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This post is a guest post by Matt Gartland. Matt, a good friend of mine, spends his life pushing people to live boldly and shatter low expectations. He’s launching his blog today – including his inspiring mission to chronicle “10,000 Random Acts of Greatness“ – to worldwide fanfare. He’s so amazing, he even created a welcome page *just* for Man Vs. Debt readers!

New Year’s day… January 1st… A moment of magic.

You’ve felt this magic before. It lights you up like your still ornamented Christmas tree. The emotions, in fact, may feel like Christmas morning. These are positive emotions to be sure – for hopes, dreams, and enchantments are very necessary turn-keys in the engine of your potential.

They leave you alive with ideas for new year conquests of improved health, strengthened relationships, world travel, and countless other adventures.

Alas, this magic can (and often does) backfire with deflating consequences.

This “dark magic” is the empty contact-high that many befall from the flip of the calendar. Lofty new lifestyle designs are drawn with no infrastructure to support them. Why then are we shocked and horrified when our goals and dreams crumble to ash?

We shouldn’t be. The truth was obvious from the beginning…

…we suck at forging New Year’s resolutions.

So let’s stop the sucking.

The antidote to this dark magic, though simple, is not easy magic.

This bold potion requires equal parts deep introspection and inside-out thinking with a dash of craziness mixed in.

If you’re not a brave witch or wizard then you may wish to abandon this brew right now. But if you’re bent on making 2011 a year of transformation and remembrance, then I suggest you settle in for some wicked, non-Ministry-approved lessons in the defense against the dark arts!

Wands at the ready!

The Fallacy of January 1 and The Art of (Un)resolutions

The fabled January 1 mystique is dark magic for a deceptively simple reason – it’s a lie!

There is no earthly reason why you should wait for the clock to strike midnight on January 1st before crafting resolutions to improve your wellbeing. Those that do wait for 1/1 forfeit 364 days (8,736 hours; 524,160 minutes) of life-changing potential. Does that sound like a smart choice to you?

Sure, these other days may be spent engaged in last year’s resolutions. And if such resolutions were architected thoughtfully, then this assumption might be true. But it’s a risky assumption to make. Why? Because by-and-large we’ve become a consumeristic society addicted to the fallacy of over-night successes and the allure of instant gratifications. That’s a deadly spell that will curse any resolution, well-intentioned or not, quickly bringing it to its knees.

In truth, the best day to begin fresh life change is today! Such is the art of (un)resolutions.

(Un)resolutions are exactly what you think they are – the antithesis of conventional resolutions…

• Resolutions are New Year’s day centric – (un)resolutions are everyday centric

• Resolutions are driven by external rewards – (un)resolutions are inspired by intrinsic motivations

• Resolutions focus on “what” – (un)resolutions concentrate on “why”

• Resolutions are rooted in “quick-win” hype – (un)resolutions are baked in long-term effectiveness

Here’s your choice: 1) Subsist in our age of distraction by lumbering through the year with shallow resolutions that ultimately fail. Or, 2) stop sucking at resolutions and start creating lifestyle goals in the art of (un)resolutions.

Good choice! Now it’s time to delve deep into the charms of (un)resolutions!

Motivations: Intrinsic vs Extrinsic

What motivates you most to do your best work and achieve your goals?

It’s a tricky question. Many, including most conventional behavioral scientists, will answer “rewards and punishments.” That’s the safe answer of course. This belief in rewards and punishments is what Daniel Pink calls “Motivation 2.0″. According to Pink, it goes something like this…

“The Motivation 2.0 operating system has endured for a very long time. Indeed, it is so deeply embedded in our lives that most of us scarcely recognize that it exists. For as long as any of us can remember, we’ve configured our organizations and constructed our lives our its bedrock assumption: The way to improve performance, increase productivity, and encourage excellence is to reward the good and punish the bad.”

Here’s the funny part. Motivation 2.0 is the popular answer by far. It’s also wrong.

A focus on rewards and punishments is a belief in the extrinsic. This is precisely the formula most apply when crafting conventional New Year’s resolutions – e.g. if I lose 10 pounds I’ll reward myself with a new clothes shopping spree. But as Pink masterfully illustrates in DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, these extrinsic factors actually decrease one’s motivation for the goal at-hand…

“Rewards can perform a weird sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge. They can turn play into work.”

In sum, Motivation 2.0 is outdated, unstable, and unreliable at best. So, if you desire to attain your New Year’s (un)resolutions, then you must upgrade to Motivation 3.0 – your third (inner) drive programmed in the language of intrinsic motivations…

“Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.” – Pink, DRIVE

I’m a classic case-study of this extrinsic vs intrinsic paradox.

I was bewitched by the dark arts of Motivation 2.0 in my earlier years. I searched far-and-wide for (and spent a pretty penny on) physique-boosting wonder products. The lust that drove this mindless quest was the greater social acclaim and attraction (extrinsic rewards) that would elevate my self-esteem.

The result? My external health did improve (though not thanks to the snake-oil crap). And my internal health rooted (including IBS challenges, medical complications and mental health).

A paradox indeed!

I escaped my self-inflicted darkness via a commitment to internal health and happiness (intrinsic motivators). This (un)resolution took time – seven years in fact because I dug my ditch so deep. But I prevailed. And I have Motivation 3.0 to thank for it. The bonus? I’ve never been in better physical or mental health in all my life

The Moral: when creating your (un)resolutions, build them upon the interests and challenges that ignite a ranging inferno of passion within.

It’s about the satisfaction you gain from the creative task itself. Specifically, target pursuits that foster autonomy, mastery, and purpose – which are the three key ingredients in your intrinsic motivation potion.

Alas, proper motivation alone is insufficient for attaining the (un)resolution results you want. In fact, you must bypass wants completely and tunnel into whys.

Why vs What: The Golden Circle of Success

Simon Sinek has discovered life’s secret to success. And he’s telling…

Sinek’s breakthrough, which he calls “probably the world’s simplest idea”, converges human brain biology with behavioral science. The result is the Golden Circle.

The Golden Circle works like this…

The what, how, and why circles map precisely with the very different layers of the human mind. The outer layer is responsible for our rational thought and language. The inner layers are responsible for our emotional intelligence and decision making.

Conventional thought, action, and conversation flow from the outside-in…from what, to how, to why. In other words, from the easiest and most obvious (whats) to the most nebulous (whys). Unfortunately, this is unoriginal, uninspiring, and unremarkably average because it emphasizes features, widgets, and data.

Now flip the formula.

When you think, act, and communicate from the inside-out…from why, to how, to what…you’re conveying beliefs and establishing shared values. This is unconventional, highly memorable, and incredibly inspiring. Why? Because if fosters trust and loyalty at a deeply-seeded emotional level.

Said differently, this approach talks to the parts of the brain that drive human behavior.

Such stroking of your emotional mind is paramount to creating meaningful (un)resolutions that have a chance for success.

Mainstream New Year’s resolutions are all about the wants – e.g. I want to get fit, I want to get out of debt, I want to travel the world. These examples are quite pathetic. Marginally better ones are more specific – e.g. I want to lose 10 pounds, I want to eliminate all my credit card debt, I want to visit Amsterdam. But such goals are still fatally flawed because they don’t convey any emotional catalyst.

The magic happens when you begin to weave in emotions – or as Sinek would say, “what you believe.”

I tried this experiment last year with my family. I love my family. And by-and-large they’re astute enough to make their own meaningful developments. But I had begun to sense a rut of non-adventure over recent years. So I posed this challenge, “pursue zen in 2010″.

It was cute. It was memorable. And it worked!

Note that my challenge wasn’t specific at all. But it was entirely emotionally-driven…to attain more moments of zen. My family members were left to themselves to devise their own specific (un)resolutions. But they all had to support this “why.” If an idea didn’t somehow lead to this outcome then it was nixed.

Mind you, not every (un)resolution was achieved. And some family members faired better than others. Such is life. But the challenge got them out of their rut. Meaningful zen-like progress was made. And their lives are the better for it.

Want to explore the world of why deeper? Then please watch Simon Sinek’s provocative TED Talk (below). It’s worth every minute!

The Moral: the what of your (un)resolutions are important, but not nearly as vital as why you want them.

The smart witch or wizard will include both in their (un)resolution brews. Just be mindful of your actions. After all, as Simon says, “What you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe.”

Alas again, because your not-sucky (un)resolutions are still missing an important ingredient. And you do desire to achieve world domination, right?!

Effectiveness vs Efficiency: The Path to World Domination

Chris Guillebeau needs no introduction around these parts But if you do fancy a refresher about this lovable non-conformist, I suggest you glance at The Essential Power of Like-Minded People, The Art of Non-Conformity Book, and How NOT to Suck at Blogging.

Moving on…

Chris believes that efficiency is overrated. He’s one who’d know because traveling to every country in the world (all 192 of them) is no picnic. From “fun” airline logistics, passport snafus, travel visa mishaps, political unrest, the occasional Guillebeau mistake (blasphemy I know!), and other lovely details – international travel of the most epic proportions can be a royal b*tch.

In fact, as Chris exclaims…

“Visiting every country in the world is getting difficult. I’ve almost completely ran out of ‘easy’ countries. These days I spend as much time arranging visas as I do planning the actual trip. It takes time, energy, and money: even with my best travel hacking strategies, I expect the overall cost to increase in the final two years of the project.”

And keep in mind that visiting every country in the world isn’t his only endeavor. He’s founded a booming lifestyle business, publishes new articles on his blog like clockwork, is a newly crowned published author, leads an animated small army that numbers in the tens of thousands, and is married. Crikey is right!

So why does he do it? Because he loves the effect, which is to say, the adventure!

As Chris puts it…

“Don’t worry about trying to live the most efficient life or become the most optimal human. Instead, embrace life as a meaningful adventure. Pursue adventure and passion instead of efficiency.”

Your New Year’s (un)resolutions should have the same orientation.

Sure, a whole bushel of little, easy goals that are quickly accomplished may give your ego a contact-high. But really, where’s the fun in that?

Moreover, if you aspire to make impressive improvements in your life – whether it be health, relationship, career, or travel related – then these little ego trips won’t carry you to where you want to go. They just don’t generate enough momentum.

Don’t be wasteful of your resources. That’s not the point.

Splashes of efficiency here and there are fine. Plus, efficiency is well-tailored for linear, non-creative tasks that have a pesky knack of needing done. But for those larger-than-life (un)resolutions that are audacious pursuits of big dreams, opt for the effective road.

I’ve decided to plunge into the deep-end of lifestyle effectiveness with my own legacy project – Random Acts of Greatness. My crusade is to chronicle 10,000 Random Acts of Greatness in 5 years from people like you.

A Random Act of Greatness is any little, magical moment that leaves a positive and everlasting imprint upon the lives of others.

I’d be grateful if you’d share a little story to help the cause!

My quest won’t be easy. I have no guarantee for success whatsoever. And you’d better believe that it won’t be efficient. But it’s a mighty adventure that I’m glad to embark on. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll achieve my own flavor of world domination along the way!

The Moral: be effective without being wasteful. Simplify down to the endeavors that matter most to you. Odds are these should be audacious pursuits that captivate your imagination and unleash the best you. Such ventures won’t be efficient. But they’ll be crazy fun!

The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

“Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one’s sights and pushing towards the horizon.” – Daniel Pink, DRIVE

Your magic brew of (un)resolutions is now complete. And if you haven’t guessed already, the whole of your potion is greater and more rewarding than the sum of the contributing parts. Let’s review why…

Motivation is essential to achieving any worthwhile endeavor. Intrinsic motivation is the purest and most stimulating form. But it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. This “third drive” fuses with all manner of your character, including your courage to be effective in pursuit of “why” goals.

Indeed, motivation is interlaced with effectiveness and the notion of why. For one thing, you have little hope of achieving mastery (a core element of Motivation 3.0) of any task or talent without a concentrated focus on why you desire such mastery.

But that’s not all. With this focus intact, you still require the gritty effort time and time again to become effective.

Daniel Pink applies the metaphor of a three-legged stool to the trinity of components within your inner, third drive. So it is with this trinity of (un)resolution ingredients – motivation, why, and effectiveness. Short or weak in any leg and your stool will stumble and likely fall.

Don’t stumble. Don’t be weak. And don’t suck. You no longer have any excuse not to.

Now go forth and do great things!

Matt Gartland is an anti-hero avenging injustices of creativity. His legacy project is to chronicle 10,000 Random Acts of Greatness in 5 years. And he shares bold ideas for confidently living above low expectations on his Modern Audacity blog. Learn more about Matt’s audacious pursuits to spark change!

*****

Early this week, I had the pleasure of interviewing David Bach, founder of FinishRich.com and 8-time New York Times Bestselling author.

David’s new book is called Debt Free for Life. He regularly appears for series on Oprah, The Today Show, and Larry King Live.

Before we started the interview, David let me know that in his decade-plus experience with media and interviews – this was his very first Skype interview ever.

Viva la new media!

Below you’ll find our interview on good debt vs. bad debt, why America loves debt, stepping on the “debt scale”, the best way to pay down debt, and a new online tool – DebtWise – that helps you by automatically showing which debt to pay.

SPECIAL NOTE: You can win one of two hard-copies at the bottom of this post!

[If you cannot view the interview, click here to see it in your browser]

Below, I’ve included the full transcript from our interview. This one is really worth watching in full, but for those that can’t the text is below.

Hi everyone. It’s Baker from Man vs. Debt, and I have a special guest today. It is my honor to interview via Skype David Bach. David, thanks for joining us today.

It’s my pleasure. Great to be with you.

And if you don’t know David Bach, you may have been under a rock for the last 5 to 10 years, but he’s an eight-time—I think I have that right, David—eight-time New York Times bestseller, and he’s got a new book out, which I have in my hands. And that is Debt Free for Life by David Bach.

I’ll put mine in front of you. We’ll touch them.

Exactly. We’ll get it up there. I was sent the book last week. Your team sent me the book; thanks for that. And I did get to read through it and really enjoyed it. One of my most favorite parts of the book is, I think, on the first page of chapter one.

It’s you recount someone asking you your take on good debt vs. bad debt, and how that’s changed for you in the last few years. Can you share with the readers how that has changed, and what your view on good debt vs. bad debt is now?

Absolutely. What happened was, I do a segment every week on The Today Show called “Money 911,” and I’ve been doing it for two years now. We do it on Wednesdays. And two years ago, most of our questions started off, they were financial questions.

And what I started realizing over time was happening was almost all our questions are related to debt. I will tell you, over 75% of our questions are debt-related. Whether that’s credit card debt, mortgage debt, student loan debt—it’s all debt.

And in the green room I got asked this question, “What do you think about good debt? Is mortgage debt good debt? Is student loans good debt?” And I started answering like I’ve answered years in the past: “Yes, good debt is mortgage debt. If you borrow money to go to school, that can be good debt. If you borrow money to build a business, that can be good debt. But bad debt is credit card debt.”

I started answering with really what I would say is the standard answer, which is what we’ve all been led to believe. And I had this moment, kind of this epiphany sitting in the green room, where I looked at this friend of mine and said, “I’ve got to tell you something. This recession has really proven there’s no such thing as good debt or bad debt, there’s just debt.”

If you can’t afford to pay your debt, it’s all bad. And when you look at people who are losing their homes, they’re losing their homes because they have huge mortgages and they can’t afford to pay them. So I looked at her and I said, “I’ve got to tell you something. My advice to you is, pay your debt down as fast as you can. And there’s certain debt that’s worse than others, but really, the faster you’re debt-free, the faster you’re free.”

And that’s how I started the book Debt-Free For Life, was this idea that we have been led to believe—and it’s almost become like a myth—this idea that there’s good debt and bad debt. And that idea of good debt and bad debt has really led millions down the wrong path.

Yep. I can’t agree more, and I love—that’s why I said it was one of my favorite parts. I didn’t expect it to be there, but right when you dig in, I said, “I think I’m going to like this book,” right from the get-go, when you had that conversation.

And that leads us, I guess, why? My question for you is, in your opinion, why as a culture are we so addicted to debt? As a society or as a culture? Why do you think that is?

You have to go—Things have really changed. I go back to my grandmother. My grandma, Rose Bach, I’ve talked about in a lot of my books. And she was a Depression-era child. And if you have a relative that grew up in the Depression, they never wanted to have debt. My grandmother never had any debt. She didn’t—What’s your phrase? What do you say? Throw away the stuff?

Sell Your Crap, yeah.

Sell your crap. My grandmother, she recycled tinfoil before there was a green movement. She always paid cash for everything. And that’s how the Depression-era children grew up to be, and then they passed that on to the next generation.

Somewhere in the last, I’d say, two generations—really in the last 20-30 years, that whole philosophy of pay down your debt, have mortgage-burning parties, live free, is just gone away. And part of the reason it’s gone away is we have incentivized people to borrow more money.

Leverage, leverage, leverage.

I’m a huge proponent of home ownership, and I think it’s great that we get tax deductions. But I have to tell you, this whole tax deduction philosophy around borrowing money has really brainwashed people into thinking, “Great, I borrowed all this money, but I get a tax deduction.” In reality, who cares if you get a tax deduction if you still owe money? If all your income goes to making debt repayment, and you’re only paying interest, you’re really not getting ahead. So I just think we’ve been led down the wrong path, and I think Americans need a wake-up call. And they just got one with the recession.

Exactly. Again, I agree on every single point. Just shaking my head this whole interview, I think it’s going to be.

Moving on, I always like this question, to get it on different issues. For you, if I’m new and I come to you and I say, “David, I need help,” what is the very first step? For someone that’s deep in debt but they want to change, what’s the first step you would advise for them?

I’m going to go back to my own situation here for a second. It’s going to be completely on a tangent, but it’ll make sense. I’m on a juice fast right now. I’m making an effort to lose weight going in the new year, like a lot of people do. There’s two things in the new year you want to fix: your weight and your finances.

So every year, the first week of January, I do a juice fast. It starts my year off energized. I’m seven days into my juice fast; I started it early. So I feel amazing right now. But what’s the first thing I did? I stepped on my scale. My scale, I was at 150 pounds, which is not—155 pounds. And what I should be, Baker, is at 140. That’s my ideal weight.

So I know—Here, I step on the scale, I look down, I get depressed. I know I’m fat, for how I should be. And my goal is to get down to 140. Now I’m going to relate this to losing your debt. What’s the first thing you need to do? You need to step on the debt scale.

When people say to me, “David, I’m in debt. What should I pay off first?” How much do you owe, and who do you owe it to, and what does it cost? Every single time I’m out, I’m brought in to do TV shows and makeover shows—whether it’s Oprah, The Today Show, all these different TV shows—when I’m brought into people’s homes to do a financial makeover and they tell me what they owe, they’re always wrong.

In other words, I sit down and I go through with them—In many cases, I’ve gone into homes where—I did an Oprah show, the person, I was told going into their house they had $43,000 in debt. And when I totaled it up, they had over $90,000 in debt.

So the first step is, you step on the debt scale, and you look at “How much do I really owe? Who do I owe it to?” You list all your debt down. You look at the interest rate. And you have to do that first. That’s where you start, knowing exactly what you owe and how much it’s costing you. And then you start figuring out what order to pay it off in.

Exactly. That’s a great transition because I wanted to ask you—This is another interesting part. And I recognized this method, because I’m familiar with some of your past work as well. In the order to pay down debt.

Courtney and I, when we paid down our debt, we started with just the most emotional debt first. We didn’t use a given system. It just made sense to us and we went with that. And you have peers and colleagues that suggest anything from highest interest to lowest balance payment.

But you have a unique—I think it’s the method that you call the DOLP method, if I’m pronouncing that right. What is the DOLP method, and why is it beneficial for people to use that when starting to pay down their debt?

Super-simple. DOLP, first of all, it stands for done on last payment. I used to call it dead on last payment. Then my readers came back to me and said, “Yeah, but now that I’m debt-free, I don’t want to be dead.” So changed it to done. I listen to my readers. Just like you listen to readers on your blog, and so I changed it. So we call it done on last payment now.

And what done on last payment does is, it’s really simple. You list all your debt. I’ve got a little form you figure out. You take your debt, whatever it is, and you divide it by your minimum payments. And what that does is tells you how many payments it will take you to pay off that particular debt.

As an example, if someone’s got $500 on a Visa credit card, their minimum payment’s $50, they divide $50 by $500 and they find out it’s going to take 10 payments to pay it off. All DOLP does is it shows you which debt you have. It’s usually credit cards, but which debt you have, which will be the fastest you can pay off quickest.

What it does is it gives you the list and prioritizes it, so you know, this is my first, second, third, fourth, fifth debt. And the reason that’s so important is, what I teach is this. You make minimum payments on every debt, and you add all the extra money you can, then, to the number one DOLP category, which is the card or debt you can pay off the fastest.

Once that’s paid off, then you go to the next one, and you apply that money to the next one. Now, some people call this the snowball approach. Dave Ramsey calls it the snowball approach. Somebody was talking about that yesterday. It’s similar. It’s just a mathematical formula.

And the reason I teach it this way is that I don’t believe you should focus on highest interest rates first. I think the debt really is very much an emotional issue, and you need to see yourself make progress. So if someone’s got 10 credit cards, as an example, using this system, they quickly reduce the number of cards they have. So they see themselves making progress, they’ll have less chances for late fees or over the limit fees on those small cards.

But it’s that progress factor. “Wow, I can’t believe it! I actually got rid of one or two or three cards.” And that keeps them motivated to keep going.

And of course, they can more easily grasp their financial situation. Those people that think they have $43,000 and have $90,000 can see it when they have less accounts, they can see and feel and grasp it, which is an awesome way to pay down your debt there.

And we’re going to move on – I haven’t got a chance to fully use the tool, but you’re a big fan of Debt Wise, which is a new online tool. What I wanted to know—and you could even sell me on this, ‘cause I still need to go give it a spin, ‘cause it looks cool. What features of Debt Wise do you enjoy? Or I guess, what features excite you the most?

Here’s what happened. I’ve been teaching DOLP, this system, for over a decade. And as you know—I just saw your whole Unautomate Your Way to Wealth—As you know, I’ve written a book called The Automatic Millionaire. And what I’ve always taught people is, the more you can automate your finances, for most people, it’s easier because you don’t need discipline. And the problem with my DOLP system, the challenge, is that it’s manual. People have to write it all out, and then every month they need to go back and follow up. And they need to update their DOLP form.

And it’s amazing, because people have actually sent me, Baker—someone, we just did an interview for an AOL podcast. This woman, Genevieve, sent me all of her DOLP statistics going back to June of 2005. She’s got a DOLP team at work, and she had five years of data on her DOLP form.

Well, about a year and a half ago, I saw a banner ad for this product called Debt Wise. And I clicked on this banner ad and I said, “Oh my goodness. Who are these people? They’ve copied my DOLP system and they made it automatic.”

You call your lawyer?

I started going, “What is this tool?” Because how can they make paying your debt down automatic? As I clicked into the tool and went to see who the parent company was, the parent company was Equifax. And as I started playing with the tool, what I realized was, only a company like Equifax could do this, ‘cause they’re one of only three credit bureaus.

What Equifax does is, now with Debt Wise.com—Sorry, let me just shut that off for a sec. Take that in another room. We’re at my home right now in New York, as the phone’s ringing. What Debt Wise does is, when you go in to DebtWise.com and you put your information in, because Equifax is a credit bureau, they have all of your debt. They know what you owe.

So in seconds, Debt Wise pulls your debt, like a DOLP form and sticks it online, on a dashboard, and shows you: here’s all your debt, here’s what you owe, it’s your debt scale. It’s all automated, and it shows you—instead of you doing the math, it does the math for you and says, “Here’s your first priority debt. This is the one you should pay off first. This is the one you should pay off second, third, fourth, etc.”

And then every time you make a payment, because it’s being pulled off your credit file, they’re able to update it. So it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a tool that’s completely automated. For instance, Mint.com is a tool I’ve talked about in the past I like. It’s free, but you have to pull all of your data into Mint.com. Whereas with Debt Wise, there’s no data to pull. It’s pulled off your credit file. Then you can also add debts if Equifax doesn’t know about it.

I saw this tool, reached out to Equifax, said, “I can make this tool better. You need me on the tool. You need videos. You need more teaching tools. And let’s partner together.” And that’s basically what we did. I integrated it into the book, and in Debt Free for Life, what happens is first I talk about DOLP.

And I say, “But if you want an automated system, here’s Debt Wise,” and then we give you a free month trial of Debt Wise. It’s a paid service. It’s $14.95 a month. I think it’s just seriously the best deal I’ve ever seen on a debt reduction tool. It’s cheaper than going anywhere. It’s cheaper than going to debt consolidation. It’s even cheaper than going to a nonprofit credit counselor.

So for those who want to do it themselves, I think it’s the ultimate tool to get out of debt.

Absolutely. And your team, I’m assuming the team at Equifax has sent over another free month link as well. I’ll put that in the comments, so anyone that’s interested in trying that out, they can get a free month with your book and I think they’ll have a free month here below this video, so people can try that out.

That sort of wraps up the question I had. But I try to end every interview with asking if the interviewee has any questions for the readers of this site. And obviously you know how the websites work.

We can ask the question. A lot of times, we get really great feedback from the community here at Man vs. Debt. So I guess in closing, do you have a question for the Man vs. Debt readers that you would like to pose to the readers?

Yeah, I do. And you know what? Let me ask this question, and I think it would be a great question to ask people who are following you and having a lot of success. And the question is, for those who are following you, who are on the journey to getting out of debt, what was the catalyst that led them to make a decision?

There you go. That’s a good one. Yep.

Because what happens for me—And I’d suggest this to you when people come up to you, by the way, and start thanking you for the work you do—Everywhere I go, people will thank me. They’ll tell me the success that they’ve made and the progress that they’ve made, especially around debt.

I always ask, what made you decide? Because one thing I’ll say—I told everybody the first step was to get on a debt scale and figure out how much debt you have—but the truth is, the first real decision, if you want to get out of debt, is to decide.

There’s a moment in which you make a decision, and my experience with people who truly get out of debt, they don’t make an “I’ll try it decision.” They make a “I’m done. I want my life to go in this direction. I’m making a permanent change until I’ve reached my result.”

Which is exactly what it sounds like you did. And I don’t know—Out of curiosity, what was the catalyst?

The birth of our daughter. Our daughter Milligan, when she was born, the day we came home from the hospital, that was sort of the smack across the face. And we sat down and we just said, “Our life isn’t in line with our values. We make fun of the people who live like we’re living right now.”

And then that was the impetus when we decided that we’re going to sell everything and travel the world, pay off our debt. And over the next year, we did. And that was the start of the site. So I had a very tangible moment, and I’ve very interested to hear other people’s as well.

Awesome. Well listen, congratulations to you. I think you’re a fresh voice in personal finance, which—

Thank you.

Which we need.

Thank you very much. And I look up to what you’ve able to do and all the people you’ve been able to help. And I appreciate you taking a slice out of your day to join me today.

My pleasure. God bless. You have a great day, and good luck with everything. Have a fun trip.

We will. Thanks, David. We appreciate it.

Take care. Bye-bye.

Win a free hard-copy of David Bach’s “Debt Free for Life”!

David and his team have also given me two books to giveaway to the Man Vs. Debt community today!

There are two ways to get the book:

First, answer David’s question in the comments below.  He asked:

What was the catalyst for you to start your journey out of debt?

Answer that below, and I’ll randomize a winner on Monday morning (10th). There’s no need to do anything else!

For the second book, I’ll send a special link to those that subscribe to e-mail updates of the blog next week. I’ll randomize a winner from those who click on the link. This is a special way I can reward those who take the time to subscribe and read the email updates.

If you’d like to get those updates (and the link), you can sign up in the sidebar or below:

Thanks again to David Bach and his team!

I enjoyed the interview with David. You can find more information on David’s book and products on his website, FinishRich.com. Also, here’s the link for a free one-month trial of DebtWise (which David recommends in his book).

Let me know below what inspired you to get out of debt!

A year and a half ago, leading up to and continuing through our travels overseas, Courtney and I began publicly tracking every item we own.

I’ve talked in length how the exercise helped raise our consciousness and kept us accountable. It really does make us more aware of what we are buying, consuming, and using – which I think is a great thing!

What I haven’t spent much time talking about is how I got the idea to start. When we started doing this there was only one other person (who I saw) who was doing something similar online…

His name was Dave Bruno. His experiment was called “The 100 Thing Challenge“.

Through finding Dave and following his journey, I became inspired to do the same for Courtney, Milligan, and me.

Dave’s experiment officially lasted one year in length, but he found the benefits to last far beyond the “end” of the challenge. He’s spent the last year turning his experience and story into a book – which comes out today!

Dave was nice enough to send me a review copy AND jump on Skype for an 18 minute video interview. Frankly, it was a really fun interview to conduct – as Dave and I seem very similar in our beliefs and values (plus he gives great answers).

[Can't see the video above?  Click here to view the video in your browser.]

As, I said above – I really enjoyed this interview. For those of you that can’t watch it, I’ve included the full transcript below.

Hey everyone. It’s Baker from Man vs. Debt. And today I’m joined with Dave Bruno, which is a special guest for me because Dave’s blog, which is guynameddave.com, was one of the first sites that I ever saw—was the first site I ever saw to track possessions.

And many Man vs. Debt fans will know we’ve been doing this since we started selling our stuff almost a year and a half ago, two years ago now. But Dave was actually the first person that I saw doing this and was the inspiration for me to make my own list.

So it’s fun to have Dave on, who is the author of The 100 Thing Challenge, which is what he called his tracking on his blog, and it is now a book. So Dave, welcome. Thanks for joining us today.

Thanks a lot, Baker. I’m really happy to be here.

No problem. And I wanted to ask you a few questions about anti-consumerism, minimalism. Just the atmosphere that we’re in today. And the first thing, I just want to know, what’s the bird’s eye view of The 100 Thing Challenge? What’s it about?

Yeah. 100 Thing Challenge is not so much about owning 100 things as it is about breaking free from what I call American-style consumerism which is just this notion that we always have to get more stuff to be satisfied.

And so really the 100 Thing Challenge is crafted around forming new habits and breaking free from this cycle and no longer participating in this get, get, get kind of attitude. And really just changing behaviors.

That’s awesome. And obviously, anyone who’s been around Man vs. Debt for awhile can tell why I’m such a fan of the message and the book. But I want to get your personal story on this. So how did this start for you? Where did the book come from? Or how did your challenge get started?

Yeah, the challenge started… I had been blogging for awhile, kind of an entrepreneurial guy, doing online stuff, having my own business. I work in marketing online now too. But I’d been blogging on the side and specifically talking about consumerism.

I had an old blog called Stuck in Stuff, which kind of is a term a lot of people can resonate with. They feel stuck in their stuff. And one day, summer a couple years ago, we were cleaning up and we were going around our house.

And here I am, this guy talking about consumerism and how we should avoid it, and the house was just like—you know, we had just cleaned it up, and it was still messy and whatnot. And so it just kind of—I think it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, right? I just sort of snapped one day and it was very spontaneous at that point, once I got to that point.

And I wrote on my blog, “I’m going to do the 100 Thing Challenge” and then one thing led to the other. A lot of people started paying attention to what that was.

That’s right. It sort of blew up, I guess is the polite way of saying that.

Viral or whatever.

Exactly. And I can really relate to that message, because we’ve had the same epiphanies back and forth. When we decided to sell our stuff, it was very—There was no intentions. We just wanted to get rid of our stuff. It was that same sort of breaking point.

And then when we came home from traveling, we experienced a sort of pull of consumerism that I talked about the blog. As in, I talked about all this stuff, and how cool we are, traveling with no things. And then as soon as we get back in the culture, we start expanding. And just like you, we looked around and saw that sort of expansion.

I’m going to ask you the common question, the blatant one. You probably get it all the time. Why 100? So first of all, what’s the significance of that number for you? And second of all, why do you think that—I believe that number has helped the message spread. I’m interested in your opinion on whether that number has been helpful or not.

No, I totally think you’re right that the number has been helpful. I didn’t think it through, so I’ll answer that second question first.

I didn’t think it through and think to myself strategically, “What number is going to be the most effective for people to pay attention to.” But I think, just for some reason, 100, it’s a nice round number, you know. $100 bill, you just think of 100 as a nice, simple number, to do math or whatever, whatever the case may be.

For myself, what I did was, that day that I freaked out, I said, “I need to just get down to some number.” So truly not strategically, in terms of what would be most popular, I just did a quick inventory of my stuff.

And I realized if I did the 50 thing challenge, I wasn’t going to be able to quite pull it off. I’d basically have enough clothes, but I wouldn’t be able to keep my camping gear, as an example. And if I did the 150 thing challenge, it would just be too easy. It really wouldn’t feel like I was pushing myself.

So I could’ve come up with 90 or 110 or something like that. But it just seemed like, why not round it to 100.

And I guess the good point there is, you picked a number that psychologically worked for you. Why is that a surprise? It’s no surprise that other people can relate to that number as well.

Right, and I think the thing is too—And I make mention of this in the book, and when I talk to people. I don’t think the goal is to maybe own a certain number of things for a lifetime or whatever. But the main issue is to try to break habits. And 100 is, for most middle-class folks in the United States, that’s kind of pushing it.

Absolutely. It’s really pushing it. Again, you’re being really light on that. It’s really pushing it for a lot of the people that I talk to. And I think exactly what you said, for us it was about awareness. When we first created that list, it was the awareness and the consciousness that allowed us to be like, “Holy cow. We really do have a boatload of stuff.” And that was more beneficial than any secret number, having any special number that grants powers or anything.

That’s a good point. When you start really paying attention and counting, you think, “I don’t have that much stuff.” And whoa, 10, 20, 30, keeps going.

Exactly. I want to transition into some tips. You’ve researched this. You’ve been doing this for a couple years. I consider you an expert. What are your top three suggestions? If I brought you a new person and said, “Here’s my brother.” What would be your three suggestions for him to get started, just in the movement or shift away from consumerism?

Yeah, absolutely. So I think the thing I always tell people is, start with your clothes. ‘Cause all of us have more clothes than we need, and even want, you know what I mean? It’s like you always have that stuff that you’re just like, “Why am I still holding on to this?” kind of thing. So the reason I say that is it’s a quick victory.

You can go, maybe in one week, and pick out 40 clothing items, maybe 50 clothing items that you’re going to keep. And even if you don’t get rid of all that other stuff, just put it away for awhile and within a couple of months, you’re like, “Wow, I can actually live really comfortably and feel like I’m not living like somebody who is impoverished, or something, a slob, living with 50 clothes.” So it’s a quick victory, and kind of get you motivated and jazzed up to do other things. So definitely start out with the clothes for sure.

Just really practical stuff. Just got to stay away from the mall. In fact, I was just reading a couple of articles this week in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. They put so much—advertisers and marketers put so much money into stimulating you and getting you interested in spending money.

And that’s one of the things I’ve really learned. It’s so easy to acquire something, to spend $10, $20, $50 in our culture. And it’s really hard to get rid of stuff. So if you put yourself in that situation where you’re in the spot where you can easily pick up something, it’s—you’re just not going to ever ultimately get the upper hand on this thing.

And on that note, I feel like a lot of people will come and say, “It doesn’t affect me. Advertising doesn’t affect me. Commercials don’t affect me. Or being in the mall doesn’t affect me.” And it just, I can’t believe it. I’m sorry, I can believe a lot of things. I’m a big thinker, but I know how much money they pump into that. I know the psychology, and you can’t put yourself in those situations, no matter how steadfast you are in your values. It does affect us.

Oh, totally. And I consider myself obviously minimalist. I’ve changed my habits. I don’t—Even though the official 100 Thing Challenge has been over for a year now, I still have about 100 things. I think last count was 96 or something like that. But hey, I don’t browse the Patagonia catalog a lot, or go into the Patagonia store. I just don’t spend a lot of time looking at—Or going to the REI. Going when I need something, but I’m not going to just go in there and browse around, ‘cause I know that—

Don’t walk into the Apple store.

Don’t touch the new Air.

Do you have a third tip? I think I interrupted you on your second one.

Yeah, no, that’s OK. Well, and I think this one’s a little bit more radical, and it might not seem totally related to what we’re talking about here. But I do always kind of mention to people, if you’ve got the guts to do it, ditch the TV.

‘Cause I just think the TV—not only the advertising, but a lot of the shows are actually built in. They make their money by throwing in product placements on the TV as well. You can still watch a lot of show on your computer, but you’re a lot more intentional when you do that. Whereas you’re not just flipping on the TV and just sitting there for an hour or two.

And we haven’t had a TV in our house for almost 15 years now, and we have a lot of fun and keep up on some shows through online watching and stuff like that. But yeah, that’s going to be a big mind change, because it’s hard to combat it when you’re constantly, constantly getting those things pitched at you. And they all look so cool, with all the lights and stuff. They film them real neat.

It is true. And I have actually loved that. Of course, traveling we didn’t have a TV. But we recently got rid of our TV that we had when we got back as well. And like you said, it’s a big one for us too. I just really love not having it.

And we watched Modern Family last night, you know? We watch it on the computer and we keep up with it. But like you said, it’s very intentional. We’ll say, “Hey, you want to watch two episodes?” “OK.” Instead of just sitting there. It’s also a great productivity tip, but that’s a whole different thing we won’t get into.

I want to talk to you about, the next question I guess is, what was the hardest part? And this is a question I get a lot personally, so I want to hear how you relate to this. For you, what was the hardest part of the entire challenge or process for you?

Well, I think I already made mention of an aspect of this, in that our culture—again, what I call American-style consumerism—it is just set up in a way where it’s very efficient to get stuff, and it’s very inefficient, very difficult to get rid of stuff.

Unless you’re just willing to contribute your electronic devices to landfills, which you don’t feel good about doing, right? Or you have something that’s valuable that you’ve picked up but you realize you don’t really need anymore. So you have some desire to either give it to somebody else through a sale, or even giving it to somebody.

There were things that were really valuable that I couldn’t give away. People were like, “I don’t need that. I’ve already got 10 of those,” or whatever. So I think that’s a really difficult part, is once you’ve been living in this American-style consumerism habit, become a practitioner of getting stuff, it’s really hard to shift gears then and start having stuff primarily leaving your possession.

And that’s really difficult, so I would just say that it wears down on you, and if you decide to go this route and try to downsize, you really have to have some staying power. And be willing to make it past the first weekend or two, when you’re just kind of purging. That’s a little bit easier than the long haul.

Yeah. It’s a great tip and it’s just like any long-term positive change, like dieting or increasing income or budgeting or anything. You have to—There’s always that challenge. How do you use the motivation? Someone’s going to read The 100 Thing Challenge, they’re going to put it down, they’re going to be ready to go.

And you want people to be able to—when you give them motivation, you want them to be able to take advantage of it while still making it last long. And I think that’s a perfect way of saying one of the most difficult parts is making it long-term.

Yeah, and that’s—I’ve thought about this a lot, and I actually went back and forth a little bit with my publisher and stuff. We were talking about whether we should make this thing more practical, or a little bit more memoir, which it is. And hopefully inspirational. And I feel like there’s some practical aspects to my book.

Overall though, and what people have told me is, it’s kind of a page-turner. They get inspired by reading it. And I think that’s more important.

Again, get rid of those clothes; that’s a quick victory. But then a lot of the other stuff is going to be long-term change, and that just doesn’t happen overnight.

Yeah, it’s about awareness. I completely agree with you. I’ve read a lot of books that are both. My favorite books among all of them are ones that have shifted a big way that I think. And when I want more resources—when I want to know how to eBay, I’ve got a guy. You can go find sources for things like that. But rather than—I don’t need another person to tell me how to use eBay. What I need is more inspiration to live the lifestyle, and then I can go out and find the exact tools.

Yeah, and hopefully it still offers some good anecdotes for folks, and some things people can try out.

Absolutely. That’s why your story has been so powerful, that’s what drew me in, is your personal challenge, right? That’s how I found you whenever, a year and a half, two years ago, I forget exactly when it was. But that’s what I liked about it, and so that’s what—And of course, that’s what people like about Man vs. Debt, or at least what they tell me. The story, that’s what helps people resonate.

So this is a big question. We’re sort of starting to wrap up here, so maybe this is the last question. What’s the number one way that the challenge, or this process, has positively affected your life? So if you had to choose one, what’s the number one way? ‘Cause if you’re like me, there’s a bunch, but I want one. I want the big one.

Yeah. You know, I think the number one way the challenge has affected my life—and I didn’t actually think this was going to happen when I started it—is just a complete, complete lifestyle and habit change. And so again, I was really shocked.

I think I even maybe blogged about this when the official challenge, the year that I was going to live with 100 things was coming up. I was like, “Well, probably going to be up to about 125 pretty quick,” by that December or January, a month or two after the challenge. And here it is, over a year after the challenge has officially ended, and I think I still, like I said, am at about 96 things or whatever.

And the reality is that, even though I—what I mentioned before, stay away from stores—I can walk into stores, like REI, whatever, and not walk away having purchased $50 worth of stuff, or $100, $500, whatever the case may be. It just has really become a new habit, and a new way of approaching consumption.

And what that does then is, it takes the desire to get stuff out of the equation. And I’ve got the energy and interest in contributing my own things, whether it be my writing and books, whatever, to the world.

To the movement. To the lifestyle. That’s great. And I’ll play off of that a little bit and say it gave us a lot of security. The exact same thing you thought when I thought we were going to sell and travel. I thought once we got back it would completely change. And we did have a sort of regression, I guess you would call it. But I’m just completely a different person. Just how I view things, what I want.

Courtney will bring home something and put it—I’m just like, “I don’t want that around me right now.” It does fundamentally change you, so I’m glad you brought that point. And I resonate with that.

I think, you know, it—And for a lot of us, again, we have a very immediate culture, whether it be the reality TV world or just the fact we can go out and get something right away. So again, that long-term change, it’s a bit surprising ‘cause I think so often we have a weekend inspiration, and then it fades away, whether it’s exercise or diet or whatever the case may be. So then to actually see this thing change and really realize, “Wow, I’m not motivated, I’m not doing these things anymore,” it’s pretty awesome.

Yeah. So if you’re looking for long-term change, you check out The 100 Thing Challenge. That’s the—

Yeah, or Man vs. Debt.

But seriously, I’m a big fan of yours. The book is The 100 Thing Challenge, so of course there will be links below and the transcription for audience members. But you can also check it out at guynameddave.com, and then in the sidebar, 100 Thing Challenge. Or just go to 100ThingChallenge.com and it directs you. Did I get that right?

Exactly.

Wow.

That’s right.

And the last thing I want to do, wrap up, is a question for the readers. I like to do this with people that I get to interview. So do you have a question for the Man vs. Debt readers that you’d like to know?

Yeah, absolutely. And this is something where, actually an extension of my personal life of The 100 Thing Challenge, because it was really focused primarily on stuff, like physical, material things. And not so much on financial and debt. We don’t have a ton of debt, but we’ve had a little bit over time.

So I would just be really interested to hear from the Man vs. Debt readers how much tackling debt first has influenced consumption habits.

Because it seems to me you might be able to go at this thing two different routes, right? And say, “I’m going to get my financial house in order,” and all of the sudden, things don’t look as attractive at the mall and whatnot. So I’m interested to hear if people have kind of come into a life of minimalism through first attacking good financial stewardship.

Sure, and it’s a good point. They go hand in hand. Obviously went hand in hand very much so in our lives. So for readers, did that help you? Did you come into it first through finances? Did you start by just getting rid of your stuff? Did that help your finances? I’m actually interested in that. It’s a great question, Dave. Thank you so much for being our guest. And best of luck with the book.

Thank you.

*****

Now it’s your turn to speak up!

Dave wants to know:

What came first paying off debt or selling your crap?

How did you journey to pay down your debt help motivate you to purge some of your possessions – and vice versa?

It’s a great questions and I look forward to reading your responses! If you want to check out Dave’s book – here’s the link.

Stay tuned Thursday for the longest post in MvD history – yes, for real.

If you enjoyed the interview, please click “Like” below:

On Monday, I announced that – starting in early January – Courtney, Milligan, and I would be packing everything we own into an RV for a cross-country tour of the U.S.

I also briefly mentioned that we still had a *lot* to do, that we had a company volunteer to wrap our vehicle in a special design, and that I was considering allowing “sponsors” on this site for the first time ever.

The whole goal in this trip is to meet fun people, spread great messages, see fantastic places, and grow our community here. While we are primarily doing this for personal exploration, I also fully realize that there are benefits and opportunities that come along with running this site as well.

In other words, I’m well aware that touring in an RV can help grow this site and my business – in addition to allowing us personal exploration, freedom, and growth. Rather than shy away from this… I embrace it.

…and I need your help!

Creative “Wrapping” Ideas…

One of the toughest decisions (which is also extremely time-sensitive) is how to wrap the RV. We’ve had a company volunteer to do this for us – an amazing offer – but now we have to consider what how we want it to look (and what we want it to say).

For those of you that don’t know what a wrap is, here are a few examples (not necessarily good examples):

I’ll be leveraging the fantastic Dustin from IvyLime Designs for this process, but I need to give some sort of general direction. I know 90% of you are more creative when it comes to design than me, so I need your help!

Here’s an outline of my first ideas:

• A light color – potentially even a yellow-ish tint, that’ll stand out a bit (no neons) – but allow text or sponsors to be clearly seen/read.
• The back would likely be reserved for Man Vs. Debt stuff – potentially even the site banner across the top back. It would also likely mention Facebook.com/ManVsDebt and Twitter.com/ManVsDebt on the back. (Note: We’ll be pulling the Jeep most of the time, so that’ll block a bit of the lower portion of the back).
• I’m envisioning the left side be reserved for 4-5 key partners/sponsors. More information on this later.
• The front would likely be a solid color – potentially with just www.ManVsDebt.com or our tagline above the cab (the part that sticks out). Not sure.
• The right side of the RV (where the door is located) I have a creative idea of my own. I’d like for it to have a surface that would allow people that we meet along the way to be able to sign it in some way. I’m not sure how this would work chemically (what the surface and marker would need to be made of for it to REALLY be permanent – weather pending)… but I really like the idea of finding a way for every day people we meet to be involved.

In other words, I don’t want it to just be about MvD or just about sponsors/partners – I want a way for everyone we meet to have a little part in it (if they so wish).

Do you know of any system that could allow me to have people sign the side (and stay on there in wind, rain, sleet, etc…)? I’m stumped a bit, but know it’s possible.

While I have a general outline of what I may want – the floor is completely open. I’m hoping with feedback from you guys I may find new ideas or refine these ones!

Have any fun, creative, or mind-blowing ideas for the wrap?

Sponsor packages…

I’ve gone back and forth on the idea of having sponsors as part of the trip. It’s popular to do with trips or events of this nature – but I’ve never had advertising and/or sponsorships of any kind on anything MvD.

That said, I do think there is a happy medium – and I’m going to see if I can find it.

For the first time, I’m going to attempt to partner with a few businesses and start-ups on this trip. But I’ll need your help brainstorming up people to approach. Here are my ground rules:

1. The company or business has to align with our values and the values of the community. There are enough amazing companies that do this right, we don’t need or want any that don’t.
2. The product or service they offer has to be something the Courtney, Milli, or I would regularly use and love. If we won’t use it, we won’t promote it. Period.
3. I’d strongly prefer to have 4-5 larger, premium sponsors than a dozen smaller ones. This allows us to really focus on showing appreciation for the sponsors and will ensure that readers, viewers, etc… aren’t overwhelmed by a billion different logos, sponsors, etc…
4. Lastly, I’m up for working with even just one large, exclusive sponsor – as a co-branding effort – if they exceptionally met and exceeded #1 and #2 (there are only a handful of companies I’d consider this with).

I believe there are a ton of great startups and companies that would be a genuine fit for this – and that we’d love to partner with.

I’m considering a 6-month package that will include the following:

• A 300 x 100 graphic (approved by me) in the sidebar of Man Vs. Debt. It will be below the fold – a “RV Road Trip Partners” section will replace the “Featured Product I Love” that is currently there. This will, of course, be shown on the main page, every post, and every page on the blog.
• Direct text mentions (with link) in each of the travel update posts. There will be a “These partners who help make this trip possible:” link at the bottom of travel update posts.
• A short plug in the new video intro for all travel update videos – similar to the short intro video I have now for videos – except featuring the 4-5 premium sponsors. Will likely be 5 seconds long.
• An approved logo with website information on the RV itself. Built-in as part of the wrap and large enough for people to clearly see. Likely on the left side (the one people pass on the road).

I’m also open for ideas on this package. Many of you also run websites, businesses, and/or creative teams… what am I missing? Are there more ways I can add value to partners AND the community?

If you are a company who thinks this would be beneficial, email: Baker (at) ManVsDebt.com

Sample Companies/Challenges I’d Partner With…

Once again, I’m interested in creative ideas and or feedback. While many of these premium sponsors will be charged premium rates… I’m also looking for creative ideas and challenges that aren’t necessarily revenue-generating.

For example, I want to pitch Scottevest (a company that makes fantastic travel clothing) on not only being a sponsor, but also partnering on a unique challenge. If they send me enough diversity of clothing, I’ll wear only their clothing 95% of the time for the trip. Obviously, we’d have to iron out the specifics of the “challenge”, but it’s these sort of things that get my blood flowing.

Scott, if you are reading this – email me.  ;-)

If Scottevest turns me down, maybe I could approach Columbia or Northface (as examples) for similar fun challenges.

Or maybe I partner with Mint.com or Pocketsmith to track the expenses of the trip with their platforms and share that on a monthly basis.

Other potential Personal Finance companies (in a different challenge) I may approach could be Perkstreet, SmartyPig, and ING Direct.

Of course, there are Travel-based tools and resources such as World Nomads, Good Sam, and various Camping Stores around the U.S.

I also think it could be fun to get a company like Foursquare, GoWalla, or Facebook Places to partner on a cool challenge where we would “check-in” to all the places that we go (and use them to organize the meetups, etc…).

I also like a couple misc. start-ups like DailyBurn, Daily Booth… or even conference like SxSw and Blogworld (I’m already working with the WDS team for June).  :-)

Maybe I should also shoot high for someplace like Wal-Mart (very RV friendly), Starbucks, or Apple?

As you can see, the sky is the limit. As long as a company or partner meets my ground rules – and is willing to get creative with a challenge – I’d love to explore the possibilities!

Keep me heading in the right direction! What other fun companies would be a good fit for me to approach?

Can you think of any other “challenges” for me to undertake?

I need your help!

Remember, while a couple of the premium sponsors would be paid spots – I’m not only interested in money. I’m up for all sorts of creative ideas!

What do you think?

What are your best ideas that I can steal?

It’s a rare, but fun giveaway day here at Man Vs. Debt!

I’ve done these every now and then, but nothing like you’ll find today… Today I’m giving away the remaining books in my own collection – all of them.

And they are good ones, too.

There are 15 different real-life, tree-killin’, bonafide book-books.

I’m going to pick one winner to get them ALL. That’s right, I’m going to personally pack and ship all of them to a single lucky winner. Whoo-hoo!

There are several ways to enter, which you can read about my scrolling down below. Each entry is weighed the same, but you’ll get chances to enter up to four times.  :-)

I’ll pick a winner at 8:00 am EST on Dec. 14th and post the update here.

UPDATE: A winner has been selected! See the video below for the process of selecting a winner:

First, though… the awesome line-up:

What You Win: All 15 Books…

Never Get A Real Job by Scott Gerber

The book is hot of the press and getting a lot of buzz in entrepreneur and blogging circles. I’m new to Scott, but I love his straight-forward, no nonsense advice and approach. The book’s subtitle is awesome: How to Dump your Boss, Build a Business, and Not Go Broke.

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau

You all know how big of a fan I am of Chris Guillebeau. I have one non-personal copy of Chris’ blockbuster book left and I’m throwing it in. Chris and his writing have had a more positive impact on my business and life than any other source. Plus, we are featured in Chapter 8!  :-)

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Tony is the guy behind the amazing company Zappos, which I got to tour when I was in Las Vegas for BlogWorld. The company and it’s people have amazing stories and are world-renowned for their unbelievable customer services (think ordering pizzas and sending flowers to people… crazy stuff).

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin is one of those people you always hear good thing about – in fact, I’ve never heard anything that wasn’t raving about her! We’ve only met once – for about 3 seconds – thanks to Glen Stansberry, however I’m plotting behind the scenes to meet her soon (no, not stalking… planning…). Did I mention the book is a NYT Best Seller?

Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland

Erin runs the wildly popular blog Unclutterer and has written this great resource for de-cluttering and organizing. Both the book and her blog was a great resource – not only for us personally – but in helping inspire the guides Sell Your Crap.

eBay for Dummies by Marsha Collier

The title of this book is self-explanatory and along with the book below it were used as research assistants when I was putting together Sell Your Crap. This book is actually very helpful.

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Money with Craigslist by Skip Press

This book was another I got as a reference when compiling Sell Your Crap - however, unlike eBay for Dummies – I found this little to any help. I wasn’t really impressed at all and wasn’t able to use almost any to help my purposes. Free is free, though – and it may be able to assist you better.

Privacy Means Profit by John D. Sileo

This was a book I was sent for free that I actually held onto to read myself. I never got the time to dig in, but it looks very compelling. It appears to be a very factual and action based book on how to prevent and deal with identity theft – a topic we can all use a little knowledge on.

Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D. Roth

Finally back to a book I do love and adore!  :-)  J.D. is the founder and editor of the insanely huge blog Get Rich Slowly. Many of you knew I staff wrote for GRS for a year recently. If there was one person I would turn to for well-rounded personal finance advice myself – it would be J.D. – no joke, he knows his stuff.

Personal Investing: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore

This book is by the same publisher and in the same series as J.D. Roth’s book, however I haven’t dug into this one myself. The great people over at O’Reilly sent it to me. If it’s even close to the caliber of J.D.’s writing, it’ll be a worthy read though!

How to Be Rich and Happy by John P Strelecky and Tim Brownson

This is a book co-written by Tim Brownson, who I occasionally admit in public is a friend – and who may have helped coach me for a period of time.  All kidding aside, Tim is a great guy – and this book is actually signed by John AND Tim (with a message to me). Despite that awesome signature, I know Tim would wan’t me to pass it along so that others could benefit.

The Skinny On: The Art of Persuasion by Jim Randel

The Skinny On book series – which I’ve given away here before – are tiny, quick books that feature stick figure drawings. At first this sounds a little amateur, until you realize the advice and presentation are top-notch. There are no frills, just straight, fun advice on a wide variety of topics. In the case, persuasion!

The Skinny On: Networking by Jim Randel

One of my favorite of all the Skinny On series, this short guide is on networking genuinely!

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Another book in which I’m in love with the subtitle: “Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future”. My mother turned me onto Daniel Pink and his books and I read this one a plane trip. He has a compelling voice and very complete writing skills – reminds me of the few Malcolm Gladwell books I’ve read (which is a huge compliment).

Drive by Daniel Pink

I’m only about half way done with this second Daniel Pink book, but will make a point to finish it by the time I have to send out all these books to the winner. This title focuses all around motivation – a topic I’m really enjoying!

How to Win these 15 Books!…

There are four simple ways to enter to win:

1. Leave a Comment on this post.

As simple as it can get, simply scroll down and leave a comment below. Be sure to include a working email (it’s anonymous).

2. Like Man Vs. Debt on Facebook and leave a comment on a thread there.

Click above to Like Man Vs. Debt on Facebook, then visit the MvD Facebook Page and leave a comment on the official giveaway thread I started.

3. Follow @ManVsDebt on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway.

Follow @ManVsDebt and tweet (or retweet my tweet) about the giveaway. Be sure to include the hashtag below so I can track entries (easiest way: copy and paste this below)…

Baker is giving away 15 popular books for FREE today over @ManVsDebt –> http://bit.ly/dVMXHe #MvDBooks

4. Sign up for email updates – access a special link this Monday.

In this coming Monday’s post to email subscribers there will be a special link inserted at the very top of the email. This won’t be available on the blog or to RSS subscribers (email only). This link will allow you to get one final entry if you are on the list.

You can sign up below to ensure you get it. You’ll also get the Free Email Series “5 Barriers to Freedom… and how to destroy them.”

Big Announcement Coming Monday!

Good luck with the giveaway and stay tuned for a big announcement this coming Monday.

The biggest in well over a year around here (in terms of life changes for us – at least).

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

Hey, everyone!

In case you are new, the first post of every month I take time out to share a transparent glimpse into my business here at Man Vs. Debt.

I share my full income and expenses (along with sales) and talk about issue around what I’m working on. Last week, I talked about learning to leap. This week, I wanted to talk about hitting the ground running (and being a hypocrite).

First, hitting the ground running…

Last month, I talked about how consulting and speaking was a blossoming passion of mine. It’s something that felt right and made logical sense – but I was scared.

I was scared what people would think. I was scared what you would think.

But last month – in that update post – I decided to take two huge leaps. I decided that I was going to move forward with consulting (basically make public what I was already doing for businesses) and I was going to fully commit to a side project called Only72.com.

I’m glad I took the leap.

This past weekend I soft-launched (read: sneakily put up) my consulting page here on the site. Without mentioning it, I’ve already received several emails from potential future clients I had never met before.

And, here’s the thing – I’m no longer scared. My fear has been replaced by confidence. I enjoy consulting and I’m pretty darn good at it.

Actually, I’m really good at it.

Actually, I’m freakin’…. just kidding.

How can you build confidence?  Serious question for you.

It took me way too long. What can you do that’ll start building it – right now?

Moving on…

I talk about personal finance. I encourage people to spend less than they make. I even try to do that myself at times.

I also talk about not buying physical crap. About rejecting consumerism, if you will.

So am I a hypocrite for making a living off a business that sells products?

Or as @ChrisGuillebeau may say:

Interesting point, especially on the heals of my own complaining about Black Friday on Twitter – and then coordinating a massive Cyber Monday sale myself.

Note: For those interested, the Only 72 launch went unbelievably well. No really, hard to believe it happened. I’ll share the income and statistics in depth in my “end of the year” update – it should be interesting to see reactions. Short version: 1900+ copies sold, over $30k to Charity: Water, several dozen affiliates made thousands of dollars, and Karol and I made a (decent amount) after expenses.

It’s year another example of taking a leap when you know something feels right…

Back to Chris Guillebeau and hypocrites…

I’m not sure how to answer Chris’ question. I absolutely abhor Black Friday craziness and stampedes and fights over barbie dolls (happened in neighboring town). I’m going to rant about all of this – and share the thoughts of others on the issue – on Monday in fact.

But do I have any right to abhor that? Isn’t that the same type of buzz I shoot for when I launch a new product or offer a new service?

Yes and no…

Consciously, I will sit here and tell you:

• It’s different because I’m not selling something physical – that adds to clutter.
• It’s different because I’m selling something that’ll let people make money off their old junk.
• It’s different because I’m selling something that’ll help their finances – not hurt it.
• It’s different because people are paying me to help them improve their income streams.
• It’s different because I only tell people not to spend on stuff that doesn’t add value.

But aren’t I just playing a semantics game?  Aren’t these just excuses?

Couldn’t anyone – including Matel – make these same (or similar) claims?

When do we actually cross the line between hero and hypocrite?

Not sure. The internet makes this really blurry at best.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

On that note….

November’s income/expenses…

Net from UYF Sales:  $239.14

• Total Guides Sold (Nov):  19
• Income (less Paypal fees):  $307.14
• Affiliate Payments:  -$68.00

Net from SYC Sales:  $1460.98

• Total Guides Sold (all versions):  39
• Income (less Paypal fees):  $1754.36
• Affiliate Payments:  -$293.38

Additional Income:  $3897.09

• 3-Day Minimalist Sale:  $2440.80
• Freelance Writing:  $1003.64
• Unconventional Guides:  $156.57
• Thesis:  $95.37
• Fire Starter Sessions:  $90.00
• Amazon:  $61.24
• AMfB:  $49.47

Direct Expenses:  -$719.80

• Design work:  -$410
• Aweber:  -$49.00
• Transcription: -$39.96
• GoDaddy:  -$19.89
• E-junkie:  -$10.00
• DropBox:  -$9.99
• VodBurner:  -$9.95

Net (Income – Expenses):  $4877.41

Over the last 9 months of monetization, this brings average to: ~$2350/month

Note:  If you have any questions about the list above, leave them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to clarify them.  :-)

*****

December and beyond…

December is going to be about planning for me. I won’t be doing any major promotions or launches. I’ll be resting for the most part.

Courtney and I are aggressively plotting and planning the next phase of our life – and I’ve been putting off helping with that for too long now.

If we are going to be hitting the road in early January…

Wait did I just say that?

Um…

Well, let’s put it this way. I have a post planned for the 13th with all the juicy details. It takes a lot of planning and coordination – and I want to ensure we get everything lined up before I make any big announcements or changes!  :-)

Until next time…

Xoxoxo,

-Baker

image by JB London