Miss Thrifty

Welcome to the 73rd edition of the Carnival of Money Stories! If this is your first visit to Miss Thrifty, you can find out a little more about me or check out some of this blog’s most popular posts. You can also follow me on Facebook and on Twitter.

The Carnival of Money Stories showcases some of the best stories about money from personal finance blogs worldwide. Since I’m this week’s hostess, I thought we would go for a suitably British theme: Afternoon Tea! We pile a pretty cakestand high with finger sandwiches, scones and dainty little cakes – and wash the lot down with pots of brew. The picture is of my favourite Afternoon Tea of 2010: catching up with a very dear friend at Bettys of Harrogate (a UK tearoom of renown), back in the summer. Yum!

According to the Bettys website:

The custom of taking afternoon tea is thought to have been started in the 19th Century by the Seventh Duchess of Bedford. In those times, people had only two main meals a day, with dinner served quite late in the evening. As the Duchess regularly experienced a ‘sinking feeling’ part way through the day, she took to enjoying a pot of tea and some light refreshments in her room each afternoon. When she began inviting her friends to join her, taking tea in the middle of the afternoon quickly became the fashionable thing to do. Eventually it became a national habit.

The cakestand is laden – so what are you waiting for? Sit back and get stuck in…

Editor’s Picks: The Pots of Tea

Control your Cash presents Charity is for suckers posted at Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense» Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense. Ostensibly, this is a post about whether or not you should give money to the hungry and homeless. But what I took away from it was something quite different: a testament to determination, perseverance and personal achievement. Have a read and see what you think.

Financial Samurai presents The Secret To Early Retirement posted at Financial Samurai. Ooooh, I think that Financial Samurai may raise a few hackles with this one! I’m not sure that I agree with his conclusion – my inner Germaine Greer is making a cross face – but it’s certainly food for thought.

FIRE Finance presents Advantages of Online Banking posted at FIRE Finance. This post, which tells the story of a recent visit to the authors’ Aunt Jane and Aunt James, does a good job of pitching to those who are new to online banking tools and features.

MoneyReasons presents Raising Savvy Business Kids posted at Money Reasons. MoneyReasons is raising a brood of mini-Trumps and mini-Bransons. You don’t believe me? Take a look at this.

Lindy presents How to Bamboozle Your Spouse into Creating a Budget posted at Minting Nickels. I am a newcomer to this blog, but I already like it a lot: it is nicely designed and Lindy’s sense of fun makes other personal finance blogs look positively po-faced!

The Cucumber Sandwiches

vh presents Wages of Sin: Update posted at Funny about Money.

Ted Connolly presents 5 Lessons from Real Housewife NJ Teresa?s Bankruptcy Case posted at The Road Out of Debt.

BWL presents How to Start a Budget: Lessons We’ve Learned posted at Christian Personal Finance.

young and thrifty presents Don’t Get Car Rental Insurance Next Time you Rent a Car posted at youngandthrifty.ca.

Mike @ Green Panda presents Should You Start a Side Business In College? posted at Green Panda Treehouse.

The Smoked Salmon Sandwiches

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Airline Ticket Pricing: Extra Fees For Carry On Baggage? posted at The Digerati Life.

Khaleef @ KNS Financial presents How I Feel About Money Today – 9.23.10 posted at Faithful With A Few.

MoneyNing presents Can You Be Rich and Miserable? posted at Money Ning.

Leave Debt Behind.com presents How To Create a Cheap Date Without Looking Like a Cheapskate posted at Leave Debt Behind.

freefrombroke presents Why We Chose A 30 Year Mortgage When We Bought Our Home posted at Free From Broke.

The Scones

Lauren presents Lists You Need posted at Richly Reasonable.

debt kid presents Special Diets on a Budget posted at Debt Kid.

Kristina presents I Am a Balanced Investor posted at Dual Income No Kids.

J. Money presents Kiva – The Rock Stars of Microfinancing! posted at Budgets Are Sexy.

John presents What to do When Companies Cut Dividends? posted at Passive Family Income.

The Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam

Jason presents 20 Lazy Ways to Save Money posted at Live Real, Now.

Joe Plemon presents Four Ways a Part Time Job Will Change Your Life Forever posted at Personal Finance By The Book.

Mitch Archuleta presents How to Calculate Your Roth IRA’s Return posted at All About IRAs.

Squirrelers presents Frugal Baseball Player – Version 2.0 posted at Squirrelers.

Barb Friedberg presents Who wants a free MP3 player? posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance.

The Fruit Tartlets

MD presents Finding The Perfect Credit Card For College Students posted at studenomics.

Jeff Rose, CFP presents The Non Latte Factor, “Latte Factor” posted at Jeff Rose.

The Financial Blogger presents Financing Options For Your Small Business posted at The Financial Blogger.

FMF presents Free Money Finance: Bundling Doesn’t Always Save You Money posted at Free Money Finance.

Fred presents 6 Secrets to Wealth posted at Solo Biz Coach.

The Macaroons

Miranda Marquit presents Why Invest When You Can Just Gamble Your Money? posted at Go Banking Rates.

Dr. Dean presents The Purple Haze Condom Company Goes Public posted at The Millionaire Nurse.

Kris presents Ultimate Grocery Shopping – Getting Back to Saving | Everyday Tips and Thoughts… posted at Everyday Tips and Thoughts….

Kay Lynn Akers presents Adjusting the Budget Over Time posted at Bucksome Boomer.

Super Saver presents My Best Ever Volunteer Job Yet posted at My Wealth Builder.

The Fairy Cakes

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Find Free (or Cheap) Exercise posted at Canadian Finance Blog.

Ryan @ CML presents Home Business: Are You Providing a Product or a Service? posted at Cash Money Life.

Matt Jabs presents Slush Fund – Save it For a Rainy Day posted at Debt Free Adventure.

Carlos presents Investors with Babies Outperform Everybody Else posted at The Writer’s Coin.

Mike presents Building Multiple Streams of Income posted at Saving Money Today.

The Aftermath!

Neal Frankle presents Retirement Lump Sum ? Your Best Choice? posted at Wealth Pilgrim: Money Management Advice, Financial Stess Management, Addiction Recovery Plan & Resources.

Ken presents Why It Makes Financial Sense To Buy A House posted at Spruce Up Your Finances.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Suitable Verse posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Crystal presents My Magic Bullet Blender posted at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff.

Invest It Wisely presents How I Almost Got Scammed: Lessons Learned from Trouble in “Paradise” | Invest It Wisely posted at Invest It Wisely.

Thanks to all my finger sandwiches, scones, confections and pots of tea. Next week’s Carnival of Money Stories will be hosted by  Sustainable Life Blog - so if you are a blogger and you have a story to tell, get your entry in.
Image credits: acme, firepile, stevendepolo, adactio, Kai Henry, littledebbie11, tristranf, seelensturm.