2011 has been a great year for me. I started this personal finance blog, my third blog, and it has grown faster than either of the others, thanks mostly to the Yakezie network and the amazing people I’ve met over there.

I don’t do blog round ups as often as I feel like I should. I promise to try and get better about that in 2012. But what that means is that there have been some great posts this year, posts I’ve loved, that I haven’t linked to in a round up, and for whatever reasons, they didn’t spark a follow up post here.

So, here are 11 (well really 12) links to posts I have loved this year. Appearing in alphabetical order by blog name:

 

 

Another Housewife Miscarriages, They Happen. You have no idea how much respect I have for Mrs C for writing this post. While I have never suffered a miscarriage (I’ve never been pregnant at all), my best friend went through a couple of them, and another friend suffered one not too long ago, as well. I know that it is a really hard thing for women to talk about, but kind of like finances, it’s one of those things that really does need to be talked about, if for no other reason that women going through don’t feel like they’re alone, like they’re defective. Miscarriages happen, and I love Mrs C for being willing to write about it.

 

Buck$ome Boomer Grandpa Got Scammed – Almost. My grandfather did get scammed this year. Someone claiming to be my brother called needing money. Papa tried to be careful, he asked questions he thought only a family member would know the answer to (I wouldn’t have even known the answer), and the scammer got it right. We only found out about it because my Aunt got suspicious and called me. And then, the scammers got greedy and called a second time, pretending to be my father. That at least, Papa knew was a scam, and both were reported to local authorities. Still, there’s not a whole lot that can be done after the fact. What protections does your family have in place to prevent this?

 

Daily Money $hot wrote a Confession series earlier this year that I loved. For some reason, I can’t find #2 on her blog, but that’s okay, because my favorite was #3- I hate being a bridesmaid. I was lucky in that my southern family introduced me to a lovely southern tradition- only be a bridesmaid 3 times (unless it’s for close family). After that, the response is “Thank you, but I honestly feel like someone else deserves the honor” For the record though, of the three weddings I’ve been in that count (junior bridesmaid for my Aunt does not), I never would have said no two 2 of them, no matter what.

 

Family Money Values Family Legacy Build a 100 Year Plan. First off, I love the whole idea of Family Money Values, of making personal finance a family issue, of talking with your kids about it from the beginning. So this post about building a 100 year plan to ensure wealth not only for you and your kids, but for their kids, and possibly for your siblings and their kids- an actual whole family financial plan, just inspires me. Of course, we don’t have kids, and I don’t trust my brother enough with money, but still, this idea will stay in my brain, and maybe one day…

 

First Gen American Am I a Feminist. I have written a lot over at 100 Words On about discrimination in general, and feminism in particular. It’s a struggle that I don’t believe has been won, even though many gains have been made. I really appreciated Sandy’s honesty about how she feels regarding feminism. Again, it’s one of those topics I think needs to be discussed. When we push it to the back burner, things get worse, not better.

 

Invest in the Markets Next Rare Earth Mineral. I originally thought I was going to post something from Dr Stock’s Food for Thought series about the best stocks in food and drink. But when searching for them, I came across this post again. The first time I read it, I came home and said to C- “hey, there’s this new rare earth mineral we need to follow because it might make solar power actually affordable and efficient for the masses”. C is all about alternative energy options. So while Dr Stock thought he might be giving me stock market advice (and if we were investing, I would totally be investing in this), what he gave us was a new scientific breakthrough to watch. And I love science.

 

 

Life and My Finances What? We got a Puppy? So I love pets, dogs in particular. I know that’s a total surprise to everyone. In fact, a couple of Frugal Beautiful’s posts almost made it here simply because they were about dogs. But honestly, this post inspired me so much that it is also featured in a guest post I wrote for pet blog That Mutt about Puppies as Christmas Presents. (So yes, this one has inspired a post, but not here.)

 

 

Money Beagle Be Prepared for the Inevitable. Who remembers what your teachers taught you in high school? Money Beagle does. Ok, maybe not the class material, but an important lesson, none the less. And like most lessons learned in high school, this one came from getting in trouble a little too often.

 

So Over Debt Are you too Comfortable with your Debt?. This is something I have had to ask myself this year. I have spent the last two years on a message board “racing” my non-mortgage debt. In fact, 12/30 was my 2 year anniversary exactly. In the first year, C and I managed to knock out a full third of our debt! This year, well, we added to it with the basement work we had done, and we won’t even reach 50% (of non-mortgage debt) paid off until about April or so. So it seems like we were really gung-ho for a year, and then just kind of petered out. That’s not quite true, as this year we’ve paid out of pocket for C to go back for his BS, but still, I need to pay attention. I don’t want to become complacent.

 

Squirrelers College or Entrepreneurship. Especially with the OWS kids being mad about their massive student loan debt when there are no jobs to be had, there’s been a lot of talk about whether a college degree really the best choice. (And I won’t even go into the arguments that try to break it out by individual degree.) Some people seem to think that kids right out of high school, instead of going to school, working for someone else, or a combination of the two, should instead just start businesses. They try to use famous entrepreneurs who don’t have degrees as examples, but I call BS on saying Gates and Zuckerberg never went to college. They went to Harvard! They didn’t get the degree, but they still went to college. Never underestimate the power of Harvard contacts, my friends. Anyway, I thought this was a thoughtful entry into the argument, especially since I agree with it.

 

Sustainable Life Blog Shenandoah National Park. Honestly, this post is almost as gratuitous as the puppy post. It wasn’t even written by Jeff. It was a guest post. But look, it has my name in it! Well, my name if my mother had been southern instead of a California girl and had known how to spell Shenandoah. I have been very lucky all of my life getting to visit a number of national parks, but believe it or not, I don’t know that I’ve ever been to the one I share a name with. I will have to rectify that someday.

 

 

And there you have it 11 (or 12) of my favorite posts from 2011. See you all again in 2012.