Last week, a reader named Matt sent me an article from Chicago Business about how bloggers are quitting what they call a demanding task with few rewards. It's a fascinating story that explores some of the problems with blogging as a money-making enterprise.

The article suggests several reasons that blogs and bloggers fail:

• Blogging isn't as lucrative as people imagine.
• Blogging takes too much time.
• Bloggers aren't willing to share their personal lives.
• Bloggers run out of material.
• It's easier to reach people via Facebook or Twitter.

Leaving aside Twitter and Facebook, all of these are valid concerns.

An AskMetafilter user wonders how long to keep receipts:

I have been keeping all of my receipts for some time now. Every day, I enter them into my money tracking system (presently just a text file where I capture date, payee and amount). Then I file the receipts away in folders by month. My question: does it do me any good to save the receipts, or is having the data good enough? [...] I've never had to bring out individual receipts for tax purposes before, but my understanding is that if I got audited, having all my receipts would be very helpful. Is that true?

Bankrate has an excellent table summarizing how long to keep financial records. To summarize:

I spent last Tuesday at the mid-winter conference of the local financial planning association. I was there to give a one-hour presentation about financial blogs, but I had a secondary motive. I wanted to hear the keynote speaker, George Kinder.

George Kinder takes a unique approach to financial planning. He moves beyond the numbers and tries to address the goals and values of the client. Kinder calls this method "life planning". From his website:

Life planning focuses on the human side of financial planning. In life planning we discover a client's deepest and most profound goals through a process of structured and non-judgmental inquiry. Then, using a mix of professional and advanced relationship skills, we inspire clients to pursue their aspirations, discuss and resolve obstacles, create a concrete financial plan, and provide ongoing guidance as clients accomplish their objectives.

Julie Phillips was planning to move into a new apartment when a massive flood in Alberta damaged her would-be building. Suddenly, she found herself displaced.

"The reason I wanted to move is I wanted to save on rent," Julie says. "I wanted to save more, I wanted to live with another person. I wanted that camaraderie."

After searching extensively, Julie grew discouraged.

Over the past month, I've read a lot of articles about the virtues of investing in gold. Especially in Facebook forums, there's a lot of talk about how gold makes a great long-term investment. (Fortunately, I haven't seen any comments like this in the GRS community on Facebook.)

Whenever the economy gets turbulent, the goldbugs come out in force. They shout from the hilltops that the world is doomed and that the only safe haven is gold. And I'll admit, their arguments can sound pretty convincing.

When I started this site in 2006, I felt unqualified to comment on gold. I hadn't read much about it, and I didn't feel educated enough to offer an opinion. That's changed.

When I wrote about my $80 pajamas, I never imagined it'd spark a three-part series of articles. Yet here we are.

• On Monday, I wrote about why I chose to buy high-quality pajamas. (I've been wearing them all week, by the way. They're awesome.)
• On Wednesday, I published a follow-up piece that explored the "buy it for life" philosophy, and explained why sometimes it makes sense to shop based on quality instead of price.
• Today, I want to spend a little time exploring the ethical implications of buying expensive items.

Quality tends to come with a price. While there are ways to mitigate some of these higher costs -- buy used, wait for sales, etc. -- if you want to buy new quality items, you're going to pay a premium.

Because of this, quality is often something reserved for the rich. If you have money, you enjoy the luxury of being able to buy quality items (if that's what you want). If you're struggling with money, if you're still in debt, then it may be difficult for you to prioritize quality over price.

Howdy, friends! This summer, there will be another chautauqua on financial independence in Ecuador. You should consider attending. These Ecuador chautauquas — which are unrelated to the European chautauquas — are always a fun, educational, and bonding experience.

Clarification: At some point, chautauqua founders Cheryl Reed and JL Collins parted ways. Now JL runs the European chautauquas — which are on hiatus — with Katie and Alan Donegan. Cheryl continues to run the unrelated Ecuador gatherings. Both events are excellent.

I often speak about the intersection of money and meaning when I attend.

You don't need a high income to achieve Financial Independence.

Making more money helps, sure, but if you're diligent about cutting costs, it's possible to reach financial freedom on even an average salary.

I want you to meet my friend, John. John is an 81-year-old retired shop teacher. He's a millionaire -- but you'd never know it.

During the 1990s, my financial life was like a Caribbean cruise ship during hurricane season: I was in a cabin at the center of the ship, unaware of the storms approaching from the horizon. By 2001, I'd wandered onto the deck in the midst of Hurricane Debt and Failure; I found myself in financial and personal trouble. It took a few years, but eventually I discovered that I had more control over that cruise ship than I thought.

In 2006, I shared with Get Rich Slowly readers the circumstances that allowed me to start moving in the right direction. In short, I realized that I could no longer sit by and let external forces — the hurricanes: my bosses, a difficult situation at work, my increasing debt, a deteriorating personal relationship — control my life. I learned how to manage my own money, using the basic approaches of earning more and spending smarter. I removed the negative forces in my life — anything that worked against my long-term goals to improve my finances, my life, and my identity — and replaced them with positives.

In my old life, I put the blame for failure or the credit for success on outside forces, such as luck or the economy. But this just made me feel helpless about my situation. In my new life, I shifted my philosophy from an external locus of control to an internal one: the belief that the circumstances in my life were due to choices I made. (Or worse, the choices I didn't make.) This made all the difference.

For three years I've had a single goal directing my actions: I wanted to get out of debt. Now that my consumer debt is nearly gone, I've spent a lot of time wondering what to do next. I was worried that I'd lose focus, lose direction. That's not going to be the case. I've set three major financial goals for 2008. After I pay off the last of my final loan next Tuesday, I intend to:

• Max out my retirement plan for 2007 and 2008.
• Pay taxes.
• Bolster my savings.

These goals are ambitious, but I think I can achieve them. In fact, I hope to do even more.

Retirement
I got a late start on my retirement savings. The box company has been setting aside a pension for me, but I only began my self-directed retirement savings last year. I managed to make the full contribution to my 2006 Roth IRA. I've contributed $2,000 so far this year, and intend to max out my plan by the middle of December. In 2008, the contribution limits on Roth IRAs increase to $5,000/year — I hope to invest this amount. Continue reading...