Welcome to the Weekly Quick Hits Roundup!
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Every week I write a weekly wrap-up of things that were going on here at Young Adult Money, a few personal updates/thoughts, and finally a few posts I read this week that I thought were worth sharing.
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We also have our giveaway roundup every Friday. This Friday there are 92 giveaways listed this week that end today (12/19) through next Thursday (12/25).
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Happy Friday everyone!
This was easily one of the “quickest” Holiday seasons I’ve experienced. I can’t believe that a week from now Christmas will be over.
Today starts my marathon weekend. Three parties today. A bachelor party tomorrow night. Christmas with my family on Sunday.
It’ll be a busy one.
Here’s a few random thoughts to close the week:
- Posts next week – I’m not sure whether it was a good or bad idea to schedule some of mine and Erin’s best posts this week. You’d think after two and a half years of blogging that I would know the days/weeks that are slower on the blogosphere. Nevertheless I plan on leaving them scheduled, including the great post Erin has planned for Christmas Eve.
- My Christmas Gift to You – My Christmas “gift” to the bloggers out there is my 2015 Editorial Calendar in Google Spreadsheets. I personally use this as my editorial calendar and it’s worked great. Super easy to collaborate with staff writers, too. So please feel free to use it if you’re a blogger and/or share with any bloggers you know (Thanks!)
- Still Torn on Tablets – It’s been well over a year since I published Are tablets a waste of money or something everyone should have? I’m still torn on them! I was really excited about the Surface Pro 3 and seriously considered getting it before year-end so I could write it off on my taxes (yes, more than 90% of my time on my laptop is spent blogging). I decided against it, but I did so much research on 2-in-1s, tablets, etc. that I’m really tempted to get a cheap option like the Amazon Fire.
*Sigh* maybe you can talk me into or out of buying a tablet in the comments?
That’s what’s going on in my world, let me know in the comments what you’re up to!
Below are the posts we published this week:
- On Monday I asked Invest in a Company or an Industry?
- On Tuesday I explained 3 Ways the Government Can Provide Student Loan Debt Relief
- On Wednesday Erin explained How to Budget Your Time Like You Budget Your Money
Posts of the Week:
As usual, here are 5 posts that I enjoyed this week from around the blogosphere.
Want to be featured? I pick blogs that comment on the site regularly, so stop by and leave a comment!
- Stefanie from The Broke and the Beautiful Life explained The Trouble with Holiday Spending Expectations
- Holly from Club Thrifty explained Why We’re Joining a Healthcare Sharing Ministry
- Liz from Budgeting for More shared What to Give Grandparents for Christmas
- Petrish from Debt Free Martini asked What Do People Really Think About Your Blog?
- Jason from The Butler Journal shared his addiction
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What are your Christmas plans? Any tablet recommendations? What was the highlight of your year so far?
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Photo by JD Hancock
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We will be hosting family on Christmas day. Highlight of the year is becoming debt free! Enjoy the weekend DC!
I wasn’t sure about posting next week either, but I too have some things scheduled. I guess we’ll see how it goes! It turned out to be a good idea for me to post things right around Thanksgiving, so maybe that’ll hold true for Christmas as well.
Hope you have a great weekend! Sounds like it’s jam packed with fun! We’re having friends over for dinner tonight and then going to Christmas party tomorrow night :)
Thank you so much for the mention. Means a lot that you enjoyed my post. Enjoy the weekend and those parties. Don’t eat too many sugar cookies….Well eat as many Tis the season to be jolly and greedy.
I bought the Google Nexus a year ago. It was an older model and I had some discounts so it was a good deal. Only thing is that after a year I notice that I barely use it. I generally use my smartphone if I’m just surfing the web or my laptop if the smartphone won’t do. I’m thinking about selling the tablet now.
Sounds like you have a jam packed weekend DC! We’re pretty packed as well getting some client work wrapped up so we can take time off next week – which we’ll likely just be taking a few days off and doing some fun things with the kids. I’m with you on the posting next week – I just ended up deciding on going the light approach next week since traffic will likely be down.
Enjoy the parties! I’m torn on tablets too. I travel my laptop literally everywhere so a tablet just seems unnecessary.
I have the Kindle Fire and use it a decent amount. I never thought I would. It’s just easier to carry around if I’m not doing tons of work. I use it mainly for reading – it doesn’t work with Google Drive and a bunch of others apps I use so it’s not a good replacement if I had stuff to do. I’m also probably paranoid, but if I get mugged, I’d rather have that taken than my laptop. :)
I had a first edition Kindle Fire and I felt like it was slow, heavy and the battery drained all of the time. I now use an i-Pad but I don’t love it. I honestly use it mostly for games which is what I use my phone for as well, so I am not sure it’s worth the investment since I use my laptop for all work related activities. I can’t believe next week in Christmas and I really feel ill-prepared for it, but I am hoping to get everything in order this weekend so I can enjoy the days leading up to it. I hope you have an awesome weekend!!
DebtDiscipline Sounds like fun! Congrats on being debt free! Hope you have a great weekend.
Mrs. Frugalwoods I think it can go either way. On the one hand people may have more time to sit around and browse blogs. On the other hand people may be too busy hanging out with family, friends, and just doing other things to browse blogs. Either way I’m excited for our posts and I will make it a priority to stop by your site as well!
Hope you have a great weekend too!
Debtfreemartini Haha I will probably eat too much, I always do. Your post was great, definitely worth sharing. I hope you have a great weekend!
Andrew LivingRichCheaply Hmmm that’s interesting. I know a few others who had the same thing happen to them. It’s definitely making me second-guess buying one. The issue with the Amazon Fire is that it’s so cheap that it seems like you don’t really need to use it much to make it worth the time. I’ll probably keep debating back and forth on it and never end up getting one : )
FrugalRules Yeah I probably shouldn’t have all my good posts when traffic is lighter, but I will just stick with my schedule. Hopefully some people stop by and share the posts, because they’re good ones (at least in my opinion haha). I hope you wrap up everything this weekend so you can have some time with the kids!
brokeandbeau Thanks Stefanie! I hear you about bringing your laptop everywhere, as I pretty much do the same. If I don’t have my work laptop with me I typically have my regular laptop with me. I’ve wondered for a while now, though, if I would read more if I had the Fire.
brightcents Oh good point about it not working with Google Drive, that’s a big negative in my books. I would want the Fire mainly for reading. I think I would read a lot more books if I could carry them around easier. You’re right tho that it would be MUCH better to have the tablet taken than the laptop.
blonde_finance Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Fire, because I’m really considering it! I was hoping the battery would be better, but sounds like it’s not great. I hope you are able to get everything done you need to finish up so that you can enjoy next week!
DC @ Young Adult Money brightcents If I would have known it didn’t work with Google Drive I would not have gotten it. I’m not unhappy with it, it’s just a negative for me too.
I am thinking about just getting a really small laptop that’s easier to carry around. I Like my Kindle Fire but could not really do work on it. Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the mention! I hope you find a tablet you like!
Enjoy the parties!
Eyesonthedollar Thanks for the feedback, Kim. I’m thinking if I do go with the Fire that I won’t use it for work, as I’ve heard from you and others that it’s tough to do work on it. But I hope you have a great weekend too!
Holly at ClubThrifty No problem Holly! You know how much I love your health care posts ;)
Jason @ The Butler Journal Thanks Jason! Should be fun and hopefully not too draining as I’m an introvert haha
Just wanted to wish you Happy Holidays since I plan to go radio silent for two weeks as of this Sunday. At least I’ll have more time to come by and read what you and Erin will serve up for us. :)
Kassandra @ More Than Just Money Good for you! Happy Holidays to you as well!
I have a cheap table I keep by the kitchen table. It is handy to get hours of places to eat, or shop. Or a telephone number. Of look up a quick item. Do it!
Thanks for sharing your editorial calendar—that puts ours to shame!! Have a wonderful holiday!
Hope you enjoy your jam-packed weekend! I feel like I’ve just fallen over the line after a marathon December of hard work, so I’m just trying to re-calibrate to some relaxing, quiet times with my family over the next two weeks!
Wow that sounds like a massive couple of days leading up to Christmas! Sure you’ll survive though as your a trooper :)..
The weather is beautiful over here, shaping up nicely for Christmas and been able to catch up with friends, family also looking into knocking some work out on my side project as well!
I bartered the Kindle HDX 64gb for an ad on my blog, and had it shipped to Europe so won’t get to try it until I fly over at the end of the month, but I look forward to have a tablet to read books instead of my laptop, and extra battery time if I take both on a long flight. I was hesitant to buy it but that opportunity seemed pretty good.
Have a Merry Christmas!
No Nonsense Landlord Nice! Seems like a good way to utilize a tablet.
bnwilliams500 Thanks, happy to provide some value to you! Hope you had a great weekend!
Jason@Islands of Investing Glad to hear you will have some time to relax! Sounds like it’s well-deserved.
mycareercrusade It was definitely a crazy weekend. Glad to hear you found some time to work on your side project!
SavvyScot1 Great to hear that you were able to get a tablet in exchange for an ad! I hope the tablet is all you expect it to be, and definitely would be nice for long flights. I know the battery life of my electronics aren’t nearly good enough for even a medium-length flight.
brightcents DC @ Young Adult Money Yeah I didn’t even think about it. That’s a big concern for me.
Interested to hear some stories then ;) haha.. Yeah, it feels like it may turn into more than simply a side project the way it’s going :)