Weekly Thoughts:

You may be saying “what is Cedar Point“…?  It’s the biggest Amusement Park for the N.E. middle states!  While it’s not “Disney World” in either themes or shows, the park  is still a great thrills amusement park for teenagers and adults.  The have some great attractions like “Top Thrill Dragster“, which my wife and son loved.  My wife said it was very exciting and she would love to go on it again someday.

It has really changed a lot from when I was a kid, but it’s still fun.  My son really blossomed this year, trying the big boy and girl roller coasters.  Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t have such a great time at first.  The Park has bumped a lot of the rides up to have a 48 inch height requirement.  This sucks, it wasn’t always that way!  I remember when we first went rides like the “Wild Cat” and the Swing ride let kids that were less than 48 inches ride them.

But this isn’t the case anymore…  very disappointing for my daughter (she’s only 45 inches tall)!!!  After a lot of searching I found a roller coaster that she could ride called “Woodstock Express“.  the roller coaster was perfect for her!  It was still exciting but not too long or scary!  It’s much better then the Gemini Jr (very lame for a 6 year old).  So if you have a child shorter that 48 inches that’s crying that she/he want to go on a roller coaster… this is the answer!  She went at least 4 times (and surprisingly, no line for this ride).

My Favorite Reads of the Week:

EveryDayTipsAndThoughts:  “Thoughts For Thursday:  When was the Last Time…” – For me this is a great reminder to make the most of my time with my kids while they are kids and impressionable.  I love my kids and the more that I’m with them and occasionally do the thinks they want to do, the stronger our bond will be!

BudgetingInTheFunStuff:  “Going Completely Green.  Is it for You?” – A “going green” measuring stick to check how green you really are.  In my case, I determined that I’m more of a lime green color versus the dark green that I imagined I was…

FreeMoneyFinance:  “A Good Money Saving Tip or Unethical Way to Save Money” -  Some people believe they are clever when the rip off other people…  What do you think?

FrugalDad:  “The Things Money Can’t Buy, and a Few Things It Can” and “8 Critical Steps Every Family Should Be Taking to Prepare for the Next Financial Crisis“  – sounds analysis, both posts are great reads.

GetRichSlowly:  “Living on (a Lot) Less“  – staff writer Sierra Black wrote a great piece on thinking outside of the box about reducing living cost.  In many ways the article reminded me of Jacob’s website called “EarlyRetirementExtreme” who is a master of reducing living costs (I believe his annual cost is around $12,000?).

MoneyFunk:  “How to Control Emotional Spending“  – This is a great writeup on a problem that I personally don’t have, but I can imagine many others do.  I especially like this post because it identifies a problem not mentioned much, and provides an action plan to help!  Nice job!!!

My Favorite Post from Money Reasons:

The Shawshank Redemption, Lessons Learned – I like this post because the movie was so great!  I almost chose “Lunch Budget Experiment Update #3” instead, but I’m going to evolve that experiment next week, so stay tuned!

Closing Thoughts:

After some thinking, I’ve come to realized that success in life is more a recipe list than just money.  Just money by itself, is just paper.  If you don’t use your money for forging memories with family and friends… what’s the point?

So we had a $200.00 day this past Saturday for our trip to Cedar Point and yes it was expensive for my standards, but my kids are that much happier now, plus it’s out of their system for the next month or so…  Today (in about 3 hours, yawn), I’m going to take my son to play golf.  He asked to do it 3 days ago, so I think we are due (oh he’s now taking golfing lessons, yay!).

I hope you enjoyed this fine summer weekend!

-MR

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