I got a 6.5% raise at my job!
Nice raise, congrats!
Hey, I just remembered something else that may be appropriate for this thread.
Shortly after I started reading MMM's blog in early July, I started pursuing a new job/career opportunity that practically fell in my lap. At the time I was happy where I was as a software developer and the new job (a college instructor) didn't pay more, but the schedule was unbeatable. So I opted to go for it.
Feeling VERY confident and optimistic about my future, primarily due to the influence of MMM's articles, I went into my interview more confident than I ever have. It was with a panel of 6 interviewers. I answered questions confidently, always had a smile, spoke with authority and even made some jokes. As luck would have it, my year and a half as a LINE COOK even impressed and surprised one of the interviewers, who happened to be the head of the culinary department. They asked me to prepare a 15 minute teaching demo about a feature of Windows 7. They were impressed that I wasn't going to use Powerpoint. The laptop they provided was Windows XP. I mentioned this to them and they began to see if they could find a replacement, until I said, "That's OK, I can work with it. No biggie."
But my favorite part was the typical interview question:
"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
Without even thinking and as confidently as could be, I answered, "About 5 years from retirement."
The looks I got were priceless. Raised eyebrows, laughs, big smiles, heads nodding and even a few "Wow, sounds good to me"s.
I got the offer the next day. I accepted, and the job ROCKS. :-)
[EDIT]: I'm now teaching my second semester of an Excel course. I'm using it as a front to teach a little Personal Finance (teaching "across the curriculum", as my wife puts it).