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It just keeps storming out here, and I love it. Thursday night’s storm knocked our mailbox off the post and sent it flying about 10 feet down the sidewalk. I need to look into what we should buy to fix it so that doesn’t happen again. I hope we don’t need a whole new mailbox & post. Maybe just some nails or a new base will do? At any rate, one thing that I try to avoid during thunderstorms is sitting on the computer. So between that and being on vacation I’ve had quite a bit of reading to catch up on when I got the chance. Here are some recent articles that I liked:

Canadian Capitalist debates: To REIT or not to REIT? Are real estate investment trusts good to add to your portfolio? I’ve been debating that same thing myself lately, without any real conclusion. (Although I’m leaning toward either “no” or a very small portion at this point.)

NCN points out that relying on credit for your emergency fund isn’t a reliable idea. (Especially with lenders cutting off home equity loans lately.) I’m with him — I think that an emergency fund should consist of cold hard cash in the bank. I wouldn’t want to have to worry about paying off debt on top of whatever emergency might happen; especially if it were a job loss.

Clever Dude daydreams about what it might to take to become a full-time blogger. I like doing little scenarios like that (although I haven’t considered blogging full time) because they challenge me to really think about cutting my expenses to the bone & maximizing income.

MoneyNing wonders if he should buy an investment property now — even though he doesn’t own a house of his own. What do you think he should do? I’m a fan of investment properties myself, but have decided to hold off a while longer while I stay focused on our primary goal of paying off the house.

FrugalDad responds to the question of “Should we pay off credit card debt before having a baby?”. His take seems pretty reasonable, as he points out that kids are not really that expensive. (My own expenses for having a child didn’t skyrocket until my son hit middle school, so I tend to agree.) Still, it’s easy for parents to make having a child into an unnecessarily expensive prospect, or for there to be unexpected medical bills, so getting out of debt shouldn’t be postponed indefinitely.

Quest for Four Pillars conducts the great powdered milk experiment. He decided to see if “everyone” was right. Is powdered milk awful? Or is it a great way to save money without sacrificing taste? (I wouldn’t know, since I don’t drink milk period.)

Squawkfox offers lots of goodies this week. Check out her printable grocery shopping list for a guide to finding affordable, healthy, and delicious foods fast. Or download her new e-book called Frugal Food & Fitness: How to get fit and fab without spending a fortune.

Finally, Mr. Credit Card shares the results of his personal finance bloggers credit card survey. Some of the results surprised me.

• Millionaire Teenager Next Door When you are a teenager it is hard to think past this weekend’s plans, especially when it comes to money. I remember getting that Friday...
• Consumers Choose Cash Over Credit Starting in February of 2010 credit card companies will no longer be allowed to suddenly increase penalty fees and interest rates and as a result...
• Understanding 1st Party and 3rd Party Collectors I have been following the How to Fight Debt Collectors series and noticed that the articles are all geared towards third party collections. For 3...