Money Hacks Carnival #13 — Money Saving Hacks Edition

Welcome to the “Money Saving Hacks” edition of Money Hacks Carnival. We have over 60 submissions this week, so this is a fairly long carnival. Let’s start off with the editor’s picks, and don’t forget to check out money saving tips.

Editor’s Picks

• Smart Moves To Lower Your Health Care Costs posted at The Digerati Life — Silicon Valley Blogger presents money saving strategies pertaining to health care costs.
• Persistent frugality posted at Chief Family Officer — Chief Family Officer shares a tube of moisturizer led her to think about persistence and frugality.
• 9 Surefire Strategies NOT to Retire Early posted at nomad4ever — Chris gives us an interesting perspective on personal finance.
• Some People Think We Are Bad Parents… posted at Mrs Nespy’s World — Kaye shares her financial priorities and discusses why she put her retirement savings ahead of her son’s college fund. I think that’s absolutely the right thing to do.
• Higher Gas Prices: A Blessing in Disguise or an American Wakeup Call posted at Personal Financier — Dorian thinks that higher gas prices is a blessing in disguise. Americans are driving less resulting in several benefits. Certainly a win for our environment.
• When People Go Bad: A History of the Sub-Prime Mess posted at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance — Lisa explained this whole sub-prime mess in a well researched post with cool time line.

Replacing a 60-watt incandescent with a 13-watt CFL can save you at least $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Second, CFLs offer convenience, because they last longer, and come in different sizes and shapes to fit almost any fixture. In addition, CFLs produce about 70% less heat than standard incandescent bulbs, so they’re safer to operate and can help cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

From Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL) FAQs at GE Lighting

Career

• No, I Won’t Accept Your Counter Offer posted at Cash Money Life — Patrick resigned from his job and turned down a counter-offer. This is an article about the consequences of accepting a counter-offer after resigning. In many cases, it’s not a good idea to accept it.

Working from home one day a week, or working four 10 hours day could save you 20% off your commuting costs. Alternatively, you could car pool and cut your commute cost by 50% or more.

Debt & Credit

• Credit Card Arbitrage Q&A posted at My Dollar Plan — Madison, an expert credit card arbitrager, answers some readers’ questions.
• What I like about Credit Cards posted at Life. Money. Development. — Mag shares a balanced review of credit cards‘ nature and usage. I liked the bit of history pertaining to the creation of debt.
• Don’t Forget to Request Your Cash Back Credit Card Rewards posted at CreditAddict — A quick reminder to cash out your credit card rewards. After all, it’s not earning interest sitting there in your credit card account.
• How to Stop Debt Collector Harassment posted at Destroy Debt — Jeremy shares things that debt collector cannot do to you. Good information to know if you are in that difficult situation.
• Complete Guide to Credit Repair - Part 1 posted at No Debt Anymore .org — Jimson shares practical information on how to repair your credit. This is part one of a five part series.
• How Credit Card Purchase Protection Saved My Friend $800 posted at Sound Money Matters — Aryn shares a good story about credit card…see, credit cards can save you money
• The Best Frequent Flyer Airline Miles Credit Cards For Cheap Flights posted at Money Blue Book — Raymond shares some of the best frequent flyer airline miles credit card…wow, big list.
• Building a Good Credit History posted at Real World Advice — Leaving The Folks points out the virtue of paying your bills on time as one of the keys to building a good credit history.
• Email Your Future Self! posted at The DebtFree Playbook Blog — Heather shares an interesting idea of sending yourself an email in the future dates to remind you of your financial goals. It’s a cool way to use this email tool to help you reduce your debt.

Add a dry absorbent bath towel to the load of wet clothes in the dryer will cut the drying time by a few minutes and save energy. Oh, and be sure to clear off the lint before running the dryer. Lastly, strategically line dry some garments will positively impact your energy bill.

Economy

• Where’s My Economic Stimulus Check? If You’re Waiting, Read On posted at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… — Paidtwice answers some economic stimulus check questions for those who still haven’t received theirs.
• What Exactly Is The Stimulus Check? Not A Rebate posted at The Happy Rock — The Happy Rock explains what the stimulus payment actually is — a closer look at this confusing topic.
• Our Economic Stimulus Check Arrived posted at Free From Broke — Free From Broke said his economic stimulus check arrived via direct deposit. Has yours? What will you do with it?
• My Economic Stimulus Check Didn’t Include Money for My Kids! posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You? — Did the IRS made a mistake on your economic stimulus rebate? You’re not alone.
• Cash Before Treatment - The Crisis in Medical Care Funding posted at Physician Entrepreneur — Dr. Jose DeJesus discusses the unsustainable current arrangement where negotiated payment rates do not reflect the real healthcare costs and suggests some alternatives to the current situation.

Bundling is a great way to save money. Bundle your TV, Internet, and telephone services can save you a few bucks. Bundle your car and home insurance can save you 10% or more. Bundling in warm clothes in the wintertime can reduce your home heating cost. Bundling your errands can save you time and gas money.

Income

• Second Income – One man’s journey of learning to do it right. posted at Until Debt Do Us Part — Mike shares a great story about his friend Jon. Building a seconding income is not always easy, but if you persevere, it could be rewarding.
• UFO Recession Tip 73 - Top 10 Blogger Recession Tips to Make Money posted at It’s the Recession, Stupid! — Zork shares a funny but perceptive observation of making money as a blogger.
• Push Your Income By Taking Freelance Work posted at The Shark Investor — Shark Investor presents good information about earning extra income as a freelancer and shares where to find freelance work.
• Payday Spending Creep posted at Dollar Frugal — Dollar Frugal shares her observation about spending more on paydays. May be it’s true. But paydays do not feel any different for me because I haven’t seen or check my pays for years.
• How Passive Is Your Passive Income? posted at LIVING OFF DIVIDENDS & PASSIVE INCOME — Points out that blogging is not really passive income (yes, there’s a lot of work involved), and shares some of the best passive income sources.

Packing your lunch to work could save you upward of $30 per week. Since food that you prepare yourself tends to be healthier, there’s also a long-term health benefits.

Investing

• Financial Questions to Avoid Before Investing posted at Millionaire Money Habits — What is it that gets you excited about investing? Is it the opportunity to make a quick buck, the thought of taking advantage of compound interest in order to retire rich, or maybe the feeling of owning part of a great American company? Don’t make some of these fatal mistakes before investing.
• TradeKing.com IRA Review posted at My Retirement Blog - Retirehappy gives us a review of TradeKing.com, one of the leaders in the online discount broker business
• Why Most Investors Buy High And Sell Low » Free Stock Market Investing Tips posted at Free Stock Market Investing Tips — Most investors buy stocks when they are overvalued since they give into herd mentality.
• Dividend Conspiracies posted at Dividend Growth Investor — Shares some information on a couple of dividend stocks.
• Using Suggested Portfolios to Build Your Portfolio posted at The Dividend Guy Blog — There are a number of resources available to investors to help build their portfolio. Here are some suggestions to help in this process.”
• Investor crystal ball gazing posted at Sox First — With the credit squeeze and soaring energy prices, it’s worth asking whether investors can see that far ahead. How do investors read trends and make the right calls?
• Understanding Mutual Fund Share Classes posted at HarvestingDollars — Todd explains some of the basics about mutual fund share classes.
  
• Compete with the Pros posted at Awesome Forex Alerts — Lane gives us a glimpse into the world of forex trading and shares some pointers.
• Asset class: Bonds posted at The Wealth Accumulator — Enoch gives us an in depth introduction to bonds.
• Lessons from the Millionaires — What Makes Up PFBloggers’ Net Worth? (Part 3) posted at CAN I GET RICH ON A SALARY — GBlogger gives us an interesting series that analyzes personal finance bloggers’ net worth based on NetworthIQ data.
• Real Estate Profits And Losses: Gas Company Problems. Scenario 33. posted at The Money Kings - RULE your money at home, at work, and at play! — Money King points out four big things that really suck for landlords about natural gas companies, all of which wind up costing someone money.”
• The Top 25 Low Cost Best US Money Market Funds posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog — Larry gives us the top 25 low cost money market funds.

Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas.

From Green Slow Moving Vehicle

Other

• Handling Most of My Finances Online posted at Single Guy Money — SGM tells us how he handles most of his finances online.
• 5 Financial Myths Debunked posted at Master Your Card — Jonathan shares common financial misconceptions and explains why they are wrong.
• Comparing Mint.com to Our Actual Budget posted at Save and Conquer — Bryce puts Mint.com to the test by comparing it to his budgetary spreadsheet.
• Avoid getting cheated! posted at moneylandmarket.com — Larry shares the importance of reading contract thoroughly before signing it. By signing it, you indicate that you understood and agreed to everything whether or not you read it. So beware!

If you are using cell phone and are ready for it…eliminate your home telephone and save $30 or more per month. While we are on the subject of cell phone, stop downloading those ring tones and cut back to just the bare essentials.

Real Estate

• How to Get Your House to Sell posted at Free Money Finance — FMF shares some tips for selling your home in a tough market.
• Homeowners Insurance posted at Her Home Blog — Rosemary gives us some homeowners insurance tips.
• How To Become A Real Estate Bird Dog posted at Tony Travis — Don shares a little real estate investing secret. You don’t have to invest money directly into real estate to reap the benefits. Here’s a little known technique many people use to cash in on real estate whether the market is up or down. And they do it without using their own money!
• Short Sale Advice posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog — Joe shares the ins and outs of real estate short sale.

When shopping online, (1) always go through rebate services like Ebates and Upromise, (2) search for coupon codes on Retail Me Not, and (3) register your purchases on PriceProtectr.

Saving Money

• Simple Steps to Cut Fuel Costs posted at Prime Time Money — PT shares how to save money on car expenses. And no…I will not drive that little pink car.
  
• How To Cut College Costs by 13%-25% posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Jim gives college students to be some tips on how they can lower their college tuition costs up to 25%.
• Gone Shopping posted at Dreaming of Ferraris — Foxie thinks that sometimes you need to spend a little to avoid having a savings burnout.
• Free Stuff: 4 Things I never pay for posted at A Frugal Life - Just the two of us — Free toothbrushes anyone?
• Why Pensions Are Important posted at Financial Learn — Faron discusses the importance of pensions by the number.
• Garage Sale Tips - A Complete Kit To Save Money! posted at FIRE Finance — FIRE Getters share their best garage sales shopping tips.
• How To: Garage Sale Shop Like A Pro posted at Not the Jet Set — Our resident garage sale expert/hacker/diva/ninja (Mrs. NtJS) shares her wealth of knowledge on the subject. With her guidance, you’ll be garage sale shopping like a pro in no time.
• How to have a fabulous wedding by thinking outside of the box posted at Our Common Cents — Carrie shares five great tips on how to think outside the box, save money, and still have a fabulous wedding.
• How to Save $100 a Month posted at Financialzip.com — Brice shares tips on how to find a couple places in your budget to save $100.
• Using the net to find cheap gas prices along your route posted at Living the Cheap Life — Mike shares some web sites to help you find cheap gas.
• Mrs. Budgetsaresexy on frugal wedding-ness posted at Budgets are Sexy. — J. Savings shares five friendly and frugal tactics for cutting Wedding costs
• Track Fuel Efficiency posted at Daily Money Hack — DMH don’t want you to think that the guy who pulls out a notebook at the gas station to calculate his fuel efficiency is a nut job. That’s crazy. I always do that in the privacy of my own home.

Brewing your own coffee can save you a couple hundred dollars per year, especially if you drink 2-3 cups a day like I do.

Taxes

• Rules for the Annual Gift Exclusion for Parents and Grandparents posted at Saving for College - About.com — Ken Clark presents a quick and easy guide to the $12,000 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion.”

Donating appreciated assets to charities allow you to deduct the full value of the donated assets and you don’t have to pay capital gains tax on the sales

That concludes this edition. Please visit our carnival home page to find more information about the Money Hacks Carnival.

Photo by bitzcelt via flickr