Hello everyone! This post was originally intended to be a recap of January here, with some acknowledgements, but I thought I’d first bring up the topic of buying organic. I’m curious what your thoughts are on the subject.

Buying Organic – How Often is it Truly Important?

This came to mind from a couple of places. First, the notion that seemingly everywhere we go in a grocery store, we’ll see some foods being labeled as organic. Be it fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, or anything else – it appears that there may be a really solid market out there for products sold as organic. The second place this topic came from was a conversation I had recently with someone, who strongly believes in organic as much as possible when it comes to diet, thinking it’s more than worth the extra cost.

Now, I do subscribe the the notion that investing in quality, fresh, nutritious food is a smart move. Obviously, your health will likely be better off with such purchases being consumed. Additionally, taking a financial angle, making smart choices each day can lower health care costs over the long run. It’s clear that choosing good nutrition can positively impact the quality of one’s life.

That being said, my thoughts have been that this more the case when choosing between alternative types of food. For example, choosing a frugal breakfast of oatmeal is likely a better choice than eating a bagel. It’s healthier and likely cheaper too.  However, when choosing between the same food – but one option is organic, and the other regular (non-organic) – the decision gets a bit fuzzier to me.

Here’s an example: if I want buy blueberries, and a container of regular berries costs $2.50, but organic berries cost $4.00, is it worth paying $1.50 for the organic version? Keep in mind that the quantity of berries is the same.

This example can be applied to any type of food, whether fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc. The idea of paying more for the same type of food that looks the same, but has the “organic” label, always makes me wonder. Personally, for the kids, I might get organic milk and cheese. That seems worth it, when I think about hormones and dairy. But I really wonder about some of the other types of foods, and often think that we can wash things thoroughly. I mean, if I buy a non-organic apple, for example, am I really doing something unhealthy? Is there that much of a difference between an organic apple and a regular one that’s been washed?

When you look at the potential volume of food that we can buy organic, the incremental costs could really add up. That gets me wondering how we should pick our spots buying organic, and how important it always is. I mean, I’ve seen cotton being noted as organic!

Feel free to convince me. I’m focused on nutrition now, and would like to hear any thoughts on this topic. If you think I’m wrong, please feel free to tell me why. I’m open to change

My Questions for You:

• Do you place a high value on buying organic, or do you look the other way
• If you do buy organic, what do you purchase in that category and why?
• Do you have any advice or suggestions for others deciding on whether or not to buy organic?

Top Referrers for January

The following are the “lucky dozen” – lucky for Squirrelers, that is. These are the 12 sites that brought the most visitors here in January. Thanks to each of you!

1. The Simple Dollar
2. Festival of Frugality
3. Yakezie
4. The Dog Ate My Wallet
5. Funny About Money
6. Get Rich Slowly
7. So Over Debt
8. Sweating the Big Stuff
9. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
10. Digging Out and Up
11. Money Relationship
12. First Gen American

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers was included in the following blog carnivals in January:

10 Winter Savings Tips was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Sweating the Big Stuff

What Do You Think About Gift Cards as Holiday or Birthday Gifts? was included in the Canadian Finance Carnival at Canadian Finance Blog

Squirreling Gone Wild #31: The Surprise 90% Discount was included in the Festival of Frugality at Funny About Money

10 Ways to Save Money on Auto Insurance was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Mother Miser

15 Ways to Grow and Protect Your Net Worth was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Diva in Debt

Lottery Coupons: Save Money on Losing Money was included in the Festival of Frugality at The Frugal Toad

Sometimes we Have Rainy Days – Even With Money was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Crazy Job Interview Stories was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Passive Income to Retire

Will Less Teens Driving Today = Fewer Expensive Car Purchases in the Future? was included in the Yakezie Carnival at The Amateur Financier

Make Sure to Review Your Credit Card Statement was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at The Jenny Pincher

Well, we’re into 2012 now, and hopefully it’s off to a great start for you. The new year is often such an inspirational time, given the clean slate that we have. Hey, might as well use the marker of a brand new year to start making the positive moves that will help you reach your goals, right?  As I posted on the first of the year, I’m pulling for your financial success in 2012! And of course, much happiness in general for you.

The new year also marks a good opportunity to reflect back and recap the prior year. Along those lines, I’d like to briefly share some thoughts on the development of Squirrelers in the past year. I won’t go into a long dissertation with massive amounts of stats, but just a quick look at how things have progressed.

Stats

There are many things one can consider, but taking a look at the amount of people visiting Squirrelers throughout the year, it’s gone as follows:

Total: 77,968

Q1: 10,889

Q2: 13,864

Q3: 24,061

Q4: 29,154

It’s cool to see that Squirrelers has attracted more visitors as the year has progressed, based on looking at the quarterly figures above. As it stands now, 800 people follow via Twitter, and 458 people are subscribed via feed or email. While I don’t have the beginning of 2011 numbers handy for these two metrics, suffice to say that the totals have markedly increased.  It’s flattering to know that more folks are not only visiting, but also coming back and ultimately following.

Most Viewed Posts

It was interesting to go back and see which posts received the most attention during 2011, taking into account all since launch in 2010. Here are top 10 posts in terms of pageviews:

1. Stock Returns by Month: Interesting Historical Trends
2. Tax Rates by Country
3. My Best Customer Service Experience Ever
4. Your Will: Give Equally to Kids or Not?
5. The Role of Money in our Life
6. Is there a Silver Bubble? How High Can Prices Go?
7. Survival of the Fittest in the Workplace, and Myths About Fairness
8. The Case for a Bigger Emergency Fund
9. Vacation Days by Country: How do we Rate?
10. A Dollar Today > A Dollar Tomorrow

Top Referring Sites

I’d like to offer a sincere THANK YOU to those who have been referring sites, helping to bring people this way. Along those lines, I’d like to recognize the top 20 referring sites. These are the 20 sites/blogs that were provided the highest referral traffic to Squirrelers in 2011.

1. The Simple Dollar
2. Yakezie
3. Lifehacker
4. online-sweepstakes
5. MSN Money
6. Free Money Finance
7. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
8. Len Penzo
9. Everyday Tips and Thoughts
10. First Gen American
11. Grumply Rumblings of the Untenured
12. Wisebread
13. Mighty Bargain Hunter
14. Get Rich Slowly
15. Carnival of Personal Finance
16. Interest.co.nz
17. 101Centavos
18. Festival of Frugality
19. Money Talks News
20. Invest it Wisely

Looking ahead to the rest of 2012

This year, I’m planning to keep the momentum going and continue to grow Squirrelers. If anyone has any specific comments/feedback on what topics you’d like to see more of (or less), please use the contact form in the upper left corner of the page, or email me at admin (<at>) squirrelers (<dot>) com. The idea is to have Squirrelers be a blog you enjoy and keep on your reading list!

One project that I’m considering undertaking is a site redesign.  I’m considering changing the visual aspect of the site a bit, perhaps streamlining and adding some color. It might involve a different theme.

Additionally, as part of growth, there is another blog in the works! It would cover a different area of personal finance and life. Stay tuned

Thanks again for being a part of things last year, and making it so much fun. Looking forward to a great 2012 for all of us.

With December upon us, I thought this would be a good time to look back at November, and take a look forward to 2012 as well.  With the former, I’m referring to – well, acknowledging the top referrers to Squirrelers from the prior month, as well as making some other acknowledgments. With the latter, I’m talking about looking at 2012 money resolutions and taking them for a test drive early – as in now!

Getting a Running Start on New Year’s Resolutions

Recently, I started to give some thoughts to 2012 resolutions, within the personal finance realm and otherwise. Those goals will be in place for January, so the New Year can be started with a clean slate and new aspirations. Not sure how you see it, but New Year’s goals can help provide extra motivation and more importantly some clarity and something to shoot for.

Anyway, I was thinking about it, and it occurred to me: as we think of resolutions for 2012, why wait until January 1 to start?

Calendar dates dictate so much of what we do, but why do they have to control behavior change? If we have specific things we’re working toward, we might has well get a running start on them. It’s like a car that can’t go from 0 to 60 mph instantly, but can get to that speed in less time if it’s already moving.

For example, if you know that you’d like to spend less money on eating at restaurants (yeah, that’s me), why not just do it in December? No need to wait until January 1st. Same applies to other personal finance goals, be it spending less money, increasing income, working less, increasing financial knowledge, or whatever the case may be.

I still do like the concept of New Year’s goals, as they’re clearly delineated, traditional, and do provide that clarity of purpose that I mentioned earlier. But it certainly couldn’t hurt to get started now. Not that I want to cut out those meals from my favorite places, but hey – might as well jump in now, right? There’s no time better than the present.

Top Referrers in November

The following were the sites that referred the most visitors to Squirrelers last month. I’ll call these 12 the “lucky dozen” – as in, lucky for Squirrelers:) Special thanks goes out to these folks:

1. Interest.co.nz
2. Free Money Finance
3. Yakezie
4. So Over Debt
5. Len Penzo.com
6. Retire by 40
7. 101 Centavos
8. Totally Money
9. Wisebread
10. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
11. The Dog Ate My Wallet
12. Everyday Tips and Thoughts
13. Hope to Prosper

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers was in the following blog carnivals in November (including 3 Editor’s Picks!):

Loss Leader Pricing Strategies: At the Pumpkin Patch? was included in the Yakezie Carnival at One Cent at a Time

Sleep or Money? was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance

Asking for A Discount Can be Fun! was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Festival of Frugality at Afford Anything

Any Easy Way to Save Money and Work Less was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Totally Money Blog Carnival

Historical Pattern: Stock Prices Increase on the First Day of the Month was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Retire By 40

My Starbucks Customer Service Experience: Loopholes and Deals are Fun! was included in the Festival of Frugality at My Dollar Plan

Squirreling Gone Wild #30: The Elusive Bonus was included in the Yakezie Carnival at The Saved Quarter

College or Entrepreneurship? was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Retire by 40

8 Benefits of Using Credit Cards – For Those With Discipline was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Compounding Returns

Yogurt, Differentation, and Personal Branding?Yes! was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at The Saved Quarter

Consider Emotions vs. Logic When Buying a Home was included in the Carnival of Wealth at Control Your Cash

Inhertiances and Blended Families: Who’s the Priority? was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at My Personal Finance Journey

Hello everyone! Now that we’re into November, it’s about time for some acknowledgments from the past month.

First off, thank you to everyone for being a part of things over here. It’s great to have you coming back and regularly visiting, and it’s especially cool when you have time to join in the discussions! That’s truly one of the great aspects of blogging – getting everyone’s viewpoints and comments on the personal finance-related topics here.

This past month was an especially good one for something bloggers of course like – visitor traffic! In terms of page views, this month was the second best to date, with over 25,000.  Stats don’t mean everything, of course, but for an independent blog like this it’s cool to know that the blog is growing in readership. So, thanks again to you guys for being a part of this!

Top Referrers

I published the top referrers here last month, and would like to continue it again here. Thank you to the following 12, the “Lucky Dozen” who have brought the most folks over here in the last month, October 1 to October 31:

1. Yakezie
2. Free Money Finance
3. online-sweepstakes.com
4. The Simple Dollar
5. Len Penzo
6. Carnival of Personal Finance
7. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
8. Wise Bread
9. Everyday Tips and Thoughts
10. Best of Money Carnival
11. First Gen American
12. Hope to Prosper

Giveaway Winners

The winners from last month’s giveaway were readers Molly ($50 Amazon gift card) and Jo Ann ($25 Amazon gift card).  Congrats again to both of you!

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Last month, Squirrelers was featured in the following carnivals:

7 Ways to Safeguard Your Children’s Financial Future was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Emotions, a Mortgage, and a New Baby: What Would You Do? was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Curb Your Consumerism

The Pareto Principle: How the 80-20 Rule Can Apply to Your Money was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Beating Broke

Optimism is Great, but Just in Case – Be Prepared was included in the Carnival of Financial Camaraderie at My University Money

The Rally Squirrel and Personal Finance: Make a Comeback was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Moms Plans

Unlimited Food plus College Students = Financial Mess was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Modern Tightwad

Credit Rating Downgrade and Stock Prices: It was a Money Making Opportunity! was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Sustainable Personal Finance

Free Trips to Japan and $1.00 Houses: Too Good to be True was included in the Festival of Frugality at Remodeling this Life 

Hello! We’re well into October, with leaves changing here in this part of the country and the weather starting to become fall-like, after a recent stretch of weather more like summer. These changes, plus fun traditions, make this a particularly enjoyable time of the year for many.

Last year, I wrote about Fun Fall Traditions and a trip to an apple orchard that was a really good time. Wholesome, seasonal family activities can be a great way to make memories, and this year was no different. Yes, we took another trip to the apple orchard for apple picking!

This year, we went apple picking at about the same weekend as last year. However, last year involved warm jackets, a cold wind, a lot of apple cider. It felt more like late November. This year, it was 80 degrees with sunny skies and it felt like August. So, maybe some of the experience was a bit different. But hey, who in the Chicago area will complain about 80 degrees when we’re going to be facing months of cold weather. I actually thought about the reality that the beautiful 80 degree weather over that weekend might be the warmest weather we have here for another 6 months, easily.  So in that case, who needs the ‘typical’ crisp, fall apple picking day when you can have a lucky day like this?

Those of you in other parts of the country, particularly warm weather climates, might have totally different fall traditions.

Anyway, this year we cut back on expenses and shelled out $24 for the experience. In return, we got a great day of going out into the field, breaking away from our suburban routine to pick some fresh produce and have a fun yet bumpy hayride as a part of the experience.  We got 25 apples, which puts the cost per apple at $0.96 each, slightly less than last year’s cost.

However, it’s the experience that counts, and it was a blast.  Family fun and memories can’t really be quantified sometimes.  I highly recommend such outings, they’re lots of fun – especially for kids, but for adults too!

Top Referrers

Last month was a particularly active month here on Squirrelers, so I thought it would be a good idea to take the time to acknowledge the top referring sites. The following are the “lucky dozen”, the 12 sites bringing the most visitors to Squirrelers during the past month, September.

1. The Simple Dollar
2. Free Money Finance
3. Len Penzo
4. Yakezie
5. Lifehacker
6. Festival of Frugality
7. Wisebread
8. Everyday Tips and Thoughts
9. Budgeting In the Fun Stuff
10. First Gen American
11. Hope to Prosper
12. Life and My Finances

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers has appeared in the following recent blog carnivals:

Carefully Watch Prices – They Can Vary Significantly from Store to Store! was included in the Festival of Frugality at My Personal Finance Journey

Refinancing a Home was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Young Adult Finances

Your Will: Give to Kids Equally or Not? was included as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Wealth Informatics

Are Actively Managed Funds a Fool’s Game Compared to Index Funds was included in the Carnival of Passive Investing at Free Money Finance

Financial Chemistry was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Hope to Prosper.

Squirreling Gone Wild #29 – Pet Expenses and the Bird Brain was included in the Festival of Frugality at Nerd Wallet.

It’s that time again to share some updates, as well as say thank you to everyone for coming by and being a part of Squirrelers. I appreciate your involvement and interest, and especially enjoy the discussions we have here on various personal finance topics. Running this blog has been fun, and it couldn’t be happening without all of you!

Sponsors

I’d like to add a big thank you to a couple of sponsors who have been supporters for a while this year.

One is Adaptu, a personal finance site with a lot of free and useful tools. It’s a really good resource. You can see Adaptu featured in a banner in the left sidebar. Another is Bills.com, which is a resource for getting a free rate quote. You can check out the banner in the left sidebar to use the mortgage payment calculator. It’s a handy way to figure out what your mortgage payment might be at a certain loan and interest rate level.

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers has been included in a number of blog carnivals in recent weeks:

Squirreling Gone Wild #28: Amusement Park Shennanigans was selected as  Top Pick in the Festival of Frugality at Sweating the Big Stuff

Katy Perry and Personal Finance: Maxing Out Those Credit Cards was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Festival of Frugality at Totally Money

Workplace Trends that Impact Us was included in the Yakezie Carnival at One Cent at a Time

Factors that Influence Retirement Savings: An Adviser? was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning at The Skilled Investor

A Day in the City Well Worth the Investment was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Stumble Forward

How Much Would You Have to Get Paid to Work at the Japanese Nuclear Plant was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Canadian Finance Blog

The September Effect and Stock Market Returns was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Invest it Wisely

Can Long Hours of Work be Deadly? was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Money Beagle

Are Actively Managed Funds a Fool’s Game Compared to Index Funds? was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet

Top Referrers

It’s been a while since I’ve published top referrers, so I thought I’d catch up and share with everyone how things shook out this Summer. By the way, when I say “Summer”, in this case I mean June, July, and August. Yes, I know that part of June is in Spring and that Summer extends into September as well.  Minor technicalities:)

Anyway, here’s the lucky dozen – the top 12 referring sites to Squirerlers for the 3 months June through August:

1. Lifehacker
2. Online-Sweepstakes
3. Yakezie
4. Everyday Tips and Thoughts
5. First Gen American
6. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
7. Mighty Bargain Hunter 
8. Aktieguiden
9. MSN Money
10. The Penny Frugalista
11. Festival of Frugality
12. Minting Nickels

Thank You!

Hello everyone! Hope you’re doing well. Before I get into the updates and favorites, I wanted to share with you a small milestone here. No big deal, but for the first time, Squirrelers in on track to exceed 25,000 pageviews in a month. Kind of neat, given when I started the blog in 2010 nobody knew about it and it was my first foray into blogging.

So, thanks to everyone to being a part of it. Those of you that keep coming back to visit and contribute via comments, I especially appreciate it.

With that, I’ll move on to some acknowledgements and recommended reading from the personal finance blogosphere. With repsect to the latter, there was one article that I want to expand upon and encourage you to check out. It was at Wealth Informatics, and titled How to Find Unclaimed Money (and Unclaimed Property). There, Suba tells you about types of unclaimed money and where you can go search for any that may be waiting for you. There are links for the different individual states in the US, as well as a few others (Canada, Puerto Rico).

Besides being a comprehensive resource, this post also got me to click a few links to check on any potential unclaimed money that I could claim. I expected nothing, just did it since I had finished going through the post. Lo and behold, I found that I may be due $230 dollars!

What a nice surprise! The money was from an employer over 10 years ago. Funny, it makes me think back to that time frame, and I had a fleeting memory of wondering then if I was short some salary that might be due to me.  Apparently, I got really busy and never pursued it. Evenutally, I moved from that state.

I ended up filling out an online claim, which then provided me via email a pdf. The instructions indicate that I have to get this notarized, and then I needed to mail a hardcopy to the state office. How long it will take to process is indeterminate. That said, it’s worth printing, getting notarized, and mailing. Might as well try for that money, right? Better late than never with that salary, even if 10 years later!

So check it out. While it would seem logical that most people might not have unclaimed money, you or someone you know might be one of the fortunate ones. You never know, right?

Recommended Reading

The following are some other articles from around the personal finance blogosphere that caught my eye lately:

Bucksome Boomer shared Aging Parents, Boomerang Kids, and a Club Sandwich

Everyday Tips and Thoughts shared Evolving Expectations and Reactions

Financial Samurai shared What is Piercing the Corporate Veil?

Give Me Back My Five Bucks shared Dating Etiquette: How to Split the Costs

Money Beagle shared 1 Step to Getting a Better Performance Review

Money Cone shared 10 Reasons Why the Rich Hate Warren Buffett

Money Crush shared How I Finally Cut Back on Eating Out

Money Reasons shared Taking Advantage of Large Corporation Retailers

Wealth Artisan shared Burning Bridges

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers appeared in the following blog carnivals, in recent weeks:

5 Steps to Increase Your Savings was included as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Narrow Bridge

Buffett on Gold: He Makes Some Interesting Points! was included as an Editor’s Pick in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Free From Broke

An Uncool Email Address Just Might Cost You Money was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Financial Uproar

The Lucky Fortune Cookie was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Not Made of Money

10 Ways to Lower Health Care Costs was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Frugal Confessions

Revisiting the Rule of 72 was included in the Canadian Finance Carnival

August Giveaway Update: The winners of the August giveaway have been contacted, and accepted the gift cards. Congratulations to Kristen and Lisa!

Hello everyone! Hope you’re doing well and enjoying the weekend. This is going to be a nice weekend of family activities over here, so that should be fun.  Now that we’re in August, I’m noticing back to school shopping happening, and a lot more talk about football increasing of late. With Fall around the corner, let’s enjoy this warm summer weather as much as possible while it’s still here!

Anyway, it’s not we’re going to be outdoors 24 hours a day, so there’s time to review some recommended reading from around the personal finance blogosphere, right? Of course:)

Recommended reading will come below, but first I wanted to:

1) Say THANK YOU for being a part of Squirrelers. I appreciate you, whether you’re a regular reader, lurker, or are visiting for the first time. It’s all appreciated. Also, those of you that join the discussion and have commented really add something extra to the reader experience here. We’ve had some really good comments and discussions, and it’s been a lot of fun getting everyone’s perspectives on different personal finance-related topics.

2) Share with you the blog carnivals in which Squirrelers has participated recently. These carnivals can be a great way to check out some fantastic money-related posts.

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Thoughts on Retirement Prospects: East vs. West was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Dealerity.

Commuting Costs: Be Careful, They Can Be Surprisingly High was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Family Money Values

Workplace Benefits Changing: What Matters, and What Does This Trend Mean? was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Canadian Finance Blog

Gift Cards: Hurry Up and Use Them! was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Compounding Returns

Firing Your Doctor was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Super Frugalette

Brunch With Visiting Family: Who Pays? was included in the Festival of Frugality at My Journey to Millions

Recommended Reading

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff shared I Found Out My New Insurance Costs – Ouch!

Car Negotiation Coach shared How to Find a Programmer, Web Designer, and Other Freelancers

Cash Flow Mantra shared My Apologies to the Economy

Couple Money Shared Insurance and Family Changes

Everyday Tips and Thoughts Shared Biggest Money Wasters – Or Temptations

Faith and Finance shared Newlywed’s Guide to Budgeting

Faithful with a Few shared Becoming Debt Free: You Can’t Fix What you Don’t Own (guest post by Living in Financial Excellence)

First Gen American shared You’re Not in Limbo, You’re Living Right Now

Frugal Confessions shared Can You Live Off of Your Estimated Benefits in Retirement?

Invest it Wisely shared How to Plan the Ultimate Retirement (guest post by Financial Success for Young Adults)

Mom’s Plans shared 7 Reasons Why You Should Start Thinking about Holiday Christmas Gifts Now

Money Beagle shared Having Health Insurance is Hazardous to My Health

Money Crashers shared How to Go Paperless at Home: 11 Tips and Solutions

Money Crush shared Insure Adequately Now, Be Grateful Later

Saving Money Today shared Before You Agree to Cosign a Loan…

Wealth Informatics shared Cost of Living in California

World of Finance shared Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a great weekend.

It’s been quite interesting around here in the Chicago area.  

• Just 2 weeks ago we were dealing with a massive storm with 70+mph winds and tons of rain.
• This past week, we’ve had a scorching heat wave, with multiple days of 100 degree temperatures with heat indices of 110+. It’s been hot, humid, and like a sauna outside. Hottest stretch of weather in years!
• Then, last night, there was a massive rainstorm that dumped 7 inches of rain. Yes, that’s 7 inches of rain in the overnight/early morning hours! Record one-day rainfall totals!
• Keep in mind this is the same place, Chicago, that was slammed by a mammoth winter storm earlier this year that delivered 20+ inches of snow and stranded motorists downtown overnight in gridlocked snowdrift-covered roads.

It’s always interesting around here.  At this point, I’m used to it:) Hopefully the weather has been good where you are.

Anyway, along with some interesting weather, there have been some good reads in the personal finance blogosphere. Below I’ll share some of those, but first I’ll provide acknowledgements on Squirrelers inclusions in blog carnivals, as well as a few giveaways that you may have interest in.

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers has been included in the following blog carnivals:

The Case for a Bigger Emergency Fund was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Prairie Eco Thrifter.

Doctors and Customer Servicewas included in the Yakezie Carnival at Money Reasons.

Squirreling Gone Wild #27 – The Loyalty Card Workaround Plan was included in the Festival of Frugality at Debt Free Adventure.

We’re Spending Much More Than We Might Realize was included in the Festival of Frugality at RothIRA.

How to Save Up to $500 on Home Improvements While Helping the Environment .was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Money Cone

Giveaways

2 $30 PayPal gift cards are being given away at Investorz Blog

$100 AdWords gift card is being given away at Financially Consumed

Over $400 in Prizes are being given away at Bucksome Boomer

Recommended Reading

As usual, there has been a good selection of posts around the personal finance blogosphere. Here are some in particular that caught my eye. Check them out!

Darwin’s Money shared My Barber is a Multi-Millionaire: Here’s How He Did It

Everyday Tips and Thoughts shared One Person Can Make a Difference

First Gen American shared Inept Craigslist Sellers

Frugal Zeitgeist shared Deadliest Animals (unrelated to personal finance, but interesting nonetheless)

Invest It Wisely shared Are You Investing Wisely in Yourself (guest post by Mighty Bargain Hunter)

Krantcents shared Put Your Name on It

Little House in the Valley shared How’s That for Inflation

Life and My Finances shared What if Your Net Worth Was Revealed

Money Crush shared What Separates The Doers From the Dreamers

Narrow Bridge shared Protect Yourself From Everyone

Personal Finance By the Book shared The Secret of Success

Stock Market Basics shared Best Money Saving Apps

Bucksome Boomer shared Are you Leaving Money on the Table?

Couple Money shared 5 Common Resume Mistakes You Should Avoid

Daily Money Shot shared A Desipcable Act

101 Centavos shared A Couple of Tips on Personal Security When Traveling

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a great weekend.  Thanks for for being a part of Squirrelers, I appreciate it. Whether you’re visiting for the first time, a regular lurker, or consistent commenter, I totally appreciate your involvement.  Feel free to join the conversations in the posts here, and please do subscribe to the feed (RSS or Email) and follow on Twitter!

Below I’ll share some updates and favorites for the week, but first I’ll touch on the topic of new college grads living at home with family.

Living at Home

I was involved in a brief conversation recently with someone who was a few years out of college and paying rent in an apartment. This situation sounded familiar, as it’s exactly what I did upon graduation.

The guy I was speaking with commented on how he had a friend who didn’t get a job for a year after graduation, but is probably not worse off financially since he was living at home with his parents (the friend, that is). The guy was just smirking and shaking his head.  I asked him if he could ever do that, and he told me that it wouldn’t be possible right now since his parents live on the east coast, but if he could do it over again he’d have to think about it.

To me, the idea of living at home with parents was a foreign concept when I graduated undergrad.  Basically, I was conditioned to think that the “normal” thing to do was to go out on your own once you reached a certain age.  Anything else was “odd”, in my view at the time.

These days, I look at it completely differently. While many people simply do not have the option to do so, many people do have an opportunity to live with parents after graduation.  If I had to do it again, I would have done this for a few years, no doubt.

Sure, it would have inhibited some personal growth. However, I might have made a few other decisions better during that time with the steadying influence at home, and I could have saved a fair amount of money.

Now, I wouldn’t have been charged rent or utilities.  Sure, I would have paid for my own food, insurance, car, etc – but I’d have a roof over my head at no cost, which would allow me to save and get a stronger financial foothold.  That would have been a good idea.

What do you think?  Is the idea of a college grad living at home to save money sensible to you, or negative since money isn’t everything and perhaps independence/growth is?

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Money and Relationships: What Should Matter? was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Money in the 20′s

Frugal Trophies was selected as an Editor’s Selection in the Festival of Frugality at Sustainable Personal Finance

First Job Lessons Learned was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at  Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Memorable Examples of Witnessing Generosity was included in the Yakezie Carnival at My Personal Finance Journey

Favorites from the Personal Finance Blogosphere

101 Centavos shared Thoughts on Silver Part 2

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff shared Net Worth – Do You Include the House?

Consumerism Commentary shared Should Couples Get a Prenup?

Hope to Prosper shared The Four Seasons of Personal Finance, and 4 Important Lessons on Investing  (note: rare to include 2 articles from one blog, but I enjoyed both of these.  Hope to Prosper doesn’t publish often, but when he does, the articles are quite good)

Life and My Finances shared Retirement is a Matter of Income, Not Age

Man vs Debt shared It’s O.K. to Change Your Course

Mighty Bargain Hunter shared Don’t Settle for $1 per Hour. Please!

Money Crush shared Cashing Out a 401k When Leaving a Job?

Retire by 40 shared 4-Plex Short Sale Experience So Far