Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #56

We are excited to host this week’s Carnival of Financial Camaraderie, sharing some of the best Finance posts from the web!  Please be sure to check out the articles below.  If you would like to be a part of this Carnival in the future, by submitting your articles or hosting in the future, please checkout My University Money for the ground rules.

  BUDGETING

Mike @ Experiglot writes When Do You Give up on a Crappy Job? – How you can quit a job you hate.

Lance @ Money Life and More writes How Much A Cheap Cruise Really Costs – Have you ever wondered how much a cruise really costs? I’m going to give you a hint. It is much more than the list price you see when you’re looking into booking your first cruise. I still think a cruise is a great value but you need to be prepared for all of the costs.

JP @ My Family Finances writes Average Family Spending on Christmas Gifts 2012 – If you want to keep your family budget underneath that average family spending for Christmas gifts, you are better off planning early.

SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Budgeting for Singles vs. Families – Find out how budgeting for a family is different than budgeting as a single person.

Wealth Effect Blogger @ www.YourWealthEffect.com writes The Debate Over Where Inflation is Headed – Predictions range from deflation, to little to no change in prices to hyperinflation and everywhere in between.

Mich @ BeatingTheIndex writes Aroway Energy: On Track to Double Production a Second Year in a Row – Aroway is a financially strong junior oil producer on the cusp of growing production above the 1,000 barrels per day threshold.

Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes Dollar Cost Averaging: Not Just for Stocks – There might be some argument that dollar cost averaging doesn’t work very well for consumables. However, I believe dollar cost averaging works especially well for things that regularly fluctuate in price.

Jason Hull @ ReadyForZero Blog writes Curb Your Spending by Giving Yourself More Paydays – Give yourself more paydays to curb your spending. Jason Hull talks about how this works and how it can help you.

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Should You Have an Emergency Charity Fund? – With more and more natural disasters striking the United States, it occurred to me… should I have an emergency fund to donate to charity? I typically focus my charitable efforts on one effort… the American Cancer Society… in honor of my dad. Perhaps that doesn’t make sense anymore. Perhaps I should “plan” for one or two disasters each year… whether it be wild fires, flooding, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes The Myth of Great Savings on Black Friday – The Wall Street Journal has exposed the Black Friday deals myth as just that. In fact, for all the guilt-tripping over last minute Christmas gift shopping, the truth is that many items go down in price toward the end of the holiday season, as the initial rush slows. Although it varies from store to store, your chance of buying toys for half off improves every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

BUSINESS

Robert @ Entrepreneurship & Life writes What You Can Deduct from Your Taxes – As a new business owner, you probably don’t spend much time thinking about your taxes. Of course, your operations are the priority, but make sure you track everything so you can get the best deductions when April rolls around.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes 10 Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Can Make – There are 10 Mistakes that Entrepreneurs make that can prohibit them from creating a very successful business.

Deacon @ Well Kept Wallet writes Top 10 Business Quotes – So much can be learned from those who have been successful in business. Here is a list of the top ten best quotes about business.

Mr. Money @ Smart on Money writes Smart Investments for Your Business – If you’ll invest your available resources wisely, you have a much better chance of experiencing sustained success in your business. Here are a few investments that you might want to make for your business.

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes To The Fiscal Cliff…And Beyond – This fiscal cliff, as it stands, leaves a big question mark on our economic future. The concern going forward lies with the possible effects of expiring tax cuts.

CAREER & EDUCATION

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Do You Take the Guaranteed Money in Your 20s? – I have a friend who stays at a job he hates, because, he says, “It’s guaranteed money. I’m in a good position. I can’t get fired and the money is guaranteed.” That makes total sense. Why risk something that’s guaranteed? Why rock the boat? What do you go for in your 20s? Should you take the guaranteed money or take some risks?

FMF @ Free Money Finance writes Fun and Easy Ways to Network and Get Educated – In More Thoughts on Making Millions More I clarified my thoughts from an earlier post. One thing that came through in both the piece as well as the comments was that growing your career doesn’t have to take that much time and the steps you take don’t have to be painful. In particular this is true when it comes to two keys to growing your career: networking and furthering your education. So I thought I would list some of the “easy” and “fun” ways you can grow your career in these areas.

Robert @ The College Investor writes Do You Have a Career or Just a Job? – In theory then, a job can be a career, but can the definition of a career be just a job?

Emily @ PT Money Personal Finance writes IncomeatHome.com — Solid Plan or Total Scam? – IncomeatHome.com is endorsed by a few celebrities, but is it all it claims to be or simply a multi-level marketing scheme?

Jefferson @ See Debt Run writes Consumer Driven Health Plans – A Good Option? – Consumer Driven Health Care plans are becoming very common in today’s corporate world. However, there are a few things about this plan that really concern me.

md @ Start Freelancing Now writes How You Can Still Freelance When You Have No Time to Spare – How to make money with little free time.

Rich @ Growing Money Smart writes What Is Your (I Am Rich) Threshold – This is the investment threshold level that I would consider myself entry point rich. See if your threshold is the same as mine!

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Paid Sick Time: What It’s Costing You – The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without a paid sick time policy, making calling in sick a battle of financial vs. personal health for many.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Making a Mid-Life Career Change – The average American will change jobs nine times before reaching their 33rd birthday. Changing your career can be difficult, but these tips can help.

Steve @ Ready To Quit My Job! writes Dealing With An Abrasive Boss – You’ve got more experience now; why not put it to good use? Go back to school for what you really want to be doing. Switch departments. Cross-transfer. Or look elsewhere.

Teacher Man @ My University Money writes How Much Should I Get In Student Loans? – Most young students that I remember figured that whatever “free money” the government was willing to give loan them was ok by them and defaulted to taking the maximum student loan possible. Consequently, for many people who want to give students advice, the question becomes not, ‘How much CAN I get with student loans?” but rather, “How much SHOULD I get with student loans?”

FINANCIAL ADVICE

Robert @ My Multiple Incomes writes 4 Ways to Earn Passive Income Streams – I’m a firm believer that you can earn a passive income stream from the hard work you’ve already done. Yes, there was something involved, but once you’ve done it, you can reap the rewards of it. Here is what I’m talking about:

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes 4 Ways to Finance a Home Renovation – In a perfect world, people would save up their money before renovating their home, but in our imperfect world, renovations are often needed before the funds have accumulated in our bank accounts. Financing a renovation isn’t nearly as scary as it seems. Four popular ways to finance a home renovation include:

MR @ Money Reasons writes Why I Want Rich People To Buy Things And Spend Money – I want Rich people to buy things and spend there money! Believe it or not, but their spending just might be keeping us middle class folks employed

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes HOW TO GET RICH QUIZ – Secrets of millionaires. Get wealthy, invest, save. Take quiz to find out if you’re on the path to get rich.

Bryan Maltier @ Gajizmo.com – Personal Finance writes Best Home Insurance Coverage, Companies, Quotes and Rates – Learn about the different types of homeowners insurance policies and coverage options, what each covers and how it will protect you, your family, and assets during specific circumstances.Then, consumers will get tips on how to lower their rates.

Evan @ My Journey to Millions writes Where Does Capitalism End and Prize Gouging Begin? – Price gouging laws seem like the “right” or “just” bill to have on the record but they are obviously opposite of normal supply and demand curves:

Jason @ Live Real Now writes Repo Man – The repo process varies by state, but the basics don’t change much. The loan holder can file for repossession as soon as the loan agreement is broken. They can repossess with no notice and the borrower is on the hook for the difference between what’s owed and twhat’s recovered during resale. If you get to the point of repossession, you are out of options.

Matt @ Living in Financial Excellence writes Apparently I Don’t Borrow Enough – One day after applying for our mortgage, I got a courtesy letter from the bank – the letter was simply informing us that the bank had reviewed our credit history and that everything was ok. Our credit score (which I’ve never really worried much about) was in the mid 700′s. That meant we qualified for the best mortgage rate the bank had to offer. But then the letter got funny. It proceeded to tell me that there were some things I could do to improve my score.

Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes What Is Behavioral Finance? – Behavioral finance is all about trying to understand biases in human behavior when it comes to money. By extension, the personal decisions that people make about money can be extended to influence the economy.

My Own Advisor @ My Own Advisor writes FREE Giveaway and Book Review – Cash Cows, Pigs and Jackpots – Visit this site for a chance to win a FREE copy of David Trahair’s new book!

Derek Knight @ Freeat33 writes The Three Truths/Lies about Money – There are some basic truths about money that are….. well only basically true.

FRUGALITY

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes Maximize Your Money Over Your Lifetime by Using the Just Enough Principle – The answer to financial freedom for many is practicing the law of just enough. Americans used to be very good at utilizing this principle thanks to the lean years of the Great Depression, but over time and generations we have lost those skills.

CF @ The Outlier Model writes 3 Ideas for a cheap and frugal Halloween – Halloween can be expensive – if you let it be. How did you save money this year? Here’s what we did.

Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes Five Foods You Shouldn’t Waste Your Money On – If you go to a grocery store, you are likely to find several other shoppers with convenience foods in their cart. From cans of soups to packages to frozen dinners, I wonder if these “convenience foods” really make life that much easier. I do know that they can waste a big chunk of your grocery bill. These five foods not only cost more but are not the best for your health.

Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes The Number One Way to Save Money on Groceries – After all this time devoted to saving money at the grocery store, I’ve figured out the easiest, fastest, and number one way to save money at the grocery store: Meal Planning.

Melissa @ Bargaineering writes Shop Around for Cable: Direc TV vs. Comcast Vs. Verizon – So if you don’t want to cut your cable and just want to know what packages are out there so you can try to negotiate for a better offer, we’ve put together some of the current promotions available from some of the largest carriers.

James Petzke @ This Is Common Cents writes The Number One Way to Save Money – Being healthy is the best way to save money in the long run.

Mike @ Personal Finance Journey writes A Cash Budget – Its not all bad news – Handy tips on transition to a cash budget to help curb your spending and give your debt a quick cut.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes Save Money With Coupons This Holiday Season – I’m a big fan of frugality, and an easy way to do this is with coupons. Many people only seem to think that coupons work for groceries or household commodities, but coupons are great ways to save on holiday gifts.

Edward @ Modest Money writes Saving Money By Making Homemade – Recently, I embarked on a quest. Instead of getting ideas from other personal finance bloggers, I wanted to get the opinions of average people on the topic of frugality. I started asking friends and coworkers one simple question: what is your favorite way of saving money?

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes 8 Financial Lessons to Learn from the Duggars – Whatever your personal opinion is, there is no denying that many Americans could learn to manage their money as effectively as the Duggars. Here are some of their money management strategies that have allowed to live debt free despite raising 19 children.

Penny Thots @ Penny Thots writes Cheap Homemade Pizza – Pizza at a restaurant (or even take-and-bake) can be pricey, especially if you have a bunch of kids to feed. While it’s fun to splurge once in a while, doing so on a regular basis wastes money that is better spent elsewhere. But you can make delicious pizza at home on the cheap! Really – you can! All you need are a few simple ingredients for the dough and sauce, and then the toppings you prefer. Here’s how:

Marie at Family Money Values @ Family Money Values writes How to Be Frugal Over the Holiday Period – Help yourself and your young adult children save money this season with these tips.

Melissa @ Bargaineering writes How to Save Money with Nanny Sharing – If you are exploring options for affordable childcare, one option that might make sense is nanny sharing.

INVESTING

Andrew @ 101 Centavos writes Filing Cabinet 401K (5) Alternative Energy (6) Autos (6) book reviews (2) Budgets (2) Business and Career (25) Caffe’ Br – n the context of political entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship alone, it’s just about the money. For political entrepreneurship to bear fruit, provisions, clauses and codicils must be ram-jammed into legislation such that it’s somewhat easier for honest, hard-working corporate giants to just scrape by, barely keeping body and soul together.

Tushar @ Finance TUBE writes Investing 101: The Top Twelve Investing Mistakes – Today we will talk about the Top Twelve Investing Mistakes. In the last ten years buying and selling the mutual funds in a strategy that has lost money. However you ETFs, Modern Portfolio Theory and semi annual balancing has worked beautifully.

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Buying Your First Home: How Much House Can You Afford – We are planning our first home purchase. When doing our research, we found popular guides to determining how much house you can afford.

Hank @ Money Q&A writes Why You Should Consider Selling Your Mutual Funds – There are times that it is best to just sell your mutual funds and let them go. Things change. Investing philosophies and goals change. Those are some of the reasons to consider selling your mutual funds.

IMB @ Investing Money writes ETFs – Pros and Cons – Find out the pros and cons of investing in ETF’s. There are many reasons to like them.

Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes Buy or Hold? What does Warren Buffett Think? – Warren Buffett recently appeared live on CNBC’s Squawk Box for a two-hour interview with Becky Quick.  During their conversation, they discussed a number of issues about the global economey and investing. You can read the complete transcript here.

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Important Calculation for Buying a Car – Want to know how much that new(er) car is going to cost your family? Find out what the most important calculation is.

Michelle @ The Shop My Closet Project writes S$&T Happens-Do you have an emergency fund? I don’t and that’s a problem – This is the reason that you need to have an emergency fund! Read more to understand why it is so important.

harry campbell @ Your Personal Finance Pro writes Do You Invest in Expensive Kitchen Knives? A Review of my Shun Chef’s Knife – If you’ve ever been around someone who loves to cook, you’re probably already familiar with the names Shun or Wusthof. They are two of the top knife-manufacturers in the world and most professional chefs carry one or the other. These knives may be top of the line, but so is their price tag. Most knives in this elite category can cost you upwards of $150(for a single knife, if you find a good deal). Meanwhile, you can get a solid set of knives for around $30(I purchased this set 3 years a

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Should You Buy a Fixer-Upper? – Deciding whether you should buy a fixer-upper as a real estate investment is all about weighing the time commitment with the savings in the asking price.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Book Review – The Motley Fool Money Guide – A review of the Motley Fool Money Guide, a guide to personal finance and investing, particularly individual stock investing.

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Social Security, Pensions, and Other Bubble Bursters – It’s no surprise that at some point Social Security will have to be revamped. There just aren’t enough workers contributing to the already retired and soon to be retired baby boomers’ generation. So guess who gets the short end of the stick?

Jeff Rose @ Good Financial Cents writes Crowdfunding Investing – What You Need to Know – The business start-up act, otherwise known as the Crowdfund Act, is a new provision of the JOBS Act that was enacted on April 5th.

Ken Faulkenberry @ Arbor Investment Planner writes Dividend Growth Compounding Versus Interest Compounding – Interest compounding is a powerful financial concept, but dividend growth compounding multiplies the benefits of exponential growth.

SAVING

Green Panda @ Green Panda Treehouse writes Should You Solely Focus on Your Student Loans? – Are you dealing with those loans?

OTHER

John S @ Frugal Rules writes Should We Really be Concerned About the Fiscal Cliff? – There has been a lot in the news lately about the Fiscal Cliff. But, many don’t know what it is all about. Take the time to inform yourself for the potential rollback of tax cuts so you’re not surprised by a big tax bill.

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey @ My Personal Finance Journey writes The Pros and Cons of a Down Payment Assistance Program – “If you’re in the market for your first home, there are a plethora of programs at the federal, state, and local level that can help you with your purchase. There are also private financing incentives from builders who may allow you to put a smaller percentage down if you work with their preferred lender.” This post introduces and describes an often underutilized program for home financing: the local down payment assistance program.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes How Hard is It to Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy? – If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or e-mail. Thanks for visiting! TweetSharebar TweetEarlier this year, the United States’ collective student loan bill topped $1 trillion.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Just Make More Money – We have gotten into hiking lately as a family. I’m doing what I always do when I find something I like.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Are You Wasting Your Money? – Convenience and happiness don’t always have to equal being wasteful with your money though.

PPlan @ Provident Plan writes Short Term Funding for Household Emergencies – Short-term financial problems are a part of life. You may have had an unexpected car repair bill, taken a few unpaid sick days from work or received an

CAPI @ Creating a Passive Income writes How to Earn More and Work Less Using Passive Income – You have the opportunity to learn something about earning more money with passive income, and I hope you will take advantage.

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Win $100 Cash with the ‘The Importance of an Emergency Fund’ Giveaway!! – Why not win $100? Read about the importance of an emergency fund too

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Five Ways to Take Control of your Finances – Here are five ways anyone can better organize their finances and get their wallet in order. Stop wasting time, get your finances together now.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Do You Pay For Services You Don’t Use? – The following post is by MSG staff writer, Shondell of Call Me What You Want, Even Cheap. She blogs about her recent car loan and mortgage pay off of over $95k and a whole bunch more.

TDB @ Tax Deduction Blog writes How Do I Deduct Points Paid on My Mortgage? – Due to improvements in the home markets across US, more and more families are on the look out to buy a home. When you own a property with equity, not only do you gain financial benefits but also receive advantages in terms of tax, one among which is points being deducted on mortgage. In your…

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Are Undecided Voters Really Idiots? I Think Not – Are undecided voters really idiots? Or are they independent thinkers instead of political muppets that agree 100% along party lines?

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes 5 Unforeseen Expenses That Can Ruin Your Retirement – Retirement is the culmination of everything we worked hard for throughout the first two-thirds of our lives. It is the time when we can truly start to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Well, ideally, it should be. But what if, before you even start to enjoy your rest and freedom, you discover certain financial obligations that you never even considered before.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes What Happens When I Swipe My Debit Card? – When you make a purchase with cash, the merchant keeps ALL of the cash you give them. If you give them $100, they keep $100. When you make a purchase with a debit or credit card, the merchant gives a small percentage of that transaction to a processing company AND the bank that issued that debit or credit card. So if you swipe for $100, the merchant keeps $98.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes The Effect of ETFs on Individual Bonds – How bonds that are included in ETFs react differently to changes in market conditions than bonds that are not included in ETFs.

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes Insidious Examples of Lifestyle Creep – When we think of lifestyle creep – aka, lifestyle inflation – we tend to think of those big ticket items that prove to be budget busters.

Vanessa @ Vanessa’s Money writes Myth! Working overtime isn’t worth it because the government takes more than I earn – For five years I worked for a group of people who argued that working more than 35h a week meant that you’d earn less money after taxes were deducted. I did the math to prove them wrong.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes Why I don’t Have a Bucket List – Any bucket list is stupid! If you wait to do things or need to put it on a bucket list, you probably won’t do it anyway.

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Things I Want to Do With My Money – Last week, I had reason to sit down and think about whether or not I was putting enough money away for my future goals. Despite saving around 35% of my income (+ any extras), it turns out I’m not. I … Continue reading →Things I Want to Do With My Money is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Failure to Save Leads to Financial Disaster – Do you worry about being able to pay your bills? Let’s look at how saving part of every pay check will ease these worries and allow you to get some sleep at night.

Rod @ ROD Blog writes American Express Platinum Card Review – American Express Platinum Card is one of the most prestigious and expensive card out there. Are the benefits worth the hefty price tag?

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Slowly Boiling in a Pot of COL Inflation and Increased Fees – The agency I work for has not given a cost of living increase in three years now.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes How NOT to Build Passive Income – Find out what can delay and/or reduce your passive income. Don’t fall into this trap and regret it later.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Differences between Forex and Other Markets? – Learn the difference between forex and stock market.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Getting The Most (Bang) For Your Halloween Bucks – A lot of people always complain that Halloween costumes are such a waste of money.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes How to Trade Forex – This article offers basic knoweldge about Forex traiding.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Basic rules of avoiding debt online – I know firsthand it’s hard to stay debt free and many of my friends laugh at how committed I am to living within my means. What they don’t understand is the freedom I experience in owing absolutely nothing, and how hard it can be to dig your way out of debt accumulated over many years.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Sometimes a Little Stain Goes a Long Way! – Our new house has a breakfast nook right off the kitchen. Our old table doesn’t fit in, but it does now that we stained it!

Joe @ Midlife Finance writes Using Your Age To Your Advantage – It’s easy to let inner uncertainties stand in the way of a new direction in your life, especially if you’ve gone past the ‘middle’ point, Truth be told, though, age can actually work to your advantage.

Young @ Young And Thrifty writes When You Suck At Democracy It’s No Fun – “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

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