Best of Personal Finance: The 25 Best Places to Retire

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Welcome to Wise Bread’s Best of Personal Finance Roundup. This week, we look at ways to save money on your child’s school pictures, how to pull together a tasty gourmet meal from goods you get at a dollar store, and where to retire in style.

Top 5 Articles of the Week

25 Best Places to Retire – Looking for a place to kick up your feet – for the rest of your life? This vivid list of the top destinations to quit work and start relaxing features Port Charlotte, Florida in a surprising top spot! CNN Money

3 Ways to Save Money on School Pictures – What?!? You mean you don’t think the $80+ for a deluxe photo package of your six-year-old is a practical expense? Pshaw. Before you fill out the form for your school’s photography service, you have to read these great tips (with photos, of course!) Frugal Upstate

Use Vinegar and Baking Soda to Recharge Your Towels – Old towels not as soft as they used to be? New towels about as absorbent as a tub of butter? Try these tips for breathing some life back into those nasty towels. WikiHow via LifeHacker

Roasted Chicken with Black Beans and Yams – This guy is truly entertaining to read. Dubbed “The 99Cent Chef” due to his penchant for hitting up the dollar store for each of his ingredients, he attempts to recreate real food with components that cost no more than a buck. This meal features a tasty “after” pic, along with a well-documented shopping experience. The 99 Cent Chef

Business Card Doodles – Trent’s latest foray into scribbling on the back of business cards shows that the guy is truly frugal. (Why waste a sheet of paper, when you can use the back of a perfectly good business card.) Even more apparent is his desire to share his deepest thoughts on personal finance and money – via cartoons. I recommend his original Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance on the Back of Five Business Cards, as well. The Simple Dollar

Other Essential Reading

How to Write a Cover Letter (That Gets Interviews) – OK, OK. So she doesn’t actually tell you how to write a first-rate cover letter (yet). What she does provide, however, is a list of resources for getting the resume down pat, kick-starting your job hunt, and choosing the perfect career. She also sets the stage for what I can only imagine will be an exciting and pointed tutorial on how to put together a cover letter that kills. Can’t wait! Squawkfox

7 Tips to Get the Most out of a Sample Sale – New to sample sales? Think you already know how to get the best price on the hottest luxury items? With extra commentary from SheFinds.com expert Michelle Madhok, this checklist is a must-read! SmartMoney

Couple Finds Traded-In Clunker for Sale – Don’t be too surprised to see the car you dumped during the “cash for clunkers” drive still on the road (or in a dealer’s back lot). This tale of one couple’s experience is not uncommon, and isn’t a violation, after all! Consumerist

Time to Read the Writing on the Wall – Have you seen my stapler? If you’ve found yourself more like Milton from Office Space than the cheerful worker you’d really like resemble, take this assessment to see what your next steps should be. Brip Blap

How to Request USPS Hold Mail Service Online – I’ve actually needed this service once or twice, but wasn’t sure of all the steps. This quick set of steps makes it very clear (and even offers an option to skip the stamp and hand your form to your postal carrier!). Money Blue Book

This is Huge: $250 Dominick’s Giveaway – Just another reason to wish I had a Dominick’s in my area of the country. This giveaway from our own Carrie Kirby over at her Chicago Now blog ends this Friday, September 25th. So move, people! Chicago Now’s Frugalista