I’m hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction next week. To learn more please see the guidelines and schedule at MightyBargainHunter. I’ve only got one entry so far, so let get those debt-reduction posts coming in! (Just e-mail them to me). I need to come up with a good post myself. Unfortunately I may actually be getting further into debt as we speak. Good debt, of course.

Here’s an update from a reader who actually went to one of those Get-Rich-Quick seminars with Stanley Danko, The Millionaire Next Door co-author:

Hey I just went to this in Portland, OR. It is worse than you think.

There are 4 speakers selling something.

1st – Buying stocks $3000 Kit. Had a list of best 25 from 2001 (Whoops) I wrote them down, only one made money. Free info on many sites.

2nd – Asset Protection $4000. Hey just fill out these forms in 15 min. send in and you can never be sued again. Yea right. Program. Set up Family Limited Partnership(FLP), Set up Living Trust. Put assets in Living Trust. Put Living Trust in FLP. Make Living General partner, Now put FLP into Living Trust. Buy on many internet sites only $29.95

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Here are some updates on previous posts –

Bank of America’s Keep the Change program – Signed up at my branch successfully, haven’t used it yet though, keep forgetting.

How To Convert Your Paper Savings Bonds to Electronic Format – Mailed in my bonds, and they are all viewable online now after a little over a week. It’s nice since they update and show you exactly how much they are currently worth, like a bank account. I’ve just been including the face value in my net worth calculations.
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I’m hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance next week. To submit an article, please either use this submission form, or just e-mail me. Entries are due by 5pm ET on Sunday 10/16. Please follow the submission guidelines posted here. Look forward to reading some good stuff!

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and Carnival of Debt Reduction are up. Check ’em out! I’ve decided that every week I will also post a Carnival-related food link, because that’s what I think of when I read Carnivals. This week – Cotton Candy.

I’ve been somewhat vague about what I’m doing right now, but after jumping through some hoops, I am enrolled full-time as student again in a new field that I enjoy, working towards a graduate degree. I am still doing some part-time consulting work, but that is dwindling as school is starting to take up more of my time. Money-wise, here are some casual observations I’ve made:

– I need to investigate financial aid next semester. Although I doubt I’ll get any, the first ‘F’ in FAFSA does stand for Free, so why not? Even a subsidized loan may be beneficial, we’ll see.
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This is old news, but I just ran across it. Apparently Ashley Revell, a 32 year old from England, bet his entire net worth on a roulette spin… and won. And by net worth, I’m not just talking selling his stocks. He (supposedly) sold everything he owned – from his car to his underwear, and came up with $135,300. He changed his mind from black to red at the last second, swaying to the crowd’s preference… and walked away with $270,000 after tipping the dealer $600. Now you can spend your Friday dreaming about what you’d do if you doubled your net worth instantly with a spin of the wheel… As for me, I truly believe I’d be doing the exact same thing as I’m doing right now.

Now, if I’d won the Powerball Lotto, I’d be out shopping for my own small country!

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and the new(ish?) Carnival of Debt Reduction are up. Lot of stuff to digest, check ’em out over the week like I do.

I just got an invitation in the mail to a “special VIP guest” at something called the American Training Conference, where I get the chance to be trained by 5 of the wealthiest self-made multi-millionaires in the country and learn their secrets. And – Gasp! – the normal tuition fee of $149 is waived for me!! What a value! This is usually about the time I start the shredder.

But then something caught my eye – one of the speakers is William Danko, Co-Author of the oft-mentioned book The Millionaire Next Door. Here is a scan of my free ticket (click to enlarge):

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I’ll admit I don’t know much about PayDay loans, I just avoid them like the plague. So when a commenter posted a very interesting 4-part series from the Motley Fool about the merits of payday loans in my previous post, it made me think: who is actually getting these loans? If I were to guess, it would be someone making barely over the poverty line and just trying to make ends meet. According to the Fool.com article, last year 5 million people got these type of loans, and paid $3.4 billion in interest and fees! 5 million people? So about 2% of the U.S. population got one? Yet the default rate is only 2%. Hmm…

Google Answers is a site where you post a question and how much you’re willing to pay to get it answered. The cool thing is that after it’s answered it’s posted online for all to see. One guy offered $200 for information about opening up his own payday advance/check cashing shop. The answers were very interesting –
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Jim of Blueprint For Financial Prosperity and Nev of Neville’s Financial Blog were interviewed recently in a huge article in the New York Times today in an article called ‘Psst: Want to Know My Net Worth?‘ (annoying registration may be required). Nice job Nev and Jim!

Most people know Payday Loans are a bad idea. Except for, of course, the people that use them. This weekend I saw one of these places having a free BBQ outside their store, with a decent turnout. I can already imagine the banner: “Pay 600% APR interest, Start your downward spiral into debt, and get a Free Hot Dog!” Anyways, I guess it was just a matter of time before these guys went online. Bankrate.com just ran an article titled ‘Online payday loans: Borrower beware‘, outlining the many pitfalls of online payday loans. Besides the outrageous interest rates and numerous fees, you have:

• You have to give them all your personal information, including name, address, Social Security number, and the routing number and account number of your checking account. The idea is they deposit the loan money in there, and then suck it back up plus fees after payday. But what if they decide to suck more?
• It can be very very difficult to actually figure out where the online lender is located. They can easily be outside the country (and outside the reach of law enforcement).

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