The Friday Feast ~ the 15th of January

The personal finance community is filled with so many talented writers and inspiring families in search of something better out of life than the traditional society-approved plan of buying lots of stuff and retiring in your 60s, if you're lucky.

Here is a look at the best of this week's personal finance blogs.

In this episode of Friday Feast: Financially Integrated, Retire By 40, Peer Finance 101, Financial Samurai, Go Curry Cracker, Smart Money Guides, Our Next Life, Retirement Savvy, Coach Carson.

Wow, it's mid-month already - time flies when you're [hopefully] having fun. So far in 2016, the stock market has been less than stellar, but our plans are still very much on track to achieve financial independence by the end of the year and start traveling full time!

Also, a special thanks to everyone for your well wishes on the new blog, The Power of 10. All of you people are unbelievably awesome. Oh yeah, and the Forbes interview that went public yesterday. That was pretty dope.

Now, onto the blogs!

Speaking of a stock market that has been less than stellar, Financially Integrated talked this week about his approach to managing the weirdness of it all. "It just so happens that current prices may actually be giving me a better opportunity to buy then what I have expected for this quarter."

What would you do if you won the $1.5 billion jackpot? Retire By 40 took on that question in a blog post recently. Me? I would immediately invest a portion of it, earmark a sizable chunk for charity or other worthy causes, and yes, use some of it to have a little fun - can you say "Vacation to Fiji?!?"

My favorite post of the week

My favorite post this week comes from Peer Finance 101, who asked us what we truly want: to "retire early" or to do what makes us happy without worrying about money?

More and more, I am realizing my true motivations are less about simply not having a job and more about doing what truly makes me happy, even if I'm not pulling in $100Gs a year while doing it. "It just means making money the easy way through something you enjoy and not having to worry about how much you make".

My goal is to turn my "work" into a hobby - and love every minute of it. And remember, don't let the retirement police bamboozle you into thinking that if you make money, you aren't truly retired.

More from the personal finance community

Even if real estate plummets again, Financial Samurai isn't worried one bit. "So much about achieving financial freedom is believing everything will be OK in the end while doing everything possible to improve the things you can control."

Late last year, Go Curry Cracker taught us how to never pay taxes again by doing one very simple, yet profoundly life-changing, thing.

According to Smart Money Guides, creating wealth is as easy as 1, 2, 3. But, "Don’t fall for the con artists that sell you on getting rich tomorrow. If it was that easy, we all would be billionaires."

Honorable mentions: Our Next Life interviewed the authors of "How To Retire Early", Retirement Savvy gives us important tips on managing our credit history, and lastly, Coach Carson talks about how to transform your goals into reality this year.

Photo of the week

I made this photograph on-board a sunset cruise just off shore during our family vacation to Key West, FL in late December. Check out our Key West article over on our companion blog, FullTimeExplorers.com!

Coming up in the week ahead on ThinkSaveRetire: On Monday, we'll take a look at whether or not these "quick guides" to get rich are actually worth the time of day to read, and on Wednesday I'm launching into a pet peeve of mine by discussing the relationship between privilege and choice with financial independence.

Also, stay tuned in February for a look at someone who chose a very, very cold place to take a vacation, and what motivated her to do it.

Thanks for reading, and cheers to another financially productive week ahead!