The Friday Feast ~ the 18th of November

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: Rockstar Finance, Mr. Tako Escapes, Retirement Savvy, Millionaire Educator, Money Minded Mom, Freedom 40 Plan, Chris Reining, Trapped In Work, Zaptitude, Chris Istace.

Welcome to another Friday, and congrats for making it here. Lots going on these days! We are making a trip from Tucson, Arizona up to Oregon (this morning!) to have solar panels installed on our Airstream - along with an upgraded battery system. This sets us up for free camping after retirement! This is our first major long haul with our home on wheels. Wish us luck!

Now, on to the personal finance blogosphere!

First, J Money from Rockstar Finance released a kick-ass forum for us to chat in! Super cool group of people over there already, chattin' up a storm.

And, Mr. Tako Escapes tackles an important early retirement question: Was it worth it? "Everyone I know is at work, and my neighborhood is empty.  For certain people, this could be considered a lonely existence."

My favorite post of the week

My favorite post for this week is an oldie (but goodie!) from Retirement Savvy on your net worth being a meaningless metric. Do you agree?

"You might hear a couple say their net worth is $265,000.00. No doubt that number is quite impressive," James said.

"However, if you break it down, you might discover that they are assuming they have $120,000.00 in equity in their home because of some improvements they have made to the home or because of what comparable homes in the neighborhood have sold for in the recent past or what Zillow estimates their home is worth."

James advises us to focus more on income generation than valuing all the "stuff" to our names.

"Do yourself a favor and stop focusing on net worth; but if you have to, use either of the modified definitions. Spend your time and energy paying more attention to developing multiple streams of passive and portfolio income."

More from the personal finance community

Millionaire Educator talks about how they saved $250,000 by taking crappy jobs.

Don't miss Money Minded Mom's complete guide to living below your means. "Living below your means is a way of life you need to adapt to truly live the life you want. It means being happy, healthy and stress free."

Also, Freedom 40 Plan wrote that he's not a big fan of Christmas.

Lastly, Chris Reining talks about an important topic: Is my financial advisor ripping me off?

Honorable mentions: Trapped In Work reminds us that math isn't subjective, Zaptitude reminds us that life is made up of moments, not things, and lastly, Chris Istace asks how will you value life?

Video of the week

Our first real Frank Financials video went live on Wednesday. Check it out! It's about the importance of knowing where your money is being spent. :)

Coming up in the week ahead on ThinkSaveRetire: I'm going personal! On Monday, I am writing about how I almost quit my job a couple weeks ago, early! And on Wednesday, I'm giving you good people a little insight into where we are...literally!  :)

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