budgeting

Manage Your Money 2010 Budget Challenge!

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I am very happy to announce that we currently have 40 people participating in this challenge, including myself. That is AWESOME! New sign ups will be permitted until midnight on Wednesday March 3rd. If you know any procrastinators out there that planned on joining you better let them know.

Before I fill you in on the first challenge, I want to be sure everyone is clear on eligibility.

In order to be eligible for the wonderful prizes that are available, YOU MUST, I repeat, YOU MUST participate in the comments section. Drive-by comments that do not add to the discussion or the challenge will not be accepted for eligibility. This massive giveaway was intended to give you incentive to reach your financial goals, not to pat you on the back for signing up. Your comment should reflect your participation in this process and show to be helpful to the discussion. That’s pretty simple right?

In order to be eligible for the bonus prize or the grand prizes, YOU MUST participate in EVERY challenge! It’s not optional. To give you even more incentive I plan to offer bonus challenges so that you may be entered to win more than once.

Just like with anything else I know there will be some drop-outs, and even some no-shows right from the start. I want to encourage you to STICK THIS OUT! There was a time in the last few weeks where you felt this was a needed challenge in your life, and I am sure that is still the case, so be sure to hang around. If you want your financial situation to look different than it does today, you are going to have to do something different. Now is that time! I am not on the sidelines cheering you on, I am on the field, on your team, and I want you to succeed.

Manage Your Money Challenge # 1

This challenge is quite simple but oh so hard for so many! It’s something I used to struggle with before common sense introduced me to contentment. So often we rationalize our wants by calling them needs, and then wonder why we don’t have enough money at the end of the month to cover something more essential. We have got to stop justifying our bad spending habits by declaring them worthy. The minute you stop doing that you will find that you actually do have enough money to save that emergency fund! You do have extra money to pay off debt! First, you have to stop lying to yourself.

So here is your challenge for week one. If you’ve been paying attention then you’ve probably read my prerequisite post, Manage Your Money Pre-Challenge Post: On Paper On Purpose. It wasn’t a requirement, but it was intended to make this journey of yours to be a little bit easier.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE: I want you to look over your paper budget, and label every item a WANT or a NEED, as YOU see it. Now I want you to go to the comments section and share your thoughts.

1. How many “wants” did you incorrectly classify as “needs”?
   
2. Do you have any “wants” that you labeled as a “need” that could be eliminated from the budget? How many?
3. How much extra money would you have each month if you eliminated the “wants”?
   

If you did the “On Paper On Purpose” suggestion then you should have already prioritized your budget in order of more important to least important. Do you have any “wants” on the list, that are above obvious needs?

BONUS CHALLENGE (For 5 extra entries to win one of the four prizes)

Read: People Need An Excuse To Spend Money, And They’re Eager To Find One.

1. If you understand __________________________, you can more likely avoid crisis-living. (Fill in the blank)
   
2. Share a story of when you knowingly bought something you know you shouldn’t have bought, but did, because you wrongly rationalized it as a need. (Don’t be shy, we’ve all done it.)

That’s it! Your homework (this challenge) should be completed by Thursday at midnight. That’s four days to answer 5 simple questions that will empower you in the process. Good luck!

Current Prize Schedule

Weekly Prizes

• Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Cash Flow Planning (8th)
• Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey) book (8th)
• $25 Gift Card (Staples) (8th)
• $25 Gift Card (Amazon) (8th)

• Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Relating With Money (15th)
• Financial Peace Junior Kit (ages 3-12) (15th)
• iPhone “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball App (15th) US, UK and Australia
• Android “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball App (15th) US and Australia

• Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: Dumping Debt (22nd)
• Financial Peace Revisited (Dave Ramsey) book (22nd)
• Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall For Hope Live Event DVD (22th)
  
• No More Dreaded Mondays (Dan Miller) book (22th)

• Financial Peace University DVD Lesson: The Great Misunderstanding (29th)
• A Gift To My Children (Jim Rogers) book (29th)
• iPhone “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball App (29nd) US, UK and Australia
• Android “Pay Off Debt” Debt Snowball App (29nd) US and Australia

More prizes below!

Bonus Prize

• Financial Peace University Membership Kit (March 31st)

More Prizes below!

Grand Prizes

• 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith (March 31st)
• 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith (March 31st)
• 12 MONTH PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to Pocketsmith (March 31st)

Proud Manage Your Money Sponsors

Now to highlight the amazing Manage Your Money Sponsors.

The guy that got it all started was Francois Bondiguel from Pocketsmith. He sent me an email, detailing his offer to give three premium memberships to my readers.

I was immediately interested, so I started brainstorming. I asked myself how could I make the giveaway fun, informative, and motivational all at the same time. Viola! It turned into a 31 day challenge. Connect with Francois on Twitter: @Kaedron.

Dave Ramsey and his team over at the Lampo Group agreed to sponsor this by giving away a Financial Peace University Lifetime Membership Kit. As many of you know, in my opinion,  Dave Ramsey is the man! I like him, I trust him, and I support him, in case you didn’t notice the large assortment of Ramsey material above.

It was he who convinced my wife and I that what we had been doing up to 2008 was all wrong. It is because of him that we are debt free right now. We did the work, but he showed us how. You can connect with Dave Ramsey on Twitter at: @RamseyShow

Next we have my good friend Mr. J Money from Budgets Are Sexy. The guy who makes personal finance exciting to read, and someone I have enjoyed getting to know. He is a great guy, and if you are not a subscriber of his already, you need to get with the program. He and I were the masterminds behind Brad and J’s Christmas Stimulus. Connect with J Money on Twitter: @BudgetsAreSexy.

Bucksome who writes at Bucksome Boomer – Journey To Retirement is a 50 year old baby boomer, and fellow Financial Peace University graduate. She admits she is not a personal finance expert, but enjoys sharing her thoughts and stories with her readers, and hopes to retire in 10 years from her current line of work. She has been an enthusiastic subscriber of EOD for quite some time now, and I really enjoy her company. Connect with Bucksome on Twitter: @Bucksome

Dustin from Engaged Marriage, aspires to help married couples achieve the extraordinary in marriage. He is passionate and it shows in his work. We have become great friends, and we worked together on the collaborative free e-book called Love Everyday.  We are both members of The Extraordinary Life Network. Connect with Dustin on Twitter: @EngagedMarriage.

Carrie Burgan from Make Mine Happen, was also a contributor on the Love Everyday e-book, and writes to motivate greatness. She is “a massage therapist, ‘Jill of All Trades,’ lover of life, and a female entrepreneur.” She admits she is especially interested in “seeking better tomorrows”. I look forward to working with her in the future. Connect with Carrie on Twitter: @thegirlburgan.

Blair MacGregor from CostRefuge, the premiere destination for the cost-conscious consumer. The site is still in beta, but shows some real promise. They plan to revolutionize “the way consumers & brands interact with one another”. Be sure to visit regularly as the site will continue to be updated. Connect with him on Twitter: @costrefuge.

And last, but certainly not least we have PayOffDebtApp.com who has so kindly offered to give away 4 free Debt Snowball applications for iPhone (2) and the Android phones (2). If you have an iPhone or an Android phone I am extremely jealous, but if you have debt this app will definitely come in handy, so I’ll sleep good at night knowing you will be ridding yourself of awful debt.

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: Manage Your Money – 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

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