The Weekend Fix - Week of Dec. 8th

Another week has flown by and Christmas is just around the corner.  Hard to belive how quickly 2008 has gone past.  With another week come and gone it’s time for our weekly “The Weekend Fix” feature where I highlight 5 reads from around the web that I found interesting.  Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend!

• Let’s Not Loan Money to Family and Friends - by The Money Hawk
  This article looks at the top reasons why you shouldn’t loan money to friends and family.  I recently wrote an article talking about alternatives to bank loans touching on peer-to-peer lending as I think loaning money from or to family can lead to big problems as well.  If you are thinking about loaning someone some cash, you should read this first.
• Is Trust For Suckers? - by Guzzo the Contrarian
  This article is fitting considering the recent headlines.  It seems like every time we look around there’s a different politicain or leader of a company being caught doing unethical and illegal activities.  I personally put a ton of faith and trust in my friends, family, and neighbors, but this article touches on a great question.
• Five Ideas for Charitable Giving in a Bad Economy - by FiveCentNickle
  I’ve always been a firm believer in giving back.  It seems like the more you give, the more you get back in return.  Giving and receiving doesn’t always have to be about money, this is a good article with 5 easy ways to give back.
  
  
• How Inefficient is Corn-Based Ethanol? - by Behave Your Finance
  Have you ever wondered if Ethanol is the answer to our oil dependency problem?  If you have, then this article will help you find some answers.  There’s a wealth of knowledge on the topic of Corn based gasoline and whether is a viable solution to traditional gas.
• Good Debt Vs. Bad Debt - by Wise Money Matters
  Is there such thing as good debt?  In this post by CJ he takes a look at various kinds of debt and determines if they are good or bad.  There a good video clip about the pro and cons of debt as well.

Hope you enjoy and again have a great weekend!