I hope that my town is inland enough to escape the worst of Hurricane Irene, but living near a canal increases the likelihood of flooding. I live in a second-floor apartment, so I don’t need to worry about a flooded basement. I believe I am stocked for the possibility of power loss, though I ventured out last night for some last-minute errands. The supermarket nearby was packed, and they had run out of many supplies like bottled water. No local store had water in stock last night, and I may go out this morning to see if stores have been restocked. I have water in my home but I figure it can’t hurt to have more.

Several gas stations were out of gasoline, so I needed to travel farther than usual to fill up. At the time there was still a chance that the hurricane could come farther west to hit my town directly, but this morning, the likelihood of that happening is low.

Because of the hurricane, I’m extending the Plutus Awards nominations for another day. If you haven’t nominated your favorite personal finance blogs and products, do so now. After the finalists are chosen from the nominations, and after a period of voting in September, the winners will be announced at the Financial Blogger Conference.

Thanks to Sustainable Personal Finance, who hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance at the last minute when the originally scheduled host was unable. SPF included my article about retailers’ marketing tricks as an Editor’s Pick, and there are many fine articles included this week.

Those who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know that I was on a guest on WSRQ’s Talk Credit Radio yesterday, hosted by Gerri Detweiler, to talk about my financial mistakes, taking control of your financial life, and Consumerism Commentary. The recorded audio should be available soon, and I’ll provide a link once it is. Also, Gerri is an upcoming guest on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast.

Here are some personal finance articles related to or inspired by the hurricane.

• Wise Bread: Cooking without electricity
• One Frugal Girl: Easy ways to prepare for a storm
• MainStreet: Your hurricane grocery shopping guide

For those in the path of Irene, stay safe.

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When I’m not busy with Consumerism Commentary, I have a small window for working on other projects. Most of these have stemmed from Consumerism Commentary or focus on the personal finance community, but every so often I get a chance to focus on my other interests. Here are some of the other projects I work on, though I still haven’t been able to spend as much time on them as I would like.

The Carnival of Personal Finance was the first of its kind in this particular community. Each week, a different blog reviews a hundred or so submissions from other bloggers to highlight the best in blog-based writing. Since 2005, this Carnival has been a great way for new blogs to receive exposure within the community while larger blogs have the opportunity to help others succeed. When done properly, the Carnival can be entertaining, informative, and worthwhile to everyone who participates. Last week’s Color Theory Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Fiscal Fizzle.

I thank Revanche from A Gai Shan Life, who has been managing most of the weekly administration of the Carnival of Personal Finance.

The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator (pfblogs.org) is an index of active blogs that focus on personal finance, investing, and real estate. Today, most submissions I receive for inclusion are for blogs that are written for search engines rather than human beings. Using this list, it’s easier to find quality personal writing about personal finance. If you are a blogger whose blog should be included, add it today. This site is overdue for an overhaul, and if you’re interested in assisting with the management of this service, let me know.

The Plutus Awards is an annual awards show highlighting the best personal finance blogs and articles. We accept nominations in a variety of categories, and the entire personal finance blogging community is invited to vote for their favorites among the finalists. This year, nominations will begin soon, voting will take place towards the end of the summer, and the winners will be announced at a live event this fall.

Although it’s directly part of Consumerism Commentary, the Consumerism Commentary Podcast is like a website unto itself. Producing the Podcast involves finding topics to cover, making arrangements with guests, working with potential advertisers, and handling public relations. While Tom Dziubek is on hiatus during tax season, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Bryan J Busch, who has done a wonderful job filling in, including developing questions that get to the heart of every issue.

These projects don’t leave much time for other things in my life at the moment, but I have been trying to spend some time learning about photography. At one time, I was involved with music education in the area, as well, but that has not been a focus for some time, unfortunately.

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