The weather has been perfect for line drying laundry.
I survived the first week the kids have been out of school. It’s actually been a fairly relaxed week…a good thing, since Vacation Bible School is next week, and we’re going to be super-busy.
The weather has been great this week, and I’ve managed to line dry every load of laundry. I’ve also managed to keep the air conditioning off. I sure hope I see the savings in my electric bill!
Notable News
I’m hosting a giveaway for Kevin of No Debt Plan at Lynnae’s Bookshelf. He’s giving away 4 books. Leave a comment here to enter.
I’ve also been made aware of several useful websites.
PopTopRanks ranks blogs by the number of subscribers. So far they have categories for total subscribers, health, parenting, personal development, and personal finance. If you see a site that should be listed, you can even submit it yourself!
Bills IQ provides a fun little quiz where you can test your financial IQ. I scored an 89, which is a B (but close to an A). Fortunately I know where I’m weak and have a plan to improve. If you take the quiz, let me know your score in the comments section! Just for fun.
Alerts.com is a new site where you can receive alerts for a myriad of things. Gas prices, weather, hotel prices, weather….you name it. I haven’t had a chance to try this site out yet, but it looks promising. Especially since they’re working on setting up price alerts! I could see Alerts.com becoming very useful for people who are trying to save money. If you have tried Alerts.com, let me know what you think!
The Frugal Roundup
There were a lot of good articles this week! I hope you enjoy them!
- Paidtwice is celebrating a year of debt reduction!
- Frugal Dad wants to know if sneaking candy into the movie theater is frugal or cheap.
- Find out how to be a savvy consumer at Blissfully Domestic.
- Rocketc thinks global warming is not good science.
- The Crunchy Domestic Goddess warns us that the AMA wants to outlaw home birth as an option for giving birth.
- I’m a sucker for good printables, and Homemaker Barbi released a printable kitchen cleaning checklist that I love!
- Single Guy Money tells you how he resisted the urge to splurge.
- Head over to Tales From the Road Less Traveled for some no-spend weekend ideas.
- Trent shares his thoughts on advertisements and whether or not they impact the integrity of a blog at The Simple Dollar.
- Find out what you should do if your wallet is stolen at My Two Dollars.
- Pinyo says you don’t deserve premium channels, because you’re in debt. Do you agree?
That’s it from me this week! Have a fabulous weekend!
Photo by robstephaustralia.
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June 21st, 2008 at 5:01 am
Great roundup this week; thanks for including me! I love the PopTopRanks for tracking my favorite blogs. That kitchen cleaning checklist is definitely a keeper! I’m sure my wife hopes I’ll print it out and check a few things off myself.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:05 am
The Bills IQ thing was fun.
I got a 90, does that make me smart? My worst categories were “budget” and “life plan.” I’m only 20, of course I don’t have a major life plan yet. 
(I’ve got ideas, but I’m still extremely flexible!) My best category was wealth, so I hope that’s good news! (I’m above average for my age bracket, not too surprising…)
June 21st, 2008 at 6:49 am
Oh! I just finished a post (must publish today!) about the recent resolution against home births! Very cool! I should visit her site.
Thanks!
June 21st, 2008 at 7:23 am
I took the Bills IQ test and got an 87%. It scolded me for having a large balance on my credit card and told me not to do that because I’m paying too much interest. But it’s at zero percent. So that kinda made me cranky. Maybe I’ll take it again and lie about that part. lol.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am
Thanks so much Lynnae for the link! I’m glad you love the printable checklists; I just can’t live without them in my house and I’m glad they can help out others with their household management. Check back for more printable cleaning checklists debuting on Homemaker Barbi soon. Have a great weekend!
Homemaker Barbi
June 21st, 2008 at 9:22 am
Hi, I just started reading your blog. I took the IQ quiz and my score was 97. That is because I don’t know [or have] a credit score as we have no debt. I listen to Dave Ramsey daily, and as he says, it’s really a debt score. Kinda like being pro-choice if you want to kill someone and anti if you don’t. So I guess I am anti-debt. And I like it!
Have a blessed day,
Miss Meg
June 21st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Thanks for the mention Lynnae!
June 21st, 2008 at 9:36 am
I got an 86%, but I KNOW I need LOTS of work on this and probably should score lower!!
June 21st, 2008 at 9:46 am
Good links! I liked the Bill IQ. I got a 92% My lowest was an 89% in Debt. That made me realize that I really want to pull that score up.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
I got an 89% - it was fun.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:23 am
I did the financial IQ and one thing I noticed was that it doesn’t really account for credit card arbitrage. I currently have $23,000 in arbitrage ($11,000 at 2.9% and $12,100 at 0%) and enough to cover that in a savings account/investments by the time it comes due in November. So do I have debt, or not? I say “no” because I have enough money to pay it off, but my credit score would say yes. Interesting situation.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:41 am
84…was sure I’d score a little higher…Outstanding debt killed me
June 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Thanks for all the links! Some great sites listed here!
June 21st, 2008 at 6:55 pm
91% on bill IQ probably because I don’t have any debt and I have spent the past year turning my financial life around so I’m doing what I should be doing … just wish I had done it sooner! Good to read that you are line drying laundry
You should see a reduction in utility bills. I thought I would see lower bills because we do a lot of laundry in my house …. bills are lower but not as low as I would like. Still, line drying is environmentally friendly and saves resources no matter what.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Thanks for mentioning the new PopTop site in your roundup! Off to take the IQ quiz…
June 21st, 2008 at 7:09 pm
100 - A. Probably cuz I’m older and about ready to retire.
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Thanks for the mention!
I took the quiz and got an 89. I can’t wait till those numbers are an A instead of a B. Great quiz.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Where’d you get your umbrella laundry line? I’ve been looking for one of those that won’t break the first time I use it! : )
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:00 pm
It’s fun seeing all your scores! I must admit it’s not so much of a finacial IQ test, as it is a “What financial shape are you in” test.
And Sara, I took the photo from Flickr, so it’s not my laundry line. I’d love one of those too. But I just use a regular old line.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:15 am
i loved it - I scored a “B” with a score in the mid-80s. The test really helped me re-assess what i knew but really need to take some action on. I need to get debt free and I really need to join my company’s 401k. I’ll definitely send out the
http://www.bills.com/iq tool to my family and see how they do. Thanks!