The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, the leaves are changing colour… it’s the time of changing seasons, and it’s time for Thanksgiving!
Here are my posts of the week:
- Toxic Friends: The Non-Reciprocal Takers
- What Do You Need to Get out of the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom?
- How to Embed a Form into Your WordPress Blog Page or Post
- Looking for a Solution to a Problem, but Can’t Find One? SolutionAuctions.com is Here to Help
Book releases
There’s been a lot of exciting activity in the blogosphere lately, as many long-awaited books make their debut:
Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme fame has released his book, Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence! He has put more than two years of hard work into the book, and I am looking forward to reading it!
Mike Holman of Money Smarts Blog has released his book: The RESP Book: The Simple Guide to Registered Education Savings Plans for Canadians. Congrats on the book launch, Mike!
Barbara Friedberg has also just released a FREE eBook: The 20 Minute Guide to Investing. It’s free and packed full of solid financial advice, so head over there and download your copy today!
Giveaways
Buy Like Buffett is currently giving away $100+ in cash prizes + a free copy of Your Financial Playbook: A Guide to Navigating the World of Personal Finance! The contest ends soon, so enter ASAP!
Weekend Reading
- My HELOC Stock Market Investment Strategy (Beating The Index)
- BTI discusses how he invests in the markets, using his HELOC to his advantage.
- What Rookies Should Know About Blogging (The Kitchen Sink)
- Aloysa shares her past experiences and lessons learned in blogging.
- Settling Estate Disputes – Babci Style (First Gen American)
- Sandy teaches us when it is better to move on with life instead of becoming miserable over disputes, and shares her personal experiences.
- 3 Lessons From A Slot Machine (The Wealth Artisan)
- The Wealth Artisan shows us some common pitfalls and mistakes we can make regarding the ideas of luck, skill, and appearances. I really liked the analogy of a slot machine.
- Caution on commodities (Larry MacDonald)
- Larry gives us some pointers from the book The Great Reflation: How Investors Can Profit From the New World of Money, which suggest that it may be wise to be cautious when it comes to commodities.
- Video of The Week, Naill Ferguson, The Ascent of Money (The Wise Buck)
- The Wise Buck shares his video of the week, and talks about the history of the financial system, of money, and of gold.
- How to Avoid Christmas Debt Without Becoming a Grinch … 12 Great Tips (Personal Finance By The Book)
- Joe gives us some great tips on how to prepare for Christmas giving… without becoming a Grinch!
- Nightmare on Wall Street II (Balance Junkie)
- Balance Junkie takes a look at three big problems that are still working their way through the financial system: strategic foreclosures, hot potato put-backs, and fraudulent foreclosures.
- Millionaires on unemployment!!!!!!! (Frugal Zeitgeist)
- Should we be outraged at the prospect of millionaires on unemployment? Forest shares his thoughts with us.
- What do personal debts and cancer have in common? (Andrew Hallam)
- Andrew, a millionaire teacher and cancer survivor, gives us some insight into his own personal philosophy when it comes to debt and investing.
- The Problem with Being Budget Minded is Other People (Watson Inc)
- Watson discusses how working toward your financial goals can sometimes lead to friction with others that see finances differently than you do.
- All About Dividend Growth Investing (Dividend Monk)
- This is a great comprehensive overview that introduces the reader to dividend growth investing.
- Firefighters Let House Burn and Pets Die Over $75 (Faithful With A Few)
- Crazy things happen when the law REQUIRES firefighters not to fight actual fires… over a $75 payment.
- Thoughts For Thursday: Appreciate The Small Things In Life, Part 2 (Everyday Tips and Thoughts)
- Kris shares the small things that bring joy in her life.
- How To Make Six Figures A Year At Almost Any Age (Financial Samurai)
- Financial Samurai talks about how getting to $100K (or its equivalent where you live) is not as hard as you may think.
- Squirreling Gone Wild #16: The Crafty Waitress (Squirrelers)
- Squirrelers shares a story about a time where he was almost squirreled by a waitress.
- Personal finance and small business parallels (My Own Advisor)
- My Own Advisor shares questions that you can ask yourself, and makes the case for being as proactive toward your own personal finances as you would be with a business.
Economics
- Government spending and debt in the Age of Austerity… (Miss Thrifty)
- The Commanding Heights – The Battle for the World Economy (The Biz of Life)
- Not Doom & Gloom; Cyclical & Opportunity! (Kitco)
- Race to the Bottom (Peter Schiff)
- House Fires Shot Across China’s Bow (Naked Capitalism)
- Will We Have Hyperinflation In America? (The Daily Capitalist)
- China’s Syndrome (Zero Hedge)
- Update On The Canadian Housing Bubble: Musings On “Then And Now” (Zero Hedge)
- No Way Out (Financial Sense)
- Venus Needs Some Austrians (Mises Daily)
- QE2: The Ship Is Leaving The Dock (Daily Capitalist)
Investing
- Taking a Contrarian Approach to Today’s Stock Market (Personal Dividends)
- What kind of investor are you? (The Passive Income Earner)
- A Creative Artist (DIY Investor)
- The Shoeshine Boy (Zero Hedge)
Miscellaneous
- Please Cancel My Account (Bucksome Boomer)
- I’m Sick Of Hearing It’s For The Kids (Free From Broke)
- Cheap and Good Eats: Toshi Sushi (Young and Thrifty)
- Interview With a Canadian Trade Commissioner, Part I (In Search of Salt)
- Should I tell my mom I have a blog? (Grumpy Rumblings of the untenured)
- This Nasty-Gram Got Me a New $2800 Fridge ASAP (Darwin’s Money)
- Review: Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton (Musings of an Abstract Aucklander)
- Subsidizing Obesity (Cognoramus)
- Lava Killed Neanderthals (Overcoming Bias)
- Election 2010 – Virtual Democracy Means Everybody Wins (The Seasteading Institute)
- Forage vs Farm Future (Overcoming Bias)
- Aerial Footage: Portrait of a Housing Bust (The Big Picture)
Motivation and inspiration
- Achieving what you set out to do in 2010 (Move to Portugal)
- Disability no object … (7million7years)
- Working For Money or For Passion? (The Financial Blogger)
Personal Finance
- Stay warm and cut your gas bills this winter (Wealth Informatics)
- Book Review: 10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Retirement (Canadian Capitalist)
- Unclaimed Property: Does the State Owe You Money? (Yes, I Am Cheap)
- How to Get The Money – Top 10 Ways To Make and Save Money (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)
- What are your Personal Financial Ugly Ducklings? (Simple Financial Lifestyle)
- The High Cost of Entertainment (Hope to Prosper)
- 3 Easy Money Making Hobbies to Boost Your Personal Finances (Canadian Finance Blog)
- Saving Money on Your Phone Bills with Microsoft Excel (Couple Money)
Politics
- Education: It’s Not About Lack of Funding (The Biz of Life)
- Immigration (Mises Economics Blog)
My roundup includes sites that mentioned Invest It Wisely over the past week; thanks for including me, and please let me know if I forgot to mention you!
Video of the week
Does anyone know more about this guy or agree with him? Since he’s trying to entice you into going to his site and signing up to his courses, he doesn’t come right out and say what he thinks, but I wonder if he’s on to something…
Have a great Thanksgiving day weekend, and see you next week!

Kevin, I just took a look at What Rookies Should Know About Blogging. Great recommendation! I’ve been at it about as long as she has, so I definitely related and even felt a pang of nostalgia. This is a must-read from a unique perspective for anyone who’s considering starting a blog.
Indeed; I still have a travel blog that’s in limbo. When one is actually travelling, it’s not easy to find the time to write all of the stories down, and the writing it all up at the end and including photos can take a lot of time.
I also enjoyed the post.
I appreciate the mention. Have a nice weekend.
It was a great post!
Thanks for including us!
So, did you end up telling her? 😉
Thanks for mentioning the book.
I hope Jacob does well with the ERE book as well.
Mike
I hope you guys both do great with your books!
Thanks as always! Your roundup always reminds me of a cool blog carnival. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Thanks, BFS! They take some more time to prepare, but if they engage the reader then it’s worth it!
Another HUGE and fabulous roundup. I appreciate the inclusion.
No problem. You’ve hit out another great week of posts.
Thanks so much for the include in today’s round up! It’s been another great week indeed buddy!
Congrats on cracking the Alexa challenge!
Great round up this week Kevin and thanks for the mention. Have a great weekend.
Mike
NP. Keep hammering out those posts!
Thanks for mentionng the giveaway! Have a good weekend.
I didn’t know that you had also published a book! That’s quite interesting…
Thanks for the mention, Kevin. The trade commissioner interview was extremely interesting.
Another mammoth list! Good show.
Waiting to check out part 2!
Kevin,
I agree completely that the Government is making impossible promises regarding medicare, social security and health care. But, the pedulum is starting to swing back and reality will prevail.
I don’t agree the government is crowding out the economy from the private sector. He uses a two-year example, which is ridiculous. If that becomes a long-term trend, then I would buy it.
I would love to know what his solution is.
Thanks a million of the link.
Bret
I’d also love to know what his solution is. He talks a lot about how home owners in the 70s made out like bandits with their fixed-rate mortgages, but that is also what led in part to the S&L crisis of the 80s.
Unfunded liabilities will probably be covered with higher taxes and inflation. I think that some of the adjustment in the years ahead is going to be painful, but it doesn’t have to be doom & gloom if policy changes are made to encourage productivity and investment, and not the other way around.
Thanks Invest It Wisely for including me in your wrap up. I like how you even categorized them- that’s super time consuming!
Hope you have a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving, eh?
Hope you enjoyed yours as well! It is super-time consuming but I’ve gotten somewhat more efficient at it. 😉
Thanks for the mention and happy Canadian Thanksgiving.
I just watched the first two parts of “The Commanding Heights of the Economy” documentary that you linked. Pretty interesting, and I’m surprised that PBS would air something that so far appears to be pro Hayek and pro free markets though not overly so and with some caution on the misapplications. I’m looking forward to viewing the last part.
Thanks for including me in your weekend reading! I really am enjoying the conversation about the firefighters!
Yep, it’s quite shocking. I still think it’s a moral dilemma, and I hope that the town can work out a better arrangement. Perhaps if people don’t pay the fee then they have the choice of paying full costs or letting their house burn down. I think that’s a lot fairer than not having any choice at all and being forced to watch one’s house burn down. 🙁
Thanks for the link! Have a nice weekend.
You too! Hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving weekend.
Thanks for the mention IIW!
You reminded me of one last apple picking trip before the season is over!
So did you go?
Thank you so much for including me! Means a lot!
I enjoyed the post!
Kevin, you clearly are a voracious reader. I’ll be picking through some of that list…but not a chance will I get to most of it. Happy Thanksgiving.
Hope you enjoy the reads as much as I did!
Kevin, thanks for including my post on unclaimed property in your list!
No problem!
Thanks for the mention and have a great Thanksgiving!
Happy blogoversary!
Hey Kevin, thanks as always for the link. Fall is beautiful in your part of the world and a trip down to New York or Vermont is a nice thing to do if you enjoy the drive.
We drove in the countryside and it was indeed peaceful, relaxing, and beautiful. It was sunny, neither hot nor cold but just a little warm, and not too windy. Was a really nice day to go out.
Hi Kevin. Thanks for the link! 🙂
Here’s to our ongoing progress and achievement toward our goals!
Wow. That’s a great round-up. Thanks very much for including my article. Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well!
Hey, thanks for the link!
Some awesome reads here…cheers Kevin!