Independence Day Roundup!

July 2, 2011

It’s been a good week so far. Three days of productive work at the office, and two days vacation with relatives in Lake St. Louis. I have a nice perch by a window overlooking the lake, a quiet house, and a nice cup of Bustelo Cuban coffee. Looking forward to BBQ’s and golfing and sailing (I stink at both, just opportunities to learn). The Alexa is for the first time in many weeks on a downward path, from a high of 162,900 to a current 160,797 (you’re going down!). I’ve been doing quite a bit of early-morning reading and surfing, before heading on the lake. Speaking of lakes, by far and away my favorite post of the week came from Sandy @ First Gen American: Poor Vs. Rich At The Lake. Hope you enjoy the roundup.

GREECE

The ongoing debt situation in Greece is going from ludicrous to dangerous. Were we to run our home finances the same the same way the Greek government and the EU are managing that cesspool of an economy, we’d be laughed right out of the Yakezie. We’re in debt way past our eyeballs, so let’s get another credit card. Methinks the Greeks need to spend some quality time with Dave Ramsey.

Sam @ Financial Samurai: Will Greece Default and Blow Up The World?

Charles Hugh Smith @ Of Two Minds: Greece is a Kleptocracy

INVESTING and DIVIDENDS

Beating the Index: 2011 Global Petroleum Survey: Top North American Jurisdictions for Oil and Gas Investment

Balance Junkie: What’s Next For The Markets?

Invest It Wisely: Three Reasons I Squirrel Away My Money

Passive Income Earner: Financial Freedom at 45

Dividend Guy Blog: Investing Myths Debunked Regarding Inflation And How To Beat it With A Shovel

Balance Junkie asks What’s Next for the Markets?

GOOD EATS – Barbeque and the 4^th of July

So what do we do on the 4^th of July except eat and drink and watch fireworks?

A cautionary tale from Money Beagle: Grill The Burgers…Not The Grill!

Our Jouney to Zero in the meantime whips up some crazy-good-looking BBQ chicken sandwiches. Post comes complete with pictures and cost breakdown.

Finally, Eleonora at Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino has a great recipe for Zucchine Alla Parmigiana. A very simple way to take care of all that surplus summer squash.

LEISURE AND VACATION AND DIY HACKS

As we celebrate on this long weekend, spare some thoughts and well-wishes for Molly and Michael @ Molly On Money, who are watching towering columns of smoke as wildfires in NM get ever bigger. No, My House Has Not Burned Down Yet

Kris @ Everyday Tips and Thoughts presents 15 random vacation thoughts. I’ve been known to raid the room cleaner’s cart for towels too.

Suba @ Wealth Informatics writes a nice article on our many consumer choices: If you have a choice, how many choices would you like?

Paula @ Afford Anything shares some good thoughts on managing weight and finances

Finally, Lindy @ Minting Nickels shows off her décor-fu by hacking some painter’s dropcloths into great looking curtains.

Sustainable PF has a great post on installing a low flow toilet.

GARDENING

Niki @ Debt Free by 30 shares pictures of her raised bed garden. Zukes and Cukes!

Hunter @ Financially Consumed posits the question, can you save money by planting trees? Why yes, you can. Plant Trees At Home and Save Green

REAL ESTATE

Ken @ Spruce up Your Finances has a relative that went from a renter to homeowner in My Sister Just Bought A Newly Built Home: The Good and The Bad

For those of you with big real estate dreams and capitalizing on short sales, RB40 provides some cold hard numbers: 4 Plex Short Sale Experience So Far…

That’s all for today. For all you US readers, hoist a cold one to celebrate Independence from those wacky Brits! If not for the struggles of the revolutionaries, we’d be eating fish and chips with mushy peas instead of BBQ ribs and brats (not that there’s anything wrong with delicious fish and chips – just not on the Fourth).

27 Responses to Independence Day Roundup!

retirebyforty on July 2, 2011 at 9:18 am

Thanks for the mention. Have a great weekend!
retirebyforty recently posted..June Blog Update, Statistic, and Income

Hunter on July 2, 2011 at 9:20 am

Awesome. Thank you and happy 4th of July!
Hunter recently posted..Yakezie Jiyuu

Molly On Money on July 2, 2011 at 9:36 am

Thanks for the link! We got our first rain (since January!) a few nights ago. Usually people are running to get out of the rain but that night people were standing in it soaking it all up!
Happy 4th!
Molly On Money recently posted..No, My House Has Not Burned Down…yet

- 101 Centavos on July 2, 2011 at 11:54 am
  
  Super – was it enough rain to help w/ the fires?
  
  - Molly On Money on July 5, 2011 at 8:59 am
    
    A little. The rain will prevent new fires.
    Molly On Money recently posted..40 Something Molly
    
Lindy Mint on July 2, 2011 at 10:30 am

Thanks so much for including my decor-fu link. Enjoy the lake and happy 4th!
Lindy Mint recently posted..DIY Friday: Drop Everything for these Curtains

Financial Samurai on July 2, 2011 at 10:47 am

Happy 4th man! Don’t eat too much like I do!
Financial Samurai recently posted..Google Updates PageRank And The Yakezie Rises

- 101 Centavos on July 3, 2011 at 7:10 am
  
  The likely outcome will be gross over-consumption, followed by several weeks of monkish penance and abstinence.
  
Financial Samurai on July 2, 2011 at 10:48 am

BTW, remind us what your Twitter handle is again? Perhaps put up a Twitter follow button on the home page, and that will help us click and then tweet when the tweetmeme button doesn’t retweet using your handle. thx!
Financial Samurai recently posted..Google Updates PageRank And The Yakezie Rises

- 101 Centavos on July 3, 2011 at 7:10 am
  
  Sam, thanks for the kick in the pants. Need to get that done for sure.
  
Spruce Up Your Finances on July 2, 2011 at 12:57 pm

Thanks for the mention. Enjoy the 4th of July weekend!
Spruce Up Your Finances recently posted..Need A Down Payment For Your House? Your City or County May Have Free Money For You

everyday tips on July 2, 2011 at 1:34 pm

Sounds like you are having a very nice time 101!

Let me know if you want a gardening pic still. My tomatoes and such have grew quite a bit while I was gone!

Thanks for the link! Sounds like I have a lot of reading to catch up on.
everyday tips recently posted..15 Random Vacation Thoughts

- 101 Centavos on July 3, 2011 at 7:11 am
  
  You’re still in time for the gardening pic. Happy 4th!
  
  - Everyday Tips on July 3, 2011 at 8:36 am
    
    Sent it last night!
    Everyday Tips recently posted..15 Random Vacation Thoughts
    
Invest It WIsely on July 2, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Laughed out of the Yakezie for running our finances like Greece? Probably

We just celebrated Canada Day over here, thanks for the mention!
Invest It WIsely recently posted..Weekend Reading: Thank You Edition

Beating The Index on July 3, 2011 at 8:20 am

Enjoy your long weekend 101!

I had too many burgers these past 2 days, time to live off salad next week

Thanks for the mention.
Beating The Index recently posted..Weekend Edition: Canada Day and a Buyout Rumor!

- 101 Centavos on July 4, 2011 at 6:40 am
  
  You and me both, BTI. The level of gluttony has been epic!
  
Kellen on July 3, 2011 at 1:23 pm

Mmm, I’m still remembering how good our Memorial Day burgers were, and now we get to do it all over again!

Greece is ridiculous, and they’ve been living like that for so long that they don’t get that it’s NOT someone else’s responsibility to care for them. Except that instead of Greece taking care of them, now the EU has to take over…
Kellen recently posted..Page rank update and thank you referrers!

- 101 Centavos on July 4, 2011 at 6:10 am
  
  I see in the news that Greece got tossed another lifeline. Don’t see how this can go on indefinitely.
  
Niki on July 3, 2011 at 1:44 pm

Thanks for the link. We are going to eat summer squash tonight from the garden. So excited.
Niki recently posted..Two Down, Two to Go

Sustainable PF on July 3, 2011 at 2:29 pm

Thanks for including our how to on toilet installation! And oldie but a goodie – and tons of water savings to be had.
Sustainable PF recently posted..Destroying Our Mortgage Debt

Paula @ AffordAnything.org on July 4, 2011 at 12:55 am

thanks for the mention! Happy 4th!
Paula @ AffordAnything.org recently posted..Property and the Pursuit of Happiness

Travis @DebtChronicles on July 4, 2011 at 7:06 am

Thanks for including a link to my post at OurJourneyToZero! Are You on Twitter? I couldn’t find a button to follow you! Have a great weekend!

- 101 Centavos on July 5, 2011 at 6:18 am
  
  Hi Travis, Working on the Twitter button. Stay tuned.
  
Barb Friedberg on July 4, 2011 at 3:16 pm

Enjoy your wonderful time at the lake. There is nothing like water to soothe the soul. It makes everything seem serence. Happy 4th.
Barb Friedberg recently posted..HAPPY JULY 4th – Secrets to Happiness

- 101 Centavos on July 5, 2011 at 6:18 am
  
  Thanks Barb – there’s been nary a breath of wind to go sailing, but everything else has been fantastic. Hope your days on the road are going well also.
  
Diy Friday: The Furniture Cheat | Minting Nickels on November 4, 2011 at 7:07 am

[...] *Decor-fu term courtesy of 101 Centavos [...]