Think Your Way to Wealth

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This upcoming Friday is July 4th, or Independence Day, the day the United State declared independence from British rule and basically the “beginning” of our country. Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July holiday.

I had a guest post over at Prime Time Money this past week entitled 10 Ways to Simplify Your Finances. PT has a great blog with many though-provoking and informative articles, so head on over and explore his blog.

The winner of the Tightwad Gazette book giveaway was Jane J. I will be emailing her to get her address so I can send the books over. Congratulations! I will have more giveaways coming up in the near future, so stay tuned.

I participated in 3 carnivals last week:

Rich Credit Debt Loan hosted the Carnival of Careers #4- Longest Day of the Year Edition, and included my article “10 Tips for Going the Extra Mile at Work Without Putting in More Time” as an Editor’s Pick.

My favorite articles from the carnival of careers were:

The Financial Blogger presented Dealing with People You Don’t Want to Deal With (part 1, you can check out part 2 as well.) A difficult part of being in the workforce is dealing with people without losing your cool, and these tips can help you do just that.

Bripblap presented “Does Innovation Require Desperation“. I find that I perform better when I am under the gun myself, but if I had to start my own business or work from home to support my family, could I do it? I am not sure if I could.

Mrs. Micah presented a very creative Carnival of Personal Finance No. 158-Vampire Slaying Edition, and included my article “The Two Simplest Ways for Graduates to Achieve Retirement Success”.

My favorite articles from the COPF were:

GBlogger from Can I Get Rich on a Salary presents the Cost of Your Favorite Color. I have noticed certain colors costing more for some items, but unless it is a bright yellow or some other color I don’t care for, I try to go with the cheapest.

The Silicon Valley Blogger presents suggestions to protect your job and career during an economic slump at the Digerati Life. These tips are good to apply at any time, but are especially pertinent during weak economic times or a recession.

Hank from My Investing Blog hosted the Money Hacker’s Carnival # 18-The History of Money, and put a very interesting and informative carnival theme together. He included my post “7 Reasons You May Not Have Received Your Economic Stimulus Check Yet.”

My favorite articles from the carnival were:

The Chief Family Officer presented Lesson: Always track Amazon’s prices. Good tips on how to track prices and request a refund if the price drops on Amazon after you make a purchase.

Nickel from Five Cent Nickel presented Four Financial Tips for Recent Graduates. Good financial advice for graduates as well as anyone trying to get on the right track.

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We came back today from a trip to the beach; the weather was good and it was very relaxing. Getting away from the daily grind is a great way to recharge yourself mentally and physically, and I am ready to get back at it!

I participated in four carnivals/festivals last week:

Flexo at Consumerism Commentary hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance # 157 Third Anniversary Edition . Flexo is also the founder of the COPF as well as pfblogs.org, a great personal finance blog aggregator. Congratulations on 3 years!

My favorite articles from the carnival:

Too much debt can ruin your health @ Taking Charge

One of the Many “Lemonade” Moments of My Life by Hank @ My Investing Blog

David at Moneyning hosted the Carnival of Money Stories #64- Time to Listen to Others Edition

My favorites from the carnival were:

Some Advice to A Friend @ Not the Jet Set

Debt Drains Cash Flow @ Money Monk

Mrs. Accountability from Out of Debt Again hosted the Festival of Frugality # 130- The Eight Little Pigs and included my article “Watch for Companies Adding New Fees When Changing or Upgrading Service Plans”

My Favorite Articles from the Festival:

Free Workout Program- 100 Push-up Challenge @ The Happy Rock - I am going to start this later this week!

What You Need to Know Before Going into Debt @ Rich Credit Debt Loan

Mrs. Nespy from Mrs. Nespy’s Frugal World hosted the Money Hackers Carnival # Music of the 80’s and included my article “How to Put Next Year’s Tax Refund to Work for You Right Now”

Passive Income-Look at Your Passive Expenses First @ Till Debt Do Us Part

The Five Essential Elements Of Automated Income Generators @ The Shark Investor

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Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there. If you are lucky enough to still have your father in your life, make sure to tell him how much you appreciate him today. I am fortunate enough to still be able to spend time with my dad, as well as one of my grandfathers, so we will spending the day with family.

I participated in 4 carnivals/festivals over the last week:

PT at Prime Time Money hosted the 156th Carnival of Personal Finance-Songs of Summer Edition and included my post “15 Ways for Teens to make Money this Summer”

My favorite articles from the Carnival were:

13 Free or Cheap Ways To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer at One Caveman’s Journey

Saying No to Your Kids at Wide Open Wallet

David at Moneyning hosted the Festival of Frugality # 129-Try A Little Harder Edition and included my post “Is it Cool to be Frugal? 10 Frugal Practices You’ve Always Done That Are Now “In” Again!”

My favorite articles from the Festival were:

Coupons Are Not Just for junk food at Blogsmonroe

Keeping Up With the Joneses Redux-Real or Imagined? at Can I Get Rich On A Salary

Pinyo at Moolanomy hosted the Carnival of Debt Reduction #143-The History of Debt, and included my post “Tweaking the Debt Snowball to Fit Your Life”.

My favorite articles from the Carnival were:

Simple Solutions to Staying Out of Debt by Our Fourpence Worth

Bring Your Lunch to Work Day by David Makes Cents

Pete from Bible Money Matters hosted the Carnival of Money Stories # 63-Gather Round the Camp Fire and included my article “What a 2-year old, a 4 year old, and a Piggy Bank have Taught me About Money”

My favorite articles from the Carnival were:

Build A Business Before You Go Solo from The Digerati Life

Should we become survivalists to prepare for an upcoming energy crisis? by Close Encounters of the Cheap Kind.

Steve at Brip Blap hosted the Carnival of Careers # 2, and included my post “10 Great Ways For College Graduates to Start Off on the Right Track with Their Finances”.

My favorite articles from the Carnival were:

How to Resign Gracefully by Cash Money Life, and

By What Cover Is Your Book Judged? by Free From Broke

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Summer is almost officially here, but the heat and humidity have already started down here in south Louisiana. Oh well, it should start cooling off again around mid to late October.

I participated in 3 carnivals/festivals over the past week:

Pinyo at Moolanomy hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance #155-Time With Family Edition and included my article “10 Great Ways for College Graduates to Start Off on the Right Track with Their Finances”.

My favorite articles from the COPF:

29 Free Or Low Cost Ways To Save Energy & Money at My Two Dollars.

Five things Indiana Jones Can Teach Us About Personal Finance at Free From Broke.

Kevin at No Debt Plan hosted the Festival of Frugality #128- No Debt Plan Edition and included my post “How Asking A Very Simple Question Can Save You Money”.

My favorite articles from the FOF:

Great Deals Lose Value When they Sit. And Sit. And Sit by Just Shoot Me Now.

Eating Healthy While Clipping Coupons: The Dos and Dont’s by Cheap Healthy Good.

The Broke Grad Student hosted the Money Hacks Carnival No. 15-French Open Edition, and included my post- ” My Frugal Phone Fix-Repairing a Motorola Razr Cell Phone”.

My favorite articles from the MH carnival:

Don’t buy things made out of potatoes - just buy potatoes! at Living the Cheap Life.

Shrinking Products Mean Inaccurate Unit Prices at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Also, congrats to J. Savings at Budgets are Sexy on getting married!

Thanks to all of the hosts, be sure to check them out for some great reading!

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There were a lot of exciting and inspiring things going on around the Personal Finance blogosphere this past week.

Pinyo from Moolanomy launched PF Buzz, a Digg-like site specifically for personal finance and money related articles. Looks really neat. Head on over to check it out. If you want to test it by submitting one of my articles, I won’t mind ;).

A new PF blog network got started last week as well, The Money Life Network, consisting of some great PF blogs : Prime Time Money, Bible Money Matters, Free From Broke, My Investing Blog, and Milk Your Money. Be sure to head on over to check it out for some great personal finance reads!

NCN is rejuvenated and ready to rock with 10 steps for getting back on track with his personal goals. I have been feeling a little “burned out” lately myself, so I found his post quite inspiring, as well as Shanti’s challenge to better your financial self. These posts have inspired me and “fired me up” to work hard on my debt reduction plan this week, and I am going to set some lofty but reachable goals I can really focus on.

I participated in 2 carnivals last week:

Canadian Dream: Free at 45 hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance #54 and included my post “Ways to Educate Yourself about Personal Finance”

Prime Time Money hosted the Money Hacks Carnival-# 14 Weird Golf Facts Edition and included my post “States with Upcoming Tax Free Holidays”.

Thanks to the hosts, be sure to check them out for some great reading!

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Aaaah, the 3-day weekend! Happy Memorial Day to everyone, please take a little time this weekend to remember why Memorial Day is observed. While our country is not perfect, I believe most people who live in the U.S. would rather stay here than move somewhere else, and much of the freedom we enjoy today is due to the sacrifice of individuals in the past.

I participated in 3 carnivals/festivals this past week:

Prime Time Money hosted the 140th Carnival of Debt Reduction: Circus Day Edition and included my post “Why some College Students Manage Their Finances Better than Middle Aged Adults”. Great job on the carnival.

My favorite article from the Carnival of DR was:

Your Debt makes Your Decisions for You at the Happy Rock.

Money and Values hosted Carnival of Personal Finance #153: the Q & A edition and included my post “May 2008 I Bond Rates Go to 0.0%, Total Rate 4.84%-What Does This Mean?” My favorites from the Carnival were:

7 Personal Finance Planning Tips from Millionaire Money Habits.

Until the nation is broke, viva la credit card from Saving to Invest.

The Financial Blogger hosted the #126 Festival Of Frugality – If I Had A Car Edition and included my post” Will the Slow Economy Cause People to Give up Their Lattes and Bottled Water? My favorite articles from the festival:

Survive a Recession by Gather Little by Little.
The social acceptability of frugality by Five Cent Nickel.

Thanks to all of the hosts, be sure to check out the carnivals for some great personal finance reading!

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I’ve been neglecting the yard this spring, so today I will be spending the majority of the day (or at least as long as I can last) catching up on yard work, as long as the weather holds out, which it should.

I participated in the Money Hacks Carnival # 12, The 12 Labours of Heracles this past week, which was hosted by the G Blogmaster at Can I Get Rich On A Salary, who selected my article ” The Easy Way To Budget for Irregular Expenses using a Separate Checking Account” as an editor’s pick. He did a great job with the carnival, so be sure to check it out.

My favorite readings from the past week:

Dividends 4 Life wrote about Seven Important Reasons for Dividend Investing. I have been keeping an eye on dividend stocks and trying to learn about dividend investing lately, and Dividends for Life is a great blog for learning about dividend investing.

Mrs. Micah on on Dining Out Frugally Without Stiffing On the Tip . I am not a big fan of stiffing wait staff, either.

Cancel some monthly charges before taking on others @ Mighty Bargain Hunter.- Good advice to follow before adding another recurring expense.

Breaking Bad Habits to Build Your Frugal Fu @ Frugal Fu- Good advice on making small changes to eliminate those bad spending habits that keep you from reaching your financial goals.

7 Ways to Squash Your Credit Card Debt by Melissa @ Master Your Card. Great tips for making a dent in your credit card bills or other debt.

David at Moneyning is on his honeymoon and giving away at least $1095 in celebration. Congrats again to David and be sure to get over to his blog and subscribe to his feed to get entered in the contest.

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Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there. I will be spending Mother’s Day with the wife, kids, my mother and grandmother, so I am really lucky to have them all still in my life and living close by. If you are fortunate enough to have your mother or grandmother still in your life, make sure to tell them how much you appreciate them today.

I participated in 4 carnivals/festivals over the last week.

The Carnival of Money Stories # 58, Dollar Coins Edition was held at Free From Broke, and included my article “The Health Savings Account (HSA) and Can I Do Better than the Insurance Companies”.

My favorite articles from the Carnival of Money Stories :

$6000! Save Your Hard Earned Money! at Fire Finance- If you really take a good look at all of the little things you spend money on, you will likely be amazed.

Free Time or More Money-Which is it? at Greener Pastures:Personal Finance- I think about time vs. money quite a bit, and it is very true, the older you get , I believe, time becomes more and more important.

Kimberly at the Alpha Consumer Blog on U.S. News and World Report hosted The Carnival of Personal Finance #151-Bloggers on Surviving the Squeeze and included my post “Finding Great Deals on the Internet and How to Avoid Buying Things You Don’t Need”.

My favorites from the COPF:

A Practical Investing Guide for Beginners at Moolanomy. A great place to start learning @ investing.

Going Green to Keep More Green in Your Pocket- at Accumulating Money. Saving money and helping Mother Earth.

Frugal for Life hosted the Festival of Frugality #124 and included my post “30 Ways to Save on Your Grocery Shopping and Food Bill”.

My favorites from the FOF:

Save Money with Refurbished Electronics by Cash Money Life explains the ins and outs of refurb’d electronics and where to find them, and what to look for. Great guide!

My Dollar Plan presents 10 Ways to Eat Out for Less- Some good tips for cutting costs without giving it up completely.

The Money Hacks Carnival # 11, Ebb and Flow Edition was hosted by Save and Conquer, and included my post ” Two Online Tools to Help You Find Cheaper Gas Near Home or While Travelling”

My favorites from the MH Carnival:

Going to the Game is Expensive- by the Writer’s Coin. I am a sport’s fan, but even now I don’t go to too many games b/c of the cost. But not making mortgage payments and still holding on to season tickets? Not me.

Do I really Need Long Term Care Insurance in my 30’s at Can I Get Rich on a Salary. Maybe not yet, but the sooner you start thinking about it the better prepared and informed you will be.

Thanks to all of the hosts for their hard work, there are some great articles included so be sure to check them out!

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It was a pretty busy weekend for me, I had to go in to work yesterday and today to work on a project that is due in a few weeks. I think we are reaching the home stretch and will be getting things wrapped up soon, which will give me a little free time for a few months, I hope.

I participated in 4 carnivals/festivals over the last week.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction # 137- Graduation Edition was hosted by the Broke Grad Student, and he included my post “Emergency Fund 101: A Crucial Step on the Road to Financial Well-Being”.

The Carnival of Money Stories # 57 was held at the Carnival of Money Stories website, and included my article “Why I’m Not Buying a New Lawnmower this Year Either”.

Lazy Man and Money hosted The Carnival of Personal Finance #150, and must have worked pretty hard as their were 115 articles included! The Lazy Man selected my post “Lies We Tell Ourselves While Spending Money” as an editor’s pick.

The Money Hacks Carnival # 10, Your Money, Your Life was held at the aptly named Money Hacks, and included my post ” How to Simplify Your Finances: Start Small with Automatic Bill Payments”

Thanks to all of the hosts for their hard work, there are some great articles included so be sure to check them out!

Also, congrats to Steve at Bripblap and NCN at No Credit Needed for adding new members to their families recently, and as Steve put it, a new tax deduction.

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According to the IRS, the direct-deposited economic stimulus rebates will go out about 5 days earlier than planned, starting tomorrow. The mailed rebates will also start a week early as well, starting May 9th. I have not yet come across a revised schedule of the dates, but I would assume they would all be going out on an accelerated schedule as well. Keep an eye on your bank account this week if you are eligible for direct deposit.

I participated in 2 carnivals last week, The Happy Rock hosted the 149th Carnival of Personal Finance-Chasing Dreams Edition, and included my post “Two of the Most Important Habits for Increasing Your Income”.

My favorite articles from the carnival :

I’m Not Going to Cut Back on my Cup of Coffee-by Andy @ Saving to Invest. I’m a  coffee drinker,  I try to get it at work every day so its free, but when I need it I need it!

Five Ways to Survive on One Income- by Kyle @ I’d Rather Be Shopping. My wife is a SAHM so I can relate to this one.

The GBlogmaster hosted the Carnival of Money Stories # 56- Once Upon A Time Edition at Can I Get Rich On A Salary and included my post “The Cost of Procrastination and Being Unorganized”.

My favorite articles from the carnival:

Top 7 Energy Saving Tips for this Summer by Fire Finance. I am running the A/C already, so its time to look at ways to reduce my summer cooling bills!

Just One More Time by the Financial Blogger who gives us reasons why its not always good to do things “one more time”.

Think Your Way To Wealth is now featured on Alltop.com, in the personal finance category. It is a site aggregation  website with many categories, showing “all the top” stories from around the web; I encourage you to check it out and have a look around.

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