linklings, amazement edition

I’m a goofy dude. I’ve always enjoyed the latest self-help book, the latest how-to-invest strategy, the latest productivity blog.  But you know what?  I know I’m jinxing myself, but I finally think I have it figured out – or at least I’ve started to figure it out.  For the past few weeks, I’ve started to get everything under control and I’m starting to feel that I’ve got a system to manage my life.  If I actually start writing the book (chapter 1 is drafted) then I’ll know I’ve got things moving forward. It’s a cool feeling.  I’m hoping that it’s not a BRIP, with a BLAP to follow.  I’m hoping I’ve actually crossed a bit of a border – having taken some positive steps in my life to achieve what I always wanted:  life in the sun with my wife and kids.  My daughter in the semi-tropical sun is a minor miracle to me.  Weather and lifestyle are  small things.  Culture and family are big things.  Everything has to be placed in a balance and right now, the balance is, well…balanced.

The links, the links…!

Moving Made Easy – How to Save Money, Time, and Reduce Stress While Moving: Having just recently moved, I’ll tell you – these are good tips.

Budget Travel Tips: And again, having HOPED to travel sometime soon, these are tips I would take

“When It Rains, It Pours”: We’ve been on the other side of this recently; we thought we had reached an agreement to buy a house here in Florida and then, after weeks of negotiating, we finally gave up and decided to start looking again. It’s odd how some people can’t let go even in the face of economic inevitability – but then again, that’s part of what makes us human, I guess.

Flipping Houses for Profit: Something I have dreamt of doing often and never even vaguely acted on. I think I could manage painting and cleaning and (very) minor repair work, but actually dealing with agents and attorneys non-stop? For me? Not really.

Save Money Buying Overstock or Returned Items:  If I could game overstocked stuff into a profit, believe me… it’s a great way to make money.

MonaVie is Trying to Sue Me…: Lazy Man wrote an honest criticism of MonaVie and MonaVie’s trying to shut him up. My take? Tweet, Stumble, and do your social blogging worst to make this stupid lawsuit look…well….stupid.

Happiness For Others Comes From Contentment With Yourself: I couldn’t agree more. In my brip-blap existence, it’s been a tough lesson to learn, but here – in my mid-life – I’ve finally learned that if I’m OK with ME and not with others’ perception of me or my perception of how I stack up to others, I’m going to be alright.

Work At Home Mom Shares Tips On Saving Money: Nuff said, eh?

You CAN Argue With Results!: It’s tough to stick with the logic on this post, but Mr. Cheap is as dead-on with this thinking as you can get. Stating a result does not imply that the result is true – multiple variables ALWAYS confuse things…

How To Sell Your House Fast – 9 Tips To Get The Most From Your Home Sale: All of these are great tips, but let me tell you – #7 is key. Beyond a doubt.

Again With the Why Travel? (And Happy Anniversary!): I should write a whole post on this, but let me summarize: without travel, I am not who I am today. End of story. I grew up in a small southern US town, and living in Germany and Russia and traveling to God-knows-how-many-other-countries made me the human I am today. I can no more separate travel from my identity than I could separate my Anglo ethnicity or my native-English speaking or my hazel-colored eyes; travel made me…ME.  I am of the pro-travel camp.  I know when I am older and my kids are in their 20s and heading off to Malaysia or Kenya or Kazakhstan or whatever I’ll freak out, but really:  I am not who I am today with my time spent living in Russia.  C’est la vie.

Photo by seanmcgrath