I am an avid reader. I love books. I believe that literacy is one of the most important gifts we can give our youth. First Book is a charity that provides children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.

Could you make it to Leeds on the 12th of September? If so, you might want to check out Going Solo, a conference for freelance internet professionals. More information after the jump! Going Solo is a one-day educational conference for freelancers and small business owners of the internet industry and beyond.

Not too long ago, a friend of mine lost one of his parents very suddenly. It just came out of nowhere and it felt like a punch in the gut to him. He spent a few weeks almost in a daze, lamenting the loss of his father, who he was very close to, and when he finally came out of that daze, he discovered a few things. He’d racked up quite a bit of credit card debt.

Let’s take a few moments to remember some of the things that made July 2008 a great month at Unclutterer.com. July’s most popular posts: iPhone apps help reduce clutter and improve productivity Plastic card cable organizer Cleaning out your cluttered car Make those giant speakers into storage Work life creeping into personal life? Try a battery only weekend Additional highlights:

Since I started this blog more than two years ago, I've never taken a break for more than a day or two. But this afternoon I'm leaving on a family vacation, and have made the momentous decision NOT TO TAKE MY LAPTOP. I'm actually feeling a little separation anxiety!

During 2008, my wife and I are tracking how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for July.

Going to Ikea can be an adventure in itself. But what if you just need a bag of 100 tealights? How do you do a quick zip in and out? Jenny has it all figured out. Check out her Quikea tips and you may just be able to fit in a trip to Ikea this weekend. What about you? Do you have any tips for a quick trip to Ikea? Comment away.

You already have a great skill that’s in demand. Perhaps you’re the best-of-the-best with Photoshop and Illustrator, or maybe your ability to write PHP code is simply unmatched.

Wow. July was a doozy for me in the real-life department. Usually I live a quiet existence with very little drama. This month was filled with drama. This made it challenging to write daily, but I did my best. Here are some of the top stories from Get Rich Slowly last month: July 2nd: How to open multiple accounts at ING Direct (advice that may be applicable at other online banks, too)

Just try this little experiment tomorrow. From the very start of the day, keep a little notepad with you and jot down everything that makes you feel genuinely happy inside. Don’t worry about whether it’s something big or something small - if you feel a twinge of happiness, jot it down.

July was another great month for the Art of Manliness. One of the more exciting things that happened during the month was our reader t-shirt design contest. We received several fantastic entries. The voting was close, but here are the winners. Men’s Design Winners First Place: Entry #7 by William. 326 Votes. Second Place: Entry #10 by D. Siegel. 231 Votes

Reader Jameselee drew our attention to the June article “How to Hide Recycling Bins in Your Kitchen” from Popular Mechanics magazine. It makes sense to find convenient and attractive ways to cope with the typical household’s revolving collection of cans, glass bottles and newspapers, since recycling has become an everyday reality.

Each Friday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance book of interest.

How do you make someone else passionate about something you love…when they’ really just don’t care? This was the fundamental question asked by Robert Scoble over at Scobleizer this week in his post entitled The Passionates vs. The Non-Passionates. I added a longish comment there, but the question has been incubating in my head for most of the week.