Amazon Smart Phones, Queen Elizabeth Isn’t the Queen and a Carnival

I love Amazon.com

I’ve been looking into VOIP and WiFi phones for a while now, so it didn’t take long for this to pop up on my radar: Amazon Smart Phones. Amazon has been forging their own path through the world of Technology with game changing devices like the Kindle.

It comes as no surprise that they are also looking at the mobile market. The most notable part of this is the prospect that they might be able to bypass traditional carriers. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been doing everything I can to lower my monthly charges which includes cell phone costs.

The technology is really coming along, but it may still be a while before I can finally cut the cord entirely but still maintain the services I want for free.

On a completely unrelated topic, Mike Hastings passed away, and according to accounts, he is the supposed heir to the royal throne. It was a really interesting read, but it appears that his lineage may not necessarily want to get involved in the politics of the throne.

What did you miss last week? I wrote about the lessons you can learn from Pixar, and I also wished everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. With everything recapped, now we can move onto the carnival! Here are this weeks entries into the Wealth Artisan FinCarn Roundup!

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Best Approach to Retirement Planning – Find out how your approach to retirement planning can affect your entire life.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Ideas to Save Money on Video Game Addictions – There are four video games I’ve enjoyed in my lifetime: Mario Brothers, Tetris, Sim City, and The Sims.

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes Could You Survive In A One-Car Household? – Changes to my husband’s job could make it more feasible than ever to become a one-car household. But does it really make sense to sell our second car?

JP @ My Family Finances writes College degrees Make the Rich, Poor and the Poor, Rich – A college degree may be risky, but it is also a critical element to income mobility.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Freelancing Revenue Report: My First Three Months in the Trenches – I’m now in my fifth month of entrepreneurship, and things are going well so far. I’m really happy with some areas, and not too happy with some other areas.

PPlan @ Provident Plan writes 3 Basic Steps for a Small Business – Starting a small business may sound like a great idea.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Frugal Bike Challenge For Me and My Son – Frugal biking challenge for father and son on the weekends.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes Tips To Boost Home Office Productivity – It’s always been a dream of mine to be my own boss and/or work from home, but working from home can be both a blessing and a curse.

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Finances are Just One Piece of the Puzzle – You can be responsible financially, but if you don’t take precautions to address disasters then you might not live to enjoy all your money

Hank @ Money Q&A writes 20 Things I Should Have Known About My Finances At The Age Of 20 – I can’t really remember what got me thinking about this list of what I should have known better about my finances in my 20s. Maybe it was Corey’s list of 16 Ways To Improve Your Finances that make me think. Heaven knows that I have made a few financial mistakes along the way.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes 3 Ways to Teach Your Kids Financial Responsibility – Find out three simple steps to teach your kids financial responsibility.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Money lessons from unexpected sources: the importance of time – Two money lessons we can take from teenage vampire fiction: money is necessary but not sufficient and getting rich is easy for immortals.

Dr. Dean @ The Millionaire Nurse Blog writes U Pick Vegetables-6 Reasons I Love To! – Yum! Fresh veggies are great. They’re also fun to pick. Read all about why I love picking veggies so much.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes World Bond Funds: Do You Know the Risks? – Thinking about investing in a World Bond Fund? There are several risks unique to world bond funds that should be addressed before investing.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Saving for Retirement is Like Going on a Road Trip – What if I woke up one Tuesday morning and decided to take my kids to Disneyland that day? Now, I live in Phoenix.

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes The Dollars and Cents of Your Bathroom – Employ a green approach to your bathroom and see respectable savings.

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Celebrity Tax Avoidance – One of the most infuriating things about saving, particularly if your frugality has been inspired by the current economic climate, is knowing that there are extraordinarily wealthy people out there not paying their dues when it comes to tax.

L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes 10 things under $10 that make me smile…. – I am in a bad mood of epic proportions today. EPIC. So I’d been thinking of doing this post for awhile, and what better time than now to recap cheap (often free) things that put a smile on my face? In no particular order: 1) Iced Tea- 2.99 per gallon.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes The Tax Bomb Is Coming – It would be hard for me not to make some comment on the 5-4 decision last week in the Supreme Court upholding Obamacare.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes How to Make Razor Blades Last Longer {Video} – A free and easy trick to make your razor blades last longer. No oil, vinegar or any of that other nonsense is necessary.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Key Traits of Passive Businesses – Find out what makes businesses with passive income so successful.

Tyler @ Poor Student writes Shorten Your Life With Debt – I recently wrote about how I am working at getting rid of days I have to work by investing to receive dividends. But I got to thinking again about a different way to think about things.

Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Why You Shouldn’t Buy Cheap Pet Food – If you’re a pet owner, you should be aware that you could be taking a huge risk by feeding your pet cheap cat food. You could end up facing big health problems down the road.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes A 3 Step Way to Guilt-Free Vacation Spending – When you work hard and save up, you deserve guilt-free spending on your vacation. Learn how to fight back against vacation haters.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes An Envious Life – Money & Success Isn’t Always What It Seems – Money and success isn’t always what it seems, read more to find out what I mean.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Government Wants You on Food Stamps – A recent story by CNN describes how the US Department of Agriculture is running radio ads encouraging people to sing up for food stamps.

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes Win $1,000 in our “Hello Summer” Giveaway! (6/20-7/20) – And here we are again to give you a chance to win BIG BUCKS!!! The Penny Hoarder, Happy Home and Family, Diva Fabulosa and a group of amazing bloggers have

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes The First Three Things You Need To Do If You Lose Your Job – Millions of Americans are out of work. Take these tips to find out what you should do if you suddenly lose your job.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes The 3 V’s of Success – The 3 V’s of Success is the twenty-second in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Professional Profiles: Angela, the Stay At Home Mom – Stay at home mom no more: after four years as a full-time caregiver to her two daughters, this mom is returning to work and hoping to avoid career suicide.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes 3 SUMMER WEALTH BUILDING TIPS – 3 Tips to build wealth and health.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes Choose ImpulseSave Instead of Impulse Spending – It is funny how sometimes something so mundane and boring like saving money can suddenly become fun, creative and even change one’s perspective on spending. No, I am not a reborn saver. I am still an impulsive spender, but something has changed me. Just a little bit.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Job Hunting Success – Alternative Job Finding Techniques – Check out these alternative job finding techniques for job hunting success

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Logical Tricks to Find More Money to Save and Invest – Logical Tricks to Find More Money to Save and Invest on Start Investing Money. See if you benefit from these logical tricks

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes How to Survive a Layoff – Surviving a layoff is no small feat. It takes patience and a long term goal horizon. One needs to always be checking for new jobs and opportunities.

Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes Can You Live On $1065 A Month? – Wayne lives on $1065 a month income, but his expenses are $1500 a month. His $125,000 nest egg will have to top up his income and last him for years.

MR @ Money Reasons writes Reasons for a Non-working Allowance for Kids – This is the reasons for a non-working allowance plan for kids, and my kid’s history with such an implementation of a non-working allowance.

Young @ Young And Thrifty writes Government Job vs Entrepreneurship – The Battle for My Soul – Do I stick with the government job and all of the guaranteed benefits or do I branch out on my own and have complete control over what I can and can’t do?

Teacher Man @ My University Money writes Why Do We Assume We Are Smarter Than The Other Guy? – How we can be so arrogant as to think that we stand a good chance of beating the market over an extended time frame. “The market” is the average rise and/or fall of the market you are trading within and there is a reason why it is the numerical average!

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Earn Money Online: Swagbucks – Swagbucks is my favorite way to earn money online, I’ve earn hundreds of dollars from them so far and couldn’t imagine life without it. Different ways to earn..

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Build a Home Series: Frame, Plumbing, and the First Inspection…Supposedly – The frame for our slab is finally down, the plumbing has been added, and we just had our first inspection. Our house is finally starting to be built!

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Family Finance: Property and Vehicle Insurance – What is Family Finance you may ask? It’s a new set of topics for family finances that I will be presenting over time regarding the many financial decisions a family must agree on. Agreeing on spending is one of the behaviours that can enable a family to reach financial success and build wealth.

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes Home Buying Tips That People Never Tell You! – I would like to talk about home ownership, in particular, mortgages. Now everyone tells you that home ownership is better than renting. Some people would say renting is better than home ownership. I don’t really care what you do-I just want you to do what’s best for you and your finances.

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Financial Influence of Government on Young Adults – I am continually reminded of the many ways that governmental policy affects our finances. While we are encouraged to challenge and question the laws put into place, we are often forced to accept certain regulations that have a direct influence on our lives.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes How Do You Become Rich? – The key characteristic between the rich and rest of us is their ability to take chances. Without risk the rewards are minimal.

Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes Save Money by Using Home Appliances Efficiently – Today, the current financial situation may require a much more stringent management of your household expenses. Domestic appliances account for a large portion of your home’s energy usage. There are, however, a few things you can do to trim the budget.

SB @ One Cent at a Time writes 20 Best Practices for Retirement Saving – 60% of Americans are either not saving for retirement, or saving too little. If you’e one of them, start acting now, here’s the 20 nest practices for retirement saving.

SB @ Finance Product Review writes Chaikin Portfolio Health Check Review – A review of the newest tool from Chaikin suit of trading tools, the Chaikin portfolio health checker, a fee based stock recommendation service.

Glen Craig @ Free From Broke writes EverBank Online Yield Pledge Checking and Money Market Review – EverBank is an online bank that offers high yield checking, money market accounts, and more. And they do all this with superior rates as well. Read more in our EverBank review.