Friday Round-Up: This Week's Best in Finance

Last weekend was leaf cleanup weekend in my household, and I made an unplanned purchase. I bought a leaf blower. Many people (including my former self) consider this contraption an unnecessary tool. But for me on this particular weekend, it made my job a little easier.

You see, with the toothache of a few weeks ago, I wasn’t feeling 100%. Okay, I was barely feeling 50%. In any case, I was not on top of my puppy cleanup duty, and the backyard was littered with horse-sized presents. All which were buried under leaves.

So I needed to either buy a leaf blower to assist in my crazy treasure hunt or deal with the cleanup afterwards. Being frugal, this was quite the dilemma. Finally, I decided that since I still didn’t feel the greatest and I had new flower beds to clean this year, I would cough up $50 for a surprisingly effective tool.

How about you? Any unplanned purchases pop up for you this month?

In other financial news, we take a look at savings bonds, financial mistakes, raising chickens, business vouchers and working late. Feel free to check them out!

• Thinking of parking your hard earned cash in CDs because of their safety? Money Cone thinks you might enjoy savings bonds (and I think he could be on to something).
• Financial mistakes are common, but they’re different for every person. My biggest mistake was loving lattes way too much; Niki at Debt Free by Thirty made other mistakes. Check in with her to see her top four.
• Think you can save money by raising your own meat? Check out the guest post by Mike and Molly, who share their adventures in chicken farming at Minting Nickels.
• Follow Mighty Bargain Hunter for some more bargain hunting ideas, this time in the form of business vouchers. Pretty interesting stuff.
• Working late again? Krant Cents details why working late is expected in our culture and some ways to break the cycle in Stay Late or Go Home.

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