Carnival Of Financial Camaraderie #16

Welcome to the 16th edition of the Carnival of Financial Camaraderie. This week is a big read with 60ish entries so grab a cup of coffee and settle in for a while!

If you want to host this carnival, there’s a bit of a list building up but you can check out our availability at our carnival page. If you want to submit to the carnival, please use the Blog Carnival HQ site. Next week, Financial Success For Young Adults is going to be hosting.  Thanks for submitting everyone!

Oh, and check out our new header at the top of the page!

Budgeting

Echo presents How To Make A Better Personal Budget posted at Boomer & Echo, saying, A personal budget should be about more than just figuring out if your income exceeds expenses.

Business

Suba presents How to Prepare to Give an Effective Presentation posted at Broke Professionals, saying, Presenting ideas, products and information is an integral part of being in business. Whether you are trying to convince the boss to give you a raise; nudge your customer into buying the latest shiny product the company makes; or pry venture capital lose from an angel investor, you need presentation skills. Read on to lean my thoughts.

Money Cone presents Suze Orman’s Prepaid Debit Card: Bad Wine in a New Bottle posted at Money Cone, saying, Suze Orman recently launched a prepaid debit card called the Approved Card. Now, I’m not a big fan of prepaid cards in general and prefer debit cards instead, but this coming from Suze Orman, deserved another look.

Career

Ashley presents Unemployment Benefits for the Self-Employed? posted at Money Talks Coaching, saying, I was poking around the internet the other day and came across this article in Time and learned about a new unemployment policy for the self-employed. Here is my take on it:

Penny presents Writing a Resume posted at Penny Pinching Professional, saying, Your resume is an important part of finding a good job so you can make money. Do you know the most important information to include in your resume?

Credit

Glen Craig presents How to Make Your Own Pre-Paid Debit Card – And Suze Orman’s Approved Card posted at Free From Broke , saying, A prepaid debit card allows you to put money on a card to make purchases but they tend to come with lots of fees. See how to make your own. Also check out Suze Orman’s new Approved Card.

D.J. presents You Could Be Wrecking Your Credit Score Without Knowing It posted at The Family Wallet, saying, Having a bad credit score can negatively affect many areas of your life, so it is important to be aware of little things that can lower your credit rating without your knowledge.

Daniel presents How I Made Money on a $371 Visit to the Mechanic posted at Sweating the Big Stuff, saying, After bringing in my car for maintenance, I was given a loaner for a 1,000 mile to and from San Francisco. Just how much money did that save me?

Corey presents Different Types of Financial Aid posted at 20s Finances, saying, Learning the different forms of financial aid can make all the difference in reducing your college debt.

Erika presents Paying down student loans posted at Newlyweds on a Budget, saying, The following is a guest post. My student loans stand at approximately $22,550. I originally had about 9 different loans, but I ended up consolidating them. Debt consolidation loans help minimize the payment you have to pay, which was a huge help back when I was a broke college graduate.

A Blinkin presents Should I Cancel My Credit Card? posted at Funancials, saying, Over the last few years, Credit Reporting has gotten a lot of attention in the media. Part of it due to the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act, but I also give a lot of credit to the jingles of Freecreditreport.com. Although I love the commercials, I’m not a huge advocate of the website.

Education

Jon the Saver presents 4 Ways Colleges Are Ripping Students Off posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, Most of the high priced items on campus—such as textbooks, meal plans and student parking—can be avoided if you know about the alternatives. And because I don’t want you leaving college with a huge student debt—beware of the following high-priced college cons on your student campus:

Pam Whitlock presents Teaching Your Kids about Money: January Edition posted at The MoneyTrail Blog, saying, What sources of income are available for kids and teens? We kick off our Teach Your Kids about Money series by examining common resources for kids, from allowances to part time jobs.

Financial Advice

Matt presents DIY Project Gone Wrong posted at Living in Financial Excellence, saying, A few months ago I wrote a post about whether the benefits of hiring a professional outweigh the frustrations of trying to do a project yourself. In that post, I mentioned we had skilled friends who knew what they were doing and had the right tools. In today’s show I share a personal DIY project that went wrong. Big time. And it cost me a bunch more than it would have to hire a professional.

Jason presents Making Up Stories posted at Live Real, Now, saying, Saturday night, as I was walking out of the pizza place, I saw a beautiful young brunette standing on the sidewalk talking on her cell phone.
As I walked past, I heard, “I could pay my rent if they’d just give me my last paycheck! They owe me like $200.”
That’s it.
Have you ever heard a tiny piece of a conversation and used that to build a back story in your own mind?

Peter presents 3 Ways to Ensure a Fast Tax Refund posted at Bible Money Matters, saying, There are a variety of things you can do to make sure that you get your refund as quick as possible. Here are the top 3.

Beating Broke presents Start 2012 Off Right posted at Beating Broke, saying, Setting specific goals and being diligent about tracking and saving towards those goals is a great way to improve your financial situation. Even if you’re not sure that you can do it, I encourage you to give it a try with a few small goals.

Miss T. presents Insuring Your Car: Online Car Insurance vs. Insurance Agenet posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter, saying, Which is the cheapest way to buy insurance? Here are the pros and cons of securing car insurance online vs. using an insurance agent.

Crystal presents Really!?! You Can’t Fix Stupid posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, saying, In case you aren’t following along, this person would like to sell her current car, that is working great, to buy a newer model of the same car, so she can turn around and sell the newer car in 3 years for more than the current one would be worth at that time. She thinks that is the best deal for her and her money. Really?!

Sandy presents Banking Debit Card Fees Go Bye-Bye posted at Yes, I Am Cheap, saying, Voting with your feet and moving your money elsewhere really does work, several banks including Wells Fargo and Chase have now completely dropped their plans to institute these fees altogether after witnessing the backlash and public outcry against debit card fees. Score one for the little guys!

Sunil presents How Multiple Streams of Income Work posted at The Extra Money Blog, saying, Having more than one income stream significantly mitigates unforeseen financial catastrophe. The more the income streams, the less critical it becomes to establish a rainy day fund, especially a large one that ties up a significant enough amount.

Sabrina presents 5 Emergency Budget Cuts to Consider posted at Frugal Living, saying, We would all be better off if we forced ourselves to look honestly at our spending, our credit cards and our bank accounts, and identify the things that can be cut out easily and immediately. That will buy you more time if you do lose your job or take a cut in your income, and will help you stretch the money you have. Every family is different, but the list below will give you some ideas to start with.

Sabrina presents How to Get Your Kids to Stop Treating You Like an ATM posted at Wallet Watcher , saying, When raising children, no one sets out to raise a brat. No parent thinks to themselves, “I want my child to be irrational and demanding.” No one purposely fosters unreasonable expectations. And yet many parents reach an unpleasant day when they look at their child and realize that somehow, they have

Tushar presents Can You Deduct Moving Expenses When You File Your Taxes? posted at Everything Finance, saying, Like many people, you may have moved last year to start a new job. If you did, you may qualify to deduct any moving expenses your employer does not reimburse on your taxes this year. However, there are a few requirements you must meet to be eligible to deduct moving expenses.

Jeffrey presents Snowflaking: 30 Ways to Snowflake Your Debt Away posted at Saving Advice, saying, There are a wide variety of ways that you can make small amounts of money to snowflake your debt away. Take the time to brainstorm to figure out any way that you might be able to bring in a few extra dollars (or even a lot) each week in your spare time. Here are a few possible ways to consider.

Paul Vachon presents How to Avoid Foreclosure with a HUD Approved Plan posted at The Frugal Toad, saying, If you are having difficulty paying your mortgage there are options available to avoid facing foreclosure.

Big Cajun Man presents Make Your Hobby Pay posted at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site, saying, Spend less? No that is for chumps, just earn mo’ money!

Frugality

Steve Zussino presents Totally Plastic Free Challenge for 2012 – No credit cards posted at Grocery Alerts, saying, Our first challenge will be going plastic free (no credit cards). As many, we to use our credit cards to purchase goods to accumulate airmiles. This year we have decided to move away from this method in order to completely remove that cushion that exists with plastic. No matter how well you budget, using credit cards gives you a false sense of security.

SB presents 25 Everyday Techniques to Save Environment posted at One Cent at a Time, saying, These are 25 pretty easy-to-follow ways to help our mother earth by saving the environment around us. Charity begins at home, you start today, your neighbor starts tomorrow and the whole city starts doing this by year end, how about that?

Kay Lynn presents 6 Reasons Not to Have a Garage Sale posted at Bucksome Boomer, saying, A garage sale isn’t the most productive way to get rid of your unused items, and you have other, better options to use to get your home organized.

Amanda L Grossman presents A Great Site to Sign up for Email Offers posted at Frugal Confessions, saying, Learn about this great tool to hone your frugal skills like I do!

Karen Bryan presents Are You a Miser? posted at Help Me To Save, saying, What’s the difference between being frugal & miserly? I suppose that depends on your income and financial goals.

Steve Zussino presents Have you ever seen a frugal celebrity? posted at Canadian Personal Finance, saying, Actress and celebrity Zooey Deschanel recently showed that she earns an average of $95,000 a month and her expenses average $22,550 per month. This means she saves 76% of her income!

Nick presents It’s time to dump the crap in your life and move on posted at Step Away from the Mall, saying, You may have had a rough year. I’m sure on some level you’ve loved, lost and laughed in 2011. And I’ve never been one for artificial deadlines or resets like starting a diet or exercise plan on a Monday (I think Saturday afternoons work the best, actually.). But there’s something about the New Year that gets everyone focused. So let’s focus. It’s time to dump the crap in your life and move on. Drop the stories, keep the lessons and move on.

If you’re an investor interested in both dividends and income from options, here’s the strategy for you!

Hank presents Seven Car Insurance Myths You Need To Know posted at Money Q&A, saying, There are a lot of car insurance myths that continue to be spread around by consumers. It is important to understand as much as you can about how your car insurance rates are calculated and to debunk the popular car insurance myths.

Investing

Jill presents End of the Paper Savings Bond Era posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, Savings bonds are going paperless – find out all about how you can still buy them here.

Barbara Friedberg presents Reader Question; How to Choose Mutual Funds posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, saying, This article responds to a reader who wanted to know how to choose a mutual fund from the thousands of options. Read on and find out how simple the decision can be.

Ray presents RRSP Deadline 2012-Limits posted at Financial Highway, saying, The RRSP season has begun! Every bank, every branch and every teller will remind you to contribute to your RRSP before the deadline. With so many people vying for your RRSP contributions, who should you trust?

Cash Flow Mantra presents Investing in Guaranteed Losers posted at Cash Flow Mantra, saying, How about investing in a guaranteed winner? That is exactly what I plan on doing this year. In fact, I will be getting a return of over 20% by paying off my Discover Credit Card.

Young and Thrifty presents Youngandthrifty’s HOT 2012 Stock Picks posted at YoungAndThrifty, saying, With the recent economic downturn, everyone has been pinching their pennies and watching what they spend.

For those looking to invest here are the top 4 stock picks for 2010.

Stay young and thrifty =)

Evan presents Why the Hell Are There New Active Public Pension Plan Participants? posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, Why in the hell are new public employees still able to join State backed defined benefit pension plans?

Kevin presents Do the Experts Know Anything about Picking Stocks? posted at Thousandaire, saying, I’ve been investing in the stock market for over four years now, and at times it’s been downright ugly. The only investing strategy that makes sense to me is buy and hold. Short term investing, even for just one year, seems like a complete crap shoot to me. Read why!

Andy presents Retirement Planning Requires Action posted at My Retirement Blog, saying, If you are starting to think about your own retirement, you are on the right path. You have taken the first step towards achieving that dream retirement. You may need to spend some time writing down your goals and/or expectations for retirement, but asking the questions is where everyone begins. Yet, just thinking about retirement.

Jester presents Easiest Way to Make a Profit in Real Estate posted at The Ultimate Juggle, saying, Investing in real estate can be a great way to set yourself up for the future. If you invest in the right property at the right price, you can create a positive cash flow from the beginning.

Shaun presents Crash Course in UCC Check Indorsement Rules for Newlyweds and Why You Should Never Use ‘And’ or ‘&’ When Writing Checks to Newlyweds posted at Smart Family Finance, saying, Newlyweds face unique complications in cashing wedding checks thanks to the ambiguity of name changes. Learn what the UCC rules are for signing and cashing checks and never put the word and or & on a check to newlyweds

Dan presents Strategy Combining High Dividend Yields with Option Income posted at ETF Base, saying, If you’re an investor interested in both dividends and income from options, here’s the strategy for you!

YFS presents Our Net Worth Increased By 125k in 1 year posted at Your Finances Simplified, saying, So last year turned out to be really good for the YFS household. How good? Well I’ll let you decide. At the start of 2011 our net worth was $122,403.43. At the start of 2012 our net worth is $246,756.54! That is s serious gain, IMHO!

Other

W presents Leaving The Middle Class posted at Off-Road Finance, saying, A look at what it means to leave the middle class.

Roshawn Watson presents 4 Reasons You Should Set Unrealistically High Goals posted at Watson Inc, saying, Should all goals have a strong basis in reality? Not a chance: here are 4 reasons you should set unrealistically high financial goals.

Matt presents Comparing U.S. Budget to Household Budget posted at RamblingFever Money, saying, Ever wonder what the entire U.S. budget would look like if you used ratio’s and compared it to an average household budget in the U.S.? Featuring a short video by Dave Ramsey’s Great Recovery team, then some commentary by me, these numbers are really eye-opening!

Dr Dean presents Football and Finance-14 Corollaries posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog, saying, Financially speaking, it’s been a tough year, but then, every year can be. Need a ‘pat on the butt’ locker room pep talk? Get one here and then be ready to ‘get back in the game.’

Justin presents 10 Interesting Finance-Related Facts You Never Knew posted at Money Is the Root, saying, I think money and finance is fun and interesting, but if you don’t, here are the ten most AMAZINGLY interesting finance-related facts that I bet you didn’t know…

Don presents The Real Cost of Eating Out posted at MoneySmartGuides, saying, I was looking over my budget for the previous month and something stood out. At first, I thought I made a typo along the way. Maybe I categorized a purchase incorrectly somewhere along the way. After checking and rechecking and I discover the real cost of eating out!

Don presents Home Security! Deciding to Spend or Not to Spend posted at Money Reasons, saying, It’s Jan 1, 2012 at 4:14am, my dog started barking like an entire gang was at my front door trying to break in. Much like the dad in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, Twas the night before Christmas, I sprang out of my bed in an adrenaline pumping state ready to encounter whatever threat might exist.

Wayne presents Appropriate Tip posted at Young Family Finance, saying, Find out what an appropriate tip is when you are eating out. How much are you overspending?

Kyle presents Get Paid to Reduce Your Energy Usage posted at The Penny Hoarder, saying, There are some money-saving ideas that you’ve no doubt heard a million times. Some of the most oft repeated tips are how to reduce your energy bill. Turn off the lights. Lower the thermostat in the winter. Buy an energy efficient water heater. Those are all great ideas, but one company is taking it a step further to help motivate us. Read on to learn more!

Eddie presents Reasons to Buy a Car in January – After the Holidays! posted at Finance Fox, saying, Consumers used to shop heavily during December in order to reap the great rewards from the retailers. However, times have changed. Consumers are getting more wiser and January has also become a hot month for retail therapy.

LaTisha presents Little Futures on the Prairie posted at Financial Success for Young Adults, saying, Do you remember Little House on the Prairie? If Pa had known about the futures market he could have made money selling a futures contract. Futures introduction.

Darwin presents No Cost Refinance – A No-Lose Financial Move? posted at Darwin’s Money, saying, A no-cost refi is starting to make more sense to me now that I’ve read more about it, and I was especially surprised to see the number of no-cost refinance companies out there. I’ve been contemplating a refi for some time now and had initially put it off due to the exorbitant fees…

KT presents Should You Leave a Life Insurance Policy to Your Kids? posted at Personal Finance Journey, saying, Determining whether or not to purchase a life insurance policy is a big decision. Many of us want to leave something behind for our family, but there are a few things you need to consider before taking on a monthly premium!

Aloysa presents Would You Date a Guy From a Trailer Park? posted at My Broken Coin, saying, I try not to judge a book by i’s cover because usually the cover very seldom reveals what is written inside of the book. A few years ago I passed judgment on one of my good friends based on a social stigma. Read my social class dilemma!

PITR presents Is it Possible to Retire on Rental Properties? posted at Passive Income To Retire, saying, Not only is it possible to retire on real estate, there are many benefits that you need to take advantage of.

101 Centavos presents Interview With Foster Wilson of MESA EXPLORATION posted at 101 Centavos, saying, Mesa Exploration formerly Mesa Uranium is a junior exploration company active in Utah and Arizona. I bought shares of MSA MSJAF on the pink sheets …

We were also included in these carnivals in the last few weeks

• Carnival of Wealth
• Yakezie Carnival
• Carnival of Personal Finance (sweatingthebigstuff)
• Carnival of Personal Finance(Money Cactus)
• Canadian Finance Carnival
• Totally Money Carnival
• Carnival of Passive Investing
• Carnival of Financial Camaraderie

Have a great weekend everyone!