Adventures in paying back $20,000 in student loans

It’s time to get ready for another weekend and what better way to do that than to check out some of this week’s best articles.

• Discover the two simplest ways for graduates to achieve retirement success at Think Your Way To Wealth.

• Find out why bad debt + bad job = rough life at The Wisdom Journal.

• FMF explains why he’s done shopping at Walmart at Free Money Finance.

• Amanda discusses what being a surgeon has taught her about personal finance at Value For Your Life.
  

I also participated in a few carnivals this week.

• 6 Ways A Boyfriend/Girlfriend Saves You Money was highlighted as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Money Stories #65 hosted by The Dividend Guy.

• 9 Simple Ways To Save Money On Gas was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in the Money Hacks Carnival #18 - The History of Money! hosted at My Investing Blog.

• 6 Common College Money Mistakes was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance #158: Vampire Slaying Edition hosted by Mrs. Micah.

I didn’t submit anything to the Festival of Frugality this week, but I did host it. Be sure to check out the Festival of Frugality - Summer Savings Edition for some great tips on how to save money while having fun this summer. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

This past Sunday one of my favorite comedians passed away. George Carlin was an American comedy genius. Carlin will probably be best remembered for his “Seven Dirty Words” routine, but his humor worked on many more levels than just the profane.

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. — George Carlin

Carlin’s topics covered everything from religion to the quirks of everyday life. If you dig deeply enough, you can even find some great money related quotes from his routines. As a tribute to the life of a great comedian, philosopher, and poet, here are seven musings on life and finance in the words of the late George Carlin.

1. Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
2. It’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
3. Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.
4. When someone asks you, “A penny for your thoughts,” and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
5. I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.
6. A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.
7. Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.

Last Friday I submitted my writeup to the thesis office. I’ve almost made it to the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, now I’m only a few formatting corrections away from being done with my thesis forever.

Of course, nothing we ever do goes without a few bumps. The number of forms you have to get filled out and signed to graduate is insane. It’s like colleges deliberately attempt to confuse you so that you miss the deadlines and have to pay more fees.

Getting all of the paperwork done has been even more challenging since I moved away to a different state, so I’m doing everything remotely. Also, two out of my three committee members are in other countries at the moment. Somehow I’ve managed to get almost everything together. I just need a couple more signatures when my committee members get back, and I should be good to graduate this August.

Speaking of graduation, this summer marks the last time I’ll be paying college fees. I just paid off my graduation fee and abstracts and thesis fee. Personally, I’d be fine if they just kept my thesis in digital format, saved a few trees, and saved me some money. However, it is kind of cool knowing that my thesis is going to be nicely printed and bound. Maybe my great-great-great grandchildren will stumble upon it someday in the library.

Welcome to the 131st edition of the Festival of Frugality! This marks the first edition of the festival to take place during summer this year. To celebrate, I’m combining two of my favorite things for this week’s theme — summer and brevity.

Brevity is the soul of wit.
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Who doesn’t enjoy the sun still being out after work, and who doesn’t enjoy conciseness? Throw in bunch of money saving advice and what more could you ask for? So sit back, relax, and enjoy some pictures that really capture the excitement of summer along with a personal three-word commentary on each article.

Editor’s Picks

Photo by Glockenblume

• Patience Will Keep Us from Spending Unnecessary Money at Money Ning — The greatest virtue.

• 13 Frugal Ways to Celebrate the Summer at Sound Money Matters — Cheap summer fun.

• Secret Food Increase at LivingAlmostLarge — Food sizes shrinking.

• The Frugal Olympics — Going for the Gold at Greener Pastures — Money saving games.

Saving on Summer Fun

Photo by !!sahrizvi!!

• 5 Ways To Save Money When Camping at Rather-Be-Shopping.com — Camp for less.

• Avoid The Summer Spending Itch: 8 Ideas for Frugal Family Fun at You Need a Budget — Inexpensive family fun.

• 10 Frugal Hobbies at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Fun and frugal.

• Send Your Kid to Summer Camp Without Blowing the Budget at Prime Time Money — Affordable summer camps.

• Running - Frugal Or Not at Free From Broke — Get in shape.

• New ideas: Travelling on the cheap! at Grad Student Looking for Wealth — Hostels save money.

• Savannah Family Fun – The Intro at Mrs Nespy’s Frugal World — Frugal vacation advice.

• Maybe buying a Wii was frugal at Mighty Bargain Hunter — Video games rule.

• How to Make a Birthday Tablecloth at HowToMe — A frugal tradition.

• Netflix Free Trial Offer at Cash Money Life — Try it out.

Saving on the Road

Photo by hebedesign

• A Real-Life Example of How to Save $1,300 in Less than Two Hours by Shopping Around for Car Insurance at Free Money Finance — Always shop around.

• Hypermiling 101 at Daily Money Hack — Use less gas.

• Could high gas prices actually be a good thing? at Money & Fitness Blog — Yes, they could.

• Trimming Our Gas Costs, Plus Saving $5,500 a Year Off The Road at The Digerati Life — A great story.

• Bicycle Riding on Father’s Day at Save and Conquer — Ride bikes everyday.

• Driving Less? Check On Lower Insurance Premiums at My Wealth Builder — Save on insurance.

• How to Improve Your Gas Mileage (and How Not To) at fivecentnickel.com — Save on gas.

• How do I save on gas. My money saving tips at ProBargainHunter — More gas tips.

• 7 Ways To Save Money with a Bike. at Cycling UK — Pedal to save.

• Win a Gas Card from How I Save Money!! at How I Save Money.net — Win free gas.
  

Saving around the Home

Photo by adwriter

• Innkeeping Heloise Style at Innside Montana — Good old advice.

• Ode To An Absent-Minded Husband at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog — Read the title.

• Washing Dishes at The Purloined Letter — Disposable sponge alternative.

• 25 Ways To Reuse Everyday Items Instead Of Throwing Them Away. at The Good Human — Stop, reuse it.

• Recycled Newspaper Purse at The Sojourner — Cool recycled purse.

• Veggie Might: When to Splurge on Organic at Cheap Healthy Good — Dirty or clean?

• Scrapbooking on a budget at Monroe on a Budget — Fun frugal hobby.

• More Frugal Homemade Baby Stuff at Frugal Babe — Homemade little things.

• Humane Society Offers Deals! Frugalist Pleased at Funny about Money — Free vet services.

• You Want Me To Pay For What? at The Financial Blogger — Beware: hidden fees.

• Is it a “Need” or a “Want” at Goal of Financial Freedom — You tell me.

• Stretch Your $ with Proper Hair Care Techniques at Chicago: cheap! — Hair raising tips.

• Don’t Be A Snob. (Check out some garage sales!) at The Money Kings — Help end snobbery.

• Five Inexpensive Foods That Mean Summer at The Family Wallet — Mmm…hot dogs.

• Find Grocery Savings in Your Own Backyard at Not Made Of Money — Grow your own.

• Show Me The Coupons! at Value For Your Life — Coupons are everywhere!

• Costco Doesn’t Always Have the Best Price at Uncommon Cents — Title explains everything.

• 2 Reasons You Should Care About My Toothpaste Savings at No Debt Plan — It adds up.

Saving Money in General

Photo by janusz l

• The Greatest Frugal Generation at Saving Advice — Frugal is redefined.

• How I Couldn’t Find $10,000 Per Year If I Had To at Tight Fisted Miser — Saving is relative.

• Creative Ways Airlines Cut Fuel Costs Provide 7 Invaluable Lessons on How to Save Money at The Personal Financier — Creativity saves money.

• Ten Quick Tips for Frugal Living at To Be Debt Free — Money saving tips.

• Subprime Lifestyles at Slow Down Fast Today! — Change your attitude.

• 8 Tips for Saving Money and Your Life at Bankaholic — Words of wisdom.

• 9 Surefire Strategies NOT to Retire Early at nomad4ever — Don’t do this.

• How Procrastination Costs You Money at Debt Smackdown — Read this later.

Debt and Debt Reduction

• Reduce your debt load: 9 proven techniques at Money Sense — Goodbye to debt.

• Seeking Therapy for Debt Management at Investing Lessons — Addicted to debt?

• The price of debt freedom is eternal vigilance at Until Debt Do Us Part — Watch your expenses.

• How to Manage Debt Wisely at Financialzip.com — Explore your options.

Everything Else

Photo by Scott Adams

• 5 Ways to Save Money on Your Gay Wedding at Queercents — Avoid wedding debt.

• When Should You Buy Real Estate — And When Is It Better to Rent? at erica.biz — Buy or rent?

• Is Dental Insurance Worth It? at HarvestingDollars — It just depends.

• Etiquette advice for the gift-giving challenged at Our Common Cents — Learn to gift.

• More On Maid-Tipping at Dollar Frugal — Do you tip?

• Is it time to lock in our Home Equity Line rate? I’m Stuck! at Budgets are Sexy — Timing is difficult.

• Free $10 From Google Checkout at My Dollar Plan — Free money opportunity.

• Five Frugal Ways To Help Kids Learn A Foreign Language at My $mall C€nts — ¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás?

• Mint Review - How Secure is it? at Millionaire Money Habits — The answer is…

• 13 Lucky Tips to Save on Life Insurance at The Wealth Hunter — Life saving advice.

• Gift Cards: Why I Hate “Open-Loop” Cards at Student Scrooge — Gift cards suck.

That’s it for this week’s festival. Ironically, I think this is the most time I’ve spent putting together a carnival, since I included brevity as part of theme. Hope you enjoyed it. Next week the Festival of Frugality will be making a stop at Budgets are Sexy.

Last month I wrote an article about 10 things you should do before you graduate. Now that most schools are done with the whole graduation thing, it’s time for my list of 10 things you should do after you graduate.

1. Take a break

Unless you become a teacher, professor, or plan on going to grad school, the summer after you graduate college could be the last summer vacation you ever have, so take advantage of it by taking a break. Enjoy this free time by doing something that you find relaxing.

2. Travel

I’ve mentioned before that college is a great time to travel, so it should be no surprise that right after graduation is a great time to travel too. Save some of your graduation money and plan a trip to a place you’ve been wanting to go.

3. Read books (for fun)

After spending the past few years reading what your professors told you to read, you finally have the time and freedom to read whatever you want. Indulge yourself now that you’re free. Whether it’s sci-fi, slutty romance novels, or personal finance books, the point is that you’re reading it because you want to read it.

4. Stay up late/sleep in

Most college grads end up in 9 to 5 jobs and soon become boring just like the rest of the real world. Make the most of your time before entering the daily grind by showing a complete disregard for time. Stay up late and sleep until lunchtime while you still can.

5. Continue learning

Learning shouldn’t stop just because you’re not in school anymore. I’m a huge advocate of lifelong learning, because I think that we always have something to learn. Find something that really interests you and figure out ways to learn more about it.

6. Finish off your “Things To Do Before I Graduate” list

Chances are you struggled to get everything done in college with the most limited resource in the world — time. Well, it’s not too late. After graduation is the perfect time to do the things you always wanted to do during college, but never found the time to do them.

7. Make new goals

If you graduated from college, one of your goals was probably to graduate from college. The funny thing about accomplishing your goals is that you’re suddenly hit with the question, “Now what?” Now that you’ve finished another chapter in the story of your life, it’s time to move on and write the next chapter. Spend some time coming up with ideas for what you would like to accomplish in the next stage of your life.

8. Keep in touch

If you didn’t learn it in college, you will soon learn it in the real world — networking is one of the most important skills to have. Sure, you could be the best writer in the world, but if nobody knows about you, you will never get discovered. Keep in touch with the people you meet in college, because you never know when you might be able to help each other out in the future. It’s simpler than ever to stay connected now with sites like LinkedIn created exactly for this purpose.

9. Reconnect with old friends

A lot of college graduates go back home after graduation. This a great time to reconnect with old friends and see what everybody is up to. This may not be for everyone though, because I have met quite a few people who don’t keep in touch with old friends.

10. Spend some time with your parents

For many college graduates, this is the last period of your life that you’ll call your parents’ house “home”. Pretty soon, you’ll be moving into your own place and starting your own home. Spend some time with your parents before moving on, and they will really appreciate it.