July was an exiting time: we joined the College Money Network, we have over 100 subscribers now, and we posted our 75th post. August is also the six month anniversary of Spilling Buckets Blog, and boy a lot has changed from the first post back in March. Personal growth has also been a large part of this month: Ry decided to take the plunge and leave a job that he just didn't fit with, Les got a large raise and began taking MBA classes, and we've both been participating in the 100 Push-up challenge.



This growth is exciting, so in the spirit of growing and networking, here are some of my favorite articles from the CMN this week:



This Writer's Wallet talks about how she is doing her dream job - full time writing - and still has a hard time believing it sometimes. Being happy with your life and your work is vital to overall happiness, and I think it's awesome that she found something she loves doing that also pays the rent.



Broke Grad Student had an Awesome July - he's been featured on MSN's front page (Sweet!) and broke 200 subscribers, gaining over 100 in this month alone. Here's to an August of equal excitement and growth.



MFA or Bust has also had a great July and has reached all but one of her goals. She's been able to save a lot this month, got financial aid to continue school, and has read some interesting library books. (I think I'll be checking a few of those out, too.) And she's been staying healthy by seeing the doctor for a check-up and cutting out as many processed foods as possible. I know eating healthy can really make a surprising difference in how you feel, but it isn't always easy to do (pre-packaged items are convenient) - so great job MFA, keep it up!



Poorer Than You has a great challenge going on - she's asking readers to keep track of all spending for the month of August. This is a great way to figure out exactly why you have too much month at the end of the paycheck.



Green Panda Treehouse has a post related to Poorer Than You's Challenge, she lists some great ideas on how to control unconscious spending including keeping track of all spending and coming up with a realistic budget. It certainly is easy to go out and buy stuff without even realizing how much you are spending if you aren't careful.



Broke-Ass Student talks about the disturbing and sad trend starting now - voluntarily abandoning your house by simply not paying, even when you can afford to. The housing crisis seems to be getting a lot of people scared when things don't really seem to be that bad in most areas; I hope these panic reactions stops with the government backing of Fannie and Freddie.



Everyone seems to have achieve a level of personal or blog growth that was exceptional this month, and I know August will be even better.