I’m taking a week off.

No, I’m not going to be slacking on beach somewhere or off to disney world. But I’ve realized that creating the content is half the battle. My readership is  few and far between, and well, I’d like to change that.  It’s great that I know I’m broke and that I’m now the top resource for pink kitty litter boxes but litter boxes aren’t going to get me out of debt faster

What will? Getting in the search engines for debt related search terms, which would result in more eyeballs and  more clicks on ads, or allow me to  promote other stuff. Be sure, my goal with this site is  two fold: sure, it’s fun, but I also want  (or need) this site to become a source of income over time. I’d love this website to be the reason I got out of debt.  It would be so ironic that my writing about debt would get me out of debt.

Remember that  movie? Field of dreams? “Build it, and they will come” . Well…maybe, but you need to promote yourself too, and that’s what I plan on doing this coming week. I’m going to post  articles on other sites. Why? Because that’s how you get links. The other site you post on gets a free article. You get a link back to your site – or a backlink  - and backlinks are the name of the game. The internet is just one big popularity contest – he who has the most (relevant) links – wins.

The sites with the most links  (and age)  and trust  get the most traffic, but I can’t keep up with posts here every day, do all the other stuff  I’m doing (I’ve created five other new websites this week, btw) and promote this  site too. I’ve done some testing with some other sites and I think If  I make some effort on promotion, as opposed to content  the payoff could be huge…or at very least positive. I don’t think I could have less visitors to this site if I tried.

The benefit of my efforts would result in targeted traffic to this site about getting out of debt, debt freedom or even pink litter boxes.  Traffic from the search engines  is what I’m after. I could care less about twitter and facebook  traffic as people with searches want to have a problem solved.  If I can get the search traffic, then I can turn the traffic into money. Money that goes towards the debt load. I’m way behind on my $40/day I need to get out of debt by  my ending date, and I’m  at least 100 days into it, and have enough countent to start with. Now I need the search engines to know I exist, and that’s my plan  this week.

I won’t be applying any sneaky tricks as they aren’t long lasting. I’ll just be writing and writing and writing about debt or credit cards.

Example topics might be:

How to get out of debt (like I have any idea)

Ten zero interest credit cards for canadians

Ten places to get great coupons for groceries.

and so on…

One reason I’m doing this is that I’m starting to see some search traffic  for my more boring posts such as the bank of montreal posts, but I’m competing with much stronger sites, even the banks themselves so I need to focus on the links as much as the content  and until today I’ve been focused on the content, but not the promotion.

A story:

Back in my youth, I graduated from school and realized there’s not a lot of job openings for photojournalists. So I had a friend  that made signs and I thought I could do that. So I jumped through all the hoops and managed to get a loan from the feds for a student entrepreneur loan.

I bought the shiny new computer, sign maker  and rented  a shop for my sign shop and as this was my first serious business, I paid for a yellow pages ad. The problem was the yellow pages ad didn’t  come out  for six months yet – if you remember the phone books only came out once a year.

So for the first six months of my new business. Nothing. I couldn’t make  a sign sale if  my life depended on it.  All you heard were crickets. Then  as soon as the yellow page ad was published  - my phone starting ringing off the hook. At one time, I had  a month or so of backlog of work I was so busy.  The other benefit was I started to get referrals from more established sign shops. I was a small one man show, and the bigger shops don’t have the time sometimes for bargain hunters. But as I was smaller , I  was willing to negotiate. I had a loan to pay off.

Not only did the yellow pages ad pay for itself but I got know in the Hamilton Area signmaker community which opened more doors  - all with that little yellow pages ad.

And, the internet is just one big yellow pages ad, and I need to get this website in the there. As it stands, right now I have a teeny tiny text listing on the internet. I want the big four color display ad.

To get that ad I can do one of two things.

1. Buy it. But I’d be spending money I don’t have to do so, so I don’t think that’s a good idea.

2. Work for it.  Get links from other sites – just like the referrals from the other sign shops, the search engines count your referrals, and if everybody  in town says oh ya – Jim is THE guy  when it comes to being in debt you can bet that the search engines will recommend me first, as their reputation depends on it too. Would you visit  the search engines if they recommended a site about pink litter boxes when you were searching for ways to get out of debt? You’d never come back. Search engines rate each website in part, based on how many referrals they have from other sites.

It sounds simple, and it is, but it’s hard work  and you don’t see the results instantly, which is just the same as the yellow pages. You buy the ad six months before it runs, and  climbing the ranks in the search engines is the same.

See you next week!

Related posts:

1. Bright Pink Kitty Litter Boxes
2. Revenge of the Bright Pink Kitty Litter Boxes
3. How to Make More Money Creating Value

It looks like the skating is over. for now, anyway. March isnt’ over yet

Sunset. After five in the afternoon. Summer’s closer

Just think: each of these little squares probably cost 250k.

Look! A big boat.

and…

I..

have..

saved…

the…

best…

for..

the…

last!

Dog slippers! I laughed so hard when I first saw these, but apparently they keep the salt out of the little dog’s toes, so who am I to judge. Maybe I’m just grumpy that the dogs in the neighbourhood have nicer shoes.

Hope everybody’s had a great day. See you tomorrow.

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This is an advertistement, so one should always know that what you see isn’t always what you get, but I got to thinking : that would be like me saying that I’m virtually out of debt. Again, the kicker is the virtual part.

(I should pause here I suppose and state that I wish no harm against paypal and I have had nothing but a fantastic experience with their service. Lawyers: go away)

OK, where was I ? Oh, right. Me being virtually out debt. Does that fact that I knocked down my debt a month or so ago count as ‘virtually’? do I have to wait until I have a balance of $100? or $1000? How about 27 cents? All those scenarios could have me be ‘virtually’ out of debt.

But here’s the thing – there’s no virtuallly, in life. I hate gray. Either you love me, or you hate me. (I’ve experienced both sides of the coin, and I can tell you the former is much, much better. Whatever your status is financially – do your best to keep the latter part down to a minimum, or even better: have it so virtually nobody hates you, or better yet – nobody. This now ends my feel good message of the day)

And so here I am. In debt. Not virtual, not virtual reality. Real world. I owe the man. The end. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. (or if you do collect $200, toss it on your credit card debt). And I’m doing my best to get out of debt as fast as I can comfortably. It’s not worth it to eat plain pasta every night (dinner tonight BTW), just so you can squeeze another three bucks towards the debt.

Life’s funny. I had no idea what I was writing today, and then this ad popped out at me and got me thinking: I’m not virtually in debt. I AM in debt. And I’ve realized it, and am doing my best – however slowly to remedy it. If it takes me five years, or ten years or twenty years (won’t the credit card companies love me if I end up carrying this balance for 20years? God forbid. )

But at least I know I’m in debt. Not kindof in debt, not sortof in debt, not virtually in debt. I have debt, and I’m working on it.

It’s the best I can do. Virtually, or otherwise.

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One day I’m writing about credit cards and now I’m writing about stories? No wonder I don’t get any real search traffic. Heck, most days I’m confused..

Anyway.

So, after a few days and many hours writing mind numbing boring posts about credit cards, I’m back…and I think for this site, this is what I do best – write rambly posts about nothing much of everything, and tell my story along the way, because in reality, this site is about me, and my debt problem and and how do I get out of debt in 1000 days?

So, I’m back here telling my story, because at the end of the 1000 days, that’s what I value most. Not speakers, no my music collection, I value the stories. Sure, sometimes you need stuff to tell a story with. And there’s some stuff I wont’ part with – such as my motorbike – because every year that bike gets me one thing: Stories to tell, and to me that’s golden.

A few stories off the top of my head about my bike:

1. I remember the day I bought it. I was a young 25 year old grad (hey, I started late) and I mentioned to dear old dad that I’d like a bike.. and – as seems to be the theme, he said go for it – here’s a cheque. It was only about 1000 or so, and I had the other 1000 so I bought a three year old 1988 Suzuki Katana for $2500. Not the bike I dreamed about being young. I wanted the super sport bike and this bike was a de-tuned sport bike. Funny how times change – now it’s almost too sporty. I’d like a softer seat and a more relaxed riding position.

2. Over time, the bike and I have grown to like each other better. 20 years almost I’ve had it.

3. I’ve ridden back and forth to Moncton on that bike 1800km – more than once. The last time was on the way back to Moncton and it was still a wee chilly out still in the early spring. So I had a very fashionable wool work sock as a scarf. (it was clean and all I had – hey don’t judge me)

4. Last year, I thought I had lost the bike. I had it stored in Ontario and when I called them in the spring – the number was disconnected. It seems the bike shop I stored it at went bankrupt. I was 1800km away and had no idea what next. I thought it was gone – so I called the bike shop down the road and asked them if they had any ideas for me. Imagine my relief when I found that they had it somehow. I had to pay this new bike for storage fees again, but at least I got my bike.

5. I have painted that bike at least twice. it would get scratched, and I’d paint it. I had a barter arrangement worked out with the local body shop. I made them signs and they painted my bike. Moral of the story: what services could you trade? Could you create a website for a body shop and get that dent fixed? It doesn’t have to be about money.

So my point is, I value a good story to tell probably more than anything. It doesn’t have to be a big story, it could just be the five minutes on that summer morning in August when you stop for a drink in some small town in Nova Scotia and meet the old retired farmer from Nebraska sitting in the shade while he waits for his wife to finish shopping before they both climb back on the tour bus.

This site is my story. Not the bank of montreal’s – they can get their own – but this did get me to thinking…what other stories can I tell? Besides, the I’m in debt story

I read somewhere about the idea of making a list of all your stuff. everything. q-tips, laundry detergent, and so on…if you have to touch it, or move it, or think about it -write it down. This is harder than it seems. When I moved back here I hired what in retrospect was a quasi-shady moving company, so as I packed it, I wrote down just the big ticket items such as stereos and tv’s in case I never saw my stuff again. Thankfully, they did show up on the other end with my stuff and I have it all… but writing it all down is a big task.

But this got me to thinking… everything I own has a story. Every DVD, every CD, has some sort of value otherwise you wouldn’t have spent good money for it. And most everything has a story. Maybe it’s a sweater you bought that just doesn’t fit right – that’s a story. Or how about the mouse you bought just last month, because you were sure you had other mice, but you can’t find one when you need it, or the pen you swiped from your last visit to the bank just out of spite for all the bank fees they charge you. That pen is another item that comes into your life.

Over the years though that pen, or mouse, or duran duran CD (again, don’t judge me) might not have the value it once had – maybe your story has changed some – you got married, divorced, got a dog or lost fifty pounds it doesn’t really matter. Life’s stories are always revolving and the stuff that comes and goes in our life just flows it seems to me sometimes.

But the best part is you still have the stories. Maybe you lost that pen, the mouse was another peice of junk, or the neon surf style jacket that’s in the back of your closet doesn’t have the same cachet it once had. But I bet that jacket has a story..maybe you bought it on spring break in Florida when you should have been home studying.. but there would be a story to tell.

In an effort to tell the ultimate story: my get out of debt story I think I’ve decided to bail on the credit cards and bank locations, even if it does bring some search traffic as it’s not the story I want to tell. At least not for this site.

But I’m always up to a worthy challenge: And I would think that making a list of everything I own would be a great wake up call to realize how lucky I am to have this stuff in the first place, but also realize I don’t really need most of it. Life goes on without duran duran CD’s.

I wonder: how little stuff does one really need? I’m far from a hoarder and I don’t have piles of unread newspapers and other crap, but I’m sure my CD collection could use some weeding, and I know my closet could use a touch up too…

So today I start with the list, and it’s the bike. I’m keeping it.. a summer’s worth of stories with it is just around the corner.

No related posts.

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Support the devlopment of programs and alumni services with the use of the BMO University of Winnipeg MasterCard at no cost to the cardholder

BMO Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni Association MasterCard
The alumni assoction at Wilfrid Laurier benefits by helping to connect with fellow alumni and provide on campus programming for students when you use the BMO Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni Association MasterCard

BMO BCIT SPC MasterCard
You support new alumni and student programs with use of the BMO BCIT SPC MasterCard

BMO Carleton University SPC MasterCard
Show your support for Carleton University with the BMO Carleton University SPC MasterCard

BMO Concordia University SPC MasterCard
At no additional cost, you can support Concordia University through the use of the BMO Concordia University SPC MasterCard

BMO McMaster University SPC MasterCard
Save money and help the McMaster University Alumni Association when you use your BMO McMaster University SPC MasterCard

BMO Mohawk College SPC MasterCard
You get great discounts and support Alumni at Mohawk with the use of the BMO Mohawk College SPC MasterCard

BMO Northern Alberta Institute of Technology SPC MasterCard
Get discounts at SPC retailers an support the NAIT Scholarship endowment fund when you use the BMO Northern Alberta Institute of Technology SPC MasterCard

BMO SFU Alumni Association SPC MasterCard
Get air miles and and help the SFU Alumni Association at the same time, and at no cost to you when you use the BMO SFU Alumni Association SPC MasterCard

BMO St. Francis Xavier University SPC MasterCard
The BMO St. Francis Xavier University SPC MasterCard allows you to save at retailers and get air miles and also support the development of select student and alumni programs at St. Francis Xavier University

BMO University of Guelph SPC MasterCard
The BMO University of Guelph SPC MasterCard gets you air miles, savings at SPC retailers and you get to help the University of Guelph at no cost to you too.

BMO University of Lethbridge SPC MasterCard
Air miles, support of alumni scholarships and bursaries and student discounts from SPC retailers all come standard with the BMO University of Lethbridge SPC MasterCard

BMO University of Manitoba SPC MasterCard
Your support of Alumni Relations, student programming and air miles and discounts are all included in the BMO University of Manitoba SPC MasterCard

BMO University of Regina SPC MasterCard
When you use the BMO University of Regina SPC MasterCard you support the establishment of scholarships and bursaries, and you also get air miles and discounts from SPC retailers too.

BMO University of Waterloo SPC MasterCard
The University of Waterloo thanks you with each use of the BMO University of Waterloo SPC MasterCard. Your use helps with alumni benefits, events and student programs. You also get air miles and discounts from SPC retailers too.

BMO University of Winnipeg SPC MasterCard
The Universty of Winnepeg gets your support with the use of the BMO University of Winnipeg SPC MasterCard. You get deals from SPC retailers and air miles on your purchases too.

BMO Wilfrid Laurier University SPC MasterCard
Show Wilfrid Laurier University your support with use of the BMO Wilfrid Laurier University SPC MasterCard
. You will be rewarded with air miles and discounts from spc retailers.

BMO Prepaid Travel MasterCard
The BMO Prepaid Travel MasterCard offers a safe alternative to cash or travellers cheques

BMO AIR MILES MasterCard for Business
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard for Business is available in three different levels. The gold offers 1 reward mile for every $15 spent. The Silver offers 1 reward mile for every $20 spent, and the bronze offers 1 reward mile every $40 spent.

BMO Cashback Mastercard for Business
The BMO Cashback Mastercard for Business comes in two flavors: The Platinum level offers 1% cash back, and the No fee option offers .5% cash back on purchases.

To summarize, I count 148 different BMO mastercard cards that you can choose from. Choices include Air Miles Mastercard, Cash Back Mastercard, Preferred Rate Mastercard and mastercards to support your favorite hockey team, or your favorite association or your favorite school. Holy Smokes, that’s a lot of Credit Card Choices from BMO Bank of Montreal.

Related posts:

1. Bank of Montreal BMO Bank Credit Cards
2. WestJet MasterCard Credit Cards from RBC Royal Bank
3. RBC Royal Bank of Canada Credit Cards

Royal Bank of Canada Credit Cards

Visa Infinite Avion

Premium Travel rewards card
No blackout periods or seat restictions
1 RBC rewards point for every dollar spent
15000 welcome points for every dollar spent

RBC Rewards Visa Gold
A premium credit card with no annual fee
1 RBC rewards point for every $2 spent
Points can be redeemed for travel, merchandise, gifts, etc

Visa Classic II
Collect rewards with every purchase
1RBC rewards point for every $1 spent

Visa Platinum Avion
Points for flights can be redeemed for any airline
no blackout periods or seat restrictions
1 RBC point for every dollar spent
15000 welcome reward points

Visa Classic Student II
Collect rewards with every purchase
1RBC rewards point for every $1 spent

Visa Gold Preferred
Insurance Coverage
1 RBC rewards for every dollar spent
2500 bonus points on enrollment

British Airways Visa Platinum
10,000 Bonus BA miles upon enrollment
31 day out of province/country emergency medical insurance
1 british airways mile for every dollar spent
Double British Airways Miles for every dollar spent on British Airways Flights

Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum
Earn Aisa miles towards flights
Earn Asia miels for dollars spent on the card
Complimentary Enrolment in the Marco Polo Club
5000 Bonus Asia Miles upon enrollment

US Dollar Visa Gold
Perfect for US travellers
Transactions made are in US Funds. No conversion rates
1 RBC rewards point for every $1 spent

Esso Visa Classic
Earn points towards free gas at Esso
No annual Fee
Redeem points for car washes, gas and other esso products

WestJet RBC MasterCard
Earn Westjet Dollars towards flights and vacations
1% of card spent is rewarded with westjet dollars
Earn an additional 1/2% on westjet flights and vacations

WestJet RBC World Mastercard
Earn WestJet Dollars towards flights
Earn 1.5 percent of credit card spend towards WestJet Dollars
Earn additional .5 percent of net purchase on WestJet Flights and Vacations

Visa Classic Low Rate
Great if you carry a balance
11.9 percent interest rate
21 days grace period
Free additional card

Visa Classic Student
Basic everyday student visa card
No annual fee
Free additional Card

Visa Classic II Student Card
Collect rewards points with every purchase
Earn 1 RBC rewards point for every $1 spent

Visa Platinum
No annual fee
Essential Travel and Purchase insurance included
Credit limit of up to $50,000

The Royal bank of Canada offers sixteen different credit cards, and except for the two WestJet offerings, they’re all Visa Cards of some fashion. Some are rewards cards, some are travel cards and some are student credit cards but all offer different features depending on your needs: for example, the Esso Visa card wouldn’t do me much good as I currently don’t have a car. But, if I decided to travel lots in the future, it might be beneficial for me to investigate the travel rewards cards over time as I might as well make travel points. Right now, I carry the low interest card with me and although my balance is high, at least the interest rate is low.

Related posts:

1. WestJet MasterCard Credit Cards from RBC Royal Bank
2. Credit Cards Available in Canada
3. BMO Bank of Montreal Credit Cards for Canadians

I have never paid much attention to credit cards and options such as no fee credit cards, or credit cards for students or zero interest credit cards. I have no idea how I managed with the 2 cards I have now.. I’ve been a RBC customer for years ( I have a story about this one day..) and probably just ended up with a VISA by osmosis. I wonder,  I had a personal loan with them years back and I bet I got the card that way. I remember getting ‘assigned’ a credit card I think. The cobwebs are pretty thick up here..

For the Master Card Mosaic.I have NO idea how this card landed in my wallet.  I’m not a BMO customer – Oh wait – I was. The student loan.

A quick story about the student loan. I had this loan for years and years and years. I still remember the payment – $61. The total was never much – about 5 grand I think and at $61 a month it took forever to get whittled away. Now considering, my gross income at the time was probably about $71  I was OK with that.

Well, as luck would have it, my little hobby site about memory prices actually started to pay off, and I started to make a wee bit more than my $71/a week/month. Fast forward a few years – OK, seven – and the student loan is down to about $1000. By this time, I had the $1000 saved and thought, what the heck  - I’m in no hurry really as that $61 payment has been with for so long it’s like family, but I decided to pay it off anyway. So off I traipse to the new Bank of Montreal in downtown hamilton (scary down there now) and announce my intention to pay off my loan. The teller had me write a cheque for the balance and she handed me a receipt and that was it. The End.

There were no angels singing. (like my lattes) , or balloons or streamers or anything. Cars didn’t stop in the street, the bank manager didn’t come out and shake my hand and give me a larger than life recepit, and nobody took my picture and published it in the picture.

I guess if there’s a moral to this story it’s this: My life didn’t change by paying off my student loans. I went home, made a  sandwich and then went to work. The end.  All these get out of debt books and sites sometimes make it seem as your life will change drastically the day you become debt free but in reality for me it just ended up being a number on paper that changed and I was now for the first time in a decade, with $61 more cash flow.

I know the get out of debt  gurus state that you should aim for three years  to be debt free –  but heck, I hung onto that student loan for ten years and I’d do it for another ten if I had to. I had a very good day job that was relative to the schooling and the loan so if it took me 20 years to pay off –  so what? I was making my payments on time (or close, most months) and the banks  were happy and I was happy.

Don’t let the get out of debt issue  become your only purpose in life. I know, money issues can be a worry and I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor and I’ll be the first to say that being behind the eight ball for about 28k isn’t the best place to be financially, but it really is only money. For now, I’m making my minimums and when I find some extra income it goes towards the debt. But if I had a choice of a year’s worth of lattes or being out of debt a year faster  - I’d choose the lattes. The extra year would come around eventually, anyway (the good lord willing)

I read an article today about a gentleman that is close to paying off his mortgage in about ten months and has the money in the bank now that if he wanted to he could write a cheque and be done with it.  He posted on his site that he had the cash in the bank, but what’ the race? 9 or so more payments and it’s gone anyway and interest rates are low so he’s happy to pay that small little extra bit in interest on the small remaining amount that’s left on his mortgage.  I think it’s a good move. There’s no streamers or balloons when you pay off a mortgage. The streamers come later  - when you realize you’ve got a years worth of mortgage or student loan payments now saved and you’re in the enviable position of what to do with  extra money  -  I think that’s when you can celebrate and you can crack open the bubbly.

All this to say: Don’t let the debt get you down. Be frugal, spend wisely and do your best to get out of debt fast and don’t give the banks any more than absolutely neccesary,  but remember to stop and smell the roses too. Another month or so of payments won’t matter a lick in the long term. This is a slow slow process this get out of debt thing and don’t look back and wish you’d have stopped for ice cream  (or a latte) on the way. Life’s too short.  I recommend the latte route. It’s way more fun.

PS. I has planned on starting to write about credit cards at the start of this post, but I got sidetracked with my little student loan story, so  all 3 or so of you lucky readers will have to wait until next time for for the credit card fun to begin.

Until next time, Spend Smartly.

Related posts:

1. RBC Royal Bank of Canada Credit Cards
2. Bank of Montreal BMO Bank Credit Cards
3. WestJet MasterCard Credit Cards from RBC Royal Bank

There’s two MasterCard cards being offered by the Royal Bank to use  so let’s look at each one seperately, shall we?

WestJet RBC Mastercard

With this card, the first thing I noticed was there was a $39 annual fee for the card. I could never understand why you would pay a fee for a credit card. I mean, you’re already coughing up big bucks in interest if you carry a balance on the card so why tack a fee on? Perhaps this is to ensure that there’s some sort of penalty or disadvantage. If you’re in the habit of paying off your balance each payment period, I guess there’s not much gain for the credit card company to have you as a client, thus the fee.  Anway, do the math before you decide to apply for the WestJet MasterCard from RBC to make sure it’s right for you. If you travel a lot, and use your card a lot maybe this is a no brainer…I know I wouldn’t have much need for this card right now.

The good news is you do get $25 as a welcome bonus on your first purchase, so your first year I suppose – you’re only out $15 to try the WestJet card and see if you like it. This of course assumes you take a flight with westjet to cash in your westjet dollars. You could be a westjet dollar millionaire, but like money, they’re only good if you spend them. Then, they have value.

On ‘everyday purchases’ that you make with this card, you get 1% back in Westjet Dollars, and they’ll bump the percentage up to 1.5% if you buy flights or packages through WestJet or WestJet Vacations.

WestJet RBC World Mastercard

The first thing I noticed with the WestJet RBC World Mastercard is the annual fee is double than the non-world version above at $79.00 annually . But once you get  past that, the good news is the WestJet dollars you get with your first purchase is much higher at $100. So unlike the other Westjet RBC Mastercard, the WestJet RBC World Mastercard actually gives you enough of a bonus to start to fly. As I write this I can fly to Halifax for $109, so with a $100 headstart, it would only cost me $9 (plus taxes, etc) to fly with WestJet. I’d get a pretty good warm and fuzzy feeling about spending $79 and then getting $100 worth of something that starts with more welcome dollars.  I’d be much more inclined to go with the World Mastercard Option.

And with your higher annual fee, you also get more WestJet  dollars back with your purchases – this time it’s 1.5% on everyday purchases, and 2% on your purchases with WestJet and WestJet Travel. If you spent $20,000 over the course of the year on your everyday purchases (which is possible)  you’d have $300 in WestJet dollars at years end.  Maybe it pays for a small round trip or makes a dent on an annual vacation somewhere warm.

WestJet flies to pretty much every major Canadian City , Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and so on and lots of popular travel destinations such as Las Vegas, or Florida, California, or Cancun to name just a few.

The new WestJet MasterCard from RBC could be a great way for you to save some money on your travels with WestJet.

Related posts:

1. RBC Royal Bank of Canada Credit Cards
2. BMO Bank of Montreal Credit Cards for Canadians
3. Bank of Montreal BMO Bank Credit Cards

But here’s the thing: It should be easy as there’s only two steps involved to get out of debt:

Spend Less Money

Make More Money

I know I’ve mentioned this theory before, but I gotta tell ya, it’s not working so  well for me and I think I know why and I’m here to admit it  - As one reason I wanted to post  here was to publicly embarrass myself to do better – I lack focus and patience with my little projects with making money online. I try something for a few days or weeks and then move onto something else. There’s so many things I could do or try  - so I try tackle them all and get nowhere with all of them, which is discouraging to say the least, and which is why I haven’t been around the past few days….

Yes, I’m still looking for a job with one eye, but I’d lie to you if I said it was my top priority as I have had some luck with making money online and want to continue with this program but I look at the calendar and it’s March already and I’m impatient and do not want a year of nowhere..I want to look back at the year and and know that I’m on track towards debt freedom. I’ve got about 900 days still, so there’s still time to redeem myself.

So. I’ve been thinking. These past few months haven’t been a complete wash as I’ve learned some things in how to get free traffic  to sites with google and how to go about it.  It works –  as you saw with my little test with the litter boxes I made you all suffer through

For the time being, this will be the last of the write what I want and  rattle on about nothing posts. Instead, I’m going to dedicate this month (or so ) to writing more about finances and on topics such as bankruptcy, or debt consolidation, or what banks offer what services and how much. I might even do a bit of research even before I start to just type randomly, like I’m doing. Heck, I might even learn a thing or two.

The goal  is to have this site offer more value than what I’ve been offering and I’m also going to make more of an effort promoting this site. Debt reduction and getting out of debt is a competitive topic, but it’s a challenge and I have had some limited and surprising search terms find me and now I need to get working so that more and more readers visit this site.

I also need to get back on selling the stuff on ebay. I was all gung-ho  for a while, but it’s easy to fall off the wagon and there’s lot  of reasons Let’s see: part with stuff, I’d really rather not to only get pennies on the dollar for  and then  I have to wrap it, pack it,  mail it, insure it and fill out customs forms. Buying is way easier. You bid, you buy, the stuff shows up.   There’s also the resistance you make up on your own and really  - and with  a lot of things – once you get going , it’s not too bad. I don’t miss my extra iPod I had, and I was able to toss another $100 or so towards the debt. I have lots more ipods and other stuff.  I know for a fact that I’ve got a few things to sell.

I read a book this weekend about why resolutions fail: You say you’re going to exercise more. What’s more? Is going to the fridge for another beer exersise?  No, but I suppose you could argue that it is, but the ‘exercise more’  goal is too vague. The goal needs to be tighter.

My mistake so far as been starting this site and saying I’m going to get out of debt in 1000 days. Not a bad start, but I need to tighten it up some. How am I planning on reaching that goal? What’s my goal for March, or April, or six months from now?

I want to be making $40/day in new income from this site (or others I’ve got)  by Canada Day- July 1. That’s 4 months away. It might be tight to do so  and I might fail spectacularly but I’m going to give it a shot  as $40/day knocks the debt down on time.

How? I’m going to write 50 articles (to start) on getting out of debt or personal finance that are actually useful, and answer a question – such as my Bank of Montreal Locations post, which gets some search traffic. That post took me all of about 2o minutes to write and it will work for me forever. How’s that for a return on your investment? And if it’s a dud – I’m out 20 minutes. I need to do more of  that. And even if the 50 articles  are a bust, it will be valuable content  to this site.

Theres’s a plan BTW, I’m going to pick ten topics  and write five articles each I think. RRSP’s might be one topic, tax sofware might be another  and timely topic to investigate, maybe I’ll dip my toe into creditcards a little later too.

The far away goal is to have  a $100/day income from this site and others.  The goal for 1000 days is to have this site alone count for the $100 days. Ultimately I want to turn this around  - not only to be out of debt in another few years, but have the fact that I recorded my debt freedom journey to be my new source of income. It’s doable, I just need to work on promotion more. As much as I I appreciate my family and friends dropping by  to this site –  it all comes down to more traffic. More traffic equals more money and I’ve got to keep my eye on the prize which is more value. I’ve prattled on about it long enough, so now it’s time to get busy and take action.

For the ebay project: I want to apply myself for one hour per day to eBay activities. Heck, it’s only one hour. I’ve read (and agree) that batching your tasks is a great way to get things done and applying one hour to my project might help make me some more funds to get out of debt , and also get rid of lots of stuff which isn’t needed or missed.

And that’s the news. I’m looking forward to sharing with you what I learn.

Hopefully, getting out of credit card debt will become easier the longer this little journey takes me.

Related posts:

1. I Have Nothing To Hide. I Have Credit Card Debt. Day 26
2. Ten Steps to Eliminate Credit Card Debt
3. Debt Freedom Plan. 90 days down and 910 to go.

Yesterday, this site got a visitor from the search term: cost of latte at starbucks toronto

And….yours truly popped up in Google. I’m number 6 out of 58,000 possibilities, just under Macleans Magazine which has been around for far longer than I have:

But look at how it determined I was relevant -(see the bolded keywords?) it sees that two words are in the title of the post, and thn google seems to find some other words here and there  and puts them together as the main keywords, so I get listed on the front page. I’m not complaining but nowhere in this post  is that search term mentioned. Google seems to gather phrases due to their search algorithm and somehow I rate enough to be on the front page.

But I know for a fact I  nowhere in the post did I write cost of latte at starbucks toronto. I wrote about living in Toronto, and how much I lurve my lattes and all that Jazz about angels singing (they do)  but I was just rambling about nothing like I tend to do here and lookie at that, the big G seems to think I’m relevant.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this example as it highlights how the big G works much better than the way I explained it yesterday.

Oh, and BTW: It’s 4.69 with tax for a Venti Latte here in Toronto, and it’s 4.86 with taxes in New Brunswick. (due to the higher HST).

Oh and BTW #2: Today I got a FREE Venti latte due to a barista error.  Not only do the angels sing, they’re free today.

Related posts:

1. The Cost of a Venti Latte
2. The Cream of the Crop. Finding my Niche.
3. Bank of Montreal BMO Bank Credit Cards