I guess the best place to start when trying to improve your current blog's speed, is to take stock in what its strengths and weaknesses are.  In order to truly know either of those things, you must know how to analyze your blog on several levels.  I will never forget what led me to realize there was much more to the health of a blog than the way it looked and the content of its posts.

I had a ton of cute little buttons, showing all of the many blog directories I was a member of, several scrolling image bars showing all of the other blogs I visited and liked and even a slideshow of my favorite family pictures.  I thought my blog LOOKED awesome and was a real representation of me...until, one day it took over two minutes to load the homepage and my blog literally slowed to a crawl.  I called my hosting company at the time and the guy gently broke it to me that I was using WAY too many resources.  This was a concept I had never once considered, which began my never-ending mission to streamline and speed up my blog.  This is a job that I monitor and maneuver daily, for I want to give my readers the best possible experience I can while they're here.  If I don't, I know someone else will and I want my readers to keep coming back again and again, enjoying my blog...not becoming frustrated by it.

If you are just beginning and want to really see how the changes you make affect the speed of your blog, you might want to start a spreadsheet detailing your loading speed, YSlow score, Google Page Speed, etc.  I wish I would have kept these records, for it would have made things much easier in knowing which changes I made worked for my blog and which ones worked against it.

Here's a sample of a spreadsheet that might help you get started:  BUILDING A FASTER BLOG SPREADSHEET SAMPLE

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 sites I recommend you bookmark when trying to optimize your blog's speed.  These sites all offer something a little different and are useful in different ways, but together they are an informational powerhouse!

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It's always a good time to review some basic tricks that coupon pros use. Read on for six ways you can save like an extreme couponer.

1. Start Small

Don't try to go extreme all at once. Take it step by step, rather than show up at a checkout with 50 coupons and little idea what you're doing.

2. Never Pay For Coupons

There are some things in this life you just shouldn't pay for, and a coupon is one of them. Paying someone to clip or organize your coupons defeats the purpose of living frugally. Instead, surf Sunday newspaper ad supplements for coupon savings; ask your neighbors for their unwanted papers; or dive inside a recycled dumpster or two. Also, free online coupon sites like CouponSherpa.com give consumers access to a multitude of coupon codes and printable coupons for thousands of merchants.

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I wanted to write this post tonight because it is a question that I get from a lot of my readers and it is a great tool for any blogger to use.  This is a very convenient way to squeeze as much content onto your site without having a blog that continues on FOREVER!  I want to try and explain in a few steps how you can turn your sidebar into a scrolling sidebar so that you can display an unlimited amount of graphics in a very small space.  Before we begin, I want to admonish the following:

PLEASE DO NOT TINKER WITH YOUR HTML CODE IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE DOING SO.

REMEMBER TO BACK UP YOUR SITE BEFORE PROCEEDING:

First, you should decide wherever you'd like to install your new scrolling image bar on your blog.  Most of the time, this will be done on a sidebar, but you could also easily use this code to create an image slide show in a post of yours as well as in the footer region of your blog too.  Next, you should insert the following code above the images that you'd like to scroll together:

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With summer around the corner, Hollywood is about to roll out a slew of sequels, blockbusters and indie films sure to satisfy most people's craving for easy entertainment. Before making your summer selections, however, you should consider how best to spend your movie money.

According to TIME Moneyland, ticket prices are expected to increase this year thanks to lackluster sales in 2011 -- and that's not including the exorbitant cost of concessions. Don't let the inflated cost of the cinema deflate your family's desire to catch the season's best flicks on the big screen.

Follow these 11 tips to avoid blowing your movie budget.

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More children will visit the emergency room this time of year due to near-drownings than any other type of injury.  All of the fun kids have at lakes, parks and pools also brings unfortunate injuries. It’s a time for parents to raise their awareness of the everyday outdoor dangers that can cause tragedies and start practicing a little injury prevention.

What are the biggest dangers in summer and fall? The most common child injuries result from unsafe playgrounds, bicycle accidents, burns from campfires and fireworks, motor vehicles, and water hazards at pools, beaches and lakes.  Almost every kid will be at a park or campground, on a bike trail, or playing in water this season.

It wouldn’t be practical to try to keep your kids safe by restricting them from playing at parks and pools, but you can follow these tips for injury prevention to ensure their personal safety.

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Who says that back-to-school shopping is just for kids? As a mother of two girls under the age of four, I'm here to tell you that moms need some back-to-school supplies, too! Besides a great hat to help battle bad hair days or an amazing bag to tote all your gear, consider the following to help you survive this school year with style and grace.

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