The Amateur Financier

This morning, I had a little bit of a scare, finding that my blog was down when I went to update it this morning.  It turned out that there was maintenance being done on the server, which is what shut down my blog.  After a brief period of panic, I settled in for a good day’s sleep (one of the advantages of being nocturnal, I suppose), and when I woke up, I discovered that my beloved blog was back up.  So, yay for that.

This whole experience has made me realize that I need to learn more about computer programming and similar technical issues.  I’ve been learning slowly, but if I hope to make my blog into a regular source of income, I will need to be able to maintain my own blog without requiring assistance.  Any suggestions as to where I can learn more about the fine art of blogging?

Some of the blog entries that made me think this week include:

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Going to Community College – Studenomics covers some of the advantages (smaller classes, less expensive tuition) and disadvantages (less challenge, less creditability) of starting your college career in community college.  He raises some interesting points; if I were approaching my college years and didn’t have the financial backing I was able to atain at my univesity, I would consider the possibility of community college long and hard.   It’s not a bad place to start (but probably not finish) your higher educational career.

Using Financial Aid to Graduate Debt Free – Keeping on the subject of decreasing your college education costs, My Life ROI covers some of the types of financial aid available to college student.  Given the rapidly rising cost of higher education (at least if you’re not in a community college), it’s good to know more about ways to defray some of your out of pocket expenses.

Parents Bamboozled by FreeCreditReport.com – Stephanie of Poorer Than You recalls a story where her mother and step-mother used a site (which I have no intention of repeating or linking to here) other than AnnualCreditReport.com in order to get their credit reports.  It’s a good reminder; make sure that you and everyone in your family know not to fall for the deceptive ads for the other site (catchy though their jingles might be).

Anything Worth Doing is Difficult and Requires Sacrifice – Finally, a column from Kevin at No Debt Plan reminds us that though things might not always be easy, the things in life that are worth doing tend not to be.  Getting your financial house in order, putting money aside for retirement, and getting in shape are all things that we should, nay, MUST do to have a good life, but the rewards are more than worth the pain.

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