I notice that several blogs like to highlight the articles that they have liked throughout the week. As my first weekend on this blog, I would like to start this tradition here as well. These are just a sample of the blog posts I have read during the week and some blogs have new posts since, so you may desire to check out their latest offerings. There may be other articles I enjoyed throughout the weekend and if so I more than likely added the blogger to my blog roll. So if you are hungry for more, check that page out.
0% Allocation to Fixed Income
Jason @ Dividend Mantra on why he has $0 investing into bonds. He makes a strong argument for his case regarding the risks associated with being locked into a low interest. I agree with this line of thinking and even if interest rates will stay stagnate for awhile, there isn’t much to be thrilled about in the bond market. Dividends would really need to pay out much smaller ratios and grow at much smaller rates for bonds to be considered at this point.
Stay at Home Desire – End
Kirsten @ Indebted Mom wraps up a 4 part series on why she desires to be a stay at home mom. It is important to note that your personal goals may change in the future and even if you don’t see a reason to be financially dependent now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a reason in the future. Sometimes I ask myself, if I had a million dollars, would I quit today? The answer would be no. I would feel unfulfilled if I just left my job. But that may change once I have kids.
Anyone Can Buy That
This article gives a great perspective that if you can get a loan for something you can “buy” it. Personally, I don’t consider ownership of anything until it is paid off. I often refer to my car as “my loan” or “my student loans” (since all of the student loans we have are my wife’s). Anyways, this article helps you realize that anyone can obtain anything. And in this community we are looking to obtain financial independence, a commodity that few people have early in life.
Getting Away Without Leaving the City Limits
Addison Cash put together a thought provoking post about experiencing travel frugally. What sort of things are you missing out in your home town? This made me think of the many great options I have in West Michigan.
Can You Over Diversify
Zee @ Work to not Work has a great article highlighting the costs of transaction fees. If you are going to be going in and out of stocks then you really should just choose an index fund. If you are going to build up a dividend portfolio where you will sell stocks on just a rare occasion, then individuals stocks may work for you. But if you are planning on buying and selling often, then maybe index investing would be best for you.
Enjoy your weekend and I hope you visit next week!
Thanks for including me in your list! I’m in good company – lots of my favorites are on there
You are welcome! I think it is important for people to save because their desires may change, and that article is a perfect example that it does happen.
Kipp,
Thanks for including me! Much appreciated.
Looks like you’ve really got the hang of blogging so far. Keep up the great work.
Have a good weekend.
Best regards!
No problem Jason! I think I have a good game plan now, and I just have some minor touches at this point in design (mainly links on the top like you have. Pages for net worth, savings rates, etc).
Thanks so much for including my post! Keep up the good work with your blog and have a great weekend.
Thanks Addison, I enjoyed your post!
Hey Kipp,
Thanks for including me in your round up, I appreciate the support! I like the updated look and layout, keep up the good work.
-Zee
You are welcome Zee! I like the new feel and think there will just be a few minor changes from here. Need to work on social media, it looks like cashville skyline tweeted this page and someone looked at it from a link from twitter. I have actually never used twitter, before I didn’t see much of a use, but for connecting with other bloggers I can see a purpose.
I never used twitter before I started blogging and I still think it’s the bane of my existence!! I see the purpose of it and it can be useful, I’ve just never invested a ton of time into it, I’m trying to get better at that one though since I think someday it may be useful.
When I started I had signed up for most of the social media sites, but I dropped things like pinterest because I felt my time was better spent elsewhere, like writing new content or actually commenting on other blogs I like.
I think the best things for growing your blog are consistent new posts and commenting at other blogs. Engaging in the community helps other people find you and interact back. I think you seem to be picking it up quite well though.
I think the key is finding what works for you and going with it. For me I don’t do the weekly round up posts or net worth updates, it’s more of a personal choice. I don’t think my net worth matters (or should matter to readers) and if I like articles I will comment on them (and I’m trying to get in the habit of tweeting more).
I can respect that people do not wish to disclose their net worth. I am not exactly anonymous as there really aren’t too many Kipp’s around, and if someone who knows me finds my site, it will be pretty easy for them to know its me. But honestly, I don’t care. If they are looking at this stuff and interested in financial independence I will be excited for them! If they are looking and wondering why I am doing what I am doing, I think it is pretty simple. I don’t feel like I am experiencing deprivation. Sure I could eat out more, but that doesn’t help me lose weight which is more important. Sure, we could buy more things, and then do what with them exactly? There are just better things in life than possessions. Anyways, back to net worth, total net worth isn’t the key, it is your cash flow over expenses. I have an idea in today’s dollars of where I need to be investment wise with everything paid off, but it is a moving target.
I am indeed checking out other blogs, and that is because I am very interested in learning new perspectives. In the beginning I was only reading MMM’s (it took me a bit to go through the archive), but afterwards, I felt that others had to have good content as well. So it was really just more recently I started branching out and reading more and I am enjoying it! So much so… I ended up creating this blog. Now I did place a couple ads because it would be nice to at least pay for the lights being on so to speak, but I think most PF bloggers understand this concept.