Uncommon Cents

Well, for those of you who have a long weekend. I work today (Saturday) but am off the next two days, and on Monday I’m running the Great Aloha Run. Be back on Tuesday!

I’m headed to California on a business trip; expect posts to be sporadic until Monday. Hope all is well!

I don’t get one at work but I’m giving myself one here! Back Saturday.

This entry is cross-posted from my other blog, Athletic-Diabetic.com

While Tweeting up with some of the local folks this weekend, one of them said they wanted to donate to my Livestrong Challenge effort but didn’t really understand it. So I figured I’d blog about it to try to give them a better idea of what I’m doing. Let’s see how this works in the form of a FAQ:

What is the Livestrong Challenge?

Wikipedia says:

“The LIVESTRONG Challenge is a series of community-building fundraising events that take place across the country. The LIVESTRONG Challenge includes the signature LIVESTRONG Ride, as well as 5K run/walk to allow people of all ages and physical abilities to participate and raise funds for cancer survivors.”

The challenge series helps to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded and named after the seven time Tour de France champion who is not only a cancer survivor but the greatest cyclist in United States–if not world–history.

For what it’s worth, this year’s challenge is a 10K run/walk, at least in Philadelphia, on Saturday, and on Sunday, the “signature LIVESTRONG Ride” is a century–in this case 95.7 miles of riding.

There are several Livestrong Challenge events throughout the nation, including California, the Pacific Northwest, and Austin, Texas (where Lance Armstrong is from). The one I will be riding happens to be in Philadelphia, an ocean and a continent away.

What team are you on?

I’m on Team Fat Cyclist, aka Team Fatty, captained by Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist himself. It’s cocaptained by Philly Jen, who has been quite helpful in my figuring out my arrangements so far.

What’s special about Team Fatty?

Team Fatty is an outgrowth of the immensely popular Fat Cyclist blog, which started off being about his cycling adventures (he is no longer fat, for sure) but ended up being about his late wife Susan’s battle with cancer and fighting cancer in every conceivable way. In 2009, less than a month after Susan had passed, Fatty himself was in Philadelphia with Team Fat Cyclist, and they obliterated all of the records for fundraising in the Livestrong Challenge.

I want to be part of a winning team. That’s why I chose Team Fatty.

Why Philadelphia?

Reading a couple of the blog posts on the Philadelphia event, and more importantly, watching the video of the awards banquet the night before, will tell you exactly why I chose Philadelphia. This is not to speak poorly about any of the other sites; I just believe that Philly is where I want to be. See why:

2009 Philadelphia LiveStrong Challenge: Fatty’s Speech from Fat Cyclist on Vimeo.

After watching that, I have a hard time thinking I could be anywhere else.

Is money going to you or Livestrong?

Everything sent in is going to Livestrong. People have asked if I would take personal donations to help offset my travel costs, and while I appreciate the gesture, this is essentially this year’s vacation. A once in a lifetime effort and experience. So thank you, but I think they need the money more than I do.

How can I give?

You can go to my Livestrong page here.

Donate online or print out a form and give what you can.

What if I can’t afford to give or can’t afford to give much but I still want to help?

Any amount helps, so don’t feel like anything is insignificant. If you’re a blogger or Twitterer or FaceBooker, pimping out this effort would be a huge help, particularly if you’re local (meaning in Hawai’i) or in the media. I want this to be a huge success–and actually, thanks to you, it already is.

What’s your goal?

While I list a monetary goal (right now at $1,500), the real goals are to

(1) do as much as I can for this cause I believe in;

(2) finish;

(3) not injure myself;

and

(4) have a great story to tell.

Because of all of you who have supported me in this effort–and those who are making up their minds to do so–I already have a great story to tell.

And, after all of that, I guess the other goals I have are to get into the best shape of my life and make those of you who believe in me proud.

In my entire life, I have never been so grateful, honored, and humbled by the people in my life as I have been during this effort. I cannot do or say enough to thank those of you who have stepped forward to support me in doing this.

Thanks for reading.

Yes, I’m still (mostly) on a holiday hiatus, but as a follow up to yesterday’s post about my entering the Livestrong Challenge in Philadelphia, I have to say that I am grateful, honored, humbled, and awed by the response.

Within the first 24 hours of my entering, my buddies online and in real life (you know who you are, and I love you dearly) already have put me over the $400 mark in fundraising; that’s without hitting the people I work with yet (with one exception, just because he follows me on Twitter too).

Of course, more would be appreciated, but any amount helps, and I cannot express just how amazed I am by the generosity of people–including you readers out there–even in these difficult times.

Well, it’s not totally hiatus time, but posts are infrequent, however, I would just like to say I officially registered for Livestrong Challenge Philadelphia today. My personal fundraising page is at:

http://philly2010.livestrong.org/rsuenaga

Please support me in riding this event! I’m going a long way to do a century, and I’d like to make it special for everyone!

This is a guest post from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), a non-profit dedicated to improving the financial literacy of all Americans. NEFE operates the site Smart About Money and have developed a series of articles filled with tips to help you make 2010 the year of financial freedom. You can also find Economic Survival Tips, worksheets and articles focused on financial education related to housing, spending, credit and job change. Please look at Smart About Money’s other articles to help to make 2010 a great financial year for yourself, and you can follow NEFE on Twitter at @nefe_org

1.      Control spending: If you spend less you’ll have more money available to pay down debt and save for the future. Write down your expenses for a month to see where your money is going. You might be surprised by how easy it is to find places to scale back.

2.      Create a debt repayment plan: If you carry credit card debt, write down everything you owe and make a plan to pay it off. Start with small items you can act on right away–it will make tackling the bigger debt easier. Also, try buying with cash only. It’s a sure-fire way to prevent increases in your credit card debt.

3.      Set up auto-savings plans: Arrange with your bank or another financial institution to have a set amount deducted from your checking account to a savings account each pay period. Of the Americans who have been able to contribute to emergency savings funds, automatic withdrawal is the most popular method, according to the Consumer Federation of America.

4.      Boost retirement savings: If your employer offers a 401(k) plan, increase your contributions. If you don’t have an employer plan, open an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and arrange for contributions to be made automatically from your checking or savings account.

5.      Create a long-term plan: Write a list of your long-term goals, such as buying a home or saving for college or retirement. Visit the Life Events section of Smart About Money for concrete tips on accomplishing those goals.

6.      Protect Yourself: Be prepared for the unexpected by making sure you, your family, your assets and investments are insured and fully covered. If you do not have a will, make 2010 the year you establish a life plan.

7.      Find a financial buddy: Share your financial resolutions with a friend, colleague, or family member, and you’ll be more likely to keep them. Find someone else who wants to turn around their debt or cut their spending, and establish a mutual support system.

Posts will be sporadic over the next couple of weeks as the holidays are upon us. Wishing everyone the best!

Both from blogging and from running (my back is acting up while I write this on Thursday night so I’m planning on not running on Friday morning). Be back Saturday with more Uncommon Cents goodness.

I’m taking a little time off to celebrate with family and generally catch up with life (things have gotten a bit unmanageable here–again). Expect posts to be sporadic for a few days.

Happy American Thanskgiving, one and all.