Last night my wife and I went to The Cheesecake Factory to buy a slice of cake for dessert. This is a rare treat for us because at $7 a slice, it is not cheap! However, we like it a lot, and on the rare occasion we splurge on it we are able to share one slice over two sittings. So, it isn’t that bad. The good news is that last night when we paid for our slice of cake, the cashier gave us a receipt to take a survey for a $10 gift card. We got paid $3 to eat cake! How sweet it is!

Here are my favorite articles from the M-Network and around the personal finance blogosphere:

• Being Frugal - Your Past Influences Your Present. Lynnae writes about how her childhood experiences influence how she spends money now. You can also read an interview with Lynnae over at My Two Dollars.
• Gather Little by Little - Money Saving Monday - Don’t pay for software, use free software instead!. There is a lot of open source software that is just as good, if not better than the stuff you pay for… FireFox, anyone?
• I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… Tell All Tuesday - Righting The Ship. Paid Twice has an amazing goal to come up with $1000 this month from extra sources. And it looks like she has a great shot at achieving it.
• Moolanomy - What Is Your Thought On Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)?. This is a tough question to answer, and in my opinion, there are a lot of gray areas.
• My Two Dollars - What Are The Inflation Rates Of Other Countries Worldwide?. With the interest rates in the US climbing, this is an interesting article abut the world economy.
• Plonkee Money - Retirement in the UK. Although I won’t retire in the UK, it is interesting to read about the retirement systems in other countries.
  
• Single Guy Money - Suggestions for your Tax Refund - Part 1. This is the first of a four part series about ways you can use your tax refund.
• The Dough Roller - Congress Passes Stimulus Package While the Band Plays On. The economy is a getting a shot in the arm with the stimulus package - but will it really make a difference?
  
• The Digerati Life - The Brand New World Of Peer To Peer Lending. I think P2P lending is an interesting way to make some extra money.
• Million Dollar Journey - Finding Passive/Alternative Income Streams. I love finding ways to make money outside of my regular job - especially when I only have to work for it once -and the money keeps flowing.
• My Money Blog - Free Experian Credit Score via Prosper Lending. I have just started lending with Prosper, it looks like I should get a free copy of my credit score! Thanks for the tip!

This week’s Carnivals and Festivals:

• The Carnival of Personal Finance #136 was hosted at Green Panda Treehouse. My article, What is Peer to Peer Lending, was included.
• The Carnival of Money Stories: Bedtime Story Edition was hosted at Plonkee Money. My article, I Transfered My Cell Phone Contract Yesterday and Didn’t Spend a Dime, was included.
• The Festival of Frugality 109 - The Early Bird Edition, was hosted by On Financial Success. My article, What Temperature Do You Set Your Thermostat?, was included.
• The Carnival of Debt Reduction #123 - One Two Threes of Debt Reduction! was hosted at The Baglady. My article, Killer Credit Card Fees and How to Avoid Them, was included.
• Common Sense Wealth Carnival #4 was hosted at The Loco Mono. My article, Challenge Your Property Taxes and Win!, was included.

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