#001 – INAUGURATION DAY – MY OWN INAUGURAL BALL
Welcome to MyMoneyMinute.com, and thanks for stopping by to check out my site! To a certain extent, my personal finance journey reminds me of our presidential election and the upcoming inauguration day. Here are some parallels between the two that are at most funny, at least light-hearted and amusing, and no matter what, a little cheesy 
THE CAMPAIGN
- Was this baby kissed by your favorite politician?
A presidential campaign has become a long and drawn-out process, hasn’t it? Dozens of months before the actual election, politicians come out of the woodworks to test the waters. They form their exploratory committees. Pollsters are put to work and seed money is raised. You take a trip or ten to New Hampshire to gain popularity with those voting in the “First in the Nation” primary in hopes your campaign gains traction. Finally you declare your candidacy, attend debates, shake hands, and kiss babies. Other candidates drop out and your platform takes you to the top. You win your primary, continue to campaign, and victory in the general election is in sight!
My Personal Finance Journey
Likewise, my personal finance journey has been a long, drawn-out process. This quest and awareness really began about two years ago, and I’ve been soaking up knowledge and fundamentals on personal finance ever since. I realized our family had too much debt, and wanted to right the ship before ten or twenty years went by and we can’t figure out where our money went and why we’re not achieving our financial goals. This awareness hit me on many different levels, including family relationships, spiritually, and career-wise. So I started to test the waters. At first it was casually mentioning to friends about books I read or segments of radio shows like Dave Ramsey’s that I had heard. Most importantly, my exploratory committee (aka my wife!) was on board with the campaign to get on track with our finances.
While I didn’t make any trips to New Hampshire, there are certainly many opponents faced in my journey. But because our family has chosen to establish and execute a plan, we’ve been able to defeat our primary opponents that can prohibit financial growth – opponents like unemployment, income fluctuations, and consumer debt.
While the debt dragon is far from slain (pesky student loans!!), I’m on an established track that will lead to financial success, which in turn, bleeds into all areas of my life. I have gained traction. There are plenty of obstacles still to overcome, but we have won a significant victory in that our habits and mindset have changed.
Whether Republican or Democrat, both presidential candidates campaigned on change. And in our finances, we voted for change – a change in the way we think, act, and relate to our finances.
THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Victory has been achieved! The podium is yours. Cheesy music like “Simply the Best” or “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” plays in the background as you enter the stage.
The candidate appears to the people (in Obama’s case, perhaps a million or more in person!), thanks supporters, remains gracious to opponents, and promises all constituents the best leadership and representation possible.
My Personal Finance Journey
***I enter the stage. My political music of choice? Let’s go with “Only in America” by Brooks & Dunn. It’s Patriotic, inspiring, with just enough of a cheesy country music twist to be appropriate for a victory speech. A country group may not do well with the East Coast demographic, so I’ll have to double-check with my pollsters.***
- Brooks & Dunn would play my inauguration. Don’t be jealous!
First off, special thanks particularly goes to my buddy PT from Prime Time Money, who has provided me tons of information and strategy on how to start a personal finance blog. I also want to give a big shout out to Lance, Chief Creative PixelMonkey at PixelPops.com, a great friend who has helped me with domain names and server setup. And of course, my wife, The Lovely Miss H, who is with me on this fun choose-your-own adventure we call life.
I want to thank all of my readers, because without you, none of this is possible! I hope you find it helpful, at least slightly entertaining, and something you can relate to. Money and Personal Finance touch on almost every area of our lives, and I hope the chronicles of my ups & downs help increase your financial awareness in a positive direction.
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
After being sworn in, the new president begins his honeymoon phase where he settles into his new role. Current issues such as unemployment, the credit crunch, and on-going War on Terror are on the people’s minds. However, it is in these first 100 days where the president sets the agenda for the foreseeable future of his administration. New and incomprehensible issues can and will pop up, but the tone and fundamentals of the administration begin to be set.
My Personal Finance Journey
Similarly, we do not know what will happen with any of our personal finances, including my own. New issues can, and are as we speak, popping up that change parts of the equation. However, there will always be fundamental personal finance issues we all deal with. I have many post ideas and I look forward to setting the tone of this blog with these fundamental posts. However, I also plan to give flexibility to this site’s path to allow for changes in my life and the readers desires.
MyMoneyMinute.com is a reflection of my personal finance passion, and I plan on following where it leads. I look forward to interacting with many of you who join me for the ride!
I am Jason (at) MyMoneyMinute (dot) com, and I approve this message.
Baby photo by alopezc72
Brooks & Dunn photo by sergio_leenen