The Writers Coin

Welcome to the very first Money Hacks Carnival of 2009! This is my very first time hosting a carnival, and there’s no better way of starting ’09 than by hosting a collection of great blog posts from around the web.

In honor of Money Hacks I want to share an incredible article that I read on Wired.com yesterday—it’s a really good read about…what else? Hacking.

With that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?

Editor’s Pick

• Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents MacBook Vs. PC: Why I Chose PC posted at Cash Money Life. Really nice read for those like me that will be upgrading soon and are considering switching over to a Mac.

Food

• PizzaForADream presents Are You an Apple Farmer or a Potato Farmer? posted at Pizza For A Dream. PizzaForADream wants to know if you’re thinking long-term or not. I vote for apples, by the way.

• Kathy Hester (GeekyPoet) presents Finding Organic Coupons « Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe posted at Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe. Want to save money and eat organic? Sounds impossible, I know, but here are some tips for you health nuts. I’ll stick to Taco Bell thank you very much.

• MBB presents MonaVie Scam Acai Berry posted at Money Blue Book Finance. Madoff is old news, what about this berry bad scam? We may need to come back and check on this one in a year or so.

• J. Money presents Starbucks wants you to be a V.I.P! New “Gold” card out… posted at Budgets are Sexy. Is the new Starbux VIP card a good fit for you? Find out right here.

Investing

• Super Saver presents Own Individual Bonds Instead of Bond Funds posted at My Wealth Builder. I don’t own any bonds yet (too young), but this was an interesting read for when I finally take the plunge.

Buying Stuff

• Jim presents Best Personal Finance Books for Your Library posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. If you’re in the need for a good read, this is the place to browse.

• MoneyNing presents Do You Switch “Frugal Mode” On When You Come Back from Vacation? posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning. It’s an interesting question that I haven’t really paid attention to. I know I loosen up the wallet when I go on vacation.

• The Smarter Wallet presents Nintendo Wii Review, Video Game System Pros and Cons posted at The Smarter Wallet. Thinking of buying a Wii? Better think it through first…I know I did.

Loans and Credit

• Matthew Paulson presents Can You Get A Vehicle Loan With Bad Credit? posted at American Consumer News. Buying a car if you have bad credit isn’t impossible. We all gotta drive sometimes.

• Thursday presents Short Refinancing: Really An Option? posted at Wealth Junkies. Is this a great money hack or a scam that’s waiting to get discovered? You be the judge.

• Mr.CC presents Tough Negotiations With Credit Card Companies posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog. Credit-card companies can be ruthless, but sometimes all you have to do is ask and they’ll help you out.

Random

• Doug Ragan presents How YOU Can Help Save The Economy posted at I’m A Pundit Too. Doug isn’t waiting for a bailout, he wants you to bail yourself out.

• Vh presents Setting your freelance fees posted at The Copyeditor’s Desk. Ever wonder how to truly value a writer’s time? Vh has some answers for you. I’ll let you in on a secret: we don’t make much.

• Todd presents Evaluate Advice Using a Framework of Questions, Part 2 posted at HarvestingDollars. Asking questions is always a good way of figuring stuff out.

• Jeff Rose presents Just Married: Financial Planning For Newlyweds posted at Good Financial Cents. Getting married brings a whole new set of things to worry about, but Jeff has some good financial tips to get started.

• Junior Boomer presents Why Baby Boomers Need a Will posted at Consumer Boomer. Nobody likes to think about dying, but if you don’t have a will things can turn ugly.

• Mr. Banker presents Transaction Account Guarantee Program posted at Best Interest Rate Banks. I had no idea that sometimes all your money is guaranteed. There is a catch though.

• mbhunter presents What to do with those State Quarter maps? posted at Mighty Bargain Hunter. Sell them on EBay or go to the arcade? You decide.

I’ve talked before of my struggle to find time to both blog and write. Well, today is one of those days I really want to write (fiction) and instead of coming up with some mediocre post I scratched together at the last minute, I’m writing this. It may be a poor stand in for a mediocre post, but whatever.

I will mention I appeared in a couple of Carnivals last week. My post on Finishing a Story was in the Just Write Carnival and my post on dollar-cost averaging for your Roth IRA was in the Money Hacks Carnival. So writing and personal finance both were featured, which makes me feel better about not posting today.

Anyway, I can’t be bothered right now: I’m writing.

J. Savings over at Budgets are Sexy has some great posts up for the 132nd Festival of Frugality, so make sure to go take a look — he’s got a whole Forrest Gump thing going over there. Anyway, my post about taking pictures and frugality made it on there so if you haven’t read it make sure you go over and take a quick look.

Sweet! My post, Three Ways Falling in Love is Good for Your Budget, was an Editor’s pick on the Carnival of Twenty Something Finances over on Poorer Than You.

I really like Stephanie’s blog and her layout is pretty sweet. Love the green.

Check out the carnival and the other great articles that were featured.