Weekly Round-Up: Going Slightly Mad…

Here’s an interesting factoid for you: shortly after I published my round-up for last week (The Life of a New Father), I was reviewing my previous articles and noticed that at the end of January, less than a month before that post, I wrote a neat little round-up with nearly the same subtitle (The Life of a Stay-At-Home Dad).  There are some differences, obviously: the former title simply stresses the, well, stresses of being a new father, while the latter points to some of the unique troubles that a stay-at-home dad (or a stay-at-home mom) faces.  Not quite the same, I suppose.

Still, it’s a bit disconcerting that I used two nearly identical titles covering such similar topics in less than a month, and didn’t even notice it until after I had done so.  It’s probably a sign that I’m spending more time awake in the middle of the night than I should be (when you have a two-month old who sometimes has trouble getting and staying asleep, I suppose this is to be expected).  If this is the worse that happens as a result of my lack of sleep, I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining too much.  Nonetheless, it is a bit disconcerting, as well as a pretty good sign that I need to watch what I call these Round-Ups more closely.  I’ll also have to make sure I keep including good posts, as that’s the most important part of a decent Round-Up, as you can read for yourself:

Great Yakezie Posts

Save Money Exercising – It’s good to save money, and it’s good to exercise, so it should be downright fantastic to do both simultaneously.  Prairie Eco-Thrifter gives some ideas on just how to do so, from using any work perks that feature exercise to, crazy thought, exercising at home.

Life Lessons I Learnd From Debt Freedom – It can be a tough process, trying to become debt free, but you’ll learn something even by an unsuccessful attempt.  As noted by Sandy of  First Gen American, there’s a lot to learn by trying to become debt free.  By the way, welcome back to blogging, Sandy!

Fee Only vs. Asset-Based Financial Planners – It’s one of the major rules of personal finance bloggers: Fee only financial planners are better than asset-based ones, as you should only pay for what you get.  But this article on Darwin’s Money notes that both types have their pros and cons, and provides some more guidance in choosing one.

7 Spiritually Healthy Motivations to Work – There are a lot of motivations out there to work, from financial to personal fulfillment.  If you want some Biblical verses to justify working to bring in some extra money, you can look over here at Money Help for Christians to get a few good ones.

How to Build a Business on Cannibalism – Sadly, this Live Real, Now article is not about businesses that actually involve cannibalism (that would be pretty awesome); instead, it’s about companies like Amway that portray sales of special (usually overpriced) merchandise as business opportunities.

When a Promotion Isn’t Worth It – When it forces you to do more work for the same amount (or less) money, as this MoneyMamba article illustrates.  Sadly, this is frequently the case when you go into a management (that is, salaried) position that doesn’t provide a substantial boost in payment, or overtime pay for your extra work.

How We Potty Trained Our Kids: Three Different Kids, Three Different Methods – There are a surprising number of ways to potty train your toddlers, as Mom’s Plans shares, and each has its pros and cons.  It’s good to know what some of them are when you’ve got a baby of your own you’re going to need to potty train in just a few years, tops.

Contests and Giveaways

• Enter to Win $50 Cash! - The title from Your Finances Simplified should tell you everything you need to know.  Head over and enter by March 15th for a chance to add some dough to your pocket.
• March 2013 BFS Newsletter Giveaway-$25 and HIMBB eBook! – If you want more than just money, you can check out the contest over at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff, where you can win some cash and the How I Make Money Blogging eBook (which is a pretty good one, I’ll say) before March 31st.
• Canon Rebel T4i DSLR Camera Giveaway – A number of bloggers are participating in a giveaway that will give someone a fancy digital camera; check it out by March 31st for your chance to win.

That’s it for the open contests this week, at least the ones I know; if you are aware of any others, be sure to let me know so I can share them.

Where The Amateur Financier Was Featured

There are problems with having humans being in charge of investing; we’re not always the most rational when it comes to money management.  At least, that was the point of my post 6 Mental Money Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them, which was featured in the following carnivals:

• Carnival of Retirement at MidLife Finance
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at Money Life and More
• Yakezie Carnival at Aaronhung.com
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Family Money Values

Alright, that’s enough.  There’s still much that I need to do to keep my sanity, and to keep my baby girl happy, even if sometimes the two goals seem to opposed to each other.