Over the next seven days, I am celebrating Christmas with four different families: my wife’s grandfather, my wife’s parents, my parents, and my own family. It’s going to be a week filled with traveling, meeting people, exchanging hugs, exchanging gifts, and eating great food. I can’t wait. (And neither can my two year old, who wants to open the presents under the tree every evening.)

Susie Bright on Suze Orman: The Lesbian Approach to Getting Rich This is a really interesting re-reading of Suze Orman’s personal finance writings that casts her advice in an unexpected light. I actually went back and read through some older Orman stuff because of this article. (@ queercents)

Manage Your Finances Together This is a great post on the reasons for and the art of managing personal finance together as a couple. (@ gather little by little)

The Simple Dollar Retro: Six Habits I’ve Given Up In Order To Save Money – And How Much It’s Saved Me This Year The best part is I haven’t regressed on any of these. It’s amazing how much money I used to waste.

When Beating the Stock Market is Really an Illusion This is an interesting way of looking at investments, considering that in fact most people do have the vast majority of their wealth in cash or other low-appreciating assets. (@ the digerati life)

Bodega: Cheap Eats and Social Commentary for 25 Cents This article asks an astute question: if your income is limited, why would you not buy the cheapest calories you can? (@ my money blog)

Overspending for the Kids Thankfully, my children are young and this isn’t a concern, but I wonder what will happen as they grow older. (@ consumerism commentary)

The Simple Dollar Retro: How to Balance Your Checkbook in the Era of the Debit Card Given that so many of us rely on plastic for our day-in day-out expenses, it’s often a trick to maintain good accounting of our actual personal finance standing at any given time. Here are some tips to make it easier.