People say hindsight is 20/20, but I think it’s more like 20/15 (when you get LASIK). Looking back at my college years, one of the things I regret is not learning more about how the financial aid system works. Most of us are still dependents of our parents when we go to college, so we give them the financial aid forms and let them to figure it out.

The problem is that most of our parents are just as clueless as we are when it comes to understanding how the financial aid process works. I don’t blame them either. I’d say that applying for financial aid is just about as exciting as doing taxes. There are so many loopholes, old rules, and new rules that it’s confusing and overwhelming. If only there were a book to explain how the entire financial aid process works, including tips on how to maximize your financial aid eligibility to make college more affordable.

Guess what? There is! The Princeton Review publishes an annual guide that does just that. I recently got my hands on a copy of Paying for College Without Going Broke 2009, and it’s great. Written by Kalman A. Chany, founder and president of a college financial aid consulting company, this book covers every aspect of the financial aid process from explaining strategies to maximize aid eligibility to understanding how to compare financial aid offers and negotiate for better ones.

Who Is This Book For?

This book is primarily for parents of college students, not the students themselves. This makes sense, because parents are the ones who fill out the financial aid forms. Graduate students may also find this book helpful, since all graduate students are considered independent. That means you can’t hand your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) over to your parents anymore.

What Do You Get Out of It?

In one word — knowledge.

Most financial aid goes to the people who best understand the process, not the “neediest” people. Why? The financial aid process is a lot like taxes, and in some cases, they go hand in hand. If you understand the process, you can structure your finances to maximize the aid awarded to your children, just like you can make financial decisions that will minimize your taxes.

The financial aid process is basically a game. College, like the government, tries to get as much money out of you as they can, while you try to keep as much money away from them as you can. Colleges avoid explaining the process and formulas they use to determine financial aid awards, but this book demystifies it. By knowing the rules of the game, you have a better chance of coming out ahead.

With line-by-line strategies on filling out each aid form to your best advantage, short- and long-term ways to lower college costs, and the most costly mistakes parents and students make when applying for aid, this book is loaded with information to help you pay for college without going broke. I don’t know if my parents bought this book back when they were filling out financial aid forms for me, but I know one thing. I’ll be referencing Paying for College Without Going Broke 20?? Edition someday.

If you’re looking for a unique and personalized gift idea, then look no further. Photofiddle.com lets you instantly transform any photo into a work of art in a matter of minutes.

Upload a photo to Photofiddle and get an instant preview of various design options before ordering. If you’re not happy with the design, Photofiddle has an art department that will help you create a custom design with no additional fee.

When I received an offer to try out the service last week, I jumped at the opportunity to get some Christmas shopping done without having to leave my chair. I ended up choosing this photo of my nephew and nieces to get “fiddled.” (Now waiting on my “World’s Best Uncle” award…)

The art department “fiddled” with the photo and sent me links to see previews of the photo in 50 different art styles. After some careful deliberation, I went with the deep sponge painting style on an 18″ x 18″ stretched canvas frame. About a week later, the final product was delivered to my door.

The artwork comes packaged in a sturdy box. Inside the box, the artwork is wrapped in heavy duty plastic. They also include a pair of cotton gloves, so you can handle the canvas without leaving fingerprints or accidentally scratching it.

Here’s a closeup that shows the texture of the canvas. One important thing to note is that while some of the photo art styles give the illusion of texture and depth, the final print will always be flat. If you want texture created by the layering of paint, then you still need to commission an actual painter (for now).

I took a couple of closeups to show how the corners are folded. This is important because people will see the corners when you hang the stretched canvas on the wall. I think Photofiddle did a good job with folding clean corners.

After trying out Photofiddle for myself, I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to give a unique and personalized gift for any occasion — graduation, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthday, anniversary, the end of finals, etc.

More serious artists and designers may be disappointed with the quality of photo art styles available in Photofiddle. While some of the styles do look pretty tacky, you can always do your own “fiddling” in Photoshop before uploading it to get printed.

As an added bonus, Photofiddle has generously offered a special 15% off discount for my readers. Just enter the code grad15 in the promo code box at checkout.

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any sites, so I figure it’s time to share one of the sites I have been using a lot lately. Personal Finance Buzz, or PF Buzz for short, is a Digg-like site that focuses on money and finance related topics. PF Buzz was launched by Pinyo at Moolanomy earlier this year.

How does it work?

Similar to Digg, PF Buzz relies entirely on user submitted content and user participation. Users submit links to their favorite articles which get added to the site. Other users can vote articles up or down, controlling which articles get promoted to the front page.

Why should personal finance readers use it?

PF Buzz helps readers discover some of the best content from personal finance blogs in one convenient location. Not only will you find great content, you’ll probably discover new blogs that you enjoy reading. You can also help promote your favorite blogs, like Broke Grad Student (wink), by submitting articles and voting them up. PF Buzz also makes it easy to keep track of new content through RSS feeds for a variety of categories, such as frugality, investing, making money, and many more.

Why should personal finance bloggers use it?

Personal finance bloggers also benefit from PF Buzz for many of the same reasons. You can use it to keep track of new content from all over the personal finance blogosphere. It’s also a great place to discover other blogs and connect with fellow bloggers. Finally, it provides another avenue to promote your own blog and also support other blogs that you like.

Conclusion

I love the idea behind PF Buzz and really think it could become a great hub for money and finance related articles. However, it needs your help to truly become the Digg of Personal Finance. At the time of this writing, the community of active users is still really small for this type of site, and it really needs the support of readers and bloggers, like you, to get it going. So what are you waiting for? Head over to PF Buzz and start voting up your favorite articles!

There has been a lot of buzz about the iPhone 3G lately. For those of you who haven’t heard, they go on sale this Friday, July 11, and not surprisingly, there’s already a line at Apple’s flagship store in New York. While I’m definitely not planning to wait in line to get an iPhone 3G on the first day, I am considering getting one later this year.

One of the biggest selling points of the new iPhone is the price drop. With a two-year contract with AT&T, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199, and the price of the 16GB model will be $299. That’s half the price of the first generation iPhone. So what’s the catch?

AT&T will be increasing a few charges for the iPhone 3G. The unlimited 3G data plan is $10 more than the current unlimited plan for iPhone users. Also, the plan does not include text messages, so that’s another $5 per month to get 200 text messages. I don’t feel like crunching numbers right now, but fortunately, someone else has already done the math.

It’s estimated that the voice and data plan for the iPhone 3G will cost an extra $15 to 17 dollars per month compared to what current iPhone users are paying now. That means over the course of the 2 year contract, you’ll pay between $360-408 more than current iPhone users. Of course, that means even after subtracting the amount you save on the iPhone itself, the iPhone 3G actually costs you over a hundred dollars more in the long run.

However, one could argue that the new features are worth the extra cost. I’m considering getting an iPhone 3G, because I’ll be able to have my phone, iPod, Internet, and GPS all in one unit. If I were to buy all of these devices individually, I think it would cost the same amount or more than it would cost to get an iPhone 3G.

Once you throw in the great features like the multi-touch interface, maps with GPS, and the fact that you only have to carry around one device, and my final decision is clear. I think that the iPhone 3G is definitely worth the price with one major caveat — if, and only if, it fits within your budget.

I think I can speak for everybody when I say that scams suck. That would explain why there are sites on the Internet dedicated entirely to exposing scams. If you’ve found this page, then you’re probably trying to figure out if CashCrate is a scam. Well, you’re in luck, because here’s my answer to the question of the day: Is CashCrate legit?

The Simple Answer

Yes, CashCrate is legit. If you complete the offers, CashCrate will actually pay you. So far I’ve earned 5 checks from CashCrate worth a total of over $150. Here is the check I received from CashCrate for my earnings last month.

What’s the catch?

Get paid to complete offers. It almost sounds too good to be true, and to a certain extent, it is. If you come across sites that claim you can use CashCrate to “make money fast” or get “free and easy money”, then those sites are the scam, not CashCrate itself.

The truth about CashCrate is that it’s a great way to make a little extra money. CashCrate is NOT an easy way to make a lot of money. In fact, you’d have to put just as much, if not more, effort into CashCrate as you would a full time job to make a decent amount of money each month.

Is it worth it?

This is a question that you’ll have to answer for yourself. Some people may enjoy using CashCrate as a way to make some extra money. Others expecting to become rich from CashCrate are going to be mad. I fall into the first group of people. I made over $60 the first month I joined CashCrate, and since then, I’ve gradually earned a little extra money each month. If you think you’d like to give CashCrate a try, check out the step-by-step guide I put together to get started right away.

• How To Make $24 With CashCrate Right Now