Friday Round-Up: Finance, Parenting and Mom Blogs

Once again this week’s focus is my marathon. It’s such a huge investment for me, one that crosses a major life goal off my bucket list, that I just can’t ignore it. So run along with me for my final week of training!

This week was my marathon training taper week. For those of you unfamiliar with running, taper is the period of time that a runner spends running less. You see, we build up our training until we run 40 to 60 miles per week (including one long run of 20 miles), and then we decrease the total weekly mileage and the long run mileage. In the week before the marathon, a novice runner may run as little as 9 miles total.

Since I am considered a novice runner, this means that I only had three scheduled runs to complete. I ran three miles per day on three days this week, and I am getting anxious to run the marathon now. I can feel my energy stores rising (as I sit here tapping my feet...), and I am excited to run 26.2 miles on Sunday.

Stick with me; next week I’ll share my very first marathon experience!

As for the anxious energy and extra time, I have spent more time on the internet this week than I should care to admit. But I’ll admit it here because I found lots of great posts about personal finance and parenting!

• RB40 grades himself on his 2011 goals, including his financial goals. With a new baby in the house, I am super-impressed that he managed to get all A’s and B’s. Great job, Retire By 40!
• Join Money Cone for a look at B of A’s latest “inspired idea”: charging customers a monthly fee to use their debit cards. Follow along as Money Cone gives us all tips on how to switch banks.
• At Prairie Eco-Thrifter, Marie shares her story about how she cut expenses by half a million dollars over 40 years. This do-it-yourselfer saved on everything from manis and pedis to house re-roofing; check out her savings!
• Recipe alert: BrokeTO shares her pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe. Gonna have to do some baking!
• Check out Laura’s October mini goals: vacation funding, walking, losing, and consolidating. Good luck, Laura, and keep us updated!
• Take a trip to the museum with Little House in the Valley to take in the dinosaurs and the soon-to-be extinct no-fee debit card.
• Shaun, the self-proclaimed “Frugal Omnivore,” guest-posts on the Family CEO blog with some awesome tips on how to make your leftover meat stretch into a new meal.
• Another recipe alert: So Says Sarah shares her pumpkin whoopee pies. I am really excited about all this pumpkin – fall is the season for orange squash, and I love it!

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