The BrighterLife.ca weekly roundup of recommended reads about money, health, family, working life and retirement:

	Smart ways to save on utility bills If you’re finding your finances a bit stretched at the moment, the canadianfinanceblog.com offers some clever ways to cut costs at home that can save you a bundle over the long-term. How to save money on utility bills
	Maybe our kids don’t need as much sleep as we thought While admitting there are no hard and fast rules, parentcentral.ca says studies show 16- to 18-year-olds may do better on tests when they’ve had about 7 hours sleep. How much sleep do kids really need?
	Is your kid begging for a cell phone? One of the most common things parents wonder about says weewelcome.ca is: “What is the appropriate age to get a kid a cell phone?” Cell phones or no cell phones for kids? That’s the question
	Better Google your name before your next job interview Deborah Sweeney, CEO of mycorporation.com  tells shetakesontheworld.net that when hiring someone, doing a quick Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google search prior to the first interview can be highly beneficial. Assume you’ll be researched
	How to retire with buckets of money Jim Yih of retirehappyblog.ca says the best time to retire was back in 1981. But for those of us who weren’t so lucky, he recommends using the “bucket strategy” to create retirement income. Creating retirement income with buckets of money

Tweet of the week

Extreme retirement at age 33? @JonChevreau blogs about both it: opinion.financialpost.com/2012/03/16/ear… and Dave's view: @davesundown brighterlife.ca/2012/03/15/wha…

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Brenda Spiering (@BrendaSpiering) March 17, 2012