Military Finance Network

Welcome to the July 4, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Financial Goals - Financial Freedom Edition. This edition is focused on declaring your goal for financial freedom - be it freedom from debt, avoiding credit card use, or being able to retire.

On my other website, Cash Money Life, I wrote about Defining Financial Freedom. To me, financial freedom means being able to work on my own terms doing something I enjoy and appreciate, instead of working for a boss in a job I need to work because I have no other choice (at least financially). Financial freedom has a different meaning to everyone, so think about what it means to you and work toward it!

As today is the Fourth of July, I thought it appropriate to select those who wrote a Declaration of Financial Independence as the editor’s choice selections. I hope you enjoy reading these, and are inspired by the goals and progress of others!

Financial Declarations of Independence

These personal Declarations of Independence are a great first step toward becoming financially free. Writing down your goal, or at least defining it, is a great step toward accomplishing financial freedom.

• Mrs. Micah shares her article, What Financial Independence Means to Me. Mrs. Micah also defines financial freedom as not having to work miserable, dead end jobs because she needs the money, but rather being able to choose her work.
• Twinsmom presents Financial Independence Day posted at Blessed by Twins. Her goal is to pay off her loans and establish an emergency fund. Awesome goal, Twinsmom!
• JvW shares her article, Independence Day Challenge Complete! (Mostly) posted at The Good Life on a Budget. At the beginning of June she set a goal to be financially free from one credit card by Independence Day - and she achieved her goal with a week to spare. Congrats!
• Pamela Grundy from Personal Finance Analyst wrote about declaring financial independence in hard times. The economy is difficult right now, but there are things we can all do to make do and even thrive. Read what Pamela is doing.
• MIT Beta at Don’t Feed the Alligators declared Financial Independence Day by stating his goal of financial independence. Like me,he wants to be free from working for a boss.

These are not personal declarations of Financial Independence, but can help you define what that means to you.

• Free From Broke asks what Financial Independence means to you in his post, Independence Day - What Does It Mean To You?
• Phil B. asks What is Rich? at Phil for Humanity. Phil points out that Almost everyone has a different definition of being rich.

More Financial and Goal Related Articles

The following articles all have one thing in common: they are meant to teach and inspire people to achieve their goals. You gotta love that!

Career

• Dorian Wales presents The Personal Financier: Actively Manage Your Career to Stay On Top of Your Game posted at The Personal Financier, saying, “Frightening statistics show how many of us lack active control of our careers. I offer these focal points to actively managing our careers.”

Debt Reduction

• paidtwice presents A Year Of Debt Reduction at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already. It is truly amazing how much debt she and her husband have reduced over the last year. So much in fact, that they are a year ahead of schedule in their progress. Much of their success comes from setting realistic goals, and snowflaking.
• Kevin at Becoming & Staying Debt Free, just paid of his mortgage, and is now working on reducing his remaining debt! Read his article, “And That Mortgage is Gone!”; Kevin is Mortgage Free!, for the story. Very inspiring!

Financial Education

• MoneyNing presents Our Thinking of Money Matters is Way Too Complicated posted at Money Ning, saying, “Keep it simple!” I think too many people try to complicate things, and David’s goal to keep things simple is an awesome goal!

Goal Setting

• Steve, of Brip Blap fame, writes about updating his financial goals, July 2008. This is his mid year check up. Even though Steve started off a little slower than he wanted to, it looks like he is on pace to meet or exceed his goals. Awesome!
• Jeremy from GenxFinance shares some tips on how to perform a Mid-Year Financial Checkup and Review Your Goals and Progress. Periodically checking in on your progress is essential to good financial planning.
• Jonathan from Master Your Card, presents 10 Steps to Take Before Having a Baby. Being financially prepared for a baby is just as important as being emotionally prepared! (Of course, this is coming from someone without kids, but I think it’s probably true!)
• Todd presents Stop Aiming For Average posted at HarvestingDollars. If you aim for average, that’s probably the highest level you will ever achieve. Shoot for the stars and if you fall short, you’ll still probably be better than average!
• Mark Runta presents Lessons from the Wild! posted at Smart Investing & Money Management. This is a carpe diem type message… Just do it!
• Brice Hogan presents Believing is Achieving posted at Financialzip.com. He says, “In order to make the most out of yourself and your goals you must believe.” I agree, Brice. Nice article!
• Dereck presents How to become what you want to become, in about two days posted at I Will Not Die. Solid goal setting tips!
• Anand presents How to Master Money & Wealth | Commitment and Focus posted at Anand Dhillon.com. Anand has some great tips for cultivating the mindset you need in order to become financially successful.
• Ralph Jean-Paul presents How to Think Like a Visionary posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, “Accomplish amazing goals by setting your sights in the right direction. Expand your mind and learn how the great thinkers, inventors, and leaders reached greatness by having and following their visions.”
• Rob Bennett presents 8 Paths to Financial Independence posted at A Rich Life: Personal Finance for Liberal Arts Graduates.

Net Worth

• Madison presents May 2008 Net Worth Update: +1.4% posted at My Dollar Plan. Not bad progress wit the current markets!
• MyMoneyAdventure presents My New Net Worth posted at My Money Adventure.
• Jim presents June ‘08 Net Worth Monthly Review posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
• John presents What is your ING Number? posted at Young With Bux. This is a tool from ING that can help you set your financial goals.

Real Estate

• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Where To Find The Down Payment For Your Dream Home posted at The Digerati Life. Many people dream of owning their own home, and this articlehas some tips to help you save for that down payment!

Saving

• Shamelle presents Money And Processions: Breaking Free From The Materialism Trap posted at Enhance Life. Shamelle writes about wants vs. needs and how to choose what is important to you.

Thanks for stopping by!

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