There are some good personal finance blogs out there, that deal with a variety of issues. Get Rich Slowly is one I read often. It was started as being a one person blog but now it's written by several people. Also there are "Reader's Stories" where people contribute about their real life experiences both good and bad when it comes to finances and things.

Also Donna Freedman writes for MSN Money (her articles are here [link] and has a personal blog - [link]

Oh, if her name is on the lease, too, then yeah. Or maybe you pay one deposit, she pays another, to make it easier to get them back later?

Money question - I had to pay deposits/installation fees for water ($125), power/gas ($150), and cable ($150). It makes sense to split those costs with my roommate, right? There's no reason for me to pay all of it by myself, is there?

Well, if it's a deposit and you get the money back, no, it doesn't make sense to split them. Too confusing. (You could split them as Amy said, one of you do one, one do the other...but if you've already paid them might be hard). For installation fees, sure, maybe.

I rent out a room in my house and was splitting all the bills with my roomie the first year, but it was such a hassle to not only pay them (er, I'm bad at that) but also manage to figure out how much he owed each time? Yikes. So for the new roomie I figured out how much it averages and just told her a total including utilities/cable/etc.

Or maybe you pay one deposit, she pays another, to make it easier to get them back later?

You can spin it that it's always good to have at least one utility in your name for proof of address, etc.

Twinkie Tiramisu

Someone here has made that in the past. Plei? No, that was the vegan one. Maybe bon?

I made the recipe for it. It may be in the cookbook.

I had a thing for tiramisu and too much free time.

I did try cooking it, so you're actually not far off.

Today's Google doodle is a virtual Alexander Calder mobile you can spin. [link]

I never understood how a mobile was such high art. It's pretty and all, but it's a mobile. Then again, my appreciation of most modern art is lacking.

Megan,

Not using credit cards is a very effective budgeting tool.

I have been using credit cards my entire adult life and I have found it to be a really important budgeting tool. Years ago, I would pay everything by credit cards if I could because I had a reward card that gave me realy good cash back. I need that $50 every other month (or whatever) and in the rare instance I had disputes with vendors, my credit card company would have my back.

I now pay all but one of my utility bills via credit card.

I used to put a line in my checking account register for every credit card charge I had so I could pay my credit card off every month. I had budget categories and I would watch my credit card and cash expenditures to keep things in categories.

xkcd: [link] I feel catered to.