Well we had 47 great entries for the carnival of personal finance this week. I read them all and tried to include a little comment about each submitted article. As far as ordering I just went with the first come first serve as I decided I liked that way of handling things after waiting outside Wal-Mart for 19 hours to get my hands on a couple PlayStation3s ;-).
However I did decide to highlight the one article I thought was the best of all the submissions in my humble opinion. Congratulations to My Financial Awareness for the post of the carnival
My Financial Awareness asks Do You Judge Your Financial Situation? – Excellent article on how we judge things that happen to us in our life.
Edit: Sorry about the early release….accidently clicked the publish button instead of save and well figured a few hours early wouldn’t hurt anything and didn’t want to take it down once it was out there.
Coin Jar writes Shopping tips from a savvy online bargain hunter – Very good article for this time of the year
Credit Card Lowdown writes The Lazy Man’s Guide to Budgeting: 101 Painless Ways to Cut Spending – Wow there actually are 101 ways – I wish I had the kind of dedication to right an article like this. Great job!!
Broke-Ass Student writes Clearing Away the Clutter – Great advice for anyone, life is so much simpler when it isn’t filled with a bunch of stuff you don’t need, can be applied to a lot more than just old clothes too 😉
Moneybucks writes about Nuisance Money – Ahh loose change – I remember always having the center console of my car filled with loads of loose change. After a while my wife and I got a jar to throw all loose change in, then at end of year used it for Christmas presents (amazing how much you can accumulate). Well for last two years I haven’t received any change, because I pay for everything with my CC, which I guess is an unseen perk of using credit card for everything, you don’t have to worry about loose change.
Finance-4-Kids writes how to Raising Money Smart Kids in 5 Steps – Something I am sure every personal finance geek has in the back of their mind, hopefully we are all able to pass our love and mastery of personal finance onto the next generation.
My Wealth Builder writes Five Rules of Financial Success – Wow lots of 5 step programs this week. Very good article looking at a very high level of what it takes to be successful (applies to more than personal finance also)
Living Almost Large talks about her Best and Worse Money Moves – Something I think we should all take time to reflect on, it’s easy to remember the successes, but what about the bad decisions. At least in this case despite poor decisions, the end result was pretty good.
SavvySunshine writes A woman can never have too many pairs of shoes… – A battle of self control and an inexpensive way to get that needed fix. Hooker shoes..hehe
Stock Market Beat writes When Zell Sells, We Listen – An article about Sam Zell selling his Equity Offices Trust
Scott on Money talks about IRA Maximum Contributions in 2006 – About the contribution limits for IRAs in 2006 and other rules regarding IRAs
The Weight of Money writes on article called Make the Call III – It often pays to make the call or multiple calls to a company regarding a bill, it can often save you significant amounts of money as it did in this case.
Not Made of Money writes Paid The Property Taxes Bill – Got The Early Discount – I wish I could have found a lender to let me pay my own taxes and insurance, escrows stink!
Thoughts and Riches asks Do you need the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) … – Great info if you are thinking about becoming a CFA – and also what it means to your investments.
Don’t Mess With Taxes writes Let the IRS help purchase your presents – Great info if you have moved in the past or plan to move in the future…uncle Sam may still have some of your money
Credit Cave writes 101 Ways To Save Money This Christmas – Wow – there actually are 101 ways!!
Binary Dollar writes The Psychology of a Spender – Great insight into the spender mentality
The Digerati Life asks Are Black Friday Bargains Worth It? – Talks about how Black Friday may not be worth your time.
Money Smart Life writes What Can You Learn About Money From a Turkey Dinner? – Very interesting analogies on parallels between Thanksgiving dinner and personal finance
Money and Values writes Why GLBT-friendly policies are smart for businesses and investors – Talks about companies decisions on what segments they market or don’t market to
Free Money Finance writes Six Wise Ways to Spend a Raise – I recently got a raise, I went with #3
AngelaRandall.com writes From Suck to Success (Bootstrap your life) – Great title and article to go with it.
Forex Blog writes YOU and FOREX – Talks about day trading currencies – probably not the best way to build wealth in my opinion, but check it out for yourself.
Debt Free writes Investments That Aren’t – Just The Bad, and The Ugly – Talks about investments that are likely to turn ugly fast
Blunt Money asks How much are you paying? – Another article on those evil escrow accounts – ok I get it they are bad I hate them too, but unfortunately I’m stuck with mine, although I had never heard of being able to buy may way out of an escrow account….anyway read the article good read.
Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog writes about 11 Shopping and Budgeting Tips for the Holiday Season – Another good article on how to make sure the Holiday season’s expenses don’t take the joy out of the season
The Simple Dollar talks about Personal Finance in a Plastic Economy – Article talking about dealing with the challenges we face as we move away from using cash to pay for things.
A Girl Worth Saving writes about Santa’s Credit Card – I like the idea of a buy nothing Christmas – probably would make things a lot more fun and a lot less stressful.
War on Credit Cards pleads Don’t Just Make Minimum Payments – Great Advice – pay as much as you possibly can each month as you will get no greater return on your money anywhere else.
Understand COBRA writes about COBRA Short Payment Rule – Interesting info in case you can’t make a full COBRA payment.
Paul’s Tips writes about How to deal with information overload – How to handle information overload – something I’m sure we all deal with on a daily basis.
Taking Control Over Money writes Getting Back to Basics – An article on how to break everything down to some basic steps you can manage.
Becoming and Staying Debt Free writes Miscellaneous Thoughts: Don’t Buy, Unless You Have The Cash – Talks about the Warren Buffett – special and some insight into Warren’s feeling about credit cards.
The Dividend Guy Blog talks about Where to Get Financial Data – A good breakdown of all the various sites where you can get financial data.
Insure Blog writes Younger and Younger – An article about long term care insurance and why younger people should be aware of it
Retiring Early asks Early retirees: Focus on taxable or tax-deferred? – Asks the question I’ve often pondered, how should you going about funding your retirement if you want to retire way before 59.5
Christine Kane writes Why Gratitude Makes You Happier and Wealthier – A great article for the Thanksgiving season.
fivecentnickel.com writes about Putting Together an Estate Plan – Something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now and just recently started to get the wheels in motion on. Congrats on beating me to it.
Beacon Financial Tips & Tools writes How to Keep From Over Spending this Holiday Season – Some great ideas on how to limit your holiday spending.
Queercents writes about Splurging for Babs – Talks about how it’s ok to splurge every once in a while and how to determine when it might be ok.
We’re In Debt writes Make a List, Check Twice, Take a Pen – An article on how to prevent unnecessary trips to the same store
Declare War on Credit Cards writes Ignore Flashy Cards, Get Cash Back! – An article on how the coolest looking card may not always be the best card for you.
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity writes about How To Deal With An Aggressive Accountant – How to decide whether or not to take that “questionable” deduction.
Free the Drones writes about Negotiating With Car Dealers – Good advice if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to purchase a car.
Money Crashers writes about debunking the claim that debit cards cannot be used everywhere – Talks about his experience of using debit cards for items that were commonly thought to reject debit cards.