Enginero.com `en-jin-neer-o`

OK, so I admit it. I didn’t like the Commission Junction hosting company ads. Yes, I have used each of the companies before and yes they were worthwhile, but I just didn’t care for the flashy animated images. It distracted me, so maybe it distracted you as well.

Anyway, I got to thinking about what to put in that sidebar spot and I decided to start linking the top referring blogs for the previous month. They are the blogs that sent the most traffic this way during the month. Since the blogs that link here will almost always be of a similar topic to mine, I think it’s a good fit. I also like the fact that I can thank those bloggers by letting others know about their blogs like they have done for me.

With that in mind, here are the few guidelines that I have chosen for the Top Referrer linkage:

1. The blog must be in the Top (currently 3, maybe more later) referrers for the previous month.
2. The referrals can not come from a carnival listing. I decided this because if I’m submitting my own article to a carnival, it’s not the same as a blog owner choosing to call out my blog on their own.

   Reader Update: Ken emailed about this post to let me know that it would probably be worthwhile to actually explain what a blog carnival is, so there would be no confusion here. I think it’s a good example of how easy it is to forget that not everyone is a blogger who is going to understand the “lingo”. So, for anyone who hasn’t heard of a blog carnival before or don’t know what it is, please check out the Wikipedia information about them.

3. The blog does not have to be in my blogroll or have me in theirs. However, blogs that link to mine in their blogroll are, of course, more likely to be in the top referrer list.

That’s really the only guidelines I can think of right now that I think would be worthwhile. I’m hoping this turns out to be a win/win all the way around.

Do you have any other suggestions for Top Referrer guidelines?

Personal Finance blogging simply kicks butt! Going from only reading PF blogs to entering into the opposite world of maintaining a blog has been tremendous. I have only been running Enginero now for about 2 months and I have already gotten to meet some really great and likeminded people online. People that I typically do not get to meet “offline”. The broken down financial taboo-walls of PF blogging let’s people like me be me and not the reserved, keep finances to yourself, type that most people expect in everyday conversation.

Case in point:
The first series that I decided to do for the blog was my Food Budget Tight? Stretch - it - out series parts 1 and 2. In the series, I go into details about ways that my wife and I try to counter the high cost of feeding ourselves. You’ll find that I typically only try to do “self help” types of posts where I can offer pieces of advice that aren’t so common. I tend to think that reiterating the same ideas that are repeated elsewhere doesn’t serve as much of a purpose for my time and yours. I also could, and do, just link to those other bloggers articles to give them the credit for the ideas.

At any rate, I got an email today from PassiveFamilyIncome.com regarding how he had created a post about my food budget series. I was truly flattered and excited that the normal ideals that my wife and I use all the time could really help him and his family do a better job of being educated shoppers.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I get great ideas from other blogs all the time, but this is the first time that I’ve had someone say the same about something I have written. It’s just a really cool feeling. It’s the feeling that you never get when you’re the guy in the group that never wants to go to lunch and the one who thinks birthdays are still a time to be frugal.

So, I’ll keep living, thinking, frugaling? (new word?), and posting about it and I hope you’ll keep staring bewildered at your monitor while reading the rambled musings of a frugal engineer.

It is becoming the “norm” that our cat, Felix, gets up well before us each morning and then starts meowing “crying” for attention. He’s a good cat, but some of his habits are driving me a little nuts lately. The 6am crying is one of them. It would be one thing if he’d just jump on the bed and we could pet him and then he’d go back to sleep, but no, he’s ready to start his day and that includes us being awake. Should I be flattered by his desire for our attention or concerned that as he has gotten older he has gotten more needy?

Here he is, in all his lumpy splendor:

If nothing else, it got me out of bed and gave me some time to put up a post linking some of the great posts that I have been reading from around the bogosphere. So, here goes…

Thursday Link Love

• PassiveFamilyIncome gives us his uber-detailed May Family Budget Review.
• The Div Guy helps us Search for stocks with accelerating profits.
• Mark at The Loco Mono tells us about his New budget item.
• Brooke at DollarFrugal starts the discussion on Eating cheap vs. Eating healthy.
• Jonathan at MyMoneyBlog gives us some tips on Emergency Preparedness.
• Nickel at FiveCentNickel talks about the potential nightmares of buying a second home.
• LuLuGal at HowISaveMoney tells us how she saves money on gas.

That’s the list for now. Check out the posts and let them know what you think!

Did you hear? Get hired at Zappos and quit a week later for a nice $1,000 bonus. It may seem crazy, but I think it’s actually a great way to help ensure that your company is hiring and training people who really want to be there. This is just one of the many new ideas that I like to hear companies doing to obtain and retain quality employees. Check out the video from Harvard Business Publishing’s Blog:

Think Zappos is nuts? What would you do to keep quality personel in your company?