I was a bit bummed because I ended up having to work last weekend! It was pretty much a wash and I didn’t get anything done, which means I have a lot planned for this weekend… I’ve already started to get some tasks out of the way but the next two days will be busy for sure. If you have a bit more free time than I’m planning to have, you should check out these awesome posts below.

Planting Our Pennies has good news! Most people are self-absorbed too… enough said!

Club Thrifty ran into a similar problem as I had in the past with billing errors causing temporary insanity. That’s why you should always review your bills and statements!

Afford Anything shares her view on vacation rental properties… owning them that is. I think I’d have to side with her, and I LIVE in a vacation rental city!

Narrow Bridge Finance debates whether or not to pay his mortgage off early… and comes to a sensible conclusion. Not that one I’ve made, but still sensible.

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff is glad the $500 she spent on surgery for her pet turned out to be worth it. We’ve wondered the same thing when we were considering allergy shots for our dog. Luckily our results were a positive experience too!

That’s it for this week, unless you wanted to check out some of these awesome carnivals I was included in over the last couple of weeks.

Finance Carnival for Young Adults, Festival of Frugality, Lifestyle Carnival, Yakezie Carnival, Carnival of Retirement, Another Yakezie Carnival, Another Finance Carnival for Young Adults and Carnival of Money Pros.

I always say things are going to be calmer in the next few weeks and they never are… Another busy weekend is in store for me this weekend, but I still wanted you to have a few good articles to read this week!

Consumerism Commentary discusses the possibility that higher home ownership might lead to higher unemployment.

Retire By 40 discusses the biggest problem with early retirement as he sees it.

iHeartBudgets talks about his free vacation on his credit card points.

Planting Our Pennies wants to know if they should close their home equity line of credit early or not.

Free Money Finances discusses how he changed his cable and communication providers to save money.

Quick and to the point this week. It’s movie night and I’m on my laptop half watching the movie! Whoops!

Michelle from Making Sense of Cents inspires us all with yet another stellar income update for April.

My Money Design examines whether or not the dividend payout ratio can help you pick a good stock.

Len Penzo bought a new, yes I said N-E-W, car! Congrats Len! Enjoy it Well deserved.

Joe at Retire By 40 explains the pros and cons of living in a small home.

That’s it for this week… unless you wanted to check out some of these awesome carnivals that included some of my posts this week:

Carnival of Personal Finance, Carnival of Financial Planning, Lifestyle Canrival, Financial Carnival for Young Adults and Carnival of Financial Camaraderie.

It is starting to be consistently warm down here in sunny Florida! The forecasted highs for where I live is in the high 70′s and low 80′s for the next week and I’m psyched! It’s too bad the water isn’t warm yet… but it will be soon enough! I think I hear a pool or beach calling my name once it gets a bit warmer.

Squirrelers had an interesting insight that everyone has a price. In particular, they look at how much a car dealership would have to pay to get them to come in a do a test drive.

Kathleen had a guest post at See Debt Run about life after debt. We hope to be there sometime in the next couple years… well, except for the mortgages.

Speaking of debt… Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance wants to know if people should pay their significant other’s debt. I say yes in most cases but only after you’re married. If it is consumer debt though (other than a car loan) it might be a different story. I don’t think I’d be likely to marry anyone with crazy credit card debt though so it isn’t any issue for me.

Planting our Pennies came to the realization that it’s too easy to buy stuff after they realized their cat could easily charge up a ton of money in a hotel. I kid you not!

Finally, our friend J Money at Budgets are Sexy unfortunately forgot to make his estimated tax payment this quarter. If you have to make these payments go put a reminder in whatever calendar you use most RIGHT NOW! You’re welcome

I’m off to get some work done this weekend so when the beach is ready for me, I’m ready for the beach!

That’s it for this week… unless you wanted to check out some of these awesome carnivals that included some of my posts this week:

Carnival of Retirement and Carnival of Personal Finance.

It has been a very busy and eventful week in our house and I’ll share details as soon as I can. Nothing major, but it definitely kept us busy. Let’s get to highlighting some posts this week.

Retire By 40 explains how people can get to have $3,000,000 in their IRAs. If you’re wondering why that is significant you should check out my post about capping tax advantaged retirement accounts at $3,000,000 and whether it is a good or bad idea.

Bargaineering explains the difference between a termination and a layoff. If you don’t know the difference I suggest you educate yourself through their well written and straight to the point post.

Consumerism Commentary gives us 5 responsible ways to spend your tax refund. If you filed last minute AND are going to get a refund I suggest you look at their post for some inspiration on how to use it.

My Money Design tells us when we can retire and that it all depends on how badly we want to retire. He even backs it up with numbers!

Finally, The Free Financial Advisor shares three steps to an iron-clad protection plan. Everyone needs to have one in place and after the events of the last week, it might be the reality check we all needed to plan these details.

That’s it for this week… unless you wanted to check out some of these awesome carnivals that included some of my posts this week:

Carnival of Retirement, Carnival of Personal Finance and Carnival of Money Pros.