All the cool mom bloggers have give-aways. Freebies they just give to people who read their blog. Of course, most of those cool mom bloggers give things away on their blogs because advertisers are giving them stuff to give away, since a ton of people read their really cool mom blogs.I know my blog doesn't have quite the following of Ree from The Pioneer Woman, or Jen from Cake Wrecks, or Dawn from Because I Said So... but what my blog does have is you, my very own faithful readers.
Some of you I know, some of you I don't, but all of you have one thing in common. For whatever reason (and sometimes I'm still baffled by it) you read my blog.
And since you read my blog you know that our family has been impacted in a HUGE way by Dave Ramsey. We've attended Financial Peace University (and I highly recommend that you do too), but he also has a great best selling book called, "The Total Money Makeover" which provides you with much of the same great information and the inspiring stories you would hear going through FPU.
And, I have a copy to give away. I hope that all of you are in some way or another inspired by our story. The fact that we paid off $25,000 in debt in 14 months still blows me away. God faithfully provided for us in all sorts of bizarre ways. Through this He has taught us so much and drastically changed the way we think about money. It wasn't magic and we didn't win the lottery or anything. We just learned some great principles, we got on a clear financial plan, we got motivated and we determined to tackle our debt with a vengeance.
(Side note: I got distracted half-way through this post with a bowl of ice cream from my husband. As I was eating it I hopped on facebook. The Pioneer Woman posted about a mixer give away. So, I decided to enter. I now have a 1 in 9,509 (and counting) chance of winning a cool yellow mixer. Your chances of winning this book are MUCH, MUCH HIGHER!)
Anyway, I'd like to give this book to one of my readers. And whether or not you win this book, I hope you're inspired to take control of your finances.
So, here's how you win. Leave a comment and tell me why you want this book. It's that simple.
Rob and I will consider the entries and announce the winner on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. Okay, Rob and I were just trying to figure out what the rules would be for giving away this book. We'd kind of like to do it randomly so everyone has an equal chance of winning. However, we'd also like to give one away to someone because they have a great reason for wanting the book.
So, here's the deal. We're going to do both. We'll give one away at random and one Blog Owners Choice Award. Because I'm the blog owner and that's what I want to do.
Please, leave a comment (I don't beg for comments often, but this time I am. It's for your own good!) Even if you have your finances totally under control you might have someone in mind you want to give this to... you can win it and give this book to them.
I'm totally excited to have my first give-away. For a brief moment in time I feel like a famous blogger. Unless I only get 3 comments, then I'll cry. I'm not expecting 9,500 comments or anything (let's be real, I'm not giving away a Kitchen-Aid Mixer here), but somewhere in the double-digits would be cool! So go on, comment... you know you want to!
15 comments:
OK, so this is my first ever comment on any kind of blog and it looks like it may be your first comment on this blog. There has to be something in that, right? (wink wink) Aaron and I have done pretty well with our financial blessings so far, with the exception of preparing for our later years (not sure when those asctually start, but hoping we stillhave time to get it started) ;-) So there you have it! I am so encouraged when I read your comments on FB regarding this Dave Ramsey person. So when I saw your post tonight about your blog, I just had to come on over! (saying a little prayer that you have many more posts!)
Hey Robyn... A couple things... First of all... at 8PM on Friday night you will be at a Good Friday Service.... So how can you announce any winners...
Second.... I think I deserve this book because the stack of unread books beside my bed is one book shy of of being tall enough for me to rest my sandwich on... I can then start on a stack for my kool-aid...
Anyway... I didn't want you to wake up and have "zero" comments...
See ya...
Dave Ramsey is a God send! We live in a time where debt has become a way of life. Karl and I have felt convicted to get out of debt for quite some time but didn't know how. Thanks to Dave's web site and free consultation we're selling our house and have a 2 year plan to pay off all outstanding debt including student loans. Awesome blog Robin =) <3
Well I guess I am the first to leave a comment. I have been totally in awe of what you and Rob have accomplished financially in such little time. Since retirement is lurking somewhere in the near future - this book may be the tool to help reach our retirement goals financially and not worry about how long we HAVE to keep working until we can relax a little.
I will understand if you feel someone else may need this more, but if not, I would be thrilled to get it and, like you, pass it on, hopefully with a success story like yours.
Thanks for your consideration.
Lorraine
Pick me, pick me!!!! My name is Michelle and my husband and I are actually FPU facilitators. Tonight is the finale of our first class and we are having a graduation party! It's been an unbelievable walk and we feel honored to have taken it with these incredible couples. Tonight completes a baby step for us as well...#3!!! We closed on one of our rental properties yesterday. One down, three to go. Like Dave says, we have a PHD in D.U.M.B. Boy do I wish we had met him prior to these stupid decisions. Oh well, no looking back...onward! With this class coming to a close, we will be taking a 4 week break and then starting another one! I'd love to pass this book forward to someone in our next class! Thank you and God Bless :)
Robyn, always love reading your blog :) I think a big reason for blogging should be for yourself, not just your readers. I know when I blog (yeah, lately it hasn't been anywhere near frequently or regularly), I do it because I felt like I needed to get something out. No matter how many comments you get, keep blogging and don't get discouraged. I like reading your blog and even if no one read it, you should do it for yourself. Okay, I may have just inspired myself to blog... lol!
Okay, the book! I would like to win it because we are still in a lot of debt. We have quite a bit of credit card debt and we have our student loans. On our own, we've managed to stop the debt from continuing to grow, but it's a very slow process we've been working on for years. I've heard of FPU, but have never attended. I would love to read that book and apply those principles to our financial plan (if you can call it that right now - lol) and hopefully speed our recovery out of the dumb mistakes we made early on.
Well, hope you get a lot of comments! Have a good day regardless :-)
Bill
Hey Robyn. I would really like to win the book because I was planning on reading it myself, and then giving it to Bill and Krista! LOL! We have been attempting to follow Dave Ramsey's baby steps plan without having ever read the book for a couple years now. It was slow at first, but we have eliminated $40,000 of debt in the last 3 years. Unfortunately, we still have $42,000 more to go! I hate to admit that, but it is what it is and we are moving forward.
Did the comment I just wrote go through? My computer froze up when I clicked post. If not, let me know and I'll write it again.
I would LOVE to have this book. I have not had the privilege of reading any of his material yet, but have heard that he is amazing. I really want to get my finances figured out before marriage, babies and my dream of adoption.
Oh, me!! me!!
We are just getting started on this journey. Jamie has set up our expense tracking and budgeted amounts--but I feel like I'm just missing pieces of the puzzle, since I haven't had time to read the website or listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio. I'm trying to get "on board" but I think I'm frustrated since I haven't caught the vision yet. I WANT to get out of debt--I just need to see it as an actual possibility.
Charlotte
Robyn- You are so cool! I'm really in awe that you were able to pay off so much debt in so little time. I would love to read the book because we have $75,000 in school loans and Dieter still has 2 years left. It's enough to make me have a panic attack everytime I think about it. Plus, I don't even have a job that even pays for our rent, so paying anything other than minimum payments seems rather far-fetched, and I'm being buried. It's horribly depressing.
I don't want the book (we use Larry Burquette, same idea) but I just wanted to comment because I think this is so cool you are doing a give away! You have definitely joined the ranks of cool mom blogs! Now I feel like I know a famous blogger :)
I would not trade my time,
for Corban was sublime,
but '21
is when I'm done
with paying off my fines.
Another flavor:
I'm paying off my car,
it sure ain't very far.
and with my dough
from Corban, Yo,
I might become a czar. (That's Russian for king...king's are rich.)
Chocolate Vanilla Swirl perhaps?
I'm pretty deep in debt
for school, I don't regret.
I plug away
and always pay.
I'm faaar from finished yet!
A steward always cares,
about his Master's shares,
So hear my plight
and shine some light
and save me from perpetually owing someone something and not being able to use my money more effectively for the Lord and eternally feeling like a life being lived in mediocrity instead of victory because I cannot rise above such a remarkable burden (i.e. despair).
=D
~Jared H.
Well, I think we have that book and others already..or did at one time (Travis tends to give the books away after we've read them : ), but just wanted to leave an extra comment because comments are always nice. On paper we have about six months left to go, feeling a bit sluggish and not at all gazellish, but soon, soon.
Hi Robin,
I came across your post on Facebook about the giveaway. I think it was fate because my husband and I have been talking about this very subject - getting our finances straightened out - for the past week.
Once Mark is done with his PhD we will have a combined student loan debt of about $90,000!!! Yes, I just did the calculations a few days ago.
Since I just finished my second degree, I am going to have to start repaying on mine very soon and we are struggling to find out how to afford them. I am unemployed (my job didn't even come close to paying the outrageous monthly child care fees down here) and it is all we have to pay our monthly bills.
I also found your story amazing about paying off so much in such a short time and would like that same thing (or whatever will work for us). My husband and I do not want our children to suffer or go without because we are constantly in debt due to these loans.
I am going to be looking to see if the FPU comes to Atlanta...I think this will help us immensely!
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