Weekly Round-Up: Getting Caught Up Just Gets Harder and Harder

Here’s something I’ve discovered in my over three decades of life: the further you get in life, the harder it becomes to deal with even a relatively minor loss of time.  You lose even a few days, and it’s nearly impossible to get back to where you expected.  I was unable to use the Internet (or computerized equipment in general) for a long weekend, and as a result, I’ve found myself with no articles for the week up until now, no comment responses to comments on my blog or comments left on other blogs, and several full email boxes that need to be read through and responded to quickly.  Sometimes, it seems like more than you can handle.

The only thing you can do when you find yourself behind is to catch up, as best you can, writing articles, reading articles (and commenting, which I’ve been, well, I’ve been horrible at commenting, I’ll be the first to admit), and generally trying to be the best blogger possible whenever I am able.  I did manage to put up the Yakezie Carnival, which was not a minor achievement.  It also fit with one of the things I try to do with this blog, to share some of the best articles from around the personal finance blogosphere, particularly the Yakezie posts, such as

Great Yakezie Posts

Passion vs. Profit: Which is the Path To Blogging Success? – There’s several reasons to start blogging, from wanting to share your passion to wanting to make money (and of course, wanting to do both).  If you want some thoughts on which will lead to success (however you define it), check out this article from Edward Antrobus over on the Yakezie Blog.

What Does It Take to Emotionally Succeed as an Entrepreneur? – There’s a lot of us who would love to strike out on our own and become entrepreneurs, but are too fearful to do so.  (Unless we find ourselves unable to do anything else, of course.)  Kevin of Invest It Wisely shares some of his stories from doing just that, and making more from entrepreneurship than his previous job (congrats, by the way).

10 Things I Can Live Without! – There’s a lot of things in life you might think are utterly essential to your life remaining fantastic, but if you sit down and really think about it, you probably can do without them just fine.  KrantCents thinks the same, looking at ten things he can go without in life while still living well.

16 Cheap Valentine’s Gifts & Activities – Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and if you don’t have a gift ready and some activities planned, you’ll need to get moving quick.  Luckily, there are some suggestions out there, including this list from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, giving you a chance to celebrate the holiday without spending a bundle.

Every Hour Counts: Knowing How You Spend Your Time – We tend to overlook how we spend our time, even those of us who spend a sizable amount of time and effort tracking our money.  Still, as Squirrelers reminds us, it’s important that you spend your time wisely as well; you can’t earn more of that, after all.

Contests & Giveaways

• My Best Online Shopping Tricks AND a $500 Giveaway! – It’s hard to resist a post that offers both a $500 giveaway and saving suggestions from Crystal of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff; enter by February 28th for a chance to win.
• Awesome Posts and $999.99 Giveaway – In case $500 wasn’t enough for you, here’s an offer from I Heart Budgets for a chance to win $999.99.

As always, if you are planning to hold a contest or giveaway, let me know and I’d be glad to help you promote it (as well as enter it myself…)

Where The Amateur Financier Was Featured

It’s a double feature this week, as I didn’t post any of the carnivals where my blog entries were included into the carnival last week (it didn’t seem fitting, somehow).  With that in mind, here are some of the carnivals my Five Steps to Meeting Your Goals post was included in:

• Carnival of MoneyPros at The Ultimate Juggle
• Yakezie Carnival at Faithful With a Few
• Carnival of Retirement at WorkSaveLive
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Well Kept Wallet
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at Master the Art of Saving

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also the carnivals that included my Money and Child Raising: Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers article, which really sparked some discussion about the best method for clothing your baby’s rump:

• Yakezie Carnival at The Amateur Financier (Is it just me, or does that blog name look familiar to you?)
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at 20s Finances
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Money Pros
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Financial Conflict Coach
• Y and T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty.ca
• Carnival of Retirement at See Debt Run

Alright, that’s it for this week.  Another week of great articles, and hey, I’ve gotten back into the habit of linking to contests.  Here’s hoping I’ll be able to keep up with it as I grow and expand my blog.