Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

For the first time in ages, I participated in a carnival. Not only did I submit, I got accepted! It feels like I got into college! Ok. That’s an exaggeration, but even so. It’s still nice to get accepted.

So here we go! The 159th Carnival of Personal Finance

A few that I liked:
Harvesting Dollars asks if Getting an MBA is worth it. A question I’ve asked myself a lot.

Single Guy Money pays off his debt and yet his credit score goes down. What gives?

Mighty Bargain Hunter finds a cashier who says that gas prices aren’t all that high since folks are still buying lottery tickets. HA! I scoff at that. Folks will keep on buying lottery tickets for fun. It’s when they stop buying it altogether that prices are high. And HELLO! We’re already there. Folks are trying to buy less gas.

Free Money Finance has the latest Carnival of Personal Finance available. It’s edition #115!

While he’s got his editor’s choice picks, I am skipping them in favor of what else is out there that caught my eye.

Pinyo at Moolanomy asks what money wasters do you do? I do 1, 2, 6, and 10. But I definitely don’t do 3, 8, 9.

Saving Explained with the contrarian advice on emergency funds. I’m a big advocate of them, but I like to keep an open mind. Read the companion article he references about keeping small savings subaccounts assigned for specific financial goals. What do you think? Good idea? Crazy idea? I still think emergency funds are a great idea for anyone with a home, car, or unpredictable job market. I know that I just covered like 90% of the people out there, but that’s why I think an emergency fund is worthwhile for nearly everyone. It’s really only a question of how much, not if.

Clever Dude with the skinny on Carfax used car reports. Read to the bottom and follow the Consumer Affairs link from Super Saver as well.

Make Your Nut has advice on how to have a big party on a small budget. I don’t think 20 is really a big party, but the advice is still great for entertaining on a shoestring. The main thing is, your friends will bring you more beer than you will ever drink if you don’t stop them and assign them something else to bring. ‘Bring chips!’ ‘Bring salsa!’ ‘Bring a salad!’ ‘Bring some bread!’ ‘Bring some dessert!’

Grad Money Matters on the Joys of Homeownership. HAHAHA. Damn if I haven’t been there, cursing myself at buying a condo. “What was I thinking?!” is an unfortunate thing to say to yourself after the mortgage is signed.

Greetings! Sorry for the late post, but I had to come home on short notice. Some how ‘perforated eardrum’ doesn’t translate well in Korean and I couldn’t understand how serious my mom’s operation was going to be till she told me that some funky gunk was running out of her ear. Anyhow, she’s fine, but I’ve been running all over town today helping out. Not sure what posting will be like this week.

But I digress! Onward to the 114th Carnival of Personal Finance. Trent did a bang up job with his intro to the Carnival and his editor’s picks. It takes a really long time for hosts to read all the submissions and bother with highlighting the best of the week. It’s hard work on the eyeballs to read lots and lots of posts in the last remaining hours of the deadline.

Sorry, I had to state the obvious and remind folks that we PF bloggers are for the most part only bloggers and not personal finance/investment professionals.

The first listed editor’s pick, is great. It’s from a relatively new blogger, Chica with Issues. You’ll figure out why when you read her post about educating her younger brother about money matters. She feels it’s her role to do it since her folks didn’t teach her much. She rocks for learning by the seat of her pants, but trying to save her brother from the same hard lessons. My older sibling and cousins did a lot to teach me how the world of money works and I am really grateful to them for it.

I’m picking NoCreditNeeded’s buying decision flowchart over his actual carnival submission. It really is amazing to see each step of the logical thinking process. If you aren’t asking yourself ‘Do I need this item?’ at the beginning of a purchase cycle, think again!

Queercents’ Sleeping with Money series is great. This week it’s “You did WHAT with our money?” And how to have that confrontation with a minimum of pain and suffering. The conflict resolution advice is excellent for any fight, not just about money. Boy is it good for me to remember that and to STFU when my boyfriend is expressing himself.

Golbguru on the Weight of Stolen Money. Intriguing. It reminds me of Suze Orman’s 9 Habits to Financial Freedom. It’s the small things that mold us into the human beings we are. D at Divorce to Financial Freedom unburdens herself for us in response. Very thought provoking of Golbguru. Blogs can be so cathartic.

Being Frugal blog on buying health insurance independently. It just sounds like a lot of work, however the post implies there is great savings to be had and a wide variety in levels of coverage, so this is one area where doing the research seems like excellent advice.

Harrison at Journey to Financial Freedom writes his steps to getting out of debt. Some of the steps are interlaced with personal stories. I really like tip #5, “Outsource your problem”, or acting as a third party. I run a side personal organizing business and one of my clients called me to help his folks with their finances. Just by sitting down with a stranger and looking at the numbers, it helped wake them up to reality. It’s why I think that Larry Winget show could be really cool. (I only saw half of an episode, but it was interesting.)

The Finance Buff on what will happen if your mortgage lender goes under. Interesting information and probably useful for people in today’s uncertain market. The good news is that your loan is a contract which shouldn’t be effected too much. But you’re probably going to write and mail your checks to a different place. (This reminds me to call a friend of mine at Countrywide. I hope she doesn’t get RIF’d into a new line of work. Lucky we’re both computer geeks and not mortgage people. So she’ll land ok.)

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity on using Lending Tree to find a mortgage. The comments are very interesting stuff and it looks like I did the right thing by shopping around at individual banks versus going to a broker.

Money for the rest of us has Festival of Frugality #80 available now.

Yours truly is featured in the second section, Food Posts, with the Happy Cake post.

Other posts that caught my eye:

Nina via Queercents on Generation Plastic and using cash over cards.

Steve Faber on buying home insurance. Great advice.

Free Geekery on 22 Things you can get for free. This might be my new favorite place to find a good deal.

Trent at The Simple Dollar on the Bulk Buying Debate. It’s simple for me. I live in a studio. No serious bulk buying for me!

83 Uses for a penny.

How to stop receiving credit card offers. Or do what I do, have a low FICO score.

Free Money Finance on renting fake wedding cakes. I love it! The stock cake designs are even reusable! But by far were the awesome cuppy cakes my cousin had. I sat at a table of cousins and we had a strategy for trying every flavor by quartering all the cupcakes we got in the three flavors offered. (I seem to be cake obsessed lately. Might be time for some Cake Love.)

Finance is Personal has it available now.

Frugal Law Student tries baking soda instead of toothpaste. Read for his wife’s comment. Cracks me up! I am a Crest devotee in Clean Mint flavor. But I like to buy it on sale.

BPT at Money Changes things tells us, Don’t waste a wedding gown. Click the link marked Brides Against Breast Cancer. *bawl*

GolbGuru with real tips he and his wife use to save money every day. A huge list and a good one. It’s so easy to get started on these too, so there are no excuses!

The Digerati Life has another reason to love Craigslist. Try it for used furniture! That you don’t end up killing rainforest trees. Currently, the desk and bed I use at home were from a listing at Craigslist. I <3 Craig!

Another international blogger at Cheap as Chips asks What are you really saving for? Good question. Clearly I need my own vacation fund, and a new car fund, and a laptop fund, etc., etc.

JD of Get Rich Slowly has the 105th Carnival of Personal Finance available now. He’s done it DJ-style. “Stacks of tracks on tons of wax, etc.” I think I can almost hear Casey Kasem.

Madame X at My Open Wallet with Who Do You Think You Are? I’m serious. I think I can hear the song play when I read that title. Anyone else remember it? “A star?”

Accumulating Money has a really fascinating post about buying experiences over things. I suppose this is one reason why I don’t own a TV. It forces me to do things I want to be doing like hobbies and chores.

Mighty Bargain Hunter explains exactly how being disorganized costs you money. If you’ve never been able to see the direct connection, he lays it all out for you and invites commenters to leave more.

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has chosen his post Money isn’t everything and it isn’t you.

The Sun’s Financial Diary on opening a T-Bill account with Treasury Direct. He references Jonathan at My Money Blog, but I actually think you have to read Jonathan’s T-bill category for truly complete information.

Wealth Building Lessons on Canadian Royalty Trusts or “Canroys”, one way our northern neighbors save. It’s like an industry mutual fund, similar to an REIT.

SFOrdinaryGirl, my recent guest blogger, claims her best post is Giving Old Clothes a Second Chance. Pretty good advice since I’m about to go through my closet soon.

Clever Dudette with the famous packing your lunch post. This was put up on a high traffic website and has generated a lot of comments about lunch ideas. I highly recommend reading through all of them.

Five Cent Nickel says his best post is Ten Simple Ways to Cover Your Ass(ets). I agree! This is one of the best posts I’ve seen at his blog, but certainly not the only one. I definitely think you should take the long view on planning, and contingency planning like this is very important, especially if you have kids (say like, 4 boys).

A new blogger, Grace, at GRACEful Retirement only has 8 posts, but I do like this one on Special Needs Trusts. As many of you know, I’ve thought about something like this for my cousin. This might be the advice I’ve been looking for.

GolbGuru at the Tao of Making Money says his boss is lame, er, no. He writes about sharing knowledge about paying bills and investing. Though many couples decide on a division of labor, perhaps that’s not the wisest route. This is the only “couples” post I put on my list since most of them don’t apply to me. However, I watched my parents divide this labor and I think my dad is a disaster with money, so I agree a lot with the advice.

WOW. 104. I should only hope to live that long. But eh, maybe not.

The 104th Carnival of Personal Finance is available at Getting Green. Matt is a pretty snappy guy and he’s doing it minimalist style. It’s nearly Zen with the soft green/grey theme. I can almost hear the trickling water and the lotus flowers floating by.

Yours truly has participated with a post about Investment Clubs.

The ones that really caught my eye:

NCN on drip drip dripping your way out of debt. I really needed to hear this message this week. NCN has got it going on! I like being a part of the NCN Network because of cheerleading, motivating posts like this one.

The Sun’s Financial Diary on picking stocks like a guru. Thank god he put this together. I never would have known whose work created which style of investing without this post. The stock picking tool is kind of interesting too. Click through to get to the link for the tool.

Madame X at My Open Wallet describes her thoughts on expenses and retools her savings plan. I am looking at her spreadsheet and I think I’m a little confused. But I am going to try and figure this out and post results. Maybe this is the thing that I’ve been missing all along.

Enough Wealth advice for a newbie investor. uh. I have no idea what a superannuation fund is, but he’s an Aussie, so whaddyaknow? I think it’s a retirement account. For the most part, it’s sound advice despite the funny accent! (just kidding!)

Plonkee, which is one of the most original monikers I’ve heard. She’s the resident Brit in the PFBlog community and here she’s talking about ISA’s in Britain, which like superannuation funds, appear to be retirement accounts. But like an American IRA, come in different flavors, which are unlike the American Traditional or Roth flavors.

Make Your Nut, with a very funny or very sad story about explaining the modern world to a co-worker. Reminds me of the time that our intern was agog over automatic doors at the supermarket. That wasn’t funny though. Just really sad.

Trent at The Simple Dollar with very good advice about life insurance, from an actual actuary.

Penny Nickel at Money & Values on sweatshop free clothing.

Share and enjoy!

My Two Dollars is hosting the 77th Festival of Frugality!

The two that caught my eye this week were:

The deviled egg debacle

Jonathan tries buying a mattress - This one was so good, I sent it to a friend who is looking for a new bed.

I am participating with my post on buying flowers remotely. Welcome to MFC if you are visiting from the Festival!

No Credit Needed, one of my blogpals, has the 70th Festival of Frugality available now.

Yours truly has a submission, Repair or Replace?

Other articles which I enjoyed through the week were:

Golbguru’s post on oiling locks.

Frugal Babe, who has a really gorgeous blog design if you ask me, writes about selling her engagement ring, THOUGH SHE’S HAPPILY MARRIED. This is by far the best post of all. Every crazy girl into bling ought to read this post. I am however a little disappointed that she’s still going to wear something shiny. I say go with the plain band. But she does have a pretty cool alternative in mind.

Greetings earthling! Welcome to the 68th Festival of Frugality!

Editor’s picks:

Silicon Valley Blogger presents The Economics of Cosmetics: Should You Invest In Your Looks Or Skimp On Makeup? posted at The Digerati Life. Another FRUMPERELLA! I confess, I’ve been wearing more makeup at work, but that’s been for me, and not for anyone else. - ed.

Troy Hadley presents 3 Cheap Ways to Win Over the Ladies (by Looking Better) posted at Wise Bread - Living large on a small budget. These three simple things will make a world of difference. No girl wants a pair of gnarly looking hands touching her. Unibrow? Forget it. Might as well date one of the Geico Neanderthals. As for the hairy neck, just take the electric shaver and go all the way around. People wonder why I have a fetish for military men, given my political leanings. It’s the “high and tight” look. It’s right dead sexy in a faggoty white uniform. - ed.

Nina presents When to Replace a Computer: A Buying Guide posted at Queercents.

ispf presents Stay Fit - Without Spending a Dime posted at Grad Money Matters.

Screw Dave Ramsay and his Latte Factor. Kirby presents The 5 Best Ways to Save Money at Starbucks posted at Kirby on Finance. Go ahead! Enjoy your Starbucks, but on the cheap! -ed.

Prince of Thrift presents 70% Attitude, 30% Hard Work posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free. It’s all about attitude. - ed.

Cap & Noah Kagan present Spiffy Ways to Reduce Your Expenses posted at MyMint.

Mr Credit Card presents Does Coupon Cutting Save You Money At Auto Repair Shops? posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog.

Shadox presents Credit Cards for Getting OUT of Debt posted at Money and Such. “While most PF finance gurus recommend cutting up your credit cards as the place to start if you want to get out of debt, I propose three ways credit cards can help you get OUT of debt, and I am not talking about 0% balance transfer offers (although those are great too).”

Sagar Satapathy presents “Borrowing to Pay Me� and 19 other moronic things people do with credit cards posted at Credit Card Lowdown.

Lauri presents Tips for a Great Yard Sale posted at Debt Free For Life.

Savvy Steward presents Letterfu - Write And Send Letters, No Envelope Needed posted at Savvy Steward.

Super Saver presents Corporate Programs for Personal Use posted at My Wealth Builder.

Laws Finance presents A New Spin on the Old Golf Ball posted at Laws of Finance. This sounds a bit like a bad golfing joke to me, but it does make mathematic sense. - ed.

Mike presents Frugal Workout: Dethatching your lawn manually posted at Clever Dude.

Melanie Rimmer presents a Nettle Soup recipe at Bean Sprouts. “I have been foraging for wild food this week. The dandelion and primrose salad was a success, as was the potato and nettle soup.” I’ve never seen this blog before, but if you like gardening, I think you might like this one. She’s planning her 2007 garden so now might be a good time to start reading to follow her progress. - ed.

LA MoneyGuy presents Stretching your leftovers posted at It’s Just Money.

FMF presents Save Money by Shopping with A List — Millionaires Do (But Is This the Best Way to Save Money) posted at Free Money Finance.

John presents WWYD: Use a Coupon on a First Date? posted at Queercents.

NCN presents Rebuilding My Grocery Store Price-Book posted at No Credit Needed Blog.

Paul presents Free 12-month supply of contact lens cases & coupons posted at Wise Bread - Living large on a small budget.

Frugal Zeitgeist presents Depression mentality posted at Frugal Zeitgeist.

Rebecca Newburn presents Suze Orman Supports Financial Literacy for Women posted at Information Age Education.

Financial Hack presents The Advantages Of Low Cost Living posted at Financial Hack.

Jim presents Do You Buy Online To Avoid Paying Sales Tax? posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Amy L. Fontinelle presents How To Fine Dine On A Budget posted at Personal Finance Advice.

OhCash presents OhCash.com » Burning Cash to Stay Warm posted at Business School. Homeowners faced with rising home heating costs have many options that won’t mean drastic lifestyle changes.

Escape Brooklyn presents Cost of putting a roof over your head posted at Escape Brooklyn.

Wenchypoo presents CAT FOOD ALERT PART DEUX posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.

Elizabeth presents 15 Tips for Cheap Travel: #2b) How to Find Cheap Plane Tickets posted at Money for the Rest of Us.

Ben presents How to Save Money on Magazines posted at Money Smart Life.

Tight Fisted Miser presents Save on Dental Care posted at Tight Fisted Miser.

Please note that there were two submissions that violated the Carnival of Personal Finance rule of being submitted to only one carnival. Because the CoPF appears on Monday, I have removed those two submissions from the Festival of Frugality. Also, one eager submitter put in two articles for the same week, so I held one back for next week in favor of another blogger who is unfamiliar to me, posting on the same same subject, though I won’t say who or what because this Festival is inclusive and I’m less of a meanie when hosting the Festival of Frugality than with the Carnival of Personal Finance. Just wait till next week to see the good stuff. I assure you, it’s good stuff.

Keep those submissions coming! Next week’s host is Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life. Please use the carnival submission form!