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Welcome frugal fanatics! Thanks for stopping by.
My Personal Finance Journey is very proud to be hosting this week's edition of the Festival of Frugality.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Festival, its purpose is to spotlight excellent ideas that are floating around in the blogosphere to help readers squeeze a few extra pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters out of every dollar. And, in this age, I believe that we all could use some good advice on how to do this!
This past weekend, many of the high schools, colleges, and universities up and down the East Coast of the US had their big graduation ceremonies. I actually got to attend one of these ceremonies here in Virginia, and it was quite nice!
In honor of all the graduation "hoopla" going around, this edition of the Festival will focus on some interesting stats and the job market graduates are currently facing.
So, without further a due, let's get on with the Festival!
Shown below are the top 3 picks out of this week's submissions. Congrats to the winning article from Robert with The College Investor.
Leaders of the Pack - Top 3 Editor Picks
1. Robert @ The College Investor presents I Started Moving My Finances and Business To The Cloud… posted at The College Investor.
One of the cool things about being a personal finance blogger is that it enables me to stay "in-the-know" about new products, particularly online products, that come out that can help us manage our finances (and life in general). In today's culture, it's no longer sufficient to say, "Oh, that document is at home on my home computer." People expect the documents to be accessible, on the fly, from any computer. This post from Robert reminds us of the utility and importance of using cloud (or online resources) computing to identify ways to improve our finances, save money, and live more frugally. Great job Robert! I am a big fan of Google Docs as well.
2. Sandy presents $2M Lottery Winner Uses Food Stamps posted at Yes, I Am Cheap.
It seems like it is a rarity to hear of a lottery winner actually living frugally after winning the lottery. However, it appears that the $2M Michigan lottery winner described in this insightful article by Sandy is doing just that. By finding a loophole in the Michigan finance laws, the man is able to continue qualifying for food stamps because the law doesn't classify lottery winnings as income. Interesting stuff! What do you think? Should lottery winnings be classified as income or assets?
3. Annabelle Foster presents Quiz: What kind of frugal are you? posted at The Year of Shopping Detox.
Go Blogger-hosted Blogs! Represent! This article by The Year of Shopping Detox (a site that I was just exposed to) presents us readers with a series of 6 questions about our spending habits and how we pass the time. She then provides guidelines as to what different trends in our answers can indicate in regards to the type of frugal person we are. Take the quiz and see how you score! I scored in the A category.
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Interesting Graduation Statistic # 1
Yale, Princeton, and Harvard all graduate >88% of their students in 4 years. Wild! Maybe they can do this because of the very selective screening process in who they let in to the school?
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Money Beagle presents No Stone Unturned: Expanding Our Search For Milk posted at Money Beagle.
FMF presents How to Win Friends with Coupons posted at Free Money Finance.
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Interesting Graduation Statistic # 2
Southern University at New Orleans graduates only 8% of their students and Carlos Albizu University in Miami graduates only 10% of their students. At The University of Arizona, only 20% of the men's sports players graduate. Nice!
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Boomer presents Maybe I Should Just Stop Watching TV! posted at Boomer & Echo.
Aparna presents Home-made face wash posted at Beauty and Personal Grooming.
Fanny presents 4 Cheap DVD Rentals posted at Living Richly on a Budget.
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Interesting Graduation Statistic # 3
Because of the lack of jobs and the large amount of student debt that the class of 2011 has, studies estimate that 85% of the graduating class will be forced to move back in with their parents.
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Sonja Stewart presents 25 Great Everyday Uses For Vinegar posted at Parenting Squad.
Rhonda Franz presents Simplifying Family Meals posted at Parenting Squad.
vh presents Shingles Shot: Pricey! But Worth It… posted at Funny about Money.
Kyle James presents 5 Reasons TLC’s Extreme Couponing is Extremely Lame posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog.
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Interesting Graduation Statistic # 4
Out of the students who took out student loans in order to finish college, the average total debt upon finishing is $27,000. Source - Huffington Post
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Money Thinker presents Make Sure you Never Pay Full Price- 5 Tips posted at Money Thinking.
Tom presents Ways to Save Money on your Mobile Phone Bill posted at StupidCents.
Squirrelers presents Cheapskates Visit Vegas posted at Squirrelers.
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Interesting Graduation Statistic # 5
According to Beyond.com, the following 10 job fields offer the most plentiful entry-level job opportunities for college grads in 2011.
1) Clerical & Administrative
2) Sales & Sales Management
3) Merchandising, Purchasing & Retail
4) Arts, Entertainment & Gaming
5) Customer Service
6) Management & Business
7) Accounting & Finance
8) Information Technology
9) Healthcare & Medical
10) Engineering & Architecture----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marjorie presents Card Hub’s Island Approach to Credit Card Spending posted at CardHub.com.Interesting Graduation Statistic # 5
According to Beyond.com, the following 10 job fields offer the most plentiful entry-level job opportunities for college grads in 2011.
1) Clerical & Administrative
2) Sales & Sales Management
3) Merchandising, Purchasing & Retail
4) Arts, Entertainment & Gaming
5) Customer Service
6) Management & Business
7) Accounting & Finance
8) Information Technology
9) Healthcare & Medical
10) Engineering & Architecture
2) Sales & Sales Management
3) Merchandising, Purchasing & Retail
4) Arts, Entertainment & Gaming
5) Customer Service
6) Management & Business
7) Accounting & Finance
8) Information Technology
9) Healthcare & Medical
10) Engineering & Architecture
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Novelet presents Save Money on Minor Car Repairs posted at The Working Poor.
Madison presents I Joined a Book Club… and Found the Electronic Library posted at My Dollar Plan.
Well, that wraps up this week's posts! They sure were some great ones and very interesting to read through!
Get your articles in early for next week (Festival of Frugality #282). It will be hosted by our friends over at Smart on Money. Also, let Jim (the Festival organizer) know if you are interested in hosting as well. It's a bit of work, but a great way to get your blog out there and meet new folks in the process!
If you were included in this list, please don't forget to link back to the festival here. Thanks!
