At last...

my 100th post! A true milestone. There are a couple of other milestones too. I've had more than 6000 visitors since starting the blog and over 10,000 pages viewed!

My first post was on October 7, 2007. I was very nervous. I wasn't sure if I should start blogging. But at the time I needed to get my thoughts into words. It was a tough time for my family and me. My husband had lost his job, and I was feeling the pressure of the debt shackles. Those shackles are very, very painful.

I'm so glad I made the decision to keep track of my journey to financial freedom. Blogging and receiving feedback from others is helping to keep me focused on my shackle release program. I am grateful for all the blogging friends I have made and for the encouragement that I have received. Many times I am motivated by reading others' posts and commenting. I find comfort in sharing a good thought or kind word with others.

Over the next several posts, I'm going to highlight some of the entries that I really like. Starting with Eating is to Money as Food is to Debt. This is one of my favorites because I like the title, it was the first post for which I received comments, and it was the first post that I submitted to a Carnival: the Carnival of Debt Reduction!

So to my many readers and supportive bloggers I say thank you, thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Do you think I can write another 100 posts?

Look How Far I've Come

Since I'm in the debt shackle release program and my monumental 50th birthday is fast approaching on January 15, I've be thinking about how I can have a fabulous celebration without spending a lot of money.

If I were debt free, I would be on my way to Hawaii. But since I'm not, I'll be staying home. I had considered spending the night in a resort on the shore. However, once I crunched the numbers, I decided against it. The room with the ocean view is $175. That's before tax! Naturally, if I go to the shore I must at least window shop at the outlet mall. That could be dangerous. So I figured I should plan at least $200 for possible spending at the outlet mall. Now, I'm up to more than $400. Unfortunately, I've got to eat. So I'm thinking birthday celebration, ocean view resort, husband, romantic dinner at the restaurant at the resort. Not! That would be $150-$200. I so hate spending that much on one dinner. That's my weekly food budget! So one night to celebrate my birthday could cost upward of $600! That's a lot of money for one night. I probably could get an all inclusive in the Caribbean for that amount of money. I just don't want to look back on this birthday and say I spent that much money on one night.

So here's the plan. My family has decided to take me to dinner at a brand new restaurant in town. That's their gift to me. It seems very elegant, and I'm excited to try it. We're going there the night before my birthday. On my birthday I'm going to a very upscale spa near my home. I love spas. I may have mentioned this before, but one day I'm going to visit and have a treatment at an historic inn and spa in every state in the Union. I have gift certificates to the spa. I've been saving them for my birthday. In addition, my husband gave me another gift certificate for Christmas. I'm going to get a hot stone massage, a facial, a manicure and a pedicure for the price of the tip, which I calculate to be about $50.

Up until now, I would have thought nothing of charging the $600 or more to my credit card to celebrate my birthday. Now, I'm looking forward to dinner with my family and a day off from work to enjoy my spa. I'm still on the fence about turning 50 :-).

Week in Review

I'm pleased with last week's debt reduction and wealth building activities no matter how small. Here's what happened.

1. I made the final payment on my car loan. That means I paid it off 6 months early! A first for me!
2. I reduced my medical expense by $70.
3. I increased my financial freedom account by $25.
4. I tithed.

This is my moment to celebrate my baby steps. Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

In the next post I'll tell you about my hoarding experience at the big "W" on Saturday.



In the next post I'll tell you about my hoarding experience at the big "W" on Saturday.