I haven't quoted my fellow personal finance bloggers in much too long. Some of what I've been reading:

Alpha Consumer:

My friend Nader Iskandar, co-owner of the Book Cellar & Café bookstore in Plymouth, Mich., was recently complaining to me about the customers who browse his shelves, especially the political section, which he spends hours arranging, only to leave the store without buying anything. They often write down titles as they walk around, and Iskandar assumes that they go home and order the books off the Internet.

To him, this behavior is unfair and takes advantage of him and his hardworking staff. I have to admit that I have been guilty of doing it in the past and never gave it a second thought. After all, I want to buy what I need at the cheapest price possible, and if that means browsing in person only to buy online, why not? But speaking with Iskandar made me question the ethics of that approach.

Tired But Happy:

While we were opening our account, the manager walked by and recognized me, because I was in there six months ago grilling her about their online interface. They let our recently potty-trained son use their bathroom, and the security guard told me all about her mother's recent illness. Their advertisements all have pictures of local small-business owners, many of whom I recognize.

I'm hoping we'll be with this bank for a long time, and that the bank will help the economic situation in our neighborhood while giving us good, personal, small-town service.

For that, I'm willing to put up with the inconvenience of having only one ATM at first.

Ka-Blog!:

I certainly don't think of household income of $100,000 as average, nor do I believe most folks spend nearly $12,000 on food per year. And who is the average family? Do they have two kids and a dog and a picket fence? Or do they look different? I consider myself average. Do you?

Money, Matter & More Musings:

It's probably human nature to take certain things for granted - till those certain things become hard to come by. This happens to the best of us when it comes to money, character, relationships, and other important assets. Unfortunately, the value of such assets is almost always appreciated only near the breaking point - when you are about to lose an asset, or have just lost it and when it's too late to regret.