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Finances & Money

Weekly Roundup: Laboring All Day Edition

September 1, 2008
By Cleverdude
- Leave a Comment

Well, it’s now September, and only 1 week until my fall class starts up. And specifically today is Labor Day, but does that mean I’m supposed to work or not work? I couldn’t remember, so I worked on my (hopefully) last retaining wall. It’s a 31-footer along the front-side of the house that will take about 124 bricks, or about $250. But I couldn’t complete the wall because I cleared out Home Depot’s stock of red castle wall bricks. I’m fine with that though, because I was able to jump into the pool to cool off.

So let’s check out the articles from the past week that caught my eye.

From the Personal Finance Network:

  • Squawkfox likes to surround herself with excellence, which I totally agree with.
  • MoneyNing tells us how our perception keeps us poor.
  • Canadian Capitalist questions whether BRICs belong in your portfolio. If you’re wondering, BRIC stands for the emergins markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
  • Four Pillars wonders whether he can create a garbage stockpiling business. I think we might need to be closer to the apocalypse to make this idea feasible.
  • Blunt Money gives her own view of buying your kid a car.

From My PF Blog Reader List:

  • The Simple Dollar warns about splurging as a reward for “being good”.
  • Kicking Tires (a car blog) educated me on how the U.S. could become a gasoline net exporter.
  • Brip Blap scared me with the statistics on the number of books adults read. People simply need to read more.
  • My Two Dollars finally found a place where people don’t care about the car they drive.
  • Gather Little by Little identifies teen money management mistakes.
  • The Frugal Duchess learned a lot from a mother letting her handicapped child get up on his own.
  • Frugal Dad took his family on a frugal safari. Goes to show that there ARE fun things to do in your own area!

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About Cleverdude

Mike founded CleverDude.com in June 2006 while working as a technical analyst in the Washington, D.C. area. A Penn State graduate, he built the site as a side project alongside a white-collar career that included earning a master’s degree and multiple promotions.

In five years he wrote nearly 1,300 articles on personal finance and life lessons drawn from his own experience. The blog grew from a hobby into a recognized early voice in the personal-finance community and generated meaningful revenue. He sold the site in 2010, continued as a guest contributor through 2015, and returned in 2023 after further career advances, paying off his home, and extensive travel.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. David says

    September 1, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    Thanks for the mention Clever Dude – can we come on over and jump in the pool too?

    Reply
  2. Steve says

    September 5, 2008 at 6:50 am

    Thanks for the mention!

    Reply

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