Weekly Updates

• I met Shondell at Call Me What You Want, Even Cheap yesterday and her friend – they were awesome!  Seriously, funny ladies!  Also, the fruit flies are nearly gone, yay!  I think we just have the stragglers left to kill.  Which was great since I’m glad they didn’t swarm anybody yesterday, lol.
• Remember to sign up for my newsletter (in the right sidebar) —-> to be able to enter the separate giveaway that I host for subscribers only every month! Plus, I share things in the newsletter that I no longer share here (hint…what do you think happened to my monthly income reports).

Weekly Favorites

• Money Life and More with We Cancelled Our $50 Wedding Reception Venue For a Better Deal  Congrats!
• First Gen American with Babci’s Revenge  That is one awful spouse but a nice point-proving exercise.
• Live Real, Now with IRA or Powerball?  IRA, but I do also buy about 20 lottery tickets a year all spread out.  Sometimes it’s just $1 of hope on a bad day.
• Wealth Informatics with Your friends are the reason why you are not saving money or losing weight  Yay for my potluck-loving friends!
• Evolving PF with Long-Distance Marriage: Communication and Personalities  I don’t have the right personality type for living apart from Mr. BFS for longer than a week or so.
• Beating Broke with Personal Crowd Funding?   I would donate to a project like a game on Kickstarter that also gives something in return, but I don’t think I would ever help anyone with a down payment on a car or house.  Honestly, that’s an ongoing debt and if they need help with the money down, how will they keep up with the loan payments themselves?
• Funny about Money with Wounded Dog Dodges Bankruptcy  Some people are just money-grabbing butt heads – always get second opinions for the expensive stuff for sure!
• Budgets Are Sexy with We Found a Place! We Found a Place!  Yay!  I hope you love it for the next year!
• We Only Do This Once with Resolve to Declutter  I seem to spend about an hour or two every 3 months decluttering from the previous months of build-up.
• Mr. Money Mustache with The Principle of Constant Optimization  It’s amazing how fast things can become habits that we seriously have to reconsider regularly for our priority list.

Posts on my Co-Owned Sites

Okay, so my co-owned sites do not get as much love as BFS, but we have amazing staff writers like Libby Balke and Natalie Spring. Plus our very own BFS commenter and guest poster, MikeS, has started writing too!

• MikeS at Money in the 20s with To Help or Not?
• Libby at Smart Money Focus with Looking for a Last-Minute Tax Shelter? I’ve Got The Answer
• Natalie at Richly Reasonable with 5 Skills to Save You Money: Handyman Skills

Blog Carnivals that Included BFS

• Carnival of MoneyPros at My Personal Finance Journey
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at WILDaboutFinance
• Y and T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty.ca
• Yakezie Carnival at Money Life and More

Thank you!

Giveaways

• Surviving and Thriving is hosting a Macoron Giveaway until May 21st!

Please let me know if you are running a giveaway so I can add you to the list each week! If you already emailed me and don’t see your giveaway, it isn’t on purpose. Please email me again as your first email must have died a horrid death in my inbox…

Top 10 Referring Sites to BFS from the Last Week:

1. Get Rich Slowly
2. Funny About Money
3. Free Money Finance
4. First Gen American
5. Len Penzo
6. Evolving PF
7. Frugal Portland
8. So Over This
9. Making Sense of Cents
10. Money Life and More

Thank you! Feel free to contact meif you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.

As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too.

I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!

Weekly Updates

• It’s been a bad week for homes.  My friend’s home was broken into but the perp was caught, yay!  And my other friend’s parent’s house burned down.  They are okay, but two of their dogs were too afraid to make it out.    My heart goes out to them!
• Remember to sign up for my newsletter (in the right sidebar) —-> to be able to enter the separate giveaway that I host for subscribers only every month! Plus, I share things in the newsletter that I no longer share here (hint…what do you think happened to my monthly income reports).

Weekly Favorites

• Buck Inspire with Settle Your Confidence Debt Tony Stark  Buck opens up!!!
• Quizzle with Personal Finance Blog of the Week – Budgeting in the Fun Stuff  Awww!!!  Super smiles!
• Live Real, Now with Multiracial Skinhead Love Triangle  I would never do it…
• Len Penzo with More Reasons Why I Decided to Buy a New Car Instead of a Used One  My parents do the same – buy brand new vehicles and drive them for 10-15 years until they just don’t want to go anymore.
• Funny about Money with A Couple of Things I Can Afford to Do Without…  We are okay with our cars now too, but I bet we only have a few years left on them, so we’ve started saving.
• Savvy Financial Latina with May 2013 Net Worth  I wonder if I should start posting my networth updates again, but I started getting some mean people emails last time.  I think people like the underdog stories but sort of resent actual success after a while…
• Mutant Supermodel with How To Save Money Using Amazon Wishlists  I have one that I use to monitor stuff that we want to buy.  I jump on things after a while when I see a super sale.
• One Smart Dollar with Five Biggest Money Mistakes Couples Make  Yeah, communicate people!
• Solving the Money Puzzle with Famous Financial Parnterships  Interesting!
• My Multiple Incomes with My Monthly Income Stream Report – April 2013  Wow, congrats!

Posts on my Co-Owned Sites

Okay, so my co-owned sites do not get as much love as BFS, but we have amazing staff writers like Libby Balke and Natalie Spring.  Plus our very own BFS commenter and guest poster, MikeS, has started writing too since Libby has to scale back for her new job (congrats!!!) and his posts will be going up this coming month!

• Libby at Married with Debt with Who’s Your Real “Head of Household”?
• Libby at Modern Tightwad with Managing Your Debt: A Real-Life Example
• Natalie at Richly Reasonable with 5 Skills to Save You $$$ Cooking
• Libby at Money in the 20s with Would You Fight An Incorrect 1099?
• Libby at Smart Money Focus with Pulling Out Of The Stock Market Before The Sequester
• Libby at Go Be Rich with Being Elite: Is It A Bad Thing?

Blog Carnivals that Included BFS

• Yakezie Carnival at Thirtysixmonths.com
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Making Sense of Cents
• Carnival of Retirement at PF Carny
• Yakezie Carnival at The Frugal Toad
• Carnival of MoneyPros at Money Pros
• Carnival of Retirement at Midlife Finance
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Dividend Monk
• Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at Making Sense of Cents

Thank you!

Giveaways

• FREE How to Get Rich: Wealth Building Guide for the Financially Illiterate in Kindle format now through Sunday (tomorrow)!!!
• Surviving and Thriving is hosting a Giveaway for 2 Regal Cinema Gift Cards until May 7!
• Bike Lane Living with United by Blue Bike Bag Give-Away! - Two Bags!  Enter by May 13th!

Please let me know if you are running a giveaway so I can add you to the list each week! If you already emailed me and don’t see your giveaway, it isn’t on purpose. Please email me again as your first email must have died a horrid death in my inbox…

Top 20 Referring Sites to BFS from the Last Month:

1. Free Money Finance
2. Get Rich Slowly
3. Making Sense of Cents
4. Funny About Money
5. Len Penzo
6. Wisebread
7. Cents to Save
8. Retire by 40
9. Frugal Portland
10. AntiNecktie
11. First Gen American
12. Wealth Informatics
13. So Over This
14. Budgets Are Sexy
15. Newlyweds on a Budget
16. I Heart Budgets
17. Single Mom’s Income
18. One Cent at a Time
19. Dividend Monk
20. Money Life and More

Thank you! Feel free to contact meif you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.

As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too.

I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!

Weekly Updates

• I just saw “42″, the Jackie Robinson movie, yesterday and loved it!  I am also appreciating the crap out of Groupon since all of these movies I have been seeing lately have been pretty affordable thanks to them, lol.  Yesterday’s movie was only $4.50 at the Alamo Draft House that way. 
• Remember to sign up for my newsletter (in the right sidebar) —-> to be able to enter the separate giveaway that I host for subscribers only every month! Plus, I share things in the newsletter that I no longer share here (hint…what do you think happened to my monthly income reports).

Weekly Favorites

• Wealth Informatics with Adios California! Hello Washington! Why we are leaving California?  Congratulations on the move!!!  Hope you love it!!!
• Money Beagle with As Pet Care Costs Continue To Rise, Ask When Enough Is Enough  I think vets need to be reminded of basic logic sometimes…
• JD Roth with 1000 Miles Across Britain  Sounds amazing!
• Budgets are Sexy with YARD SALES ARE BACK!!  Dibs on the cobra cane in an upcoming giveaway! 
• Thriftability with What If You Invest $5 a Week Instead of Playing the Lottery?  But I like buying the occasional ticket, lol.  Good point though.
• Clever Dude with More details about our European vacation  And he means details!!!  Seriously, read this post before taking a Euro trip!
• Dinks Finance with Why are we obsessed with celebrities?  I would say I’m not, but I bought a ticket for Comicpalooza this year after finding out I could meet Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation).  And I went last year to meet Kevin Sorbo (Hercules).  So apparently I’m a crazy fan too…
• I Heart Budgets with Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early?   I like your plan!
• Frugal Confessions with Frugal Confessions Friday – Frugal Living  Great looking garden!
• Canadian Budget Binder with Garden Growing Guide: How To Prepare Your Garden  Wow, this really has all of the steps that you need!

Giveaways

• The Family CEO is asking you to Take a Student Loan Quiz and Enter to Win a $50 Prepaid MasterCard until April 19!
• My Personal Finance Journey is hosting a April 2013 Give Back ($25 to you and $25 to charity) until April 30!

Please let me know if you are running a giveaway so I can add you to the list each week! If you already emailed me and don’t see your giveaway, it isn’t on purpose. Please email me again as your first email must have died a horrid death in my inbox…

Top 10 Referring Sites to BFS from the Last Week:

1. Free Money Finance
2. Retire by 40
3. Get Rich Slowly
4. AntiNecktie
5. Funny About Money
6. Cents to Save
7. Len Penzo
8. Making Sense of Cents
9. Frugal Portland
10. Single Mom’s Income

Thank you!

Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.

As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too.

I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!

Weekly Updates

• I am just super happy today.  My parents dropped off some very pretty little flowers that I just planted in the front yard and watered in (it’s in the low 80′s today here in Houston), friends are hanging out downstairs, and both of my dogs are comparably healthy right now for the old fogies that they are.  Life is good. 
• Remember to sign up for my newsletter (in the right sidebar) —-> to be able to enter the separate giveaway that I host for subscribers only every month! Plus, I share things in the newsletter that I no longer share here (hint…what do you think happened to my monthly income reports).

Weekly Favorites

• The Single Saver with Important Documents – Are you prepared?  We need to make a will – we thought we’d put it off until we decided to have a baby, but now that I’m 30 and we still don’t know…
• Live Real, Now with Make Extra Money, Part 6.5: Why I Do It The Way I Do It  Seriously, read this series if you want to create money-making sites.
• Beating Broke with Saving vs Investing: Investing for Income  Savings gives me the padding I need to feel comfortable with taking investment risks.
• Eyes on the Dollar with Save Money on Kids’ Birthday Parties-Learn From My Mistakes  If I have a kid, I think they are going to get nature trips with their friends like most of my parties growing up – fun but cheap.
• Fat Wallet with 401k vs Roth 401k: Calming the Confusing Chaos  I’m quoted, cool beans!
• Kettlebell Rebels with How-to Not Be an Idiot About Working Out  I should stop eating chocolate cake as my after-workout snack…
• Yes I Am Cheap with Which Is Better For Saving: Leasing or Buying?  Buying as long as you don’t decide to get a new car every few years.
• Beat the 9 to 5 with Can You Escape Your Job to Become a Freelancer?  Yep if you are motivated enough.
• Money Beagle with We Decided On A Roofing Company  We still need to get the drywall fixed in the laundry room of our rent house…
• Frugal Portland with Credit Card Debt is for Losers  LOL

Guest Posts at BFS

• The College Investor with Moving to Self-Employment: More Fun or More Work?

Thank you!

Giveaways

• The co-authors are hosting an The A-Z of Saving Money Overview and $250 Giveaway until March 31!

Please let me know if you are running a giveaway so I can add you to the list each week! If you already emailed me and don’t see your giveaway, it isn’t on purpose. Please email me again as your first email must have died a horrid death in my inbox…

Blog Carnivals

• Carnival of MoneyPros at The Savvy Scot
• Yakezie Carnival at Making The Life You Want
• Carnival of Financial Planning at Making Sense of Cents
• Finance Carn. for Young Adults at PF Carny
• Y and T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty.ca
• Carnival of Retirement at Midlife Finance

Thanks!

Top 10 Referring Sites to BFS from the Last Week:

1. Free Money Finance
2. Funny About Money
3. Get Rich Slowly
4. AntiNecktie
5. Money Reasons
6. House Logic
7. Money Life and More
8. Wise Bread
9. Young an Thrifty
10. Making Sense of Cents

Thank you!

Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.

As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too.

I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!