You, Too, Can Buy a House in Florida for Under $20,000

I’ve already shared with you one of my favorite blogs – Cake Wrecks.  Wreckporters  scour their local supermarkets, and Flicker, looking for submissions.  I don’t know what it is about this area, but I’ve never seen a wreck in real life, except my godmother’s pile-of -poop-complete-with swarming-flies-wedding cake (oh yes, I wish I hadn’t packed away my photos in preparation for moving, don’t you?). It never ceases to make me laugh, and sometimes even guffaw.  Trust me, no one looks pretty when they guffaw.

A few weeks ago a friend turned me onto another site that has made it’s way into my reader.  It’s a similar type theme blog, but instead of Cake Wrecks it features house listing wrecks.   It’s Lovely!  I’ll Take It! posts listing photos that make you wonder at the  sanity – and commitment to selling – of the people who chose them as representations of their property.  I’ve seen things that no prospective home buyer should.

I was lucky enough to find a listing that was so vile for so many reasons (not the least of which is the nudie shot of the realtor on his website)  I had to submit it.  I’m happy but not surprised that they featured it today.

Go check it out, and while you’re there check out some of the archives.  And please, if you’re ever going to take photos of your bathroom in hopes of selling your house, please flush.

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Blog Avoidance

There are 723 unread items in my Google reader.

That is a symptom of my recent blog avoidance; I’m not reading blogs any more than I’m posting to them.

There have been a few things lately that have almost inspired me to write posts.  Posts with names like Leave the Travoltas the Hell Alone and Ann Coulter is an Angry, Childish, Skinny Blonde Idiot.

And I’m sure there are posts to be written describing my frustration over figuring out where the heck I’m sending Son to school next year (the school we’re zoned for scores a 1 out of 10 on greatschools.net).  Anyone want a townhouse in South Florida??

So, still mostly in blog avoidance mode. And I’m enjoying Facebook.

But really, I don’t think the two are related…

Sunday Night Linklet

I actually managed to make it into a few carnivals this week!

First, my article  The Lynching (in effigy) of Sarah Palin appeared in The BoBo Carnival of Politics, hosted at The Bobo Files this week.

The Festival of Frugality was held at Bargain Briana this week andincluded my article One Fart and It’s All Over.  Really, I think that’s one of my favorite post titles!

The Carnival of Family Life hosted at On a Quest to Be Debt Free this week.  My post Autumn is Good for My Soul was included.  That same post was also mentioned by The Expanding Life in her CFM roundup.  Thanks!

Special thanks to all the hosts who did a great job, and my fellow bloggers who wrote some great articles!

Lackadaisical Housekeeping Seems More Accurate

Recently I received an e-mail from a woman wanting to interview me for an article she was writing for a “national publication”. She’d seen my article about how I got Comcast to lower my bill with just a phone call, and she wanted to find out what I did and how I did it.

Being that I’ve never completely given up my adolescent quest for fame (albeit fifteen (or even three) minutes), and though we already have a Paris Hilton, I demurely accepted the invitation. I joked with my friend that the national publication was likely Cat Fancy, though the joke was not as well appreciated since the friend has two cats herself.

This morning Margarette called, but I was outside wrestling with a witch (Seriously. It’s 60 degrees here and I had a plastic witch taped to my wonderful slide-screen door. The witch had to go, and she decided to fly away rather than be taped to my dirty garage door. I had to clean it for her so the tape would stick. Stupid witch.).

I called her back and waxed poetic about the great deal I got, other things I do to save money (I even confessed to buying some holiday gifts at garage sales – they were brand new items!) and how I marvel that frugal is now chic.

She then tells me that the article is for Good Housekeeping! Huh. That’s not Cat Fancy, is it?

She asked for my first and last name, which I was happy to give. It did bring up an issue, though, about my anonymity on this blog. I’ve chosen to be BeThisWay and not divulge my name, for reasons of safety and anonymity.

I’m happy to report that my principles flew out the window faster than that plastic witch and I’ve decided that fame is more important than anonymity and, apparently, safety. After all, I’m on Facebook now, so the gig is up.

I am such a fame whore. Though it’s funny that I’d be mentioned in an article in Good Housekeeping when mine is…not.

Sunday Linklet

I only entered one Carnival last week, The Carnival of Personal Finance. My article did not appear, and I’m going to assume it’s an error on their part and not that they didn’t find merit in the article I submitted.

That said, my article Easy and Frugal Halloween Costume and Makeup Ideas got included in Remodeling This Life’s roundup, and Miss Thrifty re-posted the Handbag giveaway on her blog and nicely linked back to the blog, so thanks very much to both of you!

Have a great week!

~0~

Edited because Miss Thrifty told me my article WAS included.  For some reason I don’ thave a trackback showing, and wound up looking at the carnival from the week previous (that apparently was re-posted on the 14th (the day after the next carnival) due to some type of data crash, making me think THAT was the most recent one).  And I don’t expect you to understand all that, but I do so I know I’m not a complete idiot; just a partial one.

Anyhoo, my article Financial Instability Aftershocks Affect Your Credit, Too was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted at Greener Pastures.  Thanks!!!

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The Oops Now It’s Thursday Monday Linklet

Yeah, I totally forgotto do the post this week.  Whoops.

I was only in two carnivals last week.

The Carnival of Family Life was hosted at Stop the Ride and included my article Sure, We?ll Pay You for Not Delivering the Car?.

The Carnival of Money Stories #70 was hosted at Colloquiumand included my article Flush With Love for Son.

There were lots of great stories but I have to run so just please go read them all!

Next week there will be no linklet as I didn’t enter anything in a carnival.  I’ll make up for it next week!

Monday Link Love

The Festival of Frugality was hosted at Antishay Ventenne this week, and my post Freezing Increased Food Costs was included.

Other great reads include:

• Jeffrey Strain wrote one of the best posts I’ve ever read in his 25 Ways To Improve Your Financial Situation In Under 10 Minutes posted at Saving Advice Blog. This is a must-read for everyone.
• David at My Two Dollars gives us several “Duh!” moments in Save Money, Reduce Waste: Stop Buying And Start Borrowing. Really, it’s a great idea to borrow instead of buy!

The Carnval of Money Stories was hosted at Almost Frugal this week, and included my post Sure, We’ll Pay You for Not Delivering the Car….

Also check out:

• Free Money Finance‘s post Our Real Estate Agent Has Never Met Sane People Before completely takes the wind out of my sails as far as selling our home. The truth hurts.
• Uncommon Sense‘s post Sympathetic, But Not Enough to Favor a Bailout gets a hearty “Amen!” from me.

The Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted at Taking Charge this week and included my article Take the Park the Car challenge.

Also clickworthy:

• Saving Advice‘s post Investing Hack: Why I bought $199 in Apple Stock Instead of a New Apple 3G iPhone is a not only a terrific idea, it’s inspirational!
• The Red Stapler Chronicle‘s post Money Lessons Learned from Famous Movies is a cute post. I think my favorite lesson is the one from Trading Places…

Special Thanks to Gather Little by Little for including my post 43 Good Facts to Know in her Friday Gathering – Life change edition roundup.

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The Seeming to Always Be on Tuesday Monday Linklet

The Festival of Frugality was hosted at On Financial Success and included my article All I Had to Do Was Ask!.

Also check out:

• Alison at This Wasn’t in the Plan’s What Happens When You Already Do What You Should? is chock full of tips, including some I could be doing but don’t. Yet.
  
• Stop the Ride!’s Maybe I’m Just Cheap echoes my own sentiments about waste. I don’t compost now, but will when I have my own land to stink up.
  

The Carnival of Personal Finance #161: The “Feeling Renewed” Edition was hosted at Deep Investmentsand included my article Where’s my Dadgum Sales Tax Holiday?

Other great reads:

• Brooke at Dollar Frugal‘s On Obsolescence. Our library system is phasing out VCR’s and unloading their entire stock at $1 apiece. nyone still have any 8-tracks?
• The Financial Blogger‘s third installment in the How to Find a good Financial Advisor series. Well worth reading.
  

The Carnival of Family Life was hosted at Colloquium and included my article Country Living and the Loo.

Definitely clickworthy:

• Terri Mauro at Terri’s Special Children Blog‘s As Long As You’re Kicking Autistic Kids Out of Church … wrote a tongue-in-cheek essay about disruptive behavior and what else should be banned.
• Amy L at Earnest Parenting’s How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Whine is funny and arms parents with another remedy to the ever-present whine.

That’s it for this week.  Thanks again to all the hosts for doing a great job!

The Tuesday After Vacation Monday Linklet

We drove back from the mountains of North Carolina yesterday, and I’m not even going to pretend I’m sorry this is posted late.

The Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance and included my post How Much Energy Does That Appliance Use?.

Be sure to check these great posts:

• The Financial Blogger from The Financial Blogger wrote a no-BS article about How To Find A Good Financial Advisor. It was Part 1, and I can’t wait to read more in the series.
• Jesse from You Need a Budget, teaches his son, Porter, some hard money lessons in A Four-Year Old, a Light Saber, and an Invaluable Lesson in Personal Finance.

The Carnival of Life at Mixed Metaphor.net included my post Prevent Drowning – Water Safety Tips for Parents.

Don’t miss:

• Laura Scarborough’s recollection of a conversation overheard in white trash wedding at Adventures in Juggling. Oh my!
• Jane at Kidzarama shares A Quick Lesson in Fursing, something I am very good at myself, dadgummit!

The Carnival of Money Stories Edition #66 was hosted at My Good Cents this week. My article The New World Of Airline Travel was included and awarded a 🙂 – their version of an Editor’s Pick. Thanks!

Many great reads this week. Check out:

• Martinique at Queercents shares her story Asking The Hospital To Forgive Your Debt. This is a great post and has inspired me to write about other ways to save on your medical and hospital bills. Look for it soon!!!
• RC at Think Your Way to Wealth wrote 10 Money and Life Lessons I Learned from My Father. Not only is it excellent advice, it’s poignant because it reminds me of my own childhood.

The Festival of Frugality was hosted at Budgets Are Sexy this week and included my article You Know What I Did This Summer – Save Money!.

Also check out:

• What I pay for health care by Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme is a really fascinating look at someone who sees prevention as the answer. Can’t say I disagree. Of course my old boss did the same things and dropped dead of a heart attack at 58, but still…
• Fun and Frugal in Western North Carolina by Stephanie at Stop the Ride!. She writes about her recent frugal vacation to Western North Carolina (where I am now). I adore Asheville, and it’s our #1 choice of new hometowns. Just wish there were more jobs…

The Money Hacks Carnival was hosted at Sound Money Matters this week and and also included the article You Know What I Did This Summer – Save Money! (Whoops, didn’t realize I submitted the same article to two carnivals!).

Still worth checking out, especially these two posts:

• Greener Pastures at Greener Pastures offers a humorous look at the difficulties of frugality in My Dog Ate My Coupons.
• Ask Mr. Credit Card at Ask Mr. Credit Card talks about how making the smart financial choice may hurt your credit score in Finances vs. Credit Part 1 of 4: Smart Financial Decisions That Hurt Your Credit Score. I can’t wait to read the next three installments!

Special thanks to Funny About Money for mentioning my post You Know What I Did This Summer – Save Money! in her article Moments of Fame.

Also thanks to Alison at This Wasn’t In The Plan for mentioning my article To Explore the New World of Airline Travel You Need More Than a Map in her post Friday Night Link Love: Fireworks Edition.

Monday Escape to Magic Mountain Linklet

We’re on vacation in North Carolina and having a super-dee-duper time. Enjoy this week’s roundup!

The Carnival of Personal Finance #158 : Vampire Slaying Edition was hosted at Mrs. Micah, who chosed my post My Personal Finance Confession Project: Credit Card Rates as an Editor’s pick! Thanks Mrs. Micah!.

Also check out:

• Passive Family Income posted Is it Frugal or Stealing? at Passive Family Income. A great, thought-provoking look at different people’s sense of right and wrong.
• Rock at Happy Rock‘s post The Vending Machine 2 for 1 – Is It Frugality or Stealing is along the same lines. I found the comments very revealing!

My article Your Economic Stimulus Check Didn’t Include Money For Your Kids? You’re Getting Another Check! was in the Carnival of Money Stories hosted at The Dividend Guy Blog .

Other good reads:

• Mrs. Accountability at Out of Debt Again wrote about My Mom’s $6480 Washing Machine. b The numbers for rentals like these are staggering! Oy.
• Frugal Babe has a great article about thrift store shopping in her article 99 Cent Mondays posted at Frugal Babe. I really wish there were Savers stores in my state!

Special thanks to PaidTwice at I’ve Paid for This Twice Already for mentioning my article My Personal Finance Confession Project: Credit Card Rates in her Sunday Morning Link Love – The Colonoscopy Edition, and for writing her own – My Personal Finance Confession: Retirement Funds. Thanks, too to Anna at To Be Debt Free for mentioning that same article in their Carnival of Personal finance Roundup and for participating by writing Personal Finance Confession.

Extra special thanks to everyone who shared their confessions and/or wrote their own articles! You rock!