News about the health of the economy seems to be contradictory; on one hand, auto sales and the housing market are on an uptick, yet on the other job creation is flat. Too many articles are mentioning how few are benefiting from the stock market growth by either suggesting the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer or flat out stating this as a fact.

A funny thing is happening again in the housing market in my neighborhood; houses are jumping in price by 30% or more. Now, it’s not like housing ever really “bottomed” out here – housing prices did dip a bit, about 15-20%, but they were still very expensive compared to the rest of the nation.

To piggyback off an article Greg over at Thrift Genuity wrote, budgeting for pets might be a good idea for those toying around with the idea. Now, when I adopted my two cats, I was not thinking about the cost of owning cats – not in the least bit. I

I swear, by 5 or 6 pm, I often wonder where the day went. Now that I’ve lapsed into a “summertime” schedule these past two weeks, getting up early (like before 8am) is difficult.

Paul over at the Frugal Toad is giving away a Kindle Fire to celebrate his 2-year blog anniversary. It’s a great gift idea.