It’s the first week at my new job and my first time hosting a carnival. This is a wonderful week.

Editor’s Picks

Mike Ross presents The Top 22 Money-Saving Firefox Extensions posted at The Budget Life Blog. This is a great list of websites that save you money by watching deals for you.

Bret presents Overcome Money Problems | Hope to Prosper posted at Hope to Prosper. Here is a step by step guide to overcoming money problems.

Paul @ FiscalGeek presents What’s a Good Credit Score? Should you Care? posted at FiscalGeek. Ever wonder how your FICO score is determined? This is a great article with a breakdown on what the numbers mean.

Arthur Pledger presents Making it Rain posted at World Domination with Arthur Pledger. This is a funny article on how to make it rain… with money!

Saving Money

Tom Tessin presents Finding a Car Rental Coupon posted at FGC Auto Blog. Save money on your car rental with a click of your mouse.

PT presents Earn Rewards Without a Credit Card: 2% Cash Back Using a Debit Card posted at PT Money. If you’re spending money, why not earn money back at the same time?

FIRE Finance presents Smart Refrigeration Lowers Electricity Bill posted at FIRE Finance. Little adjustments add up to big savings.

Money Beagle presents Keeping Our Dormant Frequent Flier Miles On Ice posted at Money Beagle. Here is an interesting way to use your airline miles.

Lower Your Taxes

Jeff Kosola presents How to Adjust Tax Withholdings posted at DeliverAwayDebt. If you haven’t already done your taxes, do it soon. Then adjust your withholdings accordingly.

Peter presents What Documentation Do I Need To Claim The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit posted at Bible Money Matters. Here’s another tax related article. Find out what documents you need to claim the first time homebuyer tax credit. Good stuff.

Debt

2 Cents presents The Lexicon of Debt or Is Debt Evil? posted at Balance Junkie. Is debt evil? I say yes, but check out this take on the meaning of debt.

Credit and Home Buying

Super Saver presents Our Approach to Buying a House posted at My Wealth Builder. What do you look for when buying a house?

Matthew Paulson presents Are Social Networking Sites Hurting Your Credit? This is an interesting take on why you should be careful what you post online.

Check out the previous editions of the Money Hacks Carnival.

*If you like this post, please Digg, Tweet, or share this story. Thanks!

This week’s Money Hacks Carnival includes some interesting articles, such as:

- How to File Taxes with Your 1099s

- TurboTax Online 2009 Overview

- 101 Ways To Improve Your Marriage Money Relationship

Check out the Money Hacks Carnival now.

FYI: I will be hosting next week’s Money Hacks Carnival!

Speaking from experience, I have been through a period of unemployment twice during this economic downturn. I can tell you that it’s a very tough time and it’s easy to give up. Don’t! I just found a job and that means you can too.

I’ve read articles where people have given up on their job search. But now is the wrong time to stop looking.

Companies are getting their budgets for the year and have to spend it before they lose it. That means they are hiring! There are more job openings now – in the beginning of the year, so take advantage of it.

How to get a job in this economy:

1. Stay positive. If you have a bad attitute, you’ll never find a job. You have to change the way you think and talk to yourself. Instead of telling yourself, “I’ll never find a job,” change it to something positive. Tell yourself, “I will find a job that I’ll enjoy.” Repeat it to yourself several times in a row, several times a day… until you start believing it and your attitude changes.

2. Be productive. If you’re unemployed, find a way to keep using your skills. Either volunteer, start a blog, or take this time to build a portfolio. Do something related to what you want to do in your next job. I started this blog and continued my food blog, to keep practicing my online marketing skills. It was instrumental in helping me find a job.

Besides looking for jobs, you need to keep busy. It will show that you’re productive to potential employers. When an employer asks what you have been doing since your last job, what will you say?

3. Write down your goal. What kind of job do you want to do with your unique skillset? What kind of job would make you happy? Be specific and realistic. Write it down. For some reason, writing goals down helps you achieve them. It’s like making a firm commitment to achieve your goals.

4. Only apply for jobs you qualify for. This is a strategy for not wasting time. Don’t apply for jobs that you’re not 99% qualified for. Before the economy slumped, you could apply for and get jobs that you were 80% qualified for. But now the rules have changed. If you apply for jobs you’re not qualified for, you won’t hear back from anyone.

Do you remember hearing stories of people who applied for hundreds of jobs and never got a call back? You don’t want to be one of them. It’s not about quantity, but quality.

Nowadays, there’s stiff competition for every job. Employers are only going to pick the best of the best. You will have to demonstrate that you can do 100% of the job, during the interview process. Employers will interview 10 people and only pick one.

5. Customize your resume for each job posting. When you apply for a job, make sure your resume reflects the skills listed in the job posting. If the job posting asks for 3 years of experience, be sure that your resume reflects that.

BTW: If your spouse or significant other has been looking for a job for some time with no success, don’t push them too hard. They are probably pushing themselves hard enough. You may end up pushing them over the edge!

It’s a tough job market and no one can control the job market. Instead, be encouraging and supportive. And send them this article. =)

*This article was featured in Money Hacks Carnival #105, hosted by Jason of LiveRealNow.net.

1. Lock your keyboard is in NumLock mode.
2. Press the ALT key and enter the number on the numeric keypad. (Some laptops have a blue FN key that changes a set of keys into a numeric keypad. They have blue numbers on them in the 7-8-9-U-I-O area).

for ☺ 1
for ☻ 2
for ♥ 3 <===
for ♦ 4
for ♣ 5
for ♠ 6
for • 7
for ◘ 8
for ○ 9
for ◙ 10
for ♂ 11
for ♀ 12
for ♪ 13
for ♫ 14
for ☼ 15
for ► 16
for ◄ 17
for ↕ 18
for ‼ 19
for ¶ 20
for § 21
for ▬ 22
for ↨ 23
for ↑ 24
for ↓ 25
for → 26
for ← 27
for ∟ 28
for ↔ 29
for ▲ 30
for ▼ 31

“A short sale occurs when a property is sold and the lender agrees to accept a discounted payoff, meaning the lender will release the lien that is secured to the property upon receipt of less money than is actually owed.” Source: Elizabeth Weintraub, About.com

But if former homeowners don’t ask the lender to release them from all obligations, they could still owe the lender money! There may be a deficiency judgement if there’s a difference between what the homeowner owed on the mortgage and what the bank could sell the house for at an auction. The lenders can go after former homeowners with these deficiency judgements, even years after the house was sold.

Read more at CNN Money.

Thought you might like this funny video on why you need an iPad. Enjoy!

True story. One year, when I was working at a small office, all of the women received roses on Valentine’s Day from their significant others. And the guys in the office felt guilty for not buying flowers for their significant other! Don’t let this be you! (Do you something for your special someone, be it flowers or something else.)

ProFlowers is my favorite flower delivery service. Why? They guarantee their flowers. If you are not completely satisfied with your flowers, they will refund your money – no questions asked!

From the ProFlowers website:

“We guarantee that all our flowers, plants and preserved items will last at least 7 days or your money back. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the freshness of your flowers, please call or email us and we will gladly replace the bouquet or refund your money. Potted plants have an extended guarantee of 14 days.”

I actually took them up on their offer. One time my husband sent me flowers from ProFlowers and they were not fresh. The edges of the flowers were deteriorating. I wasn’t happy with the flowers so my husband asked for his money back. ProFlowers offered a refund and apologies.

Their flowers are usually perfect! ProFlowers ships the flowers wrapped in plastic and safely packaged in a cardboard box. They even include some packets of plant food and a guide on how to care for the flowers. You have an option to other items to your order, such as chocolates, hand dipped strawberries, or a teddy bear.

ProFlower Deals:

Get a dozen assorted roses with a free vase for only $19.99! (This deal is only available through this affiliate link. I checked the site and it’s not available for the general public.)

$5 off, 15% off or Free Vase & Chocolates (expires 2/12)

Save 40% on 20 Sweetheart Tulips for Valentine’s Day w/ FREE Ruby Vase, only $29.99 (expires 2/12)

FYI: Keep in mind, there are additional shipping charges ($9.99 – $19.99) for guaranteed delivery by Valentine’s Day, which is on a Sunday. There also may be handling charges of $2.99 and an additional shipping charge for the vase of $1.63.

Check out Money Hacks Carnival #102 now.

Open new credit cards. Getting a free T-shirt, umbrella, or a one time discount is a great perk for filling out a form! Aren’t they generous? Who cares if the free gift has the company logo on it? You enjoy being a walking advertisement for their product. Who cares if every credit card account that you open goes onto your credit report. Who cares if having a brand new credit card lowers your FICO score?

Don’t read the fine print. You don’t like to read long credit card or loan agreements. You only want to sign on the dotted line. You trust the loan officer or customer service person when they tell you that you are getting a good deal, even though they are being paid to say that. You only care that your minimum payment or interest is lower even if it’s only temporary.

Let your bills pile up. Don’t look at your bills. If you don’t know what you owe, they don’t exist, right?

Be clueless about the exact amount you owe and the interest rate of each debt. You make an educated guess and think you owe $5,000. But in reality, it’s really $8,000. You were off by $3,000. Oops! You could come up with a better strategy to pay off debt if you knew the principal amount and interest rate of each debt. But you don’t want to know because you don’t really want to admit that you are in debt. You like lying to yourself.

Keep using credit cards that carry a balance. Can’t pay off your credit cards every month? Keep using them because you’ll be slapped with finance charges every time you make a new purchase. Credit card companies will love you since they make so much money off of you.

Take out a loan. Want to get deeper into debt? Take out a high interest loan online. Why not trust Gary Coleman or Montel Williams to sell you the best loan in a radio or TV commercial? After all, you can trust them, can’t you? They have your best interest at heart since they are being paid a lot money to tell you that this is the best loan and it will solve all of your problems. The interest rates are through the roof right right now since a lot of people are borrowing money. You’ll pay off credit cards with this loan but incur a higher interest rate than all of your credit cards combined! You like being ripped off.

Don’t set a budget or cut expenses. Budgets are boring and restrictive. You’re a free spirit. You want to buy things as you please, even if you don’t need them. Who wants to know that they could get a better deal on their cell phone, cable/internet, or car insurance? You like wasting money.

Don’t have a debt repayment plan. You’re too lazy to create a debt repayment plan. You enjoy being in debt. Everything will work out eventually on its own, won’t it?

Pay only the minimum balance. You don’t want to give the credit cards any more of your money. That’s why you only pay the minimum balance. You’ll pay for your credit cards for a long time after you’ve made the purchases. But it’s okay because you’re only paying $50 a month.

Redeem credit card offers. Credit card companies love you! They keep sending you special offers to open more credit cards, since you have been such a great customer. Credit card companies tell you that you are a valued customer even though you haven’t paid anything off. They want you to have more money to spend. How thoughtful of them!

Don’t learn about personal finance. You don’t care to learn anything about how to manage your money or debt. It’s too hard to understand. But you’ve already broken this rule by reading this blog!

Rely on others to give you advice about your money. You don’t know much about how to invest your money. That’s why you hire a financial advisor to help you invest your money. Even though celebrities have lost a lot of money by trusting someone to invest their money, it’s ok. You would rather trust someone else to handle your money than trust yourself.

Give up. You figure that you’ll never pay off your debt. You are too depressed and overwhelmed. You think you are the only one who has ever been in debt. If you read personal finance blogs, you’ll know that almost every personal finance blogger has been in debt and have dug themselves out of it. Dave Ramsey is a great example. He had it all – a $250,000/yr salary, a nice sportscar, wife, and a house. When the real estate market changed, he owed $1.2 million. During that tough time, he lost everything except for his house. He had to sell his nice sportscar that he thought he deserved. His marriage was strained.

Know that you are not alone and you will get out of debt one day. Change your attitude and you will change your situation.

Included in Money Hacks Carnival #102.