I’m terribly sorry the roundup is late this week, guys. It’s been hectic with the hurricane and evacuees coming into town. I haven’t really been online. Fortunately, I was not directly affected as we didn’t get the rain we were hoping for here…Austin gets a little dry in the summer’s and fires are a concern. Ike was supposed to drop some rain on us, but that didn’t happen so we still have fires to worry about. Ah well, at least my house isn’t flooded or destroyed, so that’s a good thing.
Let’s start this week with a thanks to Anna over at On a Quest To Be Debt Free for hosting the finance fiesta last week and including my article on keeping finances separate.
Also, thanks to No Debt Plan for including the same article in their roundup and to Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds for including mine and Jonathan’s jointly written post on the best places to stick your money when savings rates suck.
Now let’s move on to what I’ve been reading when I did get a moment to peek online this weekend.
- Tricia over at Blogging Away Debt has a great post on going back to basics in terms of food…you know, making it ourselves as opposed to buying it. I find this post funny because I’ve been conducting a little experiment in my own household. Since there’s just me, I’ve been spending – on average – about $300-$400 a month eating out. That’s on top of buying groceries.
That’s way too much for food. I need to stop that and put that money to better use. So, I’ve been trying to see how much I’d save if I stopped eating out, but the problem is that I prefer home cooked meals as opposed to frozen dinners. It then becomes a time issue as I don’t have the time to cook homemade meals, though I do, it’s just that my brain sees it as no time because it’s just myself I’m cooking for. I’ve been forcing myself to cook every night for the last several weeks and it’s amazing how much extra money I have. I cheat once a week or so and go out with the girls, but going back to basics is worth taking a look at!
- J.D. at Get Rich Slowly had a neat post about a ’stuff replacement fund.’ I confess I had never thought of this before, but I do hang on to old things because I might need them one day, so this sort of gives me an incentive to let them go. Essentially, the idea is that you sell the stuff you’re holding onto and put the money in a savings account whereby you can purchase the item(s) in the future if you find you need them. Most likely, though, you’ll find that after a few month’s detachment from your “stuff” you don’t really have a desire for it anymore.
- Living Almost Large talked about keeping the peace in a marriage when it came to finances. Inspired by a post about a fellow blogger having trouble with his spouse because she hid credit card debt from him for 18 months, LAL talks about the minor disagreement she had with her husband over the budget. He felt restricted and almost like a child, having to ask to spend his money. Like any good budgeter, LAL had a pretty tight rein over the expenses, but to keep the peace, a compromise was in order. LAL proves it’s all about communicating and working out a compromise.
- Penelope at Our Fourpence Worth has an excellent post about switching to electronic statements. They save time, money, and the environment. Please, switch! The less paper the bank has to print out, the better. And many banks are moving to where certain accounts will cost you money to have a paper statement. If you still WANT to have the paper, you can print it out at home. But it saves your bank money to not have to print and mail them, which comes back as savings on loan rates and higher dividend rates on CDs and savings. Every little bit helps!
- Trees Full of Money is starting a series on maximizing the benefits offered by your employer. First on the list is health insurance. As my premiums just went up, this was the perfect article for me to read. There’s quite a few good tips to be had in this article so be sure to check it out.
Hope you guys have a great week and happy reading!
Extra note from Jonathan: I’d also like to give a quick shout out to Money Hacks for hosting the last Kids and Money Carnival, The Skilled Investor for hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance, MJTM for publishing one of our guest posts, and finally Mom over at Wide Open Wallet for her scary termite post!
Related posts:
- Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
- Kristy’s Weekly Roundup: The Birthday Edition
- Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
- Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
- Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
