We've discussed how people at the right weight and non-smokers pay less in insurance premiums because they are generally more healthy than those over weight and people who smoke. Seems fair to me -- you have less of a chance of needing insurance, so you should pay less for it, right?

So when US News asks if vegetarians should pay lower insurance premiums, it's a valid question. Of course there are issues like how to enforce such options, but if it's true that vegetarians are less likely to need insurance, shouldn't they pay lower rates? Personally, I'm ok with it (though I'm not a vegetarian). What do you think?

BTW, I'm not going into it in this post, but the issue of people who choose to lead less-than-healthy lifestyles and the cost of the

Bankrate lists the different ways to invest as follows:

Passive investing -- Passive investing has its advantages. For one, it's almost a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. A purely passive strategy would be buying an S&P 500 index fund and then never touching it again.

Fundamental analysis -- Fundamental analysis involves studying the entire picture of the broad economy, industries within the economy and then individual companies within each industry to assess its financial strength.

Technical analysis -- Technical analysts use charts to study historical stock prices and trading volume data to gauge investor sentiment as a guide to the prospects of a particular security.

Market timing -- But even professional traders often use either tec

I've talked a lot about using generic/store brand products instead of name brands in order to save a bundle of money. We do this all the time -- especially on over-the-counter medicine. Well, a new study shows that in at least some cases (it focused on heart issues), the same can be said about choosing generic prescription drugs versus their name-brand counter-parts. The summary of the study:

There is no evidence that brand-name drugs given to treat heart and other cardiovascular conditions work any better than their cheaper generic counterparts, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Ok, so what does this mean to your pocketbook?

"Brand-name drugs for cardiovascular disease can be as much as a few dollars a pill, whereas generic drugs might be as little

Here are some recent interesting posts from around the web as well as a list of the carnivals Free Money Finance was in this week and my posts that were included:

Wise Bread has six simple tips for buying great affordable wine.

The Wallet says the IRS is your new refinancing pal.

Vik Dulat lists 7 rules for grocery shopping.

Smart Spending discusses a Christmas shopping spree.

AllFinancialMatters is having a giveaway.

Tough Money Love addresses the topic of homes being investments.

MightyBargainHunter compares store brands to name brands and finds a big savings.

The Simple Dollar is already planning next year's garden.

EDITOR'S PICK!!! Carnival of Money Stories -- Menards Makes Cents