Archive for the ‘This Week in Review’ Category
This Week in Review, Independence Day Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on July 3rd, 2009
Historically, the 4th of July has been one of my favorite holidays. When I was young, so much younger than today, the men in my family used to take a float trip down various rivers around the state. It was a great time, mostly because it was our thing. Those were some good trips. It feels like we did it forever, but I guess we only really did it for about five years. Then, when I was in high school and early college, I used to play with my friends in the 4th of July mud volleyball tournament in our hometown. All the teams were full of people from the town, who knew each other. Both of those things contributed to making the 4th one of my favorite holidays. Plus, it’s in the middle of the summer and is all about being proud of the home team. People have different political views, we disagree on everything under the sun, but I think most people have a healthy amount of pride about the country they come from.
I started a new job this week, so I didn’t read as many articles as I sometimes do. Thanks to twitter, though, I think I caught some of them on the way by.
Protect Your Identity @ Suburban Dollar – The internet has changed security and the way we look at it forever. It’s not enough anymore to make sure your money is locked away in a vault or a safe – now people can steal it with a computer more easily than a cutting torch.
Making home affordable expanded again @ Wisebread – I honestly feel bad for anyone that’s inside out on their home. I feel bad, but I also think that the government should just let the market work. I would allow lenders the flexibility of deciding which situations they should lend in. Then again, I wouldn’t have thrown money at the automakers, either.
Is the Economic Downturn Over @ The Digerati Life – I don’t know if it is or not, but I have noticed that things seem to be looking up. I don’t know many people that are unemployed, the job market seems to be picking up a little bit, and advertisers have been contacting me lately. I can’t predict financial markets or the future, but things seem to be turning. If I had to guess, though, I’d say that the worst is over but that overall recovery will happen slowly.
Is Wealth Creation a Myth @ Lazy Man and Money – I don’t think wealth creation is a zero sum game, as is stated here. Using a pie analogy, in a zero sum game there are only so many pieces of pie. In economics, you can make the pie bigger – with technology. With fertilizer, all the sudden we have been able to produce higher quantities of food, so fewer people have to devote their lives to simply feeding themselves. To me, this is an example of wealth creation through technology.
Warren Buffett’s Record is Not Evidence EMH is Wrong @ Amateur Asset Allocator – I agree with the initial premise of this post…that markets are mostly efficient most of the time. I disagree with both the form and substance of the rest of the post. AAA states that his record is “not evidence,” but then proceeds to offer no data or evidence to back up any of his claims. I’ve heard the Buffett as a brilliant manager theory many times – this is simply not the case. He votes his shares in favor of giving himself a seat on the board for one reason – to watch over his investment. He’s said many times that he doesn’t run the companies, and wouldn’t know the first thing about running Coca Cola. In his one run at being a CEO (of Salomon Brothers) was mostly a failure. I always hear this one from EMH people. Buffett’s heard it, too. He thinks it’s ridiculous. As for the opportunities Buffett has available to him that we don’t…yes – NOW he has opportunities that we don’t. He didn’t have those while he was building his original partnerships or when he first took over Berkshire. As for the “it’s just luck” argument, the author wrongly seems to believe that he’s proved that Buffett has done this by chance. He does this by offering an analogy and a logical fallacy, neither of which prove anything. No data is offered to show why it’s a statistical probability that someone like Buffett should exist. Give the man some credit.
I hope everyone has an incredible holiday (or weekend, if you’re outside the US)! Thanks for reading.
This Week in Review, Michael Jackson Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on June 26th, 2009
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Michael Jackson died yesterday at the age of 50. I have never considered myself more than a casual fan. I only know his songs that were big hits, and though I own a couple of individual tracks in my iTunes account, I’ve never bought an album. I think Billie Jean is the all time best song to dance to at weddings, though, and my wife counts the Jackson 5’s I’ll be there amongst her favorite songs. He was such an eccentric blend of talent and, for lack of a better word, weirdness. I don’t know why he liked to have children spend the night at his house, or why he dangled his baby out the window on television, or why he altered his appearance through surgery until he was literally beyond recognition. In any case, my thoughts and condolences to his friends and family. Here are some of the things I’ve been reading over the last week or so:
What’s the connection between abortion and careers @ Penelope Trunk’s blog – You have to admire someone like Penelope who is willing to just lay it all on the line. She’s had two abortions, and she talks about it here, concluding that you don’t need to have an abortion to protect your career. I don’t want to weigh in on the political, moral, and philosophical issue that is abortion. I don’t know whether it’s right or wrong. I’m a male, and I’ve never had to make that choice. My parents did, though. I was born to two teenagers (15 and 16 when they found out they were pregnant) who discussed abortion as a possible solution. I’m personally glad they didn’t try to salvage their careers, which I’m sure suffered on some level. I’d like to think that I would have done the same if put in their shoes, but I’ll never know. Penelope is a phenomenal writer when she’s on, and this post is a good one. Check it out.
Why Twitter Is More Fun the Less You Use It @ Deadspin – Will Leitch is another of my favorite writer/bloggers. Here he lets us know how he feels about twitter, and a bunch of other stuff. Plus, he’s a Cardinals fan, which practically makes us brothers. After being on twitter for about a week, I’m already obsessed with it as a news aggregator.
Do you keep money secrets from your spouse @ Free From Broke – I try not to have any secrets from my wife. I usually ask her before I do anything with our money. We are, after all, a team (and a good one, at that). Check out this discussion of where you’re at in that department.
Be Successful by Learning Delayed Gratification @ Bargaineering – This is something that I’m usually really good at. I have been severely tempted lately by the new iPhone. I want one. Why? Because it has a compass. I don’t need a compass, but I think it’s cool that the new iPhone has one;)
Things You Own End Up Owning You @ My Two Dollars – I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to talk about it, so I’m just going to follow that quote with another quote from the club that will remain unmentioned: “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. We work jobs we hate so we can buy [junk] we don’t need. We’re the middle children in history, man. We’ve no great war, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, and our great depression, is our lives.” Hopefully you don’t think of your life as a great depression, but I think Tyler’s point is this – stuff won’t make you happy, and money can’t buy you love. Thanks for reading.
I had a post included in a carnival over at Blogging Banks.
This Week in Review, Getting Well Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on June 12th, 2009
My wife has been sick ever since we got back from our weekend trip to Boston. We’ve been nursing her back to health all week. I’m probably the worst husband when it comes to Rach being sick. When I’m sick, she rubs my back, tells me to relax, and is always asking me what she can do to help. That’s probably how people should handle their significant other being sick. I’m terrible at stuff like that, though. I always just tell her to suck it up;) I’m trying to work on it. I think maybe it’s physiological to some extent. When we have kids, she’ll be the one that rubs their back and talks to them in a sweet voice, and I’ll be the one saying, “he’s faking it,” or “suck it up.” If you’re sick, I hope you get well, soon. Take care of yourself.
I’d like to thank SVB from The Digerati Life for helping me with some blog related things over the past week. She’s a really nice person. Here are some things that caught my eye over a week that flew by:
Will People Change @ BripBlap – This is a post questioning whether the recession will permanently change the way people spend money. They answer in the negative. I’d have to agree, but I’m not as worried about it. I think being frugal is a competitive advantage. If everyone were frugal, that would erode that competitive advantage. Companies do two things that positively affect their bottom line, they can grow earnings or cut spending. Most people think growing earnings is better, because there’s a limit to what you can cut, spending wise.
20 years ago @ Sun’s Financial Diary – Here’s one blogger’s perspective on what happened at Tiananmen Square 20 years ago. Sun lived in China when this happened. Check out the post.
Why Variable Annuities Stink @ Wealth Pilgrim – This is why variable annuities stink. The fees are ridiculous. Don’t buy them. Save your money. Multiple studies will show you how much fees diminish your returns.
All Investing Involves Risk @ Dividends Value – I couldn’t agree more. There’s no asset allocation that involves no risk. I’ve heard a lot of people lately saying they’re converting their funds to cash. Besides locking in losses on their investments, they’re also adding to their risks if inflation were to occur (which is fairly likely). The safest investment I know about are TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), but don’t expect to make huge returns. If you find an investment that offers a solid return and no risk, it’s probably a scam.
The Average Net Worth of an American Family @ Bargaineering – This post is from over a week ago, but I thought it was interesting. Like, Jim, I’m not sure the numbers provide much help or value, but I think they’re fun to look at and compare yourself to. Hopefully yours is off the charts. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.
This Week in Review – Graduation Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on May 29th, 2009
I’m writing this a little ahead of time, but as I write this, my wife, Rachel, is about to graduate from medical school with an M.D. I’m proud of her. She’s worked and studied harder than a person should. She’s been a top student. So much so, that when she interviewed for residency programs, one interviewer asked her what her GPA was and when she said it, he scoffed, and said, “No, I mean your medical school GPA.” She gracefully repeated the GPA and made it clear that that was in fact her medical school GPA. Of course, her transcript was right in front of her as he was interviewing her. She ranked that program low because she felt like that particular person was somewhat rude to her. It all worked out, she got her first choice for residency, and she’s ready to start her career as a doctor. I’m confident she’ll be a great one. Here are some of the stories I stumbled across over the course of what’s been a very busy week for us:
Conflict of interest doesn’t apply to blogs @ Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist – The people that read this blog regularly, you know that I love Penelope Trunk. I think she produces some of the best content across the blogosphere when she’s on. I disagree with this post. I don’t think her analogy of disclosing other benefits is equivalent to disclosing when you’re getting paid to write a post. She says that as long as she writes well, it shouldn’t matter how much she’s making to post about a particular company, and that we should trust her to choose good companies to write about. I can’t agree. I think bloggers have an obligation to disclose when they are getting paid to write a particular post. Money hurts objectivity. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. If you’re going to pay me write about your company, you have an expectation that this will bring your company business in the future. A favorable review will bring you more business, and thus is worth more money to you. I have an incentive to make as much money as possible. A negative review might also hurt my reputation with companies and give them a lesser incentive to hire me in the future. I think a byline, stating that this is my true opinion of the company but disclosing that I was compensated for giving it, would do the trick. That would be the a true and honest way to handle it. One of Penelope’s strengths is that she’s honest. I think bloggers should be consistent with that value on this particular issue.
The Great Piggy Back Adventure @ Get Rich Slowly - Just for the sake of example, JD over at Get Rich Slowly, another big and successful blogger, reviews something and discloses the company’s involvement/compensation. He’s an honest and ethical guy. He always points it out if he’s getting paid for something. I pledge to do the same on this blog.
Money Mistake: Assuming a college degree guarantees a good job @ Christian Personal Finance – A college degree doesn’t guarantee you anything. Lots of people have degrees that are waiting tables and working at blockbuster. Your ability to network is paramount when it comes to getting a job. I hate that word, networking, but it’s true. I graduated from law school in May of 2008. I have lots of out of work classmates. I have been fortunate enough to have gotten a good job, but having a college degree, or law degree, doesn’t guarantee you a job. It’s what you do in the aftermath of getting the degree that matters.
Dividend Investing vs Trading @ Dividend Growth Investor – “Reinvested dividends magnify total returns and deliver even faster compounding of dividend income. Reinvested dividends are believed to have accounted for 97% of S&P 500 total returns since 1871.” That sounds like a pretty good argument for dividend investing to me. Of course, it’s not the only way to invest. Philip Fisher liked to focus on companies that don’t pay dividends and was one of the most successful investors of all time. DGI closes with this, “By creating a diversified income portfolio through dollar cost averaging and by reinvesting dividends, investors are more likely than not to achieve long-term sustainable success in the market.” I agree.
Why I Wanna Spend @ Sense to Save – This post points out something important. Once you reach a certain point in your financial journey, it may become increasingly tempting to spend more. If you check your bank account, and think, I’ve never had so much money before, you might walk around thinking, I can spend more going forward. It’s tough to adopt the frugal lifestyle and stick to it. Every frugal person knows this, and is affected by it in one way or another.
Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.
This Week in Review – Buy My Condo Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on May 22nd, 2009
It’s been a busy week. We allegedly have an offer on our place in Kansas City, but we haven’t seen it or heard much about it, other than it’s coming. The fellow making the offer is reportedly going through a divorce and has some restrictions based on that fact. The good news is that we’ve had a lot of traffic/interest lately. Hopefully it will sell soon. In other news, I’m also still trying to work out the particulars for my transfer. I think I have a pretty solid lead on a transfer position within my office, but nothing is certain right now. Hopefully it will work out. I’ve been stressing about it a little bit lately. Anyway, here’s some of what I’ve been reading over the course of this past week:
A Typical Day in the Life as an Independent Trader @ Bargaineering- This is Part 1 of a 3 part series over at Bargaineering. Check out parts 2 and 3 here. The stock market has historically been the greatest wealth creating machine in the history of mankind. That being said, day trading is a practice that most people shouldn’t be partaking in. Very few people are able to make a profitable living doing this. Regardless, it’s fun to read about, think about, and talk about. Check out these posts by someone who does it for a living.
Find a Mentor Using the DISC Method @ Studenomics – Finding a mentor can help your career – and theirs, believe it or not. Check out this approach to finding one.
Tips for Coping When Your Startup is Out of Cash @ Penelope Trunk’s blog- This post isn’t going to help your startup. It’s not going to help you get funding for your business or idea. But it is a touching, poignant story about how to cope with problems. She’s such a good writer, it’s officially one of my favorite blogs. I’m familiar with the criticisms of her career advice, but you can’t deny her ability to make words on the page something special. It takes a lot of courage to be as vulnerable as she is for a living.
What Else Can We Rebrand @ Weakonomics- Check out this article about “rebranding.” Would a stinkin’ rose by any other name smell as sweet? I would throw Worldcom into the ring as an example that isn’t so far removed from the news. Shortly after the famous accounting scandal, they merged with MCI and became (mostly) known by that name. Later, they were acquired by Verizon – a move that has made Verizon the juggernaut we know today and was essentially another attempt at rebranding.
Bragging and Blogging @ Finance for a Freelance Life – Mrs. Micah offers you this tip if you’re having a lot of success, be humble about it. I couldn’t agree more. I love the voice she writes with. I would be that she’s a very humble person. I’ve mentioned before that a very authoritative voice kind of turns me off. Like I mention above with Penelope, it takes courage to be vulnerable and honest – Mrs. Micah realizes that. Check it out.
My post 5 Reasons Not to Accept that Counter-Offer was included in the Money Hacks Carnival over at The Stretchy Dollar. It looks like there’s a lot of good stuff in that carnival this week. I’d also like to thank The Suburban Dollar for taking the time to answer some blogging questions for me this week. The blogging community always seems to be incredibly helpful when you have questions – remember that if you have a new blog or are thinking of starting one. Have a good weekend and thanks for reading.
This Week in Review – Blogging Reflections Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on May 15th, 2009
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.
This Week in Review – Harry Truman Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on May 8th, 2009
It’s the end of a stressful week. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know my wife and I are relocating to St. Louis sometime next month. We’re trying to get our ducks in a row. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if or when I’ll be able to transfer for my job. As of right now, there is no office space in the St. Louis office and as far as I can tell no one is budging. It’s the kind of economy that people hunker down and stay put in. I don’t really know what my next move is. I’m happy at my job, and would prefer to stay, but I’m not willing to live apart from my wife for an extended period of time. If it’s a month or two, that’s something I could live with. If it ends up being 6 months or a year, maybe I’ll start looking for another job. I don’t know. This stuff stresses me out. Like any other week, I still found time to read some blogs. Here are some of the entries that peaked my interest this week. Hopefully you find something helpful or enjoyable. Without further ado:
Three Lessons from Warren Buffett @ Get Rich Slowly – This is from a new bi-weekly contributor over at GRS, who also writes for the Motley Fool. He attended the shareholders meeting as well. Here are three key takeaway points based on his observations.
How to Buy a Foreclosure @ The Digerati Life – This is a good post briefly describing ways to find foreclosure discounts. I would tell anyone attempting to buy at a foreclosure auction to proceed with caution. You should get title insurance or do a thorough title search on your own before submitting a bid. Make sure you know whether there are any senior lien holders on the property. Also remember that you won’t be able to inspect the property before closing the sale. Only experienced real estate investors should invest at a foreclosure auction. You can, however, often buy bank owned, foreclosed real estate at a discount. There are lots of those out there right now. Happy bargain hunting.
122 Ways to Trim Your Budget @ Frugal Dad – Frugal Dad uses the power of crowd sourcing to compile this excellent list of ways to save money. Good luck.
How to be Happy and Married: 24 Tips from a 24 Year-Old Marriage – Everyone likes list. I don’t think there’s a secret formula for a marriage that works, and I admit that I’ve only been married about 14 months, but following the tips on this list couldn’t hurt.
Start Investing Today @ Darwin’s Finance – You always here that it’s important to start investing early. It’s true of course. Here’s the data in the difference it actually makes. Now, everyone take a moment and be mad at themselves for not starting earlier.
That’s all for now. Have a great weekend. Enjoy Harry Truman’s birthday today. Thanks for reading.
This Week in Review 4/26-5/1
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on May 1st, 2009
This is my 100th blog post. I feel a sense of accomplishment for reaching that number, because I think a lot of bloggers burn out somewhere around there. So…I’m patting myself on the back. Hopefully I have another 100 of those in me.
In other news, my wife and I are driving to Omaha tonight for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. I’m really excited. I know it’s a highly commercialized event, but it’s one of those things that’s on my list of things I’ve wanted to do for some time, and I’m excited to finally get to do it. There will reportedly be about 35,000 people there – can you believe that. It really is like a pilgrimage for investing fans. Hopefully it will inspire some interesting banter for the site. I’ll let you know what it’s like and whether I think it’s worth your time. Maybe it will become one of those things we try to do every year. In any case, I will have gone at least once, barring something unforeseen.
Here are some of the things that have caught my eye over the last week or so. I didn’t do a week in review post last week because of the blog carnival I hosted here, but I’m still planning on rolling them out on Fridays for the foreseeable future. Without further ado:
Warren Buffett Still Unlikely to Lose Money on His Puts @ The Business Insider – In honor of my wife and I’s trip to Omaha, I give you this post. The Business Insider wisely points out that with regard to Buffett’s derivative contracts, some of the risk is offset because he’s been collecting premiums on the contracts. Derivatives are basically insurance that a particular thing will or won’t happen, and in this case, Buffett is the insurer, meaning he gets to collect the premiums. Check it out.
The Secrets of Financial Freedom: An Interview with the Millionaire Next Door @ Get Rich Slowly – J.D. interviews his neighbor, who has lived life the way we all should – by spending less than he earns. We should all be striving to live more like this fellow.
The Office-onomics @ Freakonomics – The Office is my favorite television show (except maybe Lost – I know I’m not very cool). At the Freakonomics blog, Steven Levitt and his sister Linda Jines (who actually named the book) take a look at a microeconomic assertion made on last weeks episode of The Office. If you don’t watch the show then you probably don’t care – but lots of people do and I thought it was cool that Linda was worried about the economic veracity of the show.
Using a blog to find help for a homeless family in San Francisco @ Boing Boing – In the spirit of Pimp this Bum, people are using their blogs to help other people. Well done.
Heroes of Capitalism – I decided not to link to a particular post at this site but just the site in general. It’s one I just discovered and it basically focuses on business profiles of successful business people and their contributions to capitalism. Cool stuff.
My post on the Best Low-Cost Online Broker’s was also included in this weeks Money Hacks Blog Carnival #62.
I hope you all had a good week, and hope you’ll have a nice weekend. Take some time to relax this weekend. The weather is supposed to be bad here in KC – but I’m sure Omaha will be a tropical paradise;) Thanks for reading.
This Week in Review
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on April 17th, 2009
It’s been another crazy week. I got an extension on my appellate brief to consider some new case law that came out on Wednesday. At least, I hope they’re giving me the extension. I filed something requesting it on Wednesday and haven’t heard back yet. Baseball is in full swing. The Cardinals took the first game from the Cubs. I love those games – it’s a big, old rivalry and I love when St. Louis comes out on top. I love that it’s spring, and that I’m starting to see people outside doing things again. We’re headed out of town this weekend to look at places to potentially buy. We won’t be buying anything until our place sells – but hopefully that happens relatively soon. We’ve had some early interest and someone is coming to see it tomorrow. It’s doing okay considering it’s the first couple weeks. Anyway, here’s a bit of what caught my eye during the past week:
Frugality, Thrift and Saving @ Saving to Invest – This article is about the movement toward frugality that is sweeping America right now. People that grew up during the Great Depression lived that frugal lifestyle for the rest of their lives. I don’t know if the current recession is enough to create a sustainable change in the way Americans live. I know businesses may change going forward in that they may try to lessen their reliance on credit. Technology companies seem to carry less debt (or no debt) since the dot com crash. I don’t know if we’ve changed yet or not. It’s cool to be frugal now, though.
How to Dress Well for Less @ The Strump – This is a good article on how to look nice on a budget. I actually disagree to some extent with some of the things in the article. I think you can get exceptional deals on clothing at deal sites or eBay. I think expense should be commiserate with utility. I have some relatively expensive clothing (to me), but I try to shoot for things that are affordable. I have to wear suits to work, but I avoid specialty stores and try to hit the sales at Men’s Wearhouse. I buy my dress shirts at Kohl’s. Clearance ties. You get the point. I will spend more on something like a jacket, if it’s the kind of thing you can wear a lot. In any case, it’s a good article. Check it out.
Save $100 a Year With CFL Bulbs @ Another Money Blogger – We’ve talked about switching to CFLs here before. It’s a common sense way to make the world better and save a few dollars in the process. This post runs the numbers for us.
Pay it Forward and Treat Everyone Like a Good Friend @ Bargaineering – I’ve always loved the idea of paying it forward. I actually really love those commercials where they show all the people helping each other and it goes from one to one. I can’t even think of what it’s a commercial for. Insurance maybe. Jim posts a commercial, too. Anyway, do something nice for someone today.
84 year old Social Worker Saves $1.4 Million @ Get Rich Slowly – Here’s the perfect example of the millionaire next door…and she’s from St. Louis! Great story. She indulged herself when she really wanted something, but she basically made her money by living frugally.
Anyway, that’s all you get for now. I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for reading.
This Week in Review, 4/3-4/9
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on April 10th, 2009
I’ve been completely slammed this week. I have an appellate brief that has to be filed by next Thursday, and I need to have a draft of it done by this weekend, so I’ve been putting in some extra hours to try to get it finished. It’s actually a really interesting case now that I’ve really delved into the issues, but a court of appeals case is a lot of work. There are a lot of issues in the brief that I wasn’t familiar with, so in a way it’s a lot of fun, too. In other news, the blog now has a Google Page Rank of 1. For the first 3 months of our existence, we had a Page Rank of zero. I don’t think this has anything to do with meeting traffic or specifications or anything, I think that Google is just leary of new sites and starts them out at zero until they prove they aren’t just link farms or something that Google doesn’t like. In any case, I felt like it was this huge personal victory (pats himself on back). Without further ado, here are some of the articles that caught my eye this week:
Why I’m glad I didn’t kill myself @ Finance for a Freelance Life – This is a very touching, very powerful post written by a blogger who overcame depression. There’s a Kimya Dawson song that approaches the same issue cleverly with a bit of humor mixed in: “If you want to hurt yourself remember that I love you. And if you want to kill yourself, remember that I love you. Call me up before your dead, we can make some plans instead, send me an IM I’ll be your friend.” Anyway, check out her post – maybe write out some of the things you would have missed in life if you hadn’t made it past 19.
How to make money from a blog @ Christian Personal Finance – This is a great article about how people make money from blogs. It’s a solid blog and the advice is from someone who blogs exclusively as their job. It’s pretty cool. If you can stick with blogging for three years, you deserve that living – I’m sure it’s no easy feat. The post is excellent, and it has inspired me to make sure that I add a privacy policy to my site.
A merger arbitrage lesson to learn @ Dividend Growth Investor – Here’s a good post on the risks merger arbitrage. For one of the best discussions you’ll find on merger arbitrage anywhere, check out Joel Greenblatt’s book You Can be a Stock Market Genius. Check out my review of the book here.
13 distinctly African recycled objects @ Ecostreet – Check out his entry on this very cool blog. Africa is at the top of my list of places I’d like to go before I die. Most of the objects aren’t really that useful, but what I wouldn’t do for a plastic bag chicken right about now.
The Secret Power of Positive Attitude @ Money Ning – Money Ning gives an optimistic spin to some of the things ailing people right now. It’s fun, and he’s right, lots of turmoil can mean lots of opportunity if you aren’t too busy sulking. Make it happen.
Give Flowers @ Good, True and Beautiful – Sharon over at Good, True and Beautiful is a friend of the blog. She has a great bargain blog. Check out this post about the socially responsible way to give your mother flowers this mother’s day.
That’s it. I hope you found something worth reading this week. If you see a really great article somewhere (or write one), feel free to point it out to me for my next week in review post. Thanks for reading.
