Review Me Today!

Here in the US tax season is finally over. For most people. Me, I filed an extension. I just couldn’t seem to get it all together in time.

Money, Debt and Taxes is a site about money. Mostly about taxes, but the blog also has posts on how to get out of debt, and a few on how to make more money. The blog features just one post per page. The feature post today is all about What To Do When You Can’t Pay Your Taxes. Fortunately I can pay my taxes, but the information was still interesting.

There is also an interesting series of posts on how to pay off your credit card debt. I think a lot of people could use that kind of advice!

The blog could use a better title, and a few pictures wouldn’t hurt. But it is a good resource for information about money.

The economy is in the dumpster, unemployment is sky high, and everyone is trying to save money…even if they don’t need to. If you are looking for tips on how to save money you can find thousands of blogs that will give the same old dry advice. You know, take your lunch to work, don’t eat out, quit having fun, or you could read The Single Frugalton and find out how to get free magazines and free reminder services and other good stuff. I particularly enjoyed the post on How to Edit Your Photos for Free without using Photoshop.

Our blogger Laura makes good use of Pages on her blog. She even gave me a few ideas I might try out on this post. She has a  well-written About Page. (Where I found out her name is Laura so she doesn’t have to be “the blogger”.) She also has a page which lists her most popular posts, a contact page, and if you still need more financial advice, a page listing Other Financial Sites. I think the popular posts page  is a great idea and probably helps keep people reading your blog longer.

The blog is not totally about saving money. As Laura says on her About page, it is more about being single and trying to live below your means. Most of the posts are pretty entertaining, and she does a good job of tongue in cheek writing in posts such as “How Not To Check Your Smoke Detector” and “How Not To Pay the Librarian’s Salary.”

I like Laura’s style of writing. It is easy and comfortable, and you can laugh along with her when she burns the pots on the stove. However, I don’t like the look of the blog.

First of all, I am not very fond of pink. So in my mind, that pink background has got to go! Secondly, even though red is my favorite color, I don’t like to read red text. In fact, the only color of text I like to read is black. (I guess you could say that is because I am an accountant and I don’t like red ink! Hah! I thought that was funny. I am sorry if you didn’t think it was funny, you would if you knew me better!)

Overall it is a pretty good blog and you could spend some time there and maybe even learn a few things.

You know, I never know how to end these reviews. Telling you to go over and check out her blog doesn’t work, because I want you to stay here and read more of mine. Summarizing my post doesn’t make sense, because if you can’t remember what happened 3 paragraphs ago I am afraid there is no help for you. So how about you finish up for me. Leave me a comment and tell me how you would end this post, or feel free to share your best frugal tips?

I could go on and on about how crazy my life is lately, and bore you to death with why I am not posting more often. But instead, I think I’ll just write another blog review. You can thank me in the comments!

This blog is a tough blog to review. Most blogs, including mine, tend to be pretty light reading. Nothing here to challenge the brain! You can skim over it pretty quick and get a good idea of what I am talking about.

Not so with Exchange of Realities. This is a blog you need to take your time with. I have stopped by this blog many times, intending to review it, and then decide to review something a little easier. But today is the day. As the blog’s author, Ravyn, pointed out. She requested a review months ago, she has a great blog, and she deserves a review.

Exchange of Realities is a blog that talks about character development. Not as in “hard work develops character”, but as in how an author, or a game master in a role playing game, develops the characters in their stories. Focusing mostly on character development in role playing games, Ravyn’s character building tips are valuable to fiction writers as well. rReading Ravyn’s blog you will learn how to create characters with depth and create a story line that is consistent and makes sense. As she says on her about page:

These tips are designed to cultivate immersion, minimize interference with suspension of disbelief, and make the worlds we create more real, colorful and engaging.

What I think she means is that these tips will help you create characters that your readers and players can believe in.

The writing on the blog is excellent, and so are the tips. The topics are covered in depth and you will learn something. But don’t expect to pop on over to her blog and give it a quick skim. You will need to take your time and actually slow down and read the posts.

The look of the blog could use a little work. I really like the header. It is different and creative. I like that the posts are black type on a white background. I don’t like that the sidebars are dark blue with yellow type. They are very hard to read.

It is always a little difficult for me to review a writer’s blog.  I consider myself a novice writer at best, and a wannabe writer at worst, but I do know that reading a blog like Exchange of Realities will make me a better writer in the long run.