It's Carnival Time!

Savvy Frugality has been included in two different personal finance blog carnivals this week. First up, the Carnival of Debt Reduction, hosted this week by Ask Mr. Credit Card. Savvy Frugality's post, How to Know if You’re in Deep Financial Trouble, is among those featured this week.

Here are my picks this week from the Carnival of Debt Reduction:

12 Ways to Make Yourself Recession-Proof posted at Prime Time Money.

he Happy Rock has just fired himself as his own CPA! and now Spends The Big Money For Tax Prepation. I thought about doing this myself. I hate filing my taxes and wait until the last possible minute to do it.

Ryan Healy presents Why People Stay in Debt posted at Debt Reduction Formula. Great post. This one will have people reevaluating their priorities.

Free Money Finance presents Be Careful with Home Equity and 401k Credit Cards. 401k credit cards have got to be the worst idea ever. Why would somebody use their 401k money to buy things? Not good.

Should you rent or buy your home? Squawkfox presents Rent vs. Buy Calculator

This week's Carnival of Personal Finance is hosted by Being Frugal. Savvy Frugality's entry, You Lost Your Job, Now What? is among the featured posts.

My personal favorites from this week's Carnival of Personal Finance:

Bob McDonald shares the best money tip he’s ever given.

Mr. Debtbeater outlines the disadvantages of living paycheck to paycheck . I used to live this kind of existence. It's no fun at all.

Nickel shares some characteristics of Middle Class Millionaires at Five Cent Nickel. There are some very interesting stats here that shed some light on the "new rich".

Andy shares his thoughts on tipping at Finance Viewpoint. If I'm eating at a restaurant, my tips to the server start at 20 percent. If the service is lacking, it starts going down. If the service is horrible, I don't leave a tip at all. I'm not paying for lousy service. If the service is fantastic, I'm more than happy to leave a tip ranging from 30 to 50 percent. I always get great service when I return to that restaurant. Of course, I don't eat out all that often.

Twenty-two year old Shanti tells you how she plans to retire at age 35 at Antishay Ventenne. I wish I had been this smart when I was 22. The only flaw in her plan is that she doesn't allow for inflation. It will cost a lost more to buy things in the future, and she will likely have to withdraw larger amounts of money from her retirement account as she gets older.