This Week in the Blogosphere: Recovering From Illness Edition
Well, in case anyone noticed, I missed a couple days this week due to illness. And since I haven’t gotten to the point where I have all my posts scheduled beforehand, when I couldn’t get out of bed Tuesday morning, I wasn’t able to edit and publish the post for the day. And that continued through yesterday. By Wednesday afternoon I was feeling a bit better and back at work. Actually, my wife and I were both sick Tuesday and Wednesday (though I had the worst of it so she still had to ferry the kids around to and from school). Whenever we get sick, I always seem to get sicker than she does - does anyone else experience that phenomenon?
Anyway, I thought I’d use today’s post to point out some good articles I’ve seen in the last week or so (for some reason, I’m just not inspired to talk about insurance today!)
The Apostle of the Turtle points out two compelling reasons to turn off the TV . We don’t watch a lot of TV at our house (much to my children’s chagrin) but we still do watch some. In fact, we regularly watch only two shows - Monk and Psych on Friday night and both of their seasons just ended.
Until Debt Do Us Part asks "Why Die Rich?" Ahhh, yes, hoarding - I get accused of this frequently (It’s something I’m working on)
To combat any natural tendencies toward hoarding (or is it just me?), consider taking part in ChristianPF’s 10 Day Give .
My wife hates coupons for some of the reasons presented (by The Happy Rock as a guest post on Bible Money Matters) in this post discussing how coupons can actually cost you money . I’ve heard so much about how great coupons are though that we finally relented and started a two month subscription to the Sunday paper solely for the coupons. The stats so far: 4 Sunday papers, total coupon savings $0.00.
I am a late adopter, mostly because of price. I know that sounds weird for someone who uses so much technology on a daily basis, but I don’t like spending a lot of money. I still remember when the first CD players came out and cost like $5000 or something. One Caveman’s Financial Journey discusses how being a late adopter can save you money.
Everyone wants to do more in less time, so check out these 5 tips for being more productive from Wise Money Matters. These seem like really good ideas. Honestly, though, I’ve not tried any except #3 (what is this I keep hearing about some big bailout?). As far as #3 is concerned, I really like it.
ChristianPF shares some creative ideas for the seemingly lost art of the thank you. I think that whether or not people are polite and friendly varies a lot based on where you are in the United States. For instance, I noticed that when we moved from AZ to NC, people were much more polite in random interactions. Actually, I was amazed how much different it was.
God bless…
This Week in the Blogosphere: Soccer Practice Edition
Soccer practice started last night. No, it’s not some reliving-my-glory-years thing, I’m the coach of my son’s Upward Soccer team. Our first exposure to team sports was in the spring when he and his sister played soccer together. This fall’s team is mostly 4 year old and I think one or two kids that are five. That’s pretty young. We were in the same age group in the spring but most of those kids were 6 or almost six (except for my son who barely made the minimum age after just turning 4). So this should be an interested experience…especially if all the other teams are stocked with 6-year olds! My son loves playing though and Upward soccer is a great environment in which to play, so we’re looking forward to it.
So what does all of that have to do with finances? Nothing I guess….well, maybe you could look at it as a frugal choice of a sports league - whereas my daughter’s gymnastics program costs more than $350 (though it does last longer), playing Upward soccer only costs $80 (and he gets a really cool uniform!). I definitely recommend checking out Upward for anyone with kids who love sports but want them to start out in a no-pressure and affirmative environment (they have other sports besides soccer as well).
Onto the week that was….
- Here is a very interesting interview with someone who has already done what most of us are reading these blogs to do, you know, save, invest, accumulate wealth, live (@ ChristianPF )
- Here is a comprehensive and very detailed look at asset allocation. I’m sure that I’ll be going back to study this further in the future. (@Moolanomy )
- Here is a good rational approach to reduce some of your worrying about money (of course, this is most effective if you actually behave rationally in regards to worrying and money and worrying about money) (@Capital Couples Finance )
Now a double dip….
- Starting with some good tips for remaining debt free once you do all the hard work to get out of debt (@ BibleMoneyMatters )
- Finally, I have been accused of exactly what he describes in this Bible verse of the day post (unfairly of course!
) ….so I’ll bookmark it and try to go back and read it periodically (@ BibleMoneyMatters )
Have a great weekend and God Bless…
photo credit: CTD 2005
Lazy is the Real Mother of Invention
We’ve all heard the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention." Well, I say nuts to that! (what a strange saying). Sure, necessity has generated a number of inventions and improvements over the years. Let’s get real here, though, I contend that lazy is much more effective at inspiring improvements (and especially conveniences)!
Ok, so maybe necessity triggered numerous medical improvements over the years, but lazy triggered being able to see your doctor, walk down the hall to get your blood drawn for labs, and check a special voice mail in a few days to get your results.
We’re too lazy to mail letters, so email was invented. Too lazy to walk over to the phone handset to make a call - here’s a cordless phone. Too lazy to wait until you get home to make a call - here’s a cell phone.
Too lazy to load 45 1.44 MB disks into your computer one after another to install the latest and greatest version of your favorite software application? That’s why we have CDs and now DVDs.
Entire segments of industries have been created to appease our laziness. You can get someone to come to your house to clean it, power-wash it, paint it, replace the windshield on your car, detail your car, or even wash your pet. You can even get your groceries delivered right to your door!
Internet access? Lazy. High-speed internet access? Really lazy. Remote control? Do you even need to ask?!
I think there’s a difference between laziness and indolence
I’ll admit that I am lazy. I don’t deny it, instead I embrace it. I am obsessed with efficiency - doing everything in the easiest and most effective way possible. Why, you ask? Simply because I am lazy.
Now just because I am lazy doesn’t mean I won’t work hard. I want to do even more things than I already have time to do - that’s why I am so lazy (makes perfect sense, right!). It’s 11:09 PM, I have done four things on my evening todo list (working on the 5th as we speak) and have four more things I’d really like to get done tonight. Therefore, I am lazy with each individual item. By that, I mean I want to devote the minimum amount of time to get each one done so I have more time to do more things. Lazy? Yes. Indolent? I don’t think so.
So maybe impatience is a factor as well
As I read back over the post, it strikes me that impatience plays a large role in some of these inventions as well. I still think lazy is the mother. I guess that makes impatience that annoying aunt that is always pinching your cheeks and saying things like, "How are we doing today? Oh, we’re such a big boy/girl now, aren’t we?"
Only a few links this week - guess I was too lazy!
- Bible Money Matters provides a list of 10 things he has learned about money (I wish I knew more of these earlier in life!)
- Take a look at being a good steward of your finances at Keeping the Kingdom First (guest post by Bob from ChristianPF.com )
- Here are some good tips on getting started with a budget (@ Gather Little By Little )
- What is your purchase personality? (@ The Happy Rock ) - I think I am probably "The Middle Man" though I would change it slightly to be more of a value based approach (not "values" based). I don’t necessarily get the cheapest thing, but I do like to find the "sweet spot" of price and value.
Have a great weekend and God bless…
photo credit: heydrienne
It’s Been a Remarkable Week for BFN
I wrote a post last week titled 45 Ways to Earn Some Extra Money. Later that evening I happened to be playing around with my new sitemeter account and noticed that it said that BFN had 515 visitors that day. Since the previous days I had 11 and then 30 visitors I thought this must be some kind of mistake. As it turned out, the post was Stumbled by a few people and all of the sudden a bunch of people were checking it out.
My first Stumbled post!
I had heard of this phenomenon but honestly had not expected anything like this to happen so I thought it was awesome! I expected the traffic to die down by the next evening but it has kept going strong. In fact, I had two days of greater than 2500 visitors and cumulatively I have now had over 16,000 visits and 27,600 page views! I know that’s nothing for some blogs out that but it is positively astounding for my little blog. It is finally starting to die down now but it is still no where near my previous levels.
It has been fun to see so many people come to my site to check out a post. Some people seem to be clicking on some of the links in the post, as well. Hopefully they are making a little extra money or, better yet, maybe some of the ideas spurred them to think of some even better ones for themselves.
Not many are sticking around though
My RSS subscriptions have gone up from 13 to almost 50 - so that is pretty sweet (except for the fact that only a minuscule percentage of all the visitors are finding the site "sticky.")
Here’s the 46th way to earn some extra money
I’ve already found the 46th way: Jury duty. I was finally called to my first jury duty appearance on Monday. I was somewhat dreading it at first, but by the time I got to the courthouse, I was actually looking forward to experiencing the process. I never got to find out if I’d be selected for the jury though. Just before we were to be taken down to the courtroom, the judge came in to the jury assembly room and told us the case had been settled at the last moment. Honestly, I admit that I was a little disappointed. Oh well, I still get my $30 for showing up. $30 for about 1.5 hours isn’t going to send me into retirement, but it’s not too shabby!
On to this week’s links
I’m finally getting my head above water and getting back to reading blogs like I used to before starting BFN. I have two new projects in the works, though, so we’ll see how well I can keep up with it.
Enough about me and my little blog, lets go to the good stuff…
- Dave Ramsey swears it works, many studies are bandied about, but people are still skeptical. Here’s a reference to a news story about a family that tried going cash only for a month . The results actually match up well with the studies I’ve heard about how people spend between 15% - 30% more when using a credit card. (@ Prime Time Money )
- Great title on this one and some amusing (and quite true) content, too: What the devil says about personal finance (@ capital couples finance )
- People like to get into arguments about which fancy technique is better for this or that. The debt snowball is a popular one to embrace fully or bash mercilessly. Here is a great common sense approach to the argument (@ wise money matters )
- Of course I would be remiss if I did not point out this post about why you should get out of debt (I mean, this blog is called "Borrow From None," right?) (@ Christian PF )
- Finally, as all the kids are heading back to school, here are two posts regarding the monumental task of paying for college. Both take a possibly controversial look at the issue and raise interesting points about whether or not it is a good thing to completely pay for your child’s college education (@ Bible Money Matters and @ One Caveman’s Financial Journey )
Have a great weekend and God bless…
This Week in the Blogosphere: Mini-Vacation Edition
We are off to a long weekend! We are traveling up to PA to visit friends and families and spend some time relaxing and having fun. We might be riding some roller coasters, too, but it’s more likely that we’ll be watching the kids not ride roller coasters.
This has been another hectic week. I spent a lot of time tweaking the blog and, of course, writing. Unfortunately, I still have a long list of items to add or upgrade. If you have any suggestions for plug-ins or widgets or processes, please let me know. The help I’ve gotten so far on this journey has been invaluable and it is much appreciated. Enough about me…here’s some weekend reading: Click here to continue reading…
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