So I participated in four blog carnivals this week and was awarded with one editor’s choice. Thank you to all the webmasters who worked hard to put these carnivals together!

My Carnival Submissions

Carnival of Money Stories #59 - Hosted by Money Walks and featuring my post When bank account bonuses come back to bite you, which was honored with an editor’s choice. Yee-haw!

Carnival of Personal Finance #152 - Hosted by Money Under 30 and featuring my post Get your free haircut.

Festival of Frugality #125 - Hosted by Quest For Four Pillars and featuring my post It’s a great idea to turn off the A/C - even when it’s scorching out.

Money Hacks Carnival #12 - Hosted by Can I Get Rich on a Salary and featuring my post Never pay to rent a video again. The presentation of this carnival is totally cool and unique and it’s worth checking out for this alone.

My Favorite Posts

…that are from these carnivals but are not by yours truly.

The soggy hotdog - a personal finance wakeup call - Frugal Dad posts about how, in the midst of a money meltdown, a soggy hotdog motivated him to become financially responsible. I picked this one up from the Carnival of Money Stories.

How to garage sale shop like a pro - Not the Jet Set explains how to garage-sale in the most efficient, profitable way possible. Via the Carnival of Personal Finance.

Are American kids stupid about personal finance? - Brip Blap concludes that stupidity is in the eye of the beholder, and that maybe kids aren’t so dumb after all. This overall positive view is more or less in keeping with my own, which I discuss in this recent post. Via the Festival of Frugality.

Generic drugs are cheaper - a complete guide! - Fire Finance posts about how choosing generics can save you serious cash. Via the Money Hacks Carnival.

Other Links

Get free hotel stays with Wyndham’s best rate guarantee - A totally great idea. I think I’ll try this the next time I need to book a hotel. From Wise Bread.

How to hedge against rising gas and oil prices? - I’ve been looking into this idea myself. Any opinions from readers about this tactic? From My Money Blog.

Retirement sucks! - According to this post, retirement sucks because life sucks. What a wake-up call! If you’re going to pursue financial freedom, you have to have a purpose. It isn’t enough to sit around in your pajamas doing nothing. Life will still be there and it will still suck. From How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years.

On food stamps and still hungry - This article from CNN Money is an interesting read, although I totally disagree with the rationale here. This woman and her kid can’t make it on $280 of food stamps per month? There are plenty of people out there who could stretch that amount for two or three months or more. I don’t want to sound like I don’t have sympathy for people like this - I do. However, I think the problem is not that the government needs to provide more aid, but that people like this need to learn that their suffering is unnecessary and that learning to get by is as simple as changing your daily habits. Somebody should create a charity to teach these kinds of habits to people who are struggling financially.

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