jurvetson

We opened up the swimming pool this past weekend, so summer should be right around the corner.  All we need now is for the weather to cooperate.  It feels more like April than June.  I spent a couple days scrubbing the winter cover and water bags, and yesterday I was walking like Quasimodo.  I know, wah-wah-wah.  I must be feeling my age!  Here’s some good reading from the past week:

Brett at The Art of Manliness shows us how to make our lawn look like Wrigley Field.  He talks about how the way the grass is bent determines the striped or checkerboard pattern that you see at major league stadiums.

Trent at The Simple Dollar tells us to prepare our important information for a disaster.  This is just an excellent post on how not to be caught flat-footed in an emergency.

Peter at Bible Money Matters doesn’t want us to let our emotions to cloud our judgment.  You can get yourself in quite a predicament by letting feelings get in the way.

Scott H. Young thinks that consistency is an overrated virtue.  I agree.  Being consistently bad is never a good thing, so try something different.

Flexo at Consumerism Commentary informs us that our house is not a good investment.  He talks about the benefits of renting, and that buying a house doesn’t make sense for everyone.

Ali at Dumb Little Man wants us to mono-task to work more effectively.  I’ve always thought multitasking allowed me to do a bunch of things in a mediocre fashion.  I’ll leave multitasking to my computer.

Nickel at Five Cent Nickel wants to know how large our emergency funds are.  I keep about 10 months worth of expenses in laddered CDs.  If you don’t have an emergency fund, please read Nickel’s post.

In a guest post at My Two Dollars, Cameron tells us to create a gold-laying goose.  He tells us to create passive income from the “goose” (assets), and then “live on the eggs.”

Tough Money Love wants us to feel wealthy on a middle-class income by paying our bills at the beginning of the month.  He makes the case that peace of mind is worth the cost of paying bills before they are due.  It’s a strong case.

Kevin at No Debt Plan says anything worth doing requires sacrifice.  He lists his goals, and reminds himself why he’s sacrificing now for future rewards.

Jonathan at Awake at the Wheel wonders if gifted and talented is a life sentence.  He talks about the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, how the fixed “gifted and talented” mindset is more limiting than a growth mindset that rewards effort.

David at Simple.Organized.Life gives us 10 ways to simplify your life starting today.  There are some great lifehacks in there.

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