Best Posts from August, 2007

I’m going to be a little selfish today. I stopped doing roundups of my posts each week a while back because I wasn’t happy with what I was producing. This month, though, I’m quite happy with many of my articles, so I wanted to highlight those posts here.

August was a whirlwind of writing activity for me. I got into a groove that was so far unmatched in prior months, and I’m not sure whether I can maintain it beginning next week, as I’ll be spending the next 2 years on attaining my graduate degree. I’ll try though!

So here are the posts I particularly enjoyed writing and reading from each week in August:

Week 1

• Moving away from your parents – Deciding to move away from your core and extended family to a new place is a hard decision (for some)
  
• When you put your mind to it… – A post about how we got out of debt, and the amazing amount we’ve paid off so far
• Get an instant 10% here! – I just wanted to let you all know I have a bunch of referrals left if you want a $25 bonus from ING direct for a new checking or savings account
• Our Zero-Debt Goal Date is… – It’s good to have a goal date to help drive you to get rid of that debt. Oh, and know what road blocks are in the way ahead of time

Week 2

• Two rude people on the train… – Not finance-related, but I enjoyed writing about shutting down a rude woman on the metro (although I admit I was rude as well)
• 16 Cards with 0% interest on purchase & transfers for 12 months – I’ll be posting an updated list next week I think
• Just 7 gallons please – Why was it so hard to just get 7 gallons of gas?
• Against the grain: Why we chose an interest-only mortgage – They’re not for everyone

Week 3

• Clever Car Review: 2007 Volkswagen Jetta – I like doing car reviews. We got this Jetta as a rental when we drove to NY
• Classifying your debt: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – There is no good debt, but to keep with the theme, I had to name one type as the champ
• Final Malibu Sale Update: What a relief! – We sold our Chevy Malibu because it was poor quality and didn’t have safety features we realized we should have. I chronicled our journey from posting to selling in the month of August
• Monster Trucks and Deep-Fried Twinkies equals DATE NIGHT! – Going to the county fair can be a little pricey, but it’s great fun. And you can get anything deep-fried!

Week 4

• Maxing out your home loan: 100% financing – As a follow-up from the prior week’s post about why we chose an interest-only mortgage, I explained that we ALSO didn’t put any money down on our home purchase, and why
• Cheap clothes aren’t always a value – We decided to “splurge” on some designer clothing, but bought it at the same price as cheaper alternatives. It’s called “outlet shopping”. After buying mostly inexpensive clothes (dress and casual) and a few pieces of more expensive clothes, I find that the pricier clothes maintains shape and texture much longer than the cheaper clothes (think Old Navy vs Structure polo shirts)
• You can’t trust that Carfax report! – I had 2 experiences where the Carfax report on our own cars was incorrect. One was very much in our favor, while the other wasn’t
• No So Frugal Lunch – Boy, people are so protective of their perceived rights to spend money as they wish. I’m just advocating that if you’re hurting for money, or aren’t saving towards retirement or paying down debt as fast as you should, that you look into your spending habits to find ways to cut costs. Calm down everyone!
• Are you too Self-Sufficient? – I got a book to review, and it opened my eyes to why some of my friends and family are they way they are. Self-sufficiency is good and bad. Read the article to learn more, and find out if you’re a “self-sufficient” in need of some help.

Week 5

• Examine Your Motives Series: Introduction – This week was mostly dedicated to a series where I try to provoke you to ask yourself a few questions before making some major life decisions. They were seriously draining to write!
• Examine Your Motives Series: Going to College
• Examine Your Motives Series: Buying a Car
• Examine Your Motives Series: Having Kids
  
• Examine Your Motives Series: Buying a Home
• Examine Your Motives Series: Changing Jobs
• My One Money Advice – A little game of tag where I was supposed to answer with my best piece of money advice