The 109th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up at the Mint blog. They have done a unique theme this week, and have included each submission along with the first post that blog ever wrote! Thank goodness my first post was an introduction to me and my blog instead of a little one line like – “Here is my blog, more to follow.” This week my post, How to Be a Gold-Digger, was included in the Carnival.
Here are some of my favorites postings from this week:
Thanks for hosting, Mint!!
I would like to introduce everyone to two new personal finance blogs I have recently begun reading: Journey to Financial Freedom (blog no longer exists) and SingleGuyMoney.
Journey to Financial Freedom: Nick is an officer in th USAF and volunteered to go to Iraq with the main intent of paying off his debt. This blog chronicles his journey to pay off that debt, as well as touches on some of his personal financial history and experiences while deployed.
Here are some of my favorite articles written by Nick:
- On why he volunteered for Iraq.
- On how he reduced his debt from 70k to 14k.
- On hitting a new milestone by getting his debt under 10k: In The 4-Digit Range.
- The Best Financial Decision he ever made.
- The Worst Financial Decision he ever made.
Welcome to the world of Personal Finance Blogging Nick, and good luck slaying your debt. More importantly, good luck in Iraq, and thank you for serving our country.
SingleGuyMoney: Single Guy is a 30 year old personal finance blogger who recently began his blog to track his journey out of debt.
Here are a few of my favorite posts written by Single Guy:
- My Bad Habits Are Costing Me: Coffee and Nicotine – expensive habits!
- Sometimes a dream car should be just that, a dream! Even if It’s Only $750 a Month!
- I Admit It… I’m a Clipper! – I love coupons too, and I don’t care who knows it!
- Single Guy recognizes a few financial mistakes he has made.
Welcome to the blogging world, Single Guy.
Here is a list of the personal finance blogs I read, link to, and why (there is also a little history about why I started blogging). There are some great blogs in this list! I hope everyone visits these blogs and enjoys what they have to offer. If you like what you read, you should add their blog to your feed reader. If you haven’t already added Cash Money Life to your feed reader, now is a great time! 
This weekend my wife and I were doing a little cleaning and decided to clear out some books, movies, etc. that were basically just clutter. We like going to Half Price Books because you can find some great deals there on used books, movies, and other forms of media (check out their bargain bin!). They also buy things to stock their store. We hadn’t sold anything to them before, so I figured we should give it a try.
We took a large box filled with a couple DVDs, The Star Wars collection on VHS, several hardcover books, several paperback books, and some old textbooks. I think we must have brought about 30 books and other items into the store. They evaluate your items while you shop around, then they call you up to the counter when your offer is ready.
How much was our offer? $15. That was lower than I expected, but I was not surprised. I’m sure there is some proprietary software they use to determine how much they can resell the items for. Turnover for most of these items is low and it takes them awhile to recoup their expenditures. I estimate they offer only about $.25 on the dollar, depending on the popularity of the items. They also told me the textbooks would go straight to the recycling bin because they had no resale value (they were all over 10 years old), and the libraries would not even want them. Some of the hardcover books we brought in were actually purchased from their dollar clearance rack, so I wasn’t expecting much for them either (even though they were good books!).
I ended up accepting their offer, but my wife and I purchased some books and DVDs from the store, so it ended up being a coupon and not cash! I know the value of our items was a lot more than what we were paid, but it came down to a matter of convenience. I was already there, and these were items we didn’t want in our house anymore. I estimate the retail value of our items would have been around $60-75, so we got a little less than we would have had we donated them and received a tax deduction.
While I love shopping at Half Price Books because of their bargains and proximity to my house, I do not think I will ever sell to them again. For the paltry sum of money we received (which we didn’t actually receive as we spent it right away), I would rather give the books and other items to friends and relatives or donate them to the library or Goodwill. The last two places will give a receipt which is good for a tax deduction. I think I also would have felt better had I donated them, not just for the tax deduction, but because I enjoy giving. Next time, I will give them away. 
There were a lot of great posts in the Personal Finance blogging world this week. Here are a few of my favorites:
First off, Congrats to those with personal achievements this week:
- Lazy Man from Lazy Man and Money got married! Now Lazy Man breaks it all down in The Cost of My Wedding. Congrats!
- Clever Dude got a raise! Clever Dude got a raise earlier this year, and now got another raise during his mid-term review. He writes about it in The money is rolling in. I got a raise. The best part is, most companies usually give their raises at the annual review. Maybe he’ll get another raise in 6 months?
Here are some other great articles I read this week:
- Consumerism Commentary – Overdraft Fees Becoming More Popular. Flexo lays down the process for overdraft fees and how they work. When multiple debits occur on your account, they are debited from largest to smallest instead of the order they occur. This is because there is a greater chance to have multiple overdraft fees. There is some other great info in this article. Check it out.
- Get Rich Slowly – Questions and Answers about Roth IRAs. JD’s article is a good resource for someone looking for more information about Roth IRAs, and it is coming from someone who is not trying to sell you anything.
- Wise Bread – Junk Mail Revenge Part 2 – It’s WAR!. I hate junk mail!!! Wise Bread writes about how to get revenge on the people that cram your box full of junk (I won’t spoil the surprise, but I’ve been doing it myself for some time now!) . Do you want to stop junk mail or annoying telemarketer phone calls? Read my article Opt Out of Pre-screened Credit Offers and Annoying Phone Calls.
- The Simple Dollar – Time For a Change? 7 Things to consider When Choosing a New Career Path. Changing careers is a big ordeal (I know, I was Active Duty military, and am now in the civilian sector). Trent gives us a list of questions you should ask when considering this big change. Changing jobs or careers is sometimes just what the doctor ordered anyway – just ask Clever Dude, who wrote that sometimes the best way to get a raise is to change jobs.
- Mint – Tuesday Train Wreck – My Mom Stole My Identity. This is a difficult article to read, and even more so to write. The author had her identity stolen be her mother of all people. It goes to show that everyone needs to be diligent in protecting their identity, and taking the proper steps for protection.
- All Financial Matters – A Letter to Their Daughter. JLP got permission to reprint a letter from his friend and blog author, Barry Barnitz, and his wife to their 14 year old daughter. The article is a great introductory article for a young investor and obviously they got their daughter started on the right path to financial freedom. The article is long, but worth it. I would recommend this to anyone interested in getting their children started on a great financial path.
Enjoy these great articles, and have a great weekend!
There are thousand of ways to be more frugal and save money, and what works for some, won’t work for others. A recent article, Ditch those money-sucking bills, by Liz Pulliam Weston of MSN Money, gave a lot of frugal living tips and examples that readers left on her site. The best part is, many of the examples are contrasting. That’s awesome! Too many people give “one size fits all” financial advice.
Another big focus of the article is to find ways to end or lower recurring monthly bills such cable, internet, gym membership, telephone, Netflix or Blockbuster, etc. Her reasoning is that many times, you don’t always need or get what you pay for.
Frugal things my wife and I do that may not work for others:
Cell phones - we each have a cell phone, but we do not have a telephone land line. Our basic cell phone plan has plenty of minutes, we have free long distance, and we have Internet cable, so we do not find it necessary to have a telephone land line. Other people may find it cheaper to have a land line or VoIP, and skip the cell phone. Xome people may find it cheaper to cancel their cell phone and just use a landline.
Utilities – We use a programmable thermostat to turn on our furnace when we are home, and shut off when we are away. We don’t have pets, so we don’t have to worry about it being too hot or cold when we are not there. We also set the thermostat at 77 in the summer and 68 in the winter, and dress to be comfortable in the house. Our utility bills are usually about half (or less) of people I work with who have comparable houses. When the weather is nice, we open windows and turn on fans. We both work, so we can turn off the utilities when we leave. Others have people pets at home all the time, so this doesn’t work for them. There are other ways you can save on heating and cooling bills.
Cable – My wife and I have basic cable, which covers the shows we watch often, such as Discovery, ESPN, History, Food Network, etc. We don’t find the need to get the premium channels. The article recommends ditching cable completely for some people, cutting down on premiums for others, and some people claim it is cheaper to have the premiums and not rent movies or have Netflix or Blockbuster.
The article has many other creative tips money saving tips from her readers. Some of them will work for us, and others will not. But that is the point of Personal Finance. It is personal. Everyone needs to examine their own situation and find what works for them. There is no “one size fits all” for frugal living.
