To make things a little more fun with Round Ups, I’m trying a new format for my posts!

Each time I post one of these Round Ups, I will choose one post as the feature!

I will also try to make a little movie about the post with Office Guy!

Xtranormal.com is a Text-to-Movie format where you can type in your text and animations, and your characters will become actors in your movie.

I first found out about Xtranormal when a friend sent me this hilarious movie called How to Invite Your Co-Worker to Church!

My first movie is here.

This Week’s Featured Post

This week’s featured post is Tacky or Thrifty, from Free Money Finance. This post was actually put up a couple weeks ago, but I am just getting to the Round Up now.

This post asks the question:

Is it considered tacky or thrifty to use a coupon on a first date?

Since I’m married, this is purely hypothetical, but a coupon on a first date seems a bit tacky.  I think it’d be great to do on later dates, but probably not first one.

Check out these other great posts from around the web:

• Requiring Your Kids to Earn Their Allowance via MattAboutMoney
• Free Money Finance shares with us How to Have God Reward You
• Out of Your Rut discusses the American Dream.
• Coupon Sherpa shares the history of Black Friday.
• 10 Quick Tips When Starting a Home-Based Business from Ready to Be Rich.
• Should You Get a Second Job to Pay Off Debt from Christian PF.
• 3 Ways to Save Money on Your Car from Financial Samurai on Currency
• Bible Money Matters offers up the Great Big List of 75 Frugal Gifts You Can Give This Christmas!
• 4 Things You Shouldn’t Pay For from KNS Financial – Faithful With a Few
• Personal Finance by the Book offers us How to Accomplish More by Doing Less

Check out the Yakezie network. This is a network that includes some of the best personal finance blogs around (and mine too!)

Thank you to all who have helped to drop my Alexa ranking to 131,454!  It’s kind of like golf, so the lower the number the better.  If you’d like to help drop my ranking, just install the Alexa toolbar, make R2 your homepage (if you want) and visit my site often!

Check Out R2 Around the Web

• 7 Deadly Sins of Personal Finance – Get Currency
• Your Taxes Are Going Up! 4 Ways to Prepare – Get Currency
• 3 Tips to Find/Create a Side Job – Christian PF
• What are Required Minimum Distributions – Christian PF

Over the weekend my wife and I took the kids camping with some friends. 

Including kids, we had somewhere around 34 people together in six campsites. 

Camping in October here in the Chicagoland area is a risky proposition, but, as it turns out, we picked a pretty good weekend to go!

The weather was absolutely perfect – 80 degrees during the day and into the mid 50′s during the evening!!  It was a little chilly, so needless to say, everyone was a bit congested this morning!!

Anyways, on to the round up for last week:

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click!

• Simple Financial Lifestyle offers up What Are Your Personal Financial Ugly Ducklings?
• Bible Money Matters gives us some insight into increased taxes!
• Head over to Do Not Wait, a new retirement site, and sign up for their give aways. 
• Financial Samurai tells us how Making Money is Easier Than Building Relationships.
• Matt Jabs at Debt Free Adventure has found his mission and wants to call others to find theirs – check out DFA Missionaries – Get Out of Debt and Serve!
• I’m humbled by Paul from Provident Planning who included me in his 20 Favorite Personal Finance Blogs!
• Jeff from Deliver Away Debt talks about Christmas on a Budget - yes Christmas already!
• Financially Poor shows us How to Start Doing Anything

Yakezie Member Posts

Get to know some fellow Yakezie Members:

• Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
• Canadian Finance Blog
• Investor Junkie
• Money Reasons
• Money Crush

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seemed to go your way?

We probably all have.  When I saw this video, I felt so bad for this guy – but sometimes it’s just not your day!

By the way, don’t forget to become a regular reader of Redeeming Riches by signing up for FREE!

What’s New?

Perhaps some of you have noticed there is a slight redesign to the site.  A BIG thanks to Joe over at JPWeb Design for all his help in reconstructing the site.

I think a redesign was in order because it was just time to freshen things up a bit, and also to improve functionality of the site.

I’m very excited for my friend Travis Vaughn to have started his blog.  Travis asked me to contribute once in a while. Be sure to check out my post 3 Ways to Foster a Sustained Economic Recovery over at City and Citizen.

Articles Worth Checking Out This Week

• Free Money Finance discusses Coupon Strategies
• Generation X Finance has a phenomenal post about the lost decade of investing and asks, “Was It Really a Lost Decade for Investing?”
• This is a very convicting post from Ramblings of a Woman about the the good ol’ American Dream!
• Million Dollar Journey asks if your Life Insurance Is About to Implode?
• Clotheslines are under attack over at Frugal Dad!
• Out of Your Rut gives us 10 Things You Should Buy Used
• Personal Finance By The Book discusses How Those “Easy Payments” Can Wreck Your Finances
• One Money Design shows us what to put in our Financial Safety Deposit Box
• KNS Financial looks at How to Create a Budget and Evaluate Expenses

Have a great weekend!!

It was a good week for Redeeming Riches.  The post I did about the 10 Sure-Fire Money Moves That Will Always Pay Off – Or Not,  made the front page of Digg. 

If you haven’t seen that post with the Wall Street Journal’s financial advice and my side commentary, be sure to check it out.

There have been some slight improvements to the site and there are more to come.  One of the most notable is the addition of a plugin called Discqus. 

Discqus is essentially a “comment” plugin, and it allows a few different options to post a comment including your Twitter ID.

The other feature I like (that I didn’t have before) is the ability to reply to particular comments, not just add another one at the bottom of the pile.

The point of Discqus is to encourage more comments on the site!!  I’ve had more recently, and I’ve been trying to comment more and interact with more bloggers as well on their own sites.

I encourage you to weigh in on the posts, share your thoughts and ideas – that’s what makes for a great post and a great blog!

Here are afew articles I enjoyed this week:

• Here’s an interview with Joel Kotkin, an internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends, from CityandCitizen.com.   This is a new site that I will be contributing to periodically.  It’s a site about cities, their complexities, their health and and how its citizens can contribute to their overall well being.  I’m really excited about this site!!
• ChristianF talks about time management and his home-based business.
• We’ve all said at one time or another, “If I knew then what I know now” – Check out Bible Money Matters take on that.
• Trent from Simple Dollar had a thought-provoking post about the ethics of garage sales – more specifically, what should you do when you know the seller has drastically under-priced an item.
• KNS had a post about helping those in need and how that’s a reflection of God’s love.

Carnivals:

Carnival of Personal Finance

Yakezie Carnival

Actually, this should read – Last Week in Personal Finance!

This weekend we’ve been busy with parties and milling around so I didn’t get a chance to write a round-up post.

So, here we are – a rainy Memorial Day – yes, more rain!  I figured I could write a quick post.

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by. 

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click!

• Personal Finance Journey asks if it is unethical to bring snacks into a movie theatre.
• Fickle Finance talks about 25 lessons in entrepreneurship from rappers - this was near and dear to my heart since I am a closet Rap and Hip Hop fan!
• Go Banking Rates ask how much you need to retire!
• Sound Mind Investing takes a look at mortgage-savings programs and figures out if they are a good idea or not.
• Out Of Your Rut has some good thoughts on mistakes that can make your financial life difficult.
• Matt Jabs from Debt Free Adventure is on a mission to be debt free – and he’s got a scooter to prove it.

Carnivals

Yakezie Carnival at College for $10K!

Rain, rain, go away!  Here in Indiana we’ve been getting drenched with rain.

Normally I wouldn’t mind, we obviously need it – but we are trying to get our landscaping done.

Getting sod down when it’s soaking wet proves to be a difficult challenge.

Hopefully this week will dry up a bit and we’ll be able to keep moving along with the outside work that needs to be done!!

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by. 

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click!

• Fickle Finance brings it with this article called Slavery Didn’t Die – It Just Evolved.
• Bible Money Matters tells us why Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps Work!  Also, don’t forget to check out my post over there as well called Finding Your Retirement Sweet Spot!
• Parenting Teens gives us 50 Graduation Gift Ideas!
• Kevin Deyoung on The Gospel Coalition Blog has a great post called Are Christians Meant to Feel Guilty All The Time?
• Personal Finance By The Book shares some awesome insights into carrying loads and burdens in Deciding Whom to Help
• Coupon Sherpa brings us The Good and The Bad of Recessionary Wages
• Deliver Away Debt brings his experience in Making a Second Job Work
• Debt Free Adventure talks about 401k Contributions With Outstanding Debt
• Christian PF has How Much Should I Save for Retirement?
• Good Financial Cents talks about Credit Cards and How to Effectively Lower Your Interest Rate
• Financial Samurai offers his opinion on the Emergency Fund Fallacy
• Out of Your Rut shows us 10 Financial Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make

Carnivals

• Carnival of Money Stories hosted at PF Journey
• Yakezie Carnival hosted at Well Heeled Blog
• Finance Blog Carnival at Maximizing Money
• Rich Money Habits Carnival at Rich Money Habits

I can’t believe it’s been a week since my trip to Knoxville, TN! 

God is doing some amazing things down there with a group of churches that are working across denomination, cultural and racial lines for the good of the kingdom and the good of the city!

I’ve got hope that some good things like that can happen here in my community as well!

I also can’t believe May is half over – seriously, where is this year going?  It’s amazing how quickly time speeds up when you have a couple of rugrats runnin’ around to keep you occupied.

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by of the week. 

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click!

• Debt Free Adventure asks what you should do with car repairs – scrap it, park it or fix it?
• Bible Money Matters has a post on getting by with one income before you need to!
• Christian PF asks why gather money little by little – also check out my post over there called 4 Things the Apostle Paul Teaches Us About Money.
• Len Penzo dot com brings out the 5 Crazy Ideas That Resulted in Million Dollar Paydays
• Cash Money Life offers 8 Tips to Help You Make a Major Financial Decision
• Provident Planning brings it home with Preaching Christ Crucified!
• Fiscal Geek takes a look at money buying happiness!
• Out of Your Rut gives his take on why leasing a car is a bad deal!
• Frugal Dad has some ways to save on the summer electric bill
• Free Money Finance shows how to get rich on an average salary
• Deliver Away Debt says to stop using a credit card and write a budget!!

Carnivals

• Christian Finance Carnival #2 over at Personal Finance Journey
• Christian Family Information Exchange Carnival at OLine Publishing

I’m writing this from sunny, balmy Knoxville, TN!

A group of eight of us from church came down to what’s called the Salt and Light conference.

The conference is put on by the Compassion Coalition , a non-profit org. that desires to see churches live out Matthew 5:14, which calls believers to be salt and light in their cities, communities and centers of influence.

Our church is currently doing a county-wide assessment of the biggest needs, issues and concerns as well as taking a look at the biggest assets and strengths with the goal being more partnership with other believers and organizations in our county to seek the common good of our area.

This conference is about how to do it effectively.

Tim Keller says that the best way to show Christianity to others is to seek the common good of our cities.  Essentially to live out mercy and justice (not at the expense of sharing what the gospel is, but in addition to).

I’m really excited about this trip and I’ll be sure to share some highlights in some future posts!

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by of the week. 

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click! 

• Financial Highway gives us  a list of 10 Unique and Frugal Mother’s Day Gift Ideas!
• Out of Your Rut warns us against the dangers of late-night infomercials and other hazardous get rich quick schemes!
• Here’s a challenge by Debt Free Adventure to start living on one income!
• Here’s 8 Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Identity from Fiscal Geek.
• Wealth Pilgrim answers the age-old question, “Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest?”
• Fickle Finance asks a question that I love to ask – Where Does Your Happiness Come From?
• If you like satire, you’ll love Personal Finance By the Book’s post on How to Ensure You Will Never Be a Millionairre!

Carnivals

Carnival of Taxes at Don’t Mess With Taxes

So this weekend I started the Garden Project! 

Yep, that’s right – we’re planting a 16′x8′ garden. 

We’re doing it for a few reasons: 

1. We love fresh food and love to grill, so it’ll be great to just go out and pick some veggies, 
2. My wife likes to eat organic – so this is a good way to know we are getting organic food
3. This should save us some money in the long run!

Hopefully I’ll throw a few posts up about our experience.  Today was just getting the initial frame of the garden up. 

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by of the week. 

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click! 

• Financial Samurai provides good commentary on Searching For Love And A Little More Money.
• Out of Your Rut looks at Why Earning More Money is More Important Than Frugality!
• Free From Broke shares How An Excellent Credit Score Has Helped Us Save Money at Free From Broke
• Money Funk touches on a subject that I really want to tackle on this blog with Private School: Worth the Money?
• Fickle Finance delivers with 10 Things I Would Rather Wait For Or Buy Used
• Joe Taxpayer challenges studies with Spend More With Plastic
• One Money Design reminds us that You Cant Take Money to Eternity
• Consumer Boomer has a post that’s a little older, but worth noting – Roth IRA Conversion Calculator
• Debt Free Adventure has Debt Plan – Facing Bankruptcy & Foreclosure 
• Provident Plan shares a post that some may disagree with in Debt Is Not Evil 
• Green Panda Treehouse looks at Finding The Balance Between a Sideline and a Day Job 
• Solid post by Frugal Dad who asks Are You Obsessed With Your Finances?
• Bible Money Matters asks an interesting question – Should Your Finances be in Order Before Having Children?
• Personal Finance by the Book has a great post on Why We Procrastinate

Carnivals I Participated In

• Economy and Your Finances Carnival
• Best of Money Carnival
• Yakezie Carnival
• Carnival of Personal Finance

Another week in the books. 

It’s hard to believe that we are heading into the last week of April and May is sneaking up quickly!

I got my grill set up last weekend and had my first meal of the season – Smothered Grilled Chicken with Asparugus and Sweet Potato Wedges!

It was de-lish!

Maybe I’ll share the recipe some time.

One of the reasons I do these posts is to highlight other great articles from the week from other bloggers.

Any blog likes to receive links back to their own content and so I like to do that for others – like paying it forward!

This week’s TWIPF is going to be a quick one since it was a busy week and I just didn’t have time to make it around the web.

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a quick tour.  

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena.

So give these articles a click!

• Christian PF writes about How to Help a Financially-Troubled Person.  Also, don’t forget to check out my post at Christian PF this week called 7 Reasons to Review Your Life Insurance Policy!
• Bible Money Matters discusses 7 Lies That Can Kill Your Financial Future.  Also, check out my post on BMM this week called Should You Use a Roth IRA for College Savings?
• Great post by Joe @ Personal Finance by the Book – 5 Wrong Reasons to Build Wealth and One Right One - we need to hear stuff like this more!
• Fickle Finance is new to the block, but writes some good stuff!  Here’s his 21 Ways to Save Money post that includes some great ideas!

I’m included with a lot of other great articles at the Yakezie Carnival hosted at My Money Minute

By the way, if you haven’t signed up yet – please don’t miss another post! 

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