Favorites-The Organizing Myself edition

Here’s my long overdue roundup.  There’s been a lot of good stuff out there that I’ve managed to read but not comment on lately.  I’ve been trying desperately to organize my office and electronic life in an effort to get a fresh start on next year.  Yes, my electronic life is so cluttered, that I know I have to start 3 months in advance. Slow and steady wins the race.  Wish me luck and please send over tips if you have them.

Baking The Budget has a great article about How Student Loans are not the Only Answer to getting educated and building skills.

Suba has a great guest post on Bucksome Boomer on the Secret to Success being Failure.  This is some very good advice. As I noted in my comments, in sales, you have a pretty low hit rate for success, so in order to be successful, you have to fail often.  If I learned nothing else in my years in sales, this alone has been a valuable lesson.

I’m so glad Jacq is back at Single Mom Rich Mom. She wrote an excellent and honest piece on work the 4 letter word.  Go read it because I can’t do it justice by paraphrasing.

Squirreler talks about my favorite theories, the 80/20 rule.  It really can be used in all aspects of life.  I challenge you to think of one thing, even your relationship with your spouse, where applying the 80/20 rule doesn’t work wonders.

Money Reasons has a great perspective from a Millionaire reader. I think it’s naive for people to broadly blame the rich for all their problems especially if they don’t know what sacrifices it takes to get to that point.  I could have very easily still been at poverty level, but I think I contribute a ton more to my community by earning a good salary.

My favorite Accountant by Day talks about the Minimalist Workspace.   I’m going through right now and organizing my electronic clutter. It’s just such a job. I just need to do a little every day and not be afraid to delete stuff.

Niki from Debt Free by 30 has a great tongue and cheek article about Lazy Ways to Save Money.  After all, it does take effort to shop and spend money.  Lounging around is much cheaper.

Live Real Now talks about his years of working hard. I love stories of hard workers and people relying on no one but themselves for their livelihood.  There is no sense of entitlement just the knowledge that working hard is what gets you ahead.  Great message man.

Matt’s Money Blog asks What’s your Financial Boiling Point?  Everybody sure has a different level of debt tolerance.

Money is the Root has a great article on Tipping Etiquette.  I still get confused sometimes as where to draw the line.

Money Crush gives an uplifting article on the Path to Financial Freedom.  I think the most important part is the very first step, which is believing you can hit that goal someday.

Andrea at So Over Debt is smack in the middle of a financial crisis with her job not paying as much as promised. Go give her some words of encouragement if you’ve been through something similar.

As a Chemical Engineer, I find this video on Green jobs Posted on Biz of Life’s site hilarious.  Although I’m not big on bashing politicians, it’s true that the term “Green” is such an overused and bastardized term in the tech industry.   I hope that all  the money being poured into the alternative energy industry will lead to a breakthrough in the energy storage problem all these industries face.  Until that gets licked, these technologies have no hope of standing on their own two feet without government subsidies.

The Family CEO shares her story of how she bought her last car with cash.  I love that these stories are becoming more mainstream.  You know, it wasn’t that long ago when people thought you were some kind of freakazoid if you didn’t have a car payment and house payment. I’m glad more and more people are doing it all the time.

The Happy Homeowner talks about her money rules.   What are yours?  I pretty much only have 2.  Spend less than you earn and shop around for the best deal…that’s it.  All other subrules flow down from those primary ones.

101 Centavos reminds us to go stock up on Peanut Butter because of the predicted inflation.   I don’t know why, but I’ve thought about this article a few times and wonder what else is due to go up in price due to our crazy weather. Maybe he’ll do a part 2 to this series.

Crystal from BFS learns a few financial lessons from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  What a great twist on an awesome story.

Kris from  Everyday Tips and Thoughts tells us the Craziest Ways People Save Money.   Make sure you read through the comments. Some of them were downright disturbing.

Invest it Wisely pays homage to Steve Jobs.  I have to admit that I gorged on steve jobs articles after his death. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the guy.

I loved this guest post on Len Penzo on the 4 Truths you must Learn before becoming rich.

Savings Strategies for non-savers is another one of my favorites this week by Little House. I actually use the gift card one myself for entertainment.  If you have a limited budget for entertainment,  I highly recommend the gift card route.

If you want to fantasize about somewhere warm right now, go read Retire by 40’s, best places to retire abroad.  I don’t know if I’m not worldly enough or too worldly to know I don’t ever want to retire in a developing country.  I worry too much about healthcare and my personal safety.  Pretty much everyone I know who lives in Mexico either has been kidnapped or knows someone who was.