2 Dec
Weekly Thoughts: Moving On Up!
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger, the Amateur Financier 4 CommentsIt’s been a pretty good week for me and my little blog. I’ve broken into the top 900,000 websites according to my Alexa ranking, my number of subscribers via feedburner is rising, and I’m slowly but surely becoming more profitable. I’m slowly but surely making a name for myself, and I have nowhere to go but up. (Well, I suppose I could also go down, or even sideways, but this post is going to be optimistic, darn it!)
But, there’s still so much more I could do. I’ve barely touched the possibility of being involved in personal finance groups, my blogroll is hopelessly out of date (so many good blogs I need to add, so little time to keep up with them all), and more work to get and keep my blog in good shape than seems like it would even be possible. Luckily, I’m not one to shy away from a good challenge, and so the journey is just beginning! Onward to the good blog entries from this past week!
Blog Posts I Really Liked:
5 Defiant Creations Made Using Devalued Currency – I’ve said it before, and I’ll likely say it again: Money Hacker is home of some of the most bizarrely funny articles I’ve ever read. In this one, you can see how near worthless currencies are being used to create art around the world. (I’m a bit worried that so many artists are using dollars in their pieces, but I’m sure it’s just a coincidence…)
Tuition Hike for the Poor is Like a Tax Hike for the Rich – An interesting use of simile in the title of a Financial Samurai post, where he argues that recent tuition hikes will could help turn students from the University of California into fiscal conservatives. I have my doubts, although given how he railed about the UC Reagents not cutting their own salaries instead of or in addition to the tuition increase, perhaps the Financial Samurai is turning (back) into a fiscal liberal! (Just kidding, FS! 
)
10 Frugal Thanksgiving Tip and Ideas – I know, I know, it’s a bit late to be passing on tips for a holiday that’s already passed, but let’s be honest: with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Festivus still upcoming, these tips from My Life ROI on making your holidays frugal are still likely to be of use to you. My personal favorite is to Focus on What’s Important. It’s good advice, not only for the holidays, but for every day. Speaking of which…
Top 8 Thanksgiving Topics to Avoid – A decent list of sure to be controversial topics this holiday season, courtesy of the Weakonomist. I kind of wish I had brought up my unemployment sometime during (or preferably, before) the holiday celebration; it definitely wasn’t fun going through Thanksgiving with everyone congratulating me for a job I no longer had. Oh well, I’ll have to spread the news before Christmas rolls around, I suppose.
There’s Always an Excuse Not To Give – Baker of Man Vs. Debt hits a bit close to home for me, pointing out that there will always be things in our lives to which we ascribe higher priority than giving to charity. Personally, I try to give at least ten percent of my salary to my church and other charity, but there’s always room to give a bit more…
Other Points of Interest
After a week break, I did another guest post on My Life ROI, this one called Types of Insurance Most People Will Need. It was pretty well received, so I guess I’ll just have to keep up the good work. (It’s a tough life, I know.)
My article on Bootstrapping 101 was also featured in the latest edition of the Carnival of Money Stories, hosted by The Financial Blogger.
Speaking of the Financial Blogger, he’s also hosting a giveaway to mark his third anniversary posting his blog. Good luck to everyone who participates, even if you’re competing against me…
Since we’re on the subject of contests I hope to win but will tell you about anyway, Credit Card Chaser is giving away $500 in a Credit Card Love/Hate Contest. Good luck for that one, as well!
Related Websites
Team @ Money Compare
on December 3 2009
Thanks Roger for the compliment. We’re really glad that you find our blog entertaining! Keep reading
Credit Card Chaser
on December 3 2009
Congrats on moving up with your Alexa ranking and thanks for mentioning our contest! – Joel
Financial Samurai
on December 3 2009
Good stuff Rog! I knew you’d get the Alexa ranking ADDICTION! haha. It’s just fun to monitor the progress, since it updates every couple days at least.
I’m actually politically agnostic, believe it or not! I just like to talk about both sides.
So long as the government is fiscally liberal on ME, I’m fine with them spending like there’s no tomorrow!
Roger
on December 5 2009
@Money Compare: You’re very welcome; your blog is definitely one of the most interesting and unusual around, and I always enjoy reading it. Keep up the good work!
@Credit Card Chaser: You’re very welcome, as well. I’ll have to do my best to keep moving on up, that’s true.
@FS: Yup, Alexa is addictive; I’m starting to spend more time checking it out than is probably good for me. As for being politically agnostic, I’ll take your word for it, as it is easy to get a skewed view on someone’s beliefs if you just look at what they put up online..