Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge » Carnival Time

Carnival of Personal Finance #159 is Up!

mapgirl — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:07:05 +0000

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.

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Carnival of Personal Finance #115 is Up!

mapgirl — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:09:38 +0000

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.

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Carnival of Personal Finance #114 is Up!

mapgirl — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:32:47 +0000

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.

Carnival of Personal Finance #114 is Up! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Festival of Frugality #80 is Up!

mapgirl — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:01:23 +0000

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.

Festival of Frugality #78 is Up!

mapgirl — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:31:13 +0000

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.

Festival of Frugality #78 is Up! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Carnival of Personal Finance: Greatest Hits Edition

mapgirl — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:15:18 +0000

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.

Carnival of Personal Finance: Greatest Hits Edition is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Carnival of Personal Finance #104 is Up!

mapgirl — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:11:11 +0000

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!

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Festival of Frugality #77 is Up!

mapgirl — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:00:42 +0000

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!

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The Festival of Frugality #70 is Up!

mapgirl — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:42:28 +0000

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.

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68th Festival of Frugality!

mapgirl — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:02:58 +0000

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!

68th Festival of Frugality! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Carnival of Personal Finance #94 is Up!

mapgirl — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:46:47 +0000

No Credit Needed has the 94th Carnival of Personal Finance available now.

Five Cent Nickel on checkwashing and defeating it with the right pen.

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity on Title Insurance and what a rip off it is.

Personal Finance Advice on what do after you’ve prepared a will. This is very sound advice.

I didn’t care much for the format of the Carnival this week since there weren’t descriptive blurbs, but we all know the CoPF is quite a chore to administer. I also must say that I am VERY UNHAPPY with two submissions to the Carnival of Personal Finance that were also submitted to the Festival of Frugality. Per the CoPF rules, you cannot submit the same article to another carnival, therefore be forewarned! There were TWO, count them TWO, guilty parties this week and in my hosting ruthlessness, I have omitted your submissions from the Festival tomorrow.

For anyone that cares, the Festival will appear tomorrow and today is your last chance to submit.

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Festival of Frugality #68 is Still Taking Submissions

mapgirl — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:39:47 +0000

The Festival of Frugality isn’t published till Tuesday, so this is your last call for submissions.

This is the submissions guideline with the link to the right submission form.

Debt Hater hosted last week, and next week’s host is The Digerati Life.

Festival of Frugality #68 is Still Taking Submissions is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Festival of Frugality #68 is Next Week

mapgirl — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:18:36 +0000

Apparently I am the clueless hostess. I completely forgot I signed up! So please submit your articles this week. Please use this handy, dandy form.

Meanwhile, go read the 67th Festival of Frugality over at Debt Hater. Thanks for hosting DH!

Festival of Frugality #68 is Next Week is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Alternative Carnival of Personal Finance #90

mapgirl — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:49:59 +0000

Yesterday I posted the Carnival of Personal Finance, but if I had my way, I would have posted this instead. These were articles I really enjoyed last week from many carnival regulars. I also made a special effort to seek out some new blogs I’d never read before.

But I didn’t have time to read everything under the sun for two carnivals, thus this one isn’t as complete as I would like it. (I’m on call this weekend just in case Daylight Savings Time blows things up. Not likely, but your Outlook calendars will definitely be off by an hour for 3 weeks.)

Now onto the Articles I Liked This Week and Last!

Wise Bread and the ugly truth of budgeting. Sometimes, you just don’t want to know.

Her VP told her, she’d better shop around. Turns out it’s not only good job advice, but also for finding a new financial advisor.

FryKitty special guest posting for JD about Prosper. Some good gems of advice in there. I’ll keep them in mind if I decide to step up my Prosper investing.

Comparison shopping links.

Payday Loan Math

Companion story about Payday Loans and what you really ought to do to get out of it

Getting Green on ING Direct

I hate coupons. Perhaps I should try this?

Interesting book review

Walking to work, the most frugal and healthful commute of all. This post really helps break it down.

Miserly Bastard on skipping certain kinds of insurance. I love reading about people’s thought processes. He’s a very different thinker from me and it’s good to get a different perspective.

Boston Gal points us to a great article on holding cash.

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity points us to an article that puts college costs in to perspective and dispels some myths about financial aid.

Hazzard at Everybody Loves Your Money points us to a sad but funny article about misguided priorities in frugality and the harrowing first time homebuying process. I warn you, the article he points to has the F-bomb everywhere, but critically speaking, it’s used to great effect. Kind of like what I would write if I was inclined to use that word all the time while I wrote. But much, much funnier than I could write. Make sure to read part two as well.

A new blog I’ve never read before, Financial Armageddon warns us that banks may have too little in reserve, which is a slightly disturbing trend amongst commercial banks. I think this is a story worth reading. Many of the posts on this site are windmilling arms type stuff. If I read it everyday, I’d probably get really paranoid and start shoving money under a mattress, however, the lengthy blog posts will keep me from reading it. But the articles seem very informative, though I think I lack a deeper understanding about banking, securities and finance to absorb all of arguments presented. Either way, I’ll be reading this blog again now that I know what it is.

Lock in your profits, so says JS Kim of The Zen of Investing. I found his ideas intriguing. Perhaps when I have a better idea of the basics of investing, I’ll be able to shatter all the rules and branch out into more creative investing as he advocates.

Cap on posting your net worth on your blog. He gets a little philosophical on us. Scroll down the comments for his opinion.

Another new blog highlight: http://www.mynewchoice.com/ He writes about why the PayPal Money Market isn’t as great of a savings vehicle as you think it is. Clearly written. Well-reasoned. I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind keeping a few bucks in there waiting for my next online purchase, etc. However, he’s convinced me that I shouldn’t use it over my regular ING account as a long term savings vehicle. (Disclosure: I have family that works for PayPal.)

Corner Office Blog on the old subject of Emergency Funds. The post is short and not very insightful, but the one true gem in it is the notion that your emergency fund is separate from the ‘Oh nuts! I just lost my job!’ Fund. I’ve been mulling this notion for a while, and seeing it in print makes me ponder if I should start a separate account from the Save-O-Meter. Go visit him and leave your thoughts on the matter.

Scott Burns has a blog. I have no idea who he is, but I get the feeling I’ve probably read his work before since he’s UPI syndicated. I like his blog quite a bit. He doesn’t post everyday, but he writes well and he **replies directly to comments**. I think that’s awesome for a well-known author in this field. Oh. The post he had this week which I liked was about time being money and a good example of DVD’s versus movie attendance. The commenters get into TiVo and Netflix as other efficiencies of time as well. Great discussion going on there.

Alternative Carnival of Personal Finance #90 is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Carnival of Personal Finance #90!

mapgirl — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:30:10 +0000

Welcome to the 90th Carnival of Personal Finance! Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope you enjoy this week’s selections. I have personally chosen and grouped articles for you to read. If you are new to my blog I am especially happy to have you.

My original plans for the Carnival fell through. I was going to pull all the articles I liked and make a Carnival from it, hoping that submissions would overlap with my choices, and the non-editor’s picks would be added on as sideshows. However, there was absolutely no overlap in the articles that I liked and what people submitted. Therefore, I did a traditional carnival, divided into sections. The articles I picked, are an Alternative Carnival of Personal Finance #90, instead of titled the usual ‘Articles I Liked This Week.’

The sections do have a bit of logic and purpose.

#1) The Big Top Carnival – represents my editor’s picks.
#2) Intermission – blatant publicity for two good blogs but stuff I might normally reject
#3) Balance Transfer Booth – a natural grouping of posts
#4) Carnival Sideshow One – articles I liked a lot but not quite ready for the Big Top
#5) The Parking Lot – another natural grouping of posts
#6) Carnival Sideshow Two – all the rest of accepted articles.

I did reject quite a few that were more investing oriented. There is another carnival for that. And while some submitted articles could apply to personal finance, because they were not written for a personal finance audience and directly making those connections, I rejected them.

Next week’s host is The Sun’s Financial Diary. Please use the form at the Carnival’s website for submission.

(As I pulled this together on Sunday night, the Big Broadcast at WAMU tonight had Fibber McGee and Molly going to the circus. Coincidence? I think not!)

Big Top Carnival! Center Ring! (Let’s go here first!)

InsureBlog presents $5k Crunch. How much is TOO much for health insurance, and can you afford NOT to have it? InsureBlog’s Bob Vineyard explains how mandatory coverage could affect YOUR bottom line. Timely article.

My Two Dollars presents Finding Out Your Parents Financial Situtation Can Be Stressful..

Mom Advice presents DIY project on refurbishing your Dining Room Chairs

Queercents does a recap of Suze Orman’s coming out. My comment’s still the same. Who cares? She’s got a creepy tan! But the commentary by my Queerfriends on the matter is rather interesting.

The Digerati Life presents Outsourcing Romance for $100,000 A Year: Love and Matchmaking 2.0

Searchlight Crusade on the harsh truths about getting a mortgage. His entry is called Magical Thinking About Mortgage Loans.

Clever Dude presents Frugal Lunch. Clever Dudette is a registered dietician and has put together a week’s menu of frugal meals for Clever Dude. Note this was prepared before the Peter Pan/salmonella recall.

Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket presents How I Create (and Re-Create) My Own Kitchen Convenience. I liked this one because there are actually some NEW tips in there which I haven’t read other places.

Ask the Advisor at Your Credit Advisor presents a rockin’ list, 136 Tips for Saving Money in College. It’s got GREAT advice, like shopping military surplus for stuff while you are in college. I still have a passion for milspec clothes from shopping at I. Goldberg’s in Philly. It’s good advice for everyone on frugal living.

Getting Green presents 14 High Yield Savings Accounts Reviewed , and says, “A royal rumble of 14 different online savings accounts. Learn which is the best combination of customer service, security features, and interest rate.”

Wisebread has a great post for job survival. How to survive (and thrive!) in a job you hate. If you are in a job you hate or even mildly dislike, READ THIS POST. Make your choice actively. Know your intentions. Make your crappy job serve YOUR purpose.

Bankruptcy Law Network give us Relationship Banking: Who is it good for?. I really like this one. I’m not a big fan of banking all in one place. Here’s a great justification of why you shouldn’t. Of course, I’m not planning on a bankruptcy either. But something to think about. (And remember, the FDIC only insures you up to $100K in deposits.)

Intermission

Poetry Contest at Aridni! Contest ends on March 31. Here’s something I think should be submitted by Mad Kane. Special shout-out to Wanda at Well-Heeled. She’s got some haiku.

NCN from No Credit Needed presents NCN On
Oprah And Friends Radio, and says, “I was interviewed by the Jean Chatzky, the money editor for Oprah.com.”

Balance Transfer Booth (Stop for some refreshment)

FiveCentNickel presents How to Profit from 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers.

Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog presents 0% Financing DealsAre Best For People who Do Not Need It.

Dogberry Patch presents App-o-Rama – Long-Term 0% Balance Transfer Strategy, and says, “3rd in a series on using 0% credit card balance transfer offers to make money”

Carnival Sideshow One (On to the next tent!)

Blunt Money presents Why I bought a condo at 21. A nice personal story for personal finance.

Debt Be Gone presents The day to day numbers..

Tricia from Blogging Away Debt presents Reducing Debt – Where Did We Start?

LAMoney Guy at It’s Just Money presents Eating in Orlando for $50 a day. He spent several days in Disney and Universal theme parks, home of the overpriced coke and cheeseburger. Yet managed to spend well under $50 per day on food for two people.

Broke A$$ Student writes Investing Prudently and Other Tidbits.

My Financial Journey presents 20%+ guaranteed return on your money in 2 easy steps.

MoneyWalks has Different Forms of Taxes. It’s quite a list. Did you realize you were paying these?

Free Money Finance presents Consider Total Compensation When Evaluating Job Offers, and says, “Be sure you consider ALL compensation when comparing one job offer to another.”

Donna Jean at The Weight of Money presents Procastinating: throwing away money, and says, “Getting a refund? Then file already!”

Make Your Nut presents Dispelling Popular Myths about Credit Scoring, Volume 1, and says, “Public perception of credit scoring methodology is filled with half-truths and oversimplifications that, if taken at face value, can actually lead you to lower your credit score despite your good faith efforts to raise it.”

The Finance Buff presents Bank CDs by Auction: Name Your Own Yield, and says, “First online auction for bank CDs open to individual investors in the United States.” I find this a really interesting article, since you get to do your own bidding, like on eBay or Prosper. I won’t touch it, since I’m a nervous nelly about my finances, but go have a look if you are interested in broadening your investment options.

Golbguru from Money, Matter, and More Musings presents A Tricky Net Worth Problem; Who Is The Richest Of Them All?, and says, “So we think we can understand our net worth? Here are a few examples that wil show that it’s not as simple as you think.”

Grad Money Matters presents An Interview with Trent (The Simple Dollar), Jim (Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) and J. D. (Get Rich Slowly) , and says, “This interview is a part of the “Ethics, Values & Personal Finance” week at Grad Money Matters and discusses with some of the prominent bloggers their views on issues related to “Ethics, Personal Finance and Blogging”.”

Debt Free presents How The Wealthy Invest, And What You Can Learn From Them.

The Frugal Law Student presents How Eating Out Can Kill You and Your Budget. Nothing really new here, but look at the photos and then go try to eat your lunch. A bunch of PF bloggers are trying to lose weight, so I offer you this one.

Get Rich Slowly presents Cheap Alternatives to Cable TV. Various strategies, which work, even for a person like me who HAS NO TELEVISION AT ALL. How does that work? Read the article and find out! (All things being equal, get rid of your TV.)

Money Smart Life presents Ten Reasons Why You Should Become an Entrepreneur Today, and says, “Personal development, relationship building, and learning the value of money are a few of the reasons I give why everyone should have the experience of being an entrepreneur.”

My New Choice gives us Financial Accountability.

Ask Uncle Bill writes about Taxes and the Three Martini Lunch. Click-through for a martini recipe. Nice and dry. However, he makes it with yucky gin. BLECH.

King of Debt at We’re In Debt presents Day 292: Coinstar Is Paying Off Our Debt & Paying For Our Laundry. Drat. Still have to take my coins in. This isn’t a bad alternative though.

The Fair Parking Lot (A swing through the parking lot to drop off your prizes)

Wanda from Well-Heeled: twentysomething life & money presents No new car smell

Buford Twain from The Tortured Mind of Buford Twain presents My Car has more Miles than Your Car!, and says, “On how NOT to have a car payment.”

Personal Finance Advice presents Why Newer Cars Don’t Save You Money. Jeffrey plays devil’s advocate here and writes, ‘Many people believe that once a car surpasses 100,000 miles or so, the costs of having to repeatedly fix the vehicle aren’t worth it, and that it makes more sense to trade in the old car and buy an almost new one. This may not be the best strategy for saving money.’

Carnival Sideshow Two

Simple Guru from Simple Guru presents Merging Lives, Merging Money, and says, “Story and advice for couples trying to financially co-exist”

Credit Cave presents 10 of The Biggest Financial Security Breaches

Pediascribe presents Chief Financial Officer, and says, “This article is about my husband and me starting our debt reduction journey.”

Trent at The Simple Dollar presents a spreadsheet for calculating your net worth. He recommends an open source spreadsheet or MS Excel. My advice? Try using MS Works. It’s usually bundled for free on your PC. Works fine for me and I paid for it already. Or else try using NetWorthIQ’s website.

The Dividend Guy Blog writes about Saving Too Much For Retirement.

Brad’s Bits presents try to get your appliances rolled into your mortgage, and says, “I wish I had tried to get my washer and dryer rolled into my mortgage rather than purchase outright.” I admit, I had a problem of a broken dishwasher when I went to settlement. (It had worked ok at the inspection 2 weeks prior.) I feel like I should have pushed harder to get more money to replace it.

Steve from Sushi Money presents What is a safe investment?

My Wealth Builder presents Lessons From My Dad – Create Guaranteed Income Streams

Nigel Swaby presents Tricks For Making An Offer On A House

Growing Money presents Review: Fidelity Investment.

Seeking Wealth presents How I build my spending plan.

plonkee money presents money
scripts: house buying, and says, “Explanation of why being slightly irrational on my house purchase has helped me sleep better at night.”

My Financial Awareness presents Is Giving/Being of Service the Key to Prosperity?, looking at why giving/being of service is more important to becoming prosperous than focusing on making money.

Living the Dream presents a long article,Real Estate is a Business.

Today’s Ten offers you Top 10 Money Tips For Almost Everyone.

Breaking the $hackles of the 9 to 5 presents Forest Whitaker Reminded Me of a Key to Success: A Burning Desire.

MyPocketChange presents The Housing Trade Off: High Prices Now or High Interest Later?, and says, “We’ll work out some numbers to explore the trade off between buying over-priced houses at low rates and under-priced houses at high interest rates.”

The Real Estate Guide offers some advice, Choosing a Good Lawyer Helps. “Not only are real estate lawyers better at the transaction, they usually charge far less than other lawyers do for handling a real estate transaction.”

Shadox from Money and Such presents 6
Reasons to Roll-Over Your 401(k). How about #7? If you don’t, I’ll take it from you! ALWAYS ROLLOVER YOUR 401K TO A PRIVATE IRA. Don’t leave your money in someone else’s control.

Carnival of Personal Finance #90! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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