It's Just Money: Read these Personal Finance Blog Posts!

Ahh... glorious November. The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp... Well, okay, not here. But somewhere it is, and I love the thought of it. With Halloween candy in our bellies, the holiday season of glutony has officially begun! Before you know it, you'll be washing down a turkey leg with some cranberry sauce and homemade stuffing! Top it all off with some pumpkin pie... Oh man, get me to a treadmill!

Here are some Personal Finance Blog posts that you really should read.

The 100 by 30 project reminds us of the power that is compounding interest.

What is your time worth? Can you calculate it by how much you make in your job? How about when you are doing laundry? Him and Her spend 54 hours per year doing laundry. And spend $288 doing it. They would save time, but it would cost them more money to send it off to a laundry service.

Cap drove to San Francisco, but should have flown.

Easy Change found a way to exercise regularly without the cost of a gym membership.

Amanda is back from what sounds like a fabulous trip! She has some tips for the budget conscious traveler.

See below for my college football picks. I had another sub .500 record last week, but am still in positive territory at 15-14-1 since I started picking against the spread.

The weekly roundup comes early so that I can give my picks, and include the biggest game of the week. Two of the remaining six undefeated teams, West Virginia and Louisville, matchup in the biggest showdown in the Big East until the winner plays Rutgers.

All Times Pacific and Rankings are LAMoneyGuy Rankings. Point spreads per Bodog.com.

Thursday, 4:30pm, ESPN, (6) West Virginia at (3) Louisville, line: Pick'em. The game of the week on a Thursday? What is this Hockey? This is college football. This game belongs on Saturday. Two of the highest powered offenses in the country clash with preseason Heisman hopefuls on both sides. Slaton's Heisman campaign is still alive, but realistically is campaigning for next year. Brohm's campaign was sidelined by injury, and will likely be among those mentioned for next year. West Virginia appears to be the better team, and at a neutral site would be three point favorites. In Morgantown, WVU would be 5 point favorites. So, how much of a difference does the home field make? Well, WVU has managed blowouts on the road, and one of Louisville's closest games was against Cincy at home. I think it's a close, high scoring game. But the 'Eer's one-two punch of Slaton and White will be too much for the Cardinals to handle. WVU wins, putting them in prime position for the BCS championship game.

Saturday
9:00am, ESPN2, (30)Maryland at (17)Clemson, line: Tigers -17. The Terps were one of only three or so teams to get ten wins three years in a row from '01-'03. However, they disappeared for a few years. Well, they're 6-2, but their best win was against Florida State, whom we have already agreed aren't very good. Clemson's best win was over Georgia Tech, but boy, it was a good one. I don't see Maryland winning, but I think 17 is too much. Terps to cover.

9:30am, (4)Florida at (73)Vanderbilt, line: Gators -17. How weird is this? One loss, #7 in the country, Florida against 4-5 Jay Cutlerless Vandy is favored by the same spread as two loss Clemson over 6-2 Maryland. Huh? Well, Florida just doesn't blow teams out. They beat Alabama by 15 and Kentucky by 19. Vandy, however, had a season making win over a down Georgia, but have gotten smoked by South Carolina. Florida covers.

11:30am, NBC (105)North Carolina at (13)Notre Dame, line: Irish -17. Let's see, one of the preseason favorites to win it all against one of the worst teams in college football. And the line is 17 again? I think the oddsmakers were getting a little lazy. We all remember the closer than expected Irish wins over the Yellow Jackets and the Bruins, but are the Domers capable of run away wins? Well, just ask Penn State. The better question is, can the Tar Heels get to basketball season quicly enough? No wait, the question is, can the Tar Heels keep the game close against anyone? Well, they played their game of the year last week taking a three point lead over Wake Forest into the fourth quarter. Notre Dame covers as North Carolina just can't get anything going on offense.

12:30pm, CBS, (23)LSU at (11)Tennessee, line: LSU -3. LSU is a bit of an oddity. They lost close to Auburn in an offensive-less game, lost a not so close game to Florida, and smoked a bunch of lowly teams. How good are they? Definitely not the #13 team in the country as the pollsters have them. Tennessee looks like the real deal. They lost a nail biter against Florida and have taken care of everyone else, mostly in convincing fashion. But LSU is favored? What? I may actually call my friend in Vegas to put some money on this one. I don't trust online gambling sites. And it's in Knoxville? Seriously. Take Tennessee.

12:30pm, TBS, (49)Washington at (36)Oregon, line: Ducks -14. Well, there's a logjam at the #3 spot in the conference. Oregon, once in control of the #3 spot are battling it out with WSU and OSU for the honors. They need this win to stay in the hunt. Washington is well outside the hunt for one of the top spots in the conference, however they need to win two of the next three to be bowl eligible. Considering they are coming off a 2-9 year, that would be an enormous victory. They have Stanford next week. Counting that as a win, they need to upset either Oregon or Wazzou. Too bad for them they have to play AT both Eugene and Pullman. They will lose this week, and it will be by more than 14. I like Ty Willingham, but his big to get bowl eligible this year will fall short.

4:00pm, TBS, (44)Oklahoma State at (14)Texas, line: Horns -17. After losing to Ohio State, Texas has been smoking everyone until a close win over Texas Tech. The Cowboys were coming off of 3 losses in four weeks when they surprised Nebraska. Texas wins. They also cover.

4:00pm, (5)USC at (112)Stanford, line: Trojans -29. How will the Trojans respond, coming off of their first regular season loss since 2003? Well, Stanford may be what the doctor ordered. Since losing to San Jose State 35-34 in the second week, Stanford has reached ten points twice. And each tie they scored exactly ten. Twenty nine is a ton of points. This will be a blowout, and USC's last chance to tune up before going home for the Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, UCLA home stretch. Booty throws deep, the defense grabs some INTs, and the Trojans roll to a blowout win of more than 29 points.

4:00pm, (8)Boston College at (31)Wake Forest, line: BC -4. Wake Forest's only loss was to Clemson. Not bad, right? I mean Clemson's pretty good. But their best win? 3-5 NC State? 3-5 UConn? Seriously, they haven't played another team with a winning, or even .500 record. Not even Div 1-AA Liberty. But that's not their fault, right? Well, they haven't exactly been blowing out this sub-par competition. Boston College is simply a more impressive team with wins over Va Tech, Florida State and Clemson. Take BC, give the points.

5:00pm, ABC Regional, (61)UCLA at (10)Cal, line: Bears -17. How good is Cal? They're pretty darn good. How good is UCLA? Not nearly as much. But here's the thing. Cal has been pretty good the last three years, yet they are 1-2 to the Bruins over that time. I think the Bears win, but UCLA keeps it within 17.

5:00pm, ABC Regional, (16)Oklahoma at (15)Texas A&M, line: Sooners -3. Who are these Aggies? Two of their last three seasons were losing, and the one winner was a 7-5 year. They have wins over quality teams, Oklahoma State and Missouri. The Sooners lost to the Longhorns, and in the game that has been erased from record books, the Ducks. However, their biggest loss of the season came on the final touchdown drive against Iowa State. Aggies magical season continues, and they not only cover, but win.

Well, there you have it. Remember, this is all in good fun. I'm not actually recommending that anyone go out and wager real money over my uneducated ramblings.