High Energy Bill Edition – Personal Finance Review

Our first big energy bill for the summer came this week.  The summer is always a killler not just because it’s so hot but also because my wife has stopped working and needs to keep the house cool all day long.  We did have the AC tuned up a few months ago so hopefully its running as efficiently as possible. 

Although the bills are high, it sure is nice to come in out of the blazing July humidity into a nice cool house.  Just like many other personal finance issues, we have to weigh the cost of something vs. how it effects our quality of life.  I’m sure we could save $50–$75 a month by turning the thermostat to 80 or even all the way off but it would make for a very sweaty and grouchy family.  Here are some other personal finance topics to consider from this week.

– Money, Matter, & More got the car he wanted for the price he wanted.

– I’ve often wondered the effect credit card arbitrage has on your credit history, especially now that I’m going after $125 in bonus money.  Five Cent Nickel puts my fears to rest as he discusses credit card bonuses and credit score.

– The Digerati Life discusses how occupation, education, income and net worth determine social class.

– Flexo learns a lesson from the hilarious TV show The Office, “If there’s anything to learn from The Office, it’s not to be a selfish jerk about money“.

– Congrats to Lazy Man on his wedding!  Now the party is over and he looks back at the cost of his wedding.

– Free Money Finance asks if you can save $2000 a year buying store brands.  I save a good deal of money buying store brand cereal but I don’t know about $2K a year.

– Binary Dollar tells us about Geezo, a social finance website.  It’s nice to see Henry back in action!

– Mighty Bargain Hunter has discovered that just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re rich.

– Jim has a good list of financial accounts you should and shouldn’t have.

– Sun does double duty telling us about his Zecco surprises and writing a guest post about mutual fund distributions at Gen X Finance while Jeremy is away.

– Raising 4 Boys put together a list of sales tax holidays for back to school shopping.  These holidays are one of the ways you can avoid paying sales tax.

– Articles from Money Smart Life were featured on two different sites last week:  The Carnival of Personal Finance at BrokeAss Student and in the creative Festival of Frugality at Mr. Credit Card.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards