Archives for Weekly Thoughts category
29
Jun
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
It’s been a while since I’ve done a round-up; real life has made it hard to get online enough to update my own blog, let alone spend the time needed to read through, comment on, and link back to some of the other great blogs I try to follow. But, now that I’m getting back into the swing of things, blog-wise, I figured one of my first actions should be to re-start the whole blog round-up habit.
Now, I’ll probably try to go back and check out all the posts I didn’t have a chance to publish in earlier round-ups, possibly even going as far as making some post-dated weekly round-ups just to include all the goodness I see. For now, though, let’s take a look at some of the quality posts from this past week:
Contests
Joe Plemon mentions the GRABBBR contest being run by several Christian-flavored personal finance bloggers. There looks to be $200 in cash and numerous other prizes up for grabs, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
There’s a book giveaway being held by Young and Thrifty for a copy of Your Money Ratios, a book I’ve seen recommended in quite a few places. If I don’t win it (which I intend to do), perhaps one of my readers can.
I wasn’t fast enough to get to Austin (Foreigner’s Finances) contest giving away a copy of Investing Made Simple, but I suppose I’ll mention it at least; apparently you need to really be on top of his blog entries to win his contests.
If you’ve got kids in your life (or just like reading what we, as a society, are trying to teach our kids about money), you can enter to win a copy of Three Cups, currently be put up by J. Money of Budgets are Sexy.
Good Yakezie Posts
Staying Calm Under Pressure – Financial Samurai, always an interesting and entertaining writer, shares a story about his father, and how his father’s calmness and independence handling life has helped to influence his behavior.
The Millionaire Calculator – I love financial calculators and other devices to help you discover your current financial state. Monevator has a good one, letting you know when you’ll become an (inflation-adjusted) millionaire, always something cool to know.
Are Chiropractors Quacks? – I’ll admit, I’m a bit negatively biased toward chiropractors; my uncle was (is) one, and he didn’t treat my aunt (my mother’s little sister) very well. But Mrs. Money provides a pretty fair and honest view of the profession overall.
I heart Warren Buffett – Buffett is the classic example of both buy-and-hold investing AND living well below your means. If that’s not enough reason to heart him, Young and Thrifty provides more Buffett Factoids to inspire your love.
Does Income Change Who You Are As A Person? Or Your Tastes? – A good question for all of those who are upwardly mobile to ask. Evan of My Journey To Millions asks due to his own feeling that his lifestyle is inflating around him.
How to Control Emotional Spending – Mixing money and emotions frequently results in decreasing the amount of said money. Money Funk provides a pretty good list of ways to help decrease the effect your emotions will have on your spending.
Take Action Tuesday: Automatic Investments - It’s something we know we all should do, but precious few of us end up following through. Daniel of Sweating the Big Stuff provides a quick and easy guide to setting up your automatic investments so you can ‘pay yourself first’.
Where The Amateur Financier Was Featured Last Week
My post about my Deep Thoughts on Tipping was included in the Yakezie Carnival Round Up by Young and Thrifty. I do so enjoy hearing good things from my fellow Yakezie.
Speaking of Yakezie, and my post on tipping, Joe Plemon mentions it in his very sweet Father’s Day Round-Up post. That card from his children is just adorable.
My post on Building Up Your Bull**** Detector was considered one of the Best On The Web by Cheapskate Sandy. Pretty good, considering her BS detector is already running at full throttle (being a native New Yorker and all).
Related Websites
23
Apr
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
So, I am apparently quite an idiot when it comes to blogging, after all. I was looking at my Feedburner information, and made an edit to my feed address. Low and behold, when I finally returned to Feedburner, I discovered that the number of people following my feeds had dropped to about one fifth the previous total. Non-techie that I am, I didn’t think that changing the feed address would automatically cut off the feeds of everyone who had been watching me. (Being a man, and a fan of multi-tasking, I didn’t read the warnings listed on Feedburner until AFTER I made these changes.)
Well, what’s done is done, and I lack both the knowledge and ability to reverse the feed address now that I’ve changed it. I’m going to have chalk this up to a valuable learning experience, and do my best not to repeat it any time soon. In the mean time, I need to just spread the word on my change of feed address (although, I’ve already regained nine of my original sixty some odd readers, so apparently word is getting around somehow. I’ll have to do my best to alert the rest of my former followers to my mistake and ask them to start following the new feed.
Now that all the important announcement type stuff is out of the way, it’s time to get to the real fun of this post: the great articles from around the web that I’ve come across. Because I’ve been so sluggish about getting back to reading my feeds following my trip with Sondra, I’ve got several weeks backed up that I’m to go through.
Contests
Let’s start with a contest that I won: The Find the Kraken contest held by Money Funk! (It was also announced here.) I managed to find the Kraken, followed the instructions, and won a $25 dollar Fandango gift certificate. I’m absolutely ecstatic about it; now I just need to find a good movie or two I can take Sondra to.
Reader Input Needed: Let’s Solve Our Problems – A contest from 20s Money, with prizes yet to be announced, that asks readers to help solve some of the most pressing problems in the world today. Here’s hoping some good solutions come up, and that some politicians happen to be listening in!
Good Yakezie Posts
Doing Anything You Can to Survive-Silence and Surprise in the Night – A chance encounter with a ‘lady of the night’ leaves Financial Samurai wondering about prostitution and what you would be willing to do in order to survive.
Combat the Closing Techniques: The Consultative Closing – Finally, a closing technique that you don’t have to fight with every fiber of your being. Here’s hoping more corporations start putting an emphasis on cooperation with the consumer as a method of selling, so that Eliminate the Muda doesn’t have to keep doing these posts.
Debt Free News from a Debt Free Reader – I love to hear stories about people getting out of debt, and Enemy of Debt rarely disappoints. Learn about Don of MoneyReasons and his journey out of debt.
Greenwash: Clorox Green Works – With environmentalism being one of the latest big things, businesses are looking to cash in, making their products ‘greener’ with natural ingredients and less harmful preparation methods. Of course, as Mrs. Money notes, some companies find it better to make their products appear green without actually making them more environmentally friendly (that is, ‘greenwashing’).
14 FREE Ways to Spend a Friday Night (Fun Included) – A guest post on the Canadian Personal Finance Blog, a whole list of good ways to spend an evening that won’t cost you a cent. I especially like the movie critic night and book club; it’s good to be social as well as frugal.
The Fair Tax: Is It Too Good to Be True? – In a word, yes. Joe Plemon makes an excellent case for the Fair Tax (one which I’ve made in the past) and I ended up playing Devil’s Advocate and pointing out some of the flaws (or at least, unanswered questions that remain). If you’re looking for a good view of the tax, pros and cons, it’s worth reading. (I’ll have to post my own ‘problems with the Fair Tax’ entry later this week.)
What’s An Emergency? – A good question, especially since so many of us have ‘emergency funds’ devoted to paying for just such situations. Ninja of Punch Debt in the Face discusses his pending need to buy furniture for a new place, but wondering how to pay for it. Definitely food for thought (as I’ve nearly exhausted my own emergency funds…)
Maximize Your Retirement Account – A good examination of the advantages of investing in a retirement account, as well as ways to find money to invest. Christine of Money Funk fame provides some excellent advice, as well as sharing her own situation.
The Scarlet “D” – If you’re eager to get a clean financial record, “Debt” can be as much of a mark of shame as a big red A sewn on your clothing. Stay At Home Mom CFO talks about the shame that her persistent debt still causes her.
Why 99.7% of Investors Should Avoid Actively Trading Stocks – From the cost of trading that adds up when regularly trading to the competition with corporations armed with supercomputers and dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of employees, there are many reasons why active stock trading doesn’t work for most small investors. Luckily, Austin is here to remind us of all these factors.
Fixed or Variable Mortgage? – A question posed by Young and Thrifty, though dealt with by anyone who needs a mortgage to purchase a home (which is most of us). High risk tolerance and healthy finances seem to be the key if you are looking at a variable mortgage.
Never Lend Money to Friends and Family! – Excellent advice; there are few things that strain relationships more than money issues (politics and love being the few that pop in my mind). As Elle of Couple Money notes, if you must give money to a friend or family member, it’s probably best to make it a gift, not a loan.
Recurring Expenses Can Kill Your Budget-Choose Wisely – Recurring expenses, those you have to pay on a regular (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc) can quickly add up, costing you much more than you expects. As Free From Broke reminds us, we have to choose which of these expenses we consider truly worthy and limit ourselves to those if we hope to grow our wealth.
Financial Freedom…Now What? – Reaching that point where you have enough money to do whatever you want is a goal many of us have, bu what then. Ryan of Planting Dollars asks what you would do if you had health and wealth enough to indulge your deepest desires.
9 Overlooked Tax Tips for Self-employed Folks like Me – Seeing as I’m slowly moving towards self-employment, it seems (if I can turn this blog into an even better source of income, I’d stop looking for another job in a heartbeat). This guest post on Wealth Pilgrim provides a nice list of possible tax deductions for the self-employed out there.
5 Ways You are Wrecking Your Finances – A nice list of ways people get into trouble in the first place, as noted by SingleGuyMoney. Avoid making these mistakes, and you’ll never need to use advice on how to fix your finances.
What is Your Credit Card Payoff? – A nice article on Redeeming Riches about a tool to figure out how long it will take you to pay off your credit card balance. I’ve been able to pay off my card every month, but if I wasn’t, I’d definitely want to know when’s the soonest I could get the debt monkey off my back.
Where The Amateur Financier Was Mentioned
Free From Broke mentioned the last in my series covering different schools of thought on money, Moneyisms: The Austrian School
Monevator made some excellent points about the nature of markets (and human reactions), as well as explaining why pessimism of the ‘the market is down, it will never rise again’ type is never a good thing. Oh, he also mentioned my review of On the Wealth of Nations.
Speaking of Monevator, he also mentioned my post reminding everyone that Correlation is Not Causation while discussing immigration.
My review of Unautomate Your Finances was mentioned (and quoted) by Baker, the author himself, in a round-up featuring commentary on the book. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Coffeecents, a blog on Wordpress, wrote an article on sunk costs, and linked back to my own piece on that same concept.
My article on the new health care bill here in America was referenced as background information for Joe Plemon’s article about said bill; before too long, the Amateur Financier will standard classroom study material!
Related Websites
6
Apr
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
One of the advantages of being a blogger is that information has a tendency to come to you. If you write interesting posts and develop enough of a following, people start to share interesting posts related to what you write about. It’s kind of neat to see the economics related stuff that I’d never have found on my own that’s been brought to my attention through comments on this blog.
As you might guess, I bring all this up because I want to share something that was mentioned in a comment. Since I spent all last week discussing various types of economic theories, I suppose it might have been inevitable that someone (in this case, Chris from the Martial Development blog) would send me a link to a rap battle between Keynes and Hayek. It’s hilarious and illustrates some of the differences between Keynesism (as exemplified by Keynes, obviously) and the Austrian School (that’d be Hayek) in their approach the economy. Also, did I mention that it’s hilarious? Check it out; and while you do, be sure to check on some of these snazzy posts that went up while I was down in Philadelphia:
Good Yakezie Posts
Retirement Alphabet Soup – A good, if short introduction to sorting out the number of retirement account types available. I’d add a recommendation to keep at least some of your retirement money in a traditional account rather than all Roth style accounts, but you’ll hear a variety of opinions on that point.
Make Extra Money – An interesting list of potential sources of money. A few are only for women (selling Avon products, for example), but most are pretty good for us guys, as well, and it’s always nice to have a plan B to keep the income flowing.
365 Days of World Domination – I don’t often include anniversary posts in my round-up, but Punch Debt in the Face did such a good job (and managed to go through the usual information on display during an anniversary post with such humor) that I just couldn’t resist. Good job, and here’s to many more years to come!
The Best Debt Everyone Should Have and Never Pay Off – No, not mortgages, student loans or that debt to Vinnie “The Knee Breaker”; rather, it’s the ‘continuing debt to love one another.’ A very sweet (and Bible based) notion.
What Is a Power of Attorney? – A good explanation of a concept I’ve only heard tossed around on various Law & Order episodes, as well as some reasons why it’s important. Good advice for anyone with family they wish to protect upon their passing.
Investing Young Isn’t Best – An interesting counterpoint to one of the most commonly cited pieces of investment advice (to start as young as possible). Too often, we focus on the time value of money argument and forget that investing is not in every young person’s interest, all of the time.
Verify Your Checks Before You Deposit – An excellent guide to what to look for on checks you’re going to deposit to ensure that they don’t get returned to you. The DDAMP method sounds like a pretty good way to remember everything you need to check.
The Ripples of Giving – A great guest post on giving to others, how it can affect you, and the way in which giving can ripple outward. An excellent, inspiring post.
Combat the Closing Techniques-The Fear Close – Another week, another closing technique conquered. Here, learn how to fight those who prey on your fears to sell their products.
Where The Amateur Financier Has Been Featured
Not too many places last week (too much time preparing for or taking a trip, I suppose), but as usual, I was included in the Yakezie Weekly Carnival, this time hosted by Cool to Be Frugal. Go, Yakezie!
Related Websites
28
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Ah, the end of March. Spring is officially here, the snow is (mostly) melted, the birds are coming back, and life is generally coming back all around you. It’s also the time of year when the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) has their annual conference, apparently. This year, it’s in Philadelphia, which happens to be just a hop, skip, and a jump away from me and my fiancee (well, relatively speaking; we’re on the opposite side of the state, but Pennsylvania is a fairly smallish state, so it’s still reasonably close).
You may ask why I, a biochemist who couldn’t tell one type of ceramic pottery from another, brings all this up. (I don’t even know enough about ceramics to do a bad joke about how little I know, a la, “I know so little about chemistry, I can’t tell Bohr from Boron.” It’s not any funnier if you’re a chemist, I promise you.) Well, my fiancee Sondra is a Ceramics major (yes, before we started dating, I didn’t know there was such a thing), and so, for the past half year or so, we’ve been making plans to go together. Of course, losing my job put a bit of dark pallor on the trip, but we’d already committed to going, so, off we go! (At least, off we go come Tuesday.)
All of which is my very long-winded way of saying that my access to the Internet (and thus, this blog) might be a little more hit and miss than normal this coming week, so if you email or comment or otherwise try to get in touch with me and don’t get an immediate response, consider this an advanced apology. Anyway, onto the posts from this past week:
Contests and Giveaways
One Up on Wall Street-Book Review and Giveaway – A review of the mini-book version of one of the investing classics, complete with the chance to win the book, all courtesy of YoungandThrifty.
Top 20 Biggest Money Wasters (w/Fun Giveaway) – One of the most interesting contests I’ve seen in a while, you have to find a hiding Kraken (no, really) on Money Funk’s website, and follow the instructions to win. No more help from me; you’ll have to find him on your own 
Win $100 Cash at the Ultimate Money Blog – Nothing like a nice, healthy money prize to motivate people to check out your blog. Just head on over to the Ultimate Money Blog, start commenting, tweeting, and linking back (as I am here, I might note), and you’ll have a chance to win. Good luck!
Other Great Yakezie Posts
Yakezie News Letter #1 – What better way to kick off the good Yakezie posts than with the official Yakezie Newsletter? Bytta of 151 Days Off chronicles some of the accomplishments the group has achieved this far, from the number of members who made the top 100 on the Wisebread list to some of the side ventures from other members (that’s right, some members are so gung ho that they are running blogs, working full time, and STILL have time for other ventures. I’m simply amazed.) It’s one truly dynamic group we have, indeed.
Announcing Our Very First Love Drop – All too often, we forget that as bad as we may have it, there are always people who have it worse off. Luckily, there are ways we can do our best to help them, such as passing along whatever money we can; one way to do that is through the Love Drop, as detailed by J. Money.
A Frugal Middle Class Assessment – It seems just about everyone considers themselves middle class (nobody wants to be considered poor, and if you were rich, shouldn’t you have butlers and stuff), but Money Reasons goes through his finances and proves his middle class cred.
You May Be Invited to a ‘Block Party’ – Now, this is disturbing; apparently, some debt collection agencies have taken to calling family members and neighbors of those in debt, in hopes (I’m guessing) of putting pressure on the debtors. As Stay at Home Mom CFO notes, though, it’s more enraging than effective.
700 Pennies-How to Stay Motivated and Reach Your Goals – An interesting take on the penny jar: Mike, the Personal Finance Ninja, keeps a jar filled with 700 pennies, one for every month until he reaches 80 years old, and uses them as a visible reminder of his own mortality. It’s a good way to keep motivated, I suppose. (Although, if your kids or significant other every find themselves short on cash, you might find your ‘mortality jar’ was emptied for candy money.)
Dear Ninja – An interesting question; what would you say if you were to write a letter to yourself in the future? Punch Debt in the Face proposed that very thing, and this entry was what he came up with. Not a bad set of suggestions for his future self at all, although the threats if he got fat seemed a bit much.
Personal Time Management – Monevator provides a very substantial post about managing your time and keeping yourself motivated when you don’t have a boss breathing over your shoulder and deadlines. Good advice, particularly for those of us who aren’t in a typical job situation.
Related Websites
23
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Well, it’s good news, bad news time again. The good news is that my blog is steadily growing, my health is still good, and my fiancee still loves me. (At least, the diabolical laughter as she tries to tickle me silly seems to indicate love…) In short, life isn’t half bad for ol’ Roger.
The bad news, I’m still unemployed. I heard back last week that I didn’t get the job I interviewed for a few weeks ago (which I thought was fairly certain, but apparently misread). I’m trying to stay optimistic and to keep looking for something even better, but it is a bit disheartening.
Luckily, I still have many sources of joy in my private life, not the least of which is reading through great personal finance blog entries. Speaking of which, here are some of the ones I likes from this past week:
Good Yakezie Posts
Couple Money Netbook Giveaway – I have a bad habit of not sharing these contests before it’s too late (and sometimes, not entering them myself) so let’s get this out of the way first: Couple Money is giving away a net book to celebrate six months of blogging. Comment, tweet, and post links by Friday for a chance to win one of the best prizes I’ve seen for these types of giveaways.
TurboTax Promotion and Giveaway for 2009 Taxes – Crikey, another one, this time from Evan of My Journey to Millions (which, if I haven’t mentioned it already, is a pretty cool blog name), who’s giving away some tax preparation software. If you’ve been slacking a bit on your taxes, consider this your opportunity to make up some time.
Capitalism: A Love Story DVD Review and Giveaway – Yes, one more giveaway that’s still going strong; this time Financial Samurai is giving away some copies of Michael Moore’s latest movie. An interesting sounding movie, if more likely to enrage than enlighten most of you reading this.
Garbage City – Now That’s Entrepreneurism – Showing that one man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure, the Garbage City in Cairo sounds simply amazing (as do the people working hard to make a life in its midst).
Why It’s Frugal to Live in Arkansas – Part of a series highlighting some of the hidden frugality to be found in each state of the union. Arkansas looks like a surprisingly attractive place to retire, with no taxes on Social Security benefits.
Spend & Save: Where Do You Use Your Money? – As always, it’s nice to see where others prioritize their spending, saving, and other money uses. Personally, I’ve been trying to put a higher priority on savings, but with no job at the moment and household expenses not holding still, that’s a bit tough right now.
The Dark Side of Frugality-Losing Your Integrity – It’s sometimes a fine line between thrifty practices and outright theft; buying clothing, wearing it for a month and then returning them falls in the latter category (not to mention it being a very disturbing habit).
Is Traveling Worth Your Money? – An interesting question; many personal finance bloggers seem to rail against buying material goods while giving travel expenses a free pass. Is the (hopefully unique) experience really worth our time and money?
Cash And Your Portfolio – A nice reminder that cash, while frequently a ‘holding place’ for money you’re going to invest (or money you have socked away in an emergency fund), does actually have a very important and salient purpose in your portfolio.
7 Stupidest Tax Mistakes to Avoid – Nobody finds a visit from the IRS relaxing (well, maybe a masochist…), so making sure to avoid these mistakes is a good start to getting your taxes done correctly.
Yakezie Carnival Round-Up
It occurred to me this weekend that I haven’t been listing any of the great Yakezie Carnivals in my lists of where my blog has been featured. To make up for that oversight, here’s the first four Yakezie Carnivals (all of which include one article from yours truly):
Yakezie Carnival 1, from Jeff of Deliver Away Debt
Yakezie Carnival 2, from CJ Bowker
Yakezie Carnival 3, from Daniel of Sweating the Big Stuff
And most recently, Yakezie Carnival 4, hosted by Greg (The Lean Life Coach) on Eliminate the Muda
Thanks to all those who have hosted, and good luck to all my fellow Yakezie Members!
Related Websites
16
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
As a personal finance blogger, it always make me happy to see other bloggers doing well. Last week, Baker of Man vs. Debt fame did so, in a big way: he published an e-book, Unautomate Your Finances, with the kind of sophisticated media blitz you usually only see with New York Times bestsellers.
More power to Baker, of course; it’s good to see anyone who’s worked so hard succeed at doing what they want. It’s inspiring to see everything that Baker’s managed to do, and how much success he’s had. Here’s hoping that I can find the same level of success with this blog, and that all my friends can as well. On the subject of my friends, here’s some of the good articles they’ve put forth last week:
Good Yakezie Blog Entries
How Much of Your Mortgage Payment Goes Toward Loan Principle? – An interesting question, with interesting facts to back it up.
When Stock Prices Crash, Where Does the Money Go? – A great question with a simple answer: it disappears.
Combat the Closing Techniques-Fulfill Your Dreams Close – I really like this series, and the second method to fighting this technique sounds like fun, if you enjoy tormenting salespeople.
The Art of the Interview – Good interview techniques can be the key to getting the job you want, and here’s a list of some of the best.
Someone, Please Take My Money – Do national companies really have so little foresight to not keep seasonal items in stock until the season is completely over?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are Awesome-7 Reasons – They do sound pretty awesome, indeed.
Invest Like Warren Buffet – Some strategies pulled from the comments of the ultimate investor himself.
Comparatively Speaking, One Million Dollars is Still a Lot of Money – It’s easy to forget in this time of billionaires and multi-billionaires, but for most people, one million is a pretty hefty sum.
How to P*ss Off Your Banker – Ways to annoy the bank teller next time you go in; hopefully, nobody actually tries to bring in $1000 in unwrapped coins…
Where Do You Draw Inspiration? – A good question, one that will influence how you approach personal finance (and indeed, life).
What It’s Like to Live in 1 of America’s 25 Richest Counties – It has its pros and cons, but if you don’t spend too much trying to ‘Keep Up with the Jones’, they’re apparently pretty good, overall.
5 Mind Hacks to Make Yourself Learn to Invest – An interesting list of tips if you want to learn more about money, but can’t seem to find the motivation. (Here’s one of mine: start a blog about money; it worked for me!)
The “Other” Investments… – A cautionary tale about the risk of letting advisers or other money managers control your money when you don’t know what’s going on.
The Amateur Financier Milestones
My post on the Financial Lessons from Aesop’s Fables was in the Best of Money Carnival hosted by Cash Money Life, and was chosen as the best in the carnival!
My progress toward breaking 200,000 in the Alexa rankings continues unabated; I’m under 300,000 as of this writing, and should, with any luck, be able to reach my (first) goal of 200,000 well before the July 4th deadline. The only real question is whether I can make 100,000 or even 50,000 by then. (If not, I’m sure it won’t be long after that I get there. Thanks for watching and all the support, everyone!
Related Websites
9
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Have you ever found yourself winning a prize you hadn’t even entered to win? Like, at a drawing at the local fair, you find out that your friends put your name into the raffle, and suddenly you’ve won a big prize, like a car, without any effort or real work on your part? You’d probably have a huge grin on your face, getting something so great completely out of the blue.
I had a taste of that feeling today. No, I didn’t win a car or anything like that; but I did have one of my posts featured in an MSN blog post. Yup, they made a reference to my post on Unemployment and Motivation when discussing the effects of unemployment benefits on motivation to find another job. Not an off-hand reference at the end of the article or on the fourth page, either; I’m mentioned by name (as Roger, the Amateur Financier) in the third paragraph, and they paraphrase my article over the next three paragraphs. All in all, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve had happen to me lately (possibly the coolest blogging thing that I’ve ever had happen to me).
Here’s the kicker, though: while my article about unemployment is being highlighted, I’m actually getting pretty close to having a job. I had an orientation meeting on Monday, and I have an interview on Wednesday. By this time next week, I could actually be employed again, in a job in my field that pays nearly as much as my last job (which does help support my argument in the article about holding out for a ‘good’ job while collecting unemployment). If this week keeps going the way it has, I might have to go out to a casino; I never have this kind of luck.
Successful Yakezie Members
I’m not the only one who’s had a run of luck, it seems; when I was looking over latest Yakezie Challenge standings, I noticed that were more than a few of my compatriots who have met their goals. At least the initial goals; there’s always more than you can do, and higher ranks to be obtained, especially as nobody’s broken 50,000 yet. Although, our fearless leader, Financial Samurai, is getting there pretty quickly.
With a combination of hard work, luck, and of course, some powerful friends, it looks like Money Funk and Punch Debt In The Face (great blog name, by the way) both beat the 200,000 ranking this past week. They have a lot of company; Planting Dollars, Sweating the Big Stuff, Monevator, Fiscal Fizzle, MBA Briefs, Early Retirement Extreme, Enemy of Debt, *takes a deep breath*, My Journey to Millions, Deliver Away Debt, and the Ultimate Money Blog, have all cleared the 200,000 Alexa hurdle already and are bearing down on 100,000. (Hopefully, I’ll join them soon.) Of those blogs shooting for 50,000, Budgets are Sexy and Free From Broke both cleared 100,000 first (although they were pretty close to that amount at the start), and Eliminate the Muda cleared both 200,000 and 100,000 in its ascent to the top.
It looks like many of my fellow Yakezie members are well on their way to dominating the personal finance blogosphere (and then the world…but perhaps I’ve said too much). In hopes of boosting up some of the members who haven’t gotten that far yet, here’s a round-up of some of the other Yakezie who are still shooting for 200,000 along with me:
Good Yakezie Posts
Pros and Cons of Being Cash Only – While I’m more a fan of credit card use myself, Red does make some good points about why you might opt for a cash only life.
Day 21: A Dull Monday Morning in Australia… – Not really personal finance related, but how can I resist a post mentioning a photographer who gathered up a bunch of nude people and got them to pose for a picture?
Avoiding Reactive Personal Finance – It’s hard for most of us, but planning ahead for emergencies is much better than trying to react once something happens.
Fix-It Friday: Know Your IRS Forms – Good advice as get (even deeper) into tax season, knowing your tax forms (or getting help from someone who does) can save plenty of time and money on your part.
The 5 Books that Changed My Money Life – As you’ve probably noticed from my weekly (or so) book reviews, I like to read, particularly about personal finance, and so these five ‘mini-reviews’ on books I’ve either read or have on my ‘to read’ list is quite helpful.
“Making Work Pay Credit” and the SAHM – An interesting look at the new tax credit available this year.
What’s Your Latte Factor? – An interesting discussion of the little money vices that end up costing us lots of money over time, using David Bach’s concept of the Latte Factor.
Where the Amateur Financier Has Been Featured
My post on unemployment and motivation was very popular this past week; in addition to MSN, it has been featured in round-ups from Well-Heeled Blog,151 Days Off, Planting Dollars, and Wealth Pilgrim
The latest Yakezie Carnival included my post on the challenges of holding physical gold, as did Monevator
That’s it for this week’s round-up; if you’ll excuse, I’m off to bask in my new-found celebrity a bit more. (Kidding; I’m just the same Roger, if a bit more shocked.)
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3
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
As you’re probably more than aware by now, I’m participating in Financial Samurai’s Alexa Challenge in an attempt to boost my blog’s visibility and influence. I’m proud, if a bit surprised, to say that in the course of less than a week, my ranking has gone from roughly 515,000 to a little more than 393,000, a jump of nearly 118,000 ranks. If I keep up this pace, I’ll meet my original goal of breaking 200,000 by the end of the month!
Admittedly, the higher I climb in the ranks, the more intense the competition becomes; it’s like going from the minor leagues into the majors, you just find yourself facing tougher and tougher opponents the higher you go. Additionally, as Financial Samurai notes, the challenge increases as time goes on. The goal of 200,000, once a ranking that put you amongst the top one hundred personal finance bloggers in the world, is no longer enough. (FS also made mention of these very round-up posts, which was certainly a nice gesture.)
All the more reason to work even harder, to do whatever I can to improve my image amongst other bloggers, and to promote the heck out of them in hopes that they will do the same. On that note, let’s get to the real fun of these round-ups; great posts from other bloggers:
Good Yakezie Posts
CARD Act: Credit Card Reform Act of 2009 – A great list of all the changes to credit card law brought about by the CARD act that recently put into place, one that puts even mine to shame.
Why Does Joe Public Love Sweatshops? – Not just getting the products from them, but the idea of working in them. I think it’s nostalgia for an older, simpler (although also dirtier, more exhausting, and more painful) time.
Why Does Everyone Hate on Financial Planners? – My guess: a combination of anger at the corrupt ones (who are a small percentage of the whole, I might add) and feelings that they (the public, not the planners) should be able to handle their own money without help.
Combat the Closing Techniques – The Power of Suggestion – Another in a series I really like, showing you how to fight back against various sales techniques.
No More ‘I Can’t Afford That’ - When you have the money, but choose not to spend it, you should be proud to say as much.
‘The Snark Handbook’ Review and Giveaway – Be sure to enter for the chance to win what seems like a hilarious book!
Should Wannabe Entrepreneurs Eliminate Debt Before Opening Their Doors? – It’s probably a good idea, but probably not necessary.
You Can’t Afford Kids – A conversation stopper right there, although it raises some interesting points about when in your financial journey you should add kids to your household.
The Reason for the Dearth of Investment Posts on ERE – A cogent reason for not posting more on investing from a fellow blogger; if I didn’t love writing about investing so much, I might just take his advice.
It’s Your Money, YOU Spend It! – How to handle being ‘volunteered’ to spend money (for special events like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)
Other Good Posts
Unconventional Personal Finance Advice – Some advice that might go against the grain of commonly cited personal finance rules.
5 Situations Where You Should Leave Your Credit Card in Your Pocket – A good list of times to use cash rather than plastic (paying taxes is one I wouldn’t have guessed)
6 New Credit Card Rules – Another article about the CARD act; a very succinct one, as well.
Can America Learn to Save From My Dog? – Dogs put aside biscuits or bones for a rainy day, why can’t we?
$3,000 Cash for Caulkers Revealed - The details of the new plan revealed, for better or worse. (Also, who do I have to write to in order to get people to stop giving these programs alliterative nicknames?)
The Amateur Financier Around the Web
The Carnival of Money Stories hosted my last Wacky Wednesday post
Monevator’s latest Round Up featured my post on Taxing Financial Transactions, as did the Weekly Round Up on Money Funk
A Weekly Wisdom round-up (great name, by the way) featured my post on Hyperbolic Discounting
If I missed any round-ups or other posts that featured my blog entries, just let me know; I want to promote the heck out of you (and not just because it’s a roundabout way of promoting myself) Good day, everyone!
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23
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Have you ever had a good idea, a wonderful idea you couldn’t wait to put into practice. Then, before you had the chance to actually carry it out, you discovered that someone not only had the same idea, but managed to put it into practice before you even got the first step off the ground. That’s pretty much the way I felt when I read this post on Evolution of Wealth.
The article itself is pretty reasonable, a round up of all the latest Yakezie posts, which is the sort of thing done by any number of blogs (including mine). It’s what’s down in the comments that’s irking me; apparently, I’m not the first person to have the idea of using a carnival to promote the Yakezie challenge, and not being fast enough to get it up and running before anyone else, all I can do is wait on the sidelines.
Oh, well; running a carnival is a sometimes tough job, and I’m just glad that there are other people willing to shoulder that sort of responsibility. I’ve already offered to host the carnival, so perhaps one week soon, you’ll see my weekly thoughts entry being replaced (or augmented) with a Yakezie carnival entry. Either way would be pretty fun…
Enough about future round-ups, though; now it’s time to share some of the good articles from this past week:
Good Yakezie Posts
Debt Free News From a Debt Free Reader #6: Some good news to kick off our list; it’s always good when someone is able to get out of debt. Go, Dustin!
How I went from No Blog to 122,661 on Alexa in Two Months: Not really personal finance, but another inspiring story nonetheless (particularly if, like me, you’re trying to make a go of this whole blogging thing.
Lease or Buy? What to Know Before Your First Car Purchase: I’ve always bought used cars (and drove them until they couldn’t be driven anymore), but this is a good overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each car acquisition method.
Russian Women and Their Money: An intriguing view of how Russians traditionally handle money. (It’s always amazing to me how many cultures have women controlling the purse strings.)
How Financial Planners SHOULD Behave and Act as a Fiduciary: A great list of things that a good financial planner should be doing for their clients.
Pros and Cons of Being Wealthy: Even with the cons listed, I’d still be willing to give being wealthy a try.
How to Get More Money Back on Your Tax Return: Apparently, it’s tax season in the great white north as well; here’s a list of tips aimed at Canadians (though there’s good advice for the US, as well).
Is Passive Income Real?: This guest post argues no (pretty persuasively), but I think that getting close to passive would satisfy me (and most people, for that matter).
Conventional Wisdom Leaves Much to Luck: Another guest post (they’re getting pretty popular, lately) about the flaws in conventional wisdom when it comes to retirement withdraws, and ways to protect yourself.
Combat the Closing Techniques-The Puppy Dog Close: One of the more diabolical marketing techniques (’Just take the puppy home for the weekend, you can return him if you don’t want to keep him’) and how to combat it.
BOND is Back!: Besides a great title line, this entry is filled with helpful information about a variety of different government bond types, from savings bonds to TIPS.
That’s pretty much it for this week; be sure to check the link in the first paragraph for an excellent collection of great articles (including mine). Enjoy all the great personal finance reading!
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16
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Today is going to be a shorter than normal collection of my thoughts, because most of my thoughts have been about things other than blogging this last week. I am going to be taking the Graduate Record Examination (R), better known as the GRE, on Wednesday. I’ve spent a lot of the past week studying various test prep materials, unfortunately spending less time than I would like on other things in my life, like blogging, spending time with my fiancee, and sleep. (Just kidding on those last few, although not nearly as much much as I would like.)
Anyway, by this time tomorrow, I’ll be on my way to take the test. I plan to do very well on it, then after spending the night attending my fiancee’s gallery opening, I’ll come home, relax, recover, and start tomorrow on blog posts for the coming week. It’ll be nice to be able to search for jobs and work on my blog without worrying about how this test will turn out.
With all of that out of the way, I hope you’ll excuse the smaller than usual selection of quality articles from this past week; when I no longer have an upcoming test (and flashbacks to standardized tests from high school), I should have longer lists, filled with all the good articles I’ll catch up on in my spare time.
Good Yakezie Articles This Past Week
Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Your Credit Card? – At one time, this might have been an easy question, but changes in ethics (foreclosure is no longer a red mark) and the broader financial picture (many houses are underwater; why put more money in when you’ll never get any out?) have changed the answer for many people.
What Are The Definitions of Liberal and Conservative? – While not directly related to personal finance, it’s good to know these terms, which get tossed around rather loosely (particularly in an election year) really mean. There’s also a link to a short quiz to find out where you stand.
Would You Sell Yourself for One Million (British Pounds)? – An interesting question, inspired by a British entrepreneur’s offer to sell 10% of his income from this point on in exchange for 1 million pounds up front. (I would do so in a heart beat, although I doubt I could fetch anywhere near that amount; although, from what I gathered, neither could he…)
The Best Superbowl Commercials for 2010 – It’s probably already been well hashed out around the water cooler, but here’s a bit more fuel for the ‘Best Super Bowl Commercial’ Discussion. (Although, I defy anyone to tell me that the beaver commercial for Monster.com was not absolutely hilarious.)
The 5 Worst Superbowl Commercials of 2010 – On the other, more horrifying side of the coin, we have th five worst commercials during this year’s Superbowl. Sadly, there were many more that could be up for this reward…
Alright, that’s about it from me; it’s back to hitting the books (and the practice test screen). Have a great day, and wish me luck!
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