• Alpha Consumer suggests three ways to give thanks through charity
• Jamie Dlugosch argues that you should buy Lennar before it's too late
• Even though most retailers are taking it on the chin, Huffington Post points out that there's strength in Green Retailing
• Free Money Finance lists out some dirty jobs that pay well
• U.S. News and World Report covers 10 Low-Tax Places to Retire
• Looking for a few deals on grocery products?  Here are a few grocery deals and coupons from Deal Linker

• mental_floss talks about the history behind the foods we eat at Thanksgiving
• Opera Phantom explains how Professor Max Bazerman convinces his MBA students to buy a $20 bill at well above face value.  It’s a really interesting example of loss-aversion
• The Amateur Economist offers up some suggested sites to help you with Black Friday
• But what will happen if you don’t get the gift you want?  WalletPop grades the return policies of the top retailers
• Bloomberg points out that stocks are currently at their cheapest value since the Reagan era.  But that still doesn’t mean that you should buy
• Looking for something fun and free to do during the Thanksgiving holiday?  gHacks offers up a list of the best free first-person games

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a bit absent from the blog, recently.  I’ve been working some heroic hours in order to wrap up a project before Thanksgiving; and am hoping to resume a more regular posting schedule in the near-future.  In the meantime, here are a few quickies:

• Thanksgiving will cost more this year:  According to Forbes, the cost of a typical Thanksgiving dinner will rise by about 5.6%.  Even though commodity costs have been falling, producers find themselves in the fortunate position of being able to raise their prices.
• Security software providers get some competition:  Microsoft has announced that it will offer free anti-malware with every copy of their operating system.  In concert with this, Microsoft will also be ending their paid security service, OneCare.
• Looking for Gift Ideas this Holiday Season?  MakeUseOf.com has compiled a list of 50 tools and resources to help you pick out gifts, cards, and everything else you’ll need this season.
• Money Saving Tips for a Turbulent Economy:  Bill Sardi over at LewRockwell.com has compiled a list of money saving tips that are all based on the notion that you can save money by buying higher-quality, more durable goods.

Thanks to Chris for the suggestions!

Money Ning hosted this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, which included my recent posting on 12 Fun and Free Entertainment Websites.  Among the more interesting articles were:

• Chief Family Officer’s holiday shopping tips for the coming season
• Fire Finance’s investing article on which stock market indexes to choose
• Just Thrive offers up 5 recession-proof ways to get hired
• The Happy Rock offers up a tip on how to Get 25% Cashback on eBay Purchases

If you have an opportunity, check them out!

• The Motley Fool wonders if we’re failing like Japan
• Zen Habits offers up the lazy man's guide to getting things done.
• Kevin Geary cautions that credit card companies are tightening their standards.  Don’t get caught off-guard.
• Practical Hacks offers up a simple tactic that might help you saving big during the upcoming holiday season.

My recent article on 10 Tips for Saving Money During The Holiday Season was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, which was hosted by The Digerati Life.  Some of the more interesting articles included were:

• Uncommon Cents expresses shock at the suggestion offered up by Teresa Ghilarducci that the Government offer “Guaranteed Retirement Accounts” as a fixed income alternative to IRAs and 401(k)s.  What makes this newsworthy is that she offered up this suggestion during a testimony to a House of Representatives subcommittee.
• Sound Money Matters gets angry at a proposal being pushed by consumer and financial services groups to forgive credit card debt.  I can’t say that I fault her for being upset.
• StumbleForward argues that spreading the wealth may not be such a great idea.

If you have time, check them out!

If you see this message, it’s because you have been redirected to the new server for Fiscal Zen.  On Friday, my previous hosting provider, zone.net, took the system down for routine maintenance. But since then, they have continued to experience sporadic problems that they have been trying to address.

Given the ongoing server issues, I decided to set up another server with a different host, but was planning to hold off on migrating the site over until closer to Thanksgiving due to other business commitments. 

Well, after seeing the website go down three times during the course of the day, I decided to flip the switch on the new system even though it’s not entirely configured, as email is not yet up and running.

Again, thanks for your patience.

This week, The Sun’s Financial Diary hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance and included my stock analysis on Intel (INTC).  There were some good article this week, including:

• 10 Tips for Choosing Healthcare, by Andy over at Saving to Invest
• Shadox talked about why now may be a good time to quit your job
• Mary over at Simply Forties discusses how to talk to your kids about money

If you have time, check them out!

Earlier this week, the company that hosts FZ sent out a notification that they were taking the physical server down to perform an upgrade.  The upgrade was scheduled for 45 minutes, but ended up taking 15 hours due to some unexpected hard drive issues.

At any rate, we’re back; and I’m planning to take steps to help ensure that this doesn’t happen again in the future.  Thanks for your patience.

• JLP over at AllFinancialMatters points out one potential upside to Dollar-Cost Averaging in this crazy market.
• Wise Bread issues a warning about checking your monthly statements.
• Zack over at Mainstreet points out that the recent strength in the dollar means real savings if you travel overseas.
• Morningstar offers up six tips for stock bargain-hunters.
• Time Magazine points out several stocks that may soar under an Obama presidency.