It’s Saturday! And at the time this goes live, I will be in a theater watching The Hobbit (non-3D version, as it gives C migraines). More importantly, I will have seen the 9 minute preview for Star Trek: Into Darkness. C and I are both geeks, and our geekiness overlaps quite a bit, but in this case, we’re a little different. He is super excited about The Hobbit and will enjoy the new Star Trek. I will enjoy The Hobbit but I am so beyond excited for the new Trek. Beyond excited. (Remember how I wrote about the my very first time using a credit card was at a Trek convention? I am so still a Trekkie, and I love the reboot.)

Anyway, that’s going to be the big excitement of my weekend. After that, I need to come home and get some cleaning done as my mom flies in Thursday night for the holiday.

 

One of the reasons I started doing the weekly round-up this way- as in the same post going up on both Life by Pets and Dog Ate My Wallet was to get some cross over between the two audiences. A lot of personal finance bloggers have pets and a lot of pet bloggers are looking for ways to manage their personal finances. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive, and if it grows readership for both blogs, then even better. And yet, I’ve been reluctant to mention my other blogs here, for no good reason.

Last week, I reminded people I have The Prose Passage, but the truth is, I don’t post there often. Where I do post, 6 days a week, is over at 100 Words On… I have some standard features, including the Your Money Friday where I talk about one of the topics that has caught my interest over on the money message boards I’m part of. And on Saturdays, as a supplement to this post, I run a blog feature. It alternates between PF and Pet blogs, and it’s never someone who is in this post (to share a bit more love). But sometimes I think the only people who see that post are the person that’s featured.

So here are links to the last couple of weeks’ posts in both series.

Your Money Friday: Do You Invest?

Your Money Friday: Delayed Gratification

Blog Feature: No Dog About It Blog

Blog Feature: Frugal Rule

 

One more thing before we’re done talking about me. I’m hosting my first giveaway! Head on over to my Product Review: Safe Glow LED Dog Collar and enter to win one for your furry friend!

 

And now, on to what you are really here for, the blogs I’ve been reading this week.

Old Friends

So Over This used to be So Over Debt, and it’s been one of the first blogs I started following. This week, Andrea celebrated one year of self-employment (Congratulations!) and has been writing a series on it. My favorite? Her post about the present.

Cil and Dr Dean at the Millionaire Nurse Blog are a total power couple. This week they ask the quintessential holiday question- Family Holiday Gatherings: Can You Do It Again?

The only guest post I’ve written for a pet blog went up last year over at That Mutt. I still read Lindsay’s blog every week, even if I don’t comment as much as I used to. And this week, despite the blog name, she’s talking about How to Foster a Cat.

I’ve been offered a guest post over at The House of Two Bows for her dogs in film series (about the dog in Cowboys vs Aliens- unfortunately, I’d have to watch the movie again to write the post). That hasn’t come to pass, but I do love these pictures, in which MC is saying something I frequently say myself this time of year- Stay Out of the Mud

 

New Friends

2 Punk Dogs recently had a similar experience to the one we had with Larry (in which we asked What Size Does He Wear?) In their case, what they thought would fit their dogs turned out to be Too Big

Whenever I need a laugh, I head over to I Still Want More Puppies. Her regular link roundup of random stuff she likes from around the web always has at least one thing guaranteed to make me smile. Check out this week’s list- Dance of the Sugar Plum Kitty

Christopher at This That and the MBA was my inspiration for featuring new bloggers. He visited and left a comment on Dog Ate My Wallet like the first week his site was up. When I went to see what his site was about, I couldn’t help but mention it in that week’s roundup. So here I am, mentioning him again, with this great post on Managing Debt Before it Manages You.

In a post that fits nicely with Christopher’s, Live the New Economy (another one of my favorites from the early days of the new Yakezie Challenger feature), he writes about their journey to pay off debt and features a great debt payoff and credit card payment calculator.

 

Soon to be Friends

And Then We Saved is the newest of the Yakezie challengers. I loved this post on 28 Reasons Why Budgets Suck. I agree, living on a budget sucks, but for an excel junkie like me, creating, tracking, and graphing my budget is fun. (Remember how at the top I reminded you I’m a geek. I’m a nerd, too.)

With a blog name like Life with Beagle, how could I not decide we needed to be blog friends? Now, I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but I love this idea of taking a class to learn how to Paint Your Pet. What I need to do is sign my brother up for the class and convince him to paint one of my dogs, and not his Copper.