<iframe align="right" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sacchuwik-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0965034070&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&lt1=_blank&IS2=1&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Title	Financial Freedom on $5 a Day
Author	Chuck Chakrapani
ISBN	0-88908-952-3

Like most personal finance books, Financial Freedom on $5 a Day suggests a regular savings plan, dollar-cost averaging for no-load mutual funds, and eventual diversification into investments that can weather recession, inflation, and growth markets. The book also talks about other investment options such as gold and silver trading.

I did find a nifty little tidbit, though: three different techniques for saving a chunk of your income so that you can invest it later on. On page 17, Chakrapani describes:

Minus Ten	Automatically deduct 10% of your paycheck and put it into a savings account before you even see it. (Pretty standard advice.)
Plus Ten	Every time you spend, put aside an extra 10% for your savings. Think of it as extra tax.
Day's Due	Save every day. Minimum recommended: Annual income / 3500. (Was that gross or net?)

The suggestion of saving $5 a day will be difficult for me to meet considering my already-trimmed budget, but if I stick to my savings plan and relieve my book expenses by satisfying my addiction at the libraries, it might actually be doable.

The copy I read was so old that Amazon doesn't carry it any more, but Amazon lists the 7th edition for USD 2.50 (used). Not worth shipping, though. Read this one at your local library.

<iframe align="right" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sacchuwik-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0399524118&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&lt1=_blank&IS2=1&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Title	Rules for the Road
Author	Eve Luppert
ISBN	0-399-52411-8

Luppert's guide to surviving an entry-level job is a good read for fresh graduates who need tips on surviving the mindless drudgery of their first year. "Do stupid things brilliantly," Luppert counsels, giving hundreds of tips on surviving everything, including office gossip.

Of particular interest to me was the short segment on managing a hands-off boss (hello, Mark! ;) ) on page 28. Luppert suggests finding other people who have done what I'm trying to do and asking them questions. Saving questions and ideas will help me make the most of rare moments of contact, and I should take care to update him with tidbits and stuff. Because he won't give me constant feedback, I'll need to give myself whatever encouragement I need. Hmm.

<iframe align="right" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sacchuwik-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0071422137&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&lt1=_blank&IS2=1&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Title	Life Matters
Authors	A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill

I totally, totally, totally like this book. It's just _packed_ with gems. A few pages into the book, I realized I had another must-read in my hands. This book talks about balancing work, family, time, and money, and it's full of very real and warm stories. Don't be intimidated by its size. It's really fun and easy to read!

Let me give you an example of how deep and wonderful this book is. In the section on work, you won't find tips on how to cut corners on the job so that you can spend more time with your family. You won't find wheeling-and-dealing tips to help you get ahead. You will, however, find them not only quoting Kahlil Gibran's "Work is love made visible," but infusing every page with that creed. You'll hear about how involving your children in work can help give them an appreciation of the joy and dignity of work. You'll learn how to make the most of your time, and how to stay energized and loving after a long work day. This is Really Good Stuff.

What I really like about this book is that Rebecca's stories show the value of homemaking and how you can learn important lessons from that underappreciated kind of work. I rarely find women's insights in productivity books unless the books are oriented toward women. Rebecca's stories about her family and her society, her writing and her life were given just as much importance as Robert's stories about business.

There's even an audio CD version for all of you podcast- and CD-listening people out there. Get this book. It's good. In fact, I want to buy several copies of this to give to friends. It's _really_ good.

<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sacchuwik-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0071422137&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&lt1=_blank&IS2=1&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Bob Erb wrote: <blockquote> Reading Linux Journal at work today, I get to the article about todo lists, browsing through it, getting interested when it started talking about plain text files, then excited when planner-mode was mentioned, then thinking, "I'll have to tell emacs-wiki-discuss about this!" as the discussion of planner-mode continued, then, wow, it's you! </blockquote>

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahooooooooooooooooo! I've been published! My article on Taming the TODO came out in Linux Journal #138, October 2005. Buy a copy!

Thanks in no small part to Travis Hartwell (who poked me into actually _doing_ something that had been on my TODO list for ages), Dominique Cimafranca (who helped me fix my absolutely horrible first draft), Jill Franklin and Don Marti of Linux Journal, and of course the absolutely wonderful Planner community...

Happy happy joy joy! Happy happy joy joy!

E-Mail from Bob Erb

We, the Penguins of Sacha Chua, are delighted to welcome four additions to the Penguin Circle.

Candle-penguin tried its best to stay serious, but the Sock-penguins and Purse-penguin just couldn't stop clowning around. As the Linux penguin, Tux felt slightly jealous because _it_ had started this entire penguin thing in the first place.

Anyway, we had a nice chat while Sacha went off to watch March of the Penguins. She came back and told us about the amazing stuff other penguins go through in the Antartic just to ensure the survival of our species.

If she doesn't find us tomorrow, you know where we'll be!

Check out the Teaching Carnival for excellent blog posts about education. Good stuff!

Picked up the link from Marcia Hansen's blog. Read her wonderful reflections on her first experiences as a teacher. Awwwwwwwwww!