Hello, everyone! I would like to thank each one of you for visiting Squirrelers, and being a part of it – whether you’re commenting or just reading. I appreciate your interest, and hope you keep coming back as we continue to grow.

Here are some articles that caught my eye this week, that I consider to be recommended reading:

• 15 Organic Fruits and Veggies that Aren’t Worth Paying More For, at Len Penzo
• Why Do Bears Always Wear the Black Hats? , at Balance Junkie
• Breaking Free of the Cage: Escaping the Rat Race, at Invest it Wisely
• Find the Best Car Rental Price, at Car Negotiation Coach
• Multiple Savings Accounts and Why You Need Them, at Ace of Wealth
• Infographic: The Meteoric Rise of Twitter, at Digital Buzz

This past week, Squirrelers was linked in this article at Time.com, in the It’s Your Money blog. The article features “261 Bits of Advice” about saving money and making good purchase decisions.

Squirrelers was featured in the following carnivals and roundups:

• Are You as Internationally Diversified in Stocks as You Should Be? was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Funny about Money
• Can You Ever Get a Truly Free Lunch? was included in:
  • The Carnival of Money Stories at Suburban Dollar.
  • On The Moneyed Midways at Political Calculations, as the “The Best Post of the Week, Anywhere” (Truly flattering, thank you!)
• Squirreling Gone Wild #11 – Putting On An Act to Save Money was included in Wealth Artisan University #2 at Wealth Artisan

Finally, check out this article about a little girl with business sense and, more importantly, a big heart. Great story, my personal favorite of the week.

Enjoy the weekend!

With the weekend upon us, I thought I would share with you some of the fine articles I had the pleasure of reading this past week. There were 6 particularly interesting articles that for one reason or another caught my eye:

• When Being Cheap Upfront Costs Big Bucks in the End, at Frugal Confessions.
• How to Get Personal Finance Taught in a Public High School, at Personal Finance By The Book
• Finding Low Risk Dividend Stocks, at Dividends Value
• Five Huge Money Pitfalls, at Hope to Prosper
• Great Offense AND Great Defense are the Keys to Wealth, at Free Money Finance
• Why is Debt Really Decreasing? , at Watson Inc

This past week, an article from Squirrelers was linked in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national daily publication, as one of the “Must Reads from Around the Web”. The last link in the “Frugality Now” section is to The World Cup of Frugality article published here in late June. Thanks to my friends up north for linking to this article!

Additionally, Squirrelers was in 3 carnivals this past week:

• Take A Bite Out of Your Food Expenses was published in the Festival of Frugality at Funny About Money
• Financial Freedom via Portfolio Income was published in the Carnival of Personal Finance at My Journey To Millions
• Squirreling Gone Wild #10 was published in the Carnival of Money Stories at Out of Debt Again, and was selected as an Editor’s Pick

Thanks to everyone for being a part of this blog, whether you’re commenting or just reading.

Have a great weekend!

Hello everyone – I thought this would be a good time to connect with all of you on a few things, and share some of my favorites from the personal finance blogosphere this past week.

1. Thank you for being a part of the growth of this blog. I appreciate the time you spend following the articles here, and hope you have enjoyed it. If you have shared your thoughts via comments, keep telling us what you think. If you’re lurking, feel free to add to the discussions!
2. There were some very good articles in the personal finance blogosphere this week. Here are a few in particular that caught my eye:
   • What to Do With Your 401(k) When You Leave Your Job, at Free from Broke
   • How Would Life Change if Your Income Doubled?, at Gen Y Wealth
   • Behind the Green Curtain: An Insider’s View of the Millionaire’s Mind, at Len Penzo
   • Three Steps to See if You’re Ready For Early Retirement, at Free Money Finance
   • When was the Last Time… , by Everyday Tips and Thoughts
   • What do You Truly Value Most, at No Debt Plan
   • Why You Procrastinate, at Pop Economics
   • Which is the Best Way to Save Money, at Balance Junkie
3. Guest Posts: I have held off guest posts to this point, as I wanted to set the tone for this blog, and provide it with its own “personality”. At this point, after about 3 1/2 months, and a growing group of terrific readers, I’m now welcoming guest posts! Here is the format:
   • Bring content that you believe other readers will find to be compelling; it will reflect well on you!
   • Please keep it original, and non-promotional in nature
   • Please send an article that has not been posted on your site or any other site; in other words, an original piece by you is what would work well. Thanks for understanding.
   • If I post your article, I’ll provide a link to your site in the article’s introduction, which will highlight your site; I would like to help you grow visibility to your blog in this way.

Thanks again. Happy reading!

First of all, I want to take the time to thank those of you who have been a part of this blog’s launch! The first post was just in March, yet things have ramped up quite a bit since then. I hope you’re enjoying it. For me, it’s been a lot of fun sharing my stories and insights on personal finance and how it relates to our life.  Your comments and emails have been a nice reward, and it’s great to see different perspectives and stories as well. There have been a couple of media requests as well, which have surprised me but have certainly been welcomed as well.

So again, thank you! 

As for this past week, there were some very good articles in the personal finance blogosphere. A few that I read and particularly enjoyed were:

• 5 Tips to Battle Lifestyle Inflation, at Ace of Wealth. 
• Reader Story: Surviving and Thriving, at Get Rich Slowly
• Counting your Blessings Leads to Contentment, at Frugal Dad
• Dollar-Cost Averaging Takes the Stress out of Investing, at Foreigner’s Finances
• Psychology of Investing: Avoiding Fallacies, at Learn Save Invest

Squirrelers had three posts that were in carnivals this week:

• Squirreling Gone Wild #8 – Doubling Down, at the Carnival of Money Stories, hosted this past week at My Journey to Millions
• Is Your Nest Egg Large Enough? Calculate the Required Rate of Return, at the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this past week at Rainy Day Saver
• A Frugal Breakfast That’s Good For You, at the Festival of Frugality hosted by Learn Save Invest

Also, one of the blogs I particularly enjoy, Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, has a redesigned look after migration to a new platform. The blog looks really good, and the content is as good as ever.

To close out, I wanted to provide an update to the story I shared this week in Squirreling Gone Wild #9 – The Free Rider Effect.

In the article, which you can check out at the above link, I share the dilemma I had with how I should handle getting a free train ride, when the conductor misses/forgets to ask me for my ticket. As you can see in the article, I had mixed feelings about it. What would I do if the opportunity would once again arise?

Well, it just happened again a couple of days ago. This time, the train was loaded with people, filled to the max. The conductor was feverishly checking tickets of everyone as he walked through the aisle – but he walked right by me. What did I do this time? I let him walk on by. The guilt didn’t envelop me like I thought it would. I just let him charge on to the next train car, and put my 10-ride ticket  back in my wallet. Another free ride. Cha-ching!