So you know how when it rains, all the rain is supposed to hit the roof and roll down into the gutters, out the downspouts, and away from the house? Yeah, mine do that too. But sometimes the rain is a little more than usual (OK, a LOT more than usual) and it doesn’t quite all roll away. In fact, sometimes it gets in the ground and decides to pay a visit to my basement. Then I get that nice surprise of waking up to a self-washing floor (I’m trying to be positive here).
If you haven’t figured it out by now, we had a HUGE rainstorm and my basement had some flooding. Always a fun thing to take care of, especially when you have a blog carnival to host as well (especially one that has grown as big as the Totally Money Carnival has)!
As I’m somewhat swamped here, there isn’t going to be much of a theme this week (well, maybe a rainy one), just the awesome articles that made it to the carnival.
So without further ado, here is the 32nd Totally Money Carnival:
Editor’s Picks (those articles that really keep their heads above water):
Mike Piper presents Tax-Loss Harvesting posted at Oblivious Investor.
Carlos M. Sera presents A 500 Point Tale | Financial Tales posted at Financial Tales.
Squirrelers presents Buffett on Gold: He Makes Some Interesting Points! posted at Squirrelers.
Control your Cash presents GUEST POST: Don’t Reach For The Middle posted at Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense.
Jacob presents Are You Clueless About Mortgages? Start Here! posted at My Personal Finance Journey.
And the Rest…
Philip Taylor presents Know Your Stuff Before Renting Out Your Home posted at PT Money Personal Finance.
Tushar presents Are Bonds at Risk of Default ? posted at Everything Finance.
Outlaw presents Where to Invest Your Money posted at Outlaw Finance.
Kevin presents Beware The Coupon Code… posted at Invest It Wisely.
Ryan presents Pay Down Debt Faster with DebtGoal posted at Deliver Away Debt.
SB presents Do you need store credit cards, I don’t posted at One Cent at a Time.
Tim Chen presents Chase Sapphire Offers 50,000 Point Signup Bonus, Worth $500 posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch.
Juliet Jones presents 10 High-Paying Jobs That Aren?t Worth It posted at Business Insurance.
DSO presents Best Investments posted at Dividend Stocks.
John Harrison presents Working Tax Credits and Claiming Childcare Costs posted at Tax Credits.
Dividend Growth Investor presents Five Free Dividend Stocks posted at Dividend Growth Investor.
If you think there’s ANY chance you might need a wet/vac then make sure you buy it BEFORE you need it. I went to Home Depot and the place was full of people looking for wet/vacs to clean up their flooded basements. And of course they were mostly sold out in at least a couple of stores. [I asked about one store and they told me the store was under water - Doh!]
Lisa Hood presents 15 Facts Every First-Time Car Buyer Must Know posted at ZenCollegeLife.
Money Beagle presents Where Not To Buy Tissue Paper posted at Money Beagle.
Miss T. presents 5 Budget Friendly Ways to Bring More Life to Your Apartment | Prairie Eco-Thrifter posted at Prairie Eco-Thrifter.
Meghan presents Best Family Credit Cards for Back to School posted at CreditDonkey Tips.
Darwin presents US Loses Triple A Credit Rating – It’s About Time posted at Darwin’s Money.
Justin presents Have You Ever Missed a Payment? posted at Money Is The Root.
Jason presents Playing For Blood | Live Real, Now | Live Real, Now posted at Live Real, Now.
The Family Wallet presents How Much Home Can I Afford? posted at The Family Wallet.
Money Spending Mommy presents Stress-Reducing Techniques in Financial Hard Times posted at Money Spending Mommy.
Jon the Saver presents 25 Money Saving Tips for the Holidays posted at Free Money Wisdom.
Eric J. Nisall presents To Gift Or Not To Gift posted at DollarVersity.
Boomer presents Economic Indicators You Should Track posted at Boomer & Echo.
If you are having flooding problems, take a look at the downspouts of your gutters. It’s possible they aren’t leading water far enough away from the house. A few downspout extensions will cost you less than $50, which is a whole lot less than some other basement waterproofing solutions!
Pat S. presents The Benefits of Prepaid Credit Cards posted at compounding returns.
John Border presents Best Investments for future posted at Stock Market Basics.
Jeff presents 6 Reasons Why Credit Card Debt Really Sucks posted at Stay Thrifty.
What’s your favorite article of the Totally Money Carnival?
Marie presents Stop the Roller Coaster Ride – Build a Long Term Family Wealth Plan posted at FamilyMoneyValues.
Amanda presents Why You Shouldn’t Save for Your Child’s University posted at Frugal Living.
Melissa presents 10 Benefits to Controlling Overspending posted at Reformed Chocoholic.
Brian presents If You Must Eat Out: “Reheat Value” posted at Wallet Watcher.
Money Matters Guy presents What is Your Debt to Credit Ratio (And Why Should You Care) posted at Money Matters Guy.
Dr. Dean presents Home Buying:11 Tips In The Obama Economy! posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog.
Crystal presents Know When to Roll with the Punches, Know When to Take Control posted at Budgeting In The Fun Stuff.
Prudence presents One Secret To Successful Survival Prepping posted at Vigil Prudence.
bob presents 4 Tips To Get College Scholarships and Grants posted at Christian Personal Finance.
Remember, a flooded basement isn’t the end of the world. It sucks, yes, and it’s a terrible pain, but family and health are what’s truly important. A basement, and the stuff in it, is a thing and it can be fixed. At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself as I vacuum up water.
Briana Myricks presents 5 Things I Learned From My First Full Time Job posted at Studenomics.
The Happy Rock presents Debt Calculator Released and Ready For Users posted at The Happy Rock.
Jill presents How to Use Credit Cards to Consolidate Debt posted at My Dollar Plan.
Paula presents 8 Weird Money Stories from Around the Web posted at AffordAnything.org.
Jason Price presents 5 Reasons Your Summertime Savings May Not Be So Great posted at One Money Design.
Robb presents Dividend Yield vs. Dividend Growth posted at Canadian Finance Blog.
Jim Yih presents How much money will $100,000 pay you in retirement? posted at Retire Happy Blog.
Crystal presents What Is the Social Security Retirement Age? posted at Stupid Cents.
Roger presents Mixed Bag Monday – Of Debt Downgrades and Credit Scores posted at The Amateur Financier.
And that’s the carnival! I hope you enjoy reading through all of these amazing articles. Don’t forget to submit your articles to next week’s Totally Money Carnival hosted at Parenting Family Money (I hear that’s an incredible site, BTW).
Now if you will excuse me, I have a dehumidifier to check on…
Thanks so much for including me in this edition of the Carnival.
Appreciate it.
You’re welcome Tushar.
So sorry to hear about the flooding in your basement! Now let’s see – did you have flood insurance? That sort of thing isn’t covered under normal home owner’s insurance right?
Thanks for including my post in the editor’s picks section! I’ll get to linking back as soon as possible!
I also like the line “I’m a little swamped here.”
The flooding wasn’t so bad that insurance should be called. It’s more a pain than anything else (thankfully I guess).
And you are very welcome!
Thanks a bunch for the inclusion this week. Sorry to hear about your flooding. That sucks. There is this really good anti mold spray you can use in places where you have gotten water. I have a bottle at home. I will check what the name is and try to remember to email it to you. Hope nothing else happens.
I appreciate it Miss T. Right now I’m doing the occasional water vacuum while I let the dehumidifier work its magic.
Glen – Thanks so much for including my article in the carnival – I have shared the social media love with a link back.
You’re welcome Prudence, and thanks for the social media love!
Sorry about your flooding Glen. I actually saw a flood insurance commercial this morning, so maybe they know it’s becoming an issue for people. Thanks for including my post!
It’s probably that time of the year, who knows? But thanks and you are welcome for being included!
Thanks for selecting my post as an Editor’s Pick!
That’s too bad about the flooded basement. I know how that’s a lot of work to deal with, in terms of clean up and handling items that may have been water damaged (hopefully not much in your case). My suggestion is to watch out for mold and take precautions along those lines, I’ve heard of people having issues in that regard. Anyway, best of luck in getting things cleaned up and back to normal.
You are most welcome Squirrelers.
Relatively, the flooding isn’t as bad as what I’ve heard about from some. Still, it’s never fun to deal with.
Glen, beware of the mold that can develop, one frugal way to keep mold out is hydrogen peroxide solution available at local grocers.
Thanks for including my post.
Great tip! I’ve heard of bleach solution but I would think hydrogen peroxide would be less harmful to people. I’ll look into it, thanks again.
Thanks for including Control Your Cash. (Well, thanks for including Financial Uproar’s appearance on Control Your Cash.)
You’re welcome Greg.
Thanks for including me!: )
You’re welcome!
Thanks for the inclusion!