My To Do List, and Some Links!

Well, we are now getting to the part of fall where you feel like every nice day is your last nice day for the year.  That means I need to cram in as much as possible.  My (entire family’s) to-do list for the weekend is as follows:

1. Get a pumpkin or two
2. Carve the pumpkin and roast some seeds
3. Rake the leaves and put them in the compost bin
4. Plant bulbs
5. Grocery shop for the ingredients for my Halloween food extravaganza (chili, corn bread, jello jigglers, ‘ghosts in the graveyard’, and more)
6. Clean my home office (just because it is bugging me)
7. Go to volleyball tournament (all day event, could make accomplishing other tasks a little difficult)

101 Centavos is an apple smuggler and an apple killer, but that is beside the point. Read about how two people in the same situation notice different things in an airport (or notice nothing at all)…

20s Finances has a great suggestion on where to invest  your money for the very first time.   By the way, I took this advice, but it was 20 years ago…

Barb Friedberg Personal Finance is cautiously optimistic about the economy and is seeing some signs of life.  I have to say that even living in metro Detroit, things seems to be doing a little better around here too.  (Now, if only the house next door would sell before it goes into foreclosure…)

Biz of Life shares an amusing display from Walmart.

Budgeting In the Fun Stuff  has a new addiction- Halloween items.  I think it is great when people embrace a holiday and go ‘all in’.  She better post some pictures!

Faithful With A Few bought a new laptop.  Given all the issues with the old laptop, I fully support the decision!

Financial Samurai just refinanced his house, and has great tips for others that are considering going through the process.

First Gen American teaches us about how to make a difference by creating or participating in affinity groups.  There is also a whole lot of other great advice in this post too.

Frugal Confessions has found some success with composting. I am envious because my compost bin is not working out like I hoped, and now the weather is getting cold!

Invest It Wisely is using comparative advantage to his advantage and outsourcing some blogging duties.  I think that is a great idea and I too have outsourced Jesse from PF Firewall to change my theme over to Thesis.  Sure, I could try and do it myself, but why drive myself crazy?

KrantCents teaches us how to ace lunch interviews. After I read his post, I realized I had never been on a lunch interview, I feel kind of ripped off.  If I ever am though, I will not put salt on my food without taking a bite first, that is for sure.

Len Penzo shares how much Stanford economists believe a human life is worth, in dollars.  Kind of scary that something like life can even be quantified.  Totally agree with Len on this one.

Life And My Finances shares some interesting statistics about immigrants and their financial success. Americans could learn a lot from those that travelled far and wide to live in the US.

Little House in the Valley has been scouring the west coast for a home for awhile, trying to decide where to buy. Well, she is not going to buy after all, but rent for another year instead.  I think this may be a wise choice since her job situation is somewhat up in the air right now.  A year goes pretty fast, and the additional time will allow Little House to really ramp up the house hunt and see what is available and at a great price.

Money Beagle correlates budgeting and cats!  I am so sad for his little kitty!

Money For College has an extensive post about finding and/or making your dream job.  I think about my dream job often, but the opportunity cost of giving up real income is what stops me from pursuing it.  Maybe when the kids are older…

Money Reasons tells the true story of a co-worker that is in the top one percent of wage earners.  Reading this post really makes you realize money does not buy  happiness, or at least not all of the time.   Great post.

Money Cone has yet another incredibly informative post, this time about 401k rollover options.  A lot of people could really benefit from reading this post, especially with so many people losing their jobs and having to decide what to do with their retirement funds.

Personal Finance By the Book defines real wealth, and it doesn’t have much to do with money.  I couldn’t agree more.  No matter how much I might (or might not) have in the bank right now, I feel incredibly wealthy!

Retire By 40 asks how much we spend on driving each year.  Considering we put about 50,000 miles (total) on our cars each year, I am guess we pay a lot more than most.

Single Mom, Rich Mom is wondering if she should get a job, and lists ten pretty convincing reasons.  I think a lot of people struggle in retirement for the very reasons she lists in this post.

Squirrelers asks if you are willing to give up income to get more sleep . I personally would have chosen the 6 hour a day option, but I used to get that much sleep all the time.  I could always just do it a few years and then change jobs if I struggled.

Watson Inc makes a great point about frugality when he asks if being too frugal can be a bad thing.  I struggle all the time with balancing taking care of everything else in the world and minimizing my grocery bill.  Opportunity costs are everywhere, and finding the perfect balance is difficult!

Wealth Informatics has a very creative post based on the three little pigs.  Make sure you don’t end up being that last little pig that goes ‘wee wee wee wee all the way home’.   (Being the little piggy that had none is no picnic either…)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and happy early Halloween.

Tagged as: link round up, to do lists