by Tricia
As I mentioned earlier, I went and did a little shopping this past week. I have received so much from this blog in terms of support and some advertising dollars so I wanted to take this opportunity to give back a little. I’m big believer that when it comes to reducing debt, you have to figure out a plan that works for you. To do that, it helps to have some tools. So, the things I want to give away follow that philosophy. For the first part I went to a used bookstore to purchase some financial books to give away.
1.) The Wall Street Journal Lifetime Guide to Money – published in 1997, this book has almost 600 pages. A quick flip through made me feel like this will be a good reference book for someone.
2.) The Consumer Reports Money Book – published in 1995 it’s over ten years old so some things may be outdated. I actually have an older edition of this book and I’ve read through most of it. I believe it’s a good solid reference book as well.
3.) The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom – this one is by Suze Orman. I haven’t read this book, but I did purchase a copy of it a while ago and haven’t gotten around to reading it. One of these days I will finish it and review it on here (but first I still need to finish “The Millionaire Mind”).
Unfortunately, that’s all they had. All of the books are in good condition, but they do have an insense smell on them from the bookstore. I’ve been trying to air them out a little but the smell is still there. Also note I do have a pet-friendly home.
Now, if you are interested in receiving one of these books, please leave a comment below with something about yourself like how much you debt you have (or don’t have). I will ship the book to you free of charge to US addresses only. If something should happen where you received the book damaged or it gets lost, I cannot replace it. So far, everything I’ve sent out has made it to its destination *knock on wood*.
I will use random.org to select three random numbers. In the event that the randomizer selects two identical numbers, I will pick another one to have three different numbers. Those numbers will correspond with comments and that will determine the commenters who will receive the books.
I will accept comments on this post until 11pm EST on Monday, February 19, 2007. I will announce the winners on Tuesday, February 20, 2007. If after I email the winners I do not hear back from them by Thursday, February 22, 2007 with a shipping address, I will select another number(s).
And so you know, just like if you subscribe to my updates via email, I will never use your email or address for anything other than what they were provided for.
There will be another giveaway that I am really excited about. Unfortunately, I am still securing them. I’m hoping to have it finalized soon. When it is, I will be announcing that one as well. I am hoping it will help 5 people really take charge of their finances. Those that are selected for a book are eligible for the next givewaway as well.
What are you waiting for? Leave a comment and tell everyone about your debt (or lack of) 🙂
Your blog has become very dear to me and I have learned so much since I found it 3 weeks ago. I’m a single-parent $14,700 in debt, down from about $17k a year ago after moving out of a post-marriage McMansion into a 800 sq. ft. apartment, which takes 10 mins to vacuum and $0 on yard work!! I’m learning a lot about FICO, thanks to your findings and sources. Thanks! Keep up the excellent work.
I love your blog. I am a new reader and have found it absolutly inspiring. I am $8,000 in debt and really believe that I will be able to get myself out of the hole that I have dug myself into. Thanks for all the information taht you provide in your blog.
This blog is great and has been very helpful. Right now I am managing around $4,500 in debt, mostly in the form of student loans I am working to repay, and also from one credit card. Thanks so much for your constant wonderful advice!
23k in student loans and 6.5k in a car loan.
Love the blog. Keep up the good work.
Hallo, I am 47 years old, and have a credit card debt of $47,300 and left over student loans of about $18,400. I would sure appreciate one of the books, perhaps the Suze Orman book. I love her!
Thanks for writing the blog, I love it. RD
I love stopping by here and getting inspiration for tackling debt. We have way, way, way too much debt but my husband and I finally have good jobs and we are starting to chip away at it. Thanks for the blog where I can feel like I’m not alone.
Our only debt is our mortgage payment. This is in large part to the financial lessons our parents taught us growing up.
Tricia, kudos to you for sharing your story and showing those that didn’t get those lessons early in life that they can still turn it around!
Hello Trica,
I am 45 and thought that I would of learned my lesson by now. Well my first problem was I took a 2nd on my house a couple of times to pay my credit cards but I never felt the pain of paying them off so I did not learn anything. So this time I a going to feel the pain every month to pay off my 25,000 dept. Hopefully with in 2 years then start paying more on my house. I appriciate all of your hard work! Ginger
We have no cc debt, our cars are paid off, but lots of mortgage and student loan debt. I’m new to your blog, but looking forward to rss’ing it.
Hey there,
I’m 34 and a grad student. I didn’t have any debt when I started grad school, but over the past 1-1/2 I’ve needed to get a car and pay for living expenses my student loans didn’t cover. In addition to tens of thousands of dollars worth of student loan debit, I have over $22k worth of credit card and car loan debt. Honestly, I jumped into going to grad school without running the numbers first so I made this mess myself. I should have known better. I would love “The Wall Street Journal Lifetime Guide to Money”, I think it would be a great resource. I also love your blog, but I’m mostly a lurker. Thanks for all your hard work!
I am 26 years old with $10,000 in cc debt and 69,000 in student loans. Last May I finished grad school and have now started my first professional position. I was unemployed for 7 months after graduation and I am now committed to getting rid of my credit card debt.
hi,
i just found your site from nytimes.com. it’s really great that you’re so honest about your finances and working towards not only helping yourself but others as well. i’m a student with 20k debt and looking to have 75k debt by the time i graduate. i’ve been doing everything to keep loans down, but definitely could learn more. i’d love the The Wall Street Journal Lifetime Guide to Money if possible. thanks.
I’m another who found your site through the NY Times article. Thanks to that article, I decided to set up my own blog to track my expenses and see how I could cut back. I have about $2000 in credit card debt, $4000 in student loans, and a car loan of around $7500. Mainly, I want to get the cc debt paid off first, then the car, and I’ll worry about the student loan last, since it has the lowest interest rate and monthly payment. I’m interested in the Suze Orman book, if that’s possible.
I also found your blog via the NY Times and a link off of Ann Althouse’s blog. You have no idea how happy I was to find a debt blog. I have my own personal blog on an unrelated topic and always wished I could blog about my debt, but am not ready to share that with people who read my other blog. But I’ll come here all the time now. I am 29 years old and a “young successful professional” but I was depressed about my life, career and a relationship three years ago and lost control of it all. My debt climbed and only in the past year have I realized that this is not the life I want to live. I have $30,000 in credit card debt, $30,000 in student loans and $6000 on my car. But I am in a better relationship, successfully asked for a major salary adjustment that will start in March and subleased my single apartment so I am now sharing a place with my sister, so I can focus on getting a grip on everything. I’m hoping to pay off a major chunk of my debt in two years because I would like to go back to school to be a physical therapist and get married without any worries. The best part of all of this is just getting up every day and not dreading it. Writing this all done feels good, even though it made me cry. Thank you.