I’ve never participated in this blog carnival, but it’s one that I do have on my blogroll and this week’s showcase is quite good: The Carnival of Debt Reduction, hosted this week at Prime Time Money.

Here are some of the entries you’ll find:

• I’ve Paid for This Twice Already presents Why Debt Stinks: Sometimes It Forces You to Make the Cheap Choice: “A core tenet of frugality, to me, is making the most cost effective choice for the long term, even if it isn’t the least expensive option in the short term.” That post piggy-backs pretty well onto a CNN news story about the increasing trend toward short-term grocery purchases.
• The Personal Financier presents Saving Hundreds of Dollars Easily with Well-Placed Outlook Reminders: “1. Add a reminder to your calendar of any expiring deals, obligations or engagements. 2. When the reminder pops up take an hour to shop and compare prices.” I don’t want to clutter my day planner with that stuff, but the idea makes sense. One alternative is set up a second calendar file (either paper or electronic) for financial tasks and check that list every payday.
• Living the Cheap Life presents How to ruin yourself financially in one easy step: “I recommended buying some cheap furniture from Craig’s List. We probably could have furnished the entire house for one month’s worth of rental fees. That’s how expensive it really is to rent furniture.” Read this story to find out what one financially irresponsible roommate can do to your stress level. Now imagine if you were married or in a “significant other” relationship to such a person. Pick your room/life mates wisely.
• Free Money Finance presents Don’t go into debt with someone before you marry them: “She and her fiance bought a HOUSE together, and they planned to live in it after they got married. Guess what happened.” Here’s what happened to me even with the legal protections of a marriage license and divorce decree: My ex-husband and I co-signed one loan when we were married and about $500 was owed when we split. Even though the divorce papers specifically said he was to pay that debt, the bank would not take my name off the account because I co-signed it. If he didn’t pay it, the bank expected me to. So I went to the bank every month to check up on that account until it was paid off.