With Christmas fast approaching, it’s so easy to get caught up in all the little details – where you have to go, what you need to buy, loose ends to wrap up at work, everything.

So, I just wanted to take a moment with you. A quite moment to wish you the joy of the holiday season. I wish you peace, and happiness. I am thankful for each and everyone of you that have helped to make this blog a success this year. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read the articles, to leave comments, ask questions, and most of all, for taking the time to come back for a visit once in a while.

I hope that despite all of the craziness that can descend along with the holiday season, that you are getting to spend time – close and quite time, with those you love. I hope that you have time for a good cup of cocoa, time to hear your children and your loved ones laugh, time to be joyful and playful and happy!

I’ve been listening to Christmas songs today, and I wanted to share one of my favorites. It’s a little silly – I have a young daughter, and we’ve been watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. If you have a moment, will you share your favorite holiday song with me? It doesn’t have to be Christmas related – just a song that makes you smile! You can leave the YouTube link at the bottom if you want.

I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend! As always, I wanted to take the time with you to share some of the articles that I loved reading this week.

My Favorites!

• Finance For A Freelance Life has an article titled “Building Discipline Sucks“. I got a real kick out of this one, and I loved her recommendations.
• Blunt Money has some Friday inspiration: Becoming empowered about money and developing better habits. This is what I love most about the personal finance blog-o-sphere. Every time I am fighting a financial battle, I can visit, and read articles, and know that I’m not alone – we’re all in this boat together, fighting those same battles, and helping each other along the way. It’s the biggest benefit of the internet in my opinion. That and the up-to-the-minute news!
• My Two Dollars features their Money Quote Friday – They Deem Me Mad Edition. I LOVED the quote.
  

  “They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.”

• Taking Charge has their weekly Criminal Charges: Volume XX: Stranger than fiction. What a wacky story! Don’t miss this one.
• Free Money Finance talks about Pets Feeling Impact of the Economy. This is not a happy article, but a very true one, and very important.

Happy Holidays (Frugal Style!)

• Five Cent Nickel has Homemade Christmas Gifts: 18 Do-it Yourself Ideas.
• The Happy Rock thinks Gift Cards Are Bad Gifts And A Waste Of Money. I have to say, I agree with his argument!
• Money Smart Life has a slick new logo and ideas for Seven Cheap Foods to Serve At Your Holiday Party.
• Read This Before Getting Yourself a Christmas Gift written by Money Ning. I’m the world’s worst about buying myself something (thought I usually do it after Christmas). He makes some great points here.
• Frugal Dad offers Last Minute Gift Ideas That Do Not Require Standing In Lines. Yay! The lines are just about the worst part of the holidays for me. Lines and angry drivers…

Pre-Planning and Saving for the Future:

• Clever Dude Reminds You: Don’t forget your free credit reports this year!
• My Dollar Plan has 17 Tips for End of Year Tax Planning. It’s never too early to get started on next year’s finances.
• Prime Time Money focuses on IRA’s with his article: Roth IRA: A 2008 Goal You Still Have 4 Months to Achieve.
• Bible Money Matters highlights 40 Frugal Shopping Tips From His Readers: Enter The Gift Card Giveaway! There are some excellent tips on this list!
• The Smart Spending Blog shows us even more ways to make extra money.

Carnivals, Festivals and Celebrations:

• The Carnival of Debt Reduction #170 @ Gather Little By Little
• 89th Carnival of Money Stories @ Retire at 40
• Carnival of Consumer Credit #4 @ American Consumer News
• Bankruptcy & Debt Bloggers Carnival #15 @ Bankruptcy Access

That’s it for this weekend’s link round-up. Happy Holidays!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 21:32 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.