Happy April Fools Day! As promised, here?s my compilation of favorite blog posts for March. There were really so much more but I?couldn’t?possible get them all in. There’s a lot of good reading out there and truth be told, I’m starting to fall behind! Here?s my favorites for the latter part of March:
I handed in my Two Weeks Notice?Retire by Forty gives us his story on quitting their job in I handed in my Two Weeks Notice? and becoming a stay at home dad. His health was suffering, in a large part because of his job and quitting after a medical leave of absence ?to stay at home and work on his blog is?inspiring? I wish him the best of luck and success in the coming year!
Should Payday Loans be Banned??I think payday loans are a bane to society. The interest rates are ridiculous and are highway robbery at best. But what is an alternative? I believe in minimal government interference so don’t think they should be banned (Maybe a cap on their interest rated would be ok). What we really need is to provide these folks with a temporary loan at a reasonable interest rate (directly drawn for their paycheck) and CRASH COUNSELING!
Gardening Interlude: Growing and Cooking Winter Greens?If you’re a low carb dieter then this is a must read recipe for you. My mouth is watering and I’m wishing I had some winter greens (which I don’t). Seriously, Andrew brings in this gem from 101 centavos.
Jeremy at modest Money is starting a series on blogging, in Guide to Starting a Blog he gives good advice on how to get your blog started. Jeremy already has a number of good posts on how to make your blog successful, I think that every post in his series, past and present is worth reading as there is a ton of valuable advice!
Kim brings us this interesting tale and asks the question,”How Much Time Would You Invest for $2.50“??My answer is simple. If I have to invest a significant amount of time for $2.50, I won?t. BUT, if?It’s a matter of?principle I will spend as long as it takes to make my point (and get my $2.50 back).
The $20 Light Bulb?A $22 light bill, seriously, a $22 Electric Bill! – AWESOME, Maggie, Please share the secret of this with us! I think one of our kid?s rooms alone costs $22 a month in electricity!
Here?s a quote from Free Money Finance?s post , Designer Checks Stinks ?Yes, I still use checks. Get over it.” ?I do too! Especially for the bills that either want to charge a premium to let you give them your funds quicker, or for the stone age? companies that do not make provisions for online payments! Oh, by the way, I hate designer checks too. Actually, I hate paying for designer checks.
BusgetsAreSexy?Brings us Zombies and finance. Actually, J Money makes some good?analogies about “end of the World” entertainment and how you can learn a good financial lesson from them. Besides, it mentions Zombies and the nuclear option, how much better can it get?
Holly from club Thrifty brings us ?I Hate Walmart: My High Cost To Get Low Prices?Dammit, I hate Walmart too! But I can’t seem to stop shopping?there. It’s as if there’s an addictive and mysterious drug they release into the air that makes you come back day after day. The same drug is probably responsible for the fact that?every time?I go there to buy some $2.00 POS I?spend?$60!
Mr Samurai posted?Build Your Financial Nut: 401(k) Retirement Contributions Matter Less Over Time?a post explaining why after you have built up a certain amount in your 401 (or IRA for that Matter) what you contribute going forward isn’t as important as managing what you have. He makes the point that what your portfolio will return is more than you can contribute (once you get it to a large enough level). I agree. Although my approach is twofold, get the most returns from what you have in your accounts AND contribute the max that you can!
Open Houses and Nosey Neighbours, Are They Worth It??Mr. CBB gives us a nice overview of having an open house when you?re selling your home. Some of the topics covered are how the nosey neighbors will sniff out your lifestyle during the rare opportunity presented by the open house and the advantages of seeing an open house when your buying. Oh, and lest I forget, ?the risk how an open ?house presents a great opportunity for a thief to help themselves to some of your belongings!
Work save Live gives us this?Recipe: ?Better Than Crack? Brownies (1st Guest Post!)?I confess, I am a chocolate freak. Any recipe as scrumptious sounding as this one will get my attention! My love for chocolate is in?direct?conflict with my low carb lifestyle but I always find room for compromise!
My Blogging Mistakes
Some of you may have noticed a few random pingbacks from the Wise Dollar yesterday. That was because I found (through Google Webmaster Tools) that many of the links that I included in my Mid-March favorites post were nice shortcuts to 404 pages. Whoops. I went back and corrected all of them yesterday. Please accept my apologies for the confusion! I will forever more test every link before publishing!
I ?spent a number of hours yesterday correcting some mistakes. One that continues to baffled me is why some of my response comments to a single post were being reported by Google as having duplicate Meta descriptions. I went round and round on that one and finally just excluded them from being crawled in my robots.txt file. I think the reason it happened is that I responded to a few comments in that post from the post itself and forgot to turn Comment Luv off for the response. I may test that out in the future and see if it causes the same problem. Sometimes I think that tending a blog is like raising a small child. Sniffles, fevers and all other bad blog things seem to pop up!
My page load speeds started the month in the mid sixty range, which is pretty ugly by anyone?s standards. I managed to get them up to the low nineties (yay me!) with a bit of work and a few plugins. Hopefully I?ll be able to keep them there and work out some of the more esoteric html errors that Google apparently?doesn’t?like! I may even get past a page rank of zero some day! At least my Moz Page Rank is a 4.76 I like that!
On a Personal Note
March has been an interesting month. I?ve managed to post more articles than I originally intended too, I?ve been? laid off, put in a raised garden bed and managed too potentially land a new job all in a matter of four short weeks.
My old company did come through with the alternative job that I wrote about earlier. It was a lower grade, less pay and almost 100% travel. To add insult to injury they gave me until last Friday to accept and start. By doing that I would have lost the option to take the severance package and start my time over from scratch, which was what I would have liked to do. I declined the position. ?I can only take so much abuse and I don?t think I could have worked there for long with the sour taste it would have left in my mouth.
Last week I interviewed with five different folks at a new company. I should know whether?I’ve?landed that job in the next day or two. All in all I feel pretty good about it and will definitely put out an update once I know.
Blogs that Mentioned The Wise Dollar
The Family Finances?The Free Financial Advisor?Repaid.org?Money Bulldog UK?Eyes On The Dollar?Canadian Budget Binder?Critical Financial?My Financial Reviews?Timeless Finance?Fearless Men?Lifestyle Carnival?I ? Budgets?101 Centavos?Brick by Brick Investing?Reach Financial Independence?The FrugalFarmer?Len Penzo?Freedom ThirtyFive?Blog??Frugal Rules
To all my Blog Buddies, thanks for the mentions and the continued support! If I’ve left anyone out, let me know and please accept my apologies.
Did you have any favorite blog posts in March? Share them with us!
Wise Dollar
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Thanks for mentioning my post! Have a great week!
My pleasure Holly, you have a great week too!
Dude, it’s fun watching your blog grow. You’re right on: it was a great month at WiseDollar. You’ve worked your ass off and it shows.
Thanks Joe! Appreciate the kind words.!
Thank you for sharing these Jose. I think I read most of them but a few I did not get the chance to read yet.
Your welcome Alan! I’ve found that the shares others post are a great resource to discover new blogs and great articles. I hope to do the same.
Love the success you’ve been having, much deserved. I look forward to hearing more from you in April. Keep it up bro.
Thanks Marvin, I appreciate the support!
Test comment, ignore this one. I’ll write a post to see if CLUV can cause duplicate content with Google!
Keep up the great work Jose. It is nice to see when your hard work pays off and it is happening for you. These are all great posts to read and I enjoyed them as well.
Thanks Grayson! I appreciate the kind words and the encouragement!
Keep up the great work Jose! It’s always nice to see things you’re doing on the backend payoff for you. Great news on the interviews!
Thanks John! Hopefully I can post some more good news later this week!
Good for you. While you’re not too prideful to take a reasonable job, you can’t afford to accept a garbage offer. It undervalues your skills and work ethic. GL with your continued job search.
Thanks Joe! I appreciate the comments and the best wishes!
Good luck on the potential new job! Sending positive vibes your way!
Thanks, I’m receiving them as I write 😀
Good luck with the job search Jose. Your doing a great job managing the site in such a short period of time and I really love the articles that you’ve written. I wish the best for you in April.
Thank you Justin! I appreciate your support! I’ll keep writing them!
don’t sweat the blogging mistakes, you are doing great! fingers crossed for the job.
Thank you Pauline! I’ve got fingers and toes crossed 🙂 !
Thanks for including me. I hope you get the job you were hoping for.
Thank you Kim! I’m hopimg too and should know something within the next couple of days!
Good for you for turning down the crappy job, Jose! Rick had a similar thing happen when he was laid off, and I know it’s a tough decision: do you take the crappy job just because it’s a job? Rick said “no” too, and in a short time, he landed a much better job that he probably wouldn’t have been offered if he’d taken the crummy one. Oh, and I’m SO with you on the loving of chocolate. Chocolate ROCKS! 🙂
Thanks Laurie! Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t take it, I would felt like I was vioplated every single day I was on that job! BTW, my very very favorite chocolate is Lindts 70% cocoa, chocolaty bliss :).
Great links, as always – thanks! Best of luck with everything else. You seem so very well-equipped to meet the challenges that you’re already overcoming!
Thanks Tony, I appreciate the well wishes and your support!
Congratulations on the interview and I hope you get the new job. Good luck with the garden as well.
Thanks Jerry, I appreciate your good wishes!
Best of luck with the job search! I commend your decision to walk away from such an unhealthy environment.
Thank You! I want to work, but I don’t want my arm twisted around my back to do do!
Jose, I will keep my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for you in hopes that you get the job you have applied for!! Nother great post!
Thanks! I have everything crossed too, but it makes it difficult to type so I have to uncross once in awhile. Thanks for your well wishes Jim.
Glad to hear you are confident about the positions you applied for. I’m sure that you will find a job that you will enjoy doing as that is very important. I agree that a blog is like a child but since I don’t have a child I’d have to say like a sister or brother or neice or nephew… always needing something… or catching something… or … lol. Thanks for sharing my post and I wish you continued success with your blog and good luck on the job hunt Jose!
Cheers
Thank you Mr CBB! As always your support and encouragement are greatly appreciated! The Job maze is getting close to the end and I should know something very soon!
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