Frugal in the Fruitlands

Here are two completely unrelated links that echo what’s on my mind lately.

Clay at The Growing Life, in “Project Liberation” pretty much explained the journey I want to take with my career. I’m picking my way along this path more cautiously than he is (no quitting my day job in the near future), but ultimately I agree that “there are many people with odd and/or unique combinations of gifts and talents that may never obtain a well-fitting job. Unless they create it.” I’m one of those people.

My friend Chad, who works in instructional technology, ponders how the sub-prime mortgage crisis has made ripples even in the educational world, in “We Do Not Exist in a Vacuum.” This ties into another topic I’ll be writing about soon, which is how the desire for a strong education, rather than some epidemic of American overconsumption, may have led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

I’d also like to note that after some consideration, I made the decision to add Amazon Associates links to any books I mention here on FinF. I won’t be linking to anything I can’t personally recommend, but do know that if you follow these links and purchase the linked book, I will get a (very small) cut of the sale. We all know I feel pretty negatively about unaffiliated advertising, but I think that this will add to the blog content, rather than subtract from it. I’d love to start turning even a few cents of a profit on this blog, as more and more I feel this is really what I want to do for a living. Let me know how you feel about this decision.

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I haven’t offloaded any Links Relevant to Mah Interests lately, so here are a few for you:

Moolanomy is sponsoring The Best Wedding Tips and Stories Giveaway. A little over three years ago Matt and I had a relatively frugal wedding at our favorite restaurant in Burlington, MA, so my own entry to the contest will be forthcoming in a week or two.

Student economist Ashwini Agrawal wrote his dissertation on the behavior of the labor union AFL-CIO’s pension fund, finding that “the A.F.L.-C.I.O. pension funds were voting in ways that might help workers when they were A.F.L.-C.I.O. union workers, but not after they switched union affiliations.” This may be unsurprising finding to all of us, but apparently this so angered the AFL-CIO that they’ve been threatening him with a lawsuit.

Unclutterer.com brings us A Simple Way to Simplify Email, using the Remember the Milk extension for Gmail. This so impressed me that I’m in the process of switching from my beloved Tasktoy to Remember the Milk. I’m loving the ability to link tasks to specific emails, and thus keep my inbox clear, but Tasktoy still seems like it’s better for keeping track of things like what blog posts I want to write.

Euphorify is a new but promising happiness/lifehack blog that I found through the ZenHabits forums. Now, if I could break my habit of spending hours reading lifehacker-style blogs, I might actually get something done!

This Bulb Lady article on Naturalizing Bulbs caught my eye. I think I’ll try this with my scilla and grape hyacinths…

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The techniques you’ll read about on Problogger aren’t what catch my eye when I read a blog . I see right through tricks like adding “sexy” to a post title. What I’m looking for is humanity. Passion. Direction. Something that tells me that there’s another human being behind that byline, and they might actually be someone I’d like to know.

Here’s a shout-out to some newer blogs with lots of personality:

MakeItBetter. Nicole and I have a lot in common. We both work in marketing and are impressed by the ideas but turned off by its methods. Likewise we share a distaste for American consumerism. But what really strikes me is the passion and experience with which she writes. Yes, there are some typos and misspellings scattered here and there - but they don’t take away from the ideas. I hang onto every word she writes, because I sense she’s putting it out there for a reason - she really does want to make it better. I recommend her “Crap Detox” series as an introductory read.

Taking Control of Our Money. I’m always inspired by stories of people who are getting out of debt. I also appreciate opinions that are contrary to mine and might even be seen as “controversial” in the personal finance world - such as buying bottled water, or liking The Secret. Her post “Stuff” is a sobering look at how new possessions come into and leave our lives, sometimes untouched.

You Grow Girl is actually a well-populated blog, but I just discovered it myself. I love Gayla’s gorgeous photos - her picture of Scilla siberica made me go, “Hey, so that’s what the previous owner planted around that tree!” Most importantly, she’s diligent about replying to comments. I asked her a somewhat off-topic question about organic gardening and soil amendments to raise pH on her Earth Day post, and she answered it within the day.

I found Junk Mail Gems thanks to Frugal for Life. This blog is all about repurposing what we would typically call “junk” - bottle caps, used greeting cards, candy packaging, and, of course, junk mail. I love to see what kinds of things we can save from the landfill. I especially like today’s post, “Happy Earth Day!” about turning used greeting cards into new ones.

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This lovely New England March has come in like a lion and out like… well, a feral kitty with sharp claws. It will still be several more weeks before the garden goes in, but I spent a good portion of my weekend at Home Depot, preparing seeds, pots, and all those goodies. I’ve also been working on a costume for the Festival of the LARPs this weekend, a weekend-long (free!) live-action roleplay convention at Brandeis University. I will be running my first LARP here, too, though it’s not one I’ve written. I’m prepared for adventure!

Here are some the best posts from March, in my not-so-humble opinion:

• No Kids, No Debt, No Problem
• The Mystery Cash Box and the Sunk Cost Fallacy
• The $20,000 Manicure Question

And here’s a little bit of link love for you, not all related to personal finance or frugality:

• An oldie (April 2007) but a goodie: Unclutterer’s Tough Questions for Your Things. My favorite one is not on this list: will I have to dust this?
• Write to Done’s Research Sources for Writers: A Guide to Backing Up Your Words. The availability of peer-reviewed journal articles to unaffiliated individuals is a major issue in making research relevant to the masses. This article helps you to seek out those resources that are free to everyone.
• H&R Block’s Tax Calculators. I like these better that the governments’ (and the last time I checked, the IRS’ withholding calculator was down!)
• Fancast: a free, legal repository of TV and movies, past and present - so you can, yanno, relive your childhood with Doogie Howser episodes.

Hoping to catch up on some of my health and fitness related goals, my April goal is to exercise every day for thirty minutes. I tried this last year at around this time and was only able to accomplish four days at a stretch before losing the habit. I’m just a Morlock by nature, alas. I also have absurdly high cholesterol by nature, too, so that’s nothing to be proud of.

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Bankrate.com presents Market History: Learning What to Do From Past Recessions. Everything old is new again, as Bankrate discusses the history of oil prices, real estate bubbles, gold, and foreign investments. I wish they had brought up what Money mentioned last month: that over the past 100 years, stocks have consistently outperformed gold. That’s advice that some people I know desperately need right now.

Delayed, but good: Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, writes about The Real Recession Problem: Consumers Are At the End of Their Ropes (h/t to Brian). We’re finally reaping the whirlwind of widening inequality and ever more concentrated wealth, he writes, acknowledging that there is more to this financial situation than just “HOMG yuppies bought bigger houses than they could afford!” This makes him rare among American finance writers I’ve encountered, who seem to ignore the social inequalities in how sub-prime mortgages were sold to minority and immigrant families by shady lenders. (The BBC’s The U.S. Subprime Crisis in Graphics in another good resource).

On a lighter note, I’ve discovered the new-ish Retirement: A Full-Time Job blog. I, too, aspire to be a “young retired bitch.”

Leo writes about The Magical Power of Focus and reminds me that- ooh, shiny!

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