Payday Loan Lowdown

Greetings! Welcome to the 6th edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. No surprise that we have received 17 posts for this edition out of which 14 have been selected in the end. Without further ado, here are the posts in the order they were received.

Cade Krueger presents Money In The Bank posted at Make Money Business Opportunity @ Write To Right. Negotiation can save you a lot of money simply by asking. It goes back to the saying that you can never know what you could have gotten if you just asked. Often it will lead to you finding that you could receive more that what is mentally possible.

FIRE Finance presents E-ZPass With Budget Car Rentals! posted at FIRE Finance. Rent an E-ZPass-equipped vehicle and for only an additional $1.50 for each day you access a tollway — and the cost of tolls, to avoid highway congestion and sail through toll booths with E-ZPass!

Adam presents Creative Online Family (or Personal) Budgeting Tool posted at Queercents. Google Spreadsheets has an answer for keeping track of expenses.

George Courtney jr presents How You Can Eliminate Money Concerns posted at The Authentic Bartender Blog. You could get a better job, maybe one with less commute. You could invest your money and collect on the profits.

Abdulrasool Sumar presents Differentiate Between Good Debt and Bad Debt posted at Debt Consolidation. "When you buy something that goes down in value immediately, that’s bad debt." He adds, "If it has no potential to increase in value, that’s bad debt." For example, buying a 21′ inch monitor for your computer for $1000 and putting it on your credit card is a form of bad debt.

Alex Z presents FU Fund - The Old Kid On The Block posted at Funds Zine. Educating people about personal finance and investing.

Josh presents Why start saving for retirement now? posted at The Mad Money Analyst. Many people procrastinate having to mow the lawn or get out of bed in the morning. But why do so many people procrastinate saving for retirement? So many reasons exist as to why you should start saving now for retirement. Just think about the costs for food alone that you will incur in retirement.

George Courtney jr presents Get More Miles for Your Money posted at The Authentic Bartender Blog. The American Automobile Association’s (AAA) Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the nationwide cost of a gallon of gas at $3.09. Some parts of the country will see the cost of a gallon of gas increase to $4 in the coming months, with a combination of lower inventories and increasingly higher demands to blame.

Tim Ramsey presents 2 Debt Tips for Improving Your Credit Score posted at My Debt Relief Blog. If you are struggling with debt and need to improve your credit score, you need to understand how important financial organization will be. Getting your finances organized will go a long way toward improving your credit score and reducing your debt. So how do you go about making these changes?

Erik presents How To Give Yourself A Raise in Five Minutes posted at Money Crashers. The best way to write a budget is at the beginning of the month. Take all of your income and subtract out all of the recurring bills you will pay for that month.

Dean presents How to Use Yahoo Answer to Save Time, Money & Reduce Stress posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff Online Coupons. Use Yahoo Answers to help you save money.

FitBuff presents How to Legally Get Your Cable and Phone Bills Paid for Free! posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog. You know how your cable and/or phone bills seem to come about 31 times a month, instead of just once?

Annette Berlin presents Tax Deductions For Your Old Clothing–Frugal Journey posted at Frugal Journey. Did you know you can get tax deductions for your old clothing? It’s true. Just take them to any charitable thrift shop, get a receipt and you’re ready for tax time. Start now, so you’ll have plenty of deductions for this year.

Patrick Daly presents How Much Should a Web Freelancer Charge Clients? posted at Develop Daly. You are a freelancer with no backup support, sick day pay, benefits, etc. So you can charge more than you might think.

That concludes the sixth edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. Thank you for your contribution.

–By Sushma Pradhan

The art of tipping began centuries ago when the medium of communication was through coachman. The coachman was given some cash as a bribe to ensure promptness of the communication. This is how the art of tipping began.

With time, the art of tipping has taken a new form in this service-oriented society. We have to pay gratuities in places that grow more in number with every passing day. In most of Europe, the service industryis seen as a noble service, however, things in the United States is quite different, this profession does get the kind of respect it should. To understand tipping it is very necessary to understand the perspective of tipping. This profession mostly involves immigrants, students, single parents looking for flexible hours and many other who are struggling in their fields.

One most important point what most people fail to understand is that the servers are not the sole owners of the tip you provide. The percentage is more of 50-60. The popular or nicer the restaurant, the more is the division of the tips and less percentage to the server.

Here the point is, what and where is tipping appropriate. To simplify the art, here are the list of service providers that we usually come across and may need tipping.

Hotel Housekeeping: If you are staying in at a cheap hotel accommodation, the tip could be $1 per day.

Message: It was a wonderful effort to make everything so smooth and comfortable.

On the wackier side, have a heart to write, “If you think you deserve more than this, this is not the place for you”.

Taxi Drivers: 15percent is nearly good but you can reduce 5percent if the drive is nearly dangerous and hand over 10percent.

Extra: Pay $3 to $5 as extra, if the cab drivers are generous enough to help with your luggage, and help you to rush to your destination safely in situations where you were getting late.

Message: It was a pleasant drive around (ignoring the times we nearly held our liver in the mouth)

On the other side, it could be “Had it not been rude, I would have deducted the extra from your pay, to clean all the puke over me”.

Shuttle Driver or the Hotel Porter: The tip may not be extended to a buck per bag.

Extra: For your special deliveries and request, $2 to $3 is ideal. Keep in mind that tipping means avoiding carrying trouble for yourself later. Gosh! Imagine you reach home and realize that your bags carrying important things are gone, instead you have carried a bag that is nothing but trouble because it was identical to yours.

Car Wash Attendant: For a regular car wash, the attendant should be getting $3, but if it  is a service, where you feel privileged, your paying $5 is justifiable. Your tip will ensure you a further better service in the future. Do not worry your tipping will never go vain.

Valet Parking: The share of tip that a valet parking deserves is $3, if it is a place you visit once in a blue moon. On the other hand, if it is a place of regular visit, $5 is ideal. Most importantly, if your car is returned as good as you sent and furthermore if it was not taken for a joy ride during your momentary absence, then your tip is worth it.

Extra: You may tip an extra $15 if the car is parked right at the front and center on your way back.

Restaurant Servers: The tip of 15 to 20 percent, is good enough, if the service was wonderful and the grub was hot, while delivering at your table.

Extra: You may add 5 percent extra as bonus if the restaurant servers did a good job. Like served you the delicacy the way you had expected it to be, and checked if everything was fine throughout the meal, checked regularly with your drinks. These are the points you may ponder on while deciding the tip for the restuarant servers.

In case the Restaurant is well established and a busy one, do call ahead and let them know that you will be there. One more thing, offer some tip the moment you arrive, and rest be assured to get the table that offers the best view.

Message: There is no reason why not to come back here repeatedly, the food, the ambience, and the service is class in itself. Keep it up.

On the wackier side: God grant me mercy, the continental dish tasted 100% oriental, are you sure, your senses are right! Or perhaps my taste buds have goofed up.

Hair Stylist: The ideal tip for the hairstylist should be around 15 to 20 percent of the bill and yes excluding the taxes.

Extra: Extra attention from your hairstylist means wonders to your looks. Whether you have just gone for a regular haircut or to come out with a polished finish depends on the generosity of your hairstylist.

So next time when you walk in, they will willingly spend some extra time to set things perfect for you.

The Coat Checker: I would suggest one should not be paying anything to the coat checker. There are times when the coats are misplaced and mismatched.

Extra: If you feel that job is well done and there is other help offered $1 to $3 is perfect.

Washroom Attendant: Have some pity, that poor guy is surrounded by shit all day long, so hand over $1 to $2 to him.

Extra: None if you smell poop, when you have actually gone for a pee. The best option here, run out as quickly as you can.

Bartender: You should be tipping your bartender around 15 to 20 percent per drink.

Extra: If you have to wait a long, twenty to twenty-five minutes in a crowded bar that’s bad, so a $5 is fine. Nevertheless, if you need personal attention of the bartender for the rest of the night generously give away $20 per drink and enjoy your drink along with the service.

Food Delivery Person: Stick to the standard form of tipping. 10 to 15 percent, if the promise of delivering you on the stipulated time is maintained.

Extra: Tip an extra 5 percent if the food was delivered when you were on the verge of acting like an early man. Remember this 5 percent will take you long. You can say good-bye to waiting long hours in future.

To give a final addition, it is essential to remember that you always fold the cash in thirds or half and pass it on the person, with your palms facing downwards. It is highly rude attitude to pass the cash up in the air or with your hands in the air. Be grateful they are doing their jobs, had it not been they, who would have done that job? Why don’t you try? Self-service? Unless you feel the little tip would shake the monthly budget, then forget it , just walk away. However, the choice is yours

Greetings! Welcome to the 5th edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. We have received seven good posts for this edition. Here are the posts in the order they were received.

Tushar presents Shopping at Costco…the frugal way !! posted at Life of a Resident Alien…. Shopping at Costco…the frugal way.

Kathryn presents How to Score Outlet Mall Coupon Books for Free posted at See Jack Shop. See Jack Shop, the new blog for men on a budget, gives excellent tips on how to score free coupon books at your local outlet mall and instructs you on how to join the VIP club for even more exclusive deals.

John Place presents Control Your Spending posted at johnplaceonline.com. Control your spending by taking responsibility for your own financial decisions.

Maly Oudommahavanh presents She Spent Only $20 on Clothes Last Year posted at Wise Bread - Personal Finance and Frugal Living Guide. This is a post about Alex Martin, who spent only $20 on clothes last year!

Eric Stanley presents Too Broke to Budget? posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles. Budgets are for people with predictable income, fairly predictable expenses, and the former larger than the latter, right? What good will a budget do if you dont have enough money to go around, and you never know when more is coming in?

Kevin Surbaugh presents 33 Ideas for Dating Frugally posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free. You’ve made a love connection, but now you’re weary of the wooing process because you’re on a tight budget. But don’t worry, because dating without much cash is possible and it can allow you to be creative while showing your date a good time.

FIRE Finance presents Fly Now - Northwest Airlines Offers Low Price Flight Change posted at FIRE Finance. Northwest Airlines’ FlyNow option allows customers to confirm an alternate, qualifying domestic flight operating anytime during the day of departure for $25.

That concludes the 5th edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. Thank you for your continued support.

–By Sagar Satapathy

Greetings! We are here with the 4th edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. I am sure that the featured posts will provide you great tips on budgeting and personal finance. Here are the posts in the order they were received.

Edithyeung presents 53 Ways to Make Money on the Internet posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. You can sign up with almost any website these days and become their affiliate. You are basically their salesperson and earn a percentage commission of the revenue they make. THIS article offers great tips on how to make money from the Internet. A must read for everyone.

Murad Ali presents Avoid the Middle Class Decline posted at The New Business World. The middle class is slowly deteriorating into either the “haves” or the “have nots”. That means a two-tiered system is just over the horizon.

Annette Berlin presents Frugal Family Outings–Frugal Journey posted at Frugal Journey. After reading this article, you may want to check out the posts entitled Frugal Dating, Homeschooling Activities and Frugal Community Resources and Frugal Homeschooling Activities.

Tushar presents Easy ways to cut your energy bill posted at Life of a Resident Alien…. A bill recently introduced in California would ban the sale of energy-hogging incandescent light bulbs by 2012. Aside from changing your light bulbs, there are some other things you can do around the house to save you energy and money.

Mama Money presents Staying Within the Budget posted at Financial Dispatches. How do you make sure you’re staying in your budget and not surprised by a big credit card bill at the end of the month?

The Skilled Investor presents Can you really get free and objective investment advice, when you pay investment sales loads? (Part 1 of 2) posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog. Excessive investment costs are a plague on your personal financial planning. Excessive investment expenses are one of the most significant barriers to lifelong family financial security.

Sunny presents Broke and in debt is normal. Be Wierd! posted at Dandelions and Daydreams. This article is a personal review of Dave Ramesy’s Financial Peace University classes. My husband and I are currently 1/2 way through the program.

Aibek presents 15 Cool Tools for easy Expense Tracking and Budgeting posted at MakeUseOf.com. From simple, personal and shared expense tracker to feature-filled, budget tracking tools. All free, enjoy!

Tracy Coenen presents Home buyers suing to get out of contracts posted at FRAUDfiles. Cancellation rates on these home buying contracts may be as high as 30%. The story highlights a few situations in Florida, where attorneys are even advertising their services to people who want to get out of their contracts.

Matthew Paulson presents Traveling to New York City on a Budget posted at Getting Green. When you are traveling to New York City, you probably don’t want to drive. When you consider the cost of gasoline, extra wear and tear on your vehicle, the nightmarish city traffic, the cost of parking, the cost of tolls, most of the time it just makes sense to get public transportation.

That concludes the 4th edition of the Carnival of Budgeting. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. We would appreciate if you promote this carnival on your blogs. A link back would be a great help.