Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comment Late March 2014
Hi everyone! I’m sure you noticed that the blog has been much quieter. I decided a couple weeks ago to reduce my posting schedule and it has been really hard! I miss interacting with you all more frequently. I think writing only 1-2 times per week might be more difficult than writing 3 times per week because posts topics and execution are not as front of mind.
This roundup post is going to cover the rest of March after my last weekly update. In the future I’ll post these on the first Sunday of the month covering the entire previous month.
Thankfully Kyle and I have another online project we’re working on so my time usually spend on EPF and in the PF blogosphere has been devoted to developing that project. I hope I will get to reveal that next week or so!
I do have an important life update – Kyle has set a defense date! It’s in the second half of May. It was pretty emotionally draining to get the date set, but that’s done now. He’s into editing his thesis now and so he’s taking things at a much more normal pace. We’re not yet sure if he’ll be considered (i.e. paid as) a grad student for the remainder of the summer or whether he’ll be considered a postdoc.
I’ve been putting a lot more thought into my career trajectory in these past few weeks and where blogging should fit in to my life. I think I’ll write a post about all that in the near future.
Favorite Posts
Lance from Money Manifesto and his wife are celebrating paying off $80,000 in student loan debt in three years (while living their lives)!
G.E. Miller from 20 Something Finances emphasizes the primary importance of your savings rate.
Kali Hawk from Common Sense Millennial explains at L Bee and the Money Tree when it’s worth spending money.
Mad Fientist relays a story about early retirement with 13 kids.
Paula from Afford Anything steps outside her wheelhouse of rental properties to set up an apartment exclusively for Airbnb.
Connie from Savvy with Saving discusses lifestyle inflation.
Carnivals
It’s Nice When Money Can Fix Your Problems was featured in the Carnival of Money #22.
“I’m Not Going to Rob You” was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance #455 and the Carnival of Money #23.
How to Enter 1099-MISC Fellowship Income into TurboTax was featured in the Festival of Frugality #424 and the Carnival of Financial Camaraderie.
Do You Vacation with Friends? was featured in the Financial Carnival for Young Adults.
Why Don’t More People Do Their Own Taxes? was featured in the Carnival of Financial Planning and the Carnival of Money.
Blog Statistics Update February – March 2014 was featured in the Yakezie Carnival.
What Constitutes Joint or Separate Finances? was featured in the Festival of Frugality #425.
Top Comment
Stacking Pennies shares my view that people should prepare their own taxes because she has had some similar experiences: “I find the software (this year we sampled turbotax and HR block) to be overly idiot proof and inflexible for non-standard situations. It is unreasonably confusing to enter out-of-state income, when that has to be an incredibly common situation… We had some1099-MISC income that we weren’t sure how to categorize. The software automatically told us to pay income tax and payroll taxes on it, even though it didn’t fit the definition of being independent contractor work and payroll taxes weren’t required. That, and the cost, solidified our plan to use paper.”
Most Frequent Commenters
- Leigh @ Leigh’s Financial Journey
- Tara @ Streets Ahead Living
- Alicia @ Financial Diffraction
- SarahN @ Live to List
Top Blogs Referring to EPF
- Get Rich Slowly
- Done by Forty
- Grumpy Rumblings of the (Formerly!) Untenured
- NZ Muse
- Our Fine Adventure
Filed under: month in review
Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comment Week of 9 March 201412 Responses to "Favorite Posts, Mentions, and Top Comment Late March 2014"
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Thanks so much for mentioning our debt free post! We worked very hard to get there and I love sharing our journey with others to hopefully inspire them 🙂
I bet you guys will be so happy when Kyle’s thesis is all done 🙂 It will be quite an accomplishment!
Lance recently posted..Improve Your Finances By Freeing Your Mind
Mine will be following so close on the heels of his that I’m not sure we’ll have time to enjoy his accomplishment! I’m starting to believe that I’m so focused on the next thing that I have a hard time relishing the present.
So many great posts here! Thanks so much for sharing them with us!
Thank you!
I understand about cutting back. I had to do that at one point and it was really tough. What I did notice though is that my posts improved in quality. I wasn’t publishing anything just to keep up with a schedule. I currently post 3x per week and think that suits me just fine. But I read many blogs where people only post once or twice a week and they do a great job. So maybe less equals more.
Brian @ Luke1428 recently posted..7 Unfortunate Reasons People Spew Hatred at Dave Ramsey
Is 3x/week your lower posting schedule or a resumed higher posting schedule?? I don’t think less is equaling more for me so far but maybe once I get used to the rhythm.
I’ve been so busy with family stuff and work I haven’t been posting or commenting as much as I’d like. Excited to hear about the new project you’re working on. Good luck to Kyle on his defense. My sister is defending her dissertation next month. I know they’ll both do great!
KK @ Student Debt Survivor recently posted..Food Storage: Why I’m Paying More
I think cutting back is just something you have to do over time, otherwise it can evolve into an animal that keeps needing to be fed. It has to be great to be near the end for Kyle. I hope it goes smoothly for him.
Kim recently posted..Affording Fresh Fruits and Vegetables On A Budget
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You are welcome – great post!
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