About once a month I like to post up a submission from a Punch Debt In The Face reader so you can get a feel for how other people are doing. Last month’s story focused on a woman who was $63,000 in debt and trying to figure out how to get out. Today’s story, is much more upbeat…

Meet Mel.

I’m a married mom of two kids, who works full-time in Human Resources, and I’ve been following Ninja’s blog for at least a couple of years. When he asked for some of his readers to contribute their stories of how they’re doing, financially speaking, I thought it would be a good chance to submit mine, in the hopes that it might help any readers who find themselves in a mess, and are not sure if there is life AD (After Debt).

When I first discovered Ninja’s blog, it was some time in 2008. As a New Year’s resolution that January, I had decided to start budgeting and keeping track of expenses. Prior to that, for six years, we lived in ignorant bliss with respect to our financial situation. We each had a credit card that carried a revolving balance of approximately $10-$15K, as well as two car payments, and a mortgage. I had somehow convinced myself that everyone lives in debt – it’s no big deal. Now I look back at that person and want to give her a Ninja-Chop. That’s just crazy talk!

The budgeting process was difficult at first to get expenses on track, and see where we were spending our money. We cut where we could, and buckled down, and at the end of each month, I took whatever was left and paid it down towards the debt. After 6 months, I made the final payment to the credit card company, and kissed our credit card debt goodbye. It felt so good! In that time, my husband got a new job, where his car was paid for completely, and our other car payment had been fulfilled. In less than a year, we had been able to reduce our debt to just our mortgage, and as a bonus, began making extra payments to reduce the principal amount.

Fast forward to the nearing the end of 2011. I am happy and proud to say, that the only debt we continue to carry is our mortgage. We are able to contribute to vacation funds, and savings accounts for expenses that pop up above and beyond the monthly budget (Hockey fees for my kids, brakes for the car, etc). Additionally, we were able to take some equity from our existing property, and purchase an investment property in Arizona this past year. And as someone who lives in Toronto, and spends frigid winters in the North, I’m very excited to have a getaway where it’s warm!

Not only have we remained out of debt, but we have fulfilled other areas of financial responsibility:

- We are both contributing to our retirement
- We have an education fund that we contribute to for our children each month
- We have a healthy emergency fund that currently covers three months expenses that I’m hoping to grow to six months
- My husband and I both have life insurance policies, and even more importantly, critical illness insurance.

My friends tease me for loving me some spreadsheet action, but it feels so good to be in charge of your finances, and being able to do what you want with your money, rather than being held tight to the banks and the credit card companies.

Ninja’s Comments: Mel freakin’ killed it, and I’m glad that I may have been a small source of inspiration for her. What inspired you to punch your finances in the face? What part of personal finance turns you on (spreadsheets, investing, paying down debt)?

This is a guest post by MoneySupermarket.com

This summer, as in the previous four or five summers, the multiplexes were once again awash with blockbuster superhero movies. Caped crusaders are still very much en vogue, and publisher DC Comics recently decided to reboot 52 comic series in order to cash in on that popularity.

The names of superheroes and their mild-mannered alter-egos are perhaps better known now than they have ever been. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about superheroes and their alter-egos, and what financial lessons we can learn from their alter egos.

Can a superhero teach you how to make money? Let’s find out.

Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man)

They don’t come much milder-mannered than the bespectacled Peter Parker. He’s a science student and amateur photographer by day, web-slinging crime-fighter by night.

In the comics and movies, Peter’s often portrayed as a down-on-his-luck geek, but he does have steady income from the Daily Bugle, where he serves as a freelance photographer.

If we have any particularly specialist skills, like photography or web design (pun intended), perhaps you could make some cash by freelancing in your spare time.

Bruce Wayne (aka Batman)

When he’s not fighting the criminal underworld on the mean streets of Gotham, Bruce Wayne is usually found schmoozing with Gotham’s rich, powerful and elite, attending various benefits and pledging his cash to save the city.

How did he get so rich? Well most of us know he was the heir to the Wayne family fortune, and so he inherited all of his wealth. By day he acts as CEO to Wayne Industries, before donning the cape and cowl each night to take on his infamous rogues’ gallery.

We obviously can’t all inherit a fortune from our parents, but Wayne is all about clever investments – and that’s something we can do. We can all invest in savings or bonds, even if we don’t have billions to play with.

Steve Rogers (aka Captain America)

The Cap’ starred in perhaps this year’s biggest superhero movie, and has seen a resurgence in popularity as a result. Captain America’s alter-ego Steve Rogers is a puny would-be recruit for the US Army, until he becomes a candidate for a super soldier experiment which turns him into the Captain.

What can Steve teach us about making money? Well, Steve volunteered. Volunteer work can help you to network and make connections which can lead to paid work. It can also boost your resume and potentially land you a higher paid job in the future.

Tony Stark (Iron Man)

Billionaire industrialist Iron Man uses his resources to build himself the Iron Man suit, allowing him to take on a colorful cast of foes. Again, we’re not all lucky enough to inherit a fortune from our fathers, but Tony is a great example of being resourceful and inventive.

Think as inventively as you can about ways to make extra money, sell your possessions, your skills, your time or whatever else you can think of to see if you can earn some money. Don’t forget saving money too, ever heard of contents insurance? Protecting valuables is pretty important, especially to people like Mr. Stark.

Do you even like superheroes? What other heroes/villains can we learn from? Who is the closest representation of a modern-day superhero you can think of… Ryan Gosling (have you seen that body), Steve Jobs (everything that he touched turned to gold), or perhaps Kim Kardashian (she could fart and for some reason the whole world would care)?

Hi personal finance bloggies! It’s ninja’s sister-in-law and I’m so excited to be able to jump into the world of blogging and write my first blog post ever! I don’t really know anything about personal finances, but I am very passionate about health and wellness, and being that I’m a college student, you know I live on a budget. Today I’m going to give you guys some tips on how to be healthy, but not break the bank. You don’t have to have a gym membership to reap the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle!

Take advantage of YouTube

Part of my daily routine is to do 8 minute abs and arms. It’s 100% free and so quick and easy. All you have to do is type in “8 minute abs or arms” into the search engine and 8 minutes later you’ll have a flat stomach and toned arms. (Of course you’ll need to do this more than once to see some results)  Bonus tip: play the video on mute and use your own music for the workout…you WILL be thankful.

 Read healthy living blogs

This past year I have discovered some great healthy living blogs and have learned so much from reading them, everything from different workouts to healthy recipes. You name it, there is a blog that writes about it. My personal favorite is Peanut Butter Fingers, go check her out, she’s funny , totally personal, and has the best workout advice and yummy healthy meals that anyone could whip up in a kitchen.

Take advantage of your environment

I know that we are not all lucky enough to live in beautiful San Diego, where the sun seems to shine everyday, but wherever you live, it is not hard to get outside, lace up a pair of running shoes, and go for a run. If you give it a chance, running can become one of the most rewarding, and free exercises you could ever do. Anyone can become a runner, believe me. Three years ago I loathed running, and now I’m running marathons, once you start, you just fall in love.

 Find free workout classes in your community

There are always deals going on at different gyms, yoga studios, plates classes, ect. Core Power Yoga offers a week of free classes for new students, and gyms are always giving out free week passes for new people to come check out their facilities with the hopes of luring them in to a membership. If you’re willing to hunt around, you could potentially never have to pay to use a gym or take a fitness class.

Obviously there are a million different ways to incorporate healthy choices in to our daily lives. Hopefully you’ve found some of these tips/tricks helpful, but what I’m really hoping is that you share with me some of the ways you make healthy choices on the cheap. How (or where) do you workout? If you have a gym membership are you getting your monies worth? If you read any health blogs please leave them in the comments below so I can start following

Girl ninja flew in last night for her big interview today. We haven’t seen each other in five weeks and I don’t think she’d be too excited about me writing a blog post right now. That means you are getting a sponsored post today. GN leaves on Saturday so I will be back in full force on Monday.

This question may not be about choosing to have or not have (or not use) a regular credit card. Maybe you don’t have one to begin with. Maybe you were turned down because of poor credit or large existing debt (school loans, car loans, etc.). Or maybe you just want to go the Smart Route: live on your earnings and not much more.

Novel concept, living within your means. It’s how 30-year-olds buy homes with 30% down payments. It’s how 25-year-olds qualify for car loans with lower interest rates. And it’s how millions of recent college graduates are paying down their school debts: they budget to the bone and manage to do it.

But what about the emergencies? What happens when your car seizes up and the mechanic says it will come to $1300? What if you are traveling and have a medical emergency – you use a healthcare provider outside your insurance company network, saddling you with a $800 co-pay that you really didn’t need right now.

Try this other novel concept: Look into paycheck loans . This is where a lender will provide you a loan based on the size of your paycheck. You sign onto the lender’s website (an easy cash advance online will require about ten minutes of work from your computer) and make your loan request. If you are employed, have a bank account, and do not have any other paycheck loans outstanding, getting your loan request approved is almost guaranteed. A poor credit rating will not get in the way.

There are people who criticize paycheck loans, so let’s look at those criticisms here:

The interest rates are too high: This varies by state, but the critics’ calculations are typically based on holding the loan for a year. Paycheck loans are designed to be paid off in about 30 days or less.

You don’t know who you are dealing with: Look for American-based lenders versus those who operate offshore. There’s a lot more transparency with USA-headquartered easy online cash advance lenders than where you buy certain other things on the Internet.

You can get into trouble with these loans: Really? You can’t borrow more than an amount that is less than one pay period. If you get a car title loan, it can be for many thousands of dollars. There are people under the age of 25 with $25,000 in credit card balances that carry double-digit interest rates. You could do a lot worse than paycheck loans.

Managing through a tight economy might be a good thing for all of us. It teaches us to question conventional wisdom and to find the smart ways to manage our spending behaviors and our money. Things can only get better when you know more about how to do it.

(Ninja’s notes: I think if we all live within our means and establish a reasonable emergency fund we can avoid depending on credit in virtually all circumstances. I’d personally never use a payday loan service, and definitely wouldnt reccommend you using one without knowing ALL the terms. There were however a few compelling arguments for why a payday loan isn’t necessarily as evil as we all think they are. What say you?)

Today’s guest post comes from author Caitlin Kelley. A regular contributor to The New York Times since 1990, she has written for USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Glamour, More, and other publications in Canada and Europe. Her newest book, “Malled: My Unintentional Career In Retail” is out April 14th.

If I woke up tomorrow with the persistent belief that,  because I love using words like medulla oblangata or “stat!” or like how I look in a surgical gown, I was now — shazzam! — a neurosurgeon, many people would be quick to disabuse me of this notion.

It would instead, require years of study and practice and oversight by extremely demanding teachers, and passing exams to prove my competency, before I would be legally and safely allowed to start cutting open people’s heads.

But anyone anywhere can flip open a laptop and decide, after banging a few keys, they’re A Writer.

Not only is everyone now A Writer, but they howl en masse in wounded outrage when people like me – author of two non-fiction works published by major commercial houses, veteran of three daily newspapers, winner of fellowships and awards – suggest it’s actually, you know, work.

Becoming a writer worth reading actually requires skill, training, editing, self-editing, revision, reflection and often discarding entire chunks of material.

I’m all for enthusiasm and passion and new ideas. Book publishing would die without all of these. But how many of these soi-disant Writers network daily with dozens of other skilled, accomplished writers and ask for their feedback and advice?

And what happens when it’s negative? Do they give up?

It’s not fun having your ideas and skills examined and questioned, or your assumptions — whether about word choice, point of view, character or historical context — challenged.

Yet hundreds of bloggers are convinced they have a book – a whole shelf of them! – in them. And every day I find another few dozen whiny or moaning blog posts about “I don’t feel like writing today” or “I want to sell my book!” Or how they totally don’t intend to negotiate the pesky obstacle course of commercial publishing, as if it were for, you know, losers.

If so, why are the most successful writers still doing it?

If you seriously want to get your book published, here’s what we all did:

Find and impress an agent, write a book proposal, work on it for free for months until s/he thinks it’s ready, submit it to publishers, who may reject it with really snotty emails, and pray someone somewhere finally says, Yes!

(Like surgery, this is not a risk-free business. For all its terrific pleasures – Great reviews! Your book in stores! — it’s also routinely filled with last-minute surprises and unexpected costs, rejection and revision and self-doubt.)

Newbies’ naivete about all of this drives me crazy. It won’t be like that for me, they insist.

In the world of commercial book publishing, there’s no single-digit “publish” button.

For every book now in the marketplace, a dozen or more people, each with very strong opinions – and their professional reputations and future income riding on their selections – chose those books from among the thousands, literally, each month competing for their attention and investment.

Talking about writing is often a lot more fun than actually writing.

ninja’s notes: I have posted numerous times that I don’t feel like blogging on random days, but I’ve also never claimed to a) like writing, b)call myself a writer, or c)have any desire to publish a book….unless said book can contain a bunch of stick figure drawings.