The Friday Feast ~ the 29th of July

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: RodansOdyssey, Make Smarter Decisions, Mr. Tako Escapes, Apathy Ends, Family Money Plan, Retire in 2019, Business Insider, It's a Kate Life, Debt Discipline and Physician on Fire.

Welcome to another Friday! Today, we are busy installing a new composting toilet in our Airstream so we won't have to deal with the dreaded black tank any longer. My wife has been looking forward to this for a while, and the time has finally come.

Now, onto the personal finance gems!

First, RodansOdyssey gives us three reasons to blow the budget and make it rain!

And elsewhere, Make Smarter Decisions reflects on five decisions made as a teenager that helped make her rich.

My favorite post of the week

My favorite post this week comes from Mr. Tako Escapes who writes about the importance of maintaining goals, especially after early retirement.

"Life is short.  And then we end up dead," he writes, setting the stage. "I chose the path of financial independence instead of the corporate life.  It freed up a whole lot more of my time for actually living."

Goals, Mr. Tako writes, gives life purpose. Something positive to strive towards, to keep your brain active and heart pounding. "So what do I want to achieve with my financial independence?  Read on to find out!"

More from the personal finance community

Apathy Ends gives us four money mistakes that we need to avoid.

Over at Family Money Plan, Andrew talks about the one thing that you should change about your mortgage, today!

Also, Retire in 2019 got laid off recently, prompting the question: Can I retire now?

Lastly, thinking of buying a house? This Business Insider flowchart might help!

Honorable mentions: It's a Kate Life asks: Do your principles get in the way? Debt Discipline talks about offsetting your mortgage by making extra cash, and lastly, Physician on Fire finally announced his retirement?

Photo of the week

Captured a shot of this snake at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum early this year. Isn't he cute?

Coming up in the week ahead on ThinkSaveRetire: On Monday, I am discussing five ways to be creative working full-time, and Wednesday, I will talk dodgeball and how that could possibly relate to early retirement.

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