I’m happy to have had my work included in a trio of PF blog carnivals this week.

“Hey, you, take off those shoes!” was selected for the Carnival of Personal Finance at Beating Broke.

“Things you shouldn’t pay for” was chosen for the Festival of Frugality at Wealth Informatics.

“What can be more essential than giving?” is an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Money Stories at No Debt Plan. The editor, Kevin, wrote that he liked “the deep personal touch of the details,” adding that “it was one of those articles that made me sit back and think for a while, and that doesn’t happen too much when I read online.”

You can’t see me, but I’m blushing.

As always, I urge you to check out the carnivals – they’re great places to find good writing and new voices.

Maybe you read the article about the doctor with $555,000 of student loan debt. In addition to that horrific sum (which started out as $250k in 2003) were a few other scary numbers:

• A laid-off factory worker whose $300 unemployment check is garnished down to $180 because of the PLUS student loan she took out for her son.
• A woman who after 14 years of deferment and forbearance (and bankruptcy) saw her Sallie Mae loan leap from $28,000 to more than $90,000. Her monthly payment was once $230; now it’s $816.
• An estimated $730 billion of outstanding federal and private student-loan debt exists, and just 40% is being repaid. The rest is in default, deferment or forbearance.

Gargantuan loans taken out with no clear idea of how they’ll be repaid. Sound familiar?

Actually, there’s a crucial difference between subprime mortgages and student loans: You can’t return your diploma to the school and walk away from college debt. In fact, such debt can’t even be discharged in a bankruptcy. Student loans stay with you until you pay them back.

Tim’s iPod ran off to join the circus. J.D. is finally taking it easy. Dana’s not afraid of Kindle.

All this and more, courtesy of the blogosphere:

How do you keep from losing things? at I Pick Up Pennies

Downshifting: The first day of the rest of my life at Get Rich Slowly

You don’t scare me, Kindle! at Sisters in Crime

10 characteristics necessary for success, Mr. Rogers style at Moolanomy

Beware when trying to find deals at Clever Dude

Pre-tenure angst and a life-changing book recommendation at Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured

Mind binding is a lot like foot binding at BeckyBlanton.com

Building your financial bug-out bag at Bargaineering

Learn from Santa: How to save money and give great gifts at Moolanomy

I’ve given away books, chocolate, gift cards, stuffed animals and bumper stickers that proudly proclaim “Alaska Girls Kick Ass.”

Now I think it’s time for footwear.

I know that I’m getting older because I have begun to find value in bromides. That’s why I’ve decided to highlight one every so often, starting today. After all, Ben Franklin made a decent living at it – not that my site is comparable to Poor Richard’s Almanack, for a number of reasons:

• I don’t use a pen name.
• I get to write what I want rather than what I think will sell.
• I’m allowed to curse.
• I know how to spell “almanac.”

Let me emphasize that an axiom is no substitute for independent thought. If patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels, pious aphorisms are a way to appear profound when what you’re actually expressing is “Because I said so.”