Fireworks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As I’m preparing for another 4th of July celebration this year, I thought about all of my counterparts around the world who simply may not be interested in an American holiday. However, one thing we have in common for sure is Freedom. We have freedom to write our thoughts and opinions. We have freedom which our forefathers fought to give us. Many of us are on our way to becoming debt free or are debt free already. And, we have freedom of choice. So here’s to celebrating FREEDOM!
“They will never take our freedom”
This week for the carnival I tried to look for the submission that captured the theme “freedom” the best (although nobody actually knew what the them was going to be about ahead of time). So although there were some good ones that captured this week’s theme, the editor’s picks came down to submissions that were the most original, the most captivating, most readable and which nailed Frugality the best. After all this is supposed to be a Festival of Frugality.
Here are this week’s Editor’s Picks for the Best of the Best
1. Adam Williams presents Simple step-by-step way to have fun while keeping costs down posted at Rabbit Funds. Andy writes: I have found that sometimes it is difficult coming up with ideas of what to as a family for fun. The danger is that without a source of ideas, you can fall back on costly activities.
2. FMF presents The 52 Best Money Saving Tips, Ideas #45 through #41 posted at Free Money Finance. FMF Writes: Here’s the latest post in my list of the 52 best money saving tips in countdown order. The intent of this series is that these ideas can be applied throughout the year, a week at a time, to help you improve your financial situation and maximize your savings.
3. Penny Thots presents Mum!!! I’m Bored posted at Penny Thots. Penny Thots Writes: I am aware that this is my sons’ “holiday” and we should really do some cool stuff together during summer break.
4. Alex Manson-Smith presents 5 ways to save a fortune as a wedding guest posted at TotallyMoney. Alex Writes: 5 simple tips to help save you money as a wedding guest.
5. Rich presents How to Put the “Fun” in Funeral Planning So it’s Not So Expensive & Overwhelming posted at Money Wise Pastor. Rich Writes: As a pastor who has officiated dozens of funeral services, I know how expensive and overwhelming funerals can be.
6. Mr. Money presents How to Enjoy a Cheaper Road Trip posted at Smart on Money. Mr. Money Writes: A road trip can be a fun way to go on vacation. If you are careful about what you spend your money on, and if you plan ahead, it should be possible to enjoy an inexpensive vacation that helps you create plenty of good memories.
7. Melissa presents Try Freezer Cooking To Preserve the Summer Bounty of Locally Grown, In Season Produce posted at Bargaineering. Melissa Writes: If you would like to capture produce at the peak of ripeness as well as eat locally, in season without terrorizing your wallet, you may want to mimic our ancestors and preserve some of the summer’s bounty for the winter. Yes, you could simply dice up your fresh veggies and freeze them, but if you take the time to cook them in meals now, you not only preserve the food but also save yourself the time you would spend cooking later.
8. Glen Craig presents The Argument For Healthy, Simple Eating posted at Free From Broke . Glen Writes: Getting food based on maximizing coupons isn’t the best for your health. You don’t have to go to extremes to eat healthy. See arguments for simple, healthy eating.
9. Miss Thrifty presents Make Do And Mend: Three Ideas for Upcycling posted at Miss Thrifty. Miss Thrifty Writes: Never throw your clothes away again! This handy video compilation shows how old shirts and night dresses can be transformed into cardigans, dresses, skirts and more…
10. Kevin presents Cut Your Own Hair and Save $240 a Year posted at Thousandaire. Kevin Writes: You can save a bunch of money by cutting your own hair instead of paying someone else to do it.
“We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore…and we will be united in our common interests….We will not go quietly into the night”
And here are this Week’s Best of the Rest
Behavior Change
Aloysa presents Battling Shopping Addiction: Making Behavioral Changes posted at My Broken Coin.
Maria presents There is nothing wrong with quitting; but you have to know what to quit and why are you quitting posted at The Money Principle.
Banking
Passive Income Earner presents High Interest Account Review posted at The Passive Income Earner.
Budget Vacations
Steve Zussino presents Guide to Saving Money at Canadas Wonderland posted at Grocery Alerts.
Amanda L Grossman presents 20 Ways to Not Spend Money While Onboard a Cruise, and Still Thoroughly Enjoy Yourself posted at Frugal Confessions.
Wayne presents How to Save Money when Traveling posted at Young Family Finance.
Budgeting
JP presents Frugalistas Know Better Than Income Over-Acheivers posted at My Family Finances.
Lazy Man presents Budgeting for Future Purchases posted at Lazy Man and Money.
Business
A Blinkin presents Saving Money in a Home Office posted at Funancials.
PITR presents Funding New Business Ideas posted at Passive Income To Retire.
Jester presents Ways to Start a Business posted at The Ultimate Juggle.
Credit
Liana presents Prepaid Cards Report – 2012 posted at Card Hub.
Debt (or Getting Out of Debt)
John presents Push Yourself, But Not Over a Cliff posted at Married with Debt.
Teacher Man presents Thank You To People With Credit Card Debt posted at Young And Thrifty.
Ashley presents I H8 Debt posted at Money Talks Coaching.
Tushar presents Got Credit Card Debt? Then Don’t Invest posted at Start Investing Money.
Education
Teacher Man presents Leveraging Your Wealth to Prepare Your Children posted at My University Money.
Steve presents In the Future, College will Be for the Rich and Smart posted at Brip Blap.
Financial Education
Daisy presents Informal Learning Through Blogs posted at Add Vodka.
Daniel presents Is An Allowance for Kids A Good Idea? posted at Sweating the Big Stuff.
Financial Management/Financial Planning
John presents How Old is Too Old for Hands-On Financial Management? posted at Wallet Blog.
Suba presents Crucial Questions To Ask When Hiring A Financial Planner posted at Broke Professionals.
Invest It Wisely presents Living to 100 and Beyond: Building an Infinite Portfolio posted at Invest It Wisely.
Frugal Living
Jeremy presents Why I Don’t Want A Smartphone posted at Modest Money.
Carrie Smith presents 8 Ways to Keep Pet Care Expenses Under Control posted at ReadyForZero Blog.
Philip presents The Single Most Important Money Saving Tip posted at PT Money Personal Finance.
Martin presents The Tools You Need to Get in Shape on a Budget posted at Studenomics.
Everything Finance presents Top 10 Frugal Tips – Part Two posted at Everything Finance.
Sandy presents 5 Easy Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance posted at Yes, I am Cheap.
Lina Zussino presents How to save money on baby formula posted at Baby Alerts.
Sustainable PF presents Why You Don’t Want to Keep Up with the Joneses posted at Sustainable Personal Finance.
101 Centavos presents More Random Tips for the Kitchen posted at 101 Centavos.
Katie presents Let’s make ‘stand-by’ a thing of the past – Saving energy at home posted at The Discount Coder Blog.
Tim presents Can You Save Money With Starbucks K-Cups? posted at Faith and Finance.
Giving
Don presents You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Give Back posted at MoneySmartGuides.
Insurance
Jeff Rose presents 4 Important Factors in Choosing the Right Life Insurance Policy posted at Life Insurance By Jeff.
Investing
Steve Zussino presents Am I a bad Canadian for not supporting RIM? posted at Canadian Personal Finance.
Dividend Growth Investor presents How long does it take to manage a dividend portfolio? posted at Dividend Growth Investor.
MR presents Victory With REITs? posted at Money Reasons.
Ryan presents Spread Betting and the Stock Market posted at Early Retirement Investments.
Roshawn Watson presents Are There Any Safe Investments Anymore? posted at Watson Inc.
Luke presents Avoid This Common Mistake: Bond Funds are Not Only About Income posted at Learn Bonds.
ETZ25 presents Dividend Stocks For Entertainment Update 1 posted at Entertainment Timez.
Dan presents Company-Issued CDs: Worth the Risk? posted at High Yield Edge.
Making Money
Eddie presents No Degree? No Problem! 8 Six Figure Jobs That Don’t Need A Degree posted at Finance Fox.
Kyle presents 9 Ways for Slackers to Make Money Playing Games posted at The Penny Hoarder.
Motivational
Sicorra presents 20 Powerful Life Lessons posted at Tackling Our Debt.
Real Estate
Jason presents What To Do When Selling a House – 7 Things To Get it Ready to Sell posted at Work Save Live.
SB presents http://onecentatatime.com/investing-in-property-to-create-wealth/ posted at One Cent at a Time.
Dr. Dean presents Extra Money: What’s Holding Me Up? posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog.
SFB presents Is It Worth Holding Out For Your Home’s Asking Price? posted at Simple Finance Blog.
Hank presents Why Every Renter Needs Renters Insurance posted at Money Q&A.
Jen presents 5 Things To Consider Before Buying Your First Home posted at Master the Art of Saving.
Robert presents How I Successfully Appealed My Home Appraisal posted at My Multiple Incomes.
Other
Darwin presents No Overtime for Pharma Sales Reps. WHAAAAAAH. posted at Darwin’s Money .
Miss T. presents Home Renovation Techniques posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter.
Crystal presents Mr. BFS Grabbed a New Hobby Job posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff.
Michelle presents My Expensive Vice That Went Up In Flames posted at See Debt Run.
Kurt Fischer presents How to Triage Bills – Part 1 posted at Money Counselor.
Dave presents The #1 Cause of Financial Conflict posted at Financial Conflict Coach.
Final Note
Please don’t be offended if in my humble opinion I did not select your post as one of the editor’s picks, or if I just didn’t think it cut the mustard at all to include in the festival. I mean nothing personal to you or your blog. I read through over 70 submissions, and yes I did Read Them ALL! At the end of the day I had to come up with some sort of grading system to help me choose the best of the best, and then a cut-off on what to include, and what not to include.
However, I know I’m going to offend some people who might expect their submission to be accepted, but if a submission was inappropriate, contained profanity, had annoying pop ups that prevented me from reading it, was an obvious sponsored post, or disguised as a review as an attempt to get people to click on your affiliate ad it simply did not make the grade in my opinion. But hey that’s part of exercising my freedom in hosting this carnival isn’t it.
Check out the Festival of Frugality for more weekly carnivals like this one.
Editor’s Pick – yay! Thanks very much.
Miss Thrifty recently posted..Thrifty Baby: Disposable Nappies? Pah!
You nailed frugality and had some very original ideas.
[...] This post was selected as an Editor’s Pick for the 343rd Festival of Frugality. [...]
Happy 4th of July!
Thank you for hosting, and for featuring our post.
Cheers.
Eddie recently posted..How Do You Become Rich?
Braveheart is a terrific movie-nice selection for a freedom celebration. Thanks for hosting and including my post.
Dr Dean recently posted..11 Secrets of Amazon!
Thank you for including me as an Editor’s Pick! Happy 4th of July!
[...] welcome to the announcement for the 343rd special Freedom Festival of Frugality. Please check out the editors picks below and make sure you check out Brilliant Finances whole post [...]
Thanks for the include this week – I love the Braveheart clip!
I still need to watch this movie (summer bucket list).
Steve @ Grocery Alerts recently posted..Natrel Baboo 1 lt. FPC – Facebook Offer
Thanks for including us!
Mr Money recently posted..Supreme Court Upholds The Affordable Care Act Health Care Law. What Does It Mean For You?
Thanks for including my post in this carnival! Happy 4th of July!
Modest Money recently posted..Finding Free Photos For Your Blog
Thanks for hosting within a hectic schedule. Thanks for including my post.
SB @ One Cent At A Time recently posted..Top 10 Budget-Friendly or DIY Substitutes for Day-to-Day Expenses
Thanks for hosting! Happy 4th!!
Jeff Rose recently posted..Over 60 Years Old and Need Term Life Insurance? No Problem!
Thanks for including my post! Hope you had a great 4th!
WorkSaveLive recently posted..Why I’ll Never Get My Future Kid a Credit Card
[...] s); })();Tweet Thursday, July 5th, 2012Thanks to Brilliant Finance who hosted the Festival of Frugality #343 and included Dominique’s post, Home Renovation Techniques as did I Am 1 Percent who hosted the [...]
Thanks so much for including ReadyForZero! I’ll be sure to include a link to your blog in our weekly shout outs this Monday.
Shannon-ReadyForZero recently posted..Student Loan Grace Periods are NOT Going Away
[...] Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition | BrilliantFinances.com [...]
[...] Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition on Brilliant Finances [...]
Oooh editor’s pick! Thanks a lot!
Harri @ TotallyMoney recently posted..Want to know why your car insurance is so expensive?
Original and on point. Well deserved!
[...] also had a mention or two this week over at Wealth Pilgrim, Brilliant Finances, Mortgages by Mark and Edward [...]
[...] of Personal Finance #367, Carnival of Passive Investing, Carnival of Personal Finance #368, Festival of Frugality #343.Check out Ready for Zero’s Budgeting Tips Resource Center where they feature PT Money as well [...]
[...] Festival of Frugality [...]
We’re honored to have out Simple Healthy Eating article featured as an Editor’s Pick! Thank you.
Glen Craig recently posted..EverBank Online Yield Pledge Checking and Money Market Review
I’m working on some simple healthy eating myself. I recently spent $30 for a week’s worth of groceries for dinners for 5. I’ll keep everyone updated on how it goes.
[...] Success for Young Adults Tax Carnival #104: Tax Fireworks – Don’t Mess With Taxes Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition « BrilliantFinances.com Carnival of Personal Finance – Independence Celebration 2012 Edition VN:F [...]
[...] Success for Young Adults Tax Carnival #104: Tax Fireworks – Don’t Mess With Taxes Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition « BrilliantFinances.com Carnival of Personal Finance – Independence Celebration 2012 [...]
[...] Brilliant Finances chose my “How to Triage Bills – Part 1” for the “Festival of Frugality #343“. [...]
Thanks so much for the inclusion! I really appreciate it. I hope you had a wonderful 4th, and thank you for hosting.
[...] Success for Young Adults Tax Carnival #104: Tax Fireworks – Don’t Mess With Taxes Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition « BrilliantFinances.com Carnival of Personal Finance – Independence Celebration 2012 [...]
Man that is one extensive list. Good work.
[...] always, we appreciate shout outs from other blogs! Special thanks to Brilliant Finances for featuring us last [...]
[...] Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition [...]
[...] Saving Money – Save 10% of Your Salary and Watch Your Savings GrowMoney Saver Webguide-to-riches.comBrilliantFinances.com [...]
[...] Credit Card DebtCredit Card Debt Negotiation – Tips To Negotiate And Get Rid Of Unsecured DebtBrilliantFinances.com @import url( http://butwhatnow.com/wp-content/plugins/submititstyle.css [...]
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Googlea…
[...]below you?ll come across the link to some web-sites that we assume it is best to visit[...]…
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[...] Yakezie Carnival - CFM Carnival of Money Pros - PT Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #39 - PT Festival of Frugality #343 - PT (ed. pick) Oh, look. We had the editor’s pick. Guess it would help to read my [...]
[...] Festival of Frugality #343 hosted by Brilliant Finances [...]