process with all of you. We can learn from each other collectively. πŸ˜€

    Can’t wait until March 1st!

  11. Bucksome says:

    I’m going to accept your challenge; but rule me out from the giveaways. I’ll sponsor a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.

    Hopefully it’ll inspire someone to get on the path to financial freedom!

  12. Aloha! I’d be pleased to sponsor a brand-spankin’ new copy of Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey through Make Mine Happen.

  13. Golda Edwards says:

    I am going to try to do this and see if it works for me!!!

    Thanks Brad!!

    Golda

  14. Laura says:

    I’m in the for the challenge! I’m signing up for Pocketsmith right now πŸ™‚ Been a subscriber for awhile already πŸ™‚

  15. Hamish says:

    Yeah im keen to give this a shot!

  16. Brad Chaffee says:

    13 participants so far and I haven’t even pushed this yet. I am so happy! Thank you all for giving this a chance. We are going to have fun along the way!! πŸ˜€

    Remember to spread the word! πŸ™‚

  17. Jake Carte says:

    I am so in gear with this
    Let’s MARCH OUT THE ENEMY OF DEBT, and lets MARCH into the plane of existence that is Financial peace.

    C’MON NOW!!!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Hey Jake! I like LOVE your enthusiasm!! right on! We will be ripping this up and learning together.

      Welcome Kim, glad to have you!!

      I am as new to this system as most of you, but I like getting out there and trying new stuff. You just never know when you will find something that will make it easier or even more enjoyable.

      March is going to be a great month for all of us! πŸ˜€

  18. Kim says:

    I’m in!

  19. Jim C says:

    I am in.

  20. ann says:

    I’m in!

  21. Brad Chaffee says:

    We’re getting a pretty good group here. I will soon be working on a post to get us ready for the start of this great budgeting adventure! πŸ˜€

    So glad you all have joined! We are going to rock it!

  22. Lynda says:

    I’m in!! (and I’m already a rss subscriber)

  23. Patti says:

    Sounds great and love the layout for PocketSmith. We’re in -I’m the spokesperson. (Just in time for our monthly budgeting meeting too) Thanks for the heads-up!

  24. B2W says:

    Okay you got me interested so I am in. I signed up using your link to Pocketsmith as well as subscribed to your RSS feed, and now I am leaving a comment. I will even mention this contest on my blog to see if I can drive some readers to your contest later this week.

  25. Brad Chaffee says:

    Hello everyone! Jut wanted to let you know I have updated the prize list since you all joined this challenge. I can’t wait to start giving stuff away, but more importantly, I cannot wait until we master this budgeting stuff together! πŸ˜€

    Go check out the new and updated prize list.

  26. Vallarie says:

    I am committed to getting this budgeting thing down. 2010 is the year I get my finances under control…, Let’s do this!!!!!!!!

  27. Okay, I subscribed to EOD in my Google Reader. I signed up for a free basic membership on Pocketsmith and I am letting you know that I’m so in for the challenge.

  28. Jenna says:

    Count me in! Sounds great! πŸ™‚

  29. Sarah G. says:

    I’m in!

  30. Barb says:

    I’m in!

  31. Eddy B says:

    I’m in!

  32. Count me in. I’ve always wanted to gain more knowledge on budgeting my money.

  33. Rebekah says:

    I’m so winning this!

  34. Late to enter but I’m in! πŸ™‚

  35. Leon says:

    I am in as well! I am always looking for a way to make sure I keep on my debt free goal!

  36. Tammy says:

    I'm so glad I found this before the 1st. Looking forward to learning how to use a new tool and become debt free. I'm in!

  37. Bobkat says:

    I'm in!

  38. Brad Chaffee says:

    Wow, I love the fact that we have more and more of you signed up! I can't wait until we get this show on the road. Be looking for my pre-launch post tomorrow. There are some things we need to do this weekend to get this budgeting stuff off to a great start.

    Welcome ALL and spread the word by telling a friend. The more the merrier!

  39. Margaret says:

    I'm totally in!!!!! Thanks to "Dad" at Climbing Out for connecting us!

  40. dltquilter says:

    Sign me up!

  41. Anne says:

    I'm in, too!

  42. Kam says:

    I'm in. The budgeting tool will definitely help with one of my 2010 goals!

  43. Maci says:

    I'm looking forward to the challenge. Thanks! Maci

  44. MTerry says:

    Willing to give this a try.

  45. Kathleen C says:

    I’m in – I think, I hope! Signed up with Pocketsmith and while I already had you on my bloglines, I subscribed via your link.

  46. Laurie says:

    Is it too late to sign up?
    If not, I’ll give budgeting a try.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Not to late at all Laurie, You just need to follow the directions in this post and you are in. Deadline for entry is Wednesday at midnight. πŸ™‚ Welcome aboard!

  47. Jo says:

    New to your blog. I like the sound of this challenge. All signed up for Pocketsmith and looking forward to learning more.

  48. Laura says:

    So excited, I am definitely in!

  49. I’m in and signed up! Thanks!

  50. Laura says:

    Ready to go – I love to see different ways to budget and manage money