Easy Like Sunday Morning Recap and Roundup – # 7 – June 24th, 2012

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Each time, the purpose of the Easy Like Sunday Morning Recap and Roundup series is the same – for me to be able to connect with you, the readers, on a more personal (non personal finance informational transmission only) level, encourage community, and also to give back to the other bloggers around the blogosphere who have mentioned My Personal Finance Journey throughout the past few weeks or so. It’s been quite a while since the last roundup, so we have a lot of catching up to do! 

As far as the theme goes, the title of the roundup gives it away. The roundup theme is named after the Lionel Richie song, Easy Like Sunday Morning (which I play once each time I put this together), to remind us of the importance of slowing down at least every once in a while to take appreciation for that which transpired over the past few days.

So, without further ado, let’s get started with this edition’s roundup!

Updates from Jacob’s Personal Finance Journey and Life 

• As far as my life in general, the month of June has brought some really fun times and also some big, but also good, changes! 
• First, in early June, I participated in my 4th consecutive annual Multiple Sclerosis fundraising bike ride (MS150).
• To date, I’ve raised $5,050 of my original $7,500 goal. I’m still waiting on a good number of company matches, which I believe will bring my total to above $6,000 for this year. Completely awesome! A big thanks to everyone for their support on this. 
• Donations still count until July 12th, 2012, so if you’re interested in making a tax-deductible donation, click here! Just $10 will make a world of difference! 
• Second, also in early June, my girlfriend and I adopted a second greyhound (see picture below). His name is Coat (short for his racing name, Irene’s Coat). He’s a very loving soul and likes to cuddle more than our other greyhound, Charlie, who is more of a cat than a dog. 

• Third, in my graduate school research, my advisor and I have gotten very close to publishing a collection of my research data in the Journal of Biomacromolecules. 
• We have to do some Atomic Force Microscopy work (we had only done Transmission Electron Microscopy before) to provide a more in-depth numerical analysis of the protein aggregates (amyloid-beta) we study relating to Alzheimer’s disease. So, it will be interesting to learn that new technique in the coming months. 
• However, we are pretty confident that we can get it reviewed successfully after this additional analysis! We’re pretty happy! 
• As far as my personal finances and blog go, the major recent development is that my girlfriend, Becca (who also runs a very awesome wine blog – see picture below of her), moved in to my condo about a week ago. 
• We’re currently wading through two sets of household items and trying to make them fit in to only enough space for one set of items, but we’re slowly making progress. As a typical guy, I mainly try to stay out of her way! 🙂
• It will be nice to get her help for some of the monthly expenses, and it will also save her some money because she won’t have a large rent payment anymore. 
• I’ll probably do a post soon about the various considerations of having a significant other move in to a place you own, so keep an eye out for that. On the way soon!

Guest Posts from Personal Finance Bloggers on My Personal Finance Journey

Since the last roundup, there were five guest post here at My Personal Finance Journey.

-Kyle from The Penny Hoarder posted about how he saved big money on his home remodeling project.