SoOverDebt.com Wins “Blog Post of the Week!” Again….Conspiracy?

 Dearest minions,

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

The first two-time winner of the soon-to-be-esteemed Blog Post of the Week! award goes to Andrea at SoOverDebt.com for her post describing every blogger’s dream: Reader’s Digest asked to run her post in their magazine.  Congrats to Andrea!

So, even though it stinks for some other awesome bloggers who wrote killer prose this week, we had to give the award to the person living the dream. Kevin at Thousandaire may have been a co-winner if he’d been able to score the Anderson Cooper segment he details here. I’m sure he’s crushed that he isn’t taking home our prestigious award this week.

I think it would be totally appropriate if Andrea held a party to celebrate and invited you all… obviously not for the Reader’s Digest piece…she’s already celebrated that. No, I’m sure she’s far more ecstatic today to learn that she won our award.

Big party. All invited. Begin watching your mailbox.

Who else wrote good stuff? I’ve gone light the last few weeks due to time constraints, so this week I’m going to give you a double-helping of awesome sites to visit:

Stories to Keep you Physically and Mentally Fit

No more excuses about exercise! The Jenny Pincher tells you How to Fit Fitness into a Busy Schedule. I was hoping she’d write: How to Fit More Dunkin’ Doughnuts Into Your Mouth At Once, but the article she delivered was more than sufficient for now. Maybe an idea for next week, Jenny? If you need an expert quote, call me.

Once Jenny’s helped shape your body, it’s time to tackle the bank account. Andrea at Wisebread wrote How to Go On a Financial Detox and Smart Money Hacks delivers 3 Easy Ways to Save on Your Cell Phone Bill. I mention the Smart Money Hacks piece here because they’re three great tips, but “Disown Your Teenagers” is a conspicuously absent step. They must not have any teenagers…..

Because I do have teenagers, I was going to ask Carrie at CarefulCents for a loan, but she’s already on to me, and wrote: Help! People Treat Me Like an ATM! I’m not really serious about the loan Carrie. I was only pushing your buttons. (groans are NOT allowed while reading my awesome Blog Post of the Week! article….got it?)

Finally, the Prairie Eco-Thrifter asks if travel is over-rated. That’ll keep your budget tight, but so much for this year’s trip to the Mystery Spot with the kids….they’ll be so disappointed we didn’t go for the fifth year in a row. I’m going to deflect blame to Nelson, the writer of the piece. Expect calls from the AverageJoe clan, Nelson.

Product and Book Reviews

As a fan of MVelopes, I wasn’t happy to read this negative review of the product from Fiscal Fizzle (which I think is the second-most-awesome name for a blog Ev-Ar). Although I didn’t like reading that the product has declined, I was relieved I didn’t waste time going back to it. More time now to work on my bowling and hot dog eating contest skills. Winning!

Paula at Afford Anything reviewed The ABC’s of Property Management by Ken McElroy. It’s a thorough review for anyone interested in property management or learning jokes about bombing a house.

In the “whose rip on Suze Orman’s new pre-paid debit card do I like best” contest, there were too many winners to list. Head to the Debt Princess’ review if you’ve been living under a rock and have no idea what I’m talking about.

Investing and Insurance

Wayne at Young Family Finance wrote a guest post on Money Reasons, which explains why you should underestimate your return assumptions in your financial plan. I totally agree, and have decided that from now on I’m going to expect nothing from my investments. That way, I’ll be able to claim here that my investments are 500 percent better than I expected, even if they don’t make money. Best seller material. Now, like David Bach, I can write pieces that say nearly nothing and still make a killing.

101Centavos questions the logic in investing in water-sector ETFs. It’s a good breakdown of the perils of being sucked into the hot “invest in water” segment. Another often misunderstood area of the investment arena is non-traded REITs, and My Journey to Millions tackles that subject. Darwin’s Money rounds out our favorite investment pieces of the week by discussing investment options now that the national debt has reached GDP levels. I’ll give you a hint: Darwin doesn’t even touch investing in bomb shelters and religious symbols. He’ll be sorry he didn’t when we learn that the Mayans are right.

On the insurance side, UltimateSmartMoney compares the pros and cons of term and whole life insurance. Before you fall asleep, realize that most people I’ve met over the years have no clue how insurance really works. This is a good piece that even has pictures. Bonus!

Miscellaneous Fun and Frolic

The Buckinspire Podcast talks about why Pat Flynn is so successful at his career, among other things. Haven’t listened to this podcast before? It takes less than five minutes….you’ve read this far….go do it!

Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents extends the Tim Tebow worship by delivering the video: How to Tebow-size Your Financial Life. I’m sure he was under the misconception that “How to Average Joe your Financial Life” is already in film rights negotiation. Common mistake.

And finally, it wouldn’t be Blog Post of the Week! day without mentioning our friend Dr. Dean at the Millionaire Nurse Blog, who is thinking about growing mushrooms in his yard. If it weren’t for the good advice I always find there, I’d think Dr. Dean was ON mushrooms with this scheme….. (Oh, come on. That joke was too easy to pass up, even if do think it’d be cool to have steak-and-mushrooms every day of the week.)

Next Week on the Newly Configured and Almost the Way We Want It AverageJoe’s Money Blog: Monday we’ll have a good Boner of the Week! If you use a broker, be sure and tune in for that. Tuesday we’ll talk about the annual Top 10 Funds of Last Year lists. Should you pay attention? Wednesday is going to be a surprise (I can’t wait to see what theOtherGuy has up his sleeve for us), and Friday we’ll round it all off by crowning another Blog Post of the Week!

Have a great weekend, minions.

j.

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