Welcome the the "Titanium Spork" Edition of Frugal Feast

This is number 6 for those who are counting. A titanium spork was featured in some nerd-geek lunch ware website my husband found awhile back.

Okay--napkins on, sporks at the ready, here we go:

Dessert first, with two BOGO entries.
Jessica Bosari of Billeater presents Who Needs Cell Phone Insurance?, adding “The smart way to manage the risk of damage to your smart phone.”, and 5 Ways to Accessorize on the Cheap, adding “Spend less looking great.”

Tim Chen of Ned Wallet presents Why You Shouldn't Buy AAdvantage Frequent Flyer Miles (Bonus Be Damned), adding “I got an email from American Airlines a couple of weeks back begging me to buy some extra frequent flyer miles for my AAdvantage account, but the problem is, it’s complete crap.”, and Considering a Medical Credit Card? Proceed with Caution, adding “Originally used for elective surgeries like liposuction, medical credit cards are increasingly used by those with limited or no health insurance to pay doctors, dentists, chiropractors and even veterinarians.”

Okay, onto our regularly-scheduled courses:

MONEY
David of Money Ning presents Want to Buy Something? Save, Don’t Borrow! and adds “The title says it all--don't get into debt!”

Charles of CreditDonkey.com Tips presents How to Reduce Consumer Debt Efficiently, adding "Frugality begins with reducing your consumer debt."

Miriam of Budgets and Bargains presents Making Money Off Your Credit Cards, adding “Most people are happy to have our income meet our outflow, pay our credit card bills on time and have a good credit score for the day we want to a mortgage. But some people are more aggressive. We want our credit cards to work for us. We want more than the regular rewards associated with points. Yes, we are willing to spend hours of internet searching to figure out how to get free airline tickets and free gifts cards with out credit cards.”

I take it you haven't figured out the value of your time, then. Free isn't really free--there are strings attached, such as a recently jacked-up price to compensate for the "free" part of the deal, or other strings, such as hiked interest rates or hiked minimums on those cards. You might want to read this, my dear.

PT Money presents How to Budget Your Money on Variable Income, adding “When income is up and down, it can be hard to budget. Follow these tips for budgeting on a variable income.” If you're self-employed, you should read this.

Ryan of the Military Wallet presents Use the G.I. Bill While Collecting Unemployment, adding “Military veterans can collect unemployment while using the GI Bill. This article covers the information needed to understand how these benefits can be used in conjunction.”

Rosette of IRA Rules presents Inherited IRA Rules, adding “Inherited IRA rules may not be as simple as Roth IRA rules but it's still important to invest time if you want to get returns out of your inherited IRA account.”

Credit Card Wisdom presents 4 Reasons Why Retail Credit Cards are a Bad Idea, adding “Retail credit cards are simply a bad idea in most cases. They encourage overspending (and increasing debt) while charging sky high interest rates and adding yet another bill to worry about every month.”

CAREER/EDUCATION
Evelyn Dugan of Earn a Degree Online presents Should College Students Own Credit Cards? Only if they have a proven way to make the payments.

Joe E. at Consolidating Student Loans presents Step-by-Step Guide to Consolidating Student Loans, adding “Student loan consolidation can save you money in some cases. Find out if it can for you and exactly how to go about getting started in the process of consolidating.”

Micheal Erins of Masters in Education presents What Taxes Can You Deduct From Schooling Expenses?.

(Not So) Cheap Social Worker presents Why Certain Majors are More Profitable than Others.

Praveen of Simple Trading System presents Today There Are More Options For Saving Money on College Textbooks - Including Renting! Yes, there certainly are more option than when I was in college--I could've used an e-book in some of my legal research classes instead of textbooks the size and weight of the L.A. yellow pages. Now kids barely even need a book bag!

Jon of Free Money Wisdom presents Why You Shouldn’t Save for Your Kid’s Education, adding “This is an article about funding your kid's tuition and why I don't recommend you do it. It’s a touchy subject, but one that I think needs to be talked about.”

Amen, brother Jon--here's what I wrote about the subject.

TAXES
Pinyo of Moolamoney Personal Finance presents IRS Payment Plan for Those Who Can’t Pay Taxes, adding “Tax Day is rapidly approaching and you might find that you owe the IRS a tax bill that you can’t afford. So, what can you do?”

Do what I did twenty years ago--write them and ask to set up an installment plan using the guidelines I lay out in my credit revamp letter. The IRS never turned me down EVER.

Back Taxes Help presents IRS Eases Up on Taxpayers Who Owe Taxes or Back-Taxes.

Kyle Berks of Integrated Loans presents The Myth About Mortgage Tax Deduction, adding “Numerous people think that mortgage interest deduction is one of the major benefits that you will get if you buy a home. Although this is not entirely wrong, keep in mind that just like all other financial rules, this statement is not universal and it does not apply to everyone.”

So true--it seems the qualification threshold gets raised every year. I'm living in the most expensive house I've ever owned, and yet I don't qualify! Currently, the deduction starts at about $200k--if you didn't finance a house of at least that price, you aren't getting the deduction either, no matter how much you pay in taxes and interest. Now you know why the rich keep refinancing.

OTHER
Amy Cook of Interior Design Degree presents 5 Tips for Home Décor on a Budget.

John Purcell of Fascinating Experiments presents Foraging for Foods: Squiffy’s Top 10 Wild Foods.

Beth of Smart Frugality presents I *Heart* Baking Soda, adding “12 ways to use baking soda to clean, treat bee stings, deodorize, sweeten food, and more.”

Annette Berlin of Craft Stew presents Dollar Store Craft Supplies, adding “Craft supplies have a well deserved reputation for being pricey. You don’t have to pay these prices, though. Your local dollar store is a treasure trove of craft supplies, all costing a dollar.”

I though the coolest craft supplies (actually sewing supplies) I'd ever received was when a lady up the street died, and her kids came to me wondering what to do with all her sewing and craft stuff. Some of it was from the 50's, some of it was dust-covered, but still packaged, and some of it I couldn't identify, but it was cool to get them for free, and find out what the unidentifiable stuff was.

Nowadays, most of it would be considered one-of-a-kind, or custom. You just can't find that stuff any more.

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Sporks down--the feast has ended. I'm going to take a break from this for awhile--check with the Blog Carnival page to see when the next Feast date is.