Carnival of Money Stories - June 1 Wedding Edition!

Okay, I know, weird theme with no connection to the content but June is a big month for weddings so there you go. Weddings are pretty expensive too, so that's my money connection!

Five Cent Nickel received notice of a correspondence audit from the IRS recently. A Letter From the IRS can be a scary thing. Luckily for him, Nickel was in the right and had the paperwork to prove it!

MoneyNing has an excellent article on foreclosure and how it really is happening everywhere. Foreclosure Really Happens All Over reminds us to be compassionate with those who have fallen on hard times, regardless of how they got there. It’s a good reminder.

Hopefully, even with times so tough, you are managing to maintain a charitable spirit. If you’re looking for ways to spend your charitable dollars, check out this article from Good Financial Cents’ Jeff Rose, Giving to a Good Cause: DonorsChoose.org. Jeff recently won a gift certificate to DonorsChoose.org from Green Panda Treehouse and was impressed by his experience.

SectorMatic Money Journal is asking, “What Does the Internet Mean to your Wallet?” It’s an interesting article.

Did you ever wish you could have a do-over? Suburban Dollar is outlining his three biggest financial mistakes and calling on the Suburban Genie! Those “if only’s” can be tough!

Len Penzo offers up an amusing article this week with, A Few Minutes with Personal Finance Genius Rich Livingston. I bet you know a few Rich Livingston’s!

Jim over at Bargaineering recently requested and reviewed his credit report for errors. Those things can be a little confusing so he’s showing us How to Review Your Equifax Credit Report. It’s a very informative article and he’s got some good advice to share.

Have you ever had trouble moving your money around? Free Money Finance is having a tough time with E*Trade these days and he’s telling it like it is with Yet Another Reason to Hate E*Trade! He actually got to talk to a real live person and even that didn’t help!

Debt Kid has been having a tough time but he’s Hoping for a Good Summer. I’m impressed with his ability to keep a positive attitude and continue to move forward in the face of so many obstacles. He's a good example for all of us who are struggling.

The Lucrative Investor wonders, “Could Painting Your Roof be the Key to Reversing Climate Change?” Every little bit helps, I guess.

Having a great vacation can sure put you in the mind of buying a vacation home. Bible Money Matters was recently involved in just such an experience. Calmer heads prevailed though and he wants us to remember, Don’t Let Your Emotions Cloud your Good Judgement. Sure is fun to dream!

My Dollar Plan is trying to help a reader in a tough financial situation and is asking for your input, in “Help a Reader: Keep the House or Save for Retirement?” It’s a tough call, especially if you factor in the possibility of a rebounding economy enabling his house to become an integral part of his retirement nest egg.

Brian Maxwell from Live Your Life With Prosperity and Success submitted twenty-three articles, all of which I read. Although they were all good, none really fit the profile of money stories. In spite of that, who doesn’t want to live a happier life? 3 Ways to Live a Happier Life has some good advice and is written basically in the narrative voice and so I’m including it!

In the midst of all the foreclosures, it’s nice to read about someone doing a re-finance and keeping their home. Single Guy Money says he’s comfortably able to make his payments but is working out a re-fi in order to lower them. Who wouldn’t want that? Refinancing my Home…Hopefully tells us where he is with the process.

Do you think having an MBA will be the answer to all your prayers? CashMoneyLife reconsidered and explains Why Achieving an MBA is no Longer my Goal.

Funny About Money is in the midst of slowly losing her job. She’s been aware of it for quite awhile and has been factoring and figuring how she’s going to make it when time runs out. Unfortunately, she’s having a hard time getting all the facts on where she stands and what she’ll need. Right now she has a Fight a-brewing over COBRA with her employer. Sometimes it’s impossible to get a straight answer.

The Smarter Wallet walks us through the lessons he’s learned trading on the Stock Market. In spite of its title, “Should You Trade Stocks Online?”, isn’t specifically about trading online but trading at all. Thanks for sharing the lessons you learned!

Northern Cheapskate recently learned the value of preventative health care for your pet, even when it seems expensive. Lesson Learned: Don’t Skimp on Pet’s Care gives us all the opportunity to learn from her mistake.

Almost Frugal recently got out of graduate school and has a job – congratulations AF! She is letting us in on some Lessons Learned About Frugality While in Graduate School.

Money Blue Book has been trading with Zecco and gives us an in-depth review of his experience with them and their practices in Zecco Review: Free Online Stock Trading.

Finally, Ask Mr. Credit Card took a break from his normal topic and wrote an article about an inspiring idea his wife had for her 40th birthday party. Mrs. Credit Card’s 40th Charity Birthday Party for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation tells the story of how Mrs. Credit Card turned her birthday party into a fund raiser for a worthy charity. Good for you Mrs. Credit Card! I’m fast approaching 50 and I may go that route myself.

I received a lot of submissions this week. Many of them were informative, well-written, funny and enjoyable to read. Unfortunately, most of them were either not stories or not financial in nature or both. If your article was not included in this carnival, don’t despair. It was probably an excellent article, just not a story. I would urge you to submit it to one of the other financial Carnivals, where it will probably be an Editor’s Pick and earn you all sorts of attention! One of the things that make the articles in this Carnival so pleasant to read is that they must be stories meaning, among other things, that they are told in the narrative voice. Thank you all for your submissions!

Be sure and link to the carnival from your site. Please help advertise the carnival through whatever social networking sites you frequent. More traffic to the carnival helps us all!

Have a great week everybody!