This is a fairly easy Monopoly game expansion to teach youngsters the principles of filing and paying income tax. It includes an income tax form on which players keep track of income and deductions, figure and pay their income tax at the end of each circuit of the board. Players may opt to hire themselves out as tax preparers and those who do not wish to file their own returns may hire and pay tax preparers to do so, the cost of which is tax deductible, of course.

Please note that this is not a representation of real-life tax preparation. It is a simplified simulation meant to educate children on the basic principles of income and taxes and should not be taken as a source for tax preparation information.

How to Play the Monopoly Income Tax Expansion

1. Download and print out a set of Personal Income Tax Form and Instructions (pdf format) for each player.
2. The game is played as usual, but players record all income, payments of taxes and applicable expenses.
3. When a player passes “Go,” he pauses to calculate and pay his income tax for the circuit just completed.
4. The only difference in this game is the Income Tax square. When a player lands on Income Tax, he will receive an Income Tax Refund of $200 instead of paying it.

Paid Tax Preparers

Players may hire themselves out as paid preparers and other players may hire tax preparers to calculate and prepare their tax returns on their behalf.

• Tax preparers can set their own rates for preparation.
• Players who hire paid preparers may deduct the preparer costs from their taxable income (on Line 3).

Monopoly Personal Income Tax Form Instructions

Click on the image below to view a sample form

• Lines 1a and 1b (1-15). Record income and deductible transactions as they occur.
  • Income counts as all money received (rent, bribes, free parking, dividends, investments, etc.) with the exception of income tax refunds.
  • Deductions are other taxes paid, such as Poor Tax, School Tax, Luxury Tax, street and housing repairs, etc.
• Line 2. Figure your taxable income.
  • 2a. Add up all income.
  • Line 2b. Add up all deductions.
  • Line 2c. Subtract 2b from 2a to figure your taxable income.
• Line 3. Enter the amount paid to the tax preparer, if any. Pay this amount to your tax preparer, if applicable.
• Line 4. Subtract the amount of Line 3 from Line 2c.
• Line 5. Figure the tax, which is 10% of taxable income; multiply .1 by the amount on Line 4.
• Line 6. Previous unpaid tax. Enter the amount of tax on Line 10 from your previous tax period, if any, that was not paid last period.
• Line 7. Total tax due. Add the amounts on Line 6 and Line 7. This is the amount you owe.
• Line 8. Total tax paid. The amount you wish to or can afford to pay at this time. Pay this amount to the bank.
• Line 9. Remaining unpaid tax. Subtract the amount on Line 8 from Line 7.
• Line 10. Balance to forward to next tax period. The amount on Line 9 plus 10% penalty (the amount on Line 9 multiplied by .1)

Visit OurFourpenceWorth.com/Monopoly for more Money Management and Investment Monopoly Expansions!

Related posts:

• Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals: Week of Unexpected Delays
• Monopoly Game Expansion #1: Personal Savings Account
• Monopoly Game Expansion #2: Personal Checking Account
• July 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals

Originally posted 2008-09-09 10:00:09.

Five Ways to Make Some Extra Income on the Side

Who couldn’t use a little extra money? Plenty of people are feeling a little strained with their finances, and if you feel as though you are on the verge of just barely squeaking by, then it might be time to bring in a little extra income.

Of course, if you can manage to rein your spending in a little you might be able to avoid going after some extra income, but if that’s not an option then give some of these suggestions a try.

• Get a Part-Time Job
  Part-time jobs can be a lot of fun. Find something in a field that you enjoy. If you love reading, get a job at a bookstore. If you adore being outside, take a weekend job assisting a landscaper. If you have to get a part-time job you should at least make sure that you’re doing something you enjoy while also making decent money. You may be surprised to discover that your current employer has regulations against full-time employees taking part-time jobs, so make sure you aren’t breaking any rules when you get your part-time job. Either that or keep quiet about it!
• Become a Freelancer
  You don’t have to go work on-site at a part-time job if you have a skill that you can make money with from home. Plenty of freelance contractors make a decent extra income doing something they love – writing, designing websites, or whatever – all while wearing their pajamas and bunny slippers. A couple of sites worth investigating are Elance and FreelanceSwitch.
• Get Popular Online
  If you can create a website that people want to visit regularly then you can potentially make some extra income by placing ads on your site. This is definitely something you can do in your spare time, but you shouldn’t expect to make a fortune from ad revenues if you can’t commit a great deal of time in developing and maintaining the site. Building up a passive income online takes time and dedication, so don’t expect to get rich overnight.
• Do Some Overtime
  If your current employer offers you the opportunity to do some overtime at a higher hourly rate then this can be a great way to bring in some extra income. This can be an especially good idea if you really do enjoy your job, and you don’t mind putting in a few extra hours.
• Invest
  This suggestion is a little tricky because not everyone has a knack for investing, nor do they have the capital to really put up a sizeable enough investment in order to get an impressive return. There are some people, however, who do indeed make a nice amount of income on the side playing the markets part time. If your need for extra income isn’t immediate then this may be something you should consider giving a try. Just be sure that you don’t invest any money that you can’t afford to lose, and don’t go in cold – educate yourself first.

Unless you need extra money each month just to cover your basic necessities, you have the opportunity to make some money on the side while actually having fun and learning a new skill. Don’t go for something you’ll be miserable with if you can instead choose to just spend less each month by cutting back on a few ‘luxury’ items. Working a job you hate is miserable enough, but when you’re working it in addition to a full-time job you’re bound to get really grumpy, really fast!

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Related posts:

• Simple Solutions to Staying Out of Debt
• How to De-worm a Difficult Horse
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #12
• Two Natural and Economical Ways to Shed Dry Winter Skin
• Ways to Increase Physical Activity & Calorie Burn and Prevent Weight Gain in Your Daily Life

I know I should have thought to post this earlier, but only just remembered to pay my own mortgage now instead of tomorrow. If you own a home and have not yet made your mortgage payment due on January 1, 2009, do it now before 2008 is over. This could cut the income taxes you will have to pay in April 2009 for you may be able to take a deduction for mortgage interest paid in 2008.

I am not a tax expert and there are some limitations, (i.e. if you deduct your Jan. 2009 mortgage interest from your 2008 taxes, you can’t do it again for 2009, if your 2008 income exceeds a certain amount), but here is a link to an article on MSN Real Estate which might tell you if you would benefit from doing this:

Early year-end mortgage payment could cut taxes

If you pay your mortgage online, do it now as our bank’s website is super slow today, perhaps due to the rush to customers trying to get their payment in before the year ends.

Happy New Year!

Related posts:

• It Never Hurts to Ask: Getting Late Fees Removed
• Dear Taxpayer: Good News! Your Property Tax Has Decreased … P.S. So Has Your Property Value
• Tax Form & Publication Guide for the Newly Self-Employed
• Daylight Saving Time: Turn Your Clocks Forward Today!
• No-Air Conditioning Summer Part 1 – How It Started: No-Heat Winters

Originally posted 2008-12-31 09:18:02.

A few months ago, we put a link on our blog for Dogs in Danger, a website featuring shelter dogs who are due to be euthanized if they do not find a home very soon. We had hoped placing the link would result in some adoptions of needy dogs. Well . . . . good news! It worked! Although we didn’t end up with one of the dogs on this website (the suitable ones being too far away), looking at all the pictures and descriptions of poor homeless dogs made us finally decide to adopt. After all, an adoption would benefit all parties. It would provide a home and family for the dog while making our business more efficient and hopefully more lucrative.

Another reason for adopting at this time is that foreclosures are causing many owners to give up their pets. By taking a dog out of a shelter, we could make room for another, reducing the euthanasia statistics by one. When the digit 1 represents a life, it’s not such a small number after all.

We began searching online for dogs at local shelters who might be a clothes model, pet, and little sibling for Luwie and Wolfie. There were so many cute ones that we were actually tempted to take two . . . or even three. But finances being a consideration, we had to be practical and choose only one.

There was a dog at the Lancaster Animal Shelter who instantly caught our eye. She was listed as a chihuahua, though we think she is half Italian greyhound or whippet. The poor little dog had actually been recently adopted and returned with the complaint that she was too big for a chihuahua and was very nervous and unhappy to be back at the shelter. Not only was she physically perfect for the job, having a neutral color and clean outline, but she was (and is) incredibly sweet and submissive, and went limp like a ragdoll when picked up.

With a payment of just $38.00, this little girl became our Sophia (pronounced “so-FYE-uh” in the 18th century way), Sophie for short. And we are glad to announce that everything worked out happily. We are fond of Sophia, who is our first toy dog, and she seems quite satisfied with us. Wolfgang is delighted to have a new friend and Ludwig is beginning to get curious about her after raising his eyebrows (he really does) and saying “What’s this?” for 24 hours.

Sophia has started a new life as a little princess with a big wardrobe and has reached the happy ending of the doggy fairy tale which is a “forever home.” Of course, we couldn’t wait to dress her up and already made her two new outfits. Isn’t she lovely?

* * * * * * * * *

Related posts:

• Yes, Dogs Can Catch Colds … and it’s Messy
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #3
• “Shopaholic” Books: Entertaining Lessons on Financial “Don’ts”
• Introducing Frugaltroph
• More About Us

I know everyone hates hearing these trite statements, but the reason they are so often repeated is because they are true. In fact, they are so basic they should be considered common sense. These principles work for both staying out of (and maybe even getting out of) debt.

The simple solutions to staying out of debt are:

• Spend less than you make
• Don’t waste money
• If your expenses are higher than your income
  • Cut back, and/or
  • Make more money

How to spend less than you make

Before you spend money on any treats for yourself, set aside what you need to pay your regular bills. If you aren’t able to keep from spending that money by only mentally setting it aside, try the following:

• Open a new bank account for your regular expenses (rent, utilities, etc.). Tip: Credit unions offer accounts without fees or minimum balances. Let’s call this account your “Expenses Account.”
• Add up all your bills and expenses at the beginning of each month and transfer that amount from your main account to your Expenses Account.
• If the bank or credit union issues you an ATM card and/or checks for that account, keep them in a safe place at home instead of carrying them in your wallet or purse.
• If you get paid every 2 weeks and your bills are due at the end of the month, try not to spend any money on luxuries with the first paycheck of the month. If your expenses are less than the amount of your paycheck, put all of that amount into your Expenses Account, plus a little extra padding just to be safe (to prevent overdraft charges in case you added wrong).
• After you have set aside all the money necessary to pay your bills, see how much you have left. Put as much into savings as possible, but if you feel like you need to treat yourself to a little something, do so at your own discretion.

How to not waste money

Money wasted is money you will never see again. And money is one of the easiest things to waste and justify (at least at the moment of the wasting). The easiest way to keep from wasting money is to ask yourself the simple, and again oft-repeated, question of “Do I really need to buy this [item]“? It is likely that 60% or more of the time, you will find that you really don’t need it after some thought. But if just asking yourself this question isn’t enough for you, try some or all of the following:

• When tempted with an impulse purchase, leave it and think about it a week later. Don’t go and look at the item, but just think about it. Looking at it might bring the impulse back. After a week, see if you still really want it. Chances are that you will no longer feel as strongly about it as you did before.
• When there is something you really want to buy, make a list of “Reasons why you need this item” and “Reasons why you should not buy this item”. Take a look at your reasons and see if they are good enough reasons to justify the expenditure.
• If you do need to buy something, spend some time to research the quality of what you buy. Many websites have consumer opinions on all sorts of products. If you do spend money, make sure you are spending it on something that will last you a good while. Don’t compromise your desire or need for something by settling for something cheap and of inferior quality that won’t last in usefulness or value.
• Think about the potential of that money. Check out my earlier article Prune Your Spending and Watch the Savings Grow and use the savings interest calculator to see how much a few dollars here and there can grow into a sizable nest egg in future years.

How to cut back on spending

If your expenses are higher than your income, then go through all your bills and see which ones you can do without or downgrade. Do you really need lightning speed internet on your personal computer? Do you really need 1000 minutes, internet and 200 text messages on your personal cell phone? Check out these previous articles I have written that deal with lowering expenses.

• Discerning Luxury from Necessity – This is a basic guide to get you started on figuring out what you need and don’t need
• 20 Minutes Can Save $180 & Tips for Receiving Better Customer Service – This is an article on how I saved some money just by contacting my ISP to ask about lower rates.
• Insurance Matters: The Cost of Complacency – The lesson I learned about assuming that my auto insurance company was still giving me the best rate after I relocated.
  

How to increase your income

There are many ways of increasing your income. It doesn’t have to be a major endeavor, but a little bit of extra money never hurts. Here are a just a few suggestions for what you can do to increase your income. Some are one-time solutions, and others are things that you can do continuously.

• Sell your stuff
  Go through your things and find some things you no longer need but are good enough to pass on. Hold a garage or yard sale, or offer them for sale on one of the many online trading sites. I know someone who always has to have the newest technology – computers, cell phones, MP3 Players, etc. I imagine he must have thousands of dollars’ worth of still good technology just sitting around his house.
• Sell your abilities
  Do you have a skill not possessed by everyone? If you speak a 2nd or 3rd language, play a musical instrument, or have some knowledge of a subject, you can tutor or teach from your home or create an informative website on to earn ad money. If you are good at crafts, fixing electronics, woodworking, minding children, or any other special skill, there are numerous ways to earn a little money here or there and you may even end up being a professional in a field you never considered seriously. Some people do not even know how to install software on their personal computers and will pay to have this common task done for them.
• Open a CafePress Store
  If you have photographic, artistic or graphics ability, open a CafePress shop. All you have to do is upload your images and create products with your artwork on them. Check out our store Mozartini, which we started in December 2007 and has begun to make more money each month. We love CafePress because once the artwork is up and products created, all you have to do is wait for the money to come it. CafePress takes care of customers, prints and ships the orders and sends you a check. I just love waking up in the morning and finding those “You’ve made a sale at CafePress” emails.
• Check out a few other suggestions by my fellow financial blogger, Jonathan from Master Your Card, who recently wrote a guest post for us: Five Ways to Make Some Extra Income on the Side.

Related posts:

• Welcome MSN Money Central Smart Spending Readers!
• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Resisting the Urge to Splurge
• Pecuniarities (Our Fourpence Worth) 1 Year Anniversary
• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading

The topic for this month’s PF Bloggers Group Writing Project, “Poorest Time of Your Life” which was decided about 5 months ago, comes at a somewhat inopportune time. When our group picked out these topics, whoever it was that suggested this topic must have thought that we must all be in a position where the poorest time of our lives were in the past and could serve as an inspirational story of financial achievement.

But with the recent and current economic developments (or should I say, deterioration?) and the rate of inflation, I really can’t say if the poorest times of our lives really are past. At first thought, I just assumed that the poorest time of my life was past, but upon further contemplation, I am beginning to question if NOW might not be the poorest time of my life.

When I sat down to write this essay, I had planned on writing about two brief periods in Madoline’s and my past when were quite poor. They were transition periods in our lives, however, which really didn’t last very long and probably didn’t really count as being poor.

Poor Period 1

The first was right after Madoline graduated from college which coincided with the ending of my first job, which was a 9-month contract position. We had had a falling out with our stepfather who, as trustee of our mother’s estate, was in possession of the income she had left us. For more about this, please refer to our Family Financial History.

While our rent was still being paid by our mother’s money, we had little left from my earnings and were living in a town where employment opportunities were scarce. For about a month, we made a little money here and there teaching piano lessons and singing at weddings of acquaintances, after which we managed to secure 2 out of 5 full-time positions that opened up at a new company in town.

Poor Period 2

The second poor period was after we quit that job and moved to California. We had saved up $10,000 after working 11 months and had also managed (with the help of an attorney) to persuade our stepfather to turn our mother’s income over to us as she had intended. While the monthly income wasn’t a lot, it was enough to pay the rent and some bills on a small place, and we felt the need to leave Hawaii and start afresh.

We spent $800 on 2 one-way airfares; $225 on airfare for our dog, cat and 22 mice ($75 per ticket – the mice counted as “one”); found a place to live for $650/mo. in Hayward, CA; and figured we had enough to cover the movers and sustain us for at least a couple of months while we looked for jobs.

But we underestimated the costs of the move which was based on the weight of items moved. Because we didn’t have a parents’ house where we could leave things, we had to take everything that had meaning to us, such as a an antique desk of our mother’s, our piano and mementos of childhood. We had no idea how much everything weighed and assumed it wouldn’t be more than 1,000 lbs., so we had estimated about $1,200, but when the movers’ invoice arrived in California stating a total of almost $3,500, I knew we were in trouble.

After the initial costs of moving in, buying necessities for our new place, putting a down payment on our car (read about that catastrophe here) we had just about $3,500 left for the movers. Our monthly inheritance income check had been delayed due to mail forwarding, and for a few weeks, we literally had no money in the bank. I have a memory of one night when we rummaged through all our pockets and purses for change. We gathered about $10 with which we then went to the grocery store to buy food.

We began job hunting as soon as we got a car, and took the first jobs offered to us at Togo’s Eatery (a sandwich shop similar to Subway). When we got our first paycheck, around $100, we took it to the bank and deposited it. The clerk told us the balance would be available immediately, so we went grocery shopping and put it on the debit card. We found out later that the clerk had misinformed us and that we had gotten an overdraft because it turned out the balance wasn’t immediately available after all.

But this only lasted a few weeks. Our mother’s income check eventually arrived and continued to arrive each month. After our scare of being poor, we saved like crazy. We continued working at Togo’s for the time being and got hired on to manage a new pizza restaurant that our boss opened a couple of months later.

So things were hairy for a while, but that brief brush with near poverty was an invaluable lesson and catalyst for our desire to live frugally.

Is Now the Poorest Time of Our Lives?

I am beginning to wonder if the present might not be the poorest time of our lives. While we still have money in the bank, I can’t but wonder how long it will last if this recession and rate of inflation keeps up. Our monthly grocery bill is almost double what it used to be (we only have one supermarket within 40 miles, which may mean higher rate of inflation). The cost of propane has increased at least 150% since we moved in 3 years ago. The list goes on. But our total income continues to decrease – both from our business, which was very promising and the reason we bought the house, and our inherited income.

While we are OK for now as far as having money for groceries, the mortgage and bills, I can’t help but worry that we’ll run out in a few months. It is truly scary because this is much more permanent than our previous “poor periods” which were nothing in comparison. We didn’t have mortgages back then. We were living in areas where we could find employment. We are again living in an area where employment opportunities are scarce to none, even when the economy is good. But this time we can’t move because we have a mortgage which we can’t refinance now or sell the house in this current market as our property’s market value has decreased by 40%.

Maybe I’m just being paranoid and worrying for nothing – I usually am. But what if I’m not?

* * *

About the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project

The Personal Finance Bloggers Network currently consists of 7 active personal finance and frugal living blogs. The Group Writing Project is a monthly project wherein each blog will write a post on a pre-determined topic and publish it on the same day of each month. Be sure to visit thePF Bloggers Group Writing Projectpage for the others!

Extended Group Writing Project Invitation

If you are a blogger, we would like to invite you to write your own post on this topic and submit it for listing with our entries on our Group Writing Project pages. Please visit the following page for details on how to participate in our Extended Group Writing Project

Related posts:

• Holidays Should Be Happy: Have a Party-Preparation Party to Reduce Stress
• Sewing: A Frugal and Fulfilling Hobby – Save Money by Sewing Your Own Clothes
• Is “Simple Living” Just Another Term for “Giving Up?”
• Does Thinking About Money Make You a Bad Person?
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 2)

Originally posted 2008-11-19 07:00:01.

Expansions Difficulty/Complexity: Easy

This is a cash-free version of the game wherein all transactions are handled through personal checking accounts and recorded in individual check registers. Each player is responsible for his own account and must record all transactions – payment and receipt of rent, taxes, bribes, etc. in his check register.

Objective

To teach children (and some adults) how to accurately record transactions and balance a check register.

How to Play

• Download and print the Bank of Monopoly Personal Check Register (includes rules)
• Instead of distributing cash at the beginning of the game, players record the opening balance at the top of the check register (in the right-hand column under $ Balance). If playing the original Atlantic City Monopoly game with the distribution of 2 x $500, 2 x $100, 2 x $50, 6 x $20, 5 x $10, 5 x $5 , and 5 x $1 bills, the opening balance is $1,500.
• Instead of using cash, all transactions are recorded in the check register under Deposit (+) and Payment (-), and all money belonging to the player is totaled in the $ Balance column.

Click on the image to view a sample check register

How to Use the Check Register

• For each transaction, begin by recording the date and/or time. Since most games are played within one day, you may opt to record the time of each transaction instead of the date. We suggest placing a clock on the table in a spot easily visible by all players.
• Enter a brief description of the transaction. For example, “Luxury Tax,” “Rent – Board Walk,” “Passed Go.”
• When making a deposit record the amount in the Deposit (+) column, add it to the existing balance and record the new balance in the $ Balance column.
• When making a payment, record the amount in the Payment (-) column and subtract the amount from the existing balance and record the new balance in the $ Balance column.
  • Examples of transactions that belong under Deposit (+):
    Passing “Go,” collecting rent and utilities, Chance and Community Chest bonuses (bank error, dividends, income tax refund, etc.), mortgaging property, selling houses and hotels
  • Examples of transactions that belong under Payment (-):
    Paying rent, utilities, income tax, luxury tax, school tax, poor tax, hospital bill, etc., buying property, building houses and hotels, un-mortgaging property.

Transactions Between Players

When one player must pay another player – rent, Chance or Community Chest, etc. – he debits the amount from his account under Payment (-). The player receiving the funds adds the amount to his account under Deposit (+).

Optional Overdraft and Negative Balance

Instead of declaring bankruptcy and leaving the game when a player’s balance reaches $0, the player can be charged an Overdraft Fee of $25 per transaction that creates or maintains a negative balance. For each round that the balance remains negative (upon landing on or passing “Go”), the player is charged a 10% overdraft penalty. This is a good lesson in the snowball effect of debt.

Optional Personal Checks

To train youngsters how to properly make out checks, personal checks are also included (page 6) for practicing on game transactions.

Click on the image below to view a sample check

Visit OurFourpenceWorth.com/Monopoly for more Money Management and Investment Monopoly Expansions!

Related posts:

• Monopoly Game Expansion #1: Personal Savings Account
• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Monopoly Game Expansion #5: Income Tax Edition
• July 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Monopoly Game Expansion #3: Certificate of Deposit

Originally posted 2008-06-20 06:30:05.

Welcome to the 1st Edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights!

I am thrilled to have received such a response from the personal finance blogging community for this first edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. Thank you to each of the 68 participants for your submissions; it has been a pleasure to read and include each of your articles.

A little about the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights

For those of you who are just hearing about this new carnival, the purpose of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights is to showcase content of lasting value from the personal finance and frugality blogosphere. There is no restriction as to the age of the posts submitted so bloggers are free to submit their best and favorites from any part of their archives.

As the priority is lasting value, you will not find items with an “expiration date.” This means, no temporary promotions for businesses, shopping deals or credit card offers. Even if you were to happen upon this carnival 6 months from now, the content would all still be relevant.

More information: About • Schedule • Hosting • Submissions

Giveaway Winners

For Article Submissions	For Hosting Applications
David from MoneyNing	Momma from Momma’s Blog

Pecuniary Art by Madoline Hatter

In our past year of financial blogging, my sister Madoline Hatter, our resident graphic designer and artist, has produced not a few financially-themed pieces for this blog and our CafePress shop. As we have just concluded 2 giveaways of piggy bank art magnets featuring Madoline’s work to kick-off the launch of this new carnival, I have decided to theme this first edition around more of her pecuniary art.

Shameless plug: All of the images you see below are available on numerous types of products at our shop. They make great gifts for those with an interest in finance or frugality, and most are available with and without captions. Click on an image to see more.

Now, without any further ado, allow me to present the first ever Carnival of Pecuniary Delights: The Madoline Hatter Pecuniary Art Edition.

Editor’s Picks

• FIRE Finance from FIRE Finance presents Early Retirement Case Study – Sandy Aldridge and Dale Lugenbehl.
• Kelly from Almost Frugal presents The ABCs of frugality.
• Frugal Dad from Frugal Dad presents Is Frugality The Anti-Stimulus Plan?.
• Linsey Knerl from Wise Bread presents Beware of pretty things: 4 reasons I’m keeping my old ugly stuff.

Feast On Your Savings

Frugality

• Miss Thrifty from Miss Thrifty presents Make Do And Mend: Vogue for the Credit Crunch Bunch.
• Abigail from I Pick Up Pennies presents Are Americans really learning?.
• Lulugal from How I Save Money presents Frugal Frauds Revealed.
• Mike from Four Pillars presents Changing your mind.

Frugal Home and Garden

• Momma from Momma’s Blog presents 9 No Spend Weekend Ideas.
• David from Personal Finance Blog by MoneyNing presents My Virgin DIY Haircut Experience.
• Kate Kashman from The Paycheck Chronicles presents Seven Reasons Why Clutter is Costing Me Money.
• Heather Levin from The Greenest Dollar presents How To Save Money On Laundry Day.
• Leslie from Spilling Buckets presents It’s that time of year again: Gardening Season.

Frugal Kitchen

• Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents Brownbag Your Lunch and Save Money.
• Jenn from Frugal Upstate presents The Making of a Lunch for Princess-Lunchbox Philosophy and Execution.
• Jim L. from The Switch to Riches presents Saving Even MORE on Groceries.
• Smarty from Growing Money presents How I Cut Down On Food Expenses.

Incontinent spending?

Saving on Spending

• Kimberly Palmer from Alpha Consumer presents My Experiment: Asking for a Better Deal.
• RC from Think Your Way To Wealth presents Negotiating a Deal and Tips on Becoming a Better Negotiator.
• Christina from Northern Cheapskate presents Don’t Let Coupons Clip Into Your Free Time.
• J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents 3 Tips to Putting BLING on That Finger of Hers.
• Laura from No More Spending presents Cold Turkey on Magazines and Confessions.

Money Management

• Jim from Bargaineering presents Your Financial Network Map.
• PT Money from Prime Time Money presents Save More Money: Automate and Separate Your Savings.
• JT Locke from The Frugal Housewife presents How Much Is Too Much?.
• Cindy Morus, The Money Mender from Mend Your Money presents How to Have More Fun With Your Tax Refund in 2009.
• Karen from Living Well on Less presents Time for new tires — or why I’m glad we have an emergency fund.
• Kay Bell from Don’t Mess With Taxes presents When renting is the right choice.
• Money Progress from Money Progress presents How to Save Money and Feel Good About It.

A penny is the first part of a million.

Personal Finance

• Megan from Counting My Pennies presents Support Your Non-Profits.
• BSimple from Simplified Financial Lifestyle presents Financial Planning is EASY as Vacation Planning.
• Jason from My Money Minute presents What We Learn From Tragedy.
• Fred from Very Personal Finance presents Personal Finance Is Personal – Very Personal.
• Patrick from Cash Money Life presents Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.
• Dave from Do You Dave Ramsey? presents Do You Dave Ramsey?

Green Living

• Prune Danish from Frugal Luxury presents More Beauty Products You Could Probably Do Without.
• Alunachic from The Frugal Musician presents The Frugal Musician Makes a Cardboard Mailer.

Debt and Credit

• Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Get Rid Of Your Debt With These Debt Defying Strategies.
• Jeremy M. Simon from Taking Charge presents Phone line makes me popular with debt collectors.
• Greg Keene from Managing Money God’s Way presents Can you cosign this loan for me?.
• Trevor Shipp from Financial Nut presents You’ll Always Have a Car Payment.
• CPF from Christian Debt Help presents Negotiate with credit card companies and Win!
• Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents Declaring War: Cancelling Your Credit Cards.
• Marlon from Penny Scraper presents A fast way to improve the credit score of a family member.

Shining Credit vs. Infernal Credit

Taxes and Economic Stimulus

• Madison from My Dollar Plan presents $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
• FFB from Free From Broke presents Paying Back The Economic Stimulus Payment – Lots of Tax Confusion!
• Miranda from Yielding Wealth presents Tax Time: Identity Thieves on the Prowl.
• Bruce from Taxguy presents A Little Straight Talk.
• Mr. ToughMoneyLove from Tough Money Love presents Consider this Likely Future Tax Benefit of Early Mortgage Payoff.

Economy

• Rocketc from Rocket Finance presents Financial Fairytale.
• Lisa Spinelli from Greener Pastures presents Is the Time Ripe for the Next Generation of Outliers?
• HIB from Happiness Is Better presents The TED Spread and What It Means to You .
• LAL from Living Almost Large presents Do I get paid too much?

Investing

• Zach Scheidt from Zach Stocks presents Double Your Investment Returns (Too Good to be True?).
• Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents 7 Things To Know About a Roth IRA For 2009.
• Clare Kierans from Money Energy presents Why You Should First Invest in Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs).
• Mike from Richer by the Day presents Forever Stamps, A Losing Investment.
• MFD from My Findependence Day presents How Important are the CESG Grants to an RESP?.
• Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary presents Are Vanguard Mutual Funds Getting Expensive? .
• Mr. GoTo from Go To Retirement presents Why I like I-Bonds in My Retirement Portfolio.

Career and Income

• WC from Wisebread presents On Salaries: Knowing What Your Coworkers Make.
• Viviana from The Lean Times presents When the work dries up.
• Peter from Bible Money Matters presents To Succeed Diversify And Create Multiple Streams Of Income.
• The David from Pimp Your Finances presents 20 Questions with J.D. Roth, author of Get Rich Slowly.
• The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents Job Hunting Tips: How To Deal With Losing Your Job.

Practice Maintains Perfect

Miscellany

• Kyle from Suburban Dollar presents Quit Paying for What You Can Get for Free (Open Source software).
• Ishan from Save Few Bucks presents Does it really makes sense to buy a Hybrid Car?.
• Papa Boomer from Consumer Boomer presents Not All Credit Cards Companies are the Same.
  Note: While I usually prefer “positive” stories, I thought this psot could serve as a consumer review of a bank on which I myself have less than stellar opinions through personal experience.

Enchanted Pumpkin Fairy Ship

* * *

This concludes the First Edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. Next week’s edition will be hosted by Wise Bread, so be sure to get your submissions in by Wednesday April 8th, 6:00 PM PST.

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities is Hosting the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights This Week!
• Finance Blog Carnivals of Late
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights Giveaways: Cute Piggy Bank Magnet Prizes for Hosting and Submissions
• Pecuniary Links ~ July 2009 #2
• Pecuniary Links ~ August 2009 #1

If this is your first time here, please have a look around (popular posts to the right) and consider subscribing to our RSS feed.

About Debtor’s Prisons

In the time of Charles Dickens, men were arrested for debt and imprisoned until they could repay what they owed. This was sometimes achieved by the help of family members, but as not everyone had that advantage, the system was somewhat nonsensical especially because living within the prisons required the spending of money with virtually no opportunity to earn it.

“Pray remember ye poor debtors.”

Editor’s Picks

I Pick Up Pennies presents Are we too optimistic?.

Passive Family Income presents Recession in America – Gardening.

Five Cent Nickel presents Debt Reduction vs. Retirement Savings.

Personal Stories

Debt Kid presents Going from Broke to Blessed.

Bible Money Matters presents Don’t Let Unexpected Stress Be An Excuse For Spending.

Man Vs. Debt presents My Debt-Recon And Current Battle Plans.

My Money Minute presents Don’t Laugh, It’s Paid For!.

Daily Saving & Budgeting

PF Credit Cards presents Lower Your Monthly Subscriptions Cost by Calling.

American Consumer News presents What a Difference Control Makes.

The Smarter Wallet presents Money Saving Ideas To Create A Frugal Household Budget.

Greener Pastures presents It’s EPA Fix a Leak Week.

Money Management

My Dollar Plan presents Would You Take a Loan Modification?.

Automatic Finances presents 3 Bank Fees You Should Never Have to Pay.

Free Money Finance presents Review Your Credit Card Bill.

No Credit Needed presents Beware The Dangers Of The Abuse Of Credit.

The Sun’s Financial Diary presents PIN vs. Signature Based Debit Transactions.

Investing

Investing School presents Realized and Unrealized Gains and Losses.

Prime Time Money presents 5 Reasons Not to Borrow from Your 401k.

My Retirement Blog presents Earning $20,000 Equals Half Million Dollar Nest Egg.

Gurus & Books

The Paycheck Chronicles presents A Dollar Saved is Two Dollars Earned.

The Digerati Life presents Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps To Financial Success.

The Dough Roller presents Debt Cures by Kevin Trudeau–Do his “secrets” really work?.

Making Money

Counting My Pennies presents Sell your gold and get rich!.

Destroy Debt presents The Part Time Job Method of Increasing Your Income.

Miss Thrifty presents Making Money From Your House in 2012.

Studenomics presents Successful Business Venture Checklist.

Miscellany

Clever Dude presents Is Hip-Hop Teaching Americans Money Lessons?.

J. Money presents Our church is $125k in debt…and guess what?.

Christian Debt Help presents Video of Peter Schiff predicting the crisis and getting mocked!.

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This concludes the Charles Dickens Debtor’s Prison Edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Remember, if you’d like to be included in my next carnival, the 1st Edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights,  submit your best post by April 1st 6PM PST!

Related posts:

• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #18
• July 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Hosting the 3rd Edition of the Finance Fiesta Blog Carnival
• Giveaways Ending Soon! And Hosting 2 Blog Carnivals Next Week

It has been a busy week for us here at Our Fourpence Worth. We partipated in another PF Bloggers Network Group Writing Project, the topic of which was our Personal Experiences with Loans. We wrote about the first time we purchased a car on our own and got in a little trouble by being clueless as to how the credit, loan and auto sales industries work. It was a once in a lifetime mistake that you can be sure we won’t ever be making again – Learning From Our Mistakes: Our First (Auto) Loan.

Check out the PF Bloggers Group Writing Projects page for more, and if you are a personal finance or frugal living blogger, you are invited to join in our Extended Group Writing Project. We also hosted the 16th Edition of the Finance Fiesta, the theme of which was “Devote Your Life to Money!” a cynical poem by David Kessel about the virtues of money.

A quick note before we begin with today’s roundup, we have been doing roundups once a month for the past few months, but plan to begin doing them twice a month. The reason we don’t do weekly roundups as many other bloggers do is simply because of our personal, work and blogging schedule. As you’ve probably noticed, we only manage to publish about 3 original posts a week so weekly roundups would not be a good balance of original and linking posts. OK, now on with the roundup.

PF Bloggers Network Members

• Wide Open Wallet shares her reasons for eating out. $400 a month is quite a lot, but if you enjoy it and can afford it, bon appetit!
• No Debt Plan talks about his “Thing”: Keeping a Bunch of Old Magazines. We have a similar “thing”. My Wall Street Journal pile, for instance, will soon be a WSJ mountain.
• Living Almost Large asks: is spending wrong? As with eating out, it really is all about what you can afford.
  
• Master Your Card gives a guide on How to Balance your Checkbook. In this electronic age, it probably is the norm to not know how to do this. Might I also suggest our Monopoly Game Expansion #2: Personal Checking Account for a fun way to practice this important skill.
• Girls Just Wanna Have Funds offers some car buying advice (something I was planning to do as well to follow up our experience with our car loan): Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford.

Elsewhere in the Personal Finance Blogosphere

• The Simple Dollar gives us Why Many “Alternative Income” Ideas Aren’t Worth Your Time – And What You Might Do With It Instead.
• I enjoyed Money Ning’s What Motivates You to Make Money? It is important to know and not lose sight of your true motives.
• Living Well on Less explains the beneifts of Life without a microwave. We did this for a while when our 12+ year old microwave died. It was a little inconvenient sometimes, but not at all impossible.
• Saving Advice gives us Ten Money-Saving Reasons to Get Out of Bed Early.
• Taxguy instructs on Items to Bring to Your Individual Tax Preparation Appointment.

Carnival Participation

Lately I’ve been really disorganized and have consistently forgotten to submit to blog carnivals, but I did manage to remember one. We’d like to thank The Personal Financier for including my post on Switching to Paperless Statements in the Carnival of Personal Finance #170 – Famous Last Sentences Edition. This edition features many [entertaining] statements, hopefully fictitious, that have not always resulted in a good end for the money manager or investor who said it. One of my favorites is #20: “It just can’t get any lower than this…”

Head on over for more personal finance reading recommendations.

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Related posts:

• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #12
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #2
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #3
• Early to Bed and Early to Rise Makes a Man [or Woman] Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

f this is your first time here, please have a look around and consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Be sure to also check out

Madoline and I have a fondness for history and all things old, so the theme for today’s carnival is “Old Money.” While credit cards, online banking and checks are great modern commodities, they just don’t have the charm of good, old fashioned money – in other words, cash. We hope you enjoy this tour through United States Treasury history and the art to be found in currencies of the past.

1934 $100,000 USD Bill (Woodrow Wilson)

Editor’s Picks

• PT presents 9 Tips For Going To One Income.
• Twenties Money Magazine presents My College Sold Me Out.
• Toni presents Happy with What We Don’t Have.
• The Investor presents How a boring broker will make you richer.
• Karen presents Spending money can save your money.

1918 $10,000 USD Bill (Salmon P. Chase)

Frugality & Saving Money

• FIRE Getters presents Top 5 Freebie Websites!
• Amy Hobbs presents How to turn three slices of turkey into brunch.
• Ryan Suenaga presents Can a GPS Pay for Itself?
• Wilfrid presents Air Leak Detection – Leak Testing – Leak Stopping.
• Grey presents Making the CFL Switch.

1918 $5,000 USD Bill (James Madison)

Shopping

• Pamela Grundy presents Best Buy Coupons, Promotions and Savings.
• mbhunter presents If you love Amazon, you’ll really love Amazon Prime.
• Amy L. presents Getting a Good Deal on Your Car Insurance.
• Tom Tessin presents The Secrets to Cheap Airline Tickets.
• Aryn presents New Strategies for Using Double Coupons.
• APFB presents Four Items to Buy Used.
• Madison presents Free Money From the U.S. Mint.

1928 $1,000 USD Bill (Grover Cleveland)

Money Management

• Ariel Ozick presents 3 Dumb Ways to Waste Your Money.
• Todd presents Budgeting Games (Finance Games #6).
• Curt presents Avoiding the Most Common Financial Mistakes.
• GBlogger presents My Personal Finance One Step, Two Step.
• Nickel presents A Peek Inside Our FNBO Direct Online Savings Account.

1928 $500 USD Bill (William McKinley)

Debt & Credit

• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best Cash Back Credit Cards: Your Rewards For Spending.
• Mr Credit Card presents What to Do When Your Credit Card Debt Has Been Charged Off?
• Andy presents Too expensive to file for bankruptcy.
• CreditAddict presents No Fee 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers.
• DMH presents 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers.

1880 $100 USD Bill (Abraham Lincoln)

Economy

• Tejvan presents Why Boom and Busts are common in Housing Markets.
• Livingalmostlarge presents Perfection Guaranteed.
• RC presents Do Government Bailouts and Payouts Mean Higher Taxes in the Future?

1891 $50 USD Bill (Edward Everett)

Career

• Heather Johnson presents Guest Post: When Should You Quit Your Job?
• VH presents A$king and re¢eiving.
• Dorian Wales presents No Salvation from Productivity Improvements: The Failed 35 Hour Work Week Experiment and Work-Life Balance Examined.
• Kevin Surbaugh presents Making 401(k)’s Part of Your Job Hunt.

1905 $20 USD Bill (George Washington)

Investing

• Dividends4Life presents The MMA Rate Mystery Solved.
• Writers Coin presents Adding to the Mock Portfolio.
• Kevin presents Rebalanced My Roth 401k.
• Dividend Growth Investor presents Year-to-Date changes in Dividend Aristocrats’ annual payments to shareholders.
• The Financial Blogger presents Shifting Your Investments According To Your Tax Rate.
• RothIRA presents Roth IRA for Teenagers.
• Sandy Naidu presents Behavioral Finance – Investor Psychology – Behavioral Finance Stock Market Investment.
• FMF presents Using Your Health Savings Account as a “Super Roth” Investment Vehicle.
• Zach Scheidt presents MasterCard Incorporated (MA) – Growth Slowing.

1901 $10 USD Bill (Meriwether Lewis & William Clark)

Book Reviews

• Clare Kierans presents Money is What You Trade Your Life Energy For.
• Jim presents 547 Ways to be Fuel Smart by Roger Albright.

1886 $5 USD Bill (Ulysses S. Grant)

Other

• Steward presents A Frugal Shopping Tip That Leaves Everyone Smiling.
• J. Money presents 3 Things you should always keep in your wallet/purse/clip.
• Raymond presents How To Generate Valid Credit Card Numbers.
• Jamie presents Custom Wallet Giveaway from TheTrendySpot.com.
• Mr. Banker presents ABA Routing Codes to Link Online Accounts Together.

1862 First official $1 Bill of the United States (Salmon P. Chase)

This concludes the 26th Edition of the Money Hacks Carnival. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Money Hacks Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: money hacks carnival, blog carnival.

Related posts:

• Finance Blog Carnivals of Late
• Holiday Blog Carnivals
• Hosting Festival of Frugality and Money Hacks Carnival Next Week
• July 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• March 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals

This month’s topic for the PF Bloggers Network Group Writing Project is “Rich People Gone Broke.” Our chosen subject for this project is Wolfgang Mozart, one of the greatest composers that ever lived. While a genius in everything musical, he was less lucky when it came to money management.

Prodigy and Breadwinner

Mozart first went to work at the age of five. As a child prodigy, he traveled extensively and made a living as performer, composer, conductor and curiosity. These travels were documented by his family’s letters to their friends in Salzburg.

At first Leopold proudly related the enormous sums of money earned by his children, especially Wolfgang, and described the generous (resalable) gifts they received from kings and princes. Then he got wise and began to conceal their earnings, claiming that they made virtually no profit after expenses. This later strategy made it hard for us to know the exact amount of Wolfgang’s earnings, but it was surely a fortune. In addition to cash, the gifts accumulated on these journeys were mostly made of gold and were described by a friend to resemble a church treasury.

Until age 23, Wolfgang Mozart increased his family’s wealth on journeys in Austria, England, Italy, Paris, and other places where he was often received by royalty and nobility. If they did not collect enough gifts at one location, Leopold sold tickets to the public to hear his children perform—anything to make a buck . . or a florin. But this venue lost him some patronage because the upper class didn’t want anything the commoners had.

Although Leopold successfully concealed the earning of his children, it is clear that Wolfgang Mozart was the primary breadwinner of his family, and as such was jealously guarded from theft. His trips were always chaperoned by one or both parents, his father constantly warned him about the deceitful and ensnaring nature of women, and his mother whisked him off to Paris (at the orders of his father) to save him from a girl he desperately wanted to marry.

Rebellion and High Living

“I could not go about Vienna looking like a tramp, particularly just at this time. My linen was pitiable; no servant here has shirts of such coarse stuff as mine, — and that certainly is a frightful thing for a man. Consequently there were again expenditures.” – Vienna, September 5, 1781, in a letter to his father

Mozart’s financial troubles began when he rebelled against his father (after his mother died) and quit his unfulfilling job (something we all understand) as the Archbishop’s musician. In his time, musicians were regarded as craftsmen and ranked as servants in a household, but Mozart’s early experience of being cherished by the highest people in society convinced him that he was special and caused him to be offended by this condition.

Mozart’s early career furthermore harmed his financial prospects by giving him a taste for high living and expensive clothes. The Empress Maria Theresia even once gave him clothes outgrown by her own children and to the end of his days, he was said to have a love of buttons.

Mozart lived a bohemian existence in Vienna, getting the occasional commission, putting on concerts, giving lessons, and selling published works. By comparing the currency of the time with the USD in 1989 William and Hilda Baumol estimate Mozart’s average income during his Vienna years to be about $175,000 annually. His opera The Marriage of Figaro alone earned a fee of $30,000, the same amount as his annual rent.

He would have had enough to live on had he not “needed” luxurious apartments and clothes. Mozart excused his extravagances by saying that he had to look and live a certain way to fit in with his noble patrons. We have to admit that to a degree he was justified in needing premises to teach and the best piano available at the time. His wife was said to be equally extravagant a spender and in later years spent much time at a spa, supposedly for an illness but possibly carrying on an affair.

Pecuniary Problems

In later years, Mozart’s financial state became increasingly desperate. His earnings decreased drastically due to inflation and the economical climate during the Turkish War. There are also rumors that the court composer Salieri sabotaged him somewhat (but didn’t kill him). His failure to secure a permanent post may be because he was not respectfully servile and lacked Beethoven’s ability win everyone’s love while being terribly rude.

To make matters worse, Mozart’s father died and left everything to his sister to punish Mozart for deserting the family business. Much of the money bequeathed to Anna Maria was likely to have been earned by Wolfgang in his youth and concealed from him by his father. He was not even allowed one of the many trinkets given to him at his performances. The disowned son was reduced to begging loans from his friends and the clandestine composition of a Requiem which he failed to complete before he died.

Sadly, things were starting to look up for Mozart at the time of his death. His last opera, The Magic Flute, had made him immensely popular and he had been appointed the next Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. But had he lived to enjoy a larger income, who is to say he would not have incurred proportionately larger debts? Would he have increased his standard of living and the number of buttons on his coat to keep up with his new degree of fame?

Posthumous Prosperity

As for his wife, Constanze Mozart became a shrewd businesswoman when she found herself a widow with two young children. After her “friend” and Mozart’s student Süβmayr completed the mysterious requiem, Constanze cheated Mozart’s customer Count Walsegg who intended to perform the piece as his own composition. She pretended ignorance of the exclusiveness of the contract and sold the work to a publisher . . . after she sold Count Walsegg his copy. She procured a pension from the Emperor and took advantage of her status as a poverty-stricken widow to make sizable amounts of money with benefit concerts.

The Mozart family prospered. The widow made a good living selling the works of her late husband, putting on concerts with his music, and later writing his biography with her second husband. Though poor in life, Wolfgang Mozart was able to provide for his family in death and in that sense, was not a financial failure.

Sources:

• Mozart: A Life
• On Mozart (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)
• Mozart.
• Mozart: The Man and the Artist Revealed in His Own Words

* * *

About the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project

The Personal Finance Bloggers Network currently consists of 8 active personal finance and frugal living blogs. The Group Writing Project is a monthly project wherein each blog will write a post on a pre-determined topic and publish it on the same day of each month. Be sure to visit the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project page for the others!

Extended Group Writing Project Invitation

If you are a blogger, we would like to invite you to write your own post on this topic and submit it for listing with our entries on our Group Writing Project pages. Please visit the following page for details on how to participate in our Extended Group Writing Project.

Related posts:

• August 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Ludwig & Wolfgang
• More About Us
• Shop
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 2)

Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Finance Fiesta. I’ve always enjoyed proverbs, and since Spanish is one of my favorite languages, our theme for this week’s fiesta is Spanish Money Proverbs. The following proverbs all come from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs for anyone who wants to know. Hope you enjoy them.

Related posts:

• Hosting the 3rd Edition of the Finance Fiesta Blog Carnival
• Hosting the 16th Finance Fiesta Blog Carnival
• August 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals: Week of Unexpected Delays

In every online discussion I have seen about credit cards, there are always at least a few contributors whose only comments are “Credit cards are evil” or “No credit card is best”, etc. This post is mostly for those people.

For several years, we also believed that credit cards were bad, having been thus informed by our stepfather, a compulsive spender who is constantly in debt. But over the past few years, we have learned that credit cards are actually a good thing and provide many benefits and advantages:

• Building Credit History
  If you plan on buying a car or house in future, chances are that you will need a loan, and if you have no credit history, it can be difficult to get a good interest rate on a loan. Interest rates make a huge difference in the amount you end up paying or saving. Credit cards, if used responsibly, are a good and easy way to build a good credit history, which can ultimately save you thousands of dollars.

• Tracking spending
  Credit card statements provide an good way to track and analyze your spending habits. By charging all your purchases, you will have a printed statement of where every dollar has gone, a useful too for budgeting.

• Safer than carrying cash
  If you carry a lot of cash and lose your wallet, you can usually assume that money gone forever. If you mostly use your credit card and carry very little cash though, all you have to do is call the credit card company as soon as you discover the loss and you won’t be liable for any unauthorized charges to the card.

• Backup for emergencies
  Credit cards can be a backup source of funds for emergencies when you don’t have cash on hand. Though these should be true emergencies and not things like “fashion emergencies”.

And best of all, the reason we use our credit cards whenever and wherever we can:

• Credit cards can earn you money
  Credit cards can “make” you money in 2 ways:
  • There are many cards out there that earn you cash back or rewards. Some earn you as much as 5% cash back on grocery, drugstore and gas purchases. If you get a card with no annual fee (there are many out there), use it responsibly for regular purchases (not cash advances), and pay your balance in full every month, you can earn money without paying a cent to the credit card company. We have an American Express Blue Cash Credit Card that earned us over $300 cash back last year.
  • In addition to the cash back, credit cards also earn you money by allowing you keep your money in the bank longer. Depending on your billing cycle, you can charge your purchases and bills to a credit card and your money can sit in the bank earning interest for up to 6 more weeks. For example, our propane bill was due on January 30, 2008. Our credit card billing cycle ends on the 28th of each month. If we charge our bill to our credit card on the Jan. 30, 2008, it goes on the new billing cycle which ends on February 28, 2008, and the due date for that billing cycle is in mid-March 2008. So the money for that propane bill that was due and paid on Jan. 30, 2008 won’t actually leave our bank account until 6 weeks later. That’s 6 extra weeks of interest on money that would have left your account immediately had you paid by cash or check.

These are just a few basic reasons we use and approve of credit cards. However, if you know that you won’t be able to control your spending, then perhaps it is better to not go this route. If you need advice on applying for credit cards, visit your bank or credit union and someone can usually recommend a good card for you and help you with the application.

Continue reading for tips on choosing the right card and a few tips for safe and responsible credit card use.

Choosing the right card for you

If you have no or very little credit history, a low income, or a blemish on your credit record, it is possible that you won’t be approved when applying for a credit card. If this is the case, don’t keep attempting to apply for different cards as each denied application will hurt your credit rating and lessen your chances of being approved. Instead, go to your bank or credit union where you have an account and ask to speak to someone who can help you with selecting and applying for a credit card.

You may have to start out with a secured account with a deposit held as collateral and a low credit limit. After a while, perhaps a year, if you have responsibly paid your balances on time each month, your bank will probably upgrade you to an unsecured card with higher credit limit. Make sure you read the terms and conditions of your new card when this happens and check for changes in rates and fees, including annual fees. When Bank of America offered my sister an unsecured card a year after she got her secured card, the card came with an annual fee. There are many cards out there that don’t have annual fees, so why settle for one with an annual fee if you can save that $30 or $100 a year?

Today, there are credit cards for all sorts of people with all sorts of interests and lifestyle. If you travel a lot, you’d be interested in cards that offer travel benefits and discounts and rewards for flights, hotel stays and car rentals. For families and households, cards that offer cash back for household purchases such as utilities, gas, grocery and drugstores can save you a lot of money.

Tips for safe and responsible credit card use

• Never spend money you don’t have. Just because you have a $5,000 credit limit doesn’t mean that you have to use it all. In fact, for best credit practices, try not go over 1/3 of your total credit. Therefore, if you have a $5,000 limit, you should try to keep the balance below $1,600.
• Always pay on time and in full, not just the minimum payment due. If your credit card company has automatic scheduled payments, it may be a good idea to use it. Just make sure your bank account has sufficient funds on the due date.
• If you’re concerned about security and unauthorized charges, sign up for online banking and check your online statement every so often for suspicious activity. (We’ve never had any problems. There was only one incident when someone made a suspicious charge on my card and my bank caught it and contacted me to check if I had authorized it, which I didn’t, so they immediately canceled my card and sent me a new one.)
• Don’t leave your wallet, cards or card information lying around.
• Never send credit card information over email, instant messengers, etc.
• When using a credit (or debit) card online, make sure the site is SSL protected. You can tell by the little lock icon in the browser window – usually around the bottom right-hand corner.

Related posts:

• Pay Bills Online and Save
• Credits Cards Really Aren’t So Bad (Re-Post)
• Closing Your Credit Cards Can Hurt Your FICO Score
• Why I Will Not Change My Mindset, Plus the Difference Between Justifying and Being Optimistic About Spending
• Pay Bills Online and Save (Re-Post)

We received the following letter from our County Assessor-Recorder the day before yesterday. At first I was afraid to open it, thinking it was bad news. Well, it did turn out to be bad news … but with every cloud comes a silver lining…

Dear Taxpayer:

As a result of the decline in value of the local residential real estate market, and, after a careful review of your property’s current assessment, we have determined that the factored base year value of your property exceeds the market value of your property as of January 1, 2008 and your value will be adjusted downward for the 2008/2009 tax year. This review has been done under the Proposition 8 “Decline In Value” program.

This value change will be reflected on your 2008-2009 tax bill which should be mailed in September.

The provisions of Proposition 13 also mandate that the value of your property shall be reviewed on an annual basis. This annual review could restore your factored base year value plus any applicable inflation factors that have occurred as of any subsequent lien date, but can never exceed your protected Proposition 13 base year value plus any applicable inflation factors. If the annual review should show that the market has experienced a further decline, you will receive another decrease in value for that tax year.

The Silver Lining

Despite the badness of this news, we can’t help but be a little cheered at the prospect of lowered property taxes this year. With decreased income but increased everything else, a break in property tax right now seems more important than our property value, because, after all, we won’t be trying to sell our property in this market.

The Rest of the Cloud

But back to the bad part of the bad news: Our adjusted 2008-2009 value is now 37% less than its base value. This is really worrying. We had been thinking about re-financing in the next year or so because our current loan is an ARM (fixed for the first 10 years – so until 2015), but that’s definitely on hold for now.

A few of our major concerns right now are:

• What if the market doesn’t come back up by 2015?
• What if we can’t afford to keep up with all the necessary maintenance due to the inflation and lowered income, resulting in further decline in value?
• What if we need to sell the house for some reason?

We can only hope that everything will work out after a year or two of lowered property taxes. Maybe we should start patronizing Starbucks.

Related posts:

• California Fires: Should We Have to Pay for the Choices of Others?
• Beware of Fake IRS (Internal Revenue Service) Phishing Email Scams
• Terms of Use
• Monopoly Game Expansion #2: Personal Checking Account
• Monopoly Game Expansion #4: Personal Credit Card Account

Originally posted 2008-07-19 07:00:35.

Looking for Blog Carnival Hosts

We are looking for personal finance, frugal and green living bloggers to host editions such as this starting October 22, 2009. Hosting a carnival is a good way to gain traffic to your blog, so if you are a blogger and are interested in hosting, please visit the hosting guidelines page to learn more and apply.

Now on with the carnival!

I thought I’d celebrate Fall TV Premiere month with a stroll down memory lane of one of my favorite shows from my college days, Friends. Thanks to TheWb.com, I am now able catch up on the last few seasons which I have yet to see because we stopped getting cable in 2001.

Below are a few clips from this great show. Enjoy!

Editor’s Picks

• Fiscal Fizzle presents 7 Ways to Find Your Financial Heart.
• Budgets Are Sexy presents Finance is really not that complicated.
• Get Rich Slowly presents Sweating the Big Stuff.
• Man Vs. Debt presents Negotiation Tips For Beginners.

Frugality

• Suburban Dollar presents Be Frugal, Not Cheap.
• Pay Less For Food presents Nine Simple Ways to Avoid Supermarket Impulse Purchases.
• Modern Tightwad presents Updated: Top Fifteen Garage Sale Rules.
• The Financial blogger presents 4 Tricks to Save Money on Groceries: How to Cut Your Grocery Bills by 20% while being lazy.

Jobs, Income & Economy

• Bible Money Matters presents Dealing With A Job Loss: What To Do When You’re Laid Off.
• Gather Little By Little presents What I Don’t Like About Mary Kay and other Multi Level Marketing (MLM) Companies.
• Christian Finances presents 25 top careers without a degree .
• Darwin’s Finance presents Best Places to Work: Surprising Survey Results and Analysis.
• The Happy Rock presents Necessity vs Luxury: Research Shows That The Economy Shapes Our Perspective.
• Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents The Minimum Wage Mistake.

Debt, Credit & Loans

• PT Money presents 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards: Using them Effectively.
• The Digerati Life presents Secured Credit Cards To Boost Your Credit.
• Banker, Saver presents Compare Auto Loan Financing Options Before Buying A Car.
• The Smarter Wallet presents Avoid Bankruptcy! Information To Help You Stay Afloat.
• Money Help For Christians presents Good Debt vs. Bad Debt.
• Financial Highway presents Basics of Credit Score and Credit Report and How often to Check.

Saving & Investing

• Bargaineering presents Roth IRA Account Explained.
• Free From Broke presents 9 Reasons You Need An Online High Yield Savings Account.
• My Dollar Plan presents Writing Bylaws for Your Investment Club.
• Go To Retirement presents Asset Allocation Strategies and Online Calculators.
• Good Financial Cents presents Understanding Your Beneficiary Options for IRA’s and 401k’s.
• Investing Toolkit presents Facing Investment Risks: Watch Your Money!

Well, this wraps it up for today’s carnival. Be sure and submit to next week’s edition which will be hosted at Fiscal Fizzle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities is Hosting the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights This Week!
• Finance Blog Carnivals of Late
• Pecuniary Links ~ July 2009 #2
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights Giveaways: Cute Piggy Bank Magnet Prizes for Hosting and Submissions
• Pecuniary Links ~ August 2009 #1

For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure of getting to e-know me (7 Things You Didn’t Know About Me), I grew up in Hawaii, and for several years suffered a serious addiction to surfing. Don’t get me wrong, I sucked. But just one good ride a session was enough to keep me getting up at 4:00 a.m. on a weekend, suiting up and diving into freezing water in the hopes of catching just one more good ride.

I lived at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu during those years, which afforded me the best views of some of the best surf in the world – Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline, Waimea Bay, etc. So for today’s edition, I thought I’d take you on a stroll down one of my memory lanes.

I have invited one of my favorite bands, The Beach Boys, to set the mood for today’s edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. Press play (unless you’re at work) and proceed. And it is true: catch a wave and you’re sittin’ on top of the world.

Editor’s Picks

Photo: Kanaka’s Paradise Life

• My Dollar Plan presents 10 Financial Tips for New Grads.
• DoughRoller presents Say Goodbye to Cable and Hello to Free Digital TV!.
• Bargaineering presents Making Your Own Dog Food.

Entertainment

Photo: Prob1t

• The Buck List presents Use Your Library.
• Funny about Money presents The High Cost of Culture: 16 Low-cost Routes to the Better Life.
• The Happy Rock presents Top 8 Free Music Websites.

Automotive

Photo: Prob1t

• Money Help For Christians presents When is it time to buy a ‘newer’ car?.
• Free Money Finance presents How Do You Decide When to Get a New Car?.

Frugal Home & Garden

Photo: Kanaka’s Paradise Life

• Passive Family Income presents Frugal and Freecycle Landscaping.
• Budgets are Sexy presents Bring Lunch or Buy Lunch? I Say a Little of Each..
• Practicing Thrift presents Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP).

Personal Finance

Photo: Kanaka’s Paradise Life

• M is for Money presents Save or Pay Down Debt?.
• The Digerati Life presents Best High Interest Savings Accounts In Online Banking.
• Prime Time Money presents Opening a Roth IRA for the First Time.
• Good Financial Cents presents Benefits of the 401k Rollover.

Economy, Job & Stock Market

Photo: Kanaka’s Paradise Life

• Christian Finance presents 20 places that are hiring (in this economy).
• The Smarter Wallet presents S & P Index and Crude Oil Market Trends: Next Steps?.

Parting Song and Shots

Photo: Hawaiian Sea

This wraps it up for the 12th edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. Next week’s edition will be hosted at Momma’s Blog. If you’re a blogger, be sure and get your submission in by Wed. June 24 6:00 EST!

Photo: Prob1t

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities is Hosting the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights This Week!
• Finance Blog Carnivals of Late
• Pecuniary Links ~ July 2009 #2
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights Giveaways: Cute Piggy Bank Magnet Prizes for Hosting and Submissions
• Pecuniary Links ~ August 2009 #1

Wise Bread is holding a $10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway for a random answer to the above question and I thought it would be a good exercise for me.

Frankly my first reaction to this question was “There is no silver lining.” Our business sales are lower than ever so income is down while food, utility and gas prices keep rising. We have several things around the house that need repair but are holding off on them because keeping money in the bank seems more important at this time.

One of the things that need repairing is our central air conditioning, which is somewhat important as we live in the desert and are expecting temperatures as high as 110° Fahrenheit starting today, but we have decided to try to make do without for now, which is highly unpleasant.

So where’s the silver lining in all this?

It took a little thinking, but I’ve come up with one. The silver lining for me is that this is happening while I’m still young.

I feel guilty and selfish for saying this because not everyone is able to, but I am young enough that this recession won’t destroy my entire future and I can learn from it. For those at or near retirement age, this recession could permanently impact the rest of their lives by wiping out or taking a large chunk out of their retirement savings and investments. I am at an age where, once the recession is over, I still have a chance to build up investments and savings.

Throughout my life, I’ve read stories, watched movies or learned in school about the Great Depression, but because it was all so long ago and our society seemed so far advanced that the possibility of our falling into another depression never occurred to me. I’ve always been careful with my money, but took for granted that our society and economy are well enough advanced that we need not worry about the not having enough money for basic necessities.

While we are not at the point of destitution, things are worrisome enough now that this is something I will never forget. I have learned that merely being careful with money is not enough. I have now learned to be vigilant with my money, and that is something I won’t cease to do even when this recession is over.

That’s not to say I will be living in a state of pecuniary paranoia for the rest of my life, but you can be sure that I will never take economic and financial stability for granted again. So the silver lining in this recession for me is a lesson well learned and remembered.

While my silver lining is only a silver lining for me and those of my age group, I hope that those further on in years have found silver linings in other forms.

Related posts:

• Frugal Thermodymics Part II: A Simple Cooling System
• Dear Taxpayer: Good News! Your Property Tax Has Decreased … P.S. So Has Your Property Value
• Festival of Frugality #152: Affected by Recession Edition
• Patchwork Berets from Fabric Scraps
• Affordable Storage Solution: Covering a Cardboard Box to Make a Treasure Chest

As some of you already know, I am the worst of procrastinators. And taxes being so unpleasant, I naturally tend to procrastinate when it comes to filing my taxes every year.

First of all, I do put off filing my tax return for one valid reason: we owe each year so I prefer to wait till April to file and pay in order to earn more interest in  savings. But this also gives me an excuse to put off working on our returns.

This year I was worse than usual, and my procrastination and 2 unforeseen events almost got me in trouble.

My Taxing Experience

• Dec. 31, 2008–April 11, 2009 — Procrastinated
  We have a few different sources of income so there are a lot of elements involved in our tax returns – calculating various types of expenses and almost 20 different forms between the two of us. Needless to say, this takes a lot of preparation, which I just kept putting off.
• April 11 9:30PM — Started to panic
  3 days, 2 hours before April 15th, I finally realized just how little time was left and kicked myself into action.
• April 12–13 — Worked like mad
  Pulled an all-nighter and finished my “first draft” of the PDF forms.
• April 13 11:00PM — Crisis #1: Printer wouldn’t print
  After double- & triple-checking the forms and calculations, I was ready to print and be done with it — only to find that the printer wouldn’t print. I re-filled the ink cartridge but print quality was awful. Thinking the ink needed time to settle and let the air bubbles work their way up, I called it a night.
• April 14 5:45PM — Crisis #2: Power outage
  After more ink re-filling and printer maintenance, it was printing properly again, but half-way through approx. 40 pages, our power went out due to wind storms in the area. the outage was all over town and lasted until 11:00PM, so I didn’t finish compiling and packing everything up till around 1:15AM.
• April 15 — Phew!
  Got to the post office and got everything mailed out. Thoroughly exhausted.

I was extremely lucky that I was still able to get everything done by the 15th. Had I delayed just one more day, I probably wouldn’t have made it. When the power went out on the 14th, I started contemplating all the other things that could possibly go wrong, such as:

• What if my car won’t start when I need to go the Post Office tomorrow?
• What if the wind storm gets worse tomorrow and I can’t drive?

Any number of things could have prevented me from being able to get our returns postmarked on the 15th. The amount we owe is high enough that a penalty and interest charge would be quite unpleasant.

This experience got me thinking about other ways procrastination can set back your financial health. I have been thinking about this for the last 2 days and here are my conclusions.

Other ways procrastination can lead to financial disease (and possible eventual death)

Putting off . . .

• Contacting service providers, insurance companies, etc. to lower your bills
• Canceling services you no longer need
• Minor maintenance and repairs on your home or car until they become major repairs
• Paying off credit card debt by just paying the minimum payment
• Refinancing loans when interest rates are low
  

I have to admit I have been guilty of all but one of the above (I don’t have credit card debt). When I was in college, my fellow students and I often joked about how we procrastinated studying for our exams or writing term papers. The fact is, I’m the type that works better under pressure. Oftentimes, when I sat down to write a paper that wasn’t due for a few more days, I would get writer’s block. But the night before the due date, I would get serious and the ideas would start flowing.

Thus, I have always operated under the premise that this is just how I work so it’s O.K. to procrastinate. But now that I’m a grown-up dealing with grown-up matters where it’s no longer just a grade at stake, I’m beginning to see just how self-destructive this type of behavior can be. While this past week has been torture, I have learned a valuable lesson, so perhaps it was good for me that I had this harrowing experience.

It seems the tax gods were with me this time and let me get by with a lesson learned and no harm done. I shouldn’t expect to be so lucky again and must start getting things done ahead of time. Not only could it save me potential financial penalties, but keep the stress and blood pressure levels to a minimum.

Related posts:

• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #19
• Funny Money Lessons from Fiddler on the Roof: If I Were a Rich Man
• Holidays Should Be Happy: Have a Party-Preparation Party to Reduce Stress
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #20
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #10

If you haven’t done your taxes yet, enter now for a chance to win 1 of 2 FREE prepaid access codes for TurboTax Premier Online which includes:

• Free Federal
• State Preparation
• Free e-File

The Premier package is valued at $85 and includes investment income, 401-K  Maximizer, rental deductions and other features to help you maximize and expedite your refund. Click here for more information on TurboTax Premier.

Enter by 11:59 PM PST tonight March 28, 2009 for a chance to win!

Pecuniarities is Hosting 2 Carnivals Next Week!

Submit your posts for double carnival exposure:

• Carnival of Debt Reduction on Monday March 30th
  Submit your post by 5:00 PM PST Sunday March 29th to be considered for inclusion
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights on Thursday April 2nd
  Submit your best post – remember there is no restriction as to the age of the post – by 5:00 PM PST Wednesday April 1st to be considered for inclusion

Apply to host and submit an article for the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights by April 1st for chances to win these 2 cute piggy bank magnets by Madoline Hatter:

“Money begets Money” magnet for article submissions, “Feast on your savings” magnet for applying to host.

This Week’s Blog Carnivals

We participated in 2 blog carnivals this week:

• Festival of Frugality #170 – Frugal Living is Timeless was hosted by Money Ning and included my post:
  When “Free” Things Aren’t Free: Beware the Hidden and Indirect Costs
• Learn The Basics of Investing – Edition #197 of Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Four Pillars and included my post:
  It Saves to Be Nice Part 4: How to Save Money by Helping Businesses Keep Operating Costs Down

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities is Hosting the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights This Week!
• Hosting Festival of Frugality and Money Hacks Carnival Next Week
• Web Hosting
• Wall Street Journal Giveaway Winner and Carnivals of the Week
• New Personal Finance and Frugality Blog Carnival: The Carnival of Pecuniary Delights