22 October 2010

On the Moneyed Midways - October 22, 2010

Carnival Midway from The Jerk Welcome to the Friday, October 22, 2010 edition of On the Moneyed Midways, where each week, we present the best posts we found contributed to the best of the past week's money and business-related blog carnivals for your entertainment.

Since the topic of what it takes to make an unsuccessful blog carnival came up in last week's edition of OMM, we thought we'd take a moment to weigh in on what makes a successful blog carnival. First and foremost, the host of the blog carnival must put actual effort into preparing the edition they're hosting, first by reading all the contributed posts then narrowing down the contributions to present only those that are on-topic for the carnival.

Next, once having selected the posts that will be included in the edition, the host should provide a compelling reason for a reader to want to click through the links to the selected posts.

Finally, and we should say optionally since it often doesn't work, the carnival host might opt to organize the blog carnival presentation along a theme.

As a case study, Michael of The Dough Roller hosted this week's Carnival of Personal Finance, in which he used the theme of music videos of the 1980s as a framework against which he presented this week's contributions. We've excerpted a small segment of the carnival below so you can see all three of these of these hosting aspects in action.

If you were a teen girl in the 80′s, I bet you knew who Simon Le Bon was. Probably ranking second on my greatest vocalists of all time list, Simon and Duran Duran is most well know for hits like “Rio” and “Hungry Like the Wolf.” For me however, it’s all about “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone”. While Duran Duran was a sensation in the 80′s it’s actually this 1995 video I’ve shared with you because how often do you get to see a rock singer paired with the greatest opera singer of all time. The late and great Pavarotti is singing (in Italian) with Simon and the two of them take an Ordinary World and make it extraordinary. What I wouldn’t give to be in Italy watching these two perform. With youth and experience all in one, let’s dive into retirement, family and student finances.

All in all, this week's Carnival of Personal Finance was a good blog carnival. If there's a flaw, it's the emphasis the carnival host gave his carnival theme at the expense of the contributed posts. And to understand why that's a flaw, compare how he described the Duran Duran video with how he described the contributed posts to the carnival. Which would you rather click through to see based solely on the provided descriptions?

That concludes our case study for blog carnival hosts for this week. It's time to get on to the best money and business-related posts we found that were contributed to the best of the past week's money and business-related blog carnivals!...

On the Moneyed Midways for October 22, 2010
Carnival Post Blog Comments
Best of Money Firefighters Let House Burn and Pets Die Over $75 Faithful With a Few Were the firefighters who let a house burn because the owner hadn't paid an annual assessment of $75 right to do so? Or did they have a moral obligation to help? Khaleef Crumbley weighs the pros and cons of the ethical dilemma ripped from recent news headlines.
Carnival of Debt Reduction How-To Pay Off Debt With the Income You Have? Studenomics MD suggests putting off spending, cutting out just one expense and stop using your credit cards when money is tight and you're trying to pay down your debt.
Carnival of Personal Finance Introducing PF Comic #6 - Taking Extra Jobs written by Brad Chaffee Credit Card Finder It's a first for us at OMM, and actually kind of bizarre, as Orlando Sanchez illustrates Brad Chaffee's story of choosing to deliver pizzas instead of debt consolidation as a better way to pay down debt in comic book style.
Cavalcade of Risk A Compromise that Makes Sense for Child-Only Policies Colorado Health Insurance Insider With insurers no-longer offering new child-only health insurance policies due to the negative incentives created by the "Affordable Care Act" (aka "ObamaCare"), Louise suggests a compromise that would reduce the economic burden of people gaming the system under the law's guaranteed issue provisions by waiting until their child actually needs medical care: restrict open enrollment for these policies to just a short period of time each year. Absolutely essential reading for revealing one aspect of the real effects of the health care reform law's unintended consequences.
Festival of Frugality Outrageous Products That Aren't Worth the Price (Slap Chop Anyone?) Dinks Finance Kristina vents her issues with the cost of her boyfriend's NFL Sunday Ticket sports package, the "Aquarium Channel" being included with her own television package, the price of breakfast cereal and, of course, the infamous "Slap Chop".
Festival of Stocks Know Your Limitations GregSpeicher Greg Speicher considers a moment from Berkshire Hathaway's 1989 shareholder's meeting, in which Warren Buffett shared a letter he received from David Dodd's daughter discussing his view of the importance of "knowing your limitations," as it applies to investing decisions.
Carnival of Money Stories Time to Be the Hardnosed Landlord? Yes, I Am Cheap Sandy has a tenant with terminal cancer, whose rent is largely subsidized by the government, but who has never made their portion of the rent payments on time. Sandy has mostly looked the other way, including even waiving the late payment penalty specified in the tenant's lease, but wonders if it's finally time to become a "hard ass" because she's being played by the tenant. The Best Post of the Week, Anywhere!

OMM's Running Index for 2010

Presented in reverse chronological order....

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