Hey everyone. Big announcement!
As you know, 20somethingfinance is no longer a “youngin”. The blog has been around for almost 5.5 years now.
And over that time, I’ve mostly stuck to a 2-3 posts per week format – focusing on things that are top of mind for me or relevant to all of us.
For the most part, that format has worked pretty well and I’ve found a bit of a comfort zone. But I’m going to reset things and spice it up this summer in a way that I believe will be beneficial for new and long-time readers.
In my 5 and-a-half years of being a personal finance blogger, I’ve learned many tricks, tips, and techniques to lower my cost of living. So much so, that our annual expenses for two adults, 1 dog, and 2 cats are right around $15,000. I’ve got a lot to share, and all of you wonderful readers do as well.
So I wanted to create a theme for an extensive series of posts over the entire summer: “Summer of Saving” (lets get #summerofsaving trending).
Here’s what it’s going to look like:
- 8 main topic categories of savings, each with a two-week focus, June through September
- Each topic area with 6-10 posts that are top of mind for most people (3-5 posts per week)
- All geared to saving you money, in a personally accountable way (more on that in a bit)
I’ve already got 60+ post ideas mapped out. It’s going to be a busy summer…
The posts will have an open format. That is, the goal is to have a conversation, not me giving a be-all, end-all solution for everyone. I’ll get the conversation started, highlight my opinions and internal/external resources, and take polls when appropriate – but from there, I’m going to rely heavily on you to fill in the blanks. I want each post to be a living, breathing resource that people can refer back to after everyone has put in their two-cents.
Why focus on saving? Personal finance really boils down to two themes: income and saving (spending less). Income and our ability to earn more varies dramatically and is highly dependent on others. However, saving money is quite universal and we can all take personal action to save more.
With the collective brain trust of all of the readers here, I’m confident that everyone from personal finance beginners up to the most experienced budget slashing ninjas will benefit.
In a way, it’s going to be back to the basics for new and old readers of this site – with one common goal: SAVING YOU MONEY. And when all is said and done, I want you to keep track of how much you’ve saved. It’ll be a fitness plan, of sorts, and everyone here will be your personal trainer.
I’m going to be working hard, and I want you to chip in too. So here’s how we’re going to do it, together:
- I’ve created a progress sheet for you to make a copy of, record the post you want to take action on, the action you plan to take, and once taken, how much money you saved. This will allow you to track your progress throughout.
- Since this is going to be back to the basics/refresher, invite anyone who you think will benefit to join you. I’m serious – invite anyone and everyone to follow/join and even share your spreadsheet with each other so you can hold each other accountable. Easiest way is to send them this post, and then they can start following through email, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, where I will post all new Summer of Saving articles (and refer back to this post).
- I’ll publish the posts and you add your money saving tips in the comments.
- We all save some serious money and report our savings at the end.
I think this will be hugely beneficial for everyone, but I definitely need the help of all of you along the way in order for us all to get the most from it.
I don’t think anyone has done anything like this, so it should be fun.
Week 1: Grocery/Cooking Savings Week.
Summer of Saving Discussion:
- Are you on board for Summer of Saving?
- What topic categories or specific posts do you hope get covered? Share your ideas in the comments.
- Who are you inviting to join you in the Summer of Saving?
You may want to amend the above. I would assume that your annual expenditures are at $16,000 not monthly.
Ah, yeah, good catch.
You may want to make an important correction here:
So much so, that our monthly expenses for two adults, 1 dog, and 2 cats are less than $16,000.
I believe you mean ANNUAL expenses.
Embarrassing. Yes, I meant annual. =)
As a personal finance professor I find your blog a great resource for my students and have directed them there. Many have become regular followers.
I like your idea of Summer of Savings and would like to see you extend it as part of the ongoing discussion on the blog.
As you say, it’s not how much money you make that counts, it’s how much you save and invest that matters.
Keep up the great work!
Fun idea! I’m in.
The first topic looks good! My experience with it is mainly through preparing all of my meals for the week at one time during the weekend, including snacks and grab-n-go things, so that I don’t need to buy anything else.
I look forward to reading more and to seeing what everyone else’s thoughts are.
This is a great idea. I vote for saving money on vacations. Keep up the good work.
Going to share it with my Mom.
Hopefully both our budgets come down!
I am Jessica’s (above) mom, and I used to be an avid couponer.But I can’t find any stores locally where I currently live that have double coupon days. I still use coupons. And now, our local grocery stores are offering ‘cents off’ gas when you purchase certain products. So I try to find coupons for the items that have cents off and save twice.
Sounds like a great idea! I’m looking forward to it. I would like to learn how to save money on energy costs. I’ve learned a bit about it, but I think that I could be doing more to save us money in this area.
Vacations, definitely! We will be in MI at the end of July – how can we save on hotel bills and car rental?
How about a set about saving money around the house? Maybe DIY projects and simple maintenance tricks, energy savings, ways to furnish on the cheap (or sell things if you have too much stuff), etc. We’ve been doing a lot of household projects recently and it’s amazing how quickly they can add up!
Wow 5.5 years congrats on getting to that phase, always an achievement in a sector that is awash with financial blogs.
Great idea about the summer of saving theme :)
Looking forward to this series!
Sounds like a neat new format. Looks like this will be interesting. I will keep checking in to see how it evolves.
Good idea! How about a post on essential homeowner maintenance tasks that can help prevent costly repairs/purchases down the road?
Looks like you have a busy summer ahead of you! You got it all planned out so I can wait until it gets started. Nothing I can think of right now that I would like to learn more about and discuss but I am on board for the Summer of Saving!
Very excited to kick off my Summer of Savings! I think I’ll enlist the spouse and as many family and friends as I can!
I’m always in for ways to lower my expenses, so I’m definitely in for the summer of savings!