Happy Grundsow Day, everyone! For those of you who aren’t Pennsylvania Dutch, that’s Happy Groundhog Day! Apparently Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, which in theory means six more weeks of winter. Since it’s been snowing today, I’m willing to give the little fellow the benefit of the doubt; it does seem like plenty more winter is still to come this year.
I have a theory about Groundhog Day I’d like my readers to help me test. I am a big Groundhog Day fan, and every February, I’ve heard quite a bit about the groundhog from friends, family, and the media. My fiancée Sondra, who is a transplant from California, has absolutely no interest in the whole holiday, and has said that only Pennsylvanians care about Groundhog Day. There seems to be some truth to this; the Pennsylvania lottery, for example, has Gus, the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania, as its spokes-mammal (with the implication being understood by everyone in state that the most famous one is Phil). So my question is, did anyone from other parts of the country even realize that today is Groundhog’s Day, and actually care?
Alright, enough of my crazed existential quandaries; it’s time to cover the good posts from last week!
My Favorite Posts From this Past Week:
Getting Mad About Getting Paid – This is a completely foreign concept to me; getting mad because you got your paycheck early just seems silly. However, as Lulu points out, if you’re living paycheck to paycheck and spending money as soon as it comes in, Getting your money that far in advance could be a problem, since it’ll be gone when your rent and other bills become due. My advice: create a checking account to use as a buffer, so that you don’t have to cut things so close; living paycheck to paycheck is no way to live.
Someone Always Farts in a Crowd – I knew that I had to include this article from the Financial Samurai when I read the title in my feed reader; luckily for me (and also for you), it’s also a good, insightful piece. FS discusses the concept of moral hazard, giving examples of how our financial (and health) systems are set up so that nobody is punished for their own bad decisions. It’s kind of sobering to think about just how much passing of the buck there is nowadays.
Why 20-Somethings Hate Personal Finance – An interesting question, one that I (being a twenty-seven year old who (a) cares about personal finance and (b) writes about it for fun and profit) have a vested interest in figuring out. MD of Studenomics raises several good reasons, but I think that he misses a big one: many of the traditional sources of financial advice, such as books and magazines, are aimed at people middle aged and over. I can’t tell you how often I’ve read an article in Money or Kiplinger’s that gave advice for people at different ages, and the lowest age they start at is 35 or 40. Maybe young people would care more if we didn’t keep acting like everyone under 30 can’t be trusted to properly manage their own funds.
How to Apply for a Peer To Peer Loan – I’ve had some experience with peer to peer lending through my Lending Club Account, but that’s been entirely as a lender. The Silicon Valley Blogger shows how to approach things from the other side of the table, that is, how to get a loan. It’s an interesting process, and while I hope that I’ll never need to get such a loan, it’s good to know how to get one.
Is Being Frugal Always Being Different? – I’m not that aggressively frugal (actually, Sondra and I were discussing earlier this week how we need to curtail our spending more), so when I read about fellow personal finance bloggers like Mrs. Money and the lengths they go to save money, I definitely sense a gap between us. Apparently, she feels the same way, that she is different from the rest of the crowd; perhaps this gap will close eventually, though it could be a long time, I fear.
6 Questions to Financially Get to Know Each Other – An interesting little list of question designed to share some of the basics of your financial views, courtesy of J. Money. It’s a pretty good introduction to you view and manage money; I’ll have to fill it out and share it with you all soon. (And perhaps get Sondra to fill one out as well; it’s not a bad idea to know as much as you can about your future spouse’s spending/savings habits)
Real Hourly Wage, Visualization, and Your Finances – Finally, Mrs. Micah discusses how to calculate your real hourly wage (your take home pay divided by the number of hours that you worked) in order to put your spending into perspective. It’s one thing to spend $20 on something, but a whole different situation when you stop and consider that the $20 represents two hours of work at the job you hate. It helps to get a handle on what spending is and is not worth the effort you need to expend in order get the needed money.
That’s all for today; I hope everyone had a very merry and happy Groundhog Day (hopefully the little bugger is wrong and it’ll warm up soon, though).
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Mrs. Money
on February 3 2010
Thanks so much for the link! I love when people call Pennsylvania “Pee-eh” (PA) instead of saying the name.
Damn that groundhog.
Mrs. Money´s last blog ..Is Being Frugal Always Being Different?
Roger
on February 4 2010
@Mrs. Money: I came across a list of things that indicate that ‘You know you’re from Pennsylvania when…’ and it actually included the ‘PA’ thing. Being born and raised in Pennsylvania, I think nothing of it, but apparently we’re the only ones who do that. Anyway, you’re very welcome, and the groundhog will get what’s coming to him…