My Favorite Picks from the Carnival of Personal Finance

How do you frugally budget for a few luxuries, and what types of insurance do you need? Those topics are covered in the 171 Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Hosted by Sound Money Matters, the carnival is an excellent mix of financial, career and frugal news.

Thanks to the host for compiling a great carnival and for including my piece -- Bankruptcy and Gift Cards– Seeking Protection for Consumers -- in the lineup. Here are a few of the items that caught my eye:

From My Money Blog: Saving Money on Entertainment,

• great date-night tips for married couples
• frugal family fun
• how to save on movies

From I’ve Paid Twice for This Already: I Want My Fun To Be Fun - So I Budget

• make financial room for extra perks
• how to plan for extra treats

From The Digerati Life reviews: in Get The Right Coverage! Insurance Policies You Need and Those To Avoid.

• insurance 101
• coverage for renters and homeowners

From Gather Little by Little: How to Sell a Used Car.

• prepping your car for sale
• researching price
• how to market your used car

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@ Amazon.com
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30-Day Spending Ban & Other Links I Liked

What happens when we halt our spending machines for 3o days? That subject comes from Get Rich Slowly: Use a No-Spend Month to Become Mindful of Money. It's one of several personal finance links that caught my eye over the past week.

From My Two Dollars: Paying Off Debt And Saving Money Can Be Done At The Same Time.

From The Digerati Life: Reduce Your Grocery Bill With These Practical Tips

From Almost Frugal: Five Things You Should Not Spend More Money On

From The Simple Dollar: Overcoming a Habit of Lying to Yourself About Money

From Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog: 2008/2009 goals
(Note: I enjoyed reading about CeeJay's money-saving budget.)

From Boston Gal's Open Wallet: Extreme Foreclosure: Harper Family of Georgia
(very interesting review of how one family landed in foreclosure)


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Here's how to buy my new book:

@ Amazon.com
@ Barnes & Noble
@ Borders
@ Target.com

Save the Wedding Glitter for Retirement & Other Tips from Festival of Frugality

Cut wedding costs, seek free entertainment and chew on frugal philosophy. Those are some of topics posted at the 121st edition of the Festival of Frugality -- (organized by Rather be Shopping.) Thanks to the host for assembling a great carnival. Excellent job! Thanks for including one of my posts in the lineup.

Here are a few of the articles that caught my eye:

From FMF: How to Have Half a Million Dollars at Retirement by Controlling Wedding Costs posted at Free Money Finance.

From Saving Advice: Free (Or Nearly Free) Entertainment For Every Week of the Year posted at SavingAdvice.com Blog

From Living Almost Large: Downgrading your lifestyle? posted at LivingAlmostLarge.

Once again: Thanks to Rather Be Shopping for organizing a thoughtful and thought-provoking carnival.

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Digg!

Frugal Musings, Used Cars & Time Sheets: My Weekly Roundup

From time management to money management, there's plenty to read in the world of personal finance. Here's my weekly roundup of posts that caught my eye:

From AllFinancialMatters: 5 Things My Wife and I Want Our Kids to Know About Money

From Consumerism Commentary: The Frugal Lifestyle: Are We Missing Out on Life?

From Get Rich Slowly: Ask the Readers: What Do You Splurge On?

From Consumerist: Use Your Gift Certificates: Linens 'N Things Expected To File Bankruptcy Tuesday [Bankruptcy]

From SingleGuyMoney: Most Reliable Used Cars

From Chief Family Officer: Our car buying experience - Part Two: Financing and the Trade-in

From Mom Advice: "How Did I Get So Busy?" (A Busy Bee Quiz)

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Flexo to Quit Day Job & Other Items from 119th Festival of Frugality

The 119th edition of the Festival of Frugality is up at Consumerism Commentary. Flexo is an excellent host and launches the carnival with the news that he's giving up his day job in order to become a full-time blogger. Great news!

Thanks to Flexo for putting together an insightful festival. Thanks for including my post in the mix and mentioning it in the Editor's Choice section.

Here are a few of the posts that also caught my eye.

From Penny Nickel: 10 ways you can use less artificial light—lower emissions and your energy bill! posted at Money and Values. (I love this list about using natural light, twilight, night light and sweet light.)

From ~Dawn: Free Audio Resources posted at Frugal For Life. (Dawn has great tips about getting free music and programs on the Web.)

From Shana: How Much Money Do You Lose Through Laziness? at Smart Easy Money. (This post offers a push for those of us who waste money through inactivity and/or procrastination.)

From Pinyo: 5 Strategies to Survive An Economic Slowdown at Moolanomy. (Note to self: Bookmark this post!)

Thanks again to Flexo for taking the time to compile a great line-up with insightful comments.

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Clothing Swap in NYC & Other News: Weekly Reading: My Favorite Links

My reading list includes details about a huge clothing swap in New York, reality checks and cheaper pharmaceuticals. Here are a few of the posts that caught my eye this week:

From The Budget Fashionista: Swap-O-Rama-Rama: Mark Your Calendars (I might go to New York just to check out this event, which includes workshops as well.)

From The Happy Rock: How Much House Can You Afford? (Hint: Ask another question.)

From Wise Bread: Extreme Thrift: Going Green on a Shoestring (Great eco-friendly tips that don't cost a bundle. My favorite: Use bar soap instead of the liquid stuff.)

From Get Rich Slowly: When the Going Gets Tough, Get Back to the Basics (Down-to-earth advice about saving money in a tough economy.)

From A Manhattan Girl's Outlook on Money and Finance: Stop the fantasy (An insightful reality check about cost of really living. Forget the television version of life in the city!)

From Single Ma's Fabulous Financials: Oh, the Irony (This post had me ROTFL)

From Mrs. Micah: Finance for a Freelance Life: The Amazing Powers of YourRxCard.com’s Prescription Card (This is a helpful piece about the cost of prescription drugs.)

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Budget Reality Checks & Other Links from 118th Festival of Frugality

The: Festival of Frugality #118: ABC Edition is up at My Dollar Plan. With organization and style, the host has put together a great lineup. Thanks to My Dollar Plan for including my post in the mix.

Here are a few of the posts that caught my eye.

From Yan: 14 Easy Ways to get the best Shopping Deals posted at buxr.com. A very helpful list of shopping tips.

From Shana: Smart Easy Money: Budgeting is Only for Lean Times?? posted at Smart Easy Money. This is a very thoughtful piece about the need for budgeting in a boom or bust economy. This post delivers a great reality check!

From Silicon Valley Blogger: Serious Savers Who Died Very Wealthy posted at The Digerati Life. I enjoyed this piece about secret millionaires who saved large fortunes and gave a portion to charity.

From Steward: Save to Buy … If You Buy At All posted at My Family’s Money. This is an instructive strategy for buying only what you need and can afford.

Once again, thanks to the host (My Dollar Plan) for taking the time to put together a great festival!

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Favorite Picks from the Festival of Frugality at No Credit Necessary

Consumer brand-loyalty traps, frugal exercise and an excellent primer about buying a frig. Those are a few of the great posts featured in the Festival Of Frugality #114, which is up at No Credit Necessary.

Thanks to the host for putting together such a great carnival. Thanks for including my post in the mix. Here are a few articles that caught my eye:

Free From Broke: The Frugality of Our Feet. Walking is a healthy, frugal and entertaining activity. I enjoyed this post.


Cheap Healthy Good: Food, Frugality, and Fighting Brand Loyalty A behind-the-scenes look at the costs of brand marketing from a media professional. This post made me think about my buying habits.




Chief Family Officer: We bought a new washer and paid 35% less than MSRP CFO purchased an energy-efficient washing machine at a discount. Her post includes helpful links, research insights and a purchase action plan.



Thanks again to NCN for being such a great host!







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Weekly Reading: My Favorite Links

From financial security to bill-paying options, personal finance blogs offered plenty to read this week. Here are a few posts that caught my eye:

From Dreaming of Money: What is Financial Peace for Me?

quote:

I was working every day from 8 in the morning until 9 in the evening. I was working half a day on Saturdays. What good would it do me to have all this money if I never had any time to enjoy it? I quit after a couple months and searched for something with less hours.

From Boston's Gal's Open Wallet: New York Times profiled a woman living my worst nightmare

quote:

The New York Times article: Moving Soon to an Apartment Near You profiles 38 year old playwright Brooke Berman who has lived in more than 30 apartments in 20 years in New York.

From My Two Dollars: My Sources Of Alternative Income And How I Make Them Work For Me.

quote:

While I still have a day job that I do for about 25 hours a week, I realized
that depending on only my weekly paycheck could be a recipe for disaster, so I
started thinking of other ways I could make money, and this is how I do it.

From Frugal Village: Use up common foods before they go bad

quote:

You’ve got too many bananas, mashed potatoes, eggs or zucchini, and the excess
is threatening to rot in your kitchen.

From Single Guy Money: How do you remember monthly bills?

quote:

I've been looking for a better way to remember when my monthly bills are due. I don't like having anything automatically deducted from my checking account and would rather keep track of when the bills are due and then pay via billpay or pay directly at the billers website.

Festival of Frugality: Debating Frugal vs. Cheap

Dawn at Frugal For Life hosted this week's Festival of Frugality Week 108: Quotable Edition. Thanks to Dawn for being a wonderful host. It's an excellent round-up! Thanks for including my post in the mix.

Here are a few of the articles that caught my eye:

From The Little Dough Girl: The line between frugal and cheap

From Dollar Frugal: To Frugality or Not To Frugality....

From Ask Mr. Credit Card: Inconsistent Frugal Habits

From Frugal in the Fruitlands: Would you still live frugally if you got rich?

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Previous Posts

Money From the Wall: Child's View of ATMs & Credit Cards
Mutiny: Rebellion Against Used Party Clothes: Frugal Event Planning Guide Pt.2
Frugal Lessons from Luxury Shoppers: 3 Basic Questions Before Paying
Fourth Grader Joins Flea Market, Hires 4 Employees, Sells Crafts and Prints Money
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Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of The Frugal Duchess of South Beach: How to Live Well and Save Money... Anywhere!, which will be published in the Spring of 2008 by DPL Press.

Frugal Renters in High End Neighorhoods & Other Picks from Festival of Frugality

Like My Two Dollars, I rent an affordable home (an apartment) in a neighborhood of million-dollar homes. My Two Dollars blogs about the economics of renting and that post was one of my favorites from the 107th Festival of Frugality edition, which is up at Cash Money Life.

It's an excellent carnival and I am grateful to the host for including one of my pieces in the lineup. Here are a few of the posts that caught my eye.

From Tip Diva: Top Ten Tips for Reducing Your Electricity.

From My Two Dollars: the frugal option is to rent an apartment, rather than buy a home.

From Beauty and Grooming: beauty tips for winter skin and hair care.

From Free From Broke: breakfast is the most important meal.
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Previous Posts:

What is Luxury? Town & Country: Luxe is a Moving Target
Reformed Spenders Provide 10 Ways to Save in 2008
Barking Dogs, Stinking Turtles and Sick Hamsters Taught Me About Money
Cheap Travel Guide: Month-by-Month, City-by-City Hotel Savings Rates

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Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of The Frugal Duchess of South Beach: How to Live Well and Save Money... Anywhere!, which will be published in the Spring of 2008 by DPL Press.




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Links I Liked: My Favorite Posts for the Week

What's the happiest moment of your life? Is it possible to go shopping at the police station? How can we talk ourselves out of silly purchases? Those questions and other issues are featured in this weekly roundup of interesting personal finance posts. Here are a few links that caught my eye:


From Get Rich Slowly: Get Rich Slowly’s Greatest Hits (2007 Edition)

From Information Arbitrage: From the Mailbag: When Was I The Happiest in My Life?

From Wise Bread: How to buy all that stuff the police seize. And it's cheap.

From Tired But Happy: Freelancing: Diversifying your income streams

From MomAdvice.com: When Do You Let Your Car Go?

From The Simple Dollar: Talking Myself Out Of Frivolous Purchases
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Favorite Links from the Past Week

Here are a few links that caught my eye during the past week.



From One Frugal Girl: Respecting a Gift Giver Who Sticks to his Budget

From Get Rich Slowly: How I Became a Millionaire While Working in My Pajamas

From Ms. MiniDucky: Laundry woes: is liquid detergent the way to go?

From The Digerati Life: 12 Money Moves For Your Year End Financial Checklist

From Wise Bread: Get enough sleep

From Single Ma's Fabulous Financials: Life is Good

My Previous Posts Today:
My Jane Austen Biz Plan: 10 Smart Career Moves: An English Major's Aria
Brewing Ideas in the Hot Tub & Other Tips from Carnival of Smarter Investing

Turn Garbage Into Liquid Cash: Save 1000s of Gallons of Water

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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store

Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues
Frugal Comic Book Connection
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Simplicity, College Costs & Other Links I Liked

Dawn at Frugal for Life offers a thoughtful post on gadgets, spending and our lifestyle choices: Is Simplicity for You. Here are other links that I liked:

7 Myths About College Financial Aid (From the WSJ) from JLP at AllFinancialMatters

The Connection Between Financial Choices And Personal Values: The Kind Of Parent I Want To Be from Trent at The Simple Dollar

The Issue of Gas Prices: Complainers vs. Complainers from Flexo at Consumerism Commentary

Life's Big and Little Extravagances from Madame X at My Open Wallet
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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store

Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues
Frugal Comic Book Connection
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Favorite Posts-its: Links I Like

From an edible emergency fund to money and marriage, there were a lot of good posts out there this week.

Here are a few of my favorite posts for the week.

Boston Gal's Open Wallet offered: The emergency fund you can eat .

Double Income No Kids has posted: How We Co-manage our Finances .

Get Rich Slowly: How to Save for the Trip of a Lifetime .

One Money Dummy Getting Smarter : My new financial strategy.

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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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My Favorite Post-its: Links I Like

I had fun reading all sorts of post this week. Here's my regular roundup of some of my favorite posts from other bloggers.


Y0ur Money to Keep has a thoughtful piece about the meaning of wallet contents. The author provides great insights about the financial significance of family photos, cash and other items in our wallets.

Gen X Finance has a super post that addresses this question: Would You Buy a $150 Raffle Ticket For a Chance to Win a $350,000 House?

The Simple Dollar provides a great post: The Only Thing You’ll Need To Spend Is Time: Ten Great, Free Hobbies

Blunt Money offers a snapshot of My non no-spend day.

The Digerati Life offers a fun piece: How To Throw A Kid’s Birthday Party Without Spending A Fortune
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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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Carnival of Money Stories

The field of Carnivals included The Carnival Of Money Stories #5, hosted by The Digerati Life. The lineup includes very engaging stories about folks and their money. The host has done a great job of screening and categorizing the different posts. I like the story snippets that follow each link.
Here are a few of my favorites posts from the Carnival:

Money, Matter, and More Musings provided a thoughtful tale about his motorcycle, his lunch and his commute.

The Money Blog Site posted an insightful piece: What To Do With a Bonus

I'm happy to be included in the crowd. Thanks to the host for taking the time and energy to compile the Carnival!

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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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Lazy Man Scores With Festival of Frugality #62

Baseball is the theme of 62nd Edition of the Festival of Frugality, which is hosted by Lazy Man, who pitched extra innings to put together a fun festival. With organization and commentary, the FoF is a grand slam. But hey? Where was Hank Aaron in the lineup?

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

Money Under 30 had a great post about buy nothing year.

"Before dismissing a buy nothing year as insane and unachievable, consider the fact that the premise does not preclude buying the things you need for survival such as food, and actually allows to buy used or barter for anything you may desire. A secondary goal of buy nothing year is to encourage you to support local farmers and merchants in buying the foodstuffs you do need."

A Silver Lining has a cute piece on putting old calendars back into circulation.

And We're in Debt has a very helpful piece about saving money while vacationing.

I was quite happy to be featured in the lineup. Thanks to Lazy Man for creating a fun playing field. Congrats!


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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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Money-Saving Tips at the Carnival of Family Life

Earlier today, I posted my Tuesday Tip about unusual uses for bubble wrap: good for a cheap burglar alarm & frig protection for fruits/veggies.

I also recommend The 42nd edition of the Carnival of Family Life, which is now up at An Island Life. From stories about hiring dumb real estate agents to hand-me down clothes, the Carnival of Family Life has an excellent line-up.


The Carnival features KSuccess, who wrote a great post about priceless gifts parents can give their kids.

"As parents, we all want our children to have the best things in life. But in our quest to give them the best “stuff,” we sometimes forget about some of the other more important gifts we can give them." --KSuccess

Little Mummy has a very helpful list of frugal tips for parents, featuring advice about hand-me downs, and DIY baby food.

Aridni has an informative how-to about buying a first home. I like her tips, including the one about hiring a real estate agent.

Hire the dumb guy. The top agents want to make money from the top houses. You’re more of a hassle with your small budget. But the dumb guy? He’s not making as many sales. He wants to work for you (especially if he knows you want to upgrade in a few years and will need someone to sell your house and take you out to find a new house). Yet the greatest reason for hiring the dumb guy? He’ll have the inside story on everything--Aridni

I am grateful that my post was included in the line-up. Thanks to Island Life for putting together an excellent carnival!
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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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Stock Market Beat Hosts Carnival of Personal Finance

Would you sell a valued possession to finance your child's education? That question and others are debated at the latest edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance (#88), which is up at The Stock Market Beat. The weekly roundup includes some excellent posts.

Here are a few of my favorite posts in the carnival:

I enjoyed the piece from My Financial Awareness about what to do when you don't have enough money. The post featured a great mix of practical and mental exercises.

"You may choose not to take a vacation or may decide putting off making the car repair because you do not have enough money. Yet, making the choice from alternatives gives you control over your finances." -- My Financial Awareness

I also liked The Coin Jar's story about difficult financial choices. The post features an account about a woman who sold a painting to finance her daughter's education.

"Mom faced head-on what may have been an emotionally difficult choice: Part with a painting that hung on the wall for years in her grandmother's home in Italy? Or strap her child (or the family overall) with a debt-load that might take years and years to pay off?"-- Coin Jar

The lineup includes my own post about the intellectual value of counting pennies. I'm happy to be included in the carnival. Special thanks to the host for taking the time and effort to read, organize and sort through the lineup. The narrative and transitions between the posts create a good read.


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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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