Today is dedicated to some nice unexpected expenses we weren’t planning on.  Mrs. Debtbeater had the luxury of being given an all-expense-paid vacation to the grandparents house across the country with the new baby.  However, I still had to get her to the airport which is a half-day event…and a killer to the gas budget.  Basically, we have another $70 spent as a result of this trip that we never intended on spending.  Just when we thought we were making progress - BAM - a nice little reminder to let you know how much you forget to plan ahead for.

This gives a little heads up to some other expenses unaccounted for this week that’ll happen because of the "free" vacation, but I’ll mention those as they happen.  Time to start shuffling the plan around and make room for it in the budget though!

Today’s Progress:

• Earned - $0
• Spent - $74 (gas & snacks)
• Debt Reduced -$0

Last week was my very first time participating in blog carnivals.  I’ve never done anything like this, but I heard it was a great way to find out who else is out here in the blogosphere in the same niche.  Boy do I have to agree.  There’s so many neat blogs out there that I’d have never found if I hadn’t learned about the carnivals. 

I also think it helped bring some excellent readers to this blog which I think is just awesome.  One main objective with this blog is to become part of the personal finance community on the Internet, so finding others out there doing the same thing and finding people interested in my story at the same time is just as sweet as it gets!

The two carnivals I participated in were the Carnival of Personal Finance and the Festival of Frugality.

The Carnival of Personal Finance #119 was hosted by Blunt Money.  My submission for this carnival was the post on the 5 Immediate Advantages of Making Your First Budget.  Some of the other articles I really enjoyed at this carnival:

• Grad Money Matters - Campaign Against Financial Myths: 82 Myths Busted!
• My Money Blog - What Is Passive Income? Does It Really Exist?
• Millionaire Mommy Next Door - Women, Men, and Money

The 93rd Festival of Frugality was hosted by Money and Values.  My submission for this carnival was the post on Removing Unnecessary Expenses.  Some of the other articles I really enjoyed at this carnival:

• KCLau’s Money Tips - Should you focus on Increasing income or reducing expenses?
• Mortgage Blog - Easy Ways to Save Money
• My Debt Relief Plan - How To Save Thousands When Paying Off Student Loans

Also, a quick thanks to I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… for the link on the budgeting post!  Someone actually put me in their favorites list from my very first carnival!  :-D  How exciting!

So, as posts I write line up with ongoing carnivals I may participate again in the future.  I’m simply overwhelmed by just how much activity is already going on in the blogosphere in this niche.  There’s certainly enough people writing out there to keep someone busy with an interest in this subject.

I see there’s a few other carnivals out there that people participate in on their blogs.  It seems I’ve only really participated in the ones that are more popular and full of participants.  Are there any other really good ones that you like to join in that could be related?  The large audience is nice, but I wouldn’t be opposed to a smaller one with more interaction either.  Drop a note if any of you have any suggestions.