I’ve been getting a lot of the same questions regarding this site and my finances, so hopefully this helps clear up the confusion:

Why do you have so much cash?
We are saving up for a large house downpayment. While other investments like stocks and bonds may offer better long-term returns, they also carry more volatility. Given our time horizon of less than 2 years, we want to keep it safe while maximizing returns. Thus the focus on things like online savings accounts. Please also see the next question for the other reason why I have so much cash.
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Reader Scott has given me the honor of being a part of his new interview series – Money Blogger Podcast. It looks very promising. I’ll be perfectly honest – I haven’t yet figured out how to listen to the podcast (iPod is now charging). I’m creeped out when hearing myself anyways, but I would like to listen to his interview of fellow blogger Dawn of FrugalForLife.

While in the interview I babbled truthfully that I don’t have a favorite post, in retrospect I would say I am most often referred to for my zeal in giving detailed instructions on how to extract money from credit card companies. Also, I stated I don’t have a favorite blog. Another truth. I read every single blog on my links list, and like them all. I’m all about personal experiences.

Carnival of Debt Reduction – Canadian Capitalist
Carnival of Personal Finance – Be Capitalism
Carnival of the Capitalists – Patent Baristas
Carnival of Investing – Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
Festival of Frugality – Canadian Capitalist

Don’t got ’nuff money writings to read? Check these Carnivals out:
Carnival of Personal Finance #30
Carnival of Debt Reduction #17
Festival of Frugality #5
Carnival of Investing #4

I don’t always get a chance to talk about all the posts I find especially helpful during the week, so I think I’ll start doing that.

JLP of AllThingsFinancial put in some hard work and posted his guide to 2006 resolutions.

Savvy Saver informed me of AmazonCreditsYou, which helps you automatically take advantage of Amazon’s 30-day Price Drop policy.
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This week’s money-related Carnivals are up and running:
Carnival of the Capitalists
Carnival of Personal Finance #27
Carnival of Debt Reduction #14
Festival of Frugality #2
Carnival of Investing #1

This just in from the Time = Money department. Paul English has collated and created a Phone Tree Cheat Sheet, designed to help you reach that elusive Customer Service Representative (CSR) that can answer one of the many questions that spring up when going for offers from banks, credit card issuers, and other financial companies. It’s easy to send him updates too. Thanks to reader Jonathan for the tip.

Now that my classes are over for this term, I want to spend some time thinking about how to make some side money while going to school full-time. This got me thinking about jobs that I’ve done before when I was studying for undergraduate. There has been a good variety. Let’s see what we got, from lowest paying to highest:

Drive-Through Cashier, $6/hour – A mom and pop fast-food type restuarant. Took orders for drive-through, made drinks, cashier stuff.

University Security Escort, ~$7/hour – Walked people home at night from the library to their dormitory or off-campus housing. It was nice, you get to work at night and meet a lot of new people. I actually met my wife this way!
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For your pecuniary perusal, this week’s carnivals are up:
Carnival of Personal Finance #26
Carnival of Debt Reduction #13
Festival of Frugality #1

I guess I’ve been leaving newer readers behind with all this talk about taking advantage of credit cards with 0% balance transfer offers. Sorry about that. Check out this old post:

How to make money off of 0% APR balance transfers

To all the people being dragged to all the outlet stores and shopping malls within a 100 mile radius this weekend… Sorry. I’ll be the guy keeping a spot in line while various women pile items in my sore arms.