Tagges for 7 Random/Werid Facts

I was tagged by Mom at Wide Open Wallet to share 7 random or weird things about myself. So lets see…some random and weird stuff about me:

1. I have never learned how to swim.
   

2. When I was in high school I jumped off of an old bridge that was 15 feet above the surface of the water and dove/sunk into the Chattahoochee River. I realize fact 1 and 2 don’t go together, but for some reason when peer pressure set in I thought it would be cool – hey I’m still here to tell about it so it couldn’t be that bad.
   

3. In college I walked thru a drive thru because the main dining area was closed and my girlfriends and I were desperate for some chocolate. The fast food place called the cops on us. Once Deputy Sheriff Bud arrived, he graciously drove thru the drive thru and bought my girlfriends and I frosties.
   

4. I once had to be "rescued" by the Swainsboro Fire Department because I got lost in the two stop light town, and yes the fire truck came with lights flashing. In my defense the friend I was visiting in Swainsboro was a volunteer fire fighter.
   

5. I’m a huge neat freak – I scrub my counters twice a day and vacuum at least every other day even though I take my shoes off at the front door.
   

6. Despite living 4.5 hours away last football season I still managed to attend every Georgia Tech home game. --- Talk about being loyal to the team! Go Jackets!!!
   

7. I am USDA certified to inspect food salvage, so basically I took a two-day class and a 100 question test so I can pick through other people's garbage. Don’t worry I’m not that weird, its for a good cause – I volunteer at America’s Second Harvest weekly and run their food salvage in the evenings which connects salvaged food with those most in need. I firmly believe that the cure for world hunger has been discovered, we just need the resources (aka volunteers) to make it happen. Not all volunteers need to be USDA certified so if you’d like more info about this very worthy cause or to sign up to volunteer please visit either Valdosta Food Bank or Atlanta Community Food Bank maybe I’ll see ya there.

Alright--- I’m getting off my cure for world hunger soap box and am tagging….

anyone who wishes to be tagged by commenting on this post or emailing me...that way there's no pressure for you to carry on the chain post:)

Rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog. Some random, some weird.

3. Tag up to 7 people a the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

What are your personal finance strengths and weaknesses?

No Credit Needed posted his response to Reader Feedback Request #1: What are your personal finance strengths and weaknesses and encouraged bloggers to write about this topic, so I thought I’d add my two cents.

Personal Finance Strengths – I’m dedicated and driven not to have debt and to become financially independent. I’ve seen and lived through my mother the stress of being in debt so I know I will never allow myself to be in that situation - I’d sell everything I own before I’d incur any debt other than a mortgage. And to be honest the idea of mortgage debt even scares me a little.

Another personal finance strength of mine is that I have been able to put things in perspective and see the big pictures which makes me willing to make wise money choices (a more pc term for sacrifices). I’m more than willing to live below my means to ensure that I can save for my future - be it short term or long term future. I think these strengths make me IMHO an amazing saver.

Personal Finance Weakness – My biggest weakness is that I’m too conservative. While I think I’m an amazing saver, I’m not a good investor. I shy away from risks, and in fact it was only with in the last two years that I started investing in mutual funds instead of FDIC insured savings accounts. I work hard for my money and make wise money choices and hate the idea of loosing even a dime – trust me this current market has been rough on me since I invested in mutual funds. With this current economy and market I have been pretty proud of how well I’ve managed the storm. My retirement accounts keep showing negative growth and I haven’t completely freaked out yet…so maybe there’s hope for me yet.

I know I need to learn more about investing and take a deep breath and just do it. I think this is also my biggest obstacle to true financial independence where my interest/portfolio income = my desired life style.

The Weekend Round Up

After joining the PFBloggers Network my game plan was every Saturday to post a Round Up highlighting my favorite post from the week...well as you can see since today's Sunday and not Saturday I missed my first mark. So it appears I'm off to a great start, although I was worried that my misspelling of Savy made a rocky start to the blogging world but I think I'm doing okay despite my lack of grammer/spelling savvy-ness.

Below are some of the highlights from this week in the PFBloggers World:

Ben @ Trees Full of Money answered my question about the radio commercials that say “Hi, I’m Todd Davis, and my Social Security # is 457-55-5462" with the post LifeLock®: A Review of Todd Davis’ Controversial Service

Jonathon @ Master Your Card provided Everything you wanted to know about Fico Scores* - and let me tell you there's a ton to know.

After learning everything about FICO scores mom@ Wide Open Wallet explains How I check my credit score anytime I want... for free!

I really enjoyed the humor in Kevin @ No Debt Plan's post Dumb Money: The Lottery because Mr. Be-Mine always jokes about how his retirement plan is the lottery only some how he doesn't think it will work since he doesn't invest in the lottery. (Don't worry he really has a pension since he works for Uncle Sam and fully funds his 403b each year.)

JB @ Get Rich or Die Trying shares my rant about Car Insurance with his post Auto Insurance Revolution.

After driving back to Valdosta today from Atlanta I very much appreciated Seb @ PinchingCopper's post How to drastically improve your gas mileage now I just have to figure out how to stop driving like a maniac :)

Don't forget to check out all the other blogs in the network. I've conveniently listed them all in the left hand column for your use.

PFBloggers Network

Yesterday I joined the PFBloggers Network and Aggregator, which is a network of Bloggers comprised of mostly newer blogs. From my perspective, its going to be a "support group" of sorts for those of us just starting in the world of blogger. For readers its a great way to explore newer less established blogs that are offering great new perspectives plus the PFBloggers Aggregator offers a place to check out recent posts and highlights from all the bloggers.

Prior to joining I've explored the other bloggers' sites and am most imprssed with what I've read and feel very comfortable in recommending their sites to you all . I hope you all will enjoy these new blogs as much as I do.

The PFBloggers Network consists of the following:

In Debt Blogger
Living Almost Large
Master Your Card
No Debt Plan
Our Fourpence Worth
Pinching Copper
Saving Savy by a Future Millionaire
The Social Marginal
Wide Open Wallet

For you use, I've added a new feature to the blog on the left hand side with links to all of the BFBloggers's sites.

Happy reading!

Saving Savy by a Future Millionaire made No Credit Needed's Blog Stroll

Check it out --- No Credit Needed, a fellow Georgia resident, mentioned my give away for a copy of The Millionaire Next Door in his weekly blog stroll.

Found A New Blog to Start Reading -- Banker Girl

Found a new blog I'm going to start reading...Banker Girl. According to her About profile she's an early thirties real life banker from the Midwest and has been"preaching to my friends about the importance of reigning in unsecured debt, coaching clients on how to improve their FICO scores, and explaining to business owners the importance of liquidity ratios." But in her own worlds is "a financial hypocrite . To date, I haven’t put my money where my mouth is."

Banker Girl's Blog is the journey to financial independence which I can completely relate to. She promised to"dish up advice, include a few (anonymous) client anecdotes, and link you to financial resources that I have found helpful."

I hope you'll enjoy her blog as much as I have discovered.

(photo borrowed from her blog logo)

New Favortie Blog - Fabulous Financials by Single Ma

I've just found an amazing new to me financial blog that I am adding to my favorite blogs its Fabulous Financials by Single Ma. According to her About profile she's a 30-something single mom who's long term financial goals include having a net worth of $1M+. Her blog is about her journey to financial freedom. Even though I'm not a Ma, I think we share some similar goals.

Single Ma is witty, well in formed, down to earth, on top of her financial future, and she's a blast to read with her colloquial talk about her friends and family.

I hope you'll enjoy her blog as much as I did.

(Graphic from Single Ma's Profile)