Weekend Reading - New Years Edition

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Posts around the blogosphere were still plentiful this week, however, the articles and blogs we read detailed a lot of summaries of goals met (or not met), best of the year posts and financial updates. As always there were some gems written this week that we had the pleasure to read and now present to our readers. We are also going to include some articles that we liked from earlier this year prior to beginning our writing journey.

Our friend Prarie Eco Thrifter posed the question Is Being Green Futile? For those of us who make a conscious decision to "be green" we can at times become frustrated and question whether or not doing our small part in such a large world really makes a difference. I commented that it does and that we should consider being green and opening discussions about the green lifestyle can result in a compounding affect. We need to keep it up. Fight the good fight Miss T - we're standing right beside you.

How expensive is it to eat good food? Another great question, this time asked by Kevin @ Invest It Wisely earlier this year. This post was one of the first I read at Kevin's site and his analysis spurred us to consider writing this blog with a focus of using financial data to back up our sustainable lifestyle choices. In this article Kevin looks at the cost of healthy, unhealthy and fast food diets while comparing calories as well. Be kind to your waistline and body in the New Year folks!

Robert at Canadian Dream Free at 45 look at the Canadian Pension Plan and Concludes that the CPP is not a Good Deal. Robert states "I don’t believe CPP is a bad idea. It provides a minimum income so that elderly Canadians are less likely to live in poverty. A couple who receives maximum CPP for a single spouse and OAS for each spouse should receive around $2000 per month. But it doesn’t mean we should expand CPP." Robert looks at how much Canadians put into the CPP on an annual basis and how those interested in their personal finance could gain much better returns than what the government achieves.

Buying a home isn't as simple as finding a house you like, obtaining a mortgage, making an offer and moving into your new residence. There are a slew of additional costs you need to think about. Young & Thrifty discusses Closing Home Costs in an article this week. We bought and sold a home this year and these costs sure do add up. You need to consider land transfer taxes, lawyer fees and real estate agent commissions just to start. Y&T's article is worth a read even if you're not in the market to buy/sell a house.

The Financial Highway wrote an article earlier this year Money Talk is More Excruciating than Going To The Dentist. A whopping 41% of Canadians think that discussing finances with their partner is worse than going to the dentist! I've read that money issues are the leading cause of divorce and perhaps if people would start discussing their finances with their loved ones less divorces would occur. Pure speculation but worth thinking about.

How do you feel about people who are always late? This is a pet peeve of mine - tardiness. Erin Pavlina discussed The High Cost of Being Late this week by exploring how your employment and relationships could be strained if you are always late. If you are habitually late consider not only how you are affected by this behaviour but also how others are affected as well.

Free From Broke examined Peer to Peer Lending with a thorough analysis of the ins and outs of this growing trend in personal finance. With an extremely high rate of return, coupled with some calculated risk, P2P lending is an investment vehicle worth exploring.

Next up, more great articles I read this week, by category.

Sustainability

The Good Human points out that North America is very far behind the rest of the world when it comes to High Speed Railways.

Earlier this year Grocery Alerts examined whether Buying Organic is Really Worth It. We sure think it is.

Christian Comment Cents discusses Sustainability as a Lifestyle. A great read for those who enjoy what we write about.

Personal Finance

The Lending Club suggests that We Should Make Just One Financial New Years Resolution. Keep it simple, achieve success.

Boomer and Echo provide us with 20 Simple Steps to Improve Our Finances Next Year. We agree on all but one of these points.

Canadian Finance Blog explores the transition to a Single Income Household.

We discovered a very thorough series on Baby Expenses at Money Smarts Blog.

Investing

Buy Like Buffet thinks Dividends are Great for Building Wealth. Dividends are simply awesome.

Predictions are always fun. Seeking Alpha gives 10 Predictions for CleanTech in 2011.

Intelligent Speculator reviews the Top ETFs for 2010. With the ETF market becoming diluted it is nice to see which ones performed.

Lifestyle

A very funny (and very true!) article at Aloysa's Kitchen Sink: Top 7 Excuses (for buying things) From a Man's Perspective.

Frugal Confessions points out some Surprising Fees When Travelling Abroad.

Frugal Zeitgeist provides us with some great Relaxation Techniques.

Are you a stay home Mom or Dad? PTMoney has some great ideas for Jobs for Stay at Home Moms & Dads.

Big thanks to those who included us in their Carnivals and Weekly Roundups:

• Young and Thrifty
• Beating the Index
• Invest It Wisely
• My Personal Finance Journey
• Canadian Finance Blog
• Free From Broke and the mega Yearly Roundup
• Canajun Finances
• Bucksome Boomer

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