Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance, Edition #224 – National Dog Week. I’ll be honest, I had no idea it was “National Dog Week” until I realized I was hosting this week’s carnival. On my search for a carnival theme, I stumbled upon a site that listed this month’s holidays. When I saw that it was National Dog Week, I figured that it would work perfectly with my pro-dog stance while simultaneously allowing me to post a pic of our dogs! In conjunction with this week, if you are looking for a place to donate money to, consider donating to the ASPCA.

On to the carnival, there were 60 awesome submissions this week, and I am honored to be the host of all of them. Below I have chosen 5 articles that really stood out as “Editor’s Picks.” The rest of the articles are sorted by category in the order I received them, so make sure to read through the whole list!

Editor’s Picks

Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents The "Sh**-That-Doesn’t-Inspire-You" Factor, and says, "You’ve probably heard of the Latte Factor. But for me that doesn’t quite cut it. I’m having much more luck implementing the "sh**-that-doesn’t-inspire-you" factor! "

Doc S from Finance Your Life presents How To Pay Down $73,674.28 In Student Loans, and says, "Finally starting to see some progress as far as the big picture, but this mortgage like loan is sill a thorn in my side."

Paul from FiscalGeek presents Why My Kids Will Drive a Piece of Crap, and says, "Teach Jr. some valuable financial and life lessons by getting them a quality used beater for their first vehicle."

DR from Dough Roller presents 5 Ways to Calculate How Much House You Can Afford, and says, "Here are 5 ways to calculate how much house you can afford."

Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator presents How To Invest When You Don’t Have Much Money, and says, "The past decade has brought many opportunities for investors to participate in the nation’s capital markets, even if they don’t have a lot of money to get started."

Pictured above are both of our (HLR and I) dogs. This is them after a play session, just relaxing together. Roxy is a Pit Bull/American Bull Dog Mix (Left) and Buddy is a Lab/Hound Mix (Right)… we think. It’s impossible to know for sure because both dogs were rescued from the SPCA!

Debt & Credit

• Michael from Debt Bytes presents Debt Relief Options vs. Your Credit Score.
• Eric from Narrow Bridge Adventures presents What is a HELOC?
• Clint from Accumulating Money presents Wage Garnishment – What You Need To Know.
• Jeremy from Taking Charge presents Did credit cards fund — or foil — latest terror plot?.
• Mr Credit Card from Ask Mr Credit Card presents A lot of action in advance of CARD.
• Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents Credit Card Tips That Make Good Financial Cents.
• Matt Jabs from Debt Free Adventure presents Wise Use of Paid off Credit Cards? You Decide.
• Cecil Dellison from Personal Finance Analyst presents The FCRA, Secret Scores and Why Credit Consumers are Flying Blind–Again.
• Studenomist from Studenomics presents Which Debt To Pay Off First?.

Frugality

• Dave S. Philips from OmniSwami presents Free VOIP Home Phone Service From Ooma.
• Brenda Pike from Pragmatic Environmentalism presents Caulk to Save Energy.
• Bob from Christian Finances presents 5 cheap movie-renting alternatives.
• jim from Bargaineering presents Best Car for Students.
• Kevin from The Red Stapler Chronicles presents The Ten Dumbest Things to Buy in a Dollar Store.
• Debt Ninja from Punch Debt In The Face presents Where are you holding back?

Buying a dog could potentially save you money on health care via the extra walking. Walking reduces a lot of health risks, so a dog could be viewed as a “forced walking plan!” On top of that, dogs also somewhat force socialization and can be used for security.

Money Management

• Chief Family Officer from Chief Family Officer presents Handling the Disappointment of a Financial Setback .
• NCN from No Credit Needed presents How To Stay On Track.
• vh from Funny about Money presents If I Had It to Do Over: 10 Money Moves I’d Do Differently.
• Michael B. Rubin from Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck presents Health care reform and rude behavior.
• Paul Williams from Provident Planning presents How to Build Up Your Emergency Fund.
• Baker from Get Rich Slowly presents Are Debit Cards Evil, Too?
• Wojciech Kulicki from Fiscal Fizzle presents Installing Financial Red-Light Cameras.
• PT from PT Money presents New Ways to Avoid Bank Overdraft Fees.
• Elle from Couple Money presents Spend less than you earn AND Earn more money.
• Matt B from Financial Methods presents Nine Reasons You Still Need Cash.
• Mike from Gathe Little By Little presents Get your finances under control in a single day.
• Jason Unger from Automatic Finances presents How to Create a Budget.
• Jason @ One Money Design from One Money Design presents Can Money Buy Happiness.
• Kyle from Suburban Dollar presents Take it Ten Yards at a Time.

Investing

• Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Are High Dividend Stocks worth it?
• Alexg from Value Investing Pro presents Quick Security Analysis With The Magic Formula.
• D4L from Dividends Value presents How Much Money Will You Need For Retirement?
• Sean from Growing Money presents Rental Property Update September 2009.
• Aryn from Sound Money Matters presents Flood Insurance Policy Basics.
• Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Stock Market Tips For Beginners: How To Build Investing Experience.
• George from Fat Pitch Financials presents Special Situations Real Money Portfolio Summer 2009 Update.
• Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents The New Coffeehouse Investor: Book Review.
• Banker Saver from Banker, Saver presents Green Banks: Helping Businesses Save The Environment.
• Investing Toolkit from Investing Toolkit presents Why Invest In Mutual Funds Rather Than Individual Stocks?
• Jill from My Dollar Plan presents Things to Consider When Saving For College.

Dog ownership also has a tendency to put spending into perspective. Often times people won’t bat an eye at a $1,200 car repair, but will scoff at the notion of a $1,200 surgery to save a dog’s life. This also outlines the excess of our society.

Economy & Taxes

• Paul Kamp from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents Does Increasing Tax Rates Increase Revenue?
• Helen from Affine Financial Services presents Inflationary Fears.
• Matthew Paulson from American Consumer News presents Will the Christmas Buying Season be Better This Year?
• Miss M from M is for Money presents Understanding Marginal Tax Rates.
• Ray from Financial Highway presents Is This a Double Dip Recesssion?
• The Financial Blogger from The Financial Blogger presents Women Want More.
• Curt from PennyJobs.com presents Everything Points To the Federal Reserve As The Cause Of the Economic Crisis.

Career

• Darwin from Darwin’s Finance presents Nepotism in the WorkPlace – Are you a Beneficiary? A Facilitator? Or a Casualty?
• Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog from The Canadian Finance Blog presents How To Write A Great Resume.
• The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents Outsourcing and Hiring Extra Help To Get Things Done.
• Piner from Passive Income Now presents 5 Legits Ways To Make Money Online.

Other

• FMF from Free Money Finance presents When Family Members Steal.
• Craig Ford from Money Help For Christians presents What is the Cheapest Way To Exchange Foreign Currency?
• J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents Moral Dilemma: Speak Up or Save Money?
• Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary presents Mint.com is Scary .

Thanks and…

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you found a few articles of interest.

If you have a second, could you please help by sharing this carnival on the various social networking sites like Stumble Upon, Tip’d, and PF Buzz? Doing so will benefit both myself and the submissions by generating more traffic!