Gather Little by Little

Photo by: titanium22

This week has actually been a fairly normal week for us for a change. One of the highlights of this week for me has been our Japanese maples blooming. We have 6 in our yard total, and they are absolutely beautiful this time of year, especially my prized red lace maple.

The house we’ve been looking at received an offer the day before the inspector was supposed to take a look at it. Fannie Mae counter offered and we’re waiting to here how that turns out (and for the counter offer amount!). I put the inspector on hold until we see how the offer turns out. I didn’t want to spend $400.00 for nothing.

My wife has been suffering from some pretty severe headaches for the past 3 weeks. Turns out after all the medicine we tried, CAT scans, MRIs, doctors visits, etc. she needed glasses. The day after she got her glasses, the headaches all but stopped. Having chronic head aches? Might want to visit the eye doctor.

The best part of the week was our daughter turning 2. We celebrated a small birthday for her this week. She was so excited. My wife and I can’t believe she’s two already! Seems like we just brought her home from Guatemala.

Fact: Kids grow up WAY too fast.

Important Stuff

• SmartyPig $50.00 Giveaway – Just a reminder that the SmartyPig $50.00 gift card giveaway is still going on. I’ll be choosing the winner this coming Monday (4/14), so you still have time. Read my SmartyPig Review for details on how to enter!
• 148th Carnival of Personal Finance – Another reminder that I’m hosting the 148th Carnival of Personal Finance here at Gather Little by Little on Monday. If you are a personal finance blogger, don’t forget to submit your article! If you don’t blog, make sure you visit on Monday for tons of great reading! The articles I’ve read thus far have been outstanding.

This Weeks Gathering!

Here’s the gathering of my favorite articles this week from the M-Network and all of the other great blogs on my blogroll:

• A Raise Can Put You in Debt If You’re Not Careful – One Caveman shares his personal story about getting a raise and then spending too much. Good reminder of how the more you make the more you spend.
• How We Managed To Survive Financially After I Left My Corporate Job. – I hope to be able to do this one day as well. I’ve always dreamed of stepping out of the corporate job, working for myself and doing what I want to do. It’s articles like David’s that give me hope I might be able to do this.
• Ten Killer Tactics for Developing a New Skill – Excellent tips for developing new skills, something I am always trying to do.
• Sometimes It Is the Amount of Money You Make – Paidtwice is dead on with this post. There is a great deal of focus in the pf world on reducing expenses. I really believe you should do both, increase income and reduce expenses. Some would even argue that all of your energy should be focused on increasing income.
• 10 Steps to Break the Credit Card Habit – Excellent advice, and credit cards are a habit for most people, maybe even an addiction.
• stupidity costs us our dreams – Wow, 50 minute walk from work! I just gained an even higher level of respect for plonkee! Great article on how stupid little things can chip away at our dreams.
• Frugal Tips: How To Make 10 Ordinary Things Last Longer – One great way to get more for your money is to make the things you have last longer. Love the picture heading up this article.
• Reaping the Rewards of Our Emergency Fund – Lynnae provides a real example of the importance of having an emergency fund. I’ve been glad we had ours a few times over the last year.
• How to Prioritize Your Debts for Payoff – Prioritizing is a key strategy in beginning to get control of your debt and starting the journey of becoming debt free. PT tells you how.
• Don’t Pay Your Taxes With Your Credit Card! – I can’t imagine anyone doing this out of choice, but if you are even considering it, give this article a read. ‘Nuff said.
• Curb Spending By Writing Goals on Credit Cards – Now this is a unique idea. Writing your goals or reminders on your credit cards. I prefer to just cut them up, but if you aren’t comfortable with this, I think this is a an excellent idea. I also really like the idea of doing this as a conversation starter.
• Planning End of Life Care and the Five Wishes – – Death isn’t something we want to think about, but something that will occur, sooner or later. Mrs. Micah shares a site that’s like a living will called five wishes.
• Working at Home-Is it for Everyone? The Work at Home Series-Part 1 – LJ takes a detailed look at working at home in a two part series. Is working at home for you?
• CVS, ExtraCare Rewards, and Store Brand (Reprint) – Thoughts on rewards and generics.
• Buying a New Car to Save on Gas Mileage – I’ve don e very similar analysis with both of our cars. Wondering whether you should buy a new car to save on gas mileage, give this article a read it will help you think through the pros/cons and actual cost savings.
• Don’t purchase insurance, just keep your old phone – I never buy warranties, but honestly never thought to keep the old phone either…of course by the time I upgrade it’s usually cause my other phone is broke. I’m hard on phones for some crazy reason.
• Work and Travel, How Rising Gas Prices are Killing the Transportation Industry – Interesting analysis on how gas prices are effecting the transportation industry and ideas on what you can do to save money on your transportation. This topic was on the news just this morning regarding the airline industry. It’s also having a huge impact on product and food prices as well.