Weekly Wrap-up - Week 4

This week has felt hectic because I had a ton of stuff to do after being gone last weekend. Nothing exciting or stressful, just things like laundry and cleaning and unpacking and the all-important catching up on my TiVo.

I managed to get a few things listed on Amazon yesterday, and I've already sold some of it. After fees and shipping, I've made about $157 toward my $600 goal so far. I'm really excited about this goal because it's big, but it's definitely doable, so I started a progress chart for it in the sidebar. I'll update it this month as I work toward that $600. Only 74% to go!

Other than that, this week has been mostly about finishing up the November budget. I managed to spend $9.45 under budget on gas and $8 under on groceries, so I'll add that to the $270 I'm sending to the AES student loan in a couple of days. If December goes as well as planned, I'll kick that loan off my list before the new year!

Now for the linkage:

• Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance on the Back of Five Business Cards @ The Simple Dollar - These five points really do boil down the essentials of personal finance.
  
• Paying As Much As I Possibly Can vs. As Much As I Can Afford @ I've Paid for This Twice Already - I used to do the exact same thing: put a round dollar amount toward the credit card at the end of the month after I'd bought anything I wanted without much thought. My current method of spending as little as possible and putting everything else toward debt is much more effective.
• How to Lead a Mysterious Life @ Brip Blap - I actually like change, so I don't have to force myself to do it most of the time, but these were some good reminders about how change works as a positive force.
  
• Should You Help People Who Won't Help Themselves? @ The Simple Dollar - My answer to this is a resounding NO. My sister is one of those types of people, and until she's ready to be a responsible and productive member of society, she'll get no help from me.
  

Weekly Wrap-up - Week 4

Another week, another Weekly Wrap-up. I've had a cold for the past couple of days, so I've been home from work, feeling pretty crappy. The only upside is that I've been getting a lot of use out of my DVD collection as I rewatch some of my old favorites while I'm at home in bed all day.

On the financial side, I bought a plane ticket to visit my family for Christmas, which cost me about $400. I probably could have gotten it for less if I'd bought it much further in advance; I'll keep that in mind for my next trip.

Favorite posts from the past week:

• How Do You Reconcile Acceptance with Striving to Improve? @ Zen Habits - This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I like my line of work, but I've hated my last two jobs and I'm contemplating moving again soon. The job hopping has me wondering if I really am striving to improve by trying to find a job that will push me to get better, or if I just need to be a little more accepting of my circumstances.
  
• Turning the Tables on Telemarketers @ Get Rich Slowly - I loathe telemarketers too, so I was particularly amused by the story at the end of this post.
  
• Credit Is a Disease You Won't Catch Here @ Gather Little By Little - An interesting comparison between debt and disease.
  
• Human Resources - Funny Funny @ Single Ma's Fabulous Financials - Another amusing anecdote. The blogosphere was full of them this week.
• Five Ways Being Lazy with Money Got Me into Debt @ Lazy Man and Money - Laziness was one of my biggest downfalls in my pre-financial revolution days too. I was guilty of all of these except number four.

Weekly Wrap-up - Week 2

Another week, another Weekly Wrap-up. This week was HUGE for me, as my student loan consolidation became final and I found $2200 in a forgotten retirement account.

In semi-related news, my office had a chili cook-off for Halloween, and I won! My prize was a free pizza from a local pizzeria, so I'm forgoing the diet tonight in favor of a free meal, a tasty treat, and a sense of accomplishment.

Before the rest of the linkage ensues, I'd like to say a huge thanks to Paid Twice for hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction, which featured my Financial Revolution as an editor's choice. Thank you!

I'd also like to say welcome to all the new readers who have come over in the past week. It's good to have you here! Feel free to comment on any entry or email me with questions.

And now, my favorite posts from around the blogosphere:

• The Baby Steps @ Debt Free in the Ozarks - This is an excellent summary of Dave Ramsey's baby steps from someone who organizes his Financial Peace University at her church.
• Should Parents Try to Influence Their Children's College Applications? @ Grad Money Matters - This is an interesting discussion, but I disagree with many of the points made. Yes, parents are there to guide their children and should point out if they think the kid is making a huge mistake, but in the end it's the kid's life, and they have to do what they feel is right for them. As long as the kid is approaching the decision maturely and has the information they need, they should be able to make the decision themselves.
• Why Are Some People So Ignorant About Money? @ Money Smart Life - Another interesting discussion. For me it was mostly denial and intimidation.
  
• The Eternal Question: Am I Doing the Right Thing? @ The Simple Dollar - Ah, the eternal question. I've been listening to Dave Ramsey's show a lot lately, and it's really helped me confirm that I'm doing the right things. I think it's important to surround yourself with influences that will help you answer this question.
• Old Habits Sure Do Die Hard @ Gather Little By Little - Yes they do. Lately for me it's been hitting the snooze on my alarm clock and skipping my morning walk. I really need to get back into the habit of going every morning.
• You Will Not Believe This - Prisoners Found My Wallet by the Side of the Road - And All Is Well @ No Credit Needed - Wow! Nice to know that there are still lots of decent people in this world.
• Seven Wonders of the Personal Finance World @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity - My favorites were the 401(k) Employer Match (because I only recently learned what these are and how they work) and Personal Finance Blogs (because they're a huge reason how and why I turned my financial life around).
  

Weekly Wrap-up

Each week I plan on posting a Weekly Wrap-up to share some brief thoughts on how I feel about the way the week has gone, as well as link to some of my favorite posts from around the blogosphere.

I started this blog because I needed an outlet for talking about personal finance, and my friends and family can only listen so much. It's been really interesting to write about my financial life over the past week, rather than just pondering it by myself or spewing to people who aren't as passionate. I've found that I'm much more prolific than I ever expected - as soon as I decided to start the blog, post ideas came by the dozens - and I'm really looking forward to whatever this journey may bring.

And now, a few of my favorite posts:

• Beginning Our Debt Free Journey @ Debt Free in the Ozarks - My good friend Carol begins her blog with a post about how she and her husband became debt free. They are great debt free role models!
  
• How eBay Sellers Can Save Money on Shipping Supplies @ Money Smart Life - I'm a small scale eBay seller, so this doesn't make sense for me personally, but I think it's interesting. I do tend to scavenge for packing supplies, especially those that are both protective and light, like the thin cardboard of cereal boxes.
• Automatic Bill Payments: Popular, Yet There Are Risks @ Boston Gal's Open Wallet - This actually made me feel better about the way I handle my finances. I've got pretty much everything on auto pilot, but I'm still anal about checking to make sure things are on track. Now I know it's for good reason; I'm not just paranoid.
• Curbed: Are Wealthy Neighbors Boring? @ My Open Wallet - This intrigued me because just the other day my roommate, who is a film student, said that there are vastly more tv shows and movies about poor people because rich people are boring. Even the few exceptions I could think of - The OC and Dirty Sexy Money - are really about poor or middle class people who deal with rich people, rather than actually being about the rich people.
• What Is Frugality and Are We Frugal? @ Gather Little By Little - GLBL Guy rounds up a few definitions of frugality and applies them to his situation. The comments are especially interesting as a few people - me included - interpret the definitions.
• Budgeting Is Like Baking Cookies @ Christian PF - First of all: Mmmmm, cooooookies. Second, this analogy works perfectly. Everything in moderation.
• Making It Up As I Go Along @ The Simple Dollar - Aren't we all just making it up as we go along? Lord knows I am. As Trent often does, he does an excellent job of spelling how and why he's doing what he's doing.

That's it for this week! See you on Monday!