This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

Have you ever been turned down for a checking account? While denials are more common when applying for credit, you can also be declined when applying for a bank account.

If you have been declined, it's likely due to a reporting agency that many have never heard of, but has a lot of information about and influence over banking customers. It's called ChexSystems.

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

"Many professionals in the field consider mystery shopping a part-time activity, at best." -- FTC.gov

Take that quote, from a Federal Trade Commission consumer alert called "The secrets of mystery shopping revealed," to heart and you'll be able to sniff out a lot of mystery-shopping scams.

The bottom line is that mystery shopping is a side pursuit at best. Any promises or hints that a company can offer you more is a sign that you're dealing with a bad company. If you're one for lists, the following might be helpful, but nothing beats your gut feeling.

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

He led our fair nation to freedom, and his face stares at us from the ubiquitous $1 bill. He's none other than George Washington, the first president of the United States.

• Bing: Find out more about George Washington
  

As one of our first elder statesmen, Washington left a wealth of memorable quotes, many of which apply to personal finance. He spoke much about integrity and character as well as discipline and service -- characteristics important in establishing a sound personal-finance life.

Let's take a look at the following nine quotes:

This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

It was the budget, with the spreadsheet, in the library -- that's what killed your finances.

The dictionary defines a budget as "an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future." Budgeting, the quintessential money-management tool, should identify where we spend our money so that we can make better spending choices.

While there is no one right way to budget, the purpose of any budget should be to give us the information we need to make smart spending decisions.

This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

How much do you know about millionaires?

My wife had dinner with her friend Linda, who is a high school social studies teacher. As they ate, Linda bemoaned the lack of personal-finance and economics education in the United States. She mentioned that every year she gives her economics students a short "millionaire quiz" (registration required) to see just how much they know about wealth and where it comes from. They do poorly at it, which surprises them.

Linda says they always pay attention to the follow-up discussion.

• Bing: How to become a millionaire
  

Because I asked nicely, Linda sent me a copy of the millionaire quiz in the mail. Here are the questions that give the kids so much trouble:

Lots of once-routine spending decisions are undergoing scrutiny these days. Should one of them be who pays for the engagement ring?

"Miss M" posed that question at M is for Money. She knows what she wants in a ring, but her intended, "Mr. M," can't afford it. "If this ring is so important to me, then why don't I buy it for myself? Why should I burden Mr. M's finances with something he can't afford?" she wrote. 

• Bing: Shop for engagement rings
  

Here may be the crux of the matter: "If I wait till he can afford a ring, I may be waiting forever," she added. They've been together for six years.

Matt Jabs of Debt Free Adventure has paid off his credit cards. But now he’s wondering how to proceed.

Simple answer, you say? Cut them into a thousand tiny pieces and close the accounts. Or how about keeping one for emergencies only? And what about the impact to your credit score?

After much thought and consultation with other personal-finance bloggers, Matt came up with three possibilities and asked readers to vote. Each has drawbacks. We wonder, what do you think?

This guest post comes from Buck Weber at The Buck List.

Can you really find good free stuff on Craigslist? To find an answer to that question, I decided to employ one of the oldest forms of scientific study: observation.

I randomly chose four cities from around the United States (Atlanta, Sacramento, Minneapolis and New York) and during a one-week period of time (Sept. 5-12. OK, eight days) I perused and wrote down what each city had to offer in its respective free sections on Craigslist every day.

What I found was sometimes amusing and somewhat telling of the value we place on our stuff, especially very heavy things.