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.

Have you ever had a really bad day when everything seemed to go wrong? Well, last weekend was one of those days.

I had to go to a conference in Miami. It was a last minute thing and I booked my flight on Thurday. No discount and they cost much more than if I had booked it months or weeks earlier. My flight was with American Airlines and it was supposed to leave at 6:10 am. Before I left for the airport, I realized I did not have any cash. So I headed off to the Bank of America branch near my house to draw some money from the ATM.

I then headed for the airport. I managed to check in and got through security. My ticket says that there ws no food served on board and that you had to pay for any food on the plane. So I decided to queue up on a long line and get a sandwich from the only store that was opened. When I finished paying, I rushed to the gate.

I thought I had made it just on time. But loh and behold, the American Airlines personel said she had just closed the door! To my horror, I had just missed my flight! I begged her to open the door again but she refused. She said she could put me on the waitlist for the next flight. But the flight was at 1:30pm! She told me to check with US Airways at the other terminal to see if they had seats for the 9:55am flight.

To say that I was pissed was an under statement. I sat down on the chair, ate my hot sandwich and then decided to call American Express Travel, who booked my flights. The travel agent who picked up my call actually recognized me. ‘Mr Credit Card, I believe I booked your flight two days ago. How can I help you?”.

I told her the problem I had in my hands. She told me to wait a minute and checked my ticket. She said that my ticket was non-refundable and said I could either be on the waitlist for the 1:30pm flight or book the US Airway 9:55am flight, which was available. She said there may be a chance the all the seat available then on the 1:30pm flight will be booked by 1:30pm. I decided not to take the risk and so I booked the 9:55am US Airways flight. The ticket cost over $300!

To backtrack a little, when I arrived at the airport, I was not too sure where to park. There was a “short term parking” sign and a “garage sign”. I did not know the difference so I parked at the short term parking. As I was heading to the next terminal, I decided to ask the person behind the information counter. She said I should move my car as the rates were very high!

So I went and moved my car from the “short term parking” to the “garage parking”. It cost me $11.00 just for parking for two hours! The “garage parking” will cost $17 a day. It was more expensive than the “economy parking” at $9.00 a day. But as I was coming back at midnight, I did not want to take the bus and walk around a carpark in the dark looking for my car.

Things got a little better after that. In the plane on the way to miami, the chief steward actually made an annoucement asking change for a twenty dollar note! Also, by booking my hotel with American Express, I got a free complimentary upgrade to the executive suite! My room had a seperate bedroom and a living room! I even checked in on the 23rd floor!.

All seemed to go well until I realized I lost my bank ATM card. It looks as though I had left it in the machine when I withdrew the cash earlier in the morning. I called Bank of America to have it cancelled and replaced. It was Sunday and I still had to write up the 82nd Festival of Frugality.

When I got home on Monday midnight, I realized that I had lost my cell phone! But there was no time to moan as I still had to finish the festival of frugality- which I did at 2:00am.

So to sum up my trip and day.

1. Missed a flight
2. Paid extra for car park.
2. Lost my bank ATM card.
3. Lost my cell phone.

Sometimes, sh*t happens. If this had happened when I was much younger, I would have been really mad with myself because it would have screwed up my budget. Fortunately, this does not really mess up my budget or savings plan at this stage and moment in my life. If this happened when I was younger and my finances was a razor edge, then it would really be unpleasant. I think it just goes to show that aside from being frugal, save (and all that personal finance stuff that we like to talk about), it is very important to increase your monthly cash flow either through higher pay, career advancement or any other cash flow investments. It is good to have some breathing space when it comes to money.

Another thought that came to my mind when I reflect on the airport incident was that I was really glad I had my American Express Platinum Credit Card. If I had booked this with any other card, I bet I would not have gotten such great service. In fact, I have now made that travel agent my permanent agent. Her name is Maria and she has given me the 5 digit extension where I can reach her.

Have you had a day where everything just went wrong? Why not share your story here.

Welcome to the 82nd festival of frugality.

WARNING : The characters in this program are fictional and do not represent real people (even though you may feel that this show is talking about YOU!).

A Short Conversation Between Middle Class Dad and His Broke Son

Date : July 10th 2007 - Middle Class Dad was spending the afternoon with his son Broke Son, who had just emerged from a bankruptcy filing. Middle Class Dad was trying to talk some sense into Broke Son, hoping that he will change his ways.

Middle Class Dad : Son, you’ve been through a rough time. But never give up. Learn from your mistakes and pick up again.

Broke Son : Yeah Pops. It’s such a relief now that I have many of my debts wiped out. At least I can start on a clean slate again.

Middle Class Dad : Sometimes I blame myself for the mess you’ve got into. If only I’d thought you about money when you were much younger, you probably would not be here right now. Son, you have to change your ways. You can’t just spend money like there is no tomorrow.

Broke Son : I’m trying.

Middle Class Dad : Well, you’ve got to try a lot harder. Look at this car you are driving now. How much did it cost you. You bought it new? Should have got a second hand car! And look at all this gadgets you have here. What’s this?

Broke Son : It’s blue tooth dad! See, I can use my wireless phone hands free!

Middle Class Dad : Look Junior, you’ve got to see What Options Are the Worth the Money on Your New Car. Now, you need safety bags and all that, but do you really need this bluetooth thing? Why don’t you just do anyway with your car?

Broke Son : Well, how am I going to get around?

Middle Class Dad : Well, you could save money and the environment with the carpool facebook application.

Broke Son : What?

Middle Class Dad : Hey, even I know about facebook. Check it out. Look son, your finances are out of control. You have to find ways to save on everything. And I mean everything.

Broke Son : Like how? I’m really lost. I don’t even keep track of my expenses.

Middle Class Dad : Look son, there are many ways to cut down on your living expenses. For example, you can save on prescription medicine. Also, Don’t eat out -cook at home instead. You should also find ways to Reduce Air Conditioning Costs.

Your mom once taught me 17 ways to turn trash into toddlers’ toys!

Broke Son : So I was playing with trash?

Middle Class Dad : Ha ha ! Yeah, you can say so. And all the pictures that we took, you Mom sure knew how about making memories and saving money. Look Son, you have got to set up a budget. And I can give you 10 reasons why I love to budget. Your Mom would also try to get free banking, and avoid paying all those fees!

The most important things is that you need to learn to how to reduce the cost of running a house. But not just your house, but everything as well. That was how I managed to have a very successful business. I watched my cost all the time. Let me ask you another question. Where do you get your tires?

Broke Son : Uh! At the dealership.

Middle Class Dad : What! You are paying too much. You should get them at buy tires from Costco and I’ll give you some tips for prolonging your tires life. I will also show you six steps to buying a new car.

Broke Son : Hey dad. Let’s stop for a while. I’m starving. Let’s get a McDonald’s or something.

Broke Son parks his car by the roadside and they got out for a walk and to get some McDonald’s.

Broke Son : Dad, I’m thirsty. I’m going to get a drink at this vending machine. You want anything?

Broke Son : Junior. Don’t buy your drinks from a vending machine. Did you know vending machines can cost 580% more?. Let’s get our drinks at McDonald’s instead.

5 minutes later at McDonald’s.

McDonald’s waiter : What can I get you sir?

Broke Son : A quarter pounder meal.

McDonald’s waiter : A large drink sir?

Broke Son : Yes.

McDonald’s waiter : Would you like an apple pie to go along?

Broke Son : Yeah, sure.

McDonald’s waiter : Sir, we are offering a special deal. For just $1, you will get 2 apple pies!

Broke Son : Well, how much will one cost?

McDonald’s waiter : 95 cents

Broke Son : Well, I’ll definitely take two apple pies then. Hey dad, what are you having?

10 minutes later at the table.

Middle Class Dad : (laughing)..Son, you just got conned into making McDonald’s richer? Let me share some lessons with you. First, they upsold you. They asked you if you want a large drink. You said yes. Then they crossed sell an apple pie to you. Then they asked you if you want a 2 for 1 deal. And you said yes. Do you know how much extra you spent versus just getting a regular meal with a regular size drink? See junior. That is how you end up spending more money than you should!

Broke Son : Wow, I didn’t understand how business came at you that way.

Middle Class Dad : Look son, when we get back home, I’m going to teach you how to save money on services by spying on business owners. I also saw you using a GAP credit card! Let me tell you son, you should beware of store branded credit cards, and don’t use a Walmart Debit Card.

Broke Son’s cellphone rings.

Broke Son : Hi Mom. You want to speak to Dad? OK, he’s here…

Five minutes later….

Middle Class Dad : So I see you have a fancy phone. Is this the new Apple Phone?

Broke Son : Yeah. Cool isn’t it?

Middle Class Dad : How much does it cost? I bet it is the most expensive cell phone today. Junior, that is why you keep having trouble with your money. You were in debt and you still want to get the latest phone!!

Broke Son : But Dad, I can show you 5 money saving reasons to buy an Apple iPhone.

Middle Class Dad : But you simply have no spending discipline. I see you have a packet of cigarettes in your pocket. You said you want to quit and you haven’t, have you?

Broke Son : You know how difficult it is Dad. I’m been under great stress lately.

Middle Class Dad : But son, do you know the price of your vice and the financial benefits of quitting?. How many packs do you smoke a day? How much does a pack cost? You work out the math!

Broke Son : Alright Dad, are we ready to go?

Middle Class Dad : I am. But it looks like you have not finished?

Broke Son : I’m full, I can’t finish the apple pies.

Middle Class Dad : Ordering too much and wasting food again? Wasting food is like personal finance garbage. Do you know how much money you are throwing by wasting food?

Ten minutes later after their meal, Middle Class Dad and Broke Son took a walk to their car. They saw some vendors selling fake designer goods.

Broke Son : Hey look Dad, fake designer goods. My wallet’s broken, I need to get a new one. You’ve been telling me to be frugal and watch how I spend my money. Think this is a great way to save some money and also have a good looking wallet.

Middle Class Dad : But son, these a fakes and illegal. I can tell Who buys fake goods and how to spot one. Look, being frugal does not mean you should buy fake goods. it just means you have to take more time looking for bargains. Look, you could use a new suit. You look terrible in this suit. In fact, you can’t afford not to be picky when it comes to working clothes. First impression is so important. But Timing is everything what a good deal is.

Broke Son : Alright Dad. Enough about me. What’s going on with you?

Middle Class Dad : Well, I’m thinking whether I should I pay off my mortgage early?. Mom and I may be thinking of moving to a cheaper place to retire. It’s very expensive in San Francisco. But son, don’t worry about me. Your Mom and I have enough to retire. You just came out of bankruptcy. I don’t have to tell you Why You Should Start Saving Money Today?. You don’t have to make your life miserable even though you have to watch your spending. When Frugality is Fun, you’ll actually look forward to bargain hunting.

THE END

Produced by Ask Mr Credit Card

Starring

Trent Hamm as The Simple Dollar
Moorea as Queercents
Rebecca Mielke as Between My Peers
Meg as All About Appearances
Ben as Money Smart Life
Shannon Christman as Saving Advice,
Dough Roller as Dough Roller.
KRG as Filam Words.
Dani as Living Behind the Curve.
The Credit Analyst as My Credit Score
Big Cajun Man as Canadian Financial Stuff.
Stephanie as Stop the Ride.
FMF as Free Money Finance
Richard as Mortgage Guide UK.
The Happy Rock as The Happy Rock
R Pettinger as UK House Prices.
Andy as Money Walks
Andy as Money Ning.
Super Saver as My Wealth Builder.
Annette Berlin as Frugal Journey
Warren Wong as What I Think About.
David as My Two Dollars.
Silicon Valley Blogger as Digerati Life.
Brett McKay as The Frugal Law Student.
KC Lau as KC Lau’s Money Tips.
Story as Storied Money.
Money Ning as Money Ning.
Money Dummy as Money Dummy

Hosted with Permission of Festival of Frugality.

Well, I will be hosting next week’s Festival of Frugality.

Please submit any frugal post you have written recently (preferably this week). I will only accept post on frugality, how to save money etc. Please do not submit other type of posts. Posts should be submitted here at Blog Carnivals.

Best to send them early as well. Thanks

Happy 4th July. There is a two week backlog here. But here are some carnivals that I have got involved in. And also some of my thoughts on posts that caught my attention.

Carnivals

107th Carnival of Personal Finance. Amid the various ways us bloggers try to outdo each other when we host a carnival, Tricia decided to just list her favorites and the rest in order of word count! in descending order. How novel!

29th Festival of Under 30’s Finance

81st Festival of Frugality. It’s my turn to host next week’s festival of frugality!

Carnival of Personal Finance - Epic Edition. Well, what can I say about SVB - lots of pictures as usual.

18th Carnival of Credit Card

Posts that caught my attention

Lessons on variable universal life by the finance buff was an interesting on investing in variable universal life for the wrong reasons. His post was lengthy and really well written and you should definitely head over and read it yourself. But before anyone has the idea that you should never buy a variable universal life (VUL as they call it), I have taken an old John Hancock brochure that my friend left at my place. They had this big cheatsheet on the uses of VUL. This is what they said :

For accumulating VUL - ie VUL in the accumulation phase, not for protection..

For individuals, the brochure said VUL is an instrument for

source of income for heirs

estate liquidity

supplemental retirement income

grandparent gifting (presumably in an ILIT)

Note that is says a VUL may be appropriate for a supplemental retirement income, not as a main source of retirement savings. This is where most people go wrong with this!

Financial goal of having his own basketball court by my financial journey is a great piece on enjoying your life while you can and are still young. This post resonates with me because I firmly believe that to really be wealthy, you have to either build a business or really successful at your career and work towards either one depending on the path you have chosen. Trying to be too frugal and nickel and diming over mutual fund fees and what have you is simply a waste of time. Let’s put it this way, if I made $10 million right now from selling a business I have built, I’ll happily pay an ‘high net worth advisor’ to manage my money! I wouldn’t even look at morningstar ever again! For my, having a soccer field is what I want!

Is buying a house a sound investment? by Smart Money Daily is a provocative question. My answer is that it may not be. Buying a house is like buying zero coupon bonds on leverage (like what hedge funds do). The only difference is that there is no ‘mark-to-market’. If there was, we would never look at house as an investment the same way!

Post that made me laugh!

Does the size of your house matter?, ask SVB. All I can say is that if I were single, have no kids, I would live in tiny house (like one of those in the photos). I’ll make sure there is internet access, blog all day, sell my blogs after a few years and then buy a bigger house paying cash!

Guess who cuts the Frugal Law Student’s Hair? Well, I’ll let the cat out of the bag here. But it’s Brett’s mom. I guess you will only be this frugal when you are student! Judging by the photo on his blog, I would say Brett’s mom is OK with the scissors! Ten years from now when he too busy with his law practice to continue this blog, the now frugal law student will look back and just crack up! But while we are at it, a suggestion for you Brett. Why don’t go with the shiny bald look? You’ll save on the shampoo too!

Alright - here are the carnivals that I was involved in the last 2 weeks and posts that caught my eye.

Carnivals I was involved in

2nd Anniversary of Personal Finance Greatest Hits Edition by Get Rich Slowly

Carnival of Money Stories #14 by Frugal Law Student

Festival of Frugality #79 by Money is Personal

Carnival of Credit Card #16

Posts that caught my attention

Credit Industry fighting against piggybacking is a reminder for us that the days of piggybacking and getting someone with a better credit to co-sign a credit card for you may soon be over. Even if that is the case, new college students can always build their credit history with a .

Brushing Your Teeth with Backing Soda is a funny article by Brett (the frugal law student) on his experiment with this very basic and inexpensive teeth whithening method. Before you go try it, read his post first!

The Cost of Being Overweight by Free Money Finance is a great reminder that health is wealth. It’s no use being really wealth when you do not have the health to enjoy it. But being overweight can also result in higher health insurance premium (as Free Money Finance points out).

SVB from the Digerati Life tells us how she saved money on furniture by shopping on craigslist. This is a really good tip and I thought I’d highlight this because they are so few articles about using craigslist.

How to fight back against collection agencies by Broke Ass Student was her best post that appeared in the 2nd anniversary of the carnival of personal finance. It is a really comprehensive piece which is a must read for anyone who is facing this problem.

1st Million at 33 New Portfolio Composition is the best piece on portfolio allocation I’ve come across. In this post, he details his new asset allocation. Frugal attempts to kinda mimic portfolio asset allocations by endowments. 50% of the portfolio will be in passive mix of ‘traditional assets’ like bonds, stocks, REITs etc. This post goes into more details on his ‘passive allocation’.

Last week’s Carnivals

Carnival of Personal Finance #103 at Clever Dude

77th Festival of Frugality at My Two Dollars.

Carnival of Credit Card #15 at Credit Card Lowdown

Must Read Posts

David Bach’s Misleading Math on Real Estate Leverage by Money, Matters and Musings is a great piece by Golbguru. Finally, someone actually sits down and does the math on these ‘learn how to be rich books’. I never had great respect for David Bach after I attended a seminar by him which features pitch fest by salespeople selling their stock trading system, cookie cutter trust documents! $4000 courses on investing in real estate liens from information you can get free on the internet! To me, the book was just a means to get rich teaching people how to get rich in seminars! Well done Golbguru.

Massive Personal Finance Resource List by the Frugal Law Student is a very long list of resources that everyone will find helpful. The only quibble I have is that my blog is not included in the personal finance blog section!

Queercents had a very eye catching post on Miscellaneous Expenses - Where Did My Money Go?, which really resonated with me. The conveniece of putting everything that you cannot categorize into the miscellaneous section may not be such a good thing.

Pirates of the Credit Sea - Part 5 by The Investor Blog is summary of his continued with Citibank on his credit card. I won’t divulge all the details, but I must say this is one of the best post and saga I’ve read. Be sure to read this one. You’ll learn a lot from it.

Carnivals I was involved this week

Carnival of Personal Finance #102 - Money Smart Life

75th Festival of Frugality - Blogging Away Debt

Carnival of Credit Card #14 - Credit Card Lowdown

Carnival of Financial Planning - The Skilled Investor

Posts that caught my eye

My Wealth’s Builder’s article on Risk Allocation in Wealth Portfolio is probably one of the best personal finance post I have come across. In fact I was about to write about this topic and he has beaten me to the punch. It looks like I have to do more research and expand on what he has said. I am really surprised this post was not at all on the Editor’s Choice List at the Carnival of Personal Finance.

8 Different Ways to Diversify and Manage Risk by SVB from The Digerati Life is a similar post to the one I made on Is your portfolio diversified?. I urge you to read her post as I think too many people do not have a diversified portfolio and reading her post will reinforce this point.

How Frugal Are You? by Grad Money Matters is an insightful post on how frugality is relative to one’s situation.

How to get a free membership at Costco? by Fil-Ma Words intrigued me because being an American Epxress Platinum Card member, I have just received Costco Coupons! But I do not have a Costco Membership. Now it looks like I may have found a way to get one for free!

I missed linking back to the last 2 week’s carnivals which I was involved. So here is a quick recap. Please check these out if you are not at the beach!

Carnival of Personal Finance 101 Edition at Fire Finance.

75th Festival of Frugality was hosted by JD Roth at Get Rich Slowly.

Carnival of Ethics, Values and Personal Finance at Tired But Happy.

Carnival of Credit Card #13 at Credit Card Lowdown.

Festival of Under 30 Finance at Money for the Rest of Us.

Festival of Frugality #74 at Millionster.

Carnival of Personal Finance at My Open Wallet.

Fav Post from the past 2 weeks

Check out Smart Money Daily’s real life Jouney from Bankruptcy to a 700 Credit Score. I really enjoyed this post because it was coming from a real person. If you are in a similar situation, you will learn a lot about rebuilding your credit history.

JD Roth’s advice to an employed person about Coping with Unemployment : Blogging is not the answer is a sound one. My take on this : Start a Blog when you are employed!

Grad Money interviews Single Ma about 5 Money Questions : I won’t tell you exactly what it’s about, but I can say for sure you’ll learn something from this.

Finally, SVB of The Digerati Life talks about 10 Ways to save on your wedding cake. Lot of pics - but I don’t really fancy of these wedding cakes! But being Star Wars fan (and given that they have just celebrated their 30th anniversary), I was pleased to see a Star Wars wedding cake. But come on SVB, Kit Fisto? How about Han Solo and Princess Leia (with her outfit when she was captured by Jaba the Hut!)

That’s It! Happy Memorial Day.