It’s been a weekend of blog swapping and other things!  If you missed my first blog swap, hit up John at Married with Debt  to check it out.  Then, if you missed my first guest blog post (!!), hit up Andi at Meal Plan Rescue to find my tips to find a good CSA box.

And even more, there is the personal finance tag that is going around (my god I’ve never been so social in my life!), which you can find below.  These are bloggers I’ve met either through the Yakezie Network, or through Edward Antrobus’s 3K challenge.  They’re good peeps, check them out!

Personal Finance Tag

So I was recently “tagged” by my friend John at Married (with debt).

To play, I have to:

1. Post these rules.
2. Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you.
3. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.
4. Tag 11 people and link them to your post.
5. Let them know that you tagged them.

1. What is your money philosophy in one sentence?  No one is in control of your finances but yourself.  
2. Have you ever had a crazy adventure? If so, describe.  Adventure?  Either roaming around Europe for a month with my boyfriend, or roaming around NYC with him.  Now a crazy adventure?  Those usually involved lots of alcohol, barhopping, and possibly singing karaoke with a crazy old hawaiian man.  
3. Did you get an allowance as a child?  I was paid to scrub the floors at my dad’s office  for 5 cents an hour.  It went up to 25 cents (when I was 8), then $1 as I grew up (when I was 12). I was given $20/month in high school.  
4. What is the biggest personal finance problem facing America (or your country) today?  Honestly, it’s lifestyle inflation.  When I was a kid I used to play with sticks and stones.  Now, kids have all sorts of crazy toys.  People my age spend a ton of money on “necessary” stuff – like internet access and new iPhones.  We do too, and it’s crazy money for that stuff.  There’s going to be more “necessary” stuff popping up in the future – companies are really good at convincing us we need things.  The amount of things we “can’t live without” these days is so much higher than it was 10 years ago.
5. Name the most famous person you’ve ever met.  Desmond Tutu.  If we’re talking Hollywood famous, then Billy Bob Thornton or the Rock. 
6. What did you most want to be when you grow up?  a nurse
7. What is your most embarrassing guilty pleasure?  Paris Hilton’s song “Stars are Blind”.  It’s a favorite karaoke song.
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Besides Hawaii?  Paris.  
9. What’s your biggest financial pet peeve?  credit card debt.  I don’t understand it.  
10. What do you think the biggest news story of 2012 will be?  Who the next president will be
11. If you found out you had 6 months to live, what would you do with your life?  Honestly, I’m 4 months pregnant right now, so for the next 5 I’d be working on getting my family ready for my demise, and for the month after that I’d be spending as much time with my husband and sons as possible.  I’d write letters for them to read as they grow up, and make sure there was financial and emotional help for my husband.  I imagine that would include moving to the mainland to be nearer to his family.  (this answer was not the whimsical, fantasy answer this question usually expects…)