The Money Hacks Carnival #11 was hosted at Save and Conquer. This week carnival is called the Ebb and Flow edition with a lot of beautiful photos. Here is a short intro:

Personal finance ebbs and flows throughout our lives. Sometimes we make sound decisions and benefit. Our money flows and works for us. Other times we may hit a rough patch. We can lose our job or make a bad decision. Our money then ebbs and we have to regroup.

This week editor’s picks include:

• Oh My Aching Debts gives us 8 Ways That I Can Save Money On A Limited Budget. This is a great post. The 8th “way” in the list is one of the most powerful ways to save.
• Many of us eat out and know we are spending more than we should to do so. Madison at My Dollar Plan helps us out with 10 Ways to Eat Out For Less. This is an Editor’s Pick because eating out seems to be a constant theme in budget-busting over spending. These ten tips can save us all lots of money.
• The Personal Financier discusses How to Save by Making Credit Card Payments More Real and Tangible: 5 Practical Tips. I chose this post as an Editor’s Pick because of the emphasis that when you use a credit card, you are spending “real” money. Constantly reminding yourself of that fact will help you spend less.
• Harvesting Dollars is writing a six-part series on determining a retirement savings goal. Part one is Terrible Ways To Figure Out Your Number. This is an Editor’s Pick, not so much for the first part, but for the entire six-part series. We need to go through the steps in the series to have an accurate accounting of how much we should be saving for retirement.

Great job and thank you for hosting the carnival. Next week carnival will be hosted at Can I Get Rich On A Salary.

Honor Roll

Each month, I honor the top 10 referrers to the network. This month, members that sent the most visitors to the network, and subsequently to other members, are:

1. Moolanomy
2. BeingFrugal.net
3. Be Thrifty Like Us
4. Frugal Dad
5. I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…
6. Millionaire Money Habits
7. My Dollar Plan
8. Gather Little By Little
9. Cash Money Life
10. Frugal Habits

Thank you for your support!

Carnival

I’d like to say a special thank you to the carnival hosts:

• Money Hacks Carnival #6 Bible Money Matters (4/2/2008)
• Money Hacks Carnival #7 Mommy Gets Paid (4/9/2008)
• Money Hacks Carnival #8 Be Thrifty Like Us (4/16/2008)
• Money Hacks Carnival #9 Quest For Four Pillars (4/23/2008)
• Money Hacks Carnival #10 Money Hacks (4/30/2008)

Statistics

• Members — Up 28% from 78 to 100 money hackers
• Subscribers — Up 21% from 38 to 46
• Search traffic — Up 36% from 140 to 190
• Visitors — Down 10% from 1,675 to 1,508
• Page views — Down 21% from 3,727 to 2,949

1. Moolah Blog
2. FIRE Finance
3. The Family CEO
4. Nine Circles of Debt
5. The Ethical Grifter
6. The Wild Investor
7. Spilling Buckets
8. Breaking Even, Inc.
9. On Financial Success
10. HelpMyCashGrow.com

The Money Hacks Carnival #10 was hosted at Money Hacks. Bill gave us the “Your Money, Your Life” edition and these are his editor’s picks:

• The Eclectic Female submitted How To Talk About Money With Your Partner posted at Women’s Lifestyle Blog.
• AJC presents How your hobby can set you financially free! « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™ posted at How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™.
• Leaving The Folks brought us Creating a Budget posted at Real World Advice.
• Todd presents Financial Kung Fu posted at HarvestingDollars.
• Writer’s Coin wrote The Writer’s Coin » Blog Archive » Someone Else’s Money posted at The Writer’s Coin.

This carnival is probably the largest one yet, but Bill tackled it with style. Great job and thank you for your support. Next week carnival will be hosted at Save and Conquer.

The Money Hacks Carnival #9 was hosted at Quest For Four Pillars. It looks like early Halloween over there with the “Scream” themed carnival. Mike did a fantastic job and these are his editor’s picks:

• Not The Jet Set gives some excellent directions on building your own rain barrel. It has got detailed instructions, pictures and everything.
• Chief Family Officer has some good alternatives to buying lottery tickets. I’ve always been a fan of buying tickets for smaller draws where your odds are much better than a lottery.
• Paid Twice offers some suggestions for your economic stimulus check.
• Blueprint For Prosperity makes an excellent case for a 30 year mortgage over a 15 year mortgage.
• Squawkfox says that free stuff is for the birds. Usually “free” stuff has a big catch!

Thank you for doing such a wonderful job. Next week carnival will be hosted at Money Hacks.