So I thought long and hard about this one, and figured if there were ever a time for me to make an appearance, it’s now. I’ve sat here for over two hours trying to express the power of community and what it really means to me, and I keep coming back to our final Drop video.
This may be stupid of me, but here it is. My new life. It’s raw, it’s scary, but most of all – I feel alive. Here we go… the real me…
(if you’re reading in RSS, click here for the link)
Did I scare you away? ;) For those who can’t watch the video, our members raised over $2,500 in cash along with boxes after boxes of home-made gifts, clothes, gift cards, and an incredible family 4 pack to watch the Chicago Bulls together. We did this in 1 month. All 400+ people coming together and giving a few bucks each to impact one family’s life. Our mission was to help them forget about their troubles (homelessness & financial worries), and we were blown away with everyone’s generosity. If you participated, THANK YOU.
This month we start all over again and circle around 2 beautiful kids with severe autism. Our goal is to raise $13,000 so we can get them a highly trained service dog. And if possible, three iPads so the family can communicate better with each other (Alex can only speak through technology, and these iPads can do wonders for everyone). It’s a long shot, but we’re gonna do our best and see what happens. If you’d like to join us, you can become a member of Love Drop here.
I have about a billion other things I wanna say right now, but I think I’ll leave it at that. I’m in one of those weird places at the moment where I’m pondering the meaning of life. I’m afraid what else I’ll divulge if I keep on going ;)
God bless, everyone. I love you all more than you know.
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Amazing video and can’t believe I got to see the real J$ too. So much love here too.
Wow, that really made my whole day. You guys are awesome! May God bless you all!
This is seriously awesome. I’m so glad you were able to find a calling that really brings out your passion. We can tell. :)
I was so happy to see this last week at Blissdom and again today on your blog. You, Nate and Lauren are beautiful people who I’m proud to know.
This made my day! I can’t wait to start contributing to the LOVE DROP… I am also pretty excited that I get to see you in person! What have you been hiding for? You’re adorable, and the hawk is hot ;)
Thank you for this video, and for adding the personal touch to your site! Good luck with the next Love Drop!
there is an expression here Down Under, ‘good on ya.’ it easily applies here. congrats on your first drop!!!! you must be ecstatic that your vision was realized!
thanks for being brave and baring it all for a great cause–you are a gorgeous person, inside and out, and I am sure that everyone around you in real life appreciates that. now we in the blogosphere can too! and thanks for sharing and letting us be a part of your new adventure! continued good luck with it all, let us know what we can do to help. oh, that reminds me, do you guys take NZD?? :)
This video was truly amazing to see. All of the outpouring of love for this family was awesome and I can’t wait to participate in the next one! One of my goals this year was to give more to good causes, and I think this is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. The goal for the month of February is a big one, but it CAN be done! And I’m going to hop over to the love drop site and make my contribution for the month!
Watched this at weekend and it made my day! Just wonderful what you’re all doing. If you ever go global, I’m here for you in the UK…Holly probably will be as well…
…although I haven’t asked her yet! sorry pressed enter too early :)
It’s great that you’re doing such a nice thing for people.
One suggestion: As someone who hasn’t really been following what you’re doing on Love Drop, I think the video would be a lot more powerful if you explained why you were “Love Dropping” this woman and her family. The only thing I saw was your text description of “homelessness and financial worries” but it looked like they have a home to me and you didn’t tell me anything about their financial troubles.
Again, great job being an angel in this woman’s life, but I’d like to know why she needs and deserves an angel.
What an amazing video! It makes me so happy to support Love Drop…I wish I could do more!
Awesome! Giving is sooo sexy!!
Hopefully I can help in some way for the next drop.
Wow the mohawk was real huh?
An amazing video!
Who was filming when you were both in the shot?
@Kevin @ Thousandaire.com – I think he had a video a month ago or so that talked about why Jill was chosen for the Love drop. I believe this is it – http://www.lovedrop.us/past-drops
@J. Money
This is great on so many levels. It was priceless to see the looks on those kids faces when Nate said that they were getting Chicago Bulls Tickets.. Soo great man. Keep it up!
@Kevin @ Thousandaire.com
This is the full story
http://www.lovedrop.us/jill
Love you, bro. We’re gonna rock this. :)
Don’t be shy, you’re handsome. And you’re a good man, which makes you even cooler. Job well done, A+.
Glad I saw this! It is a powerful project and I hope it goes on for long. There are so many people who need and deserve angels like you. Keep it up!
What an amazing way to show Love Drop and the way it helps people! I can’t wait to help contribute in the future! :)
Look who’s coming out! And, once again, I’m in tears watching this video. I don’t know how I’ll be able to watch the February videos. Good thing I brought home plenty of Kleenex.
I’m so glad to know all three of you and be a part of such an amazing movement. Thanks for all you do.
Great job you guys, what an awesome project. Oh, and it sounds like you’ve got a few admiring female fans now that you’ve revealed yourself! haha.. Can’t wait to see next month’s drop!
Very inspiring guys. Looking forward to what Feb will bring.
After following for some long it’s AMAZING to finally get to see the real you and you’re just as much of a fittie as I’d always expected :) Hahaha!
Seriously though, great job guys. I know this is going to take you to some special places.
Great job. What an inspiring thing to do! Good luck to Jill and her family.
LOVE what you’ve done with your hair. :-)
Nice! Good to see you, too :)
:)
This makes me very happy; seeing/reading how happy and fulfilling this is for you, not to mention what a blessing it is for Jill and her family.
This new life of yours is risky, but I think you’ve already decided that it’s worth it :)
I think sometimes we forget that the meaning in life has everything to do with people and less about money. Kudos to you for not becoming numb to the people around you.
When I’m around people, investing in their lives and just living life with friends, that is reality. That’s the real world. The world of money, careers and success…that’s the illusion. No one looks back on their life and wishes they would’ve spent more time working. Sometimes I just forget that.
“Only by investing ourselves in others can we exist substantially outside of our own finite experience and create the entity of a group, the beginning stages of a greater being.”
Have we ever seen the handsomeness that is J. Money?! Cute and selfless. Nice!
Thank you all so very much. I can’t tell you how much all your thoughts and kind words mean to me :) You made “coming out” not as scary, and I appreciate that. I think we’ve got an amazing family here at Budgets Are Sexy, and I just want to thank you all again for making my life better. You guys are awesome.
@Kay Lynn (Bucksome) – Yayyyy! It was awesome meeting you too in real life :) You were really fun to hang out with – let’s do it again.
@sarah – Awwwww, you are too kind. Thank you so much for making me smile :)
@Sense – “good on ya” – I like that. Glad you enjoyed the sneak peak into my “real” life too, perhaps we’ll have more of that stuff here down the road :) And heck yeah we accept NZD! Paypal likes it all, baby.
@Mercedes – Thank you so much!!! We’re going to do our best to hit our crazy goal, and we’re glad you’re gonna be a part of it! :)
@laura – I love Holly!! We def. have our sites on expanding next year, and the UK would def. be one of the first places we try out. So I’ll most def. keep you in mind, thx!
@Kevin @ Thousandaire.com – For sure. I should have given more details in the text there. As others have mentioned, everything is outlined on our site – LoveDrop.us – so anyone interested can check out the story in it’s entirety there.
@Evan – Ofcourse the mohawk is real! haha…. you think I joke like that? ;) We have our own film crew who helps us out – Dennis & Mary from Hildebrand Creative – great people. They’ve basically dedicated their time and skills to helping us out on a VERY VERY low budget until we can afford to pay them more. We’d be lost with out them.
@Brian – Good lookin’ out. And you’re totally right – their faces were so cool to watch!!
@Nate St. Pierre – You are my new family, sir. I’m blessed to be able to know AND work with you. Pat yourself on the back for rocking this out last month :)
@Clare – *blush*
@Just Heather – It was SO wonderful meeting you at Blissdom Heather :) You are one of the most sincere and loving people I’ve met, never change! And it was a blast sharing the dance floor with you too – not gonna forget that for quite some time :)
@Pete – haha, I’m not going to complain there ;)
@Holly @ Shopaholly – A “fittie” huh? Gonna have to go and look that one up ;) It feels so weird being out there like that, but hopefully some good things can come out of it too? Thanks so much for stopping by Holly – you know you’re always in my heart.
@Donna Freedman – Been rockin’ it for 6+ years now ;)
@Sarah – Thank you!! You are totally right too – it’s def. more about people and the connections than the money and constant work we do in our lives. I really feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be right now, so just praying things continue to move forward :) Thanks so much for stopping by my friend.
@Sandy @ yesiamcheap – you are too kind.
First off, I loved the video. I was crying.
Second, I love your next Love Drop project. My son is Autistic, so I know the struggles. We were fortunate to have a little extra $ this month, and I plan to help your cause.
Last, but not least…..OMG, you are a total hottie!!!!!! You rock the ‘hawk. Mrs. JMoney is a lucky lady. ;)
This is way America and the people are the best in the World. God bless you all
Micro giving is definitely a power concept because it brings people together to help out other people in need.
Seems like the perfect way to show the “real” you. Kudos to Love Drop and everyone who contributed. Gives me the warm fuzzies on this cold day. :)
@Mysti – Hahaha, thank you and THANK YOU! I’m glad you were touched :) You made my morning.
@Lindy Mint – Warm fuzzies are always good ;)
There is a family in our town who just lost their home and their 15 month old son in a house explosion. I think they are actually still in the hospital. I think this would be wonderful to do for them.
hey Lisa – that is horrible, i’m so sorry to hear that :( can you email me more information on them? j (at) budgetsaresexy (dot) com. thx!
I LOVE this J! Way to go! Such a great initiative and I really hope you guys do many more and make it bigger and bigger.
Did you guys set it up as a LLC or SCorp? Is the money that’s contributed used to pay for your hotels, transportation (cars/flights) too?
Cheers
J-Money-
I just wanted to commend you for taking risks and inspiring others to take risks as well. You’re doing an awesome thing by impacting the lives of others. Plus you are giving others tangible ways to give back. I am still talking to my wife about what type of membership we want to do. V.I.P membership seems pretty awesome!!
@Financial Samurai – Thanks dude :) We went with an LLC Partnership with this one. The money the members give gets divided like so —> 50% directly to the family we’re helping, 30% operations, 20% taxes. The 30% operations doesn’t cover much after all is said and done, so we rely on sponsors to help pay a bulk of the rest (which includes transportation, hotels etc.) Luckily we know a lot of people in a lot of places so we should be able to do a lot of this stuff on the cheap. We’re def. not trying to spend just for the sake of it.
@Matt – Thanks Matt! I’m so glad you like what we’re doing :) And if you happen to join our VIP membership that’s great too! We’d love to have you on our team. But either way I appreciate you stopping by and sharing.
Words cannot even describe!!!!! Way to go and many blessings…..
MELTED my heart. Great job, guys. This will affect way more people than just those who you’re visiting directly.
beyond wonderful to watch
Just watched this and the video for February’s upcoming drop and I was so moved I joined!!!!
Awesome!!! Glad you guys enjoyed this :)