Whose summer break? Why, mine.
Five weeks or so off from blogging, and the Internet in general.
At first it was due to a demanding projects at work. In the latter part of June, I would go in to work quite early, taking up the hour or two previously allotted to blogging activities. After a short holiday spent visiting with relatives over the 4th of July, the blog break continued with the need for longer walks in the morning, increasing activity to shed some of the 10 or 15 pounds that have snuck up on me during the last year or two (business traveling may be interesting and make good blog post fodder, but the meals and drinks tally up around the waistline).
Breaks are nice, but now it’s high time to get back in the swing of things with the Money Pros Carnival, the finest collection of posts auto-formatted for your reading pleasure.
Editor’s Picks
Steve @ Brip Blap writes Money from the Sky - “In Russia in the early 90s prices changed daily, even hourly. Savings effectively disappeared. With private ownership of land impossible, all net worth other than STUFF disappeared. A good TV was a better investment than a savings account. A freezer could preserve more value than a bank. Banks were offering 100% interest rates or more and it wasn’t a good deal. That can never happen in America, could it?”
Mich @ BeatingTheIndex writes Pinecrest Energy: Highlighting One of the Best Junior Oil Stocks in Canada – One of a few light oil stocks (99% oil) that enjoys a healthy balance sheet, top tier netbacks, high growth and a lot of running room in a proven low risk light oil play.
Motivate!!
krantcents @ KrantCents writes The 3 X’s of Success – The 3 X’s of Success is the twenty-fourth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.
Debt, Credit Cards, and Other Afflictions
Lance @ Money Life & More writes Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses: How I Made $443 in 5 Minutes – Toward the beginning of my blogging adventures I wrote about how I was in the market and shopping around for a new AC unit. Well I finally took the plunge and bought a unit. They aren’t cheap though so, per usual, I was looking for ways to take advantage of expending a large amount of money.
Kurt Fischer @ Money Counselor writes Plan to Pay Off Debt – You’ve got your fiscal house in order and you’re ready to attack debt. If your goal is pay off debt by a certain date, what’s your monthly payment?
Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Improve Your Credit Score – If you’ve embraced a new, responsible financial future, it can be troubling to find you’re still not getting the credit you need, when you need it.
Beating Broke @ Beating Broke writes How to Build, and Use, Rockstar Credit – Getting a rockstar credit score is another thing altogether. If you want to build a good credit score, you’ve got to know how to use the debt instruments in a way that demonstrates your credit worthiness. If you want a rockstar credit score, you’ve got to have rockstar credit worthiness.
Jeremy @ Modest Money writes How Airline Credit Cards Cost You More – If you are going to be using a credit card to make purchases, it’s a no-brainer that you’ll want to earn some kind of reward in return. For many people, the obvious choice is an airline miles credit card. Unfortunately that credit card choice may actually be costing them more money to use.
Jeff Rose @ Good Financial Cents writes Credit Score Scale: What is a Good Credit Score? – You know that your credit score is one of the most important bits of financial information about you. Where you fall on the credit score scale is often considered to be a way of determining what kind of person you are when it comes to managing your money.
CCS @ Credit Card Smarts writes How Many Credit Cards Do You Have? – Do you have a lot of credit card accounts? Do you know how many? Why do you have them? There may be good reasons to have a lot of credit cards. Make sure you have them for the right reasons.
Mi Casa Es Su Casa…. Homes, Apartments and Other Forms of Shelter
Jason @ Work Save Live writes 5 Reasons to Buy a Home in This Market – Should You Buy a Home? It’s argued that buying a home is one of the best investments that one can make.
SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes My Dirty Mortgage Qualification Secret – Despite the fact that I’m in the market for a new home, I’ve yet to secure a mortgage qualification. No, I’m not lazy – I’m just self-employed.
Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Should You Buy a Pool? – Should you buy a pool? Make sure to consider the costs of a pool and whether it is teaching your children good spending habits.
PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Saving Up for a Rental Property – Find out how saving up a down payment for my first rental property will provide me extra security in quitting my day job.
Cash Flow Mantra @ Cash Flow Mantra writes Everybody Is Getting Into Real Estate – Maybe I am exaggerating a little, but it seems like every blogger that I read is getting into real estate. As a landlord myself, I can’t help but notice these things. It makes me wonder what the implications might be.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Moving in July-Escaping the Crappy Apartment – July is turning out to be a crazy month for us. The craziness is bringing change, both good and bad—and it’s really stressing me out. One of the biggest changes is that we are moving out of our apartment in July.
Mr. Money @ Smart on Money writes Can You Get a Mortgage If You’re Self-Employed? – Even with the tighter lending standards, you can be approved for a home mortgage loan, even if you’re self-employed and running a home business. Just be prepared to show a lot of documentation.
Edjicashun
Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes 5 Ways to Earn & Save Money on College Costs – Your college tuition bill offers you four ways to earn money.
Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Myths and Truths About Long Term Care – There are many myths and truths about long term care. Let’s iron things out and get the truth out about long term care and what you need to know!
JP @ My Family Finances writes Is a Prepaid Debit Card a Good Way to Teach Your College Student about Credit Cards? – The average college student has over $3,100 in credit card debt. Is a prepaid debit card a good way to teach your child about how to manage a credit card and avoid the norm?
Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes College Debt – Why It’s a Problem – College debt is getting worse and worse over time. Find out why it’s a problem and what it could prevent you from doing.
Young @ Young And Thrifty writes How To Get Your Employer to Pay For School – The decision on whether or not to go back to school to upgrade your skills (whether you are talking about a graduate degree, a diploma, or a certificate program of some kind) often hinges on the financial viability of it.
Scrimping, Saving and Going Without
Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes A Few Ways to Save Money Around the House… – Read my ways to save a money around the house!
YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes Could You Survive At the Povery Line? – Sometime ago, very early in my blogging career. Ha, I’m writing this as if I didn’t start blogging in October of 2011. Time sure does fly..
Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Ways to Take Advantage of Back to School Sales (Even if You Don’t have Kids) – I opened up my Sunday paper this past weekend and saw that back to school sales have already begun.
Hank @ Money Q&A writes Five Ways To Save Money At The Movie Theater This Summer – There are tons of great ways to save money at the movie theater this summer. Here are several of my favorites to save money at the movies.
BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes CHEAP SUMMER VACATION TIPS – This year’s getaway is to Vegas! We are taking our daughter and mom on a four day, three night trip. The room and airfare for the four of us is $1,100.00.
Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes 35 Ways To Save Money – We all know there are plenty of ways to save money, but some things are so obvious you can classify them as common sense rather than smart spending.
Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes Innovative Money Saving Tips – With the recession showing few signs of abating, more and more people are being forced to tighten their belts.
Business and Career
PPlan @ Provident Plan writes Is Self Employment a Viable Career Option? – Find out if self employment or running your own business is the right thing for you.
Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Should You Finance a Business Idea? – As I have been thinking long and hard about making a living on my own, I have come a difficult decision.
Bridget @ Money After Graduation writes I only get half my income this month – My employer is switching to twice-monthly paydays instead of our monthly pay schedule. When I first heard this, I was thrilled because I find a monthly pay schedule hard to budget with.
Robert @ Entrepreneurship & Life writes How to Improve Work Life Balance – Learning how to improve work life balance is essential to maintaining a healthy and productive lifestyle. Below, you will find a thoughtful approach to maintaining this balance.
Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes How to Negotiate Anything – The Negotiation! You negotiate with your friends and family all of the time over countless topics, such as what movie to watch or whose turn it is to wash the dishes. When it comes to negotiating with strangers, however, you may fall apart.Negotiation is a skill anyone can learn. Like anything else, some are better at negotiating than others.
Corey @ 20s Finances writes How to Get a Promotion – Managing your career in this economy can be a difficult thing. With companies going out of business and people being laid off left and right (or so it seems), thinking about advancing within your organization may seem like a stretch. I know what you’re thinking: It’s one thing to keep your job and quite another to get a promotion.
Maria @ The Money Principle writes What you are worth and six strategies to increase your value – We are worth what people are prepared to pay for our labour. Learn how to calculate your worth and six strategies to increase it.
Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Job Hunting Success – Job Interview 101: Preparation – A look at the first step in the job interview process, getting ready to go to the interview, preparing your questions to dressing properly.
Katie @ The Discount Coder Blog writes 10 ways to cut your small business running costs – Starting your own business can be an expensive venture, but there are ways to control your outgoings without jepordising productivity. This informative post looks at a few of the ways you can save.
Investing
Jake @ Moola Mind writes 5 Reasons I Don’t Invest In Mutual Funds – As mutual funds become more and more the “go-to” investment, I become more and more alarmed. I believe there are many reasons not to invest in mutual funds, so here are 5 reasons why I don’t.
Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes When is the best time to buy stocks? – When is the best time to buy stocks? Should you try and time the market? No, market timing doesn’t work. It is always a good time to buy quality dividend paying stocks when they are undervalued. No one can predict the future. Analysts, financial experts are no good at predicting the future than you and I.
Luke @ Learn Bonds writes The Total Return Approach – Are you investing in individual bonds, bond mutual funds or bond ETFs to stabilize your portfolio throughout retirement? You are not alone.
Steve Zussino @ Canadian Personal Finance writes Why Kickstarter is overrated as an investment – Have you heard of Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a crowd funding website for creative projects. I wanted to share some thoughts why it is a poor investment.
MMD @ My Money Design writes How to Read and Evaluate Basic Stock Metrics – Have you ever looked at a stock online and wondered what all the metrics represent? Which ones are good and what is their significance? This exercise walks through a stock page on CNN Money and explains the importance of each of the metrics to you.
The Archivist @ The Market Archive writes Using Covered Calls to Generate Regular Returns – If you have your wealth in very safe stocks that appreciate exceptionally slowly, then writing covered calls can be a great way to skim some profit while you wait.
Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes How Often Should You Check Your Investment Accounts? – We like to be in control of our day-to-day finances and we want to keep tabs on our investments as well. But is checking constantly healthy?
Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Do You Know Enough to Be a Successful Stock Market Investor? – For many people the obvious route to take when thinking about investing is to head for the stock market. But is this really the wisest route for everyone? There is certainly a lot of money to be made with stocks and shares.
Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes How to Transfer Brokerage Accounts without the Grief – When you open an account with a broker, it often seems easier to just stick with that discount stock broker — even you are dissatisfied with fees, and with customer service. Many investors believe that transferring brokers is difficult.
J.P. @ Novel Investor writes Market Order Vs. Limit Order – For the average investor out there, when it comes down to market order vs. limit order, one offers more advantages than the other.
Penny Thots @ Penny Thots writes Navigating the Bond Market – In all, there are many options to increase yield in this low rate environment. Rates won’t stay low forever, so it is best not to lock up your money in long-term bonds just for an increase of a few percentage points of yield. You are better off investing in short-term bonds to keep your money liquid so that you can take advantage when rates begin to rise. You also may want to consider increasing your stock holdings.
Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Ethical Investments: Some Things to Avoid – There are various questions you can ask and areas you can look into to determine how ethical a potential investment might be. I always recommend you do thorough research prior to purchasing an investment so that you can sleep well at night knowing you aren’t supporting anything you feel strongly against. It may take some time but it is worth it in the end.
Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes The Power of Dollar Cost Averaging – Dollar cost averaging is when you decide how much money you are going to invest each month and then chunk it into the market each and every month …
Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Lending Club Update: July 2012 – I was looking at my Lending Club account a couple of days ago and I realized that I passed a milestone… I’m averaging over 7% on my Lending Club loans. It’s not just a little over 7% either, it’s a whole 7.2%.
Earth and Money @ Earth and Money writes Community Bonds – A Primer – Community bonds are just what they sound like – bonds issued by local, community organizations (either a non-profit or a co-operative) to local, community investors. The investment funds provide the organization with either money to pay down existing loans that they may have, or to provide start-up capital for a potential project, in exchange for a fixed rate of return.
SB @ One Cent at a Time writes Forex Trading Pros and Cons – Forex trading and stock trading are two different forms of financial trading. They may both represent two different ways to make money from the financial markets, but they have some subtle differences
The Golden Years
Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Is It Too Late To Begin Saving For Retirement? – You are 45 years old and it dawns on you that your college days are looking further and further in your review view mirror and you can see the exit sign…
Philip @ PT Money Personal Finance writes Should I Keep My Money in the Teacher’s Retirement System? – PT writes from personal experience (his wife was a teacher and now is a stay-at-home mom) and answers a reader’s question about what to do with their retirement funds now that they have left teaching.
Robert @ My Multiple Incomes writes How You Gamble with Your Retirement: 3 Ways to Protect Yourself – You’ve heard the stories about individuals getting into a debt and not being able to get out. What about the recent story about a grandmother getting her social security garnished because she didn’t repay her student loans. These things happen because people are going with their emotions, and not thinking about the consequences. Here are three things that you can do to protect yourself before you make a mistake.
Bankers and Other Degenerates
John @ Married (with Debt) writes US Bank Internet Banking – US Bank Internet Banking is a great way to save money, time, and keep your finances organized. Click through for my personal review.
SB @ Finance Product Reviews writes Barclays Online Saving Account Review – Barclays Saving account product targets US consumers with an instant access saving bank account and longer-term CD products. Read if it is good fit for you.
Glen Craig @ Free From Broke writes Money Market Account VS Savings Account – What’s the Difference? – Money market accounts and savings accounts seem very similar but they are two different types of financial accounts. Here’s the different between an MMA VS a savings account.
Greg Field @ NerdWallet writes NerdWallet Interest Rate Monitor: Deposit Accounts that Beat Inflation – NerdWallet has released a free online interest rate monitor that will tell you which deposit accounts have interest rates that beat inflation. Great information for anyone looking to save.
Personal Strategery and Side Gigs
Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Be Prepared – Be Prepared is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. “Chance favors a prepared mind” – said Louis Pasteur, the French chemist, microbiologist and the pioneer of the germ theory of disease.
Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Skills, Not Education, Make You Money – You don’t need a college education to get a great job and make money. You just need valuable skills.
PB @ Economically Humble writes My Lesson Learned: Get Speaker Consulting Details (and fee) In Writing – This post discusses the lessons I learned by not requesting a formal speaker contract when working with a non-profit that I regularly contract with. I explain what I learned and provide questions every speaker should ask in addition to links to simple and detailed speaker contracts. The post will publish on Jul 21, 2012 @ 2:03AM MST.
Grand Per Month @ Grand Per Month writes Make an Extra $1,000 a Month by Painting – Have you ever helped someone else paint their room? Or, maybe you currently own a place and after redoing every room in the house, you now have some pretty good experience with painting. Whatever the case may be, if you feel like you’re efficient and pay attention to detail, you most likely could earn yourself an extra $1,000 a month!
Melissa @ Bargaineering writes 8 Items to Have in Your Emergency Preparedness Kit – Don’t let wild weather find you unprepared; instead, take the time to create an emergency preparedness kit. You may want to include ….
Very Personal Finances
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes A Candid Look At My Finances – Once every few months I peek at my finances to crunch some numbers and receive an overview of my financial well-being, and I’m tickled pink to share with you. Ready? Here’s how my July numbers are shaking out…
MR @ Money Reasons writes Progress On Financial Independence – Still Swimming to Shore – This is the third update on my progress toward financial independence. Hopefully in five years I’ll break through the financial independence threshold!
Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes If I Were My Financial Advisor, What Would I Tell Me? – I ask myself: If I were my financial advisor, what would I tell me? I take a look at the uglier aspects of our financial situation to which we have become inured …
A Blinkin @ Funancials writes How I Got Engaged: A Love-Love Story (Part II) – If you’re already sick of reading about my blossoming love then come back tomorrow as I’ll have some fresh new content focusing on how you can improve the relationship between you and your money.
Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Are People Shooting Themselves in the Foot With Income Reports? – I’ve always had fun looking at the income reports of others, as it’s so interesting to learn how people are doing, how about you?
Insurance
Jeff Rose @ Life Insurance by Jeff writes Affordable Term Life Insurance Rates – As Easy as 1, 2, 3… – If you’re in the process of purchasing life insurance, you want to make sure you get the most affordable rate possible. When I help people evaluate their life insurance needs we want to make sure that we are getting the right amount of coverage, and most importantly, for the right price.
Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Is a Home Warranty Worth Having? – Find out if a home warranty is worth the costs. What are the benefits of a home warranty? The downsides?
Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes When To Consider Life Insurance – When you are young and starting in the work place, life insurance is probably not something you even want to consider and you certainly don’t want to add another monthly expense to your long list. However, there are certain life milestone that should make you want to review the need for life insurance as it can play an important role in family finances.
Miscellanea
L Bee @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes Ebay is your frenemy. – Like, no really. Ebay is the best and the worst. It is the friend in high school who held your hand when your first boyfriend dumped you, the sister in college who held your hair while you got sick at the frat house, the mid-twenties confidant who listened to your quarter-life crisis woes over too many margaritas …
Steven Zussino @ Grocery Alerts writes How to turn a $23 dollar pork leg into 45 meals – Meat is one of the most expensive items we buy at the grocery store. I have no skill nor do I know how to butcher a whole leg of pork but within 30 minutes the whole leg was cut up into roasts, pork cutlets and pork stew. We managed to create 45 servings approx. for $22 and 30 minutes of work.
ETZ25 @ Entertainment Timez writes Why Establish A Dividend Money Stream For Entertainment? – This article explains why a dividend money stream for entertainment is good especially for kids and young adults, and even older adults.
Matt @ Living in Financial Excellence writes Budget & Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products – Did you know that the average household (spends) between $1,800 and $3,600 a year on cleaning products? Try these green products which are free from bleach, phosphates and ammonia. Get rid of those toxic cleaners and start fresh with these easy on your budget and better for the environment products.
Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Is Your Television Making You Poor? – Does television lead you to make poor spending decisions?
Tyler @ Poor Student writes Internetoholic – First off let me say that I find it very annoying when people create words like “chocoholic” or “shopaholic”. What is chocohol? Shopahol? We have people who really like chocolate or shopping but do not understand word endings.
Teacher Man @ My University Money writes Hidden Costs of Owning a Dog or Cat – It’s interesting to see how blind we often are to expenses that are tied to emotional attachments. Some people “love” their sports team and wouldn’t think twice about multi-thousand dollar season tickets.
Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Escape Living Paycheck to Paycheck Rut – It took me nearly three years to get a grip on my finances. There were many tough moments of anger, disappointment, and the thoughts of wanting to give up.
Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes Family Finances – Tips for Avoiding Conflict – Discussing the family finances causes more arguments between couples – 3 per month on average – than any other topic. So what causes most arguments about finances? The majority of couples state that misunderstandings between needs versus wants are at the root of most disagreements.
Jake @ I Am 1 Percent writes Networking To Increase Your Income Potential – How to build, maintain, and leverage your network to increase your income potential.
Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes If It’s Not Marketed to Us, Do We Find It As Valuable? – Often, if people are told that they should care and that something is important, they believe it.
Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes Why We Lie About Money – People tend to lie about money. I have yet to meet a person who would never say a lie, even a small lie. Some of us choose to conveniently omit truth. Some of us choose to tell so called “white lies.” Some of us blatantly make up stories to make ourselves look good. Some of us lie to avoid trouble.
Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Somebody Stole My Wallet – I was at the gym last Wednesday night when I should have been in class.
Jason @ Live Real, Now writes The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease – I know you’ve heard the phrase, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” That means, he whines loudest, gets the most. The thing is, you have to whine effectively, or you’ll just get round-filed.
That’s it for this Carnival. Thanks for stopping by.
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