Father Sez

Last week was pretty hectic.  

My wife and I went to Tanjong Balai, an Indonesian port that is about an hour’s ferry ride from Malaysia, for sourcing the Indonesian workers for our goat farm.  If all goes according to plan, the 2 workers should be in our farm by the end of this month. 

My eldest daughter returned home from Wales after completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.  

Meanwhile posts that I think are worthy of mention are listed here.

Malaysian fuel prices were raised by a whopping 41%, to RM2.70 a litre on the stroke of midnight, the 4^th of June 08. This is going to (actually it already has) unleash a tsunami of price increases across the board. Malaysians now have to tighten their belts and it’s not going to be easy to tighten one’s belt by at least 20% overnight! 

A guest post on Clever Dude makes some compelling points for the better side of debt. The roads to all mistakes are paved with good intentions, so if we are not disciplined, then all debt becomes bad. If we are disciplined, debt can be a useful tool.

The Chief Family Officer celebrates the 3^rd anniversary of her blog. And the Dude who is also Clever celebrates his 2^nd!  To the CFO and CD, my heartiest congratulations on your anniversaries and all the best for many more to come.  

I found Pinyo’s post on how he started the M Network very informative. Over the past year, I have seen a couple of networks being formed and it looks like a good idea. Maybe I should try to see if I can help form a Malaysian PF Group.  

Congratulations to the Frugal Duchess on the launch of her first book, “How to Live Well and Save”.  She is a great writer and has shown her prowess at frugality in her blog postings, so I’m sure her book will be a great success. 

This post by Jeff on following our dreams and desires was an inspiring one for me. Especially his No: 3 …..”Don’t be afraid to fail”. This statement dovetailed well with another quote I read earlier, attributed to JR Rowlings….Rock bottom is the rock solid foundation on which I shall build my future…..or something to that effect. 

The fear of failure keeps us from trying to live our dreams. Reading inspiring posts like Jeff’s helps in overcoming these fears.  

The Art of Manliness had an interesting listing of good and bad TV Dads. My favourite role model would have to be Dr. Huxtable, that witty cheerful doctor who has a way of resolving every issue a family with 5 kids could possibly encounter. 

Have a great weekend, folks.   

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Hello. The week is coming to an end…for me anyway. There is still the full reader box to clear. In the meantime:

Posts I found interesting from those I managed to read include: 

The Glbl guy reminds us that we should surround ourselves with constant reminders of our goals.  These reminders are a tool to help us stay focused and stay on the path to reaching our goals and dreams a little sooner. I am a total believer of this theory. I have reminders on my laptop screen and my handphone, not forgetting my daily lists.  

And Ririan from Romania gives his suggestions on how to create effective to-do lists. 

Feeling ripped off (even if the feeling is misplaced) in anyway is painful and not pleasant at all. I hate it even more when I feel that the vendor is devious.  I signed up to purchase an E book on goats, (goes to show how powerful sales letters can be, as I am sure most if not all of the material in the book probably came from the free pamphlets distributed by our Department of Veterinary Services.) Anyway, I felt pissed, when I was asked to submit too much personal particulars AFTER payment was made. 

It looks like I am not alone. Read about what made Naomi feeling pissed. 

I enjoyed this post about how to fly the national flag. Our politicians started a program a few years ago to instil some patriotism and everyone was encouraged to fly flags. We had cars, buses and lorries flying flags. Needless to say, after a while you could see quite a number of really dirty looking soot / smoke encrusted and even torn flags flying all over the place.

I used to feel ashamed and often wondered how a foreigner would have judged us. Our TV stations should have carried Brett and Kate’s post repeatedly.     

I also thoroughly enjoyed this post comparing bloggers with pawns on a chess board. I think these observations will work in a lot of other situations too.  

Who can resist not reading a post with a title that goes…..”The most important piece of career advice you probably never heard”? The title turned out to be true, I had never heard this piece of advice before. And you know what, it does make a lot of sense.   

I participated in the Carnival of Family Life which was hosted as a Memorial Day Carnival by one of my favourite family sites, Colloquium!. (I must learn to spell this word correctly, since I am going to use it often.) 

Well, that’s all for the week, people. Go on and have a great, productive and jolly happy weekend.  

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I have taken a short break from blogging this week. Other than the first post for the week on the progress of our family’s goat farm, I have just taken it easy. 

For my round up this week, I’ll just focus on the two Carnivals I participated in.  

First the Carnival of Family Life.

It was ably hosted by Karen at WritefromKaren, a technical writer and a mother of two teenage sons. More than 70 articles were presented at this Carnival.

I particularly enjoyed the following messages.  

Slow Down Fast’s “What can your kids teach you about technology?”  This appears to be the first time/generation in human history where parents have to learn from their kids. I know that my wife and I do.     

BeThisWay asks “Do I have to pay to appreciate them?” Referring to a problem faced by many parents with young school going children - notes from the school asking parents to pay for Teacher’s Appreciation Day or Week or whatever function the school comes up with. I also think this is being carried a little too far, placing subtle pressure on the kids to cajole their parents to contribute cash.  I think all of us parents should just put their foot down and go back to the days of a children prepared card or poem or something along these lines. This would reflect far better appreciation from the children.   

And this card should qualify for one of the best Mother’s Day gifts ever!  

We are reminded that what we, as parents, say to our kids are a very big influence into what our children will become later in life. During the formative years, children’s primary source of information, knowledge and everything that they can learn are their parents. Hence we should pick our words and phrases carefully. Seven common phrases that most parents use and their corresponding alternatives are presented. Check out the post yourself.  

Meanwhile the Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Money Under Thirty.   

As usual there were lots and lots of articles presented and MU30 must have had a hard time choosing his Editor Picks. I think he did a great job. 

Posts which I found interesting include:  

Paid Twice, the mom with a Ph.D and a black belt to boot tells us how to fight the bad habit of buying on impulse. By doing so, she has done all of us a great favour. (I suspect, the supermarket chains would probably want her locked away.)    

ShuChong talks about the financial lessons learnt from her mother. Though her mom never talked about money, her running of their household made for great lessons in financial management.  

Feminist Finance writes about her utter shock when she found out that the love of her life had debt levels that almost made her faint. And this was when they were planning to set dates for their marriage and as she says, grow old and doddering together. 

Well, she laid down the law and it worked out well for them.

I think she did the absolutely right thing. Her reaction and the plan of action she took should be mandatory for anyone of us who are in the same boat and contemplating even engagement.  

Pinyo gives an excellent overview of getting ourselves into better financial health. This roadmap will work only after recognizing and accepting that we need to better ourselves. As he says, self awareness is the first and most important first step.  

The Glbl guy offers his suggestions on how to survive a recession. I think this topic is one of the more popular google search phrases and for very good reason. Government statisticians are not rated No:1 in telling it as it is, and it may do all of us a lot of good to bone up and start putting into practice the steps as suggested in this informative post. 

Deepali says that wealth is a state of mind, a concept that I am beginning to understand and appreciate. I quote her here:

“Wealth is not just about my financial assets, but it’s also about my quality of life… and that of those in my global community. It’s also about my state of mind. A man with little means can be wealthy if he believes himself to be - if he’s happy with his lot in life instead of being resentful of those things he doesn’t have.

But wealth is also about opportunity. A man who has cut himself off from growth is not wealthy. But a man who can dream of other possibilities has infinite room to expand and explore. He can enrich his life and the lives of those around him. Wealth is not just in the current, it’s also in the potential.”

Well said, don’t you think!

This is it for the week, folks. Have a great, happy and productive weekend.

Whilst we pray that the birds will sing, the flowers bloom and the sun shine for all of us, let’s take a couple of minutes to reflect upon the suffering of the people of Myanmar and now China due to the devastating recent natural disasters. And where we can, let’s do our part to help! 

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There are still lots of posts lying in my RSS reader. I don’t intend to use the “mark as read” button, and hope to clear them later this week. In the meantime, posts I found interesting include: 

Ben of Money Smart Life makes an emphasis on “time” being the secret of investing success. This has been said by so many people, start early, wait patiently etc.  Yet, I wonder, if there is some secret system that requires most people must make their mistakes and then shout out loud to all who listen that they should start early. 

At least that is what I am doing (shouting, I mean), and hope my children will listen.  

The Baglady has had 3 jobs in 3 years and declares she’s not afraid of being labeled as a job hopper. Recruiting new people is a burden and an expense for employers and they value stability in employee tenure. I know I would.  

Momma has finally spilled the beans on the project she has been keeping secret from all of us. She is launching herself into Household Finance Coaching, her passion. Her experience in raising a family with 6 children will sure come in handy, not forgetting the countless hours she’s spent in devouring almost every single article on finance she’s been able to get her hands on. 

I can feel her enthusiasm and commitment oozing from her post and I’ll join her family and friends and cheer her on!  

Darren has made me think deeply after I read his posting of a quote by a poet. “Do not follow where the path leads, rather go where there is no path, and leave a trail.” 

It’s so true that we usually end up following the paths of others. It’s less risky and the outcome can be better predicted. What if I set my own path, throw aside all the advice I have been reading, and just do what my heart says is right. The risk taken might be enormous, but then so may be the rewards.

Should I? Would you? Food for thought isn’t it.

I participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance which was hosted by Alpha Consumer and the Carnival of Family Life hosted by All Rileyed Up.                

This is it for the week, guys. Have a great, happy and productive weekend.

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Labour Day, the one day of the year which offers a little recognition to us poor working stiffs. A very happy Labour Day to all my fellow workers. 

Last week I participated in my two favorite Carnivals. 

Jen who writes as the Diary of 1 hosted the Carnival of Family Life. This former educator now homeschools her children and writes about homeschooling, faith and family. She has done a really elegant and tasteful theme weaving interesting facts about tea into the Carnival proper.  

This Carnival, as always, has tons of interesting stuff about ….like it says, Family Life. Family life is important to me as, I am sure, to many others. Don’t forget to check out the Carnival. 

Meanwhile, it looks like Lazy Man of Lazyman and Money had to burn the midnight oil to get the picture perfect 150^th Carnival of Personal Finance up as scheduled.  

Having to go through the more than 100 posts, choose his Editor Picks (He has given 5 entries this coveted honour) and dealing with an outage from his ISP at the same time, seems to have blown his cover. I don’t think he is lazy at all; otherwise this Carnival would not have made it!  

I have always said that if people feel they have only time to read very few pf blogs, then this Carnival should be it. 

Other blog posts I found noteworthy are: 

American Small Business News talks about the importance of insurance for partners of small businesses. We are considering just this. We, the four shareholders of a small telecommunication contracting company, have requested for a proposal from an insurance consultant on this kind of insurance. Within the next month or so, we hope to apply this insurance to provide for protection for our families in any unfortunate event. 

The Digerati Life has some words of wisdom for those wanting to go on their own. I cannot truthfully say “check” to all the points made in the post. I still have a little ways to go before I can join Ms. SVB and all the others who have taken the leap. But make the leap, I am determined to do.  

Jonathan at MyMoneyBlog lists out his extensive research on how to get a mortgage in this 2 parter. Someone should have beaten me over the head with this before I ended up with the costly mortgage I am now in the process of unwinding. 

Ana gives some great pointers on how to pay for college. My wife and I have just finished paying for our eldest 2 girls’ college education. The younger 3 are still in school, and rest assured, we’ll put Ana’s and Madison’s advice to good use when the time comes.  

What’s happening? Another blogger has called it quits. The Iowahippiechick has announced that she would be focusing her energies in a different direction and has said her goodbyes. I, for one, shall certainly miss her.  

For all those outdoors people and latent Robinson Crusoe’s, the Art of Manliness has posted the perfect article detailing 9 ways to start a fire without matches. I did not even know there were so many ways! There is even a way to make fire from ice! Interesting. 

The lady, Squawkfox, writes about the 10 things you must carry in your purse. The list makes great sense. I must caution that in a number of cases, it looks like it is the dregs of society who are the first to turn up in the event of any accident. And the thing foremost in their minds is to steal whatever they can. 

My friend lost his laptop, and there have been many reported cases of necklaces, watches, wallets, hand phones et al being stolen. 

That’s all folks for this week. Have a great, happy and productive weekend. 

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This week I did not participate in any Carnival. I really must get back into the groove.

Meanwhile these are the posts that piqued my mind this last week.  

Being Frugal wrote an inspiring post on the importance of tenacity and having a good coach when we work to achieve our dreams. She used her apparently not so athletic daughter’s participation in football as an example. Liz (against her mother’s expectations) is now in her 6^th season and seems to be thoroughly enjoying the game. 

Perhaps her mother’s encouragement also had a sizeable role to play in this? 

RocketC writes about his progress on a land contract for the house he has in Wisconsin. The deal fell through due to disagreements on purchase price. RocketC displays some numbers for us to suggest whether he was right in letting the potential buyer walk. I have no idea about the Wisconsin property market so I can’t be of much help.

However, we have just sold our house and the final tipping point was when we became a little more realistic about prices.  

I enjoyed Emily’s piece on achieving financial health being more of a journey rather than a series of targets to hit. I have been following this school of thought as far as my overall financial standing is concerned.  I admit there are tons of positives in making specific targets, like reducing debt by this amount by this time, spending within this limit etc.

Some of these kind of goals, I do make. But I have yet to make that specific all encompassing mother of all pf goals….”My passive income must be more than my expenses every month which is ……., by the — day of —-, 20??.” Maybe I should. 

Ron over at the Wisdom Journal has posted on how to live debt free. Reading the article, I would think that following Ron’s advice should ensure that we survive almost every contingency, including a financial tsunami.  

Rich at the Business Opportunities Weblog showcases a great business idea. BookMooch.com is a book exchange site which gives points to givers of books and allows the points to be used to get other books. Ideas like this forces one to think of parallel possibilities, perhaps with other products or maybe other countries. (BookMooch does allow for international transactions.) 

Rich is providing a sterling service by ferreting out all these kind of ideas and posting them for all of us. He also posts about marketing, service and other operational issues.  His blog should be a must read for all intending, budding and established entrepreneurs.  

Steve had taken the bold step of becoming a professional blogger.  I have been an avid follower of his blog for quite some time now and thoroughly enjoy his writing. Steve has always struck me as a man with independence right up there in his list of wants. He also appears to me as a meticulous planner and I have no doubt he will be a success. 

Rina over at Azrinaaznan.com, a fellow Malaysian blogger, is reviewing all her options now that she has completed Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. She appears to be doing a “zero base” plan and tells us that we should not be too shocked should she decide to eliminate blogging.   I have always found Rina’s chirpiness and enthusiasm infectious and hope that she works out her dream plan. And I certainly hope that she’ll continue blogging.

This is all for the week, guys. Have a great and very happy weekend!

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It has been a nice easy week. Blogging took a back seat. Though I kept up with the “Reader”, I did not do any posts.  I could really get used to this!

Meanwhile here are some of the more interesting stuff I ran into this week. 

Get Rich Slowly had a post on an “el cheapo” way to exterminate ants. I must try this method. We, too, have an ant problem. Malaysians are peculiar in welcoming certain type of ants. My wife would say, “Hey, look at this row of black ants. We are in for a windfall”, or stuff like that. 

Lately we have been having an invasion of those tiny red ants. We have been told that the heavy rains are driving them out of their homes, and they are a real pain when they sting. (Judging by the comments, it looks like lots of people have ant problems.)

I am not sure of our hardware shops carry the product JD swears by, i.e. Terro, but his advice is worth checking out. Thanks, JD. 

FMF has a thought provoking question. “What is the best way to make more money?” FMF has also displayed for us his thought process in choosing the option he wanted.  This is a question I have asked myself late last year and have decided on an answer.

It may be useful for all of us to ask ourselves this question regularly as we work on crafting our goals. 

The Million Dollar Journey chronicled the story of his childhood friend who had a passion for restaurants and was just about to launch one. His friend had also started a blog on his journey into restauranting. (Is there such a word?) 

I have a good friend who talks about his dreams in the food business. Though he is clearly passionate about the business, he has yet to make any start. Maybe the Restaurant Blog will be just the thing the doctor ordered. 

Flexo at the Consumerism Commentary asks us whether we are missing out on life by being frugal. This dilemma has lately played out in my life a little and another is also looming ahead. When my mother passed away, I just used my credit card and charged the air tickets. No looking for cheaper fares etc. The handphone bills for last month have also hit the roof due to the almost every 15 minute calls I was getting from my brothers on my location during the longer than expected bus journey. All at international roaming rates.  

I am just grateful that I could afford not having to worry about the expenses too much at this unfortunate time.  

Now we are facing my eldest girl’s graduation. Though this will be in an UK University, it is a once in a lifetime event for her and no way am I going to let this pass, frugal or no frugal. At the very least, her mother will attend this event.  

This is all for this week.

Cheers and have a great weekend, folks     

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Finally, I gave up and just clicked the outstanding pile of posts in my reader as “read”. The wonders of technology! I felt as if a major burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I don’t know how to explain this. I owed no one any obligation to read the posts. Yet, just because they were THERE, I felt as if I would be doing something wrong by not reading them.  

I must have missed a number of great articles, and that would be my loss. At least, I am back to start again. Still, I managed to catch some interesting reads.   

Steve at Brip Blap ponders over the religious influences his 2 year old son is getting whilst attending preschool. Whilst listing several plus points for the school, this seems to be the one negative weighing on his mind. Almost all the comments were for him to take it easy. Let the little fella enjoy himself and his mother (who is expecting) have a well deserved rest whilst he is in school. I also take the view that perhaps Steve is taking it a little too seriously. 

When I first read this post, I looked for the date…nope, it was not April 1^st.  Lily has declared that she is done with blogging. As a former investment banker, she is well qualified to write about finance, and she has a really neat and cool looking blog. I became an avid follower of her blog after reading her thundering piece in defense of personal finance bloggers. I wish her all the best and hope that she will reconsider her decision and perhaps blog as and when she feels like it. 

Mrs. M wrote a piece on preparing an alien abduction manual for Mr. M to follow in case she was suddenly beamed away by some aliens. Madison at the Dollar Plan has also earlier voiced out her thoughts on a “similar matter” in the form of a letter to her dear husband. This is a very interesting thought, and I’ll have to follow up on Mrs. M progress reports on her manual as it takes shape.  

This story by David on survival after leaving his high paying but incredibly stifling corporate job without another gig in hand is reassuring. I have my plans to do the same. I believe I have planned for it reasonably well and so far the plan is on track. I can almost taste the freedom now. 

Gather Little by Little wrote a very timely and useful post on 10 things not to do during an interview. As a regular interviewer he is well placed to make these statements. My second girl is now at home sending out resume after resume. She has an interview scheduled for this Saturday, and I am sure she’ll appreciate these words of advice.  

Many of the personal finance bloggers are now writing about the tough times ahead. Newspaper headlines about downsizings, food lines and even food shortages are also getting more common. Against this backdrop, Lynnae’s post on a busload of frugal tips to stretch the dollar is most timely and should be recommended reading for all. 

Many of us wonder if it would be worth paying a professional to do our taxes for us. Well, the Iowahippiechick should be voting for “Yes! You must!”, as her “rockstar” CPA unearths deductions she otherwise might have missed. Good for her. At this rate ole Uncle Sam will have a lot less to waste away in the national budget. 

This is it for this week, folks. Have a great and happy weekend. 

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The week that ended the 20^th March 2008 will be forever etched in my heart and mind.  

My mother passed away at 7.40 pm on the 19^th. My brothers, sister and I are still coming to terms with this.  My enthusiasm for a number of things seems to have waned, including blogging.

I hope that eventually everything will settle down, God Willing.  

On a brighter note, Free Money Finance kindly gave me an opportunity to guest post on his well regarded site. I wrote a piece on how I intend to quit the rat race. So far, my plan seems to be on track.  Thanks again, FMF.  

And these are the posts, I found interesting, useful or different, from the blogosphere. They are listed in no particular order.

Agentsully interviews Barry Moltz, the writer of a business book, “Bounce”. She believes this book should be a must for anyone wanting to start a business, whether or not one is afraid of failure.

I particularly liked the statement, “How Process Trumps Outcome”. The more we keep doing the right thing, the eventual outcome will be as desired, irrespective of the occasional hiccups. This is exactly what I am bent on doing now to battling the listlessness that seems to have crept into me. 

Dumb Little Man talks about what to do when we make a mistake at work. In his case, it was a BIG mistake. He outlines the steps he took, starting with the most important…accepting responsibility and taking immediate steps to remedy the mistake. This is sound advice, as too many of us look immediately towards blaming someone. (This step is, thankfully, NOT in the wise DLM’s list!)  

This guest post by Bob Roth in Vanessa’s blog has a strong message for me to pass on to my daughters. Bob reminds us that we need to excel in 3 areas to find success after college life.  Thanks, Bob for sharing.   

If a contest is ever held to summarize this extraordinary story of Mike and Mr. Cheap into one line, I think “Mike and Mr. Cheap meet up with their old buddy, Bill Gates”, may have a chance. 

Why don’t you read the story yourself and see if what I say makes sense. (Only then should you read its sequel.) 

My Two Dollars wrote about the IMF planning to use taxpayers’ money to shore up the financial system. It looks like the IMF is taking a different stand from their policies during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/1998. Then, their stand was that market forces should have their way. 

I have some bones to pick with some of the policies of my former Prime Minister. However, on his handling of the Malaysian part of the AFC, (when he went head on against the wishes of the IMF), I salute him.  

And MTD’s grandmother has sounded a dire warning. She is saying that current events seem similar to those leading to the Great Depression. 

I’ll have to revisit a post I wrote not too long ago. I hope that I am dead wrong in my predictions. 

I participated in the Carnival of Family Life and the Carnival of Personal Finance, both of which have been themed as St. Patrick’s Day Editions.  As usual, both the Carnivals have a busload of great articles. I must admit that I have yet to do proper justice to the articles presented at either of these Carnivals.  

The respective hosts, Ms. JHS at Colloquium and Ms. Lynnae at Being Frugal have been their usual superlative best as hosts. 

My mind shut down on blogging sometime on the 17^th or so, hence I must have missed many other great articles. And my Google Reader is overflowing. Hopefully by this time next week, I should be back to my normal schedule.  

Take care, and tell your loved ones that you love them. Do it now! The opportunity may be taken away from us more suddenly than we think!

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Two memorable blogging events happened for me this week. 

One has been my effort to seek help from the pf online world on answering a dilemma a good friend of mine has. I am truly amazed at the help, support and encouragement I have received over this matter. 

Lynnae did a full post to help me. A number of very constructive comments were made on my post. I also searched FMF’s archives and found a number of posts that should be relevant.    

My friend (who is away in the Middle East now) will be digesting all the replies and strategizing on how best to resolve his dilemma.  My friend BC and I thank all of you for your efforts. 

Secondly my first ever guest post.

Flexo at Consumerism Commentary graciously gave me an opportunity to showcase one of my works on his well respected blog.

Thanks again, Flexo.  

On a personal level, our country saw off our 12^th General Elections the result of which is something we have never seen in the 50 years since independence. 

My second girl is now back home, having finished her final exams. It’s   time to formally kick off the father-daughter talks on how to help her find a job that she would like. 

And these are the posts, I found interesting, useful or different, from the blogosphere this past week. They are listed in no particular order. 

Lynnae’s How to budget with an irregular income, came at the right time for me. I am a trained finance professional and yet I did our household /family budget for the first time not too long ago. I am preparing myself to “quit” the rat race and concentrate on seeking my own dreams. Lynnae’s post will be very useful in guiding me and for me to evaluate my readiness.   

Trent laid down his timetable for a typical day. Man! The weekdays are stuffed full, leaving his weekends open for his discretion. With his decision to quit his job, there may be more time. I am looking forward to the day when he tells about how he would be slotting in time for the other interests he said he wanted to do.   

Saif writes about the 7 Rules of Life he wished he knew. Perhaps we may all know the Rules unconsciously. It’s more like we never acknowledge and appreciate them. By listing out these 7 Rules, Saif has clarified our thoughts and rekindled our appreciation.

Thanks, Saif.  

Madison at My Dollar Plan writes about planning ahead for scholarships and financial aid for tertiary education.  Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has also a post on this.

This is first class advice for me. I have 3 children waiting in line, whose college education would probably be our family’s biggest expense in the horizon. Luckily I now have time to plan and plot. We missed out for the elder girls and in April 08, we shall finish payment for their studies…Phew! This has been an expensive oversight. 

JD at Get Rich Slowly shared some excerpts of personal finance advice from a 1943 literature classic. I found myself immediately transported mentally to the setting and could feel the words of wisdom etching a permanent place in my mind. 

It’s truly priceless and timeless advice. Excellent post! 

A very informative and healthy exchange of views took place on Moolanomy and Gather Little by Little on P2P lending. This P2P thing is a tool, much like credit cards and fire. We can use them carefully for good or get burnt if we use them unwisely. On the other hand, some tools may do more good by just not being easily available.  

Hop over and read them to help you make up your own mind, if you are thinking of particpating in what seems to be growing phenomenon.

Ms. SVB wrote an interesting story on some serious savers who died wealthy. It is really heartening that many of them lived so frugally but were magnanimous enough to leave their fortunes to charity.

I liked this piece by Ron at the Wisdom Journal. He has proclaimed that most successful people are FAT!. As I hope to be successful and probably would not be classified as fat, I had to read the post to find out more. And ended up a convert.   

The 143^rd Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance was most ably hosted by Quest for Four Pillars. As the blog is based in Canada, QFP has used a Canadian theme.  The Carnival has attracted lots of great posts, and QFP must have had a really tough time picking his 7 favorites.

The undisputed star of this Carnival is Tivo, a cute dog, who besides being her owner’s best friend, is also giving her financial lessons.  Hop over and go through the posts. You won’t regret the visit! 

Meanwhile, Liz, the housekeeper of This Full House was the gracious and elegant host of the Carnival of Family Life.  She has a good number of great posts on family issues from Education, Relationships and Self-Improvement, Family Finance, Parenting Tips and Advice and even Family Humor. This Carnival should be a “must read” for all parents and also for kids who want to manage and understand their parents.  

Well, this is all for this week. Best regards and have a great and enjoyable weekend.

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