I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: You don’t need to pay to get out of debt. Do it yourself. Granted, you might have to pay a bankruptcy lawyer or bankruptcy trustee if you go that way but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about getting out of debt on your own. You can do it. You need to start today.

Ask yourself a few questions: Do you have stuff you could get rid of or downsize? I do. I’m seriously temted to sell it all and start again. If the selling weren’t such a pain then  I’d do it. I might still. sorry, this is about you, not me -sell some of your stuff. you don’t need half of it.

Can you be more frugal? There’s two camps here: One that saves on everything and one that’s more centered on big wins. If you could move for example, and live in a cheaper town, that might be one way to improve your cash flow seriously. And with increased cash flow comes more and more money you can put towards your debt.

Take my  little grocery challenge as a real world example. I cut my grocery costs by half by shopping smarter and buying when on sale as opposed to when I need it (bacon on sale today!!). I still get to eat the same and with a few small changes it won’t be hard for me to cut my grocery bill in half . So I take the ‘savings’ and put it towards the debt.

Here’s an extra bonus point: if you spend the savings on a new xbox or tickets to the ballet, then you haven’t saved. If you put the money in a savings account or reduced your debts – that’s savings.

What I like about doing the debt freedom plan by yourself is control: I’m working on a debt snowstorm and soon enough I’ll just carve a cheque for the entire amount of one debt, and it’ll be gone. completely. That debt is done.

Then I do the same for the next biggest debt. You rarely need to buy a book even to get out of debt. Spend half an hour browsing a few titles and they all offer the same advice as I have here: spend less and make more. reams and reams of books say pretty much that.

I sure wouldn’t pay for debt freedom – even if  I could. I could take the easy way out now and walk down the  street to a bankruptcy trustee and  let the fun begin,  but that’s not a challenge. That’s the easy way out. The hard way and the best way to get out of debt is to do it yourself. It’s worth the effort to get out debt on your own without any help needed and I sure wouldn’t pay any debt consolidation firm for the trouble.

I would, and will get out of debt by my own devices. No payment required.

Related posts:

1. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 60, 61, 62
2. Debt Freedom: Where to start with Debt Freedom Relief
3. Managing Your Own Debt = Freedom

I guess for those that for some this seems like an easy way to handle  or manage your debt. It sounds great, right? You don’t have to pay back your entire debt, only a part of the money you owe. It’s advertised as you being the winner, but are you?

If you stop paying your bills for a year or close, the calls will start – you might even get sued (you did sign a cardholder agreement at one time after all) and your credit rating is in the crapper with all the bills you didn’t pay which means getting a new loan or even renting an apartment might very well be difficult in the future.

I’d like to think a better way would to be the debt snowball. Who cares if it takes a long time to pay off your debt? Yes, you could have paid for a small island in FIJI with all the interest you’ve paid over the years, but it will keep your credit score in relatively good condition and I think the best part is: you will have paid off the debt by yourself with just one ingredient: hard work.

The sense of accomplishment you get from banging off the debt by yourself far outweighs any savings that you might see by using credit counseling or debt reduction scams.  Will it be hard? Yup.

One could argue that your creditors don’t really care. They knew in advance that there’s  a chance you’ll default and they’ve factored it in to the bigger picture. They’ll sell the debt to a debt collection agency for pennies compared to what you owe and the debt collector won’t leave you alone for like forever.  This is all true, but at the end of the day – dollar amounts aside: is that the life you want? Do you want  to know that you defaulted because it was easier?  Yes stuff happens and that’s why we have systems such as bankruptcy  in place so that folks can start over with little damage and have a chance to rebuild their financial lives and that’s great.

But I can’t help think that the greatest reward will be the payment of the debts by yourself. Because you CAN do it on your own. It just w0n’t be as easy as some other debt reduction techniques.

But the reward you get by paying off your debt by yourself regardless of how long it takes is the fact that you managed your own debt by yourself. You can do it.  It might make time but we’ve got that. Add some hard work into the mix and your debt could be gone faster than you think and you’ll finally be free of all debt.

Related posts:

1. Debt Freedom: Where to start with Debt Freedom Relief
2. Debt Freedom Plan. 90 days down and 910 to go.
3. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 50

I know all my debt is just every days stuff: car washes, dinners out, gas in the car.  A magazine subscription here, a CD or DVD there…add it up over a few years and I’m sitting on over 20k of credit card debt. It didn’t take long. A digital camera  I thought I needed, I could go on forever with this list…lattes…trips…

So what am I doing to get out of debt?  I’m counting the days and doing the work and doing my best to be debt free in 1000 days. Will I make it? Too early to tell and at the current rate probably not. But tomorrow’s a new day and all I can do  is try to make it a bit better than today. Work harder, make a wee bit more and spend a bit less and you’ve got one thing: progress.

And progress is all I really want. I have no grandiose plans of fancy cruises or holidays. I want a home to call my own one day and although it’s a ways off yet I can see it on the horizon. This debt is just a speed bump. Not the entire highway.

The older I get I realize that debt isn’t the true end of the world. The sun’s shining and I’m healthy, and I know where my next meal is coming from and  I have a safe place to sleep.  It’s amazing how much stuff you don’t need to be happy. At one time, CD’s and DVD’s and Cars and fancy houses were the goal.

Now, I see a Mercdedes and think, nice….but  at what cost? Is it worth 50 thousand dollars? I dunno…50k  buys a whole lot of other stuff I’d rather have – mostly time to do what I want. If I could go back and do it all over, before whipping out the card I would ask myself what’s this worth? Do I have to be chained to this debt for how long? I’ve probably paid twice for some stuff. I shudder to think.

But even complete failure at the end of 1000 days to debt freedom would be a success. I’ve become more aware of my spending and also: earning. I’ve earned more last month than the month before and if I keep at it, I can do it again this month . And all that money when the cheque comes ca go straight to debt freedom, one day at a time.

If you’re here looking for tips to get out of debt: here’s  one: start today. Don’t think  about it. Do something, even if it’s just adding up your debts  so you know where you stand. Then tomorrow, do a bit more. Spend a bit less, think about your skills… is there a part time job you could do. Could you freelance? Tutor?  Make a website?  Sell your knitting?

Slow and steady wins the race and every day you make more good decisions than bad. And really, that’s the ultimate goal, right?

Related posts:

1. I’m not writing about debt, I’m in debt. Isn’t that enough?
2. How To Settle Debt
3. Would You Pay For Debt Freedom?

It’s usually one of the biggest worries or stressors in most people’s lives and faster you can settle your debt, the more money you will have to do other things with. Things that you actually enjoy doing rather than paying interest rates on stuff you probably didn’t need and even worse, can remember.

How to settle debt

Getting out of debt is really a simple solution: stop spending more and start making more. If you can accomplish these two things you can get out of debt slowly using the debt snowball that comes so highly recommended from get out of debt gurus such as dave ramsey.

How can you spend less? Cancel a bunch of subscriptions you don’t really really need. Maybe it’s your  country club membership or maybe your 500 channels  on cable need to go. Do you really need that newspaper subscription? I pruned a few subscriptions just this past week that save me almost $100 per month that I can put towards my own debt freedom plan.

The other half of this equation is earning more money. At one point, I would work online all day and then start my ‘day job’ at five pm until midnight. I would still get 8 hours or close to it of sleep at night and I have to tell you, it was one of the happiest times I had.  Weekends tasted better as after working 16+ hours a day, a day off was a welcome treat. It was also one of the most profitable times in my life to date. In short, hard work pays off.  It’s a pain at the time, and there’s lots of days I thought my day would never end but I managed, and you can too

The main goal is to have a positive cash flow. Once this happens, it doesn’t matter how you go about creating this, then you’ll start saving and the money saved can go towards your debts.

I have changed my current debt freedom strategy. I’m currently working on a a debt snowstorm. Rather than throw everything  I can at my debt, I’m making minimum payments on my current debt and saving any extra cash flow into a nice big comfortable emergency fund. After the fund has reached a level I’m comfortable with I am going to pay off my credit cards, possibly with one payment.

It really doesn’t matter how you settle your debts, what matters is you make the effort and get the positive cash flow in your life. Once that happens it’s just a matter of time until you’re debt free once again.

Related posts:

1. Would You Pay For Debt Freedom?
2. Three Easy Steps to Erase Debt
3. How To Clear Debt From Your Life

Day 90 actually happened yesterday when I was waxing poetic about George Clooney and Bank of Montreal Credit Cards you lucky devils.

So. 90 days eh? I’ve been writing about something related to my debt or progress towards debt freedom, or sometimes you’ve just had to suffer through me rambling on about gosh knows what. But I’ve stuck to this, which is really amazing, and it’s easy to get frustrated with the progress of my debt reduction, but you know what? In reality I’ve made some headway not only with debt but a whole bunch of other stuff. Let’s recap shall we?

1. Number 1 has to be the fact that I knocked off 10k off of the BMO Mastercard thanks to a little help from dear old dad. 6 grand or so , and that monkey is off my back.
2. I’ve managed to pay off about another thousand on my own accord with the BMO Mastercard.
3. I’ve kept the balance the same with the RBC Classic Visa, even though I still use it a touch for web hosting payments. The first is the Mastercard, then the RBC Visa.
4. I created a resume
5. I applied for a job.  Talk about a small miracle. (didn’t get it, but that’s OK – I conquered the fear of applying.)
6. I resurrected two websites from the brink of death, am adding new content and they’re starting to see a touch of income. Two bucks yesterday (hey, don’t laugh – it’s a start)
7. I taught myself SEO, or at least the basics.  Best part: I learned it for free. The takeaway : links are the new currency, and Google knows all.
8. I have come to the conclusion that this site is FUN. The debt isn’t  but the writing sure is. My George Clooney bit yesterday was a whole lot of fun to both write and read. There’s been days when this little blog has kept me sane. Really.
9. I’ve come to realize that it’s the journey, not the destination. I’ve paid off student loans and other loans brefore. There’s no balloons or streamers, just one last payment and you’re done. Yes, life changes and you’re rid of the debt but it’s not like angels sing. Unlike when I have a latte – angels really do sing then.
10. I’ve learned what I’ve spent my money on this past year. What I’d do over in a heartbeat, and what I’d wish I hadn’t.
11. I’ve learned you can’t go back. The past is the past, and even if you’re still paying for it too bad. Work on the Now. Don’t worry about the future.
12. Your debt doesn’t define you. You do. It sounds like a cheezy line in a movie but it’s true. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Shit, look at me – I’m writing. for fun. Who knew?
13. I’ve learned that  I don’t have to write here every day. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. For both of us, dear reader.

There’s probably more, but that will have to do. I was going to write about  some bad stuff, but there’s really only one – I’m still in debt so not really much point in making a list of the crappy stuff,  eh? Life’s too short to remember the bad stuff.

Probably the biggest surprise for me is how much FUN this little corner of the internet is.  I don’t care that this site doesn’t see any traffic yet – which is really suprising… other sites  I’ve had have had more traffic from the search engines much sooner. I’ve got a half hearted attempt at a new memory site where I wrote 6 small articles about how to upgrade you memory in your iMac and that little site gets more traffic, and it may not be the most informative, but I’ve got 75+ articles here and I’ve rambled on for about 500 words at least with each and zilch, nada. Just as well, I suppose. Less people to embarrass myself in front of while I get my mojo figured out here.

So, I guess the biggest plus looking back 90 days has been what I learned. This site has changed so much since when I started. First, I was going to compare credit cards, but then realized that’s way too fiddly and was like real work, then I was going to sell an item on ebay every day and realized that was the same. It’s better to make a batch of items. The old 80/20 rule applies here. I can spend two hours wiht my ebay auctions and list everything at once and sell everything at once, rather than sell it piecemeal where you get nothing done because you’ve been to the post office 27 times that week.

And now this site is a diary where I have fun and just write. When I sit down, I have NO idea what I’m writing about (yeah, I know – it shows – big surprise eh?) but some days I have more fun and actually do create value. Some of the stories I’ve told are both fun, but make me realize that even the debt is a story I’m telling and  that’s all a guy could ask.

If I weren’t in debt I’d have nothing to write about and wouldn’t have started this site/blog or whatever the heck it’s turned into. Sure, I’ve had my doubts and wondered  what the heck  I’m doing, but too late now.. The stories’ been told, so I might as well keep on telling it.

If you’re new here, stick around. I guarantee, there’s more fun ahead. If you’re a regular reader. Thank you for sticking with me.

Related posts:

1. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 50
2. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 60, 61, 62
3. Money Isn’t Important. Freedom from Debt Is. Day 11

So, today’s lesson. Never say never. Tomorrow IS a new day and you never know what the future holds.

More fun tidbits: Remember when I had nothing really to write about in regards to my debt freedom, so I mentioned that all my money problems are now over - I’ve got a very nice lady by the name of Ms fadiza Nurideen that’s willing to help me…well, it seems when you now search for Ms fadiza nurideen I now rank on the first page for her name. A fun little stat, but there’s a lesson to be learned in all this: If you’re a new website starting to try to get listed on the big G and you’re competing with the big brands: Let’s say you’ve got a debt freedom site. And, you’re trying over time to get on the first page for the search term debt freedom, well the trick is not to try and get a page one listing for debt free, or debt freedom, as you’ll never see it. There’s lots of big name companies with deep pockets that have the resources and staff that you never will.

But if you attempt to rank for debt freedom for students, or how to achieve debt freedom, or debt freedom for dummie, your chances are much, much greater that you’ll get listed on the first few pages of google. I’m listed for ms fadiza nurideen because there’s only 7 other pages that have fadiza nurideen mentioned, on the whole wide interwebs. I doubt that there’s many searches, but all these little terms add up and over time you’ve got a site that’s all about debt freedom, but you’ve written about how to get out of debt in so many ways over the years and all these little stories add up to tell one big story, all round the one theme: debt freedom.

Anyway, there is a point to this: I don’t mind starting a site from scratch and starting over, but there better be a shiny pot of gold at the end: And, you’ve guessed it, it’s money. I had thought about tackling photodaily, but most of the sales happen around christmas, so it seems kindof silly to put all my efforts into it right now… what I think I’ll do is maintain it and watch the traffic for the short term. And writing about megapixels isn’t where I want to be with photo (mind you, I did make a buck for just a handful of visitors)

So, my new project du jour is: web hosting. The upside. There’s lots of money to be made. Commissions on a sale are over $100 most times. I’d only need one sale daily to make my $100/day goal. The downside: I’m not the only guy with this idea and the demand and competition is HUGE. But you don’t win if you don’t play, so I’ve started to write about and review the best web hosts out there. The upside is the niche is huge, and there’s hundreds and hundreds of companies out there. Heck, I could start my own web hosting company with about $100 worth of software, but the hand holding of customer support scares me (that said, I could always outsource).

But I can write about web hosting companies, as I’m familiar with the terms and hosting in general, and thers’ so many different options with price, and how much web hosting space you get or web hosting traffic that’s allowed. Some come with free coupon from google and yahoo to adverstise your site. I read an article that only half of all businesses are onlin e and blogs and such all have to live somewhere. If they get a referral from my site, I get paid. It’s worth a shot.

I’m also finding that writing about web hosting is fun. I think I wrote over 5000 words yesterday, and I think I only mentioned about five different companies. There’s thousands out there. When I’m done writing about all the companies, I can write about and compare each. The topics are endless, which is the upside. I only need a small piece of the pie. I’d happily be a small part of this big niche.

So that’s the news: I’ve thought about and found a job I could do in retail as a manager/assistant manager at a photo chain. Actually there’s many in the GTA and there’s even some in other parts of the country, but I haven’t applied yet for a multitude of reasons:

1. je suis poulet.
2. It’s retail. Dealing with Joe public can be, um special. I’ve been there.
3. I wonder would I even make the $100/day? I can’t imagine retail paying that well. After taxes, that’s only $70/day. or nine dollars an hour. I’d have to do the math. I might be cheaper to make my dollar here with hopes of more..

The pluses are it’s located at a canada-wide chain, so if I got the itch to work in other parts of the country I bet I could relocate if need be. I’m knowledgeable about cameras, and even have experience with film processing, which they still use. I’m not big on being a high pressure salesperson, but I’m a chatty cathy so maybe I’m making it worse in my head than it would be in person. The hours can be crappy, but with my odd little lifestyle, I might prefer it as I could work nights/weekends and all the crappy shifts. Full time days scares me.

I always start these posts not having a clue what to write about , and I always seem to be able to ramble on about nothing for 1000 words or so. If you’ve made it this far, thank you. You’re a brave soul.

They say to grow, you have to do something that scares you every day. For today, that means I’m going to fire my resume up on the job sites and see if I get any calls. I have a friend that did that and it worked out well for him. He has a job he enjoys at the hours he wants and is paid well for his time. It’s all you could ask for in a job,really. Work hard, go home, get paid. If nothing else, I’ll have more stories to tell here.

Till tomorrow, or so.

Jim

PS. it’s day 84 of the debt freedom plan.

No related posts.

Licking my professional wounds, if you will.

I figure it’s best not write anything rather than to just write crap just to fill a day’s post. So… I took a few days off from the online world – or at least this site to rethink things and do some reading and learning.

You see, I was starting to hum along with photodailynews and bring it back to life, and then thursday night I checked my stats and I was gone from google. I was about in the fifth or sixth position for keywords and traffic was starting to grow daily and I was starting to get some hits and add some content, and then fffft – it’s all gone. I have more traffic from this site today than the site I was actually working on as an income earner.

If there’s a lesson learned it’s not to trust google, or depend or bank on them for bringing traffic to your site, as they can turn off the tap on a moment’s notice. In hindsight, it was pretty full of ads so maybe it looked too spammy and not enough value so google deemed it unrelevant to their readers. Who knows. But I’m not going to put more effort into a one site. The future is to have a lot of sites and get a trickle of targeted traffic to each site.

I had thought about making one authority site and over time have it rank for pretty much every keyword. Who knows, this might be the site, as after so many days of writing here – even if I have missed a day or two, this site is starting to get some traffic from the search engines. And, I’ve rambled on with over 70 posts and this is super duper competitive niche this debt freedom niche, so the fact that I’m getting any traffic this early on is promising.

What now?

Well now that I’m pretty much back to square one with the new projects, I think a job hunt would be the fastest way to debt freedom. You apply, and they either call or don’t. Instead of working on sites that may or may work I might as well get a job and then I can still noodle around on my stuff on the side, but what I really need is a bigger shovel to dig out of my hole with. I have pretty much spent as little as I can possibly spend so making more money is the next step. At the end of the year, the goal is to make $100/day. I don’t really care how at this point. Whether I’m a barista at starbucks, or making my own – a $100 day is a reasonable goal. I’m watching the time fly as flit from one project to the next, and I don’t want to look back at the end of the year and think, damn, it’s another year pissed away. I’m OK with learning from my mistakes, but somewhere, somewhere along the lines there has to be some money made that I can toss towards the debt and keep paying the rent.

I’ve had a real hard time with the job thing, as I’ve translated job equals failure. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Sure, If I get a job emptying garbage cans that may very well be true, but I’m more interested in a career at this point, or a story to tell, as that really is where the money is. I wish I knew this 20+ years ago. If you’re younger and reading this if there’s one thing I can share is this: The DVD collection or the latest ipod, or iPad doesn’t mean squat. The experiences in life are where it’s at. It doesn’t have to be skydiving or white water rafting either. It can be a cup of coffee on a rainy tuesday with somebody you love. That’s the stuff money can’t buy.

I’ve been thinking about the future a lot this weekend. I sure hope this is a mid life crisis, but when I think about money today, there’s two things that rock my world:
1. success.
2. new experiences

By success, I don’t mean BMW’s and hugo boss suits. I mean the entrepreneurial spirit in me. It can be small too the success. I’m just as thrilled making two bucks from this site as I would be from landing a job that pays six figures.. In fact, the two bucks is more exciting, as there’s promise for more. Money and adventure, and a story to tell.

Success could mean a new job.
Success could mean one new visitor for this site.
Success could mean one dollar against the credit card debt.

All this to say, my needs have changed and come around full circle. Ten years ago, I would have had the fedex guy at my door every day with a new box of cd’s or some electronics. (and did), but the stuff actually starts to own you after a while. Your collection of CD’s requires storage. Your electronics need replaced as there’s always a new product out that is bigger better brighter faster. You’re chasing your tail. It’s an endless cycle. I read somewhere this weekend that said: The stuff doesn’t love you back. And it’s true. So true.

But if you start to collect experiences and life instead – these things never go away. Quick – think about the best moments in your life. They happend with two things I bet: First, and most important: I bet your loved ones were with you. Do you remember your first kiss? you wedding? your first car? or even the movies this weekend? I bet friends and family made those worth remembering. And how much money did you have in the bank? or how much debt did you have? I bet it doesn’t matter or you can even remember. In the end, it worked out. It always does. And you’ve got memories that are priceless. Having things working out doesn’t mean having everything work outs out without hiccups and it’s like the movies. Bankruptcy could mean having things work out. At the time it might not feel like it, but bankruptcy gives you a second chance. A fresh start.

The credit card companies try to pitch that the priceless stuff only happens when you use their card. But really it’s the responsible use of credit and freedom from debt and enough cash flow that allows you to have those days of golf with the golden sunlight and perfect scores that are really priceless. It’s not the card or the new lacoste golf shirt,or the pricey clubs. it’s the experience. and having zero debt, or at very least a positive cash flow that allows the priceless to happen. That’s where the money is.

So I’m shooting for priceless. There will be more mistakes along the way for sure. Google will stop ranking my sites, clients might disappear. Jobs I apply for I might not get. But every thing that happens, good or bad is a story to tell, and that my friends, is priceless.

Thanks for reading.

No related posts.

Earlier, I had thought about writing real useful articles about debt, like some other personal finance sites I read but here’s the thing: I could care less. The topic is too dry for me. Sure, I could whip up fluffy little pieces like:

10 steps to avoid when buying your first house.

10 credit card tips for students

10 ways to keep out of debt

Why saving for retirement is a good idea.

You get the idea…

And I have written some tips and tricks. Ten ways to get out of debt is one article I wrote, but here’s the thing: who cares? I don’t. Sure, I want to get out debt in a hurry but if I’ve taken on this little project and I want it to be fun too.
When I write what my little heart desires, it’s fun for me. Remember: I track and monitor ram prices. I already have one job that’s boring and doesn’t give me much room for creativity. I don’t want this little site to become a JOB. I might have to get a job one day but that’s another thing all together. In no way do I want the debt reduction to take over my life. It can be fun.

Also when I write from the top of my head, and just ramble on here with my keyboard, two things happen:

1. I have fun.
2. I learn how to write and learn I like it. This is fun for me.

Yup, you heard it here first. I like to write. I’m finding that you definitely have to be in the mood, and like anything the best way is just like the nike ad says and just do it. Once you start typing the words just start to flow out of you and it’s almost like you can’t stop.

It’s almost like therapy in a way, this writing gig. It doesn’t take too long and once I find my mojo I look up and look at that, I’ve got another 1000 word masterpiece about my love of lattes.

So. I guess I’ve come to this conclusion: If you want tips on how to get out of debt, for now- you’re probably in the wrong place despite what the URL a the top of the page says.

What I can offer though is that I’ll share with you my daily struggles and triumphs, or maybe sometimes I’ll just write about my love of lattes.

I figure it this way: There’s lots of sites that can write about RRSPs or savings plan, or where to buy the cheapest kitty litter, but there’s only one me. So, I’m going to write about yours truly and my travels towards debt freedom.

I can offer you this useful tidbit for today: It’s a slow haul this debt thing. I made the gaol 1000 days towards debt freedom for a reason. You’re going to have good days and bad days and a lot of days it’ll feel like the needle isn’t moving at all. But if you keep at it – it will. Kindof like this blog actually: at this point in the game I’ve had 11 readers here today- just one more than I have fingers. Not a whole lot and you might even argue why bother?

Because, this is fun and I’ve got a story to tell. My story. debtwise it’s a crappy story, but it could be so so so worse. I’ve got a place to sleep tonight, and even though It might kill my fragile ego, the skillset to find a job if need be. (do you want fries with that?). If I kindof loosely ramble on about what’s on my mind I find that I can write how I talk an d hopefully my charming personality is just jumping off the page (or, you could have already hit the back button) and you’re enjoying this little trip with me.

So, that’s all the wisdom I’ve got for today: Just because you’re in debt, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Enjoy the trip. The days are going to pass anyhow so you might as well have fun.

Related posts:

1. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 60, 61, 62
2. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 50
3. What’s The Deal With Christian Debt Relief?

Yesterday, as you recall – I wrote about my starbucks venti latte habit and it’s effect on my doward spiral into debt

And, if you’re one of my two readers, (hi everybody!!) you’ll also recall that, oh, about a week ago i changed the name from credit card prices to debt freedom plan, as this new name is much, much, more related to what I’m talking about here: my plan to be debt free in 1000days.

So, here’s the thing: I was checking google today, and low and behold – I rank on the second page of google for the search term ‘debt freedom plan’. I’m the 16th most popular site for that search term out of 1,100,000 possible results.

Have a boo:

I think the main reason why is that the term being searched for is in the domain name itself. A little light bulb went off today: Hey – lookie at that. All I have to do is create a website with the same name as the search term, or phrase I want to rank for and ta-da! I do. 2nd page of the search results out of over a million possiblities. Not bad, not bad at all…

This got me thinking: I don’t think this is a real competitive term. I bet with a bit of finessing I could get to the top page of google for debt freedom plan.

Hard Work Pays Off.
If there’s a moral to this story, other me getting to brag how lucky smart I am about getting to the second page of google it’s that it’s one thing to have an idea and it’s another to actually DO IT. It doesn’t matter what your idea is, whether it’s getting out of debt, losing weight or going to school and starting a new job (maybe one at starbucks.)

There’s been lots of days so far with this little project towards debt freedom that I haven’t wanted to post, or thought about it and blew it off, but for the most part I’ve stuck with this and now that I’ve got 60 or so entries, I’m starting to see the results of my efforts. Small, but somebody’s noticing.

I think I’ve bought every ebook and joined every club on how to make some money (which, for this site isn’t really about – it’d be nice though) but the real truth is like anything else – it just takes time. What’s that saying? You eat an elephant one bite at a time? ( I wonder if I’ll get search results for eat an elephant now?).

Where was I? SQUIRRELL! – Oh, right: Instead of buying every ebook, I’m going to write my own. Not today of course, but I want to be able to help you one day get out of debt too some day. Wouldnt’ that be kindof cool if one day I ended up being a get out of debt guru?

So paragraphs later, if you’re still with me: I’ve been reading and reading the past few days on search engine optimization and how it can effect your rankings in the google search engine. I want to specifically target the google search engines because that’s where a good percentage of the searches originate from, and I want a piece of the pie.

I can buy domain names for a buck a pop about products or services or anything really that’s popular and I might have have a chance at making my dollar back. Think about it. I can buy domain name for an .info domain name for under a dollar for the first year, and then come the second renewal the price goes up to eight bucks. That gives me TWO years to make nine dollars to break even. If I make even 1 dollar more, that’s a 5% interest, which is more than any savings account pays.

So, I’m going to give this a shot. I could use free blogger blogs to try this with (and might, as the the cost is absolutely zero, but I’m not familiar with how blogger works so I think I’ll start with using software I’m familiar with and hosting the domain name myself. I figure 100 sites would be a good number to start with. I’m planning on making tight little niche sites about specific topics I know lots about and think I can rank well for. Because these topics are very small, all the content on them will be relevant. These aren’t going to be just a page of links that I hope somebody clicks on, but rather real usable content about stuff I know. Heck, I’ve gotten visitors to this site searching for ‘great headphones’ due to my ebay sales earlier where I told you about the great headphones, so one example might be greatsonyheadphones.com, or greatjvcheadphones.com. And on each site I’d only write about the specific headphone brands. (actually, now that I think of it, this would be great topic – think of all the ipod users and headphones – been on a subway lately? you should see all the people with headphones) If you do this and it works for ya – do me a favor and let me know.

It costs me time to research, write and promote these sites, and the time is going to pass anyway and it would be a great story to tell that a year from now I’ve got hundreds of niche targeted websites all making me a few pennies or even dollars a day. It’s going to be hard work and there’s no auto program to help me, or ebook to show me but I can type fairly fast and I’ve got the time to dedicate to this project and see what happens. I’ll have to make an effort to get the word out about these sites as I can create them, but nobody will come.

If you’re still with me I’ve got another 1000 words under my belt.

See you tomorrow as I continue my plan towards debt freedom.

Related posts:

1. Debt Freedom Plan. Day 60, 61, 62
2. Bright Pink Kitty Litter Boxes
3. What a difference a day makes

I was scanning where the traffic for this site is coming from today using google analytics and one of the search terms that this site ranks for is:

What does it cost to make a venti latte?

I laughed and laughed and laughed out loud when I saw this. I’ve written about my love affair with the venti latte so many times that now when you google a search term I show up for the term latte. Too funny.

At first blush, the costs of a venti latte doesn’t seem to have a thing to do with getting out of debt, or debt freedom. But if you know me, you’ll know that the Venti Latte was the start of my downfall into the deep depths of debt. (try and say that last bit six times fast – bet you can’t).

Where was I? Oh, right – the latte. I’m from Hamilton, ON and we didn’t have no fancy schmancy starbucks there no sirree. I come from steeltown, or Timmy’s Town. Home of the very first Tim Hortons.

An aside: When I lived in Moncton, according to stats Moncton has the most Tim Hortons outlets than any other city. Being a Hamilton boy, and if you’ve ever been, I find that hard to believe. And, by coincidence, my landlord in Moncton owned all the Tim Hortons in town. I just thought it was kindof funny. You can take the Hamilton Boy out of the city, but without trying, I was still surrounded by Tim Hortons in some fashion or another.

Now, back to the venti latte, and my downfall into the depths of debt. : It was whenI moved to Toronto is when my taste for coffee started to go up in to the fivebucks a cup range. Before then, I was always used to just a good old’ medium black at Tim’s. $1.54, last time I checked. But when living in Toronto is when the closest shop was a Starbucks and Tim Hortons seemed to be few and far away.

I started at starbucks with just good old black coffee and even though it cost more for the starbucks version – $2.00 for their GRANDE, it was an affordable start. Then one day I decided to try something fancier, and thought I’d try a vanilla late. They were fun for a while, but too sweet for me over time, so I just gassed the vanilla. Now I’m into the straight venti lattes and I’m stuck there. There’s no going back to Tim’s now.

Ooh – one more little story – One day my “Mr. Tim Horton” landlord knocked on my door, and I answered it and as always I have a cup of coffee in my hand but was in a starbucks mug. He didn’t like that much. I didn’t really notice it until he grumbled I had the wrong cup.

So, now I’m stuck on venti lattes. For some guys it’s cars, or girls, but for me the vice is Venti Lattes. And I know why. It’s taken me a long time to figure this out – actually now that I think of it there’s two reasons:

First is there’s a process. You order your drink, they yell across to the barista with YOUR order. For five seconds in the middle of the day, you’re important. (albiet, five bucks lighter). And, they make it FRESH. This is the biggie for me. I liked it a little better when you would wait at the bar and the ‘barista’ would actually turn the knobs and grind and load the beans right there for you. Now, it’s a little too modern for this old guy. The new machines at the starbucks are just buttons to push and performance of having your drink made for you is lost a little of that magic.

But even if some of the magic of the performance has gone, the big selling feature for me is that my venti latte has been made fresh. just for me.

Another benefit of the latte over Tim Horton’s is the fact that you’re almost encouraged to stay. I lived at the starbucks in Moncton some days and when in Toronto I would often set up camp and not leave until they closed and kicked me out. There was music playing that most times I liked. (my old age showing here – it seems to be a lot of middle of the road stuff) A lot of times it was a home away from home.

So, 750 words later I’m going to make my real point of this entry: When I started with the latte is when my ‘taste’ went up. You know the saying: champagne taste, beer budget. Well until I got a taste of the latte I was absolutely fine with a black from timmy’s, or even better for the ultimate in frugality I’d wait until I got home and make coffee there.

But once I had that first slurp of five dollar goodness where the angels sing in my head on that first sip of creamy milk with the caffeine kick it was game over. I can’t go back now to black coffee at Tim’s where there’s a 20 minute time limit on how long you can stay and nobody’s really sure how long that coffe’s been sitting there.

But that one latte opened the door to a whole bunch of other purchases – better clothes, fancy cars, more money spent on lattes, and dinners and cds and speakers and whatnot. If I hadn’t had that first sip, I’d have money saved and I’d be buying my shirts at walmart still ( maybe in a way, the latte wasn’t so bad – no more plaid shirts from wally world at very least).

I guess the moral of my story is to be careful of lifestyle inflation. It can kill you and before you know it you’re sitting on 30k of credit card debt without the means to pay it off like yours truly. All because of one venti latte.

Related posts:

1. The long term cost of a starbucks latte
2. How to Save Money On Groceries
3. Wasted Money, Sunk Costs and Crappy Lattes. Day 32