Carnival of Debt Reduction is a weekly blog carnival that highlights posts on getting out of debt. Personal debt reduction progress reports and posts about reducing debt are what this carnival is all about!

There were many submissions and as host, I have chosen to highlight the articles that follow the Carnival of Debt Reduction guidelines. Without further ado, I’ve selected a few articles as “Editor’s Picks”:

Side Effects of Being in Debt
“Being in debt certainly brings its long term side effects and I have my share too. After almost a year my networth is almost the same. I can neither ignore the fact nor get away with my pathetic financial condition. The debt that I took for getting certain things gave me an initial pleasure of owning and flaunting those things. But this pleasure had side effects too that I now realize.”

Paying as much as I possibly can vs as much as I could “afford”
“I’ve talked before about the attitude shifts that I’ve gone through in my quest to become debt free. The frugality by necessity, learning to budget and to assign every dollar a job, and losing my all or nothing attitude. But one of the things I haven’t really talked about is the shift from paying what I could “afford”, or basically, as little as I could to just get by, to paying as much as I possibly can.”

When Did the American Dream Become Debt
“This is something that has confounded and annoyed me for months if not years. Basically, buying a home always has a moniker in the media as “The American Dream”. This is actually one of the main selling point of the realtors and home builders when they try to sell to first time buyers. I really don’t understand why having a giant load of debt is considered desirable and why it should be a “dream.””

One Girl’s Quest: Getting serious about debt reduction
“A lot of debt reduction resources seem to be tailor made for people that are spending frivolously regardless of their debt load…We do not benefit from the “latte factor” principle because we have already cut back every possible expense that we can. So, what option does that leave? The only conclusion that I can come to is that you have to find a way to make more money. Period. Or you will never get ahead.”

When Does the 0% Credit Card Really Expire
“As I flipped the calendar to December, I had a note that one of the intro rates on our credit cards expires this month. I have a balance of $58,980 on my American Express In Chicago card at 0%. I looked at the terms, which I store in an excel spreadsheet, and read the following: 0% through billing period ending December 2007. Easy enough, just pay it off before the rate changes. So when exactly is that?”

Should You Get Rid Of High-Interest Debt Before You Start Saving
“One of the most often asked questions I get is whether it is better to pay off high interest debt before starting a savings plan. The logical answer to that question would in most instances be to pay off high interest debt first.”How To Use The Law Of Attraction And Positive Thoughts To Overcome Debts
“And what changes are needed to help you to overcome your debt? There is a need for rest, relaxation, rewarding relationships, gratitude, service and good health. None of these have to die on one’s journey to prosperity.”

Psychology of 0% Interest Rates
“To the discerning and disciplined consumer, 0% balance transfers can be a useful tool. They give you an opportunity to drastically reduce fees while giving you some extra time to pay off your debt. But something else happens when you refinance your credit card debt at 0%: It removes the immediate pressure to pay the debt.”

8 Debt Signals that Tell You How Serious is Your Debt
“In this article, I also want to talk about another mindset preparation – knowing how serious your debts are. In most cases, people tends to avoid the issue of debts simply because they don’t know how serious their debts and financials are. They just don’t know they are living around the cliff and under the hot water. Because of this, most people don’t really take any actions or care about their finance until the problem becomes big enough to catch their attention.”

How to Get Rid of Credit Card Debt
“Over 75% of the United States population has credit cards or credit card debt, I am going to show you a few different techniques to paying off those credit card bills correctly.”

7 Steps Debt Reduction Illustrated
“Call each company and ask for a lower interest rate; also check if they will offer you a “no fee 0% APR” transfer*. If the first rep won’t budge, hang up and call again. There are good reps and bad reps, you don’t want to waste time with the bad ones.”

Tips to Consolidate Debt
“Consolidating debt, means that you bring together different loans and debts and place them in one or two specific accounts. This makes it easier to manage. Also consolidating debt often enables a lower interest rate to be gained.”

Great Credit Card Paydown
“It’s exciting to think of this new plan and to actually watch chunks of debt go away – but I know that regardless of the plan, the amount that I have to work with (my paycheck) doesn’t change and that it will take time, perseverance and some of that mental toughness that no one writes about…well…except for a blogger or two.”

Spread Thin? Spend Less and Earn More (and Get a Bonus)
“I’m feeling a little spread thin this month, and it’s making it hard to have patience. I really want to be throwing all of my money at my debt snowball, but unfortunately that’s just not possible right now.”

Debt Reduction Seminars
“Have you ever gotten those mailings that have two tickets in them for you to come to a hotel and sit through a seminar on how to make money, reduce your debt, buy real estate or the like? It appears one person had a question about them.”

Free Book: 7 Steps to 720
“That’s why I’m giving away my copy of 7 Steps to 720. I want somebody else to benefit from it like I did. It is an easy read since it’s only 115 pages long.”

Taking stock: How to Set out Your Statement of Affairs
“Once you’ve got it all recorded, you can update figures as your earnings, debts and spending patterns change, and model how much more money you’d have if you paid off your credit cards, or swapped your Sky TV subscription for a free library pass.”

Get to Know Your Credit Card Grace Period
“By paying off the balance in full within the grace period, consumers can avoid being hit with costly finance charges. But if you carry a balance each month, chances are you’re accruing interest on both the existing balance and any new purchases made, regardless of whether you pay off those new purchases within the grace period.”

Debt Reduction Tips from a Debt Free Mommy
“The vision of a debt-free lifestyle came early for me. My husband and I married at the tender age of 23. Like many newlyweds, we wanted a wedding, a honeymoon and a home to call our own.”

Step to Take to get out of Debt
“You cannot manage something you cannot measure. But it does not necessarily mean you should have all the details to have a good start. The initial things you should be aware of to re-establish your financial existence is to calculate how much you owe, how much you earn and how much you spend on a given time period.”

Take Control of Your Financial Situation – Part II
“Increase your income through either a higher paying job or a part-time business, and reduce your bad debt. Since the US economy is hemorrhaging with debt, this is what will be the focus here.”

Minimum Payment Gone Haywire
“What has changed on this account is our minimum payments. I pay attention to the minimum payments because, as our smallest interest rate in the snowball, that’s all I pay.”

Debt Reduction Tip: Divide and Attack
“Are you overwhelmed by the thought of trying to dig out of $15,000, $30,000, $60,000, or more of debt? Whenever the task at hand doesn’t seem possible, step back and divide the problem into small pieces that you can conquer.”

New! Free ‘Get Out of Debt’ Teleclass.
“If you’re struggling to make ends meet, or if your debt keeps you up at night, then this teleclass is for you! This is a free teleclass. All I ask is that you give me your most urgent ‘get out of debt’ and credit card questions.”

Make coffee at home and save money
What Is The P/E Ratio And What The Price Earnings Ratio Means
Top 21 List of Financial Sotfware and Application for Efficient Money Management
The calm before the storm…
Go Outside the Box for Great Holiday Gifts
At Home Naturally
Frugal Friday 33: Saving Money on Christmas
How to Make Money Off Interest Free Credit Card Offers
It’s All Cash for Christmas
Be Rewarded for Shopping
How To Improve Your Skills And Get A Lucrative Job
How To Safely Borrow For A House Purchase
3 Reasons Why I Can’t Cry for Countrywide
Don’t Buy Things You Don’t Really Need For The Prestige Factor – Save The Money Instead

Thanks to those who entered the carnival and next week the carnival heads on over to Plonkee Money.

NOTE: I have been looking at the submissions and a lot of them are articles about saving money or making money. Some of them don’t even contain the word “debt.” That information is great, but this carnival is about debt reduction. Articles must be related to debt reduction to be included front and center in this carnival.

Thanks!

In the meantime, feel free to check out this week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction at BeingFrugal.net. You will learn about debt as well as Christmas around the world.

Here’s the carnivals I participated in this week:

Carnival of Debt Reduction #104 at The Happy Rock.

Carnival of Personal Finance #117 at Kmull.com.

There is plenty of reading there for a while. I’m still sick and it looks like I’ll be visiting the doctor tomorrow since I’m not getting anywhere with knocking out this germ on my own. I think I need some help.

The Festival of Frugality over at Frugal Babe. I submitted my article on The Frugal Ways We Beat the Heat Today.

Plonkee Money hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance. I submitted my article on Operation Garage Sale: Successfully Selling Clothes.

There are lots of articles to read. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to go through them yet, so I hope you enjoy.  If you find an article that you really enjoyed, feel free to share in the comments.

Thanks to Frugal Babe and Plonkee for hosting!

Start Small Finish Big

“Our monthly expenses went from $6500 a month to $1200 a month. I stopped working. Husband reduced his work week. I was 50 years old. Husband was 44. With no more mortgage payments, car payments, credit card debt, we have been able to amass an extensive retirement portfolio as well as a savings account and an emergency fund these past five years. We are making up for lost time.”

Lessons Learned from Diet Books: How to Think Like a Rich Person

“For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to write about the similarities between managing one’s money and managing one’s waistline. The kind of self-discipline involved in saving money and reducing debt is very much paralleled by what it takes to lose weight and eat healthily.”

Postponing Financial Responsibility Until You Grow Up

“Do you have a friend who keeps saying things like “I’ll be an adult when I finish college” or “I’ll grow up when I _____ (insert phrase)“? We have that friend.”

Lessons From My Daughter’s First Job

“Our daughter really wants a dog. We, her parents, however, do not want to take on this responsibility at this point in our lives. Life is chaotic enough already. However, this does not mean we can’t find creative ways to foster and support our daughter’s interest in and love of animals.”

Family is Key to Personal Finance Success

“I firmly believe family is the key to personal finance success. You can carefully plan your 401(k) allocation; you can be frugal all day long; you can pay down credit card debt. If your family isn’t behind your efforts and 100% onboard, you’ll be wasting your time.”

Some Lessons From My Wallet

“Now, I am not a neatness freak by any measure, but the stuff that I pulled out of my wallet before taking the picture almost made me recoil in horror – people probably experience that kind of feeling when they *suddenly* realize that they are deep in debt.”

Trimming the Fat: Forty Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Required Spending

“One of the biggest challenges in personal finance is figuring out ways to reduce the regular bills that we all face each month. These continuous regular expenses simply fill up our budget, leaving us less money to invest for the future – and also less money to spend on things that we enjoy.”

Career & Money Part 10: Work & Happiness

“Can a career or job make you happy? Nope. Even the perfect “right fit” career can never make you happy. Happiness can only come from inside of you. On the flip side, even if you are happy as a clam with who you are, the wrong job can make you miserable and drag you down unless you do something about it.”

And here are the rest of the submissions for this carnival, organized from the longest articles to the shortest articles:

10 Essential Travel Gadgets and 10 Not to Waste Your Money On (2,366 words)

Top Common Fights Over Money and What You Can Do To Avoid Them (1,581 words)

Do You Get Money? (1,550 words)

Are You Addicted to Borrowing Money (1,419 words)

Campaign Against Financial Myths Part 1 (1,382 words)

Credit Cards Get You In, Keep You In, Keep You Spending (1,369 words)

Budgeting – Putting Things in Perspective (1,185 words)

Making Your Money Fit Your Priorities (for grads) (1,103 words)

Account Transfer from ShareBuilder to Zecco: The Information You Need (1,051 words)

Are You Ready for a Mortgage (1,029 words)

Investing Guide for the Group of Irregular Income (1,010 words)

Lowballing versus “Junk Fees” (918 words)

Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Depends on Balance Transfer Fees (913 words)

Managing Your Career in Your 20s (897 words)

What About This Core CPI? (880 words)

$10,000 Lesson on Variable Universal Life (875 words)

About Retirement – Views at 35 (806 words)

Another Financial Goal: My Very Own Full Court Basketball Court (782 words)

Down to Business (775 words)

The Way Banks Look at You Part 3 (725 words)

Thinking About My MBA – School Choices (718 words)

Polish Those Shoes (702 words)

5 Ways to Keep Dorm Life Cheaper (649 words)

Top 10 Ways to Get the Government to Pay You (648 words)

You Want Answers? (insurance fraud) (641 words)

The B Word (636 words)

Reader Question: Are Clothes a Part of Net Worth? (626 words)

Ideas to Make Some Extra Cash (616 words)

I Cashed in My Kid’s Savings Bonds. Am I a Bad Parent? (615 words)

Seven Surefire Steps to Land Your Dream Job (614 words)

Spaving: Spend Money to Make Money (597 words)

So What Did We Do On Our First Wedding Anniversary (592 words)

Why Do I Still Work For My Employer? (580 words)

Foreclosure Warnings for the Upcoming Rate Resets This Year (574 words)

Is Buying a House a Sound Investment? (554 words)

Interactive Brokers Review (549 words)

Saving Money or Saving Time? (547 Words)

Our Agent – Doing the Right Thing (535 words)

Senior Money Pit aka Grandchildren (520 words)

Run Your Own Starbucks (519 words)

Condo-Hotel Concept: Is It Worth Checking Out? (508 words)

Almost Wrapped up My Christmas Shopping Already (501 words)

Money Limerick Contest Results (500 words)

How To: Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers (484 words)

Top Quality of a Perfect Personal Financial Planner (482 words)

Retirement Withdrawal Planning… Understanding the Problem (480 words)

Pet Health – Love’s Not All They Need (466 words)

How Much for That New Car Aura (451 words)

Ditching Cable TV (448 words)

Cheap Colleges (441 words)

Why Invest in Stocks (417 words)

Canceled Cable, Saving $1500 a Year (380 words)

Mortgage Repayment (352 words)

Changing Your Job Title (not your job) Can Save On Car Insurance (326 words)

Ask for More When You’re Given a Job Offer (314 words)

I do (But…. I don’t): Decide To Be Decisive (300 words)

The Importance of Comparison Shopping (296 words)

Money Anxiety (295 words)

Can You Afford This? (279 words)

Is It Easier to Pay Back Small Amounts (276 words)

You Decide – The Best Con Artist Is (229 words)

The Cheapest iPhone Costs $16,245 (222 words)

Cutting Expenses: What Would You Cut? (203 words)

What is a Reverse Mortgage (179 words)

Retirement Savings Challenge – The Power of Compounding (178 words)

And that’s the carnival of personal finance for this week. Next week, it heads on over to Broke-Ass Student.

Thanks for visiting!

If you are a blogger, feel free to submit your best personal finance related article from this week here. Make sure you note the submission guidelines.

I’m brainstorming ways to make this an interesting carnival. With submissions easily in the 70+ range I’m trying to think of a way to present the information (to make it easy to navigate) as well as make it interesting.

For those that read the carnivals, do you have any suggestions?

I was a last minute participant because I wasn’t sure what article I could include. I ended up deciding to include my article on emergency funds, rainy day funds or whatever you would like to call them. By far, that was the biggest “Ah…ha!” moment I have had while blogging. While I’m sure it’s not the last, to me that article shows that I am making progress with my relationship with money. Thank you J.D. for including it.

Now, if you read anything today, go read the carnival. It really is a “best of the best” edition:

Carnival of Personal Finance: Greatest Hits Edition

Enjoy!

That said, I’m working on a post to share what I’ve found.

In the meantime, here’s some carnival reading if you are interested:

NCN hosted the Carnival of Debt Reduction over at the No Credit Needed Network.

Cleverdude hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance. If you watch the show “24,” you will probably enjoy this carnival.

Enjoy!

BEST OF SHOW – this award goes to the article that made me think and I love that! How Frugal Are You?

BEST PICTORIAL OF FRUGALITY IN ACTION – what a difference a coat of paint makes! Saving Money With Paint

BEST ANALYSIS TO FIND THE BEST DEAL – what a thorough article researching tire prices! Which place sells cheapest tires?

BEST CONNECTION BETWEEN FRUGALITY & EXERCISE – get more bang for your buck with exercising! The Most Cost Effective Ways to Stay in Shape

BEST USE OF A POOH BANK – Winnie the Pooh isn’t just entertaining, he can help you save money! Pooh Bank as Fun Money.

BEST IMMEDIATE FRUGAL ACTIONS TO TAKE TO GET THROUGH A ROUGH PERIOD – sometimes you go into despiration mode due to a financial situation. Here’s some great tips to get through it! End of Your Rope? Tie a Knot and Hang on Tight

BEST FRUGAL WAY TO KEEP THE KIDS OCCUPIED THIS SUMMER – summer vacation is right around the corner and what’s better than a few free (or low cost) movies for the kids! Free Summer Movies for Kids

BEST FRUGAL VS. CHEAP COMPARISON – this article comes complete with a chart! Frugal vs. cheap

BEST MYTH DEBUNKER – very good argument against the common belief that a baby costs a lot of money! Six Common Myths: Adding A Baby To A Household Costs A Lot Of Money

BEST ARGUMENT FOR BUYING SOME STORE BRANDS – buying store brands can save money, and here the authors detail some that work for them! Saving Money By Buying Store Brands – 7 Products That Work For Us

BEST WORDS OF CAUTION REGARDING FRUGALITY – if you confuse being cheap with being frugal, it can cost you more money in the long run! When Being Frugal Can End Up Costing You A Fortune

BEST ARTICLES ON HOW TO SAVE ON ELECTRICITY – there was a tie here, good tips from two articles! I lowered my electric bill even though it’s late spring! & Frugal Friday #9: 10 Ways to Save on Your Summer Electric Bill

And here are the rest of the participants, in the order of when they were received:

Best Find Ever!

Surprise Money Day

10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Keep Chickens

Frugality: Garage Sale

Tips for buying second-hand stuff

Quick & Easy Ways to Lose Money

Such a Deal When You Love Your Job

How to Use Yahoo Answer to Save Time, Money & Reduce Stress

Free Cell Phone & $100 Free Money With Sony Ericsson W810i Phone!

How To Get Free Membership At Costco

Business travel on the cheap

Frugal homeschooling

Frugal Living Tips

The Perfect Hobby: One That?s Cheap, Makes Money Or Becomes A Business

My Attempts at Frugal Mattress Shopping

Question: Would You Eat a Squirrel?

Throwing Away Money

Yard Sale Tips What to buy there

how to save money on airfare

Donate to Charity and Save on a Fancy Dinner

Thank you to everyone that participated! Next week, the Festival of Frugality heads on over to My Two Dollars.

For more reading, also make sure you check out this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance over at Money Smart Life

I haven’t really kept track with the blog-o-sphere this week. But, at any time you want to cruise around, check out pfblogs.org or check out the links in my blogroll (on the right hand side).

I did participate in a few carnivals this week. Thank you to the hosts!

Dawn at Frugal for Life was the host for this week’s Festival of Frugality.

Golbguru at Money, Matter and More Musings hosted this week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction.

Slowly, I’m getting back into the Carnival Life. Which reminds me…a little early to mention but I should note it so I don’t forget…I’ll be hosting the Festival of Frugality on May 29.

Anyways, here’s a few freebies from Walmart this week:

Ultra Downy

Superstay Silky Foundation by Mabelline

Enjoy!

No Credit Needed Network

You can sign up and get a cool chart that shows your progress with paying off your debt.

In other news, I’ve been absent from the finance carnivals lately because I couldn’t seem to remember to submit articles before the deadline! But, I’m back and participating and here are the carnivals this week:

Getting Green hosted the Carnival of Debt Reduction and included my article on Who’s To Blame for Your Money Troubles?

Golbguru hosted the Festival of Frugality and included my article on How I Decorated My Son’s Room for Under $60.

Now, for the freebies:

John Frieda Frizz-Ease

Tylenol Rapid Release Gels

Enjoy!

Stephanie hosted the Carnival of Family Life.

Henry shares a website where people ask for wishes to be granted. Interesting concept.

JW shares their zero based budget for March. It’s always interesting to see other budgets.

Mighty Bargain Hunter gives some advice on planning for receiving an inheritance. Receiving an inheritance and blowing a chunk of it was my very first “confession” I ever did on this blog.

Michael shares what he would tell his 16 year-old self if he could. Man, I could write a book with what I’d tell myself!

FREEBIES

Sorry, none for this week. I ran out of time and my good ole standby Walmart didn’t have any new ones

The Carnival of Personal Finance is up at Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge.

JD at Get Rich Slowly shares 25 of the Best Books About Money.

Free Money Finance would like to know if Money Makes You Happy

FREEBIES

Walmart has some new freebies. I love Walmart’s samples because I’ve never had a problem receiving them and they usually ship them fast.

Almay Hydracolor Lipstick

Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Care

Head and Shoulders Shampoo

Enjoy!

We’ll start off with a few highlights:

Sarah Winfrey presents Bad beliefs and emotions that lead to debt.

“…I realized that the good beliefs weren’t directly connected to money, they were connected to my confidence, happiness with my life, and security in myself and my choices. To grow financially, I had to grow in all of those areas first, before I could even begin to look directly at the weird urges to spend…”

David presents Living Below Your Means – What It Really Means To Me.

“I guess what I am trying to say is that what you own, what you drive, where you live, what your job is, or where your kids go to school should not be important to anyone else but yourself.”

And here are the rest of the submissions:

Stephanie presents Race Towards Financial Freedom.

“Since the two of us are both trying to clean up our finances, I developed a little game that I hope we both stick to.”

Golbguru presents Getting Rid Of Your Debt Without Worrying About The Latte Factor.

“In my opinion, we fall for the “latte factor” quickly because it is much more visible than other subtle (sometimes bigger) problems.”

Paul presents Borrow to get out of debt – a smart move?

“Spending more than you make is a very bad habit to be in – and make no mistake, it is a habit.”

Mr Credit Card presents Debt Reduction Steps.

“My friend Stacy recently took some steps to reduce her debt. She discussed her situation with me and we also talked about steps for her to take.”

Maria presents Debt Reduction Tools.

“As a part of my strategy to rid myself of my debt, I have designed a couple of tools to track my progress. My Debt Reduction Graph and my Debt Reduction Record.”

Martin presents Which Debt to Pay Off First.

“With all this money coming in, I will be paying off a lot of my debt and I will need to choose what loan to pay off. Do I pay off the lower amount or the higher interest loan?”

Simple Guru presents Debt Free in Three Steps.

“Today we are going to show you an effective way to pay off all your debts, and its tailored to your financial personality.”

FMF presents Don’t Loan Money to Friends and Family Members.

“When I was in college, my grandmother “loaned” me several thousand dollars to help pay for my schooling. We both knew that it was a gift.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Of Loan Refinancing, Debt Consolidation And LowerMyBills’ Dancing Cowboys.

“It discusses a company in the loans and debt services industry and covers their advertising campaign.”

bluntmoney presents Debt & the Grand Canyon.

“In many ways, getting into & out of debt is like hiking the Grand Canyon using Bright Angel Trail.”

Steve Faber presents How The Red Flags of Debt Can Save You.

“These will tell you in advance when debt is about to become a real financial problem for you.”

David presents 11 Tips to Get Your Prosper Loan Funded.

“Now that Prosper and its network of everyday lenders is helping me, I did some research into what factors contribute to a successful loan request.”

Kevin presents Use Prosper.com to Repair Your Credit.

“Repairing damaged credit is a critical step in reducing debt since better loan rates mean more principle can paid off for the same amount of payment. Can one really repair one’s credit with Prosper.com alone?”

Big Cajun Man presents RRSP Season.

“I think personally I should be paying down debt, but it also does feel good having some money put away for your retirement, or for a rainy day.”

Kirby presents How to stop nickel and diming yourself into the poorhouse.

“…by following the above plan I was able to cut out a HUGE chunk of my expenses. By doing so, I was able to accelerate my debt payments and sleep better at night.”

NCN presents Avoid 10 Common Debt Reduction Mistakes

“If you want to get out of debt (and stay out of debt) pay close attention to the following.”

Sagar Satapathy presents Old & In Debt

“According to recent statistics, across the nation, seniors are becoming the face of the indebted.”

Jeffrey Strain presents Downright Scary Debt Collection Tactics.

“When it come to recovering zombie debt, debt collection agencies will go to great lengths to try and pressure you into paying back the debt even when you are no longer legally responsible to do so.”

jim presents How To Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rates.

This one isn’t actually written by jim, it’s written by me as a guest article on his blog. He sent it for inclusion in this week’s carnival

That’s it for this week. Twenty-one articles. I hope you enjoy, and stop by Money, Matter and More Musings for next week’s carnival.

It is very important that all articles submitted are about reducing debt. If they aren’t, they will not be included.

Directly from the home of the Carnival of Debt Reduction:

“The Carnival of Debt Reduction is a weekly blog carnival that highlights posts on getting out of debt. Personal debt reduction progress reports and posts about reducing debt are what this carnival is all about!”

If you have an article about online bank accounts, I will not include it. That’s an article fitting for the Carnival of Personal Finance.

If you have an article about saving money or reducing your spending, I will not include it. That’s an article fitting for the Festival of Frugality.

I want next week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction to be a great collection of personal, debt reduction related stories that all of us can enjoy

To submit an article, please visit Blog Carnival.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is up at The Simple Dollar.

Enjoy!

Young and Broke took on the hefty task of hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance. This carnival is a biggie with 70+ articles.

Fire Finance was the host of the Festival of Frugality where Joe is the protagonist of the festival. You’ll need to head over there to read the story.

Enjoy!

JD over at Get Rich Slowly is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance: Superheroes Edition. If you enjoy comics, you’ll enjoy the format over there.

An Island Life is hosting the Carnival of Family Life.

The Carnival of Super-Mommy and Spitup Boy is hosting the first ever Carnival of Super Mommies.

I know the last two aren’t exactly personal finance related, but it’s fun to discover some new blogs.

Enjoy!

NCN hosted the First Carnival of Debt Reduction for 2007 over at the No Credit Needed Network (which I am a member of).

Henry hosted the First Festival of Frugality for 2007 over at Binary Dollar.

Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is over at No Credit Needed Blog.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is over at My Personal Finance Blog.

Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is over at Blunt Money.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is over at Kirkwalsh.com.

The Festival of Frugality is over at Money and Values.

Enjoy!

There’s 16 articles for your reading pleasure. One article that I enjoyed was by Simple Dollar, The Ten-Second Rule.

Enjoy!

There’s 22 debt-related articles for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!

Everybody Loves Your Money hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance this week, and put a car dealership spin on the articles. Go check it out!

Enjoy!

Carnival of Debt Reduction over a Journey to Financial Freedom.

Carnival of Personal Finance is at A Geek’s World.

Carnival of Family Life is over at scribbit.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction over at My Money Forest.

The Carnival of Personal Finance over at It’s Just Money.

Lots of articles to read. Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is over at No Credit Needed

The Carnival of Personal Finance is over at Fat Pitch Financials.

Enjoy!

(P.S. Sorry so short of a post today…my internet connection has been sporadic. More to come later on that.)

A quick note, Pink Diary is having a Halloween Costume Contest for those that may be interested

Carnival of Debt Reduction over at My New Choice.

Carnival of Personal Finance over at Make Love, Not Debt.

There’s lots of great reading.  Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is over at Frugal Duchess.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is up at the home of the carnival.

Enjoy!

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is up at Debt Consolidation Lowdown.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is up at Punny Money.

The Festival of Frugality is over at Tired But Happy.

The Carnival of Family Life is up at Play Library.

Enjoy!

Jeff Plumb presents Good Debt and Bad Debt posted at The Buck Stops Here. To me, all debt is bad, but I do feel that some debt isn’t as “bad” as others, as Jeff suggests.

Super Saver presents Debt Ratio Implications posted at My Wealth Builder. Super Saver has calculated their Debt Ratio. Have you?

Erich presents The Courage to Live Debt Free – the Principles of Economic Security posted at LifeTraining – Online. The way society is today, it’s not always easy to live debt-free. Erich shares some principles on how to make it happen.

Golbguru presents How I Killed My Debt and What I Learned From it posted at Money, Matter and More Musings. Golbguru is now debt-free and shares an interesting graph telling a debt-history story.

Jim presents PFCollege: How To Make Saving A Habit posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Jim gives three things to do if you are working on saving money that apply if you are saving for a small emergency fund or for a car.

Bluntmoney presents My first attempt at getting out of debt posted at Blunt Money. Sometimes your first attempt to get out of debt may not be your last. The trick is to learn from your attempts and figure out what you can do better next time.

Bryan C. Fleming presents How to Get Through a Cash Pinch posted at Bryan C. Fleming .com. I’m guilty of something Bryan touches upon – using your credit card for groceries. I didn’t have a means to get through a cash pinch.

David presents The Courage to Live Debt Free (Debt Free Step 7 of 7) posted at Money Under 30. Probably the biggest tool one has to get out of debt is the power of your mind.

LAMoneyGuy presents Paid Off My Car Loan! posted at It’s Just Money. Congrats LAMoneyGuy! I just paid off my car loan too! Let’s have a party!

My New Choice presents Would You Like an Extra $200 Per Month? posted at My New Choice. You could have some more of your paycheck that needs to go in your pocket.

The Prince of Thrift presents Becoming & Staying Debt Free: Heartland Share Day posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free. An interesting way to volunteer some time and receive groceries at a reduced price.

Savvy presents Starting from scratch – laying the groundwork posted at Savvy Saver. Savvy’s brother got a little bit of help from big sis on how to handle his debt upon graduation from college.

Scott presents Stuff Happens posted at Scott On Money. I don’t know about you, but the unexpected scares me. One occurance could really put a damper on our debt reduction.

King of Debt presents We’re In Debt » Pay Off Your Debt as Soon as You Make the Money to Pay Off Your Debt posted at We’re In Debt. If you have a problem parting with your money, perhaps automatic payments to your debt can help you.

J.D. Roth presents Control Impulse Spending with the 30-Day Rule posted at Get Rich Slowly. Man, I wish I read this article when I was in college!

NCN presents Monday Updates of NCN Network Members at the NCN Network blog. I’m a member over there, as are many others. Go check it out and if you like what you see…join us!

There was one submission that wasn’t quite debt reduction related, but more suited to personal finance: David Porter presents What do Mortgage Underwriters do? posted at Pacesetter Mortgage Blog.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading For more information on the carnival, you can check out the Carnival of Debt Reduction site.

The deadline for submissions is today at 5pm EST.

I’m hosting the next Carnival of Debt Reduction, so if you are a blogger make sure you submit a debt-related article to me via the Blog Carnival form. Please keep the entries only about debt or they may not be included in the carnival. I was a little lenient last time I hosted, but the idea I have for this one will not allow it.

I’m also looking for debt stories to accompany the carnival, so if you have one to share please check out my post here.

Your story can be just a general rant about debt, or a poem or anything you’d like to share. If you just want to proclaim your debt, but are not quite ready to do it non-anonymously…here’s your chance! The only one who will see who these are from is me, unless you tell me to put your name and/or link to your blog (if you have one).

If you have questions, please leave a comment or email me

I haven’t had a chance to look over the articles yet, but I’m sure there’s some great reading there.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction is at Pragmatic Finance.

The Carnival of Personal Finance is hosted at NCN Blog.

The Carnival of Family Life is up at Snapshot.

Old dining room chair makeover for $21.00 Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get cheap food at farmer’s markets her poor dog a bone;
But when she came there
The my big fat inanimate object was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

She took a clean dish
To get the million dollar savings club kick off some tripe;
But when aldi supermarket: price sheet & store information came back
He was saving 50% on clothes a pipe.
She went to the grocer’s
To buy free steps to start the journey out of debt some fruit;
But when she came back
He was playing the flute.

She’s going underground – shelter part three to the baker’s
To save money on gas him some bread;
But when frugal cooks came back
The poor newspapers and magazines for free was dead.

She’s retiring on your student loan to the undertaker’s
To are gas prices eating up your dining out budget him a coffin;
But when free stuff for the designated driver came back
The poor status symbols and keeping up with the Joneses is stupid was laughing.

She how I saved hundreds per month to the hatter’s
To reduce peak electrical usage him a hat;
But when free boxes for shipping via USPS came back
He was using fatwallet cash back when buying online the cat.

The war of the off brand sodas made a curtsey,
The frugal kitchen made a bow;
The dame said, “Your servant.”
The dog said, “Bow wow!”

THE END
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now here’s the traditional format for the festival:

Jennie von Eggers at Creative Homeschooling presents Dining Room Chair Makeover for $21.00!.

Free the Drones Blog presents Get Cheap Food At Farmer’s Markets posted at Free the Drones.

Wenchypoo at Frugal Wisdom from Wenchypoo’s Warehouse presents My Big Fat Inanimate Object.

Amy Allen Clark at The MotherLoad presents Aldi Supermarket: Price Sheet & Store Information.

Steve Faber presents Free Steps to Start the Journey Out of Debt posted at Debt Free.

Amanda at Young and Broke presents Frugal Cooks.

Bryan C. Fleming presents The Million Dollar Savings Club Kick Off! posted at Bryan C. Fleming .com.

Waffletchnlgy presents Extra !! Extra !! Newspapers and magazines for free!! posted at Ratio(Price,Quality).

FMF at Free Money Finance presents Save 50% on Clothes.

Stephanie at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood presents Going Underground – Shelter Part Three.

Penny Nickel presents Free stuff for the designated driver posted at Money and Values.

Lori presents Saving money on GAS!! posted at Single Parent Reducing Debt.

Steven Aitchison at Change your thoughts presents Retire on your student loan!.

Nina Smith presents Are Gas Prices Eating Up Your Dining Out Budget? posted at Queercents.

Andrew Leahey at andrew@leahey.org presents How I saved hundreds per month.

jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity presents Status Symbols and Keeping Up With the Joneses is Stupid.

NCN at No Credit Needed Blog presents Free Boxes For Shipping Via USPS.

nickel at fivecentnickel.com presents Reducing Peak Electrical Usage.

Christian Hoopes at AmericanInventorSpot.com presents War of the Off Brand Sodas.

Jason at Pragmatic Finance presents Use Fatwallet Cash Back when Buying Online.

DeputyHeadmistress presents Frugal Kitchen posted at The Common Room.

Supermom presents How to Get Free Walmart Gift Cards posted at Getting Out of Debt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week, the Festival of Frugality heads on over to Queercents.com. To learn more about the Festival itself, check out Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Quick note, I’m hosting the Festival of Frugality tomorrow, so if you are a blogger and want to participate – please get your entries in.  Are you as nervous as I am? LOL.

If you have an article that you would like to include, you can use this handy form at Blog Carnival to make sure you have all the important info there that I need for your article.

I’m still trying to figure out what I can do to make the carnival special, so if anyone has any ideas they would like to share…please let me know. I am probably the worst when it comes to being creative and I’ve been trying to think of something for months now. I still have a little bit of time left to think

An article I enjoyed this week is 7 Personal Finance Tips at My Money Forest. Some great general tips to keep in mind.

For more reading, there’s the 49th Carnival of Debt Reduction over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

My pick as a must read is Keep the Change at The Good Human. It’s about the Bank of America program that I’ve been hearing about lately (but I guess it’s been around for a while). Perhaps it could be a useful program for some of you out there (unfortunately I do not have that bank locally).

Happy Reading!

My favorite this week comes from My Financial Awareness, Anger and Blame will not Change the Situation.

Here’s a quote from the article “…if you think anger and blame will solve the problem (any problem you have), you will just find yourself woven tighter in the issue without a light at the end of the tunnel.”

I catch myself whenever I start to say that my credit cards are evil and essentially place blame for my debt on them. Yes, some of their tactics have been questionable, but in the end it was I who decided to use them to pay for purchases. I was the one spending money beyond my means. Instead of placing blame, I am now taking that energy and working on solutions to my problem (earning more money & spending less money). And let me tell you, just changing my approach to the problem has made a huge difference.

Check it out!

This week, Tim at My Money Forest is hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction #47. 

One of my favorite ariticles from over there is The Danger of No-Interest, Same-as-Cash Purchases.  It’s a reminder to always read the fine print in any financial deal you get into.

The Carnival of Personal Finance #60 is over at Get Rich Slowly.

I learned something new with the article, How to Get an Incorrect Medical Bill Corrected.  I’ve discussed before how you really need to watch hospitals because they often overcharge.  If you can’t solve the problem yourself, the end of the article gives a very interesting avenue for help (a senator’s office!).  Great info.

Thank JLP for hosting this week