Another week comes to an end and a new one begins. Can you believe it’s almost October? They’re setting up the haunted houses here in Austin. We have like six major haunted houses followed by several smaller ones that are generally relegated to the 10 and under crowd. We really get into the spirit of Halloween, so I’m looking forward to it!

As always, there was a lot of interesting things to read this weekend. I’d like to start by thanking Ashley over at Wide Open Wallet for including my post about student loans in her round up. In fact, she rounded up the pf bloggers who participate in the group writing project, so you’ll have some other interesting reads at her site as well. I’d also like to thank Penelope at Our Fourpence Worth for including Jonathan’s article on how to balance your checkbook.

Now let’s move on to the items I spent reading this weekend!

- Tricia over at Blogging Away Debt talks about the “other” costs of making homemade food. During her last post about homemade bread, she received some comments suggesting that homemade food very often costs more than the pre-made food. There’s the time to consider – the hour it takes to make bread is an hour lost to earn income. Then there’s the cost of running appliances used to make the food. It’s a good lesson to the frugal, homemade food is more than just cost of ingredients.

- J.D. at Get Rich Slowly had a guest post by Tim Clark who writes for Soul Shelter. In his article, Tim talks about why successful entrepreneurship is not about YOU. It’s not about making YOU rich. It’s not about YOU proving something to the world. It’s about helping other people achieve their goals. In essence, if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, then you need to be helping others instead of worrying about what’s in it for you. Very enlightening piece!

- Ginger from Girls Just Wanna Have Funds has some great information about student loans. In light of recent financial issues in the market, the student loan industry is changing its business model to fit the current market trend. Ginger provides us with an updated list of who’s doing what, so if school is in your future and student loans are a necessity, be sure to check this post out.

- Living Almost Large has a funny post about having kids. LAL asks the question, should your income determine how many kids you have? It’s reasonable to assume that most people would want to be financially stable before having children. Many parents want to provide a nice home, send them to college, and so on. In those terms, it makes sense to say that kids have a price tag. Be sure to check out the discussion and weigh in with your thoughts.

- No Debt Plan talks about the last week in the investment world and why you should avoid the panic button. There’s some good information here for you investor’s in the group. A bear market isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Think of it in terms of a sale. But definitely check out this post if you’ve got any stake in the stock market.

- Trent over at The Simple Dollar discusses alternative income and why most methods of providing it are a complete waste of time. It’s always interesting to me how people come to the conclusion that methods like these will earn them large amounts of income. I would add to this, though, that many of these alternative income offerings are scams – not so much the ones that Trent listed, but the envelope stuffing and the like. If it sounds too good to be true, it is and you can find a better use of your time.

- Trees Full of Money gives us another reason that a good credit score is important – your job search. Employers look at your credit score when you apply, so it’s important to realize that it could play a part in whether or not you get the job, despite your qualifications. It’s a very good reason to get out of debt and repair any mishaps to your score, especially if you’re considering an job change.

- Fabulously Broke has an interesting post on picking up the check etiquette. I tend to agree with FB. If you invite someone out for a special occasion (like a birthday), then it’s a treat and you should pay. I don’t think it’s very nice to invite your friend to dinner on their birthday and expect them to pay. However, if there’s no occasion and you say “Let’s go to dinner,” then I don’t think there’s any reason you should feel obligated to pay. What are your thoughts?

As I mentioned, there are a lot of really good articles out there this weekend, so I’ll leave you with these. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends and the start of the new week!

Related posts:

1. Kristy’s Weekly Roundup: The Birthday Edition
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3. Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
4. Kristy’s Weekly Roundup
5. Kristy’s Weekly Roundup