Average Joe’s Friday Read-Along

There are few feelings better than knowing you have a whole flippin’ weekend with absolutely nothing to do. Nothing! It’s been a long time coming, so this weekend I promise to put my feet up and do…well…..

1)   There’s a clean up day on local trails. I will be doing that BUT I’ll be outside enjoying the spring weather in Texas. This is the best time of year here. If you think differently, stick it in your ear. (I’m even beginning to get cocky like a Texan!)

2)   My garage is a mess. It’s gonna need some TLC BUT I’ll be in the fresh air AND I’ll see that train set again that I’ve promised myself for 30 years I’d finally put together….

3)   The symphony is playing Saturday night. We’re going to go see them. I HATED the symphony until a good friend dragged my wife and I to a performance for his birthday (I couldn’t say no….it was his birthday!) Now? I’ll go any time I can….even on “do nothing” weekend.

4)   My son has pretty much decided on the University of Texas. We’re going to put down his $200 deposit so he can start picking his dorm this weekend BUT I’ll be clearing up that ultimate “how much money are we spending on college?” discussion.

5)   I’ve got an office that needs some love BUT it’ll make it easier to work next week if I tackle that.

Sigh. Looks like my “do nothing” weekend is all planned out…..

Let’s Look at Eight Great Blog Posts You Might Have Missed

How about if we start with my friend Mr. MMD at My Money Design and his fun post called Would You Borrow Money to Invest in Stocks? I’m ready for next week’s post: Would You Borrow Someone’s Toothbrush?

Justin at The Frugal Path is down with the kid’s stories in his epic piece Paying Off Credit Cards, the Little Debtor Who Could. Congrats to Justin on his first six months of blogging, also!

One of my favoritest writers (it’s my blog and I say it’s a word, okay? Let’s move on….) on the interwebs is Andrew at 101Centavos. This week he spins his quirky tales of gardening in mining stocks in a hilarious direction….Gardening for Zombies.

Kim at Eyes on the Dollar asks a great question about Unethical Doctors – What Can You Do? I love the discussion in the comments.

Our good friend Erin at The Dog Ate My Wallet had a surprise this week….she lost her job! Read The Financial Side of My Layoff on how she’s viewing the coming changes…it’s an uplifting post and reminds me that the glass can be half full or half empty….I decide.

Our new friend Nola at New Take Travel wrote a good post about house swapping: How Can You Trust Strangers In Your Home? I’m excited about trying out house swapping on a vacation…and Nola’s blog is a key resource.

Jen at The Happy Homeowner is right on the money. You can’t just wish your way to wealth. Financial Freedom Doesn’t Just Happen, It’s Earned.

Finally, congrats to our friend (and podcast contributor) Carrie Smith at Careful Cents. She quit her job to freelance! Check it out Why I Quit My Job (and Think You Should, Too).

April Fools!

I have to give a special award to my favorite April Fool’s post. It’s a tie between the PoP’s at Planting Our Pennies with Rebranding – Now Spending Our Pennies and John at Frugal Rules with How to Get Rich Quickly. Nice job. Of course, we participated in the action on our podcast, too. Check out our biggest episode ever.

The Diary

I’ll be releasing a new Diary post this week. It’s nearly done. Matt at Dumb Passive Income is currently working on SEO for a piece of ours. We’ll see what he’s able to come up with. Thanks also to Lance at Money, Life and More for some good Diary suggestions this week.

Interested in reading our behind-the-scenes rambling about blogging? We don’t do that on the blog…it all happens on the Diary.

Hello, My Name Is:

A special welcome to Cash Rebel, who I visited for the first time this week. Mosey over to see this sweet Q1 Update for a sample.

….and a howdy-doody to cartoonist Mark Anderson and his Andertoons website. Mark followed me on Twitter, and I checked out his long-running blog. It’s become an awesome respite from financial pieces all day….check out his tutorial on how to draw a cartoon baby chick. Even I can do it!

We’re Very Popular and Modest, Too:

A huge thanks to those who’ve mentioned us in the last few weeks.

At Nerd’s Eye View, Michael Kitces pointed readers toward How Color Affects Your Investment Decisions in his Weekend Reading post, as did Laurie at The Frugal Farmer in Out on the Town, Good Reads for the Week, Marvin at Brick By Brick Investing in Wealth Building Bricks, Session #9, and Maria at The Money Principle in Principled Money Posts #38, Happy Easter. I’m thrilled that Maria will be making the long trek to Saint Louis for FinCon.

Thank you to John at Frugal Rules, Holly at Club Thrifty and Tonya at Budget & the Beach for featuring OG’s We Gave Frugal the Finger in Frugal Friday: Missing from a Wal-mart Near You edition, I Just Wrote a Check for $8,700 and Link Love /Week in Review.

A special thanks to Marvin from Brick By Brick Investing for using my awesome kids as an example in his rant against a sickeningly self-absorbed teenager in . You have to read Marvin’s post to believe this young woman’s point of view….read Ridiculous Entitled Generation for some fun (check out the pics of the woman’s house!).

I know there are people who recognized us that I’ve probably missed. Thanks to everyone who did. I’m grateful for all the sharing of our work.

Have a fantastic-alicious weekend,

j.