What in the world have we been doing all week? Being awesome. Also, some other stuff. Scroll on down to check it out 
What Am I doing?
We finished the patio! Woohoo! Why no finished pictures yet? Well, we need to finish the pergola over the top still, otherwise it looks half-complete. Hoping to have that done by the end of next week (fingers crossed!) I’ll leave you with a pic we took when halfway done.
Brick patio, halfway there!
I’m now looking at tax classes for my CE credits this year. I have a two-day class in October and a two-day one in December. Excited to start my third tax season next year. You will definitely see some awesome tax tips posts during that time.
Carnivals:
These awesome blogs included me in their carnivals this week:
Aaron Hung included me in Carnival of Moneypros
All Things Finance included me in iTunes Giveaway and Sunday’s Special Links
Wealth Artisan included me in Masses vs Great Design and a Round Up – Wealth Artisan
Canadian Personal Finance included me in Canadian Personal Finance Happy Hour – 9th Edition – Dog Days of Summer! | Canadian Personal Finance
Mentions:
There are other, very cool blogs who have been generous enough to mention iHeartBudgets on their sites. Here’s a list of them and the articles I was mentioned in:
Modest Money mentioned me in August 11th 2012 Favorite Blog Posts. Thanks Jeremy!
All Things Finance included me in iTunes Giveaway and Sunday’s Special Links
Club Thrifty added me to The VIP Club – Our First Weekly Roundup
Blue Pelican Loans linked me in LinkLuv Friday #2
Thanks for the love, glad you enjoy reading my junk!
What’ I’ve Been Reading:
Check out some of the coolest blogs on the interwebz!
Modest Money did all the hard work for us a put together a great write up to compare the best credit card offers. I actually got the AMEX prepaid. We load it with our food budget ($300), so we know how much is left after each purchase.
Add Vodka shares their plans for Home Buying: What We Want. I remember buying a home like it was yesterday. An exciting place to be!
See Debt Run talks about 4 Great Uses for a Savings Account. I like the one about teaching your kids about money. Excited to teach our little one.
Budgeting in the Fun Stuff shares with us their Build a Home Series – Windows, Issues Updates, and 2nd Inspection. The house is really coming along.
Money, Life and More shows us How to Write a Check. Kinda sad that some people have never done this. I guess I’m getting old!
Making Sense of Cents asks Money or Passion? Which do you follow?
Canadian Budget Binder has a super detailed Back to School Student Budget For College or University. You know how much I love budgets!
Club Thrifty writes about The Value of Taking a Vacation. I love a good vacation!
Work Save Live discusses How We Create an Irregular Income Budget. Great for those who are commission-based or self employed!
The College Investor asks Do You Make These 6 Investing Mistakes?. I make a few of them.
Bog Of Debt shows us her Spending Recap 8/6-8/12. I like the idea of tracking “no spend days.” I’m probably close to 0… :\
Money Counselor goes on a rant in 10 Things I Don’t Get. I love this.
Thirty Six Months gives us her BlogHer 12 NYC recap. Sounds like a great event. But I’m a guy, so I don’t think I’d fit in…
Budget Blonde asks us if she should Pay Off Cards Or Save For An Emergency? I say credit cards this time. Just look at her timeline and you’ll see why.
Budget Friday: I hope everyone is excited, because I just got a submission from Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. I will be posting her budget with my modifications next week! Stay tuned!!!
Thanks for mentioning my rant! The patio really looks good.
Kurt @ Money Counselor recently posted..10 Things I Don’t Get
Thanks. Much better pics to come!
Thanks for the mention! What type of taxes do you do and what do you need CE for? I have to get CPE to keep my CPA license up but I don’t prepared taxes anymore… at least that isn’t what my job is anymore. I guess I could do some on the side.
Lance @ Money Life and More recently posted..Random Thoughts, Round Up and Carnivals #17
I’m an Enrolled agent, I deal mostly with individual income taxes with Sch. C, but am starting to pick up some business clients. I take the “Gear Up” two day individual and two day business tax courses. I need 24 hours of CPE a year minimum.
Thank you for the mention! The patio looks nice!!!
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..The VIP Club – Our First Weekly Roundup
Welcome
and thanks!
Wow you went all fancy with those patio bricks with the circle thing. Nice work man. Looks like you’re going to have a kick-ass backyard pretty soon. So what’s the next project once that’s done?
And thank you very much for mentioning my credit card post. I really appreciate that.
Modest Money recently posted..Mid August 2012 Favorite Blog Posts
That circle was Mrs. iHB’s idea. I would have kept it straight, but she’s the designer in the family.
Next project is to actually finish our fence (needs 1 more gate and finish trim), bark all the garden bed areas, landscape the sideyard (all rocks and junk right now), move some boxwoods behind the patio to line the fence, move some rhodies and lilacs around, re-seed the lawn, get rid of old bricks or re-purpose them, get rid of old fence wood (or re-purpose), pressure wash driveway and cement patios near house, pour new patios with built in bar tables, build raised bed garden boxes for front corner of sideyard, build small fence to line yard near road…
I guess we have a lot to do
Thank you for sharing blog posts from most of my favorite blogs. Your patio looks great. Can’t wait to see finished patio picture.
Shilpan recently posted..Achieve Financial Freedom: Awesome Lessons to Spruce up Your Finances
Thanks Shilpan! Pictures hopefully in a few weeks once the pergona is finished.
Thank you for the mention. I love the brick you used for the patio. I’m sure the finished product looks great.
JW @ AllThingsFinance recently posted..The True Cost Of Car Ownership – Midweek Infographic
We used bricks from an old winery downtown. We really like the rustic look
Hey, do you want to come and do my walkway and landscaping. I still have that left to do this summer along with sealing the deck..meh! Can’t wait to see your finished pictures. Thanks for the mention,and enjoy the weekend. I look forward to seeing what you do with Crystals budget! Cheers Mr.CBB
Canadianbudgetbinder recently posted..Rebuilding Life and Finances After Surviving A Divorce
Sealing the deck sounds like a chore! And I’m excited for Crystals budget as well!
Thanks for the link love! Have a great weekend
Michelle recently posted..Do’s and Don’ts of Saving on Fashion
NP!
That patio looks great! I love the design… I tend to be an HGTV addict, so I’ll look forward to the finished product!
Mike recently posted..LTNE Update: Frugal Living, Debt Elimination, and Increased Income!
It’s all about the reveal! We’ll hopefully have pics in a couple weeks, when the pergola is finished. I’ll most likely do a whole writeup on it with before and after pics.
The patio looks like it will be great! Thanks for the mention!
Robert @ The College Investor recently posted..Get a Better Savings Account Yield This Weekend
Thanks Robert
Pingback: Money Counselor Tweets and Mentions on the Web—Week Ending August 18, 2012 | Money Counselor - Make Better Money Decisions
Thanks so much for the mention!!! Glad you like the timeline.
Cat Alford recently posted..Pay Off Cards Or Save For An Emergency?
You’ll enjoy being out of credit card debt
My husband has always wanted to do a paver patio like this – I’m impressed you upped the ante so to speak with the circular design. That’s advanced patio paving!!!
Elizabeth @ Simple Finance recently posted..My Dirty Mortgage Qualification Secret
My wife gets all the credit for the design. She laid almost every brick in that patio. I hauled them, cut them and did a lot of the heavy lifting.
Thanks for the compliment.
Thanks for the mention. The patio is looking great-can’t wait to see the final pictures!
bogofdebt recently posted..Spending Recap 8/13-8/19
I’m excited to get some good pics. We had s’mores on it yesterday, definitely relaxing
Do you put anything down the cracks to help make sure nothing falls down there and gets stuck? Like grout for tile?
Thanks for the mention and I hope you enjoyed your weekend!
Jason @ WorkSaveLive recently posted..4 Ways to Build an Emergency Fund Faster
We swept paver sand in between the cracks and hosed it down to compact it a bit. Solid as a rick now!
Good luck with your TAX CE credit!
Ornella @ Moneylicious recently posted..3 Rules for Financial Safety Every College Student Can Follow
Thanks. I really enjoy the classes, learn a ton, and get a great reference book to use during tax season!
Pingback: The VIP Club - Weekly Roundup 2nd Edition - Club Thrifty
Pingback: August 24th 2012 Blog Update | Modest Money
Pingback: Carnivals, Mentions, & Weekend Reading #26 — WorkSaveLive