Things I Think I Think (and Personal Finance Links)

Let’s dig right in this week…

• Is this Getting Old? – I think I’m curious if people are enjoying this format or if it’s growing tiresome. I’m trying to mix in some personal thoughts so that you have an idea of who I am and where I’m coming from when I talk about money. At the same time, I’m trying to give some money advice.
• Clark Howard – I have over 90 episodes of Clark Howard on my DVR. Most are repeats because the guide description for all episodes seem to be the same. I should probably just the delete the ones that were taped at 3:00AM… chances are they are re-runs. I’m in the process of spending a couple of hours going through them including watching them and taking careful notes. I’d suggest you do the same, but then you might not come here.
• Fleming’s for our Anniversary – I wrote about Flemiing’s Steak House before. My wife and I decided to back to the well as we did last year for our anniversary. This time we did a little twist on saving money. We bought a gift card at Costco at a discount. We booked our reservation via OpenTable for 8PM, which gave us 1,0000 points (I think nearly a free meal alone, but don’t hold me to that). We showed up before 7PM to take advantage of their happy hour special. (Is think a $6 Grey Goose martini counts as a special, right?) We then took advantage of their Sunday Prime Rib Prix Fixe deal ($30 for three courses). At the end of the night, they gave us a free cake and some chocolate truffles to bring home – since we had dessert in our three courses. I know they made money on us, but we got a great experience for a good price. We came walking out there thinking, “Damn it feels good to be a gangsta”
• HP Touchpad Commercial featuring Lea Michele from Glee – This can only help my chances of convincing my wife that we should have an HP Touchpad in our lives:
  
  That’s probably one of the best commercials for a tablet device out there. I’m just disappointed I couldn’t find an official one to embed.
• Dinner with The Digerati Life – This weekend my wife and I had dinner with Silicon Valley Blogger (from The Digerati Life), her husband, and their friend. We talked a little shop – blogging and played a long game of Settler’s of Catan. Though she’ll say differently, I know I had the by far the strongest position to start the game. Unfortunately, that lead to me having the robber on me through most of the crucial opening phase of the game. I think I counted that 6 straight times it was moved back and forth amongst my settlements. If these last few sentences mean nothing to you, get thee to a game store and buy Settlers of Catan.
• Google is Being Evil – This weekend, I learned, from the aforementioned SVB, that Google is shutting down accounts with people that use obvious pseudonyms in Google+. I quickly switched away from my obvious brand, Lazy Man, that was likely to get shut down to my pseudonym, Corey Whitlaw. Unfortunately, this infected my Gmail account and now people receive email from me as Corey Whitlaw – which is not what they are used to seeing. I’m guessing that many won’t read my email now. Google has often said that it tries to do “what’s best for users/readers”, but is off the mark in this case. Worst part, there’s little transparency and no real appeals process in place.
• Looking at a Contract Job – For the first time in awhile, I’ve been thinking that it might be nice to get a contract job where I work for someone else. It would likely be for good money and be a change of pace. I’ve got a couple of ideas, but nothing concrete enough to go into. If you happen to run a Silicon Valley company and need a proven person with top blogging skills (and technical skills to match), perhaps drop me a line through the contact form above.
• NFL is Back on Schedule – I’m excited to see the NFL get back to work. As a Patriots’ fan I have known for a long time they are in an era of having the best owner, coach, quarterback in the game (that should trigger some heated comments). However, I didn’t realize that the Patriots essentially saved football. Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback: “Several from the players’ side singled out Patriots owner Bob Kraft for his role in getting momentum going when there was very little last spring. As one of the key members of the players’ side told me: “He told us, ‘I’m not going to hope either side makes a bad deal, because then our relationship suffers, and then the whole business suffers. And my family’s going to own this team for years and years. We want to see it healthy for both sides.’ That registered with us. He’s a real deal-maker.” Nicely Bob Kraft.
• Goodbye to Myra Kraft – Transitioning from the above note about Bob Kraft, it seems appropriate to mention the death of his wife Myra last week. It’s hard to overstate what she did for Boston through various charity organizations. It was probably more than a decade ago, but I had the opportunity to go their home and meet them (along with a bunch of other people of course). I can’t remember why I did not take advantage of it. I’ve been kicking myself for some time over that.
• Amy Winehouse – I feel like it makes sense to say a few words about the death of Amy Winehouse this weekend. However, I’m not sure what to say except that it was probably the least surprising death imaginable. I would have probably put her up there with Zsa Zsa Gabor.

And now for the personal finance links:

Money Writers:

• Brip Blap wonders is college worth it? (part 1)
• Digerati Life compares college graduate vs high school grad: who’ll end
  
• up with more?
• Frugal Dad shares 5 romantic and frugal vacation ideas.
• Generation X Finance offers five no-cost ways to spend your birthday.
• Million Dollar Journey on estate planning – where is your money going?
• Money Smart Life writes up the best hotels for the lowest rates.
• My Dollar Plan blogs OptionsHouse review.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary writes up some (useful) freebies everyone can get.

Best PF Posts:

• Free Money Finance posts would you get plastic surgery to improve your career?
• Free Money Wisdom says survive Vegas without going broke.
• Don’t Mess With Taxes posts Wisconsin city overcharges elderly widow’s property taxes for 24 years.
• Wealth For Teens shares thrifty travel tips – how to get more bang for your buck!
• Get Rich Slowly with ask the readers: financial success stories?
• Get business clothing on a budget at Bargaineering.
• My Journey to Millions asks should you ever go past your debt limit?
• Money Crush on what separates the dreamers from the doers.
• The Smarter Wallet on one pot cooking for easy, delicious and cheap dishes.
• The Simple Dollar goes over side businesses for stay-at-home parents.
• Bill Eater on appliances: repair or replace?