Even writers need a break. I spent the long holiday weekend doing all sorts of things — but I didn’t write a word. I did a lot of other stuff instead:

  • Kris and I spent many hours in the yard, trimming hedges and pulling weeds.
  • We also picked our first blueberries and raspberries.
  • I ran sixteen miles on Saturday.
  • I had dinner with friends. (Twice.)
  • I cleaned my office.
  • I read the first half of Oliver Twist. It’s been years since I read Dickens. I’d forgotten how good he is.

Though I didn’t write about money, I did have several conversations about the subject. It’s fascinating to hear how other people approach personal finance. Speaking of which, here are some recent articles from elsewhere around the web:

Last month, several readers (including my wife) forwarded an article from the New York Times about the resurgent interest in vegetable gardening. As food prices rise, more families are banking on gardening. Kris and I are having a great time with our year-long garden project; we’re learning a lot from GRS readers, and we’re already making noise about expanding our vegetable garden next year.

Over the long weekend, Free Money Finance shared a guest post arguing that the government lies about inflation. “Inflation has been significantly underreported,” the author says, and that makes cash problematic. But one reader disagreed and wrote with a different view on inflation. I’ve heard many complaints recently about the way the government calculates the consumer price index, but I haven’t yet heard anyone arguing that inflation isn’t a problem.

Finally, pulling both of these themes together, Kiplinger’s recently published a story about how average families are beating high prices at the supermarket (and elsewhere). “Suddenly, saving is sexy and budgeting is back in vogue,” the authors write. The article describes how three different families are dealing with rising costs.