The Carnival of Personal Finance For Dec. 15 was hosted by the Frugal Duchess. Here are some of the posts you’ll find on all things financial:

• Art of the Coupon presents The Twelve Frugal Days of Christmas: “A little hint… when you unwrap the ‘Christmas wrapping paper’ from the Russell Stovers boxes, they are still sealed underneath and look just like Valentines candies.” A reminder to local readers – you can find off-season candy on clearance prices at the Russell Stover Store in Dundee. But keep reading past the candy – there are more ideas in this great post!
• Counting My Pennies presents Downward Spiral for the Economy and for PF Bloggers?: “Everything is such doom and gloom and I know you don’t want to read it and I certainly don’t want to write it.” So far, I have been able to treat the Monroe on a Budget blog as a stress buster. Even if I personally can’t use a tip or announcement, I have the hope that somebody out there can and will … and that each tiny step a Michigan family can take will help alleviate or improve the situation in our region. I do admit, however, my husband and I have been listening to iTunes and playing on the computers after dinner lately rather than watching the business and news channels on TV.
• The Money Kings presents When it costs more to save more: “This is the problem. People buy more and then USE MORE. This, then, costs more money and defeats the whole purpose of going to a place like Costco.” If you find yourself doing this, ration out boxes and packages by marking them with the date you plan to open them.

The Festival of Frugality for Dec. 16 was hosted by Naturally Frugal. Here are some of the posts you’ll find on frugal living concepts:

• Economic Crunch presents No matter how far away you roam: “You’ve shopped wisely for your mobile phone and landline plans. Got rollover minutes? Now’s the time to use ‘em up.” You will score BIG points by making phone calls to grandparents and other elders who remember the days when long distance calls were so expensive they were reserved for emergencies and Sunday afternoons.
• Bible Money Matters presents 50 Frugal Gifts You can Give This Christmas: “Buy some gourmet coffee and a personalized coffee cup for the coffee lover on your list.” OK so maybe your person has way too many coffee cups. Go find a cute basket. Now to those coffees … Cafe Classics in downtown Monroe sells small and therefore inexpensive pouches of ground and beans of various coffee flavors. Yum. One could give a friend one of those baggies and a candy cane for an extremely frugal gift. And if CC is not your coffee store, then ask your barista what she can do for you.
• Monroe on a Budget presents Here’s why you’re seeing lots of bargains: “This is a rare set of circumstances that will dry up as soon as the supply side settles out.” In other words, enjoy the good prices while you can find them – even if you are chasing only a couple of bargains. You, the consumer, come out ahead whether you get more for your money, or spend less money to get the same stuff.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction for Dec. 15 was hosted by Gather Little By Little. Here are some of the posts you’ll find on paying off debt:

• Mr. Tough Money Love presents The College Student Debt Machine: A National Disgrace: “Usually, this “aid” is not aid at all, but combinations of federal and private student loans.” I found that a frustrating situation when I was a college student, and now again that my daughter is in college. One can go to great effort to qualify and apply for all available scholarships and other free funding … and still have to sign for loans.
• Think Your Way to Wealth presents Going from Debt to Wealth – a Closer Look at Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps Plan: “The important thing is to get some sort of financial cushion going so you don’t have to use credit cards to pay for unexpected expenses or minor emergencies.” You need to figure every possible way to get the cost of routine family expenses down so you can build up or leave alone your backup funds.
• Mend Your Money presents Fiancee has lots of debt: “My advice is for you to be very concerned. I have lots of divorcing couples in my office who say “I paid off his/her debt before we got married.” Here’s one way to tackle this problem: have as frugal a wedding as possible (see my previous posts on that topic), and use the savings to pay off or pay down as much debt as possible. The best prevention, however, is to pay close attention to your significant other’s values and opinions about money. By the time I had met my husband, I decided that it didn’t matter to me how much money my future mate would earn – it was far more important to me what he did with his money. I can honestly say there are times when that man is more frugal than I am. And he is quite proud of what I can do to stretch a buck.