Totally Money Carnival #19: The New Oreo Edition

Welcome to the Totally Money Carnival #19: The New Oreo Edition!

If you haven’t heard about the new Triple Double Oreo, where have you been? You know what this means, right? It’s the dawn of the new conspicuous consumption era! The Great Recession is long gone and we can all get back to spending again.

What do you think about the new Triple Double? I can’t wait to try them. Meanwhile, grab a bag of classic Oreos + a glass of milk and settle down for the Carnival. You’ll have to wait until this summer to try the new Oreo.

Editor’s choice

Justin @ Money is the root…of all things GOOD! , went on an investigation in Penny Auctions sites -Are They Really Worth It? I have seen some of these ads and I was amaze at the $1.65 final price of an iPad 2. Sadly, Money is the root shows why these penny auction sites are no more than legalized forms of online gambling.

Boomer & Echo has a great post up about Settling In To A Retirement Community. Boomer and his brother have spent several months investigating various seniors’ homes and retirement communities for their parents. A must read for anyone with parents who might need to consider an assisted living facility.

Investor Junkie posted Are You Working For Minimum Wage? “I’m a hard working individual. I guess my work ethic was instilled upon me by my parents. I’ve always believed in under promising, but over delivering. The problem is this work ethic can be taken advantage of. Not only by employers, but also by yourself when owning a business.”

Squirrelers‘ popular Squirreling Gone Wild #26: Fooling the Tooth Fairy. Kids are often smarter than we give them credit for. This story describes a child that was crafty in trying to squeeze some money out of the “tooth fairy”.

Saving, Investing, and making money

Neal @ Wealth Pilgrim reviews Lending Club. You may have heard of Lending Club. They are probably the biggest player in Peer-to-Peer lending. This investment is not for the faint of heart though.

Evan @ My Journey to Millions – How to Retire Wealthy. Since our lives are ever-changing and dynamic, why do we invest as if they were static and unchanging? Rather than investing our money in one big pot, Evan says we should develop some constant cash flow from other sources

Mutual Fund Lab wrote about different types of mutual funds in India.  All you need to know about Mutual fund in India.

Mike @ Oblivious Investor go over a basic step in asset allocation – Assessing Your Risk Tolerance: Need and Ability.

Joe @ Simple Debt-Free Finance – How to Survive (and Possibly Thrive during) Stagflation. Stagflation is the worst of all economic worlds – stagnant income and rising prices. Here’s how to protect yourself from the financial damage if we find ourselves heading into another round of stagflation.

Jason @ Live Real, Now wrote about Selling Your Car. Selling your car comes with many opportunities to make some extra cash.

Philip @ PT Money posted The Saving Snowball. Like the debt snowball, the savings snowball helps you achieve your financial goals.

Kay Lynn @ Bucksome Boomer ruminated I Would Have More Savings If… There are a lot of reasons you don’t save as much money as desired, but the important thing is to save anyway.

Tom @ Stupid Cents posted Emergencies for Your Emergency Fund Part 2.  5 emergencies worth saving for in an emergency fund just in case they occur in your life, and how much to save for them.

Jim @ Retire Happy Blog wrote Debt might be a good reason not to save. It makes no sense having money in savings earning 1% or less when you have debt costing you 5% or more. You are going backwards financially.

Smart Spending

Melissa @ Mom’s Plans shows How to Save on Diapers or Get Them For Free. While it is very difficult to get free diapers, there are many ways to lessen how much you pay for diapers.

Jeri @ Help Me Travel Cheap posted Best Airline Miles Reward Sign Up Bonus Credit Cards May 2011. Supercharge your mileage account with one of these credit card sign up bonuses.

Pamela @ Generation X Finance wrote 24 Ways to Save on Your Tax Preparation Fees. Some of these so-called “organization” tips may seem like common sense, but the truth is, not being prepared for tax time can cost you quite a bit of money.

South County Girl‘s Wedding Location Update. How they continued to stick to their budget and salvage the wedding and sanity after losing the original location with less than 2 months until they get married

Tom @ How Much Is It posted How Much Does Resume Services Cost? Have you been thinking about having a company do your resume professionally? Find out what most are paying for one.

Suba @ Wealth Informatics – Regret buying that Groupon voucher? Get rid of it at these sites!

Anna @ Think ‘n Save posted Seven Low-Pesticide Vegetables. If you have a limited food budget, you can save money and avoid pesticide health effects by purchasing the regular (non-organic) version of these seven vegetables.

Sustainable Personal Finance on Why You Should Consider Buying a Tiny Home.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog shared Summer Savings: When Fine Weather Gets you in a Spending Mood. Be aware of times that you spend more money and find ways to stop yourself and nip summer spending habits in the bud before things get out of control.

Real Estate

Outlaw @ Outlaw Finance: Investing Blog posted The Different Ways to Invest in Real Estate. There’s more than one way to invest in real estate.

Financial Goals

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey updated his Short Term, Mid-term, and Long Term goals.

Networth Journey posted the basics of a net worth statement.

Education and Career

The Amateur Financier presented a guide to preparing for an upcoming test at the last minute, a particularly useful skill now that we’re in the midst of finals season.

Money In The 20s has a Job Offer Predicament. Should she accept an offer from Company Y or hold out for Company X?

Big Cajun Man @ Canadian Personal Finance Blog shared a great video – The Wizard of Omaha speaks about Ethics and the economy.

Free Money Finance asked Is going to college worth the expense?

Lahesha Williams @ Career Help For Christians posted 10 Tips for Self Development in Your Career. Here are 10 tips and techniques for developing yourself in your career that will cost little to no money!

Miss Moneypenniless @ Totally Money wrote about teenagers’ unrealistic salary expectations.

Kyle @ Integrated Loans posted What is a Good Credit Score? Credit scores will have varied tiers to determine the reliability of the borrower. A score that would be considered good is 660 to a 699.

Money Management

Control your Cash presents It’s not what you earn. It’s what you negotiate II. Part II of a quick and relatively painless way to learn how to negotiate in the real world.

Flexo @ Consumerism Commentary posted Budget Categories Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Outside of food, water and clothing, budgeting can become a little bit tricky. Psychological needs come first, then safety needs but what do these entail?

Buck Inspire posted Vesting Period: Check It Or Lose It. You should know your company policy or you may lose out on some money.

Glen @ Free from Broke reviewed Shoeboxed - Organize Your Receipts and Business Cards. Shoeboxed will scan your documents, receipts, and business cards for you and store them online for future use. See how the site works and how it can help you.

Well Being

Kevin @ Invest It Wisely wrote a huge post Future Imperfect: How to Prepare for an Uncertain Future. He recently read Future Imperfect, a book by David Friedman which explores how technology may change privacy, communications, and life as we know it. All technologies have the potential to be put to good use as well as misuse, and David explores both sides of the coin.

No Debt MBA presents Buying more happiness. There are many ways to improve how happy your spending makes you without increasing how much you spend.

Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance – Lady GaGa is Just Like Us. Money doesn’t buy happiness! Just ask Lady Gaga

Dr. Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog wants Apple to track him? Everyone is throwing a fit about the smart phones tracking data but there are upsides to that. Check these out.

JT McGee @ MoneyMamba posted In China, Women Control the Budgets. A rising male-to-female ratio means a more competitive Chinese marriage market. How do Chinese males plan to compete for a wife? By stuffing their bank accounts

Crystal @ Budgeting In the Fun Stuff posted Dealing with Advertiser Criticism. Some say that if you aren’t taking heat from someone, you aren’t doing enough. Criticism comes in many forms and learning to handle it is part of finding your role in the world.

Thanks for reading the Carnival and you can submit to future carnival if you’d like. The next Totally Money Carnival will be hosted by Outlaw Finance on May 23rd. Have a great week!