I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year! My wife and I made the 7 hour drive to her family’s house to spend the Christmas Holiday with her parents. We spent Christmas Day with her extended family and had a great time. Her family’s tradition is to gather for lunch, then stay through dinner. We ate a traditional Christmas meal around 1pm, then watched home movies and visited with each other until people started to get hungry again (around 7pm or so). Then we brought out the leftover ham, a couple loaves of bread, a couple bags of chips, and the remaining desert. I have no idea how anyone could eat more after eating so much or lunch, but we did. And it was great. 
We drove home this weekend. It’s never fun to make the 7 hour trek twice in a 5 day period, but spending time with family makes it worth the drive.
Recommended articles from my reader:
wait until tomorrow to change.This is an excellent article about following your dreams – not taking the job that pays the best or that others expect you to take.
The 12 Days of Christmas: Day Nine – 9 New Year’s Resolutions You CAN Keep. I haven’t made my New Year’s resolution yet, but here are a few that should be easy to accomplish.
Realities of Freelancing: Setting Prices. Determining how much to charge can be a difficult task. If you are considering freelancing or consulting, I recommend this article.
FICO Prepares to Change Its Credit Score Formula. As if it wasn’t already confusing enough!
Christmas giveaways! Two iPods and more! Christian Personal Finance is giving away 2 iPods and several other gifts. All you need to do to enter is link to his giveaway from your site (or FaceBook account or something similar), then drop a comment on his giveaway with the link to your announcement.
How To Set Up a Limited Liability Company (LLC). I set up an LLC earlier this year, and doing so has been a huge advantage when it comes to organizing my small business finances.
This week’s Carnivals:
- The Carnival of Personal Finance #184: From the Land Down Under was hosted at Saving to Invest.
- The Carnival of Money Stories Edition #90 – Happy Holidays Edition was hosted at The Personal Financier.
- The 157th Festival of Frugality: The Queen’s Speech Edition was hosted at Miss Thrifty.
- 44th Money Hacks Carnival – The Merry Christmas Edition was hosted at Where Are You Now?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention! Very interesting article on Moolanomy about LLC’s. I’m planing to check that out for 2009 as well as set up a solo 401(k).
Ron, You need a legal business entity (other than sole proprietorship) to open a solo 401(k). I formed my LLC last year, and it was great for opening a business bank acct, getting business credit cards, and opening a solo 401(k). In OH it only costs $125 – a one time fee, no renewals. It varies on other states. But I recommend it just for separating finances… it makes makes everything that much easier!
Glad to hear you had a good Christmas and safe travels!
Glad you had a good Christmas! Thanks for the mention.
Thanks for the link, Patrick! Happy New Year!