The Best of Finance Blogosphere

Here are the articles that caught my eye during the last week. There’s quite a few of them, so let’s get right to it.

• This first article is actually not from the “Finance” blogosphere. But it is so beautifully written that I thought you all might enjoy reading it. The article is titled The Truth About Debt and Dreams and is published on the blog I will change your life.


• ”Frugal Vs. Cheap” is a topic that keeps popping up on the Frugality blogs every so often. But once in a while, one of the articles is so well written that in spite of having read about this topic several times before, you still enjoy reading the new article! One such article popped up this week at Being Frugal. The article - Crossing the Line: When does frugal become cheap? - has a bunch of examples, and what makes it interesting is that, it first makes you think and then walks through the examples one at a time. Nicely done!


• And while we are on the topic of frugality, you might want to check out Cheap dates for college students @ Tips from a College Student. And don’t be fooled by the name – there is nothing “cheap” in the sense of “cheap vs. frugal” about these 15 odd tips, and no you don’t have to be a college student (or even on a date) to use these tips. It’s a really good list for anyone looking for frugal ways to have some fun.


• Nick at Punny Money has an awesome flowchart to help you never buy useless garbage ever again. It really works! I liked it so much that I thought of buying it in pdf form for $39.99, but when I used it to make the decision, it told me not to buy it. ;)


• Halloween is apparently the second most expensive holiday in the US, coming up right behind Christmas. If you want to keep the cost low, check out these great tips for a frugal Halloween by Kyle @ Rather Be Shopping.


• Frugal Pride writes about how expensive architecture school can be. When I was in school, the architecture students had the most expenses due to all the supplies they needed to buy for their projects, and ironically, the assistantships in the architecture department paid much less than other departments. Hang in there Olivz!


• Frank @ Finance and Fat write about small steps and accountability. After years of being debt free (apart from mortgage), we now have an auto loan, and boy, I can totally relate to what Frank writes. We can’t seem to get rid of it soon enough, but it is key to remember that it is not going to happen over night but if we keep taking small steps (and big strides when possible), we will eventually get back to being debt free.


• Nivek @ Money Clipped has a great find – a witty wise-crack spoof news clip from DNN the Debt News Network. It is an 8 minute clip, but if you have some time one your hands, definitely worth a watch!


• Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary has a great article about global REITs. He argues that the correlation between the US real estate market and that in other countries is quite weak resulting in good diversification if you invest in a global REIT.


• Patrick @ Cash Money Life has an interesting comparison between credit cards and guns. I think it is a fairly extreme comparison, but it does convey the point – credit cards are not inherently bad, unless they are in the hands of people who misuse them!


• Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money has some neat commercials to help you think about your future and money management.


• Pinyo @ Moolanomy has a great article about choosing the best investment option available for various savings goals.


• Dawn @ One Woman’s Journey has a short but inspiring post about Financial Goals vs. Financial Hiccups.


• Creative Investor wonders if the financial sector will rebound again.