Reading Around The Blog-o-sphere

Posts I read today…

Punny Money has an article about a class action lawsuit against DeBeers.   My husband and I spent about $2k on an  engagement ring  five years ago.   According to the chart in the article, that would entitle us to about $640.   Hmmm.   I wonder if we’d still qualify now that we sold the ring?      

Jenn at Frugal Upstate has put together a post that summarizes her most interesting/useful posts, and it’s worth a stop at her blog to get some good frugal tips.   I always like when things are in nice easy lists that don’t require lots of searching.

NCN has a great post that hits very close to home for me – he and his wife are expecting a baby in April, and he’s written about the financial ins and outs of the whole baby experience.   As always, he’s planning ahead, to make sure that as few expenses as possible are “unexpected.”   I don’t keep up with all my favorite blogs as much as I’d like to, and I hadn’t read the previous baby posts he wrote – so congratulations NCN and family!!

JW has discovered the value in saying no sometimes – life is all about choices, and something’s gotta give somewhere.   Good for him for putting his foot down and saying no when his sister asked for money.   Obviously we should do whatever we can to help others whenever possible.   But JW has his own family to worry about, and it sounds like his sister was a habitual offender in the asking for money department.   But it’s always easier said than done to deny financial help when asked, so kudos to JW.  

FreeMoneyFinance has a great post about how he and his wife have lived without a mortgage for the last decade.   He wrote it as a guest post on Get Rich Slowly, so you might have already seen it there, but it was new to me.   My husband and I are on a mission to pay off our mortgage early, although it will probably take us another ten years (plus the five years we’ve already been working on it).   I really don’t care what the Wall Street pundits say about financial benefits of having a mortgage or the returns that can be earned by investing extra payments instead of paying off mortgage principal.   I know that we’ll feel better when we own our home free and clear, so that’s the goal.   But we do make retirement savings a major priority too, which is why it will take us at least another ten years to wipe out the mortgage.