The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #46

Parents of school going kids must be very busy this weekend. Hope all your shopping is over and you scored good deals. Lets now head back to some of the great finance articles that may sharpen your personal finance management skills. Enjoy the carnival and have a nice weekend.

BUDGETING
Lina @ Baby Alerts writes 7 Easy Ways for Moms to Save Money – With the tough economic time we have been facing, the role of mother has gotten even tougher. There is less money to go around, and if anyone has ever risen a child, then you know how expensive it is. Indeed, it is a tough world out there for most mothers, and when it comes to the expenses of raising a child there are a number of ways to save money.

Steven @ Canadian Personal Finance writes What is an Olympic Medal worth to an athlete? – Did you know that some countries award their athletes for their performance at the London Olympics? I wanted to share a roundup of some countries and their financial incentives for their athletes.

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Setting Financial Goals: Make Them Smart and Simple – Without a plan in place, you could find it harder to get the things you want; it could even mean scrimping in your older years. And who wants that to look forward to?

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes New Motivation for a House: I Want a Dog – I haven’t lost focus of what I want: a house. Now I seem to have even more motivation to reach that goal sooner than later; I want a dog!

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Family of 5 with a $200-300/month grocery budget. How can it be done? – Here is how we managed having a grocery budget of $300/month or less each month for a family of 5. I wanted to share 10 ways how we did this and sharing how you can to!

BUSINESS
Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes How To Turn Your iPhone Into A Virtual Trading Desk – How To Turn Your iPhone Into A Virtual Trading Desk

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes One Step Closer to Real Estate Investing – I have always wanted to get started in the real estate business. Okay – when I say always, I really mean for years. I have long understood it as a great long-term investment. Unfortunately for me, I live in an area where it is very difficult to make a profit anytime soon.

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes How Some Mormons Run Small Businesses in Utah – Story One My friend wants to quit her job. She barely started it a few weeks ago, and she already cannot stand it. It is not the job per se that drives her to the edge of insanity. It is the people. Or I should rather say, it is the business style of the company.

Young @ Young And Thrifty writes Money As a Means of Keeping Score – What is the value of money after a billion dollars? What motivates you after you have enough money?

CAREER & EDUCATION
Justin @ The Family Finances writes Our College Savings Plan – Those of us with children (or ever plan on having children) face a pretty significant financial burden in sending our children off to college. Here is our plan…

Jason @ Work Save Live writes How We Create an Irregular Income Budget – Managing an irregular income is certainly difficult, but hopefully my guide on how my wife and I handle the situation will help you how to develop and excellent irregular income budget.

Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Considering Switching Careers – People are now changing jobs more than ever. In addition to just shifts to different employers, people are also entirely switching careers more than in the past. So how does a person decide to switch careers?

Teacher Man @ My University Money writes Student Loans – Jackpot! (Kind Of) Part 1 of 3 – Part 1 of our student loan series. What are student loans and how do you know if you are qualified to get them? We’ll show you how.

FINANCIAL ADVICE
SB @ Finance Product Reviews writes Zecco Trading Review – This is an honest review of Zecco Online brokers. Zecco is not free anymore but they have a very good trading platform which is easily lowest in the business of discount brokers. Read this review for more

Dr. Dean @ The Millionaire Nurse Blog writes Your Financial Future: Is It Gold Medal Or Toilet Worthy? – Have you let the doomsayers effect your financial planning and efforts towards a better future and retirement? Here are ways to avoid falling into that trap.

TTMK @ Tie the Money Knot writes The Pillars of Personal Finance – Personal finance doesn’t have to be a mystery. Organizing it into a framework helps, and this post shares a view of it based on 4 pillars.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes 6 Ways To Conquer Materialism – Here are six ways you can practically start conquering materialism. It’s not a disease you want to keep in your life, destroy it now!

Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes Are You a Financial Olympian? – Like an Olympic athlete, a Financial Olympian must be dedicated to the performing at their peak ability. Neither takes a day off. Neither takes it easy. Each pushes themselves to be the best at their event as they possibly can be. It’s their dedication that gets them up in the morning to train, and it’s the Financial Olympian’s dedication that gets them to the table to do their budget, pay their bills, and to manage their money as best as they can.

Deacon Hayes @ Well Kept Wallet writes Top 10 Best Money Quotes – Quotes about money often make me smile, more often because of the wisdom they provide. Here is a list of the ten best quotes about money I have ever heard.

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes Attributes of an Olympic Athlete That Can Help You in Your Financial Life – Some of the things Olympic athletes are able to do are mind boggling to many of us, but as those athletes would most likely tell you, they didn’t learn to do those things overnight. They’ve had to work extremely hard over a period of many years to get where they are, and they’ve had to make sacrifices in order to be the best. There is a definite cost to become an Olympic champion. So what are some attributes of an Olympic athlete that you can emulate in your financial life in order to

FRUGALITY
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Weathering Our Weekend Expenses – It’s Blustery! – Have a inside look at my finances, as I reveal what I made and some of my thoughts.

Edward Antrobus @ Edward Antrobus writes 5 Ways to Save Money on Lawn Care – Lawn care doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here are 5 frugal hacks for saving money on lawn care. Do you use a reel mower?

INVESTING
Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes DIY or Pay For Help? – It’s a fine line between DIY or paying someone to help. Read how I decided.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Buying Our First House-Price & Other Costs – It’s time to dish about the financial side of buying our first house: asking price, offered price earnest money, home inspection, appraisal, flood plain survey.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes Five Tips for Landscaping on a Budget – You want to create a beautiful lawn and garden, but how can you maintain your landscaping on a budget? Designing and growing the perfect lawn takes patience, hard work and thrift.

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Do I need Landlord Insurance? – Do you need landlord insurance? Find out if it is necessary and what it covers that traditional home insurance wouldn’t cover.

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes Do It Yourself Green Projects – There are ton of do-it-yourself projects that you can do around your house to improve your energy efficiency, and help the environment.

Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Simply Investing But Were Afraid To Ask (13 Top Questions!) – 1. What exactly is the Simply Investing course? The Simply Investing course is an online video course created by me, to teach you how to invest successfully. I teach the principles of value investing with a focus on dividends. The same techniques used by successful investors like Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, David Dodd, and John Templeton.

Hank @ Money Q&A writes Where Should A New Investor Put $1,000 To Work In The Market? – I asked 12 of the best personal finance bloggers and money experts, where should a brand new investor put $1,000 to work in the market?

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Five More Ways to Make Extra Money – Corey wrote about five great ways anyone can make extra money. I wanted to share five more ideas that I have used or friends of mine have used to make some extra cash. Each one of us used the extra money for different things: I used it to help me pay down my debt faster, while one of my friends used the money to max out his Roth IRA contributions each year.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes How I Spend Money #1 – Lunch At Panera With The Family – The first in the series How I spend money. This is about how I spent my time and money with my family at Panera.

L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes Month End Wrap-Up for the NO SPEND CHALLENGE! – Monday July 16th- 95.09 on Groceries, 10.39 on a book for my kindle. Tuesday July 17th-97.14 on various errands around town-CVS, picking up dry cleaning and dresses I had altered (a whopping 40 dollars. Highway Robbery!!), and then money for a movie and snacks because I needed to get out of the house.

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes I Almost Got Cheated Out of 650 Bucks – Updated – I received a phone call from my attorney today concerning the $650 dollars the prior owner of property 3 owed me.

Cash Flow Mantra @ Cash Flow Mantra writes Gotta Love Dividend Stocks – Seagate Technology (STX) is one of the stocks that I am holding in my retirement account. I purchased it as part of my focus on dividends since it had a 4% yield at the time. The stock increased in price and I ended up selling it in late June for a 23% annualized profit. But I immediately repurchased it again and instituted my hedging strategy since I still fell like the stock had some decent potential for further gains.

My Own Advisor @ My Own Advisor writes How many dividend stocks are enough? – This question ranks right up there with other tortured financial questions. What is better..contribute to the RRSP or TFSA first? What is better…focus on debt-reduction or asset accumulation? Read my post and I’ll give you my answer!

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes What Is A Stop Order? – When used properly, a stop order can help automate trades, enforce investment disciple and most importantly act as insurance.

Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes Five Ways to Make $25 or More – Everyone likes to make money investing right? Pick one of the one of the five investment options below and get cold hard cash. It’s like an instant return of your money. Unfortunately offers listed require to deposit some money into their accounts. As the saying goes, “it takes money to make money”, and these offers apply.

SAVING
Jeff Rose @ Good Financial Cents writes Top Savings Accounts Online – Looking for a top savings account to stash away some cash for a future financial goal should be part of your financial strategy.

Jacob @ I Heart Budgets writes How To Save Money: Billing Mistakes (Part 3) – Do you find that your money is disapperaing too fast. You might be over-paying your bills. Check out how to save money by catching and correcting billing mistakes. Part 3 covers hotel charges and project materials invoices.

OTHER

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Cheap Entertainment Options: Zero Cost Fun – If this bad economy has ruined all of your fun, it might be time to consider cheap entertainment options.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Some Advice On Studying – An article that focuses on some of the ways to increase your studying abilities and do better with your information retention.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Are You a Knowledgeable Investor? – How much do you know about investing? Many people stick with what they know, rather than trying to expand their knowledge in any way. For instance they might stick with plain savings accounts instead of looking into the potential returns offered by investments in the stock market.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes How to Affect Change – Part Two – Vital Behaviors to Change – How to Affect Change – Part Two – Vital Behaviors to Change is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. Do you ever look around and think to yourself, wow that is really messed up.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Sometimes You Just Can’t Win, Even When Merchants Offer a Cash Discount! – Downside of paying with credit-cards for obvious reasons and double dipping that the banks and credit-card companies embrace, why don’t more retailers offer cash discounts?

Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Wouldn’t a 5% CD Be Great? – The other day I was lamenting the fact that I can’t get any better than a 1.1

MR @ Money Reasons writes Paying Off Your Mortgage Is Like Having A Second Job Income Without Working – Once you pay off your mortgage,you are an instant saver of the amount you use to spend on the mortgage. It’s similar to a second job but without working!

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes The Chevy Volt Is Not For Apartment Dwellers – I got to test drive a Chevy Volt for 2 days. It was really cool to have for free, but I don’t recommend it for everyone.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes The Anti-Social Guide to Selling Your Stuff – Sometimes you just wanna sell your things with no hassle, no haggle, and little to no human interaction.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes How Should Couples Merge Their Accounts? – Money is a touchy subject. A lot of people prefer not to talk about it. Why? Because most people don’t have as much of it as they lead on. If they are open about their finances then they will incidentally reveal their mistakes.

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes Got a Smartphone? Download this App & Get a $5 Amazon Gift Card – Available again for August! Mobile Xpressions has relaunched their incentive program and if you download their App, they will send you at LEAST a FREE $5 Amazon gift card. You could get more! Here’s how to do it… 1.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Honey, How Can It Hurt Just To Take a Look? – Now is the time to look into buying a new house if it is something you are thinking about doing anytime in the next 5 years. The prices are low. Take a look.

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Saving on Road Trips – This past weekend, I went to visit my mom four hours away from where I live.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Can Tom Cruise Teach Us About Divorce? – We all know divorce can be a costly process no matter where you are financially in your life.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Self employed? Get professional indemnity insurance – Self employed people should take out professional indemnity insurance for peace of mind

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes DOES SUCCESS OF OTHERS MOTIVATE OR DEPRESS YOU? – I’m a bit obsessed with goal setting! I believe that if I set a goal, write it down, set a completion date, then it will come true. More times than not, it works out, but not always.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes The Law of Diminishing Returns and Why it Doesn’t Pay to Obsess – Find out how the law of diminishing returns applies to productivity and why you shouldn’t obsess over one task too much.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes What Did the London Games Teach You About Life? – LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 20: Street artist James Cochran, Aka Jimmy C puts the finishing touches to a piece of work depicting the face of Jamaican sprinter Usain

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes The History of the Credit Card – Although it may seem almost impossible to live without one today, the credit card is actually a relatively new creation. Just 70 short years ago there was no such thing and all transactions were done using cold, hard cash. Find out more about the history of the credit card.

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Are Hybrid Cars Worth The Price? – With gas prices flirting with $4 per gallon, the media will do its best to make you think gas prices are going nowhere but up.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Poor People Don’t Retire – A few years ago I had a lightbulb moment when I realized something about aging.

MMD @ My Money Design writes Why Do Poor People Have Two or More Flat Screen TV’s? – Poor people in the U.S. own just as many flat screen TV’s as the middle and wealthy classes. This begs the question of whether social inequality is really as bad as it seems.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Performing Budget Triage – If you are just beginning to budget you will quickly face something that the rest of budgeters have long been acquainted with: the unexpected monthly expenses

Bridget @ Money After Graduation writes The 80/20 rule from another angle – I read most of the The 4-Hour Workweek. It was ok. Some chapters are really good but I found some of the author’s reasoning pretty whacky. But what do I know? He’s a millionaire and I’m not, so maybe I really should outsource my laundry to a virtual assistant in India.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes I Am Getting Younger – I am getting younger! My hair is still gray and chronologically I am still sixty-five (65) years old, but I feel much younger.

PPlaner @ Provident Plan writes Family Finance Advice – Experienced drivers know that if they want their vehicles to run properly for years to come, regular maintenance is essential.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Three Basic Rules of Paying Off Debt – Follow these three basic rules to help yourself get out of debt and live a better life.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Dear Financial Media: You Completely Missed Bill Gross’s Point – Bill Gross recently predicted that a mixed portfolio of stocks and bonds would provide a real return (after inflation) approaching zero.

JP @ My Family Finances writes Why Stores May Be Charging You a Fee to Use Your Credit Card and What It Could Mean for Your Family – Why stores are charging credit card fees and what it means for you and your families finances.

Earth and Money @ Earth and Money writes How to Deal with a Bad Landlord – A bad landlord can turn a great living experience into a nightmare. Here are some strategies for dealing with bad landlords to save yourself some stress.

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