Mr Credit Card : Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #121 - Columbus Day Edition. Today’s event is a Q&A session with our leading presidential candidates. As the presidential candidates from both parties continue their campaign, the carnival of personal finance is pleased to announce that Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, Ex-Governor Guliani and Senator McCain have agreed to appear before personal finance bloggers for a question and answer session with regards to their policy platform. Please give our guest a round of applause.

Let us now begin.

Everyday Finance : I would like to direct this question to all of you. I am concerned about the weak dollar and how much it has depreciated against other currencies. The question I have is is the weak dollar driving US companies into the arms of foreigners? And are any of you concerned about this?

Senator McCain : We have to let the market forces determine the level of the US Dollar. But having said that, I am concerned about the dollar but I also think that once we get the war under control and our budget deficits under control, we will start to see a turnaround of the dollar.

Senator Clinton : In the 90’s, the United States had a strong dollar policy. Having said that, we were in a much better shape than the present. Right now, we have a massive deficit and an administration whose sole concern is the war and the dollar is suffering from this benign neglect.

Exjackly : This question is addressed to the two democrat candidates. I am a business owner and I am concerned about the democrats inclining to raise taxes. Since you took over congress, you have raised the minimum wage and it has affected many small businesses including mine. My business hires mainly students and simply cannot see why students should be benefiting from this bill!

Senator Clinton : As a society, those of us who are much better off cannot afford to overlook those at the bottom of the rung. But I would say that it is not just your business that will be affected, but even your competitors will be affected. I believe that in starting a business, all you need is momentum

Bewildement from the audience.

Mayor Guliani : As a republican, I really believe in letting the market forces determine what should be the appropriate wage. I fully understand the position of business owners like yourself. In fact, I can even show you how to live on minimum wage?.

Finance is Personal : The senate finance committee has recently questioned certain practices by credit card companies and as a result, we have practices like the universal default clause not being practiced anymore. I would like to ask all of you if you have any thoughts as to how we can change America to become a nation of savers rather than being a nation of debtors? Also, do you think will consumers warm up to credit freezes? since we have to pay for these services?

Senator McCain : All of us want Americans to be a nation of savers. Unfortunately, we are also a free country and that means that consumers should be able to choose whether to use credit and businesses are able to extend consumers credit. What I think is important is that perhaps we improve the means where consumers can get better educated on issues like how much credit is optimal?, or even how to fight back against debt collectors.

Senator Obama : I have to agree with Senator McCain on this issue. I think what the Senate Committee of Banking and Finance have done with regards to the credit card industry is very good. We have to ensure that credit card and finance companies provide more disclosure, eliminate fine prints and ensure they adhere to honest advertising. Consumers ultimately have to be responsible in how they use credit. When I was in college, I read brochures about tips for using credit cards. I can even tell you how we chose our credit card!

Home Finance Freedom : This question I have is this : Do anyone of you think that the mortgage tax deduction that we Americans have is distorting the housing market? Is this encouraging Americans to buys homes when they shouldn’t? Why should we get this tax break at all? This to me is an entitlement. In fact, because of the mortgage tax deductions, most Americans fall into what I call the debt free deception - housing myth. Most of us would be better off to pay off your mortgage and lose your tax deductions. For many people, buying is for suckers and why renting is the way to go.

Senator Clinton : The mortgage interest tax deduction has been around for a long time and the premise behind that is that we want to encourage home ownership among Americans. Home ownership is very much part of the American dream.

Mayor Guliani : Bear in mind that about 39% of Americans rent. Hence, I do not think the mortgage interest tax deduction distorts home prices.

Phil For Humanity : What are your thoughts on the recent sub-prime mess? What should regulators do to prevent such incidents again? Look at how Netbank has closed down. And what happens to property taxes of customers with bankrupt lenders?

Mayor Guliani : I honestly think in this situation, it is a new experience for every central bank and regulator. I’m pretty sure that regulators will look more closely at how banks mark to market their structured investments and also at sales practices by mortgage brokers. However, we have to let the market correct itself from any excesses. In fact, now may be the best time to purchase bank foreclosure properties.

Senator Obama : I can also show you a visual guide to finding HUD foreclosures

To laughter from the audience.

Flexo : One of the things that really alarm me is our budget deficit. Yes, we do have a war and I am really disappointed in Republicans who have not really kept an eye on spending. Yet, I am so concerned about the democrats love for social programs and the potential higher taxes that await us? This is probably a sweeping statement from me, but how would all of you respond to the huge budget deficit?

Senator McCain : I really think we have to go back to basics. I think the next administration and congress really need a budget you can stick to. And that means fiscal discipline. Yet there is the balancing act of making sure the economy grows.

Mayor Guliani : I always remember what my dad taught me about money, which is to never spend more than you earn. And I think we politicians have to get back to basics and all of you have to make us keep feeling guilty to spend money on anything. The budget deficit is simply unsustainable.

Senator Obama : I agree that we have to seriously figure out how to get out of debt?. The fiscal situation has gotten out of control. A big reason is obviously the war in Iraq. While we cannot rush a total troop withdrawal, we have to be extremely conscious about the fiscal situation.

Gather Little by Little : I would like to address this to the two Democrat Senators. Both of you mention about fiscal responsibility, but yet at the same time, both of you are proposing univeral health care. Who is going to pay for it? Wouldn’t that be already adding to our fiscal problems? Or is this an easy pitch to get elected?

Senator Clinton : The fact remains that 48 million Americans have no insurance and for such a great nation like ours, this is simply unacceptable. If the Canadians and Europeans can do it, shouldn’t we be able to provide health care for everyone?

Senator Obama : Our current system is broken and heath care inflation is running out of control. We have to make health care affordable again.

Mayor Guliani : I think we have to be very careful when we are talking about health care. There are no easy fix. But I suspect that every party has to accept certain changes to make our health care more affordable. I think incrememtal steps are needed in this area rather than a large sweeping move taking us into the unknown. It is also a question of uncovering the truths about needs and wants of the American people with regards to health care. I do not think we are willing to accept the sacrifices and consequences of a universal health care system.

Senator McCain : I’ll give you a few tips for getting low cost health insurance after this is over! But seriously, the proposals from the democrats fail to explore the shortcomings of the Universal system. Americans I think, do not have the patients to wait for their treatment as most patients in the Universal Health Care system do. Many of the 48 million also choose not to have insurance because costs are too high.

Senator Clinton : I question if is penny pinching really the road to wealth?. We also have to address the issue of fairness and equity of those who are less well off in our society.

Laughter from audience.

Free Money Finance : This is not a question, but just a comment and request. I am absolutely sick and tired of how partisan things get when a president nominates a supreme court judge. I get my fair share of strange interview questions, but the questions and scrutiny that a supreme court judge nominee has to go through is ridiculous.

Mrs Micah : This is another comment. But I am simply disillusioned by all politicians. Every campaign promise is never really fulfilled. They are just made to simply get votes. Even if you have the best intentions, the influence of lobbyist simply results in all of you selling and sucking your soul.

Chief Family Officer : Since President Bush passed his “no child left behind” scheme, I just wanted to get a perspective on how we are progressing as a nation. Where my family is, public schools are still not up to scratch. That is why we are sending our kids to private school. And man, you would believe what we’re giving up for private school and why.

Senator McCain : I think we are making progress on that front. Studies have shown that we are behind many countries, especially in the area of math. Progress will not be uniform across the board though.

My Wealth Builder : I’ve retired in my forties, but given the amount of student debt that students carry after the graduate, I think that early retirement may not be optional for twenty somethings. I question is how can we contain the inflation in education costs?

Money Walks : I would like to ask all of you how does your portfolio look like? An d what money lessons have you learned in your personal life?

Senator McCain : Firstly, in terms of attitude and metality, I thinkit is very important for us to understand why everybody should think like a CEO when it comes to their personal finance.

As far as investments goes, I have a money market account. Stop asking yourself do I need an emergency fund? Off course you do. You should start saving and let money build right away. I would not even waste my time day trading or any of that as I think that trading is for losers. Instead, I would learn how to pick an index fund with low initial investment.

Mayor Guliani : After what happened on 9/11, I would say that the first thing you have to do is to figure out how much life insurance do you need?

Once you have taken care of your emergency fund and your insurance (your back up plans), I would then educate myself as much as I can on personal finance and invest wisely. I recomend reading A weekend with Warren Buffet and other shareholders meeting adventure and lessons from Fire Finance top 100 pf blog list. Most important of all, be patient. Remember that the 1st Million is the hardest to make and that once you cross that hurdle, everything is much easier.

Always know in your mind the 25 mutual funds every investor should know. Somrtimes, the investments I don’t have is more important than what I have. As you get more affluent, consider a Roth IRA if you think you will be in the top tax bracket when you retire. Also consider hiring a financial advisor and do some advanced portfolio building

Senator Obama : If I had a personal finance time machine, I may do things a bit differently. With the internet and the explosion of different investmtent and money magazines, I would have educated myself a lot more when I was younger. But evolution of my online personal finance regimen has gone through a lot of changes. I now do all my banking online and enroll in various automatic bill payments.

Being Frugal when you are starting out in life after graduation is very important I think. You should always buy stuff you can afford. Do not follow the example of the US government! For example, I never have a car payment. However, you definitely want to be learning how to be a gazelle intense without going crazy. You also want to watch yourself and make sure you do not have the making of a cheapskate!

Senator Clinton : One of the most important things in my opinion is that you have to do the right things for yourself and your circumstances. Let me give you a few examples.

If you are in debt, you have to ask yourself if consolidating your debt is worth it? Only you can answer this question. Or if you have to file for bankruptcy, then learn to rebuild your credit score after bankruptcy. I even know people who sell coupons to pay for diapers! Bill even recently told me about the 3000 Mile Oil Change Myth. Even things like setting up a virgin prepaid cell phone or
prepaid electricity can save you money

Where you decide to live also has huge bearings on you finances. I can tell you it is definitely cheaper to live in Arkansas than in New York. If you are living in a high cost area, and moving is going to save you a ton of money, then consider doing it.

Communications and personal finance relationships is also very important. You have to be able to communicate your finances with your spouse or partner. This became very important for me since becoming the bread winner. Strive to become debt free and pass your personal finance tips to others. Remember, we all go through ups and downs and sometimes, you have to be looking at life from a stock market perspective!

Dough Roller : I would like to ask the four of you what are your favorite personal finance books? or at least what have you read in this arena?

Senator McCain : My favourites include 30 ways to use one hour to improve your finances by the The Simple Dollar, 5 things that can appreciate in value by Finandom.

Mayor Guliani : My favorites are free your inner spender, 10 tips for dealing with a lost wallet, and the tortured lives of Mr and Mrs Jones.

Senator Obama : My favorite personal finance book is 7 steps to a smooth car sale, how convertible bond arbitrage works (laughter). Yes, it’s true, I am really facinated by the financial markets. I also think that Benjamin Franklin is the original personal finance blogger.

Senator Clinton : My favorites include my son came across a pyramid scheme and is this really what we want to teach our kids?.

Mr Credit Card : We have finally come to the end of his fantastic Q&A. I would like to thank our guest who have taken their time to come here and answer questions from the personal finance bloggers, who along with being concerned with their own financial well-being, also care a lot about our nation’s finances. Thank you to everyone for participating. Thanks also to the Carnival of Personal Finance for organizing this event.

Mrs Credit Card was planning for our annual vacation. We had originally wanted to fly to San Diego and stay with our friend, see the San Diego Zoo and all the other California attraction. However, our plans had to change as our friends will not be around. So Mrs Credit Card made the executive decision to go to Florida and DisneyWorld.

As she was my supplementary card holder of my Amex Platinum Credit Card, she made some calls. We received a promotional flyer that advertised their Platinum Travel Service and the number listed is 1866-310-0684. The phone service was courteous and best of all you don’t have to wait long. However, the agent said at this number they will take our profile when we call the first time & assists in our requests. Subsequently, we should call 1800-443-7672 ! OK, she took down our details, and answered all her questions regarding using our points to redeem free air tickets. Mrs Credit card did express my frustration about having to call another number & what’s the difference ? She assured her that this number is mainly to take down the member’s profile.

Basically, 2 ways :

1) Paying with reward points - no restrictions. If you have 70000 points, you could redeem $700 towards a ticket.

2) If using airlines miles for Continental, Delta, Southwest etc, more restrictions but less points required. For example, 15000 Reward points can exchange for 1 Rapid Reward point for Southwest. Then, you are subject to the airline’s closed out dates. But first, we have to transfer the Platinum reward points to the selected airline frequent flyer program - that will take about 3 to 5 days.

Mrs Credit Card hanged up the phone & called me to discuss the issue. Then she called Southwest to check flight availability. It was available at our preferred dates but we need to transfer the points quickly and we can only make the bookings when the points are in the members account. So, Mrs Credit Card called 1800-443-7672 (the number that they told me to call subsequently) and guess what ? They asked her to call 1800-297-3276 - the Amex Platinum Membership Hotline. Only they can check the points & transfer points. Mrs Credit Card’s patience is obviously wearing thin but thankfully, she didn’t wait long for an agent to answer my call.

It turns out that I have about 72,000 membership reward points at the moment. However, because she was a supplementary card holder, she needed my “authorization” to give her the ability to use my membership reward points.

As easy as this sounds, it turned out to be a slightly complicated process. The Amex clearly has seperate departments. So I had to call each department and give Mrs Credit Card authorization to access my account and charge stuff to my card. The first stop was the membership rewards department. I had to call them up and authorize Mrs Credit Card to use my membership reward points.

Then I had to call up the travel concierge department to allow Mrs Credit Card to book flights and charge it to my card (note : she could simply charge them to her card - but she still needed my authorization to use my membership rewards points).

The process took quite a bit of time (call it about twenty minutes). I was quite disappointed that I could not call one number and simply have Mrs Credit Card fully authorized to do whatever she wanted with my account. Also, on the last stop (travel concierge), I was asked to verify my password. I said the correct password but the system rejected it the first time. I was pretty sure I had the correct password and the system accepted it the second time. Even the operator was “surprised”.

At least, Mrs Credit Card can now book our vacation (it is always a chore to do so for me). Plus with 77,000 points, we can get three Southwest Airline tickets for free. And I almost forgot, we could try to get the “free companion ticket”. Let’s see how this works out. We just have to pay for two other tickets and obviously the hotels. I will update the final plans soon.

I’ve been sloppy about linking back to carnivals I’ve participated in the last couple of weeks. So belatedly, here they are :

93rd Festivl of Frugality

Personal Finance Tips

Carnival of Everything Finance - 3rd Edition

3rd Carnival of College and Finance

118th Carnival of Personal Finance - Fun Money Facts Edition

104th Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Personal Finance #117

Carnival of Personal Finance #116

Blogs and Posts that caught my eye

I’ve been following Tricia from blogging away debt and have been moved and touched by her revealing her life story about her family, her finances and her determination to pay down her credit card debt. Why don’t we pack up and move and how she reduced her house living area to reduce her heating bills were two posts from her that really got my attention of all the other finance posts out there.

Welcome to the 105th Carnival of Debt Reduction - The Emmy Award Version. Tonight’s host is Tricia from Blogging Away Debt.

Tricia : Good evening everyone. I am absolutely honored to be your host. One of the very first steps we have to take is to actually find out How Do You Know You Are In Debt?, acknowledge if we are in debt and then take the necessary steps to face it. To present the award for the “Best Debt Reduction Knowledge Post”, here is SVB from the Digerati Life.

SVB : One of the ways I make sure I don’t get into any debt problems is that I make sure I budget and stick to it. Actually I have 10 Reasons Why I Love To Budget. But I am here to present the nominees for the “Best Debt Reduction General Knowledge Posts”. They are :

What Every Consumer Needs to Know About Debt Collectors by the Frugal Law Student.

Robbing Yourself Tomorrow To Pay For Today by Broke Ass Student.

How To Get Out of Debt - Part 2 by JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly.

Get Out of Debt - Part 1 by Free Money Finance.

A Closer Look At Debt Consolidation by The Happy Rock.

And the winner is…………A Closer Look At Debt Consolidation by The Happy Rock.

Applause…applause…..

Happy Rock : Thank you. I would like to thank my parents to teaching me the values of money when I was young.

Tricia : To present the “Best Debt Reduction Advice Post” award is Brett The Frugal Law Student.

Brett : In my opinion, the first step for anyone who is in debt is to actually acknowledge it and ask yourself Why I Want To Get Out Of Debt. With that, the nominees for the “Best Debt Reduction Advice Posts” are :

Adding A Windfall to Your Snowball Debt Reduction from the Mighty Bargain Hunter.

Profiting from 0% teaser deals credit cards from Five Cent Nickel.

Stop Using Credit Cards by No Credit Needed Blog.

5 Tips for Paying Off Credit Card Debt by Dink Finance.

Speed Up Debt Reduction with Just $5 A Day by My Wealth Builder.

Reduce My Debt - 5 Secrets For Success by My Debt Relief

Top 10 Tips For Reducing and Eliminating Debt by Mortgage Guide UK.

And the winner is……..Top 10 Tips For Reducing and Eliminating Debt by Mortgage Guide UK.

Mortgage Guide UK : It’s such an honor to win this award. I want to thank the judges and every one who has been such a big influence in my life. One tip I have for those really want to reduce your debt is to Create A Visual Debt Reminder to help you about your debt reduction efforts. Thank you once again.

Tricia : To present the “Best Finance Related Post” award, please welcome Jennifer of Broke Ass Student.

Jennifer : One of the very important thing is to always have supportive friends in your debt reduction effort. When People Are Less Than Supportive, it becomes much more difficult to achieve your goals.

The nominees for the “Best Finance Related Post” are :

5 Ways to Automate Your Finances from Online Savings Blog

How To Destroy Your Credit With Bad Mortgage Loan from The Digerati Life.

What Will You Sacrifice? from Single Ma.

A New View on Debt Reduction from Savings Advice.

Debt Snowball Thoughts by Paid Twice.

And the winner is ……What Will You Sacrifice? from Single Ma.

Single Ma : What can I say? I want to thank my children and every one who is part of my life.

Tricia : Our next guest is The Mighty Bargain Hunter. he will be presenting the “Best Debt Reduction Story” Award.

Mighty Bargain Hunter : The nominees for the “Best Debt Reduction Story” are :

To bankruptcy and Back by Smart Money Daily.

NO More Credit Card Debt by Clever Dude.

How We Paid Down Our Debt and Saved Money at The Same Time? by My Two Dollars.

And the winner is……..How We Paid Down Our Debt and Saved Money at The Same Time? by My Two Dollars.

My Two Dollars : Gosh! I don’t know what to say except that it really feels good to have no debt. I want to thank the judges, my family and friends. I also want to thank other bloggers for their inspiration. This post by Canajun Finance Don’t Pass It To The Other Team is something you have to check out. Now that I have got out of debt, I am beginning to save more and build up my savings and equity. I have been very encouraged by Bryan Flemmings Million Dollar Savings Club Turning 1 Year Old. In fact, now that I’m out of debt, there are actually 5 Things We’ll Pay More For since we can afford it.

Tricia : Well, that’s all folks. We like to thank everyone for making this Carnival of Debt Reduction such a wonderful event. Until Next Time……

I will be the host for next week’s carnival of debt reduction. I have decided to copy an idea from Get Rich Slowly when he last hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance. In that particular carnival that he hosted, he requested that bloggers submit their “best personal finance” post.

I will take a leaf from his book and ask that you submit your best “debt reduction” post you have ever written (it does not have to be written this past week or recently).

Submit your best debt reduction post here

Carnivals

Free Money Finance hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance

Simple Dollar hosted ther Carnival of Personal Finance #114

Fire Finance hosted the Carnival of Money Stories #23

Carnival of Debt Management #22

Posts I liked

Mighty Bargain Hunter talks about his experience with Lending Tree and Free Gift Cards. Finally, someone actually recounts their actual experience using services like Lending Tree.

Fire Finance’s Top Personal Finance Books is a great list of pf books to check out. I have read quite a few of them and must say it is a good list.

Savings Advice of how 7 unauthorized credit cards were opened in his name is a wake up call on how important it is to protect your identity.

Golbguru’s post on the subprime mess is one of the most level headed article I’ve read in a while about this topic. Please check this out if you have not.

This week’s carnivals

Carnival of Personal Finance 113

100th Carnival of Debt Reduction

Carnival of Money Stories - this was actually last week. I was the host this week.

Posts I liked

Getting Rid of Debt Without Worrying About the Latte Factor is one post that really jives with me. David Bach used this as an example of frugal living. But unfortunately, this has been taken out of context in many other examples. Calculations have been made on how much you save over your lifetime if you do not watch TV! I guess you can do calculations on how much you can save over your lifetime by doing your own laundry! Golbguru is right - focus on your big ticket expenses.

Mistakes for New Parents to Avoid - Baby Expenses resonated with me because we have three kids. I certainly could have saved more money if I had followed the advice here.

After reading the post A Doctor who is $327,000 in debt! , I just wondered whether it is ever worth it to get into so much debt to fulfill your ambition?

SVB has also written an interesting post on the Falling US Dollar. Watch out for more post on this - cos when everyone starts talking about it, the dollar will probably rebound!

Welcome to the carnival of money stories. Since this is a carnival about YOUR MONEY STORIES, we shall have it in a “show and tell’ format - yes, just like when you were little kids. Your teacher is Moi!

First, a few housekeeping matters : I turned down many submissions because they were not stories. Andy (founder of this carnival) told me to pick only money stories and I quite agree as this is a carnival for money stories. There were many good post I turned down because they were more like “how to” or “descriptive” post which should be posted to the carnival of personal finance.

Directions : To get the most out of this carnival, just imagine have your kids around (if you are a parent) and read the post through the eyes of a child.

Teacher : Alright children, it’s show and tell time. Let’s all form a circle. (After 5 minutes when everything is settled). OK - who wants to go first today? Happy Rock. Alright Happy Rock, come up here and do your show and tell.

Happy Rock : This is box of the copy of Microsoft Money my Daddy bought for me. This is a game for you to see where your money goes. It’s really fun. You can see where your money is coming from and where you spent it. But last week, I changed computers and my money was gone…he he..so I had to Recover from Microsoft Money Server Upgrade.

Teacher : My Wealth Builder, you are next. What do you have for us today?

My Wealth Builder : This is my daddy’s toolbox. Inside, there are hammers, drills and many things. We live in a very old house and this year, my daddy says we are going to do lots of work on our house. Then it will be very beautiful. My daddy decided not to hire any one to do this. Daddy and Mommy are going to do all the work by themselves. This is a book on how to Do it yourself basics and save money.

Teacher : SVB, your next. What will you show us today?

SVB : This is my daddy’s and mommy’s money statement. Daddy and Mommy are always talking about money to me. Last night, they told me How they are rebalancing their asset allocation. I said to my daddy : “but daddy, I do not know what you are talking about?”. And my daddy said : ” Honey, diversifying your portfolio is like having many toys. On some days, you play with your dolls, on other days, you may want to play with your trains. If you only had one toy, what happens when you want to play with something else?”.

Teacher : Thank very much SVB - you are very smart. Now, who is next? How about you Queer Cents.

Queer Cents : This is a cell phone. This phone has a video camera. I use it to take pictures. Yesterday, Mommy and I were at a restaurant and we heard two ladies talking next to us. One of them was asking for Help for an astonishing bad money decision. Mommy says never to listen to what other people say, but they were talking so loud. So I took a picture with the cell phone.

Teacher : You have to be careful Queer Cents. Some people are not happy about having their pictures taken. OK - Money Ning, I see you have something quite heavy to show us.

Money Ning : This is a weighing machine. When you stand on it, it tells you how heavy you are. I am very light. But my daddy and mommy are quite heavy. My daddy and mommy always tell me to exercise and eat well. Daddy says it is very important to be fit and slim. He is worried that his employer might start charging me money for being fat. He makes me do exercise everyday.

Teacher : Well, Money Ning, you look healthy and fit. Now Money and Such, what is this you have here?

Money and Such : This is a for house sale sign. When you want to sell your house, you stick this in your garden. My mommy is a real estate agent. She says before you put your house on sale, you need to know what is your house worth?. Mommy sells lots of houses. But this year, she is not selling many.

Teacher : I see. Millionaire Mommy Next Door, what do you have for us?

Millionaire Mommy Next Door : This is a notebook. Mommy gives me some money every week to buy some food. She makes me write down how much I spend, how much I got and she wants me to have money left at the end of the week. She always tells me that Evaluation is critical to your success. She give me two dollars every day. So I have ten dollars every week. Two times five is ten. I save about five dollars every week. I use to buy candy sometimes.

Teacher : Thank you very much. Financial Dominance, what is it you have there?

Financial Dominance : This is a chinese fan. When you are hot, you just move it and you will feel a breeze. We also have fans at home. Mommy says that using fans can Dramatically cut your cooling cost. My house has fans on top. You just turn on the switch and it moves and it is so cool.

Teacher : Very cool indeed. It’s your turn next Fire Finance. What do you have for us?

Fire Finance : This is a credit card. Actually it is my daddy’s old credit card. It looks like a phone card. Daddy says that when I am older, he will teach me all about credit cards, money and grown up stuff. Yesterday, daddy was telling me about Lies about Credit Card Debt on TV. He said never believe everything on TV or what you read.

Teacher : Free Money Finance, what is it you have in your hands?

Free Money Finance : This is a disney ticket. Daddy and Mommy took our family to Disneyland during summer. We really had a great time. I had lots of fun. Daddy says he did not have to spend too much money because he got lots of Disney money saving tips. We sat in so many rides. I like the “It’s a small world after all”, and the “lion king” ride.

Teacher : You must have had a wonderful vacation. Finance is Personal, why are you holding your lunch box?

Finance is Personal : This is my lunch box for show and tell. Mommy says I have to bring my lunch box to school everyday except friday when it is pizza day. She says she will let me buy my own food two times a week when I am in second grade. My mommy makes really good food for my lunch box. She really knows How to bring your lunch to work without ruining your taste buds. I wish I was in third grade now, so I can buy lunch everyday.

Teacher : Time will fly very fast. Dough Roller, is that a newspaper?

Dough Roller : This is Barron’s newspaper. Daddy is teaching me about money and how to make more money. Last wee, he taught me how to pick your first mutual fund. He says when I am 20, I will know more about money than all my friends.

Teacher : Uh…well…I guess it is never too young to learn. Edith Yeung, what are those envelops you have?

Edith Yeing : These are my daddy’s bank statement (realistically this will never happen!). My daddy was teaching me how to manage and maintain your bank account. But I still do not know what he is talking about. So I just went to play with my toys!

Teacher : That alright Edith, you are still young. Unclaimed Money, it’s your turn next.

Unclaimed Money : This is a calendar. It tells you the month and the day. Mommy says that you can save money by changing your shopping day. She says different things in supermarkets cost cheaper on some days. So my mommy goes to the supermarket EVERYDAY!

Teacher : Thank you. Stephanie, you’re next.

Stephanie : This is a shoe that Mommy bought for me at the church consignment shopping and garage sales. Mommy spent the day looking for things for me. All the stuff was very cheap. Some of the money Mommy spent went to the church. I love shopping with Mommy.

Teacher : Finally….Money Smart Life, what is that in your hands?

Money Smart Life : This is a picture of a man with no name. Last saturday, daddy sat down with this man he did not know and talked to him for a very long time. Daddy always told me not to talk to strangers and he was talking to strangers himself. I kept asking to buy me an ice cream, but he kept talking and talking. The man told my daddy how money can change a life.

Teacher : Thank you very children. You all did very well for your show and tell. It’s time for recess and lunch. So let all line up to go to the cafeteria.

I will be the host of the carnival of money stories next week on the 14th. Please summit any money story post you have here. I look forward to reading and posting your money stories.

OK - I’ve been late in acknowledge some carnivals and posts that have caught my attention. Here is is the update from the last two weeks.

Carnivals

108th Carnival of Personal Finance.

83rd Festival of Frugality

Carnival of Long Term Investing #9

Posts that caught my attention

The two posts that really caught my attention this week came from authors with personal experience in the topics that they wrote.

Cutting the Cable Cord by The Wastrel Show was about her experiment on cutting their cable expenses (just paying for basic services). She found out that she can actually live with it. Hoever, she then mentioned that she gets her video DVDs from Netflix! Hey, if you really want to save, then then get your DVDs from your local library (they free!).

Single Ma’s How to close credit cards without hurting your credit score? is a great post based on her personal experience. I can rave on and on about how good this post is. But it’s best that you head over and check it out yourself.