I got a pleasant surprise yesterday. I figured I had better add up how much I’ve contributed to my 2009 Roth so that I could see how much I still had to go.

Due to forgetting that I’d made contributions to two different Roth accounts, it turns out that I’m actually almost done! I have less than $100 to go before my 2009 Roth will be fully funded. (Then of course I can start working on this year’s.)

I’m not a big one on surprises, but that’s the kind I like. I also finished setting up my son’s Roth this past week. He has a job now, so he can contribute. I figure the sooner he starts, the better, and since he likely won’t even make enough to have to pay taxes, all of his contributions will be tax free too.

And now here are a few links from the past week or so:

First, thanks again to Pat at Smart Passive Income for hosting my guest post on Why I Closed My Service Business to Start an Internet-Based Business.

I really liked Hundred Goals’ short-but-sweet post on Time to Change.

Mrs. Micah at Finance For A Freelance Life has a nice new textbook personal finance series. The latest post is on how to learn effective budgeting.

Bucksome Boomer points out some options relating to phased retirement (along with some of the benefits.) Is phased retirement for you?. (I could sure see a pay cut in exchange for 5 or 6 more weeks of vacation as a step in the right direction for me.)

Enemy of Debt is running a Manage Your Money Challenge with some nice prizes.

If you have a few minutes, remember to vote for the Plutus Awards winners.

I’m super beat after this hectic week, so today’s post will be rather short. It’s also been a spendy week, so I need to recover from that too! (So much for not spending much money this month.)

I had an unexpected car repair to the tune of nearly $900 (although, when are car repairs ever expected?). It’s mostly labor costs — kinda makes me wish I had a bunch of tools and more free time. But then again my mechanic sure knows a lot more about cars than I do, so better him than me.

How has your week been? Any plans for Valentine’s day? We’ll just be hanging out doing the usual stuff, along with some relaxing.

And now here are a few links:

Modern Tightwad tells why you should have goals instead of resolutions.

Fiscal Fizzle asks, what are your money tapes?

NCN has been busy buying a house. (And of course he’s already planning ways to pay it off in record time.)

Finally, Canadian Finance Blog hosted the Carnival of Debt Reduction this past week. Check it out if you’re working on getting out of debt.

Last week was one of those weeks. Deadlines at work, jury duty, and a cold. Enough said, I suppose. So I sure was glad when this weekend rolled around.

And the weekend has made up for things. (On an unrelated note, you have no idea how often my iPhone ever so helpfully turns the word “things” into “thongs” for me when I type out my posts. So if that ever slips through, I apologize in advance.)

Anyway, the weekend made up for things. We’re going to see Riverdance tonight, and I started an oil painting class yesterday. Fun!

Have you splurged on anything fun or relaxing lately? Or just lazed around? Here’s a little reading if you want to do some lazing:

The Simple Dollar talks about Emergencies vs. Opportunities.

CashFlowSherpas describes having fun on a budget.

Money Funk does some serious closet organization (with spreadsheets!)

Consumerism Commentary has a detailed explanation of how to claim the new home buyer tax credit on 2009 tax returns.

MoneyNing points out that no one becomes wealthy worrying about what others are doing.