To start, we have the Editor’s Choice Category.  This Editor’s Choice of summer storm activities is cuddling.  That’s right, cuddling.  Maybe with someone special, maybe with a furry friend, maybe just with a stuffed animal or a favorite blanket.  Sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy the peace and listen to the storms outside.  In terms of submissions, this was a tough one, but here are the highlights.

• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Dumbest Online Business Ideas That Made Millions… Or Not! Some of these online business ideas made me laugh and laugh.  And they make money!  Amazing.
• Passive Family Income brings us 3 Keys to Creating Passive Income.    I think we all love the idea of passive income, and here are some important keys to get you started.  It’s not easy, but I think we all agree it’s a worthwhile task.
• Kelly from Almost Frugal writes on Drastic Frugality: When There’s More Month than Money.  It’s a scary thought, but it happens to the best of us.  Rather than delve into your savings to make ends meet, try following Kelly’s suggestions.
• Jason from Improve the Quality presents If I had known then what I know now… This is always important information, but I think it’s especially timely right now, with all the recent graduates.  I definitely wish I had started saving earlier.

Next up, we have Personal Finance.  Conveniently, when the power is out during a storm, it’s hard to spend money.  Another easy (and frugal) thing I like to do during a summer storm is play games (by candlelight if necessary).  Board games don’t need a whole lot of light, and card games are definitely easy enough by candlelight.  It’s more fun if you have someone to play with, but you can always play a game or two of solitaire.

• Jeff from Good Financial Cents asks How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
• Jim from Bargaineering.com suggests you Check Your Specialty Reports.
• Peter from Bible Money Matters recommends A Way To Control Spending: The Envelope System.
• Brad Chaffee from Enemy of Debt points out that Personal Responsibility Starts With You.
• Jeff Nickles from My Super-Charged Life offers up 50 Bad Money Habits That Will Leave You Eating ALPO For Dinner. I recommend against ALPO for dinner. In case you were wondering

One of my favorite categories is Personal Finance Journeys.  I love reading about how people have gotten to where they are in their financial lives.  It’s always fun to learn from others and daydream about where you want to end up.  And that’s my next summer storm activity.  Daydream.  It can be combined with the cuddling, but I wouldn’t recommend combining it with game playing.  You might get distracted and lose!

• The Happy Rock presents A New Stage In My Financial Journey.

Next we have Investing.  Investing is scary for some people.  Storms are also scary for some people, and I’m sure not everyone enjoys storms as much as I do.  So to get your mind off of the summer storms, one fun activity is to have a dance party.  This can be especially fun for kids and was a tactic I used when babysitting as a teenager.  But what, you mean you have no music because the power is out?  Make your own music!  Bang on pots and pans for drums, sing along.  Maybe you have a piano or some musical instruments.  Make musical instruments from bottles filled with water.  So many options, and all great ways to get your mind off your fear.

• My good buddy J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents Time to start buying stocks again!.
• The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet discusses Investing In Stocks and Bonds: Some Investment Basics.

You know what else is scary?  The Economy.  Maybe you’re not scared of storms, but you really like to be scared.  Use the summer storm and the power outage to tell scary stories!  I don’t know about you, but I have fond memories of telling stories around a dark room, using a flashlight shining on my face to create all sorts of ridiculous looks.  This is something kids can definitely get into.

• The Weakonomist from Weakonomics suggests Top 10 Ways the Government Can Help Our Economy. I’m interested to see the debates that follow this one!
• Wojciech Kulicki from Fiscal Fizzle discusses Modeling Government After Business.

And then there’s Money Management.  I don’t know about you, but I always have stacks of reading to get through.  Books, professional journals, magazines, all sorts of things I need to manage.  When the power goes out and I can’t be distracted by the internet, it’s a great time to catch up on my reading.  Again, the dark is an issue, but I’m a huge fan of candles, and when all else fails, I also have a few battery powered lanterns from my camping days.

• FMF from Free Money Finance discusses Achieving Family Harmony in Estate Planning Part 2: Make Sure Your Plan Fits Your Unique Needs. Be sure to check out the rest of this series!
• Matt B from Financial Methods puts some thought into Passive Income Streams.

Finally, there’s your favorite and mine, Frugality.  Is your summer storm the sort of storm where the rain is falling but the sun is out and the skies are clear?  Those are my favorite sorts of storms.  And my favorite activity?  Being out in the rain, of course.  I love to go running in the rain, but going outside and splashing and laughing with your friends or family is also a lot of fun.

• Charlie from PayLessForFood.com is also frustrated by How Your Local Friendly Supermarket Profits From Your Inconvenience.
• JT Locke from The Frugal Housewife explains how you can Save Time and Money by Crockpot Cooking.
• MoneyEnergy asks “No-Spend Days:” How Many Can You Fit In In A Month?

There were a lot of great submissions this week and I just wasn’t able to get everyone in.  Thanks to everyone who submitted and don’t forget to get your entries in for next week!   Next week’s edition is hosted by My Journey to Millions.  Go!  Submit!

• 10 Questions about College Savings Plans
• How to Make the Most of the Latest Tax Cut
• Before an Economic Crisis Hits You, Are You Willing To Live on Half?
• 3 Ways the Rich Manage Their Money Better Than You

And of course,

• The Carnival of Twenty-Something’s Finance
• The Carnival of Personal Finance

Happy Weekend!

• Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Weakonomi¢s
• Festival of Frugality hosted by Always the Planner

Some Pecuniary Associates articles from the past few weeks:

• Trevor writes about the SEP IRA.  I’m not a small business owner (though someday maybe this blog will count?) but it’s good information to have at the back of my mind.
• Lisa discusses her passive income goals for April and those for May.  I really should get working on this.
• Karen looks at the national averages and figures out where she fits in.  I think I’m going to spend some time seeing where I fit in as well.
• Penelope writes about making homemade noodles.  I’ve been thinking about trying to eat foods that are more natural and less preservative filled, but that’s not always so easy to do and still stay frugal.  This might not be a bad thing to try!

And don’t forget, comment on this entry for a chance to win a copy of the new book by the writers of Wise Bread!

• A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Pros & Cons of Investing Into a Roth IRA – I just opened a Roth IRA in 2007, and had no idea what one was before that.  I definitely missed out!
• Heirloom Seeds – Ever Taste a Tomato Grown for Flavor Instead of Transport? - I don’t have any space for a garden in my apartment (no porch, even), but I do miss the fresh tomatoes from my mom’s garden
• Why I’m Using Credit Cards Again – This is a good plan to keep your credit history good.  I personally use credit cards for just about everything, then pay them off every month.  But this isn’t for everyone.
• Business Decision: Turning Away a Customer – One of the benefits to owning your own business is that you can choose to not allow a customer to buy from you again.  It might not sound like a good business decision, but it’s a smart one if you’re being taken advantage of.

• Dealing with Authority Figures: A Respectful Attitude Can Save Money - I completely agree.  As someone who used to prosecute misdemeanors, which included traffic violations, I had a lot of leeway as to the fines I could give a person, and honesty and respect did wonders for my attitude toward the defendant.
• An easy guide to buying generics - I also avoid generics for my pets.  I’ll try them out for me, but they always get the good stuff.
• Is it Weight Gain or Weight Loss this Recession? – I’m a bit of a stress eater, so it’s always good to be mindful of these tips
• 3 Things I Learned From My Tax Refund – My favorite was the one about talking with his wife about what they should do with the refund.  Even though they shared the same opinion, it’s always good to discuss these things!

This week, I participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance, the Festival of Frugality, and the Carnival of Twenty Something Finances.  Lots of great stuff there.

Here are some of the posts and articles that caught my eye this week:

• Cleaning the Cupboards for Passover
• 3 Ways the Rich Manage Their Money Better Than You
• Before an economic crisis hits, are you willing to live on half?
• How to make the most of the latest tax cut
• 10 Questions about College Savings Plans

No weekly roundup next week, and possibly not the one the week after either.  I’m going on a much needed vacation, but I’ll be back with a vengeance, refreshed and eager to share all my personal finance knowledge.

Attendees were the writers of the following blogs (in relative order of appearance):

• Clever Dude - Who apparently drank a fruity drink.  Hey, whatever makes you happy.  Especially free fruity drinks!
• Budgets Are Sexy - We discovered we walk past each other’s workplaces just about every day.  And yet I swear I’ve never seen him before.
• Mrs. Micah - I always knew Mrs. Micah was cool and meeting her in person wasn’t wrong.  Plus she also loves Joss Whedon.  Smart girls love Joss.
• Amelia’s Healthy Life – I’ve been reading Amelia for a while now and was so glad to get to meet her.  She’s so sweet.
• Debt Hater - DH is a blogger I’ve only just started reading, but I’m really glad I did and that I got to meet her.  She’s in charge of our next HH – here’s hoping she picks somewhere great.
• Girls Just Wanna Have Funds - I didn’t get much of a chance to chat with Ginger, but her husband and I had a great conversation about college football!
• Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge - Mapgirl is so energetic!  She’s definitely the “life of the party” sort.
• Budget Pulse - I didn’t get much of a chance to chat with him, which is probably best, as his team was playing (and won) the NIT championship game and knocked out my team to get there.  There would have been lots of rivalry smack talk.

Don’t believe everything you read about that night.  That’s all I’m saying.  

If you’re in the DC area, or plan to be in the DC area, let us know!  Maybe you’ll be around for a happy hour.

Carnivals and Festivals:

• Carnival of Debt Reduction – The Charles Dickens Debtor’s Prison Edition
• Carnival of Personal Finance – World Record Edition
• Festival of Frugality – “Hey I’m Hosting” Edition
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights – The Madoline Hatter Pecuinary Art Edition

And some posts that caught my eye

• Money, Happiness, and Satisfaction
• My Daughter Won’t Remember We Were Broke
• Money Aisle Review: Can You Get a Better Savings Rate?
• A Frugal Dinner With Friends
• Financial Commandments – 20’s
• Early Retirement Case Study
• Saving Even More on Groceries
• Frugal is the New Black
• Disaster Uncluttering
• Money Saving Ideas to Create a Frugal Household Budget