Live Real, Now

The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-19

Misc

  • RT @bargainr: Life in North Korea is absolutely dreadful http://nyti.ms/dAcL26 #
  • RT @bitfs: Weekly Favorites and Gratitude!: My Favorite Posts this Week Jeff at Deliver Away Debt threw together the .. http://bit.ly/9J0gGo #
  • @LiveRealNow is giving away a copy of Delivering Happiness(@dhbook). Follow and RT to enter. http://bit.ly/czd31X # #
  • Baseless claims, biased assumptions, poor understanding of history. Don't bother. #AnimalSpirits #KeynesianCult #
  • RT @zappos: Super exciting! "Delivering Happiness" hit #1 on NY Times Bestseller list! Thanks everyone! Details: http://bit.ly/96vEfF #
  • @ericabiz Funny, we found a kitten in a box last week. Unfortunately, it was abandoned there, not playing. Now, we have a 5th cat. in reply to ericabiz #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-12

Misc

Carnivals

Misc

I spent the day consoling (read: napping with) a tonsillitis-infected little monster.

Live Real, Now was included in two carnivals last week:

Festival of Frugality #327 hosted by Budgeting with the Bushmans

Yakezie Carnival – Setting Your Clocks Edition hosted by 20 and Engaged

Thanks to all of the hosts for including my posts.

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You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

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Have a great week!

Yakezie Challenge – I’m In

Misc

After watching the Yakezie Challenge progress for 6 months and reading the recap, I’ve decided to participate. Maybe I’m a jerk for waiting until I saw the value instead of immediately jumping in, but I hope not.

The goal for stage 1 was to get to Alexa rank 200,000.  I’m currently at 533,108.  Six months ago, I was at about 1.8 million, so I’ve improved quite a bit on my own, but I’ve still got a ways to go.

So, here I am.

”The

Saturday Roundup and Updates

Misc

Picture of fries made from sweet potatoes.
Image via Wikipedia

I’ve decided to do away with the Twitter posts on Saturdays.   If you want to see the glorious wisdom that is my Twitter feed, follow me on Twitter. I’m @LiveRealNow.

Please take a moment to subscribe to Live Real, Now by email.  You get a choice between having all of the posts delivered to your inbox, or just occasional updates and deals.   Both options get my Budget Lessons, free of charge.

Now, for the part you’ve all been waiting for…

The Best Posts of the Week!

Tim Ferris is giving away a trip to anywhere in the world.  All you have to do is donate to his preferred charity for his birthday!

A Mirrored Memory reminds us that nobody feels old in their heart.

A law for everything and everything is a law?  Why can’t people just accept occasional discomfort or unpleasantness in exchange for freedom?

My wife hates sweet potatoes.  Well, she did until I introduced her to sweet-potato fries.   I wonder if I can get her to try this recipe?  It’s missing marshmallows, though.  That’s a definite culinary failure when it comes to sweet-potatoes.

The University of Georgia is offering a free home-study food-preservation course.

Carnivals I’ve particpated in:

The Carnival of Personal Finance at NerdWallet has included Beat the Check.

The Festival of Frugality at Modern Tightwad has included The 10-Step Saving Action Plan.

Hypocrisy

Finance, Life

a "low profile" sole provides a grea...
Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes people make choices for a variety of reasons entirely outside of my knowledge and understanding.  Yet somehow, I still manage to be dismissive and occasionally derogatory.

What I have come to realize is that there are numerous reasons for making apparent bad decisions.   It is easy, though often not correct, to dismiss these supposed mistakes as character flaws, without taking the time to fully understand the decision-making process.

For example, I am usually quick to point out the folly of gadgets.  Odd, that, for a gadget geek.  So many gadgets are merely ego purchases, bought because the are “cool”.  Obviously a waste of money.   A smartphone serves no practical purpose for an average person, right? What if that person’s life is so difficult to manage that a calendar sync including both spouses and multiple calendars will allow a family to make sure every kid gets to every activity on time?  Or he has a side business that is easier to manage with ubiquitous email?  Or even a strong urge to limit the number of items carried every day?  A phone/mp3 player is fewer gadgets than separate appliances.

Another example is a close friend who started running several months ago, to be met with questions of why somebody would run without being chased.  It’s easier to play on the internet or ride a bike, right?  And the special running shoes?  Silly.  Except running is cheaper than biking and running shoes beat knee surgery any day.   Running on the street is more effective than a treadmill, since you can’t step off after running two miles away from your house.

So here I sit, a runner with a crackberry and plate full of crow.

“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins.”  Indeed.