The best of other PF blogs today:

Mrs. Micah: When the Man Was Arrested on Our Door Last Night:

They didn't have to break down the door. The man apparently opened it and we heard running. Our door is just at the top of the stairs and that's where they caught him. Slammed him into it. We could hear it shaking (though fortunately deadbolted) as they told him to put his hands behind his head. We heard a metallic clink of what must have been cuffs.

Then everything got muffled. No more shouting and yelling, just conversation. The door still shook, I don't know who was leaning on it...the man or an officer. Eventually they took him out and away in their cars. The building was eerily quiet after all the noise.

We have no idea what the situation was. If it was between the residents of that apartment, we've never heard anything loud from them before. Perhaps it was someone visiting, a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend.

As we got ready for bed, coming down from the adrenaline, I mentioned my blog post about saving money by living in a lower-income area. And that what happened wasn't related to where we live.

Tired But Happy: Dangerous Ideas:

I've figured out how we can afford my dream house right away, without significantly altering our quality of life OR increasing our income. All it will take is just one tiny adjustment, a change of attitude, really.

Currently, our house payments are $600/month. We have around $100,000 equity in our house. We are very close to having $100,000 in retirement savings, too.

So, that's a $200,000 down payment, right?

And if we stop throwing $800/month into our retirement accounts, we'll have that much more money to spend on housing. Sure, sure, we'll lose the tax break of contributing to our retirement plans, but we'll have a bigger mortgage with higher interest so that will be a big tax savings right there, right? And we don't need that silly $200 per month we're putting in our emergency fund either. I mean, come on. What could happen?

Money Rules, Debt Stinks: Frugality - The New Trend:

Sure, the media reports that the economy is in such terrible shape (something I am not yet convinced of, by the way) serves as a wakeup call for many. But the truth is that not one of us can do a thing about the national economy. Our attention needs to focus on our personal economy-which may or may not follow the ups and downs of the national economy. And that's not only when we experience a financial "tremor." The shake-up should serve as a reminder of how important it is to get our acts together so we can easily maneuver during times of personal economic challenge as well as the good times, too.

E-mail me: j.mchenry@indexcreditcards.com.