I’m going to switch things up a little this morning. I generally share links from other sites at the end of the day, but we were out late last night at The Decemberists concert, and the entry I’d planned for this morning isn’t finished. (As some of you probably noticed during the 38 minutes the “stub” was live — oops.) Here are a few people who weren’t out late singing and dancing:

  • No Credit Needed says that you should stop waiting for tomorrow — get informed, be honest, stay focused. He’s right. One of the best steps you can take to tackle your debt (or to save for retirement) is to start now. Begin making baby steps. They’re better than standing still.
  • Speaking of which, Strange Bird at Running With Scissors shares a brief profile of her brother, who is 16-years-old with $10,000 in the bank. This is awesome. (Though I wonder what “he asked my parents for money” means…) At 16, I didn’t save anything. In fact, it’s only recently that I’ve begun to save. If I’m lucky — and if I stay on task — I’ll have $10,000 saved by the end of the year. That’s just 23 years behind this kid. (Better late than never!)
  • Elsewhere, MSN Money has an article describing what makes a house recession-proof. Most of these are familiar (”location, location, location” and “don’t buy the best house on the block”), but it doesn’t hurt to review them if you’ve begun to consider purchasing a new home.
  • Finally, Leo Babauta, who writes Zen Habits, one of my favorite productivity blogs, is launching a new site devoted to effective writing. Write to Done will offer twice-weekly articles about the craft and the art of writing. I’m always looking to improve my skills, so you can bet I’ll be subscribing to this.

I’ll be back later this afternoon with your regularly-scheduled post!