It’s such a ridiculous holiday full of insipid gestures that are blatantly obvious spending contrivances, and that bugs the ever-living shit out of me. (See here: Festively a minimalist. Yes, I am a true holiday joy.)

And, for those lacking a significant other…how dare you be single, you sad smudge of a human.

So pushing aside all of the frou-frou extravagance and pressure usually associated with Saint Valentine, here is my perfect V-Day treat:

A quick loll around town to inhale the crisp bitterness and piney aromas of winter, and then, when cheeks turn crimson, to return to the warmth of our homebase and whip up two frothy mugs of decadent, steamy hot cocoa. To be shared while indulging in a cushy snuggle on the sofa, cocooned in a tartan blanket loosely wrapped around the shoulders.

Also, to have my home scrubbed until each nook glistens. That would be absolutely fab as well.

Actually, can I just have a maid pop over for Valentine’s Day? Pretty please?

Do you have any planned romantic gestures underway with your sweetheart? Am I alone here in hating Valentine’s?

=^..^=

(Insert a somewhat unintelligible grunt. Which, in Jennifer language, translates roughly to: good morning, all. Do try to enjoy your Monday.)

Here are some assorted updates since my site last week went kerflooey and got hacked to bits.

It seems my web host experienced a walloping bout of hacking occurrences over a several week period. Clean-up here is an ongoing process as we struggle to restore the site back to health after this whole stupid thing; my sidebars are being particularly vexing. Grumble.

Officially I’ve had it with spam.

(Yes, I’m a fucking cry-baby.)

Akismet is installed and now captures hundreds of comments per day. As a non-tech type of gal, I’m baffled what might have triggered such a large onslaught of spamm-y comments lately. But I am getting buried in the assault. At least Akismet is storing them nicely for me, which is a huge positive. I am trying very hard to ensure that legitimate comments aren’t slipping through the cracks.

Also, there has been progress on my latest financial challenge to raise money as a stay-at-home mommy. I am somewhat surprised by this as I didn’t expect to write an update so early on. However, I have earned $312 in side income since restarting the clock and blasting off with my new benchmark of raising $1,000, somehow.

Every penny of that, for those interested, was compensation for past written articles on another site.

That is a good chunk of change and all ready I have managed to scamper nearly 1/3 of the way to the finish line. Yeahhhh, doggies! (Of course, I have totally jinxed everything by writing this, and doomed myself to a dusty and parched next couple of months.)

Still! Progress is remarkably encouraging. Let’s hope the momentum continues.

In unrelated news, here are some reads from around the personal finance blogopshere for your perusing pleasure, to help slog through those Monday blahs:

The Money Principle – £100K ($157K) to zero in three years flat: we are debt free!

Modest Money – Money Problems $999.99 Cash Giveaway Contest – How Job Stability Affects Finances

Brick By Brick Investing – Selling Options — How To Start Your Own Casino

Sixty Payments – Breakfast Casserole and Valentine Hearts

Reach Financial Independence – Little house in Guatemala, Week 14-15

Club Thrifty – My Credit Score: Why I Don’t Care and You Shouldn’t Either

I really don’t feel like accomplishing anything this afternoon, but I should buckle down and try to get some research done for an upcoming writing project. That, and curl up for a few hours with a deliciously banal novel and a huuuge plate of nachos.

=^..^=

Well, I’m sitting here struggling to get through my first batch of coffee, and enjoying a snack, while dealing with multiple headaches on the blogging front. This week my site was hacked to bits and M. is strenuously devoted to clearing out all of the nasty boo boo’s, to restore this site back to a clean bill of health.  Unfortunately, there are still some kinks to sort through.

My sidebar widgets for whatever reason aren’t saving changes, for example, or playing nicely. I have tried updating them several times, but the widgets are frozen. This obviously needs further tinkering but, for now, expect wonky sidebar action.

Just wanted to check in as I have been absent from the blogging community this week, so I suspect I’ve got a LOT of catching up to do. Meanwhile, I will be here (trying to update/repair this damned website).

=^..^=

What happens when friends are less than supportive of your financial viewpoints and certain financial discrepancies cause tension in your relationships?

Vividly I recall that worst. feeling. ever: of being squashed beneath $15,000 worth of debt and all of those crippling feelings that encompass trying to conquer such a massive debt load. Unfortunately, a prerequisite of aggressively eliminating my debt meant cutting out all unnecessary expenses, which also meant that the bulk of my social spending was in jeopardy.

If I were to vanquish my debt burden as quickly as possible, then it was no longer reasonable to squander away money on going out multiple nights a week, to unwind with the girls over mimosas and martinis, especially if I were to reign in all of that dizzying and excessive spending.

Adios, you stinkin’ turd slop of debt.

Generally, however, this particular group of friends didn’t much care to recognize my blossoming endeavor toward financial responsibility. Cutting back on spending in order to pay down debt? Basically I received puzzled looks and glazed-over eyeballs.  Because, c’mon, old people worried about that type of stuff. We were young. My friends didn’t want to contemplate their finances: they wished to smear on glossy lipstick and slip into their kitten-heeled sandals to shimmy to the local saloon and mingle with other attractive singles.

The problem was that going out in the city is really expensive and there was a certain expectation to these types of rendezvous.  This mentality of arbitrary willy-nilly spending quickly was interfering in and becoming incompatible with my own financial objectives.

I worried, would my financial fortitude waiver while I attempted to maintain these friendships?

Eventually, regrettably, I had to cut some of these friends loose. And naturally our lives diverged for whatever reason and we all began to drift apart.

My friend Allyson recalls when a financial imbalance caused strain in a long-running friendship of her own. “Jess and I shared a similar, modest lifestyle. Together we were bargain hunters and nearly always broke students. Then we graduated and I received a promotion at work. My net wealth rapidly increased as a result and, suddenly, I couldn’t openly talk shop any more with Jess. I feared being perceived as flaunting my new wealth and it spurred tension. The situation made me feel guilty and really insecure!”

For me, the guilt manifested from saying “no” to certain friends, due to their lifestyle choices. It was straining and difficult when others didn’t share a similar enthusiasm for sacrificing the ‘now’ in order to prudently plant those seeds necessary for future financial prosperity—such as systematically paying down debt, or saving. The lack of support sometimes was frustrating and isolating.

Finances have such a huge emotional component tied in, and so this has caused me to wonder: have money issues ever interfered with or caused a friendship of yours to crumble?

=^..^=

Hello, what the hell is wrong with us?

And it is common to receive multiple tickets throughout the night, so between, say, 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., you can find two tickets smugly flapping on the windshield before you even have a chance to realize you forgot to do the proper alternate parking from the previous night.

Feh.

Generally I will pay all of my parking tickets immediately. M., on the other hand, will allow them all to pile up and fester in some obscure corner of our apartment. Here is how that conversation usually goes.

Me:     Did you pay that parking ticket?

M.:      I will. (Weeks go by.) Oops. I forgot to pay that damn ticket and the fine has now increased.

Me:     Are you crazy? They can issue a bench warrant for unpaid parking tickets, you know. And if you find yourself in that type of sticky wicket, I am not bailing you out of jail.

M:      (A few weeks later; M. opens his mail.) Shit, that parking ticket amount now has tripled.

(Fast forward another couple of weeks. M. comes home clutching yet another neon-orange parking ticket.)

Me:     Pay that. Now. Right now. Not after you do whatever. Right the hell now.

Ugh.

In an effort to track where our valuable dollars get siphoned off to, besides excessive parking ticket fines, that is, here is a quick spending recap for this week. Thank god it’s the weekend.

Monday
No spend day!

Tuesday
-$32.00 parking ticket Grumble.

Wednesday
No spend day!

Thursday
-$1.63 drive-thru medium coffee, with cream and sugar.

Friday
$120 groceries and weekend entertainment.

Total affliction: $153.63

Last year, I finished the year off not reading much due to time constraints, and I resolved to change that. Here is what I have in my stash for some relaxing weekend reading:

• Hot (broke) Messes: How to have your latte and drink it too by Nancy Trejos
• Pound Foolish: Exposing the dark side of the financial industry by Helaine Olen

TGIF, folks. What do you have planned for the weekend?

=^..^=

This week, I have decided to keep a log of how I spend my time. Since having a baby, I cannot recall feeling restless or bored because the days just dwindle away so quickly now. But where do all of those hours really go? Then it dawned on me: in order to accomplish all of my desired daily activities, I needed to become more strategic with my time. Hence the idea manifested for a weekly time log.

Recently I inherited a beautiful keyboard with weighted keys, known as a ‘portable grand piano’, from my family, who just wanted to move the poor girl out from their dank basement. It has been years since I’ve sat down to properly play a piano but I was ecstatic to run my fingers over the smooth keys and reacquaint myself with some basic notes and scales. Unmistakably I am rusty.

Basically, before I knew it, an hour had slipped away and I still felt it had not been sufficient time to accomplish what I felt necessary on my new treasure. I then realized how difficult it was going to be to consistently squeeze piano playing time into my all-ready crammed schedule!

Furthermore I have a stack of books from the library that need reading and if I am to curl up with a novel, I would prefer a good chunk of time—more than twenty minutes, at least—to lose myself in the writing.

And of course on top of being a mommy, I am also blogging. As anybody running a site can attest to, actively maintaining a blog and participating in the community is a huge dedication in itself. There are blogging activities that I have been failing miserably at, such as responding to comments, which is something I would dearly like to change. Because I do read each comment and deeply appreciate every one of them.

So perhaps a time log can help me become more organized and figure out how to achieve all of my objectives more efficiently. At the very least it will be interesting to capture a glimpse of what a week of my life looks like.

Some mental scraps—

Daily hobbies I enjoy, which require at least an hour each: writing and journaling, reading, yoga and other exercise, generally through an evening stroll with Hubs and Bubs after dinner.

Chores I detest, but which must get done, unfortunately: tidying and cleaning up. Then cooking and after-meal dish washing—usually one hour, minimum. (Errrrrgh, and if M. is in the kitchen it will be even longer. You should see what a brilliant but sloppy chef he is.)

Here is how my personal log has progressed so far:

6:32 – wake up: blearily heat water to make coffee in the French press. Switch on the computer for writing. In zombie mode.

7:26 – M. wakes up and meets me at the keyboard to groggily say good morning. Heads to the shower. I am enjoying my second cup of coffee.

7:46 –I have written nearly 500 words.  Lexi rouses. I change her diaper and, at her insistence, I also need to put a diaper on Elmo. We snuggle for a moment, all three of us.

…a diapered Elmo

8:07 – I prepare M.’s lunch to take to work and give Lexi her breakfast. As I’m finishing up some dishes, I turn around and realize Lexi has grabbed a hold of a paper towel roll and is unraveling it all over the kitchen tile.

8:21 – M. asks me to give his pants the ‘sniff’ test and then he is out the door. (He passed.)

So, how do you currently ‘budget’ your time? Could you make progress in this area?

=^..^=

As soon as we stepped into the sunniness of the lobby, I felt right at home. Libraries are like the perfect sanctuary—where it is okay to tip-toe about and wander a bit lost before stumbling into different worlds. It is okay to slip away for a time. To engage in deep thought. Everyone keeps a respectful distance and no one questions or judges you or anything. Nobody gives a shit.

Lexi and I shilly-shallied near the rear stacks. A smartly dressed man was glancing through Forbes magazine and we maneuvered past him to settle into a quiet seating area near the window. The cresting rail of the chair dug into my back as I hoisted Lexi onto my lap. I twisted about to get comfortable in order to get through some readings of Dr. Seuss and Curious George.

Look, Mommy! Lexi pointed in awe at all of the dragons and faeries and stories full of whimsy surrounding us, her rosebud lips forming a delicate ‘o’ as tiny features filled up with that concentrated wonder of: omg, so many books! A wee imagination that was unfolding into new and different worlds of exploration and magical adventures.

My itty-bitty bookworm.

A library is where books live and it’s impossible not to feel tranquil in that quiet atmosphere. I love circling through all of the stacks and slowly thumbing through the different volumes before delving into a certain section. As silly as it sounds, somehow it makes me feel more illuminated. More relaxed. As if somehow the books are transferring their deepest secrets to me.

Does that sound insane?

…perhaps not, but books can be that perfect companion.

Have you recently visited a local library or bookstore?

~¤~¤~

If you haven’t had an opportunity to do so, here is a list of reading material to sustain you through the weekend. So grab a coffee and relax with some of these epic reads from the personal finance blogosphere:

The First Million is the Hardest – The 99 Best Personal Finance Posts of 2012

Femme Frugality – For the Love of a Turtle

Brick by Brick Investing – Slow is Smooth & Smooth is Fast

My Money Design – Welcome Back to Work – Did You Notice Your Paycheck is Lower?

Tackling Our Debt – Blog Planner – Grab Your Free Digital Copy

LBee and the Money Tree – Financial Realities: Living with Endometriosis

Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses – Bye Bye Rainy Vancouver, Hello Sunny Thailand!

Frugal Rules – Even More Blogging Tips From a Beginner

Edward Antrobus – December 2012 Net Worth Update

When Life Gives You Lemons…Add Vodka – Beat Those Winter Blues

Monster Piggy Bank – Using Coupons to Save Money

Reach Financial Independence – 13 Money Resolutions for 2013: #6 Crush Your Debt!

Young Adult Money – Save Money: 5 Sources of Free Entertainment

The Money Principle – About New Year’s Resolutions, Saving and Wasting

Modest Money – Not Paying For Someone Else’s Mistakes

Debt RoundUp – Should You Consolidate Credit Card Debt?

Work Save Live – Rock That Debt – Reader’s Budget Analysis

Canadian Budget Binder – Get Out of Debt First, Then Focus on Saving

Club Thrifty – My Escape from Hotel Hell

Master the Art of Saving – Saving Up Money To Pay Cash For A Car

Digital Personal Finance – How Frequently Should You Check Your Investments?

Happy reading!

=^..^=

Was there a change or update somewhere that I have been oblivious to, that is attracting all of these unsolicited messages? This is my first instance of being pelted so ferociously by spamm-y comments. Usually I will receive a handful, but never of this magnitude. Is anyone else experiencing an exponential increase of spam on their own site?

So last night I sipped on fizzy wine and noodled around in my comments folders, trying not to get swallowed up in the unrelenting density of spam.

Here is a quick update on my writing project currently underway (a collaborative personal finance e-Book I am working on with several other financial bloggers):

I began writing actual words on Wednesday and I am in the process of producing a rough tattered first draft. Also it has been difficult to reach my desired word count for each day so I’ve been toying with several different writing methods, one of which I dub the ‘mental vomit’ technique, and it has worked splendidly.

I tend to agonize and stutter over every word, which seriously disrupts and paralyzes the whole thought process, and therefore this mental vomit method has been absolutely brilliant with snuffing out that bitchy inner-critic and editor, in order to just get the damn words flowing.

Basically I set a timer (usually for ten minutes or so) and then force myself to write as quickly as possible to capture my stream of consciousness during that time frame. I am so easily distracted and it actually helps to turn off my computer screen and just pound out the words. Now I can splay thoughts across the page in a deliciously deranged fashion and later return to craft something tidier and more presentable from all of that mayhem.

This has been a great technique with slicing through that mental barrier of having to stare in terror at the blank page. Do you have your own writing techniques that help you push through your own barriers? I love hearing about this stuff!

Also: remember that short list of inexpensive indulgences to pamper myself with this winter? Santa must have been reading because I received a beautiful black soft-cover Moleskine writing journal for Christmas, y’all! Finally a place to capture those spur-of-the-moment thoughts and ideas.

Many of you related to my New Years resolution to stop being such a damn shut-in, and I have been making an effort to reach out to my social circle for catch-up coffee dates and other niceties. Seriously I need to get out of my head more.

And also: progress on my ‘read a book each month’ resolution. Things were so hectic with the baby last year that I severely neglected any type of substantial reading due to time constraints.

Currently a copy of Pound Foolish: Exposing the dark side of the personal finance industry by Helaine Olen is resting on top of my favorite canvas tote that depicts a loveable devil character carrying a tray of cookies, with the words: WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE—WE HAVE COOKIES scrawled across the front. (Looove this tote bag!) Anyway Pound Foolish appears as if it aims to shred apart personal finance gurus, such as David Bach, Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, et al. I am still on the first chapter but so far it is an interesting read. My goal is to have fifty pages of Pound Foolish read by Monday.

How are your resolutions developing? Reasonable progress here and so far not a bad start to 2013.

=^..^=

a jolly ‘olly Christmas

Wishing you all a happy, healthy New Year (or, as my drunk Uncle might mumble: “Merry Christmas and Happy Go-to-hell.”)

hugs,
me.

Here is a quick spewing of mental vomit, with a recap. (And apologies for wonky grammar!):

Relatives arrived from out-of-state and four adults plus two toddlers squished into our teensy apartment for a couple of days.

My sleep patterns are off since the wee one has been suffering through a pre-Christmas cold.

Yesterday M. and I were about to wrap up our Christmas shopping and we were just getting ready to reach for our coats to beat it to the mall before the crowds became intolerable, when suddenly our rambunctious toddler came barreling into the living area, tripped over our tawny rug and face-planted straight onto the oval coffee table.

Immediately I scooped her up and said, “Okay, wow, we have to go to the emergency room. NOW.” Daddy started losing his shit and I chastised him to stop scolding Lexi because her lip would start quivering and the big crocodile tears would start, and then her forehead would wrinkle, causing MORE blood to gush out of the deep inch-long laceration over her left eyebrow, and blood all ready was pooling on the shoulder of her lilac jammies with the dancing teddy bears.

Daddy calmed down and gently wrapped gauze around her brow and we spent the next few hours of our evening in the ER while Lexi received five stitches to her left eyebrow. The hospital staff strapped her down to tiny papoose board (a full body restraint) and covered her eyes during the procedure and she shook like a leaf and bawled while I stood next to her feeling terribly helpless.  But I forced myself to sound calm and I soothingly talked to her in a loud clear voice during the entire procedure, reminding her that it was just like being swaddled as a newborn and that Mommy and Papa were right there and her kitty was waiting for her at home, and I assured her how brave she was being and kept giving quick updates on where the doctor was in the stitching procedure, and immediately I nursed her on the boob the very second I could snatch her up from that horrific metal table.

Lexi gave me a bewildered, yet charming smile through her tears and chomped away on the booby while the doctor shuffled out and the poor male nurse was trying to register her vitals through all of the commotion. But thankfully my sweet butter bean was calmer and visibly comforted.

The little stinker was merrily giggling and caroling baby gibberish to Mommy on the drive home from the hospital. I, however, have been more than slightly traumatized and was shaken by this whole she-bang. Once we arrived home and Lexi was tucked in bed, my strong exterior crumpled. Scary, scary.

If I could offer any advice to new parents, it would be: always to follow your intuition. If your instinct tells you that baby is fine immediately following an accident, they probably are. However in that split second if your gut is screaming that something is wrong, LISTEN. Don’t ever squelch that voice.

Soo we busily have been prepping for Christmas with cookies and brunches and a hodgepodge of other festivities, and since I didn’t want to sully anybody’s holiday plans, I did allow Lexi to participate in Christmas-y things today as long as she took it easy. She proudly toddled about and showed off her healing stitches to family. Now we call her our Lil Scarface and quip about how she will have more scars than the boys, although really that is SO not funny.

Also this week amid all of the family drama, the End of Days slunk past us rather uneventfully.

And besides the blustery weather and fretting over snow tires, there actually was some good news to share.

M. has been offered a raise at his work come mid-January, which is a terribly exciting and welcoming development on the financial front.

And I am noodling around on a novel that has been marinating in the background for some time now, and this new year I will be polishing up the first draft.  This is an entirely new venture and I am excited to see where it may lead. At least it will feel cathartic to breathe life into some of these raw ideas. Also I have been offered a fantastic opportunity to work on a collaborative writing project with a handful of other financial bloggers for this coming month. (More news on this forthcoming.)

I look forward to enjoying a saner January, and I hope your holidays are ruling.

=^..^=

1. I am not your chew toy to gnaw on to test-drive pointy little incisors.
2. Nor is my nipple.
3. I am not The Keeper of your stuffed animals. There will be a new rule: if YOU chuck Mr. Blobby into the toilet, YOUR FATHER will fish out the toy.
4. Speaking of whom, I am not here to be meddlesome and cast a disapproving eye on all of your rowdy skirmishes with Papa. Heckle him back.
5. I am not inclined to lock into a dubious battle with you over meals by trying to jam stuff down your gullet.
6. As your mommy, I am not a dumping ground for unsolicited advice from others. Therefore I am not going to allow quibblers, with their endless heaping of opinions/criticism, to undercut my natural parental instinct. Although I will consult our pediatrician or peers I respect, my intuition is still the best handbook on the market.
7. I am not obligated to endure your spits of tantrum or to engage in wrestling matches with you over attire, and I have no qualms about shipping you off to the funny farm. (Psyche!)
8. I am not your best friend and sometimes things I do or say are really going to piss you off.
9. I am not going to be amused and sweet when you wiggle into bed at four in the morning and slap me in the face. (And then incidentally snuggle right back to sleep, you little punk.) You need to learn to respect my sleep and to be kinder to old people, especially this crotchety bat.
10. Despite my best efforts I am not a perfect mommy. This is what you’re stuck with, I’m afraid.

Anyhoodle, I love you.
hugs, me.

=^..^=

~Janus, “Lifeless”

Okay, I’m stressed out. It’s been an insane whirl of activity with holidays and family obligations and lack of sleep due to toddler teething and trying to minimize all of the useless clutter surrounding us and writing projects building up and dealing with all of this December-y stuff. Sooo in the midst of all of these convulsive duties, it feels as if the days are just being guzzled up too rapidly!

Chop-chop.

Here is how I expeditiously try to retain any shred of sanity, with some gentle reminders to myself:
(Note: I am a work in progress still.)

Reminder #1. – Always strive for excellence, but cast perfectionism tendencies aside, darling. I seriously need to stop being so anal because at this point it simply is masochistic assholery. When I am sluggish and pale with a pulsating throb penetrating through my left temple from sleep deprivation, it is perfectly okay to leave the dishes for an hour or five. The immaculate carpet scrubbing also can wait. But when the cat barfs all over the rug (again), it needs to be taken care of promptly. Drats, that bitty-kitty miscreant!

Reminder #2. – Create boundaries and stick to them. Nothing has been more empowering than creating my own standards and boundaries that are not dictated by anybody else. This really has been a work in progress as well as an incredible experience. The tender, blossoming me used to be a gi-normous people pleaser, which is absurd and kind of a dick move because it is also futile. So I am learning how to stop taking anybody’s baloney!

Reminder #3. – Stop trouncing myself with guilt. Repeat to self ad nauseam: do not feel guilty about not accomplishing the zillions of things hastily scribbled on my roseate Post-It Notes. Do not feel a tinge of guilt over needing to shift gears unexpectedly. I am not infallible and can only do so much at once and that is perfectly peachy-keen, jelly bean.

Reminder #4. – Prioritize wisely. If writing becomes a priority, there is no question that I will carve that time out and make the English language dance across the page somehow. Occasionally however my priorities flip-flop and family takes precedence. In fact family trumps work, always.

Case in point: I tuned into my favorite streaming radio station (hence the Janus lyrics quoted above) and my sweet butter bean has now disrupted me three times while writing this paragraph, begging to be scooped into my arms for a tango. I probably will have to write slightly past my mental deadline now due to this but that is okay.—Check time, yep. Wrapping this up an hour late.—She truly puts things into perspective, which leads me to the most salient of points:

Reminder #5. – Be flexible and learn to efficiently adapt. With children things can change rapidly at any given moment so I try not to have too much austerity in my day. Actually I enjoy following Lexi’s lead and just when I think I’ve hammered down one routine, she keeps me on my toes and shakes things up a bit. (Right now we happen to be in the teething phase, the absolute pits!) But I’m more than happy to slip into her groove.

Putting these reminders into practice helps me to retain a sense of humor and appreciate the absolute ridiculousness in even the seemingly mundane. All of this pandemonium provides excellent fodder for writing, nonetheless, and when all else fails: a nip of scotch is the perfect panacea.

Soo my darlings, how do you strive to balance it all? Any particular coping mechanisms to slash through all of the objectives etched into your daily agenda?

=^..^=

I have too much crap all ready. And I am so, so tired of the endless string of commercials and email blasts, urging me to:

“Hurry, for a limited time only! While supplies last! On Sale, must act now!!”

The holidays have become more than a little sullied and everything sounds like a colossal fucking infomercial, deliberately designed to create this irrational and false urgency to consume. It is beyond vexing. Enough, for crying out loud.

A minimalist is something I aspire to be. Relieving myself of unnecessary stuff makes me feel less stressed out. More grounded and in control. I like being more efficient, less wasteful. This brings me immense comfort and I can breathe easier.

My mission before the new year is to unfetter myself from all of the useless crap that slyly festers in obscure nooks here. In my own disorganized way I will fuss over each room of our apartment and challenge myself to find several objects per corner that immediately can be thrust out the door. Sayonara!

In conclusion: it was a pleasant respite to engage in amazing food over some hearty laughs with family during this holiday weekend, and I am tired of being a slave to some cultural expectation that consuming is what we all ought to be doing this time of year. It is a bunch of bovine fecal matter, to put it bluntly. (Bullshit.) I am so over it.

Also, I can not believe how quickly this year is hurtling by.

=^..^=

=^..^=

Sigh. Onward to other weekend jibber jabber:

“My Financial Challenge Update”

As a stay-at-home mommy without a reliable income stream, I made a financial challenge at the start of summer to raise $1,000, somehow. This is how things currently stand:

(All income was passively made from previous writing projects & sponsors.)

June – $80.00
July – $57.71
August – $425.80
September – $0
October – $262.50 (yaaaay!)

TOTAL: $826.01

Starting in November I’ve been called to participate in a two-week focus group on lip balm (heh), which will compensate around $150. Hecka’ cool!

Broke-Ass Mommy Site Stats

Subscribers –

July 3rd:
2 subscribers (Can I send you something to express my gratitude? A jelly bean, perhaps?)

July 18th:
11 subscribers

August 8th:
18 subscribers

September 5th:
31 subscribers

October 12th:
51 subscribers

October 20th:
73 broke-ass subscribers, as of this morning. (woo-hoo!)

Alexa Rankings –

July 10th: 3,507,434
July 17th: 1,725,804
July 30th: 1,236,943
August 6th: 906,877
August 8th: 826, 155
September 5th: 369, 754
September 16th: 312,130
October 12th: 261,838
(current) October 20th: 237,847

Page Rank: 2

Here are some personal finance reads I enjoyed for your weekend perusing pleasure.

So Over This – Why I Stopped Pushing My Son to Go to College.

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff – Build A Home Series: Finally Closed (and pics!)

The Financial Blogger – Why Everybody Gets In Line to Kick Me in the Nuts???

Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses – How the Recession Has Motivated Me to Kick Ass at Life.

Finance Fox – Money Mistakes in Relationships.

Modest Money – Why I Would Never Lease A Car.

Edward Antrobus – My Money Pet Peeve: Skipping Frugality Because Earning More Is ‘Better’. (Congratulations on having your article mentioned in MSN Money, Edward!)

Femme Frugality – Frugal Tip: Student Deals and Discounts.

Club Thrifty – What I Want My Kids to Know About Money.

Pelican On Money – Get Rid of Credit Card Debt Once and for All.

Shared tweets for Broke-Ass Mommy this week. You guys are awesome!

Modest Money | @ModestMoney (Twitter)
When Life Gives You Lemons…Add Vodka | @add_vodka (Twitter)
Frugal Rules | @FrugalRules (Twitter)
Reach Financial Independence | @RFIndependence(Twitter)

Broke-Ass Mommy featured around the web:

Yakezie Carnival at CultOfMoney
Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Master the Art of Saving
Wealth Artisan’s FinCarn at Wealth Artisan
Y and T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty
Carnival of MoneyPros at Making Sense of Cents

Remember my blurry spider from last time? Well, here he is again in all his glory BECAUSE HE IS SO BAD ASS. I knew I had a better pic burrowed somewhere, and I finally extracted it from one of our phones that got shoved into some random corner of the apartment after our camping trip, until it was re-discovered last night meshed in a pile with M.’s other gadgety stuff.

Presenting Itsy Bitsy, the Spider:

Rawr! Have a bad ass weekend, y’all.

hugs, me.

=^..^=