Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comments Week of 4August2013

Kyle and I have been working crazy a lot this week.  I’m still on schedule to meet my deadlines and it should only be another week of being very busy if things go well.  I have given myself enough slack time to be able to recover if things don’t go well, which I’ll know early next week.  This summer has really been wonderfully productive and I’ve implemented some good habits that I hope will carry into the school year!

We received notice along with everyone else in the country a couple weeks ago that TWC is increasing our modem rental fee.  When we moved last year we debated buying our own modem but decided to hold out for when we moved cross-country, but this increase in the rental fee changed the equation a bit.  Kyle researched our options and it came down to two modems; we decided to buy the more expensive/faster one.  Even though the payback will be longer, we are hoping for slightly increased speeds now – we don’t think we’ve been getting TWC’s advertised speeds – and potentially in years to come.  When our cable provider increases their capabilities we will be ready!

On Friday Kyle convinced me to finally go out to Applebee’s to use a gift card we’ve had for years and years.  I am very anti-Applebees as I’ve had a couple bad meals there and have staunchly refused to go.  Kyle has probably asked me to eat there three times per year for four or five years and this week I finally caved.  The meal was fine, nothing particularly special, and definitely cheap, even with an appetizer and a drink.  I was pleased they allowed me to substitute my potato side for extra broccoli.  It actually turned out to be a pretty healthy meal!  One downside was that they updated their menus last week but didn’t swap out the online menu so the dish I had picked out in advance wasn’t available.

Posts I Liked 

Lance from Money Life and More explores how quickly you should pay off debt.

Michelle from Diversified Finances chronicles the many ridiculous things people say when she tells them she is transitioning to self-employment.

Kraig from Young Cheap Living reviews Republic Wireless.  He ultimately did not stick with the service because of the hardware although he likes the business model.  I appreciate his perspective, although I am satisfied with my phone.  🙂

Mentions

Tara from Streets Ahead Living included Just Make a Decision in her Sunday round-up and Inexpensive House, Expensive Car in her Friday roundup.

Grayson from Debt Roundup listed Just Make a Decision in his top articles.

Trent from The Simple Dollar included Is “Live Like a College Student” Good Advice? in his weekly roundup.

Jacob from iHeartBudgets listed in his weekly wrap-up.

Carnivals

Just Make a Decision was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance #425.

Don’t Sell to Me, Man! was featured in the Festival of Frugality and the Carnival of Financial Planning.

On Debt and Feeling Like a Slave was featured in the Carnival of MoneyPros.

Edging toward Quality Food: Proposal was featured in the Yakezie Carnival.

Top Comment

After my discussion of how I found it jarring to see in my neighborhood expensive cars parked in front of inexpensive townhouses, Lucas said “I do tend to feel sorry for people when I see that. I can’t say I never judge their intentions (I try not to), but in general I just feel bad that they are trapped by their possessions.”  Do you feel trapped by any of your possessions?  I think I would if we had any debt.  I can also imagine feeling trapped if we buy a nice camera and it turns out I’m not interested enough to really learn how to use it.

Most Frequent Commenters

1. Done by Forty
2. Ross @ Cash Rebel

Top Blogs Referring to EPF 

1. The Simple Dollar
2. Get Rich Slowly
3. Well Heel Blog