A Stroll Through My Blogroll

Every now and then I like to wander through my blogroll to see what’s happening on some of my fellow personal finance blogger’s sites.  I really need to do this more often because there are a ton of great articles out there:

http://www.2millionblog.com/2009/01/bought_baby_furntiure_on_craigslist.html

2Million is in the baby stuff acquisition mode.  I remember those days very well.  I can tell we are similar in our approach to finding good deals.  They shopped for what they’d LOVE to have and then went to work exploring ways to get those things cheaper.  They ended up buying used for half the price.  If you think about it, how “used” can baby furniture be?

http://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2009/01/caffeine-update/

Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt is going through caffeine withdrawals.  Actually, she’s doing pretty well with it.  Besides the fact that this will save her family money, it’s also a healthier approach.  After reading the post, I think we are going to have to take a long look at all the soda we drink in our house and consider making the switch like Tricia’s family did.  I don’t drink caffeine but I still drink a ton of sugar free soda.

http://www.bostongals.com/2009/01/millionaires-join-rest-of-us-in-feeling.html

Boston Gal pointed to a Marketwatch.com article that I read recently that talks about how, even the millionaires among us are stressing about the current state of the economy.  With the massive decline in the market, they have taken large hits to their net worth.  When you add in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scam, some of those people must be freaking out.  In fact, there have already been a couple suicides.  I guess I’m not that bad off after all……

http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2009/01/08/books-are-a-bargain/

Nickel points out that books are a bargain.  After reading the article I find myself even less likely to go a movie in the theater.  You can easily drop $30-40 for a two hour movie.  For half that price you can be entertained for days with a nice new book.  It’s those every day observations about money that I just love.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/01/10/follow-up-on-the-63-page-credit-card-agreement/

When is the last time you actually read a credit card agreement?  Never?  JD @ Get Rich Slowly refused to activate his new American Express Costco card until he read the full agreement.  I have that card and am ashamed to say I didn’t read the terms.  I appreciated his effort to break it down for me.  It sounds like the card has decent terms.

http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/save-money-landlinephone/

Lazyman wrote an article about saving money on your landline phone.  He likes the Vonage line.  I actually had that a couple years ago but ended up canceling it because the quality wasn’t good enough.  I would expect it’s better now but I’ve had mixed results with VOIP because I spend many hours on the phone at home due to the fact that I work from home and attend a lot of teleconferences.  There’s nothing worse than having your voice go in and out while you are speaking in a meeting.  If I didn’t work from home, I would have already killed my Qwest line.  Luckily I only pay $21 per month because I’ve stripped the line of all the extra features.  Anyway, Lazyman does point out other ways to save on the phone line, including simply calling up and asking for a discount.  You’d be amazed how well that works!

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2009/01/net-worth-december-2008.html

Poor MadameX. She’s seeing her net worth go down just like I have (and I’m sure just like you too).  I think she does a good job keeping things in perspective.  Her overall trend is solid.  She is saving like she should and her good money management will pay off in the end.

http://www.mytwodollars.com/2009/01/05/if-you-dont-need-it-its-not-a-bargain-at-all/

David @ MyTwoDollars points out something that many of us forget.  A bargain is only a good thing if you actually need it.  Too many people spend too much money buying stuff because it’s a good deal.  That new stuff just ends up collecting dust until it finally makes it’s way to the Goodwill.

http://www.ncnblog.com/2009/01/03/20-things-that-rock-about-being-debt-free/

NCN lists 20 things that rock about being debt free.  I have to admit that I really like not having any sort of consumer debt or car loans etc.  The only thing we have is mortgage debt and we have kept that at reasonable levels.  We don’t see the home equity in our house (yes, we still have some) as a credit line.  Not maintaining any consumer debt gives us peace of mind and also gives us many of the options that NCN points out.