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Weekend reading: Dishes or dreams

Money articles

My regular roundup of the week’s blog and financial site links.

I am going to start highlighting a blog post that made me think each week, followed by a quick personal response. I’d like to put the emphasis back on the excellent sites out there.

Wealth Pilgrim found out this week that his buddy doesn’t do the dishes.

To quote the post:

He explained that he’s got a full-time job working as a technical engineer plus he’s trying to grow his blog into a serious enterprise.

When he gets home from his day job, he works on his blog. Of course before diving in, he plays with the kids. But as soon as they head off to bed, he heads off to blog.

30 minutes of chores means 30 minutes of reduced production. In his opinion, it’s a better business move for him to stay focused on work. He feels that he can simply add more value for the family by writing than by rinsing.

An interesting conundrum, and increasingly commonplace as more people search for passive income streams.

I remember visiting my girlfriend’s parents one Sunday about 10 weeks after co-launching a start-up, and realising it was the first Sunday I’d had off work in all that time! So I understand where Neal’s mate is coming from.

On the other hand, blogging for money is a terrible way to get rich, so if he and his wife leave the dishes until he makes it big, they’ll all die of dysentery.

More immediately, he has a family and shares his home, and such things are fragile enough without spending several hours a night shunning her to ‘play’ (as she will see it) on the computer.

The only way this will work is if he brings her on-board and shows her it’s a joint project for them, not an escape pod for him. And that conversation probably starts in the kitchen, with a dishcloth in hand.

I’m assuming here that Neal’s “friend” is not a thinly-disguised Neal. Here in the UK it’s very difficult to discuss the problems of a friend without people assuming you’re talking about yourself.

I find it particularly difficult when my friend is having period pains or suffering from piles… 😉

Note: I’ve already done a pre-budget review roundup this week.

The rest of the week’s personal finance blogs

Other interesting financial and money articles

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Comments on this entry are closed.

  • 1 Dividends4Life December 12, 2009, 2:27 pm

    Thanks for the kind mention of my Progress Update on Dividends Value.

    Best Wishes,
    D4L

  • 2 B7 December 12, 2009, 3:21 pm

    It’s a tough choice: a life or financial freedom.

    One good thing about the Internet is that we can use it create time freedom. Many people can find ways to work remotely, at least part of the time. This greatly reduces the number of hours required for the job.

    Another idea is to find a job that is less demanding.

    Just some random thoughts…

  • 3 The Investor December 12, 2009, 8:18 pm

    @B7 – I agree in principle but in practice I sometimes wonder if the Internet/entrepreneurial diversions is the reason I’m in front of a screen this particular Saturday evening… a cause rather than a symptom! 😉 Thanks for your nice words about Monevator the other day by the way, and random thoughts always welcome!

  • 4 Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA December 14, 2009, 12:31 am

    Thanks for the mention, @The Investor…

    jb