Money & Personal Finance: top articles this week (1)

I am currently ‘monitoring’ over 150 blogs on personal finance, traveling etc. and was able to find some pretty nice articles that I’m sure my visitors could also enjoy. So here we are this Sunday, kick starting our ‘series’ of recommended articles for you to read:

• Making your Cubicle Work For You – while the article is mostly aimed towards the people who do work in a cubicle, I found it to be very useful myself. I do work from home, but my desk could surely use some changes and it would probably reflect well on my productivity and overall happiness.
• Frugal Birthday Parties for Kids – I’m all for knowing how to have fun and not get bankrupt in the process. This is a great example that you can make your kid happy on his/her birthday and not feel the financial consequences for the next 12 months.
• The Government Shutdown and The Extreme Importance of Emergency Funds – I have started looking at money differently in the past 2 years. I struggled with money, I was in debt and, when I thought I can’t go lower, something happened and almost pushed me off the cliff. Having an emergency fund is VERY important and what happened in the US lately shows that once again you can never know what tomorrow might bring.
• Does Having More ‘Stuff’ Bring You More Joy? – one of the questions that surely passed through all our minds. We try to get as many things as possible, and the big question is that, if they really increase our happiness or they’re just money wasted?
• Concerns That Parents Should Think About Before Cosigning a Loan – should we cosign a loan for our offspring? When should we help and what should we expect if we decided to do it.