Since we may be faced with the end of the world this summer ( photo credit: Ethan Hein), we might as well enjoy the spring weather. A few thoughts:

• The Knicks fired Isaiah (finally) at the same time the Pope arrived in New York. Coincidence? Hmm.
• I got nostalgic for one of the greatest cities I’ve ever visited, including once as half of my honeymoon reading about bella Roma…
• Nothing more amusing yet sadly indicative of human psyches than watching two two-year olds engage in Mortal Kombat over a soccer ball they both want. Little Buddy and his best friend, our neighbors’ son roughly the same age, went at it while my neighbor and I cringed a little. I don’t think there’s a need to break it up unless someone starts getting hurt – we actually agree it’s good to start understanding how the world works – but man, you’d think they were fighting over the map to D.B. Cooper’s stash or the Democratic presidential nomination.

On to the links. From The Money Writers:

• Thank You, Yahoo!, for Perpetuating the Use of Home Equity as Cash

  If there’s nothing else that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling it’s seeing irresponsible advertisers push idiotic schemes. Way to go, Yahoo.

• Morningstar’s Best and Worst 529 College Savings Plans

  Even though I’m not a huge fan of saving for my children’s college educations – I’m not sure it’s worth it for them or me – I still keep on top of what’s going on with the 529s.

• Tax Strategy: Using Recharacterizations to Qualify for Tax Credits

  Ugh. Taxes. Ah well, time to absorb the damage and prepare for next year – time to start thinking about tips for improvement.

• Spend Less Than You Earn Or Earn More Than You Spend?

  I think I’ve come down pretty hard on one side of this argument – I don’t really believe that spending less than you earn will ever get you ahead by itself – and SVB expands a bit on that idea.

• The KISS Principle

  When it comes to finance, this is one of the single best pieces of advice you can get – keep it simple.

• Money Does Buy Happiness… Imagine that!

  I guess despite people wanting to think you can be poor and happy, it’s really much easier to be rich and happy in the end.

• The Costs of Being Overweight – How Much Money Can a Healthy Diet Save You?

  I have thought this for years – being overweight isn’t just bad for your health (and social life), but it can be tough on your wallet, too.

And from around the web:

• Consider College Debt Carefully

  I think if you are going to a private college you had better be gearing up for a high-paying career. If you want to study an esoteric, philosophical subject you’re much better going off to a public university. Having a much lower level of student loan debt will free you to take lower paying jobs in obscure fields.

• Why I Believe the Efficient Market Theory Is Bunk

  Amen to Ron’s point here – the efficient market theory supposes that we are all perfect thinking machines. I vote for political candidates all the time whose policies might not be in the best possible interest for me, personally, because I think they are better for the country – that means that the idea that I act in an efficient manner when making choices is hooey. Very interesting read.

• Language of the Perpetual Poor

  Great post on a very fundamental subject for wealthbuilding – your choice of words helps steer you to wealth or poverty. Use positive, powerful words and you’ll do better than someone who complains, curses or worries.

• Unintended Consequences and Money

  You have to feel terrible when you realize that best intentions have gone astray. It does happen, as Flexo points out, and when it does it’s really unpleasant to see.

• Organising my paperwork

  More simple organization tips – this one is as simple as you can get, I think!

I also participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance this past week over at Gather Little By Little (a great blog, by the way – I’m a subscriber and it’s well worth checking out). Lynnae from beingfrugal.net had an exhaustive list of frugal tips worth checking out. Even though I’m usually more concerned with making money than saving money, I still live a fairly frugal lifestyle and this was a HUGE list of ideas.