It’s Oktoberfest in my hometown and I will be eating lots of fried German goodies and drinking nice German beers! Last year there were several live bands, lots of great beers and foods, and several tents full of arts and crafts. I’ll give you three guesses where I spent most of my time, but it wasn’t the arts and crafts tent! 
OK, this is really a two week review because I returned from a 2 week vacation this week. There were over 1,000 articles in my feedreader and I still have over 300 unread articles left to go through. I’ll have to finish catching up next week!
Here are a few of the articles I liked best over the last couple weeks (organized by topic):
Education, Career, MBA:
- There were a lot of good articles about getting an MBA:
- Deciding When to Get a Master’s Degree. I want to go back to school soon. I think now is the right time for me, and I’ve done a lot of research into the MBA process.
- How to Get Rich: Start Your Own Business, followed up by How to Start your Own Business. If you’ve ever noticed who the rich people are, it is often those people who pay people to work for them, not the other way around.
US Money:
- The New $5 Bill, How to Spot counterfeit money, and a history of counterfeiters in the US. All very interesting articles.
Real Estate, Mortgage, etc.:
- Rent is NOT Waste – and I agree. Everyone’s situation is different.
- Mortgage Refinancing That Nearly Cost Me $370,000. It’s all about how and where you use your money. This is an interesting take on prepaying a mortgage or going with a 15 vs. 30 year mortgage.
Frugal living:
- Fake It Till You Make It. There are frugal ways to get by. My favorite tip – buy classic clothing that lasts a long time and is always in style.
- Our Living Area Shrunk… Save money by closing off unused rooms. This is a great way to save money and use fewer resources.
Other great finance or money related articles:
- Want Radiohead’s New Album? – Pay Whatever Amount You Want. A great marketing plan by Radiohead. Sell their new album via an on-line mp3 download and allow people to pay what they want. Most people will pay a few dollars, but the band will be selling with less overhead, and will likely average more than they otherwise would because they don’t have to pay for printing, manufacturing, shipping, etc.
- Today is Better Than The Day Before. Life is good when you can say this statement and mean it. Here are some great tips to enjoy life more.
- Benjamin Franklin – The Original Personal Finance Blogger. Ben Franklin was an amazing man. The last time I read a biography on him was in middle school, but I remember being very impressed with him then. I may have to read another book about him; I am sure I would be even more impressed now.
Milestones:
- Five Cent Nickel celebrated his 1,000,000th visitor. Congrats Nickel!
- This week I celebrated my 10,000th visitor. Only 989,000+ visitors to go to reach the 1,000,000 mark!
I hope everyone enjoys these great articles. As for me, I’m about to go enjoy some German beer! (and food!)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great roundup, thank you for including my post. Hmm…I wish I am in your town right now…fried food and beers.
Thanks greatly for the link!
Thanks not once, but twice for the link(s)! As a side comment, the
economics of the new Radiohead album are absolutely fascinating to me – I think we are really seeing the first tiny step forward into the real future of music distribution. It will be very interesting to see if this spreads to other media, as well.
Pinyo, Flexo, and Brip Blap – You’re welcome for the links. Thanks for writing the great articles.
Pinyo – I drank a couple beers and shared a big bratwurst (German sausage) and strudel (German pastry) with my wife. They were delicious!
Brip Blap – I think Radiohead has been pushing the boundaries for music development and distribution for some time now. I think on-line music distribution will become more common in the future. In other media, some movies have already been released simultaneously in the theater and on DVD. I think it will become more common in the near future, and on-line distribution will come shortly thereafter.