I submitted my blog to a group of uh people for a review and they do what they say: Ask and you shall receive. I asked and I got.

Here are some of the reviewer comments:

It is pretty much sunshine and lollipops over there. Problem is, I’m not entirely sure what “over there” is. Is this a blog or a self-help site? What is the purpose? You’re all over the place.

The writing is… chipper.

It’s very Good Housekeeping-ish, chatty.

There are some chuckles. Chippy, cheerful chuckles. No one’s cackling with glee here.

It seems like she approaches this like a job, like a way to break into something. It’s all marketing and spit-shine and I want to hate it because it’s gutless.
We don’t get to see who Valerie really is. There are no relationships explored, no real memories shared, no meat, no dimension, no sexiness.

But for the love of Shamwow, find some focus, figure out why you’re blogging, what you want to gain, and who your audience is. If it’s a general blog about your life, be that and leave out all the money-saving crap.

Okay, now this is not all that bad, most of it is accurate, to a point. I was hoping they would tell me something I didn’t already know. I do lack focus and I am all over the place, that’s who Valerie is. I don’t get too personal on purpose.

The only thing I really want to change about my blog is the tagline: my rants and ramblings, I know that sucks. Here’s what I came up with: If you want focus, go stare at a dot, cause you won’t find it here.

Suggestions on improvements around here? Just as long as you don’t bash my writing cause I might actually tear up. I always said I wanted to write a column in a newspaper, too bad they didn’t read my post, Why I Blog.

The Good
Good news! I finally upgraded my computer desktop and no I didn’t buy the one I really wanted, the slimline with the wireless LAN on-board, TV tuner to drool over 500g HD. I bought the one my money said I could have, the CPU that runs on hamster wheel power. Dual core? Two hamster wheels. It’s an improvement though, but next time. It should arrive on Friday. W00t!

The Bad
It comes with Windows Vista. I haven’t heard too many good things about this operating system. Most of the reviews I’ve read from users are negative, they hate it. I just hope I don’t experience any compatibility issues with my older programs, other than that, come what may. Any happy Vista users out there?

The Ugly
I’m in a bad mood this week, my sinuses have me by the nose and my neighbors won’t let me sleep. I’m not quite sure if the people renovating the house are the new neighbors or just the workers, but someone had the radio blaring all night and I couldn’t sleep.

Now, I used to sleep with the radio on so I understand rock-a-bye baby music, but this was piss the block off music and it worked. Certain noises arouse me and amazingly I can sleep through thunder, war and shootings, but drop your weapon and I’ll wake up. If you snore, my chance of smothering you with a pillow is 100%. I’m trained in CPR/AED, so I would revive you…just in the morning, after I wake up. I need quiet to sleep, so in case of disturbances, I keep several types of ear plugs in my night stand drawer.

However, two summers ago, the previous neighbors played music all the time until 2 a.m. and one night I was lying in bed plotting how to kill them. I wasn’t going to go through with it, I was just thinking about it. Really my target was to smash the radio. Instead I called the cops and a few minutes later my doorbell rings and two policemen are on my step. I thought they were supposed to protect and serve, not tattle and tell.

“Are you the one who called about the noise.” I gave them my name and address on the phone, they know I’m the one, why are you HERE. (I’m thinking you have got to be kidding me, you #@#! @$$@$, you’re going to get me killed).

“Yes it was me, don’t you hear the music. It’s the house NEXT DOOR!” Get off my step before someone sees you.

“Okay ma’am, we’ll take care of it” and then they left. What? No police protection tonight.

Fast forward, I’m a little nervous about who may be moving in next door. I’ve been enjoying the quieter summers and would hate to bother the police again. I love music, but at that hour they have to be breaking some town ordinance. Yet, I’m the one who gets a warning ticket for “recycling wrong.” Only on Hysteria Lane!

I thought about putting my speakers in the window and waking them up at 5:30 in the morning, but their music was still on. Yep, and I was late for work the next day, I overslept. Maybe I should report them to Rotten Neighbor. Hey, do you have a rotten neighbor story, something that will make my neighbors look like a convent?

By the Way

Just for once, I would actually like to get the advertised picture of food that’s on the outside of the box, inside the box. I bought a Weight Watchers snack a few weeks ago and on the outside of the box, the cake (with icing) said “buy me”, so I did. I opened it and something the length of a miniature sized 3 Musketeer falls out of the box. It was so small I was almost too ashamed to eat it. I guess I shouldn’t expect too much enjoyment and size from something that equals 1 point? I get excited when I see chocolate and snacks like that should come with a warning label: Magnified to show detail. The snack inside you could enjoy, if you don’t swallow it, will be 50% smaller. Don’t get excited!

Same thing with Burger King. The Whopper looks great on TV, all dressed up making ME crave meat, but when I got there it was a different story. My whopper looked like a Super Smash Brother with tire marks.

“Hi welcome to Burger King, may I take your order?”

“Yes, I’d like the Whopper I saw on TV last night.”

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

Whether you are married or single with significant other, discussions about money are bound to come up. Often times, these discussions turn into arguments, sometimes fights and even possibly divorce. Some couples avoid the money topic completely to maintain peace within the relationship, but that won’t work forever. So just how do you avoid arguments about money?

Communicate. If you want to avoid arguing about money, then you can’t be afraid to talk about it. Don’t wait until you are months into a relationship to at least start talking about some aspect of money. If you’re married, you should already have frequent discussions about the family finances. If you are dating and marriage is imminent, don’t wait until you say “I do” to find out if you’re on the same page financially. If you’re single and dating, don’t wait until the check is on the table to decide who’s going to pick up the tab. Try to establish as much as you can before you’re faced with the situation.

Avoid Blame. Replace you with I. I’m no counselor of any kind, but I find this works with most arguments. Instead of pointing the finger at the other person saying: YOU spend too much, or YOU don’t know how to manage money try talking about your feelings. I feel scared about our financial future or I feel that we can do better with our finances. You can relax a person’s defenses by not starting a conversation with their faults. Avoid placing blame, nobody likes to be accused, even if they are in the wrong.

Be Satisfied. Be content with what you have instead of spending money on things you don’t need. Before you buy, ask yourself some questions: Is it really necessary to upgrade to the latest model? Do we really need a 52″ HD TV? Learning to be satisfied will help you live within your financial means without the added stress and money fights. Sometimes good enough really is just that, good enough.

Set Goals. Money is like time, if you don’t have a plan for it, eventually it will be gone. Setting financial goals as a couple or as a single person leaves less room for haphazardly spending money on stuff. Set specific goals, i.e. we would like to save $10,000 in 5 months or I would like to save $15,000 in 6 months. Keeping your goals in mind will help stave off frivolous spending.

These are just my top four ways, how do you and yours keep from having arguments about money? Do you mingle the money together or do you believe in yours, mine and ours?

Photo of couple by: Rojo.com
Photo in poll by DatingDames.com

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