Today is my first day of the new semester.  UGH!  Back to the killing of my GPA known as organic chemistry!  So let me grab another cup of coffee and get down to the fun part of today: The Carnival of Debt Reduction, 122nd edition.

My Favorite Posts: (Editor’s Picks)

• Breaking the Consumer Debt Cycle from Thrifty Like Us.  Getting out of the chains of debt takes a complete mindset shift…
• Where Was That Time Machine Anyway? at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…  Hey PaidTwice, if you find it, let me know!  I’d love to knock some sense into the naive 19 year old I used to be!
• Banking on Money from Mad Kane.  A little humorous jab at the banking  industry and politicians in verse form.  Too good to resist!

The posts clustered around a few themes, with one of them being the concept of “Gazelle Intensity” from Dave Ramsey (for those who don’t know, Dave Ramsey says you should get out of debt like a gazelle runs from the cheetah):

• Gazelle Intensity for the Long Haul from Mrs. Micah.  For people with massive debt loads, it can seem insurmountable.
• Is There a Downside to Gazelle Intensity? from BeingFrugal.net.  Lynnae lays out her choices, and why.
• Maiden Posting from Chic Saver.  Here is an example of some gazelle intensity, Chic has killed some debt in addition to launching her blog!

Credit cards, credit cards, they are everywhere!  And on a lot of blogger’s minds:

• Don’t Let Those Credit Card Company Commercials Fool You from GatherLittleByLittle.  A tiny peek under the hood of the massive credit card industry’s marketing campaign.
• It’s the Dreaded After-Christmas Credit Card Bill Time from MyTwoDollars.  After the resolutions are made (and most broken) it’s THIS time of year: the post-holiday credit card bills arrive.
• Time to Call Your Credit Card Company from NCNblog.  This worked for NoCreditNeeded (he’s DEBT FREE!) and it can work for you also.
• Negotiate With Credit Card Issuers from CreditAddict.  I never knew the companies spent so much to get new customers…which begs the question of how they make that money up!
• Credit Cards for People With Bad Credit from Opportunities Aplenty.  I love the line: “Looking for a credit card if you used them to get your personal finances completely screwed up isn’t going to make things any better.”
• Use Credit Card Rebates to Pay Off Your Mortgage Principle from Money Blue Book.  I don’t recommend this, but it’s an interesting twist to the credit card rewards game.
• Pay Off Mortgage Before Credit Cards? from Debt Reduction Formula.  My gut instinct says “NO!” but it’s another theory for killing off debt.

And now, the ones that don’t fit into the self-made themes, but still very worth the read:

• Budget Is A Four-Letter Word from RacerX.  No…the four-letter words tend to come during the budgeting process LOL but a good psychological look into why some people resist the budgeting idea.
• Cash-Only Spending Experiment Analysis from The Happy Rock.  Rock did an experiment, and here’s his analysis of it … What?  I don’t want to spoil it for you!
• She Aspires to be a Millionaire…And So Can You from Millionaire Mommy Next Door.  Actually written by PaidTwice as a guest post…wait, how did PaidTwice get in here twice?
• Tips to Pay Down Debt to Improve Credit from Whale Hook Loans.  I don’t give a (bleepity bleep) about my credit score, but some of y’all might…
• Don’t Just Make But Keep Your Money Resolutions from Prime Time Money.  Truly appropriate Seinfeld quote and tips on how to keep your 2008 money resolutions.
• Penny Pinching For College Students from Campus Grotto.  Just because today is the first day of the new semester, and I know there are other college students out there trying to keep their costs down!

And there y’all have it!  This week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction, with the spam neatly edited out for your convenience.  Now I need yet another cup of coffee before facing organic chemistry lecture…the semester break was just too short!