This is the first time I’ve had three posts listed in the same week on national blog carnivals. Monroe on a Budget usually focuses on topics so local that the national audience probably yawns (or in the case of a former Monroe County resident who likes to check in, travels down memory lane!)

But the world of personal finance bloggers has grown so large that there are several active carnival loops. And while circumstances and opportunities do vary across the country, we can learn from their conversations about money.

The Carnival of Money Stories is hosted this week at Piggy Bank Blues. Here are some of the posts you will find:

• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity presents How to Cut College Costs by 13 to 25 %: “My advice is that you do your research about colleges ahead of time to ensure that your time is spent most effectively. …if you can’t get credit even with a score of 5, just skip the exam.” Here’s the catch about Advanced Placement and dual enrollment: a student needs to earn the equivalent of five or six college-level classes before high school graduation to cut one semester off the later college schedule. Is that a reasonable expectation for your student? Have you thought about the transportation logistics if classes are on more than one campus? On the other hand, one or two college-level classes can show promising students first-hand how challenging academics will be after high school even if you can’t cut the college bill.
• Out of Debt Again presents How I Got In and Out of Debt the First Time: “It was a lot easier to get out of debt back then. I was a single mom with two children, and I was in complete charge of any money that came in.” I noticed that situation when I was divorced / single mom too. On paper, my daughter and I had very tight finances. On the other hand, any money that did come into the house was mine to work with.
• Monroe on a Budget presents Why you want to fix that leaky pipe: “There was no question what had to be done – we needed a plumber NOW!” Funny About Money suggests I sign up for Angie’s List. So I poked around that site and found the “local” lists are Toledo or Detroit. I don’t know how useful either loop will be. Three years ago, my husband and I had a hard time getting a Toledo contractor to come to our house for cabinet installation – only one hardware store in the area carried the brand of cabinets that was in our kitchen and we wanted two more sections installed.