Last week I said I would like to visit New York City. Another US city on my bucket list is Miami. Particularly when it’s freezing cold in Minnesota in the Winter…
Welcome to the Weekly Quick Hits Roundup! 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.
We also have our giveaway roundup every Friday. This Friday there are over 200 giveaways listed that end today (9/20) through next Thursday (9/26).
Below are the posts from this week:
- On Monday I explained Why Plumbers Have More Job Security than Accountants. I love discussing how macro-economics has an impact on careers and how the work force will be changing in the future.
- On Tuesday I shared 5 Sources of Free Entertainment on the Internet. As long as you have an internet connection, there is a never-ending supply of free entertainment at your fingertips.
- On Tuesday I also had our final post promoting the Cub Foods 45th anniversary $4,500 sweepstakes: Great Sweepstakes: How to enter the Cub Foods $4,500 Gift Card Sweepstakes. Please consider going to the post and voting for my entry into the contest.
- On Wednesday our staff writer Cat shared True Life: I’m a Recovering Design Enthusiast. Interests, habits, and priorities change, and I think Cat describes that fact well in this post.
- On Thursday I explained How to take out a Loan on Prosper.com In a perfect world no one would have debt and there would never be unexpected expenses. This isn’t a perfect world, and thankfully there are options for personal loans if you do find yourself needing one.
Update Time
- We’re Expanding – New Staff Writer – Having Cat write once a week has been a great addition to the website, and I’m happy to announce we have another weekly staff writer coming on board! She will be posting on Tuesday each week and I’m excited to have her on the team. Her first post will go live on October 1st.
- Side Projects – Well, now that I will have two people writing it frees up a bit of my time. I will still be building up Young Adult Money for the foreseeable future, but hopefully will launch a second website sometime in early 2014. I have two or three solid ideas that I would like to pursue, but will spend the next few months planning it out on random pieces of scratch paper, Google Docs files, and in my own head. I don’t take starting a website lightly so I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before launching it.
- Weekend – My poor wife works all day on Saturday (and worked all day Monday through Friday as well). I plan on getting a lot done while she’s at work so that when she is home I’m not working on the house, the blog, or anything else. Besides that I will probably just be watching football. Nothing too exciting but I’m definitely not complaining.
- PTO to do Home Projects? – I was talking to a friend at work about some of my plans for landscaping my yard next Spring/Summer. I didn’t make much headway at all this Summer and really want to get some big projects done (new retaining wall, two raised bed gardens, privacy landscaping along the backyard fence, and installing a drainage system or landscaping to keep our yard a bit dryer and moving it away from the house). This is a bit ambitious, but I do have all Fall/Winter to research and plan.
I am seriously considering taking a full week of PTO to knock out as much of the landscaping as possible. Weekends are too short to get any bigger project done without sacrificing the entire weekend, and some projects need to be done as quickly as possible – i.e. the retaining wall that is right next to my renter’s entrance. I don’t love the idea of taking PTO to do these projects, but at the same time I would save thousands doing the work myself and free up some of that coveted weekend time.
What do you think about taking PTO to do home projects?
Posts of the Week:
- Grayson from Debt Roundup asks Why Do We Fall For Ponzi Schemes?.
- John from Frugal Rules asks Can Obama Do Anything About the Cost of College?.
- Matt from Mom and Dad Money shares 5 Simple Questions to Ask Before Investing in Anything.
- Shannon from The Heavy Purse tells you How to Talk to Kids about Money (ages 12-18).
- Mr. Utopia from Personal Finance Utopia asks Are Frugal People Loners?.
Any highlights from the week? What are your plans for the weekend? If you get PTO, what are your thoughts on taking it to do home projects or some other type of work?
Final Note: If you haven’t already, please consider taking our short 8 question survey. Feedback from readers is extremely helpful. Thanks in advance!
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Photo by John Spade
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Congratulations for having a new staff writer and I’m looking forward to read her new blog! And my plans for this weekend is about food trip. I will cook some “binagoongang pork” that’s a Filipino dish and I will buy a dark chocolate cake. :)
Clarisse ClaudeI’m glad you are excited for the new writer :) That sounds delicious, I hope you have a great weekend!
Very cool on the new writer DC. I have another one hired as well, nut just waiting for my redesign to FINALLY get done to start them. Then, I can start looking at another site as well. :) I’ve taken PTO before to work on house stuff – sometimes that made the most sense because weekends always seem to get filled up. Thanks so much for the mention DC, really appreciate it!
FrugalRules Haha I haven’t even signed the contract for my redesign : / I think I need to draw out what I want it to look like before getting them started. It’s something I haven’t prioritized – been too busy keeping up with content and other admin stuff. Hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks for the shout out DC. And congrats on the new staff writer! You know you’re moving in the right direction when you can hire people.
Matt @ Mom and Dad Money No problem and thanks! It feels good to have another person on board and they seem enthusiastic about the opportunity so should be a good thing.
Thanks for the mention, DC – you’re awesome! I somehow originally missed your Monday post about plumbers, accountants, and job security. I just read it and I sure can relate to it in a big time way. You made some excellent points.
PFUtopia Hey just saw your comment on the post on Monday. I’m very jealous that you work from home full-time in a finance/accounting role and definitely would love that setup. But looks like we are in the same boat as far as outsourcing goes – it’s a reality we have to deal with.
Another staff writer? That is great to hear DC. I wouldn’t mind taking PTO to finish big jobs around the house. I have done it before and I see nothing wrong with it! Thanks for the mention of my post as well!
DebtRoundUp Yep another one haha. It should free up some time to focus on other things, though I’ll still be writing about 3 times a week.
Congrats on your expansion! Can’t wait to get to that point. I’m spending the weekend breaking in my new running shoes for the marathon! 44 more days!
brokeandbeau Thanks! Oh dang, best of luck training in your training! I did a half marathon a couple summers ago and that was enough for me haha.
Sounds like you guys have a packed schedule! I think PTO time for home projects is a great use of time, provided you’ve got some time during the year schedule for just down time too. Have a great weekend, DC, and I’m right there with you about wanting to head down south during our freezing cold winters. :-)
Laurie TheFrugalFarmer That’s my main problem, Laurie – I don’t just relax on my PTO unless I am on vacation in another location with no cell service! Oh well : )
I take PTO to get stuff done all the time. I love it!
ayoungpro I do as well, but I always feel like I should be relaxing or doing nothing on my PTO, but it does feel great to get things done when you have full days off.
Congrats on hiring another staff writer. I’m sure it will free up your time to do the other things you have on your list :-)
I don’t see anything wrong with using PTO for home improvement projects if you want to get it done, but I would rather use the little vacation time I get for relaxing. Sometimes when things need to get done, you don’t have much of a choice. There were plenty of times my mom took a week off work to catch up on things around the house. Still less pressure than working! When my boyfriend works Saturdays I also use that time to blog, so that I can spend the rest of the weekend with him, distraction-free. Have a great one!
Excited to “meet” the new staff writer! Will the new site be personal finance related or something completely different?
StudentDebtSurvivor It will be about allergies :0
I have Miami on my to visit list as well, it’s pretty easy from Guatemala but I didn’t find a slot now. From freezing MN it sure sounds appealing!
Thanks for the mention, DC! Always appreciated. :) Miami is a fun city but I am a spoiled Cali girl so it’s too humid for me! We complain about it being hot but it’s rarely humid, thankfully! Although humid probably does not sound that bad when you’re shoveling snow in January!