It’s been a crazy week. The electrical contractor has been here every day. I’ve had appointments every day. And so I’ve been behind every day, struggling to provide new posts. Things should return to normal next week.

One of my appointments was with a television crew. I was interviewed yesterday for a segment on the local evening news. It was a fun experience, especially behind the scenes. Both the reporter and the cameraman seemed to be into the whole frugality thing. They were genuinely interested in exchanging ideas about saving money.

On a related note, Canadian personal finance author A. Dawn recently asked me to share my internet habits. I dashed out a short piece about a day in the life of a blogger.

Enough about me. How about some articles on investing?

First up, a pair of posts about the product of prudent money management. At Minyanville, Scott Reeves shares a story of two people who retired (very) early — at age 38. Their advice? “The formula is basic: Start saving and investing early and don’t go into debt.”

On a similar note, Hazzard wrote that simple financial concepts helped his friends retire early. “By following some pretty simple concepts of living below their means, watching what they spend, and obviously saving all the extra, they have been able to take control of their futures and do what they want each day for the rest of their lives.”

How do you get to that place? You might start by reading The Mighty Bargain Hunter’s reminder that if your employer matches 401(k) contributions but you don’t invest, you’re throwing away free money. It’s difficult to find a better deal than employer-matched retirement contributions. If you have one available to you, try to at least contribute enough to it to get the full match from your company.

Finally, Tim Ferriss recently made the trek to Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. Through clever planning he was able to pick Warren Buffett’s brain. Here’s the question he asked:

If you were 30 years old and had no dependents but a full-time job that precluded full-time investing, how would you invest your first million dollars, assuming that you can cover 18 months of expenses with other savings? Thank you in advance for being as specific as possible with asset classes and allocation percentage.

Buffett’s answer? No surprise: “I’d put it all in a low-cost index fund that tracks the S&P 500 and get back to work.” (I’d also like to point out that in the past, Buffett has offered two other pieces of advice for young people: stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.)