linklings, stupid Internet edition

I am presenting all of my links in completely random order this time. Money Writers, links from the Intertubes, Carnivals – we can all live in harmony. I had a long intro written but my Internet connection died just long enough to dump the draft, so I’ll summarize what I was going to say: I’m not one to dwell too much on the small things, but I am tired, tired, tired of New Jersey – the expense, the traffic, the ugliness, the weather, the expense, the weather… whew. Vent much? I have to redouble my efforts to find a way to make a living as a problogger in Florida so I can move the Blap brood down there and at least enjoy some temperate weather…

photo credit: chelseagirl

• Carnival of Personal Finance #152

The CoPF was hosted at “Money Under 30,” where my post on the smartest financial move I made in college was included in the “Relevant to Money Under 30 Readers” section – which is a good thing, considering the name of the blog!

• Money Hacks Carnival #12“

Can I Get Rich on a Salary?” hosted the Money Hacks carnival and gave it a touch of class with The Twelve Labours of Heracles. I might have been impressed by Heracles’ labors but he never had to go to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission so his toughness is still unproven to this day.

• Snowflaking your way to an emergency fund

Yes, the viral nature of wealthstreaming is taking hold – along with snowforting and snowflaking and snowballing… this article actually made me think that it does make sense to try to boil financial philosophies down into single words or catchphrases. It does give people a useful reference point. For me to refer to wealthstreaming as “snowflaking my income” gives anyone who understands snowflaking an instant reference point.

• Money Tips for New College Graduates – Spending, Saving, & Budgeting Advice

Since I’ve been writing about graduates recently, these were some nicely synchronous tips. Ahh, buying the cheapest beer possible… those were the days. Fat, drunk and stupid IS a good way to go through life – I don’t care what Dean Wormer said. Give me some PBR, some Marley and a doo-rag and I’m set.

• How I Invested My Roth IRA This Year

You do a little bit of analysis, and this is a reasonable conclusion: it’s not a bad idea to invest in the market, as long as the market isn’t the US market.

• Got Unused ING Direct Referrals?

If you have any intention of signing up for ING, here are hundreds of referrals. I’m planning on setting up a business account there – I’ve decided that opening up another HSBC account is too much of a headache, and I’ve always heard that ING is much more user-friendly.

• Tragedy of the Oceans

The tragedy of the commons applies to many areas of human life. The way condo association owners will abuse common resources is an example. Humans are generally driven by self-interest, which is the reason, in my darker moments, that I fear for the future economic stability of the US and the future of the world’s ecosystems. Sigh.

• Festival of Frugality #125 – Save Some Money If You Are Rich Edition

My post on why maybe American kids AREN’T so stupid about personal finance was an editor’s pick over at Quest For Four Pillars. American kids everywhere are rejoicing in the Canadian validation!

• Two Weeks to Retire: The Results

What if you were given an option to retire early, sweated over the decision, and then found out that the company goofed on telling you the deadline to decide? Ouch.

• A New Must-Have Money Book? 

Usually I would not give much thought to reviews of books, particularly money books, but this one intrigued me a bit.  It’s not a book on a single subject but a summary of 50 books on money.  Since my local library won’t get this book for about 10-12 more years I may actually have to buy this one.

• Increase Your Salary Without Increasing Your Work

“Working for a company offers you stability, a steady career path with potential for growth in your chosen field, perks and many other side benefits. For some though — including myself, at one point in my life — I traded all of those positives for more money, as I took a chance at being a “consultant” or “independent contractor”. I loved this article, but this particular passage made me chuckle. There is no stability in being a regular employee. None. I have sat in an office as a contract consultant watching people get laid off right and left. Career progression, perks, etc. – those may be a difference between a consultant and an employee. Stability? Eh, no. Great article, though, about ways to make more by doing, well, nothing extra.

• Hedge Against Your Bills by Owning the Company

I like this idea. If your electric bills are awful, buy the stock of the company that provides you with electricity. Unless prices are just going up because the end times are near (which, for example, is probably the case with oil and gas) you’ll do well with this strategy.

• Carnival of Money Stories #59

I haven’t entered the CoMS in a while, but Andy at Money Walks made my submission an editor’s pick so I’m glad I did!

• Our Experience Staying In A Rental Earthship Home In Taos.

Sometimes I read something and get almost giggly (in a very manly, patriarchal way, of course) about it. This was one such piece – David’s description and pictures of HelioHouse are amazing. Amazing. I said it twice, so go look at the pics and read about it.

• How To Get Things Done With iGoogle

I’m all about simplicity in the productivity area, and Erik’s got a very simple little hack using iGoogle to get things done. I like it; I use Vitalist in a similar manner but this one’s clever since (if you’re a Googleholic) it keeps you firmly in the Googleverse Googling Things Done.

• Investing in the Stock Market Over the Past 10 Years: How Did Dollar-Cost Averaging Fare?

“The average annual return over the past ten years for the S&P 500 was just under 4%. ” Think about that. I’m getting close to announcing a major philosophical shift in my investing philosophy – I’m putting my cash (I cashed out a HUGE amount in late 2007 before the market tanked) back into the market in stocks, not in funds. 4% over 10 years? No thanks.

• Unhappy with your job?

Here’s a story that’s all too familiar to many people. Loved doing something as a kid. Got a cool job doing it. Got bored with the job after a while. One of the ugly secrets about “finding your passion and making it your work” is that passions change or get replaced by new passions. The real question is whether you’re just the type of person who constantly needs new challenges and interests or if you just have a boring job.

• Carnival of Snowflaking, Real Snowflake Edition

Foxie at “Dreaming of Ferraris” (hey, might as well dream big) hosted this carnival and kindly made this first-time entrant an editor’s pick! Cool! And yes, I said “cool” because of the snowflake thing… cool, cold, get it? It’s not funny if I have to explain it, I guess…

• Stuff-onomics: Hidden Side of What You Own

Tina has a nice little decision tree on getting rid of stuff. She went on what Australians (at least as per Crocodile Dundee) call a ‘walkabout’ in India and realized she didn’t miss her stuff while she was gone. Here’s my idea: get a labelmaker, put a date on it, then put it on all of your stuff. Take the label off when you use the stuff. Haven’t used it in a year? Donate it, freecycle it, etc. By the way, I talk big about that, but my storage room is packed full of stuff we “might need someday…”

• Labour versus Investment Income

This is an excellent point, despite the misspelling of the word “labor” that you really need to establish a base of capital before getting excited about investing. No point in getting huge rates of return on a $1000 nest egg. Perhaps “no point” is too strong, but the point is dead on.

• Why You May Be Just Spinning Your Wheels After All

I worry about this from time to time, and this article – unfortunately – just reinforced some of my doubts. You may THINK you’re working hard toward a goal, but you’re engaged in what I like to call “churn” – making a lot of noise and motion without much forward progress. Best quote from this article: “Screw ‘one day.’ What about now?”

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