Spills Spotlight: Volume 1

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Today I’d like to announce a new series that I’m starting called Spills Spotlight! This series will consist of a roundup of my favorite personal finance blog posts from around the web, publishing on the last day of each month.

A few of my other favorite bloggers publish roundup posts as well, including Steve from Think Save Retire, Zach from Four Pillar Freedom, and PoF from Physician on Fire. The beauty of these posts is that they promote community with other bloggers and they’re quality content for readers. While roundup posts are designed to highlight the “best of the best” in personal finance blogging, there is usually very little overlap. This is because there is SO much quality personal finance content being published daily, and everyone’s definition of “best of the best” varies.

On a good week, I read close to one hundred blog posts. Spills Spotlight is an opportunity for me to share my favorite posts with my readers, and showcase the work of my fellow bloggers within the personal finance blogging community. I hope you enjoy this new series, and feel free to comment with suggestions on which posts should be included in upcoming months!

The Dads in Velcro Shoes

by C.J. Cato at The Vow of Practicality

“There is nothing more noble than the selfless sacrifices we make for our families. But what I learned from my dad is that we must try as best we can to avoid having to make this sort of sacrifice in the first place. Not all of us are born into situations that set us up for success in life. My dad certainly wasn’t, and it only took one unlucky break for everything he had built to crumble out from under him.”

7 Lessons from 7 Mentors that Have Changed My Life

by Four Pillar Freedom

This post features 7 life changing lessons from 7 different mentors. They are all thought provoking, but the one that stood out most to me was, “you don’t have to explain your life path to other people.” We all need to focus on living our best life, no matter what the people around us think.

How I Survived Prison and Accidentally Found My Path to Wealth

by Wealth Well Done, featured on Budgets Are Sexy

This post is from a few months back, but was one of the most impactful posts I read in all of 2017. This story details how Billy was a partying college kid, served 10 years of prison, and has used that to fuel himself to now live a life that makes a positive impact on others.

“My nightmare began on a summer-school morning in 2002. I was a normal 21-year-old college student who stumbled to class with a drug hangover. As I walked home, I called a friend who had partied with me the night before. His roommate answered the phone. “He’s dead! He’s dead!” He yelled, “You have to get out of there now!”

The Ten Financial Commandments All Women Should Live By

by Kara at Bravely

“It means that women need a financial playbook that addresses these barriers and helps us crush them on our way to getting paid.”

Embracing and Enjoying Each Season of Life

by Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist

“I wish I could go back, just one more time, and watch a little boy learn to play a game he loves so much. I wish I hadn’t missed a single moment of embracing and enjoying fully that season of my life.”

You Aren’t in the Crowd, You Are the Crowd

by Raptitude

“Whenever I’m lucky enough to remember that I’m both sides of the problem, the afternoon rush hour experience transforms. It goes from from a zero-sum competition to a shared struggle.”

My Year of No Shopping

by New York Times

“Once I got the hang of giving shopping up, it wasn’t much of a trick. The trickier part was living with the startling abundance that had become glaringly obvious when I stopped trying to get more. Once I could see what I already had, and what actually mattered, I was left with a feeling that was somewhere between sickened and humbled. When did I amass so many things, and did someone else need them?”

What a Pizza Cutter Taught Me About Frugality and Minimalism

by Keep Thrifty

“A replacement pizza cutter would only set us back $13, but if you consider all the redundant items in your home, the total cost of redundancy is a whole lot higher.”

Tragedy Into Triumph

by Inky Johnson

This video is incredible, and is WELL worth your time. I promise you’ll leave inspired. Inky Johnson was 8 games away from becoming a first round draft pick in the NFL and making guaranteed millions. Instead, tragedy struck, and altered the direction of his life forever.