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Sorry this is a little later than usual guys. It’s Labor Day weekend, and call me crazy, but I just didn’t feel like doing any labor this weekend. Of course, I had family over, so that sort of negated the point of resting, but hey…a girl can dream. So, with that in mind I’ll just get into some of my favorite posts of the week!

First a big thanks to One Caveman for including my post about stoozing in the carnival this week!

And now on to the roundup!

- Jeremy over at credit cards.com wrote about Asa Eslocker of ABC News getting arrested outside of the Democratic National Convention. What’s interesting about the post is that Eslocker apparently used his corporate credit card to post bail. Funny as that sounds, I agree with Jeremy. He was arrested fulfilling his duties to ABC News, therefore, it seems like a perfectly legit business expense.

- Living Almost Large talked about when a sale isn’t such a great deal. It’s pretty simple…if you’re only buying it because it’s on sale, then it’s not such a great deal. I’ll add to that by saying the tax free weekends aren’t such a deal either. I have a friend who’s a manager in a retail department. Every year she shakes her head at the massive crowd that comes out to get “tax free” merchandise, but they’re not really saving. These retail stores jack up the price to cover the ‘no tax.’ So, you’re paying the same price you would if there was no ‘tax free’ sale going on. But, it’s advertised as a sale and people FEEL like they’re saving, so there you go. Sales aren’t always beneficial, guys.

- No Debt Plan had a great post on asking for fee forgiveness. This six step guide is easy to follow and really makes a lot of sense. They’re also beneficial when trying to negotiate fee waivers during a DIY debt settlement plan.

- Trees Full of Money talks about why hurricanes in the Gulf raise the price of oil. I’ve always been fascinated by hurricanes - how they form, how they move, and so on. I even contemplated becoming a Hurricane Hunter for a period of time. But, one thing I’m not fascinated by is the gas prices when a hurricane comes to town. And it’s all the investors’ fault!

- FB over at Fabulously Broke had an interesting post on deal breakers. We all have them…I’m interested in seeing what some of our readers would say their financial deal breakers are, but be sure to head over to FB’s blog and discuss some of your other ones, too.

- JD over at Get Rich Slowly wrote about the show, This American Life. The people on this show have made it their mission in life to get something for nothing and JD talks about the stories he saw that day. It seemed fitting for a Labor Day post and really makes you wonder about these people and their work ethics. Be sure to check it out!

- Trent from The Simple Dollar was apparently reading my mind this weekend because he has a wonderful post on productivity. More specifically, he offers some great tips on staying productive, no matter where you are. I’ve been thinking of ways to make better use of my time because I know I can improve, and he gave me some wonderful ideas. If you’ve got any more, please feel free to share them with me!

- Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money gives a run down of the hidden costs of smoking. I can’t stress enough how much of a waste of money this is…sorry smokers! But, I’ve had about five people in the month of August tell me they couldn’t pay one of their bills because the price of cigarettes had gone up. Um, ok…have you lost your mind? Pay your bills, forget the cigarettes. But, I’m not a smoker so I don’t understand. Someone, please explain that to me!

And that’s it for the roundup this week. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day weekend and for those of you not in the U.S., hope you’re enjoying your weekends nonetheless!