Moments of Fame

Dough Roller selected Funny’s rant about the couples culture as an editor’s pick in the 88th Carnival of Money Stories! So I certainly was tickled about that, particularly since quite a few distinguished pieces appear in this edition. A propos of an earlier FaM post question about whether you should try to turn something you love into a living, The Financial Blogger reflects on the success he’s had with blogging. At Budgets Are Sexy, I got a boot out of J. Money’s story of having taken out a whole paycheck in cash. My Dollar Plan tells a cautionary tale that underscores the importance of keeping records related to your pay and your job. Single Guy Money tells a story of helping a friend organize her personal finances, an experience some of us share.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is up at Free from Broke. The “turning what you love” post was included in this round-up, which as usual is huge. At this carnival, The Strump pushed my button with a report on how she got suckered into taking a contract at significantly less than the client’s going rate…been there, too! Everyday Finance predicts that many of us mutual fund holders will be rudely surprised at the capital gains taxes we’ll be paying for 2008, thanks to the current economic fiasco. LOL! I’ve become rude, all right, but I’m no longer surprised at anything emanating from the Bush economy. Mighty Bargain Hunter worries that the bailouts will ultimately harm everyone’s standard of living; this post offers several good points that add to my own slowly germinating theory that Big Auto, alas, should not be rescued by the taxpayer.

Moving on, Simply Forties has posted the 93rd Make It from Scratch Carnival, always a boot. Whaa? “How to Make a Horseshoe?” Check it out at Midwest Neurotica! Who’d’ve thunk it? The proprietor of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker had an end-of-season tomato extravaganza that involved a lovely spaghetti sauce. And don’t miss Simply’s amazingly delicious-looking parmesan and herb-crusted beef tenderloin (ohhh hunger! I shouldn’t be reading this stuff before breakfast…). Funny’s blurb on nabbing nice picture frames on the cheap appears in this round-up.

MSN Smart Spendingpicked up my discussion of long-term care insurance and is running it as a guest post today. Check out proprietor Karen Datko’s article, posted yesterday, about the long-term implications of the mentality instilled by the need for kids to go deep into debt to get a basic college degree.

At Financial Wellness Project, FWP has posted another gigantic Money Hacks Carnival. Check out Dividends4Life’s rumination on when (or if) the market will bottom out. Mr. ToughMoneyLove warns about cash-out refinancing deals; at DepositAccounts.com you’ll find seven steps to reduce the hassle when you have to (or just want to) change checking accounts. And Prime Time Money’s post about FreeShipping.org shows up here—I’ve seen this post before, & it’s a very handy thing to know about.