Weekend Ramblings and PF Blog Love: Summer is Finally Here

After slogging practically all summer and having to stay indoors while everyone else got to go out and play, summer is finally here (for me anyway haha).  I get a brief hiatus from school for three and a half glorious weeks and am very much looking forward to this.  Some of my plans are to go do some wilderness camping and maybe explore the Gulf Islands (I live in Vancouver and have never been to these apparently very beautiful Gulf islands) with my boyfriend on a weekend.  It entails taking a ferry to a cluster of small islands between the mainland of BC and Vancouver Island.

We’re planning a pretty budget summer this year so far.  My boyfriend is planning to go back to school too in the fall (but he will be going part time and working full time) so our budget is going to be pretty bare (well more like his budget is going to be pretty bare since mine is usually bare anyways).  My boyfriend’s sisters and their partners are going to Vegas but we’re opting out (as tempting as it is– free drinks while playing Black Jack? C’mon).

This sacrificing concept for school is not so much fun and probably isn’t in the vocabulary for many 20-somethings!  It must get even more sacrificial after kids

PS I took this picture- it’s of a beautiful lake somewhere in B.C.

Readers, what have your summer plans been so far?  Have you all had a good summer so far?

PF Blog Love!

Sean @ One Smart Dollar writes Credit Unions vs Banks – Which is Best for You? – A lot of people don’t know this difference between banks and credit unions. Here is a guide to help you decide which is best for you.

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Should We Be Teaching Kids to Save Money? – Instead of just ignoring the need to teach children how to save, consider turning it into something fun and exciting that retains the joy and fun that any childhood should include

Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes So, Your Child Wants to Be an Olympic Athlete – Every two years when the Olympics come around, children watch and decide that they, too, want to be Olympic athletes. As you watch the Olympics, here are a few things to keep in mind if your child decides to start a new sport.

Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Saving Money By Taking Your Own Lunches To School or Work – If you work outside of the home, you have to supply your own lunch. Unless the executive dining room is at your disposal for free, you are on your own when hunger strikes at lunchtime. Eating lunch in expensive restaurants every day can be fun, but most working individuals have neither the time nor the money to indulge in that habit.

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Seven Refillable Items – Saving Money & the Planet – A lot of people assume that saving money and saving the planet are two separate goals, yet this isn’t the case. There are plenty of environmentally friendly solutions that can also help you develop a growing savings account.

Steve @ Brip Blap writes Teaching Children about Money – To all intents and purposes, some children do not have any idea about finances and how their parents are able to get money for all their ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. It is therefore important that parents take the time to teach their children about money when they are old enough to grasp financial concepts.

Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes The Ins and Outs of No Medical Exam Life Insurance – No medical exam life insurance has higher premiums than a standard life insurance policy, but may actually be less expensive for someone who’s likely to be rated. The tradeoff is in the benefits.

TB @ Blue Collar Workman writes The Grass is Always Greener on the Job Security Side of the Fence – Wanting to start a new business sounds awesome, but what about job security?

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes The Cost of Raising an Olympian – While most Americans love a feel good story like Phelps’ or White’s, most don’t consider the incredible sacrifice that is required to get elite athletes to the point where they can earn millions. According to Forbes, families of gymnasts “can expect to pay $1,000 a month to keep a child competing on a high level, then more if she reaches elite status.”

Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes How to Become Confident with Money – It’s undeniable: there’s something about finances that can shake up even the most confident of people. But more importantly, know that you can and should shake off your financial fears.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Being Responsible: 5 Things Adults Do – Being responsible – it sounds like a bore, something old people do. But adult responsibilities mean more than just funding my 401(k). What says adult to you?

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes The Limitations of Credit Default Swaps – Here’s why it is more important to focus on bond prices than CDS when talking about default potential.

SB @ One Cent at a Time writes 101 Ways to be More Productive – 101 ways to be productive, better and successful at your work, Learn to excel in whatever job you do. these tips are essential for any job. tips to get you ahead in your career.

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes I Spend Less than 50% of My Pretax Income – As I was updating my net worth this month I realized that my net worth has increased over $31,000 in the past 12 months.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes Red Flags of Personal Finance – A red flag is an indicator of potential problems. It means danger, stop or caution because of something ahead of you. In personal finance there are a number of things to watch for or avoid to be successful.

PPlaner @ Provident Plan writes Should You Avoid Debt? – Too often people in both niches of finances and religion identify a situation as black and white when it is actually gray.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Many Are House Poor and How You Can Avoid The Same Mistakes – One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen friends (and acquaintances) make is to buy a home that’s simply too expensive for them. House poor…

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Investing in Real Estate from a Distance – Find out why I am considering investing in real estate in a different market than the one in which I currently reside.

Lance @ Money Life & More writes Should I Get a Smartphone Update! – Am I Glad I Got a Smartphone? After about a month and a half of owning my smartphone I am extremely happy I got it! My biggest concern was the smartphone data bill, a whole $30 a month. Thing is, I rarely buy things for myself and am definitely not a big spender…

Hank @ Money Q&A writes When Does Your Frugality Become Unethical? – Can frugality become unethical? Where is the line we cross when pinching your pennies is no longer morally acceptable? Are some cases of being frugal borderline illegal too?

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes An Easy Way to Sell Your Stuff When Redecorating… – There inevitably comes a time in a girl’s life when she has to redecorate. For me, that time comes around every three years. One day I’ll wake up and that piece of art I said I’d never get rid of suddenly offends me. Like, literally, I get angry when I walk past it.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Three short stories on money and technology – Money and technology is changing the way in which we spend and the things we worry about. I have a sophisticated system to remember my PINs.

JP @ My Family Finances writes How to Make Your Recipes Cheaper and Healthier Too – Cutting down the average family grocery bill means making small changes to how you cook. However, those changes can mean better quality and healthier food.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Money Saving Discounts – We are all familiar with couponing thanks in large part to the Extreme Couponing shows that air on cable. Recently, businesses have turned to using the internet to offer discounts through coupon codes.

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes 5 Tips for Students to be Frugal – College costs continue to rise every year, and that is just for tuition. The costs of just living as a college student have also continued to rise. Here are some tips and tricks to be frugal in school so that you can save your money for things that really matter! 1. Rent, Don’t Buy Textbooks …

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Find Our First House-Check! – We’ve only been searching for our first house for around 2 months now. About 2 months ago, we were pre approved for a home loan using the USDA Guaranteed Loan..

Corey @ 20s Finances writes How to Save Money: Even Your Milk Money Counts – Do you find yourself saying that you don’t have enough money? Is it hard to find the pennies necessary to pay the bills? Saving money can be difficult at times for a lot of reasons. Whether it is because you are stuck in contract to lease a car or can’t stop yourself from buying the latest, greatest item, it can be hard to save money.

Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes How to Add Curb Appeal to Your Home – If you’re thinking about selling or renting your home, or if you’re just having a house party next week, you don’t want your first impressions to be bad. That is why adding some curb appeal to your house is a great do-it-yourself project for any budget. If you only have a few dollars, or want to revamp the entire front of your house, there is a project for you.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Mustang Budgeting and Other Methods of Implementing a Budget – On the way to work one morning I started playing with the speedometer button on the Mustang. One push of the button showed me the length of each trip.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Three Reasons You May Not Want to Make Extra Mortgage Principal Payments – These three reasons are great advice for why one should not make extra mortgage payments. While some may disagree, these are great reasons.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Fancy Vacation: Your Kids Won’t Remember A Thing – It seems talking to people over the past couple of years that taking a memorable fancy vacation is important thing on the minds of many parents.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Diversity: the Key Word to Remember When Investing – We’ve all heard the advice not to put all our eggs in one basket. This certainly holds true for investments. If you were to sink everything into one investment and it lost its value, you could lose a lot of money. However if that investment was one of several, the impact on your savings would be far less severe than it would have been otherwise.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Saving for Retirement is Like Going on a Road Trip – What if I woke up one Tuesday morning and decided to take my kids to Disneyland that day? Now, I live in Phoenix.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes How To Invest in Gold – Gold can be seen as a safe haven for many when confidence is low in the markets and in the economy. Gold value per ounce is a regular metric being shared globally through daily news along side your country’s currency and oil prices.

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes The 5 Things You Should Never Do During A Job Interview – The job interview will be the first time that your prospective employers will be seeing you in person.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Olympic Reading for your Week – O-no: Ring-shaped bagels at the House cafe in Camberwell, south London was told to take down the Olympic-themed display by southwark Borough Council.S

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes What to do without a Pay Raise? – Find out how you should respond to not getting an annual pay raise. It’s important to approach it with the right mentality.

MR @ Money Reasons writes Working Alternative Work Shifts For More Money – Working a third (or second) shift might enable you to dramatically increase your income if you do it right! Read my thoughts on the idea.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes My Investment Strategy Fully Explained – I invest in markets where there is real supply-and-demand and fundamentals really matter. E.g. currencies and commodities. Other wise, I’ll be competing against other traders who are just (if not more) savvy, resulting in a game in which no one wins.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Difference between Homeowners and Renters – Do you think it’s better to rent? Do you think it’s better to buy a home? While there are many who would suggest that buying a home is always the best option, it isn’t as clear cut as it should be. Buying a home means taking on a lot more risk.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Passive Income by Leasing a Car? – Have you ever considered passive income by leasing a car privately? I have! Here are the details.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Scoring $1200 in Travel Vouchers – It’s no secret that most airlines oversell their flights anticipating a certain number of no-shows. Here are tips to receive free travel vouchers!

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Ways We Are Costing Each Other Money – I was watching TV while babysitting (after the kids went to bed) and had the only thing that seemed half interesting was a show about shoplifting.

L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes It’s time to set some goals. – Every person has financial goals. Any financial blogger worth their salt generally shares these goals and their progress with an audience.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Learning How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage – Find out some basic tips to save money on your mortgage.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes Teaching Children about Money – Teaching My Future Children about Money I was in the store the other day and ahead of me in line was a little girl with her mom. The girl was throwing a tantrum about not getting a candy bar. Talk about annoying.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Why $200 Lost Gambling Was Better Spent Than $200 Cirque Du Soleil Tickets – In all, we spent about the same amount on the Cirque Du Soleil tickets as we lost playing Craps over the weekend. Where did we have more fun?

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Financial Check-Up; Our Vacation at Cape Ann – Broke-Ass Mommy is a blog that chronicles the tribulations of being a mother with limited income

Deacon Hayes @ Well Kept Wallet writes How to Buy a Home WITHOUT a Mortgage – About 6 years ago, I didn’t even think this was possible. I thought the only way I will ever own home is to borrow money. Man, was I mistaken. Looking back at all of the interest I have paid to banks makes me sick. I knew there had to be another way and there is.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Living in Debt without Hope? – Find out how having debt can take all of your hope away and what you can do to get it back and pay off your debt.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes Would You Accept Food Stamps If You Didn’t Need Them? – If I qualified for food stamps, I’d get them. After all, every dollar I save on food is a dollar I can invest in my business.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Couples and Money – Combining Your Accounts – A short guide to how you can combine your finances with your new spouse shortly after your wedding or later in your marriage.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes MBA SERIES; ARE BONDS SAFER THAN STOCKS? – Bonds are usually less volatile. So, if you are looking for fewer ups and downs in your portfolio, then bonds are certainly less risky.

Bridget @ Money After Graduation writes make pre-payments on your student loan debt to make progress – On Monday I blogged about how much I’ve overpaid my student loans. Well, I keep a running tally of a number of my student loan metrics, including how much of my payments go towards the principal balance and how much just pays off interest: Note where it says the net paid off is about $5,100.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes French Toast in Alaska – Vacation. Alaska. Cruise. Right. That odd feeling I got in the beginning of our cruise is not fading away. From day one I felt that we are in some odd dimension where we are forced into a small, inadequate space with mean spirits instead of people.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes 6 Crazy Things I’d Do with a Billion Dollars – Imagine you won a billion dollar lottery. Would you be boring or go crazy with your purchases? Here’s what I would do…

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes Sustainability Isn’t Black and White – While doing the green thing seems like it makes sense, especially when you spend the same amount of money, one should really examine purchases critically.

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Fighting Against Sodium and Ignorance – After taking some time to reflect I find it ironic that our poor health status came about very similarly to how my financial downfall originated: I didn’t educate myself or think on my own; I simply followed what the masses did, accepted it as “the norm” and figured it was the right way to do things.

MMD @ My Money Design writes How to Retire on 500K with the Greatest Potential – Is it possible to retire on 500K? It may be tough, but there are certainly ways of maximizing your options while creating a safe portfolio.

Steve @ Brip Blap writes How Coaching Can Help You Out of a Rut in Your Corporate Career – For those who feel like they are in a career lull, bored of the same everyday routine, a new challenge could be what awaits you – and don’t worry, even those with the most fulfilling careers can feel like this occasionally. Here are 3 key areas that coaching can help you with, whilst helping you get out of that rut and enjoy working again:

Jacob @ I Heart Budgets writes How To Save Money: Billing Mistakes (Part 1) – Have you ever looked at your bills closely? You may be over-paying them and wasting hundreds! Read how to save money on bills and keep more cash!

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes All Index Funds Are NOT Created Equal – Unfortunately we might want to put some time into researching index funds before investing in them. It seems that similar index funds are not equal when it comes to performance.

Justin @ My University Money writes Things That Universities Don’t Want You To Know – Universities are known for making money by any means necessary. Look around for opportunities to bypass their monopoly once in a while.