Writing is a exercise in self-discovery. I learn something from writing this blog. As I write this, it’s 10:32 on Thursday evening, and I’m tired. Blogging is a second part-time job. But to me it’s worth it. It has changed the way I live my life. When I see things happen or experience things, I think about whether it’s something worth sharing on the blog or doing more research into. If I perform a search for information that I need and it isn’t there (very rare but it happened this week), I think to myself – I should fill that gap. I feel like bloggers have made the world better, by spreading and strengthening the free flow of information. Each person brings their unique skillset and perspective to their blog and shares those experiences for the benefit (hopefully) of others. I’m not trying to make this more artistic or romantic than it actually is, because I think it’s narcissistic to talk about how impressed you are with something you yourself do, and besides, I write about personal finance and investing. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I thnk by delivering a message of frugality and intelligent investing, I can help people. But it’s not Picasso. It is, however, something I’m proud and happy to be able to do. Here are some of the things that caught my eye over this past week:
Free Subscription to Business Week @ Coupon Cravings – If I saw this and had never successfully gotten a free subscription this way, I would be skeptical. What’s the catch, I would ask myself, and do they really think I’m going to fall for that. You don’t have to put your credit card or any financial info in to get the magazine. Just your name, address and email (plus a friend’s email). I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t already receiving Forbes and Money in this very way – for free! Hopefully I’ll have a BusinessWeek in my mail in two months (it takes a long time to get the first one, but after that you’re golden).
Small Business Team Building Ideas @ American Consumer News – Here’s a nice piece about the importance of team building at small businesses (or any businesses). I would add that picking who is going to be on those teams is the most important part.
Finding a Contractor You Can Trust @ Money Crashers – I’ve told stories about my experiences with contractors. In any case, you are at a disadvantage when you have to hire something to do something like this for you. Doing it yourself could be rewarding and a great learning experience, but for the sake of efficiency a lot of the time it makes since to hire someone to do it for you. According to David Ricardo and his division of labor, we’re most efficient when we specialize. Plus, you probably make more money at your job than you would trying to do a big project by yourself. Hire someone for ten hours and pay them instead of taking 50 hours of your own time to do it yourself. You have to weigh the satisfaction you’ll feel from doing it yourself against the extra time cost. It’s hard for me sometimes to, but remember, it doesn’t make sense to do everything yourself.
Marginal Tax Rates @ My Open Wallet – It’s amazing how many people have never looked at the actual tax rates. I’m not trying to sound high and mighty here – I don’t think I had ever taken a look at them myself or understood exactly how it worked before I had to take Federal Taxation (a req’d course) in law school. You might notice that he’s actually linking to another post here – I tend to try to link to the place that I see something first as a rule of thumb. Anyway, check out this post.
What to Do with Kids Gifts @ Free Money Finance – This reader poses an interesting question. If you have little kids and someone gives them money – should you let the kids spend it on the items of their choosing, or should you save it for them? Sort of a – this is for your own good dilemma. Good question. Go on over and weigh in on the issue.
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. My next post will go up Monday morning. Thanks for reading.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
