I see from all the TV promos for new shows that the Fall TV season is about to begin.  Which is too bad because it feels like summer was just starting.

As a kid I remember that all my favorite TV shows would end with a thrilling spring finale with a killer cliffhanger.  That way I knew summer had started. The summer would be full of reruns and in the fall all my favorite shows would come back on.

I don’t know about you, but I hate cliffhangers!  And by hate, I mean that I secretly love them.   In my recent library post, I announced my affinity for the TV show Lost.  It seems like every episode ends with a cliffhanger.

I hate it (I love it!!!)

They are so frustrating.  Just when you think everything is going to be wrapped up nicely…BAM! Someone gets shot, drowned, drugged, lost, found, kidnapped, or a million other crazy things that you didn’t see coming.

Keeping us in anticipation for the next installment.

That is the idea I’m shooting for with this round up.  The following were my favorite summer reads that had us coming back for more:

• J Money @ Budgets are Sexy had a two part series on the Confessions of an Online Poker Player.  I really liked these posts.  I’ve never been much of a card shark myself, but I really liked Rounders, and one time while traveling I watched a World Series of Poker Marathon. So these posts brought me right back to the fantasy of making it as a professional gambler.
• Smithee @ Consumerism Commentary asked whether or not Is it Ever Okay to Steal Entertainment. He then revisited the idea a week later. My wife makes her living taking pictures, so we do our best to honor copyrights, because we like it when people honor hers.  But we live in a right click world, so this can be tricky at times.
• JD @ Get Rich Slowly held a two week tryout for potential staff writers. As much as I love GRS, I really liked the 2 weeks of auditions.  That probably speaks for the part of me that loves competition.  After it was done, I kept waiting for the results, “Who was it going to be…”   Told you I hate Cliffhangers.
• The King of the two-parters is Bill Simmons, ESPN’s The Sports Guy. He ended summer with a two part column about a trip he and his friends took to Vegas.  Good times!  Here is Part One & Part Two.
• Brainy @ Pants in a Can took time out from his Mommy blog(j/k) to describe the process of getting some trees removed.  It ended up being a rather interesting five part series.  Check it out:  Part 1, Part 2, part 3, part 4, & part 5.    My favorite was the video & pics in Part 4.

To really hammer the “To be Continued…” point home, allow me to bookend my summer posts with Pearl Jam.

Back in June I gave you some investing advice.  That investment is already paying dividends! Pearl Jam’s new album will be out soon (I’ve already pre-ordered my copy.  The best $13.99 I ever spent!!!)  They currently are on a mini-tour and have released a new video:

At least this way you can’t say that the summer of 2009 didn’t rock!

Until next time,
-DD

Original content from The Happy Rock: DD’s End of Summer Round Up, “To be Continued…Edition”

Here are a few of the best article’s from a year ago on The Happy Rock that are still very relevant:

1. The Myth Of The Bi-Monthly Mortgage
2. Debt Is The Symptom – Fix The Problem
3. Breakdown – Is Triple A(AAA) Worth The Money?
4. The $400 Phil and Ted’s Stroller – Dissecting The Purchase (65 great user experience comments and counting)

A big thanks to the April Blog referrers:

1. Smart Spening (Karen Datko) @ MSN
   
2. Wisebread
3. Pants In A Can
4. ABCs of Investing
5. Mighty Bargain Hunter
6. Moolanomy
7. FIRE Finance
8. Ask Mr. Credit Card
9. Frugal Babe
10. Frugal Homemaker Plus

Original content from The Happy Rock: April Happy Rock Roundup

Presenting the Carnival of Top Personal Finance Posts #1 complete with a brand new voting widget.

Please consider sharing the poll with your readers. The more people that vote the more likely the best content will be chosen the winner. Use the following code to place the current Top PF Blog Posts Carnival in a post of your own :

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TopBlogPosts.net is a unique spin on the blog carnival that is designed to:

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The carnival accepts submissions through BlogCarnival.com and the host will select only the top few posts from the submissions and from around the web to be included in a poll that will be shareable between blogs. Readers will then select the best article of the week. The winner will be given a Blog Topper award badge(see picture) to display on their article page. The site is currently in Beta release phase, so please contact TopBlogPosts.net or follow TopBlogPosts.net on Twitter with any issues or suggestions. Of particular note, the voting widget may not display correctly on some blogs. Let us know so we can see if the problem can be corrected.

Finally, here is the Carnival of Top Personal Finance Posts homepage for those that are interested.

Original content from The Happy Rock: Carnival of Top PF Posts #1

Not too long ago I wrote a post asking whether PF blog readers were looking for perfection or honesty? Just from the few comments I received it seems readers say they value honesty more than perfection.

Which is good news for us bloggers because it’s a lot easier to be honest than perfect.

We got to see this same question answered on a larger scale when Trent @ The Simple Dollar wrote about buying a new car, a 2009 Prius. And while quite a few comments admired Trent’s honesty it looks like a lot more were expecting perfection.

Knowing that TSD has one of the higher PF blog readerships, most of you are probably already up to speed on the situation.  But in case you don’t follow that blog here’s what happened:

• Trent was in the market for a car.
• He spent a long time doing research.
• He crunched the numbers.
• He bought a 2009 Toyota Prius (w/financing).
• He got a lot of grief on his blog.

I have to admit that I was surprised by his decision.

I also have to admit I enjoyed reading the comments that were blasting him.  I think this was in part because I’m usually on the receiving end of that situation, so it was fun to see somebody else take a hit once in a while.

But after actually reading Trent’s detailed analysis of this purchase, I had no problem with it.   Here’s why:

1. He stated they were looking for a commuter car with great fuel economy. –   it seems to me that the Prius is right near the top of every fuel economy chart I’ve seen.
2. He said they had enough in savings to pay for the whole thing. – A long time ago I asked what people thought of interest free financing offers.  To me it looks like Trent would be a fan of interest free offers, since his savings gets him 3% and his loan is at 4%.  A few days later he posted his own thoughts on this subject.
3. The car is cool - A friend of my wife drives a Prius and my wife is always telling me how cool it is.  Who doesn’t like cool things?
4. I don’t really give a darn. – Ok, clearly I do since I left a comment and I’m writing about it now.  But what I mean to say is that it is Trent’s life and he’ll have to live with the consequences of his decision, not me.   Personally I think one of the worst financial decisions I’ve made was buying our current van .  That is because it was more than we could afford. Somehow I doubt that Trent will feel the same way (since he’s sitting on a pile of cash).

While it’s true that you can find posts on TSD about how great it feels to pay cash for cars, there is also a post from last April where Trent gave a rational for not paying in full.

Also, remember that what you have saved for a down payment isn’t necessarily what you have to pay. If you have 40% saved up and can get an astoundingly low interest rate with only paying 20%, you don’t have to cough up that extra 20% – keep it for your emergency fund or for saving for the next car you’ll have to buy.

I understand that people disagree with Trent’s method, but the manner in which they expressed it surprised me.  I couldn’t believe how many people said that he’d lost all credibility with them.

His tips are no longer useful to them…REALLY?

One thought I had is that they came down on him so hard because he is successful at what he does. It’s fun to put people on a pedestal to then knock them off of it.   For example, not too long ago Frugal Dad detailed his decision to go back to extended cable service after a year of basic cable.  He got 70 comments, very few agreeing with his decision, but none of them were shocked or outraged either.

So I pose the question yet again, this time without me in the center of it. Do we PF readers prefer honesty or perfection?

Until next time,

-DD

Original content from The Happy Rock: The Simple Dollar’s New Financed Car

Wisebread’s Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs @ Wisebread – The Happy Rock is #27

Does Debt Control Your Life? @ Master Your Card

Is Saving 15% For Retirement Enough? @ Sense To Save

The Cost Of Watching Television @Frugal Dad

Starting Seeds Indoor :  Jumpstart Your Garden @Get Rich Slowly

Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball @ Moolanomy – An introduction and list of tools

How Making Multiple Payments Can Speed Up Your Debt Reduction @ No Credit Needed

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community In Action – Big Snow Edition

Teaching Toddlers about Money: The Pebble and the Dollar received editor’s pick at 96th Carnival of Money Stories @ Funny Money

How To Create A Zero-Budget @ No Credit Needed

Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps: Step 2 – Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball @ Bible Money Matters

Emotional Bank Accounts and Valetine’s Ideas @ Gather Little By Little

$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit @ FiveCentNickel

USPS Postage Stamp Increase To $0.44 on May 11th @ Kingdom First Mom – Stock up on Forever stamps

Killing Scared Cows Book Giveaway and Review @ FreeFromBroke

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community In Action – It’s V-Day

Best Finance Posts Of 2008 @ Darwin’s Finance

Save Credit Card Interest By Paying Early @ The Consumerist

How We Shed $200 From Our Monthly Grocery Bill @ Passive Dad

7 Simple Ways To Start Improving Your Life @ Gather Little By Little

The Behavior Gap: Pyschology Of Investing @ Get Rich Slowly

18 Everyday Hacks For Cooking From Scratch @ Simple Mom – I like 8, 10, 11

Is Frugality The Anti-Stimulus? @ Frugal Dad

Job Hunting Costs Are Tax Deductible @ Bargaineering

Free Game Downloads From Amazon @ Thrifty Jinxy

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community In Action – Ponzi Economy Edition

Frugal People Focus Too Much On Outgo @ Frugal Dad – Both are important, but income is often overlooked since it usually takes more energy.

A Good Way To Fund Mortgage Lending @ Wisebread – Very nice accountability in this system, something the US system was severely lacking with the onset of mortgage backed securities where investors carried all of the risk that lenders need to carry.

Do You Ever Plan To Really Retire? @ Bible Money Matters – I don’t!

How To Become A Location Independent Family @ BripBlap

How To Show Love Without Buying Stuff @ Almost Frugal

Debt Reduction Update – January 2009 @ How I Save Money – Keep plugging away people!

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community in Action – New President Edition

20 Things That Rock About Being Debt Free @ No Credit Needed – I love reasons to get out of debt list.

10 Reasons To Be Debt Free @ Debt Free Destiny

The Pointless Pursuit Of More, When Is Enough Enough? @ Simple Mom

It’s Time To Get Hardcore Frugal @ Prime Time Money

Jumpstart Your Emergency Fund and Debt Reduction With A Part Time Job @ Green Panda Treehouse – Some great job ideas!

Preparing For Your Job Interview @ Silicon Valley Blogger

This Year Resolve To Forgive @ The Saver Queen – You have to look forward not back

Do I have To Pay Taxes For Selling Stuff On Ebay @ Moolanomy – People often have misconceptions about selling their junk on eBay.

Common Myth – The Little Just Can’t Get Ahead @ Bible Money Matters

How To Grow A Blog With A Zero Dollar Marketing Budget @ Side Hustle Blogging (New Blog From Frugal Dad) – I love debt free business advice.

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community In Action – Stay Warm Edition

What’s Your Why? The Importance Of Finding Meaning In Your Life – @ Get Rich Slowly via Her Every Penny Counts – I couldn’t agree more.   Passion and meaning are the things that carry us, motivate us, and bring true success.  Here is a related THR post on goals vs. passion from a while back.

The Mythical Thin Wallet @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity – I can be a messy walleter, but I carry it in the ‘man bag’.  I do like the thought of giving stuff a good home outside of your wallet and planning rather than trying to use the wallet to be a just in case catch all.

New Year’s Resolution Workshop #3: Save for a Down Payment @ The Simple Dollar

Credit Card Reform – Be Careful What You Wish For – @ Debt Goal

Marriage and Money – 5 Tips @ Scordo

2008 Best Personal Finance Posts @ Green Panda Treehouse

A Simple Life Is A Good Life – I Believe Less Is More @ My Super-Charged Life

Original content from The Happy Rock: Community In Action – Christmas Week Edition