Friday Round-Up: The Best in Personal Finance Blogs

Friday Round-Up: The Best in Personal Finance Blogs

This week has been absolutely beautiful! There were multiple 50 degree days, the sun was shining, and it felt much more like spring than mid-January. I say, bring on the most wonderful winter in the world, Mother Nature.

Unfortunately, this awesome weather isn’t supposed to last long. Tonight, we are supposed to see our outdoor thermometer hit 10 degrees, and we’ll get the first real snowfall of the winter.

Needless to say, my week was spent soaking up the rays. Even though I did so in long sleeves, it was nice to forego the winter coat for a few days. Despite the sunbathing, though, I kept up on reading financial blogs, and here are some of the best of the week:

  • Retirement may seem far away, but guest poster Young Family Finance shows how putting off saving for retirement can leave you high and dry in the post The Three Worst Retirement Plans. Check in at Retire by Forty for more details.
  • Symbols of wealth are personal. Some people think flashy cars equal money. Others think big houses mean mega-cash. Lindy at Minting Nickels associated credit cards with wealth for a while. Read her story about the credit card wealth association; it’s very interesting.
  • Sandy at Yes I am Cheap covers the basics of mortgages. For great info about Mortgages 101, check out her post!
  • Why can’t people get out of debt? Derek at Life and My Finances looks at ”The Main Reasons People Can’t Get Out of Debt”.
  • Debt repayment can be a downer. Plenty of great people lose their motivation after months or years of churning away at the debt. But there is a way to find some motivation again: ”Make a Dream Budget”. Head on over to Money Talks for the details.
  • Are you staying home after having children or returning to the workforce? Wealth Informatics posts that we may need to take finances into account in her very excellent article, ”To Stay at Home or To Work: What is the Financial & Professional Price?”

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Ashley @ Money Talks's picture

Ashley @ Money Talks wrote:

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 13:30 Comment #: 1

Thanks for the mention!!

Christa Palm's picture

Christa Palm wrote:

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 20:15 Comment #: 2

Ashley, I did make a dream budget without debt, and it is very motivational!

femmefrugality's picture

femmefrugality wrote:

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 23:45 Comment #: 3

I was so enjoying Spring...I mean January....but it caught up to Pittsburgh today. :( Thanks for the links!

AverageJoe's picture

AverageJoe wrote:

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 00:01 Comment #: 4

Some great posts here! It's freezing in NE Texas...well, if you can call 38 degrees freezing (okay, to technically it's ALMOST freezing). But, whatever.

Christa Palm's picture

Christa Palm wrote:

Tue, 01/17/2012 - 16:12 Comment #: 5

Femme Frugality, we got six inches of snow already and are expecting at least another two inches today. Sigh. Spring can come any day now!

Average Joe, welcome! I think 38 degrees is a heat wave, but I agree that the cold temperatures are freezing compared to our mild winter so far.

Leigh's picture

Leigh wrote:

Wed, 01/18/2012 - 06:35 Comment #: 6

Whether to stay home or keeping working is such a debated topic, but it is most definitely something we need to talk about. I hate that we still have these inequalities as women, but I love that things are so much better than they were for my mom's generation. I certainly don't plan on staying home with children at this point in time, but who knows what will happen down the road. Since I have a good income now, I am saving plenty in my twenties to give me plenty of options when it comes time to have a family.

Sheryl Sandberg did an amazing keynote at the Grace Hopper Conference in 2011 and one of her takeaways was "Don't leave before you leave."

Christa Palm's picture

Christa Palm wrote:

Thu, 01/19/2012 - 21:38 Comment #: 7

Leigh, very true: it is a debate. But it's wonderful to now have two options, whereas in the past is was just one or the other!