I just got back from a wonderful three day weekend camping with some friends, so coming into work this morning…not so much fun. We got 1.5” of rain the first night we stayed and got sunburned the next day, but it was still a ton of fun. Feel free to take a look at some of the great nature photos I took during the weekend. (You might need a facebook account to view them). Anyway, here are some of the gems in the personal finance world you might want to read this week:

Frugal For Life takes an interesting look at consumerism, and asks the question whether or not consumption is a sinful act. It’s definitely an interesting discussion anyway you put it, and Dawn offers an interesting perspective on the topic.

Grace at GRACEful Retirement is one of many baby-boomers who’s started planning for retirement just a little bit late in life. She’s been sharing some of her interesting struggles events in her goal to get back on track for retirement. If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, be sure to do so at GRACEful Retirement.

Another newer personal finance blog that I’ve really been enjoying is Frugal Upstate, which is written by a woman named Jenn. She does some excellent work with photography, and you can really tell she’s putting in a lot of effort. Definitely consider checking out her post about frugal cooking during the summer entitled, “How to Stay Cool in the Kitchen.”