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Welcome to this week's Carnival of Personal Finance, a weekly listing of the top personal finance articles around the blogosphere in the following categories - taxes, money management, investing, career, debt, frugality, credit, economy, finance, real estate, saving, and budgeting.
With the Superbowl being only a little less than a week away, the theme for this week's carnival is a listing of several of my favorite commercials (available on YouTube) from this event over the past few years! Even if you're like me and are not the biggest football fanatic, we all love the Superbowl commercials, right?!
As you may have noticed, there was no Carnival of Personal Finance last week due to a scheduling mix-up. Therefore, we are doubling up in this edition, so you might see a couple blogs with multiple articles listed in order to catch us up (around 80 posts total - hence the name, MONSTER edition!). I hope you enjoy the posts and that you can stop by My Personal Finance Journey on my non-carnival days as well!
Listed below are this week's top 5 editor's picks. Congrats to the five winners! Some truly great articles here!
1. Peter from Bible Money Matters presents How to Save Money On Just About All of Your Regular Monthly Bills, and says, "Today I thought I’d look at some of the main areas of spending that people have every month – their regular monthly bills. Often people take those monthly bills for granted, not even thinking about how they can save money on those regular expenditures, just taking it on faith that they can’t get those bills any lower."
2. Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents Life Insurance as a Retirement Savings Vehicle – A Good Idea?, and says, "If approached by someone trying to convince you to use life insurance as an investment vehicle for retirement or any other purpose be very leery and ask many questions. Make sure this is a good deal for you and not just for the rep trying to sell you the policy."
3. Harry Campbell from Your Personal Finance Pro presents Is Restaurant Week Even a Good Deal?, and says, "Have you heard of restaurant week? Most large metropolitan cities have some form of it, but the general idea is that you pay a discounted rate for a three course price fixed dinner at a top restaurant in your city. In San Diego, the options are for $20/$30/$40 dinners at over 150 restaurants. There are obviously quite a few options and three courses for $20-$40 may sound like a good deal but I’m here to tell you, it’s not."
4. Suba from Wealth Informatics presents Are you using all the credit card, insurance and workplace perks, and says, "Most people don't take advantage of all the perks available for them from different sources like credit card, insurance company and their workplace. It is leaving money on the table."
5. MyFIJourney from My Journey to Financial Independence presents Man Up and Admit Your Money Mistakes In Order to Learn and Improve, and says, "It's fun to talk about our success with money. How much we saved, or how much our investments have risen in cost. But equally important is to admit our failures so that we can learn from them. Here, I provide a roll call of my biggest financial blunders from having no budget to failed investments. Hopefully everyone can learn something from my mistakes."
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Favorite Superbowl Commercial #1
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And, listed below are the rest of this week's great article submissions.
Michael from Financial Ramblings presents Should You Pay for Your Kid’s College?, and says, "You might think that paying for your kids college helps them out by relieving the pressure to work while going to school. But you might be wrong..."
Adam from Adam Hagerman - Financial Coach presents Behold The Power of Compound Interest, and says, "When people ask me what my first piece of advice would be regarding personal finance, I always say “spend less than you earn”. However, I always have to add in a second piece of advice on compound interest. If people understood the power of compound interest, I can guarantee you that they would be saving more earlier on in life."
Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents 4 Practical Money Skills You MUST Teach Your Children, and says, "One of the best things you can teach your children is the skill of money management. Here's the most basic practical money skills that everyone should have and how to teach them to your children."
Michal from Dough Roller presents How To Max Out Your Retirement Savings, and says, "Max out your retirement savings with these 7 tips"
Andy from Saving to Invest presents How Tax Refunds Are Spent and Received, and says, "With an average of $854 spent during the holidays and an average consumer credit card debt of $8,721, income tax refunds are a big source of funds to meet debt obligations. "
Michael Kitces from Nerd's Eye View presents An Efficient Solution To Implement Intra-Family Mortgage Loan Strategies, and says, "In this difficult borrowing environment, some potential homebuyers have found the best way to finance a purchase is not from a major commercial bank, but from the "family bank" instead through an intra-family loan. And as long as IRS guidelines are followed, the transaction can be remarkably appealing for the borrower - and a way for parents to earn a higher return while keeping the money in the family!"
Paula @ Afford Anything from Afford Anything presents Myth: Only Rich People Invest, and says, "Rich is the result of, not the prerequisite to, investing."
Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents The Dividend Kings List Keeps Expanding, and says, "The following companies have each managed to increase dividends for over 50 consecutive years in a row. This is particularly interesting, since this period covered several recessions, a few oil shocks and one embargo, a few wars, inflation and a lot of change in the global economy. These companies not only managed to prosper during that tumultuous period, by adapting and embracing change, but also did not forget to reward their loyal shareholders with a dividend raise. "
Pauline from Reach Financial Independence presents 13 money resolutions for 2013: Enjoy!, and says, "This is the last post of the 13 money resolutions for 2013 series. Once your finances are in order, it is time to use money to enjoy life. Many people have a hard time finding the right balance between saving and spending, especially the frugal ones. Money is meant to be spent on things that make you happy."
Emily Reeves Grammer from the pastor and the bartender presents $794.87, and says, "This article details our home-buying process and offers tips on how to buy within your budget."
Emily from PT Money Personal Finance presents Why Millennials Are Delaying Homeownership, and says, "There are multiple reasons you're not seeing many twentysomethings purchasing homes. And chances are, you won't see those numbers increase anytime in the near future either."
Ray @ Financial Highway from Financial Highway presents RRSP Deadline 2013 – Limits & Options, and says, "The RRSP season is upon us! Every bank, every bank branch and every teller will remind you to contribute to your RRSP before the deadline. If you have a financial advisor, they have probably already contacted about your RRSP contribution. With so many people vying for your RRSP contributions, who should you trust?"
Nicole from Grumpy Rumblings of the Half-Tenured presents Delaying gratification, and says, "Nicole and Maggie discuss a simple trick to keep up your willpower for saving. Tell yourself you can have it later."
Kristen from My Dollar Plan presents 11 Free or Cheap Winter Activities at Home, and says, "The warm weather makes it easy to keep busy without spending a ton of money but what about when it's cold outside? We have some ideas!"
Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents Getting Going on Retirement Savings, and says, "We all want the ability to retire at some point in our lives. While the definition of retirement may be different for some of us, we want financial freedom when we are older to do what we want."
PK from Don't Quit Your Day Job... presents Basel Equity and Its Impact on Banking and Lending, and says, "Most of the world may have their eye on Davos, but Cameron has his eye on a different part of the country... Basel. 'Basel' is shorthand for a number of treaties and 'suggestions' for bank leverage - and Cameron wonders what that means for you."
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Favorite Superbowl Commercial #2
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Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents The Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards 2013, and says, "Pay off your credit card debt faster with the a 0% balance transfer credit card. Here are the best 0% balance transfer credit cards that will help you pay down your principal.
Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Personal Finance Blog presents Voo Doo Emergency Funds, and says, "Where is your emergency fund, and is it safe?"
Suba from Wealth Informatics presents Sell your stuff: Make money by getting rid of your clutter, and says, "Sell your stuff for two valuable resources & money & space. Here is a complete guide to getting the most money for your stuff."
Jon from Novel Investor presents How To Save More Money Now, and says, "Savings is the foundation of a successful financial plan. That is why many of us want to save more money now. The hard part is knowing where to start."
ee from NZ Muse presents Can we all realistically expect to love our jobs?, and says, "We don't all have this first world luxury, and quite frankly, I don't think it's anywhere near possible. The numbers don't stack up."
Lazy Man from Lazy Man and Money presents Unemployment Adventures: Jobs Aren't the Same Anymore, and says, "The recession has changed things in ways we didn't imagine. As in any situation, survival boils down to who can adapt, not who is best at the status quo. Like Dory in Finding Nemo says, just keep swimming."
Investor Junkie from Investor Junkie presents Is It Possible You Are Saving Too Much for Retirement?, and says, "Though I don’t plan on formally retiring really ever (that is a topic of a whole other post), it is possible to be lopsided and have too much in retirement accounts and not enough in taxable investments. With retirement accounts it’s possible you are saving money on taxes now, only to get walloped with a bigger tax bill in the future."
Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents Today Is The Day To Stop Making Excuses, and says, "Don't fall trap to the easy way out of blaming others for your money issues. Take control today!"
Peter from Bible Money Matters presents Maxing Out Your Investment Accounts: How Much Can You Contribute and Invest This Year?, and says, "If you do want to max out your contributions to your Roth or Traditional IRA – or your 401k type accounts, it’s best to plan ahead and plan on making regular deposits throughout the year to fund your account. When you make the contributions in small amounts with each paycheck it really doesn’t hurt as much."
Revanche from A Gai Shan Life presents Disaster Insurance: Hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods!, and says, "Not everyone lives in natural disaster hot zones but sometimes even those of us who do can use a reminder of what we're meant to be prepared for, and how to protect ourselves. "
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Are You Financially Ready for Kids?, and says, "If you’re someone who is contemplating having a child, it is definitely a responsible question to ask yourself “Am I financially ready to have kids?” Before you answer, here are five other questions to ponder that will help to provide you with the clarity that you seek:"
Pat S from compounding returns presents Recovering from the Holiday Debt Hangover, and says, "How to recover from holiday debt"
Jon Rhodes from Affiliate Help presents How To Save Money AND Improve Your Life, and says, "Often when you make a financial saving your life suffers in some way. This article explores the possibility of not only making financial savings, but also having these actually improve your standard of living."
Dan from ETF Base presents The 8 Largest ETFs on Earth, and says, "Here's a review of the 8 largest ETFs on earth. Important info! Ticker symbols, assets and expense ratios."
Darwin from Darwin's Money presents How I Negotiated 10% Off My Purchase When No Sale Was Being Offered, and says, "Proof that you can negotiate ANYTHING! See how I negotiated 10% off a major purchase when no sales were being offered."
Tony from You Only Do This Once presents A Quick Guide to Using the Cash Envelope System.
Mochi and Macarons from The Budgeting Tool presents Could having too much money make you suicidal?, and says, "Could having too much money make you suicidal? A study shows that people who live in richer neighbourhoods tend to commit more suicide. Is it related to living in those rich neighbourhoods? To money? To jealousy or not having money? All interesting things to think about."
Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents 8 Places to Research Your Potential House Before You Buy a Home, and says, "You want to buy a home. Awesome. But make sure you know everything you can about the neighborhood you plan to look at and the houses there. See 8 places to research.
Michael Kitces from Nerd's Eye View presents Permanent Portability Of The Estate Tax Exemption - Is It Time To Bypass The Bypass Trust For Good?, and says, "Getting a proper Will has long been made more complex by the estate planning techniques that are necessary to avoid estate taxes for middle class families, where even just prudent life insurance could cause estate taxes. With the fiscal cliff legislation, however, estate planning may have been permanently made a whole lot easier!"
Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents Dividend Investing Goals for 2013, and says, "What are your dividend goals?"
Kurt Fischer from Money Counselor presents Can You Freefile?, and says, "If your Adjusted Gross Income is under $57,000, there's no need to buy your own tax preparation software. Check out Freefile instead."
Mike from Experiglot presents Where Are You Keeping Your Money?, and says, "Where is your money being saved?"
Lance from Money Life and More presents Debt Pay Off Updated - January 2013, and says, "In December 2012 we decided it was time to open up to you, my readers, and gave our very first debt update. As a quick review, I originally wrote Our Debt Pay Down Strategy to explain where my girlfriend and I are in terms of debt. Currently we only owe for her student loans and the townhouse mortgage."
Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents What to Know Before You Apply For a Mortgage in Your 20s, and says, "Have you been thinking about buying a home?"
Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Is it Worth Trading Time For Money?, and says, "Have you been giving all of your time away for money?"
Rohit from The Money Mail presents What assets to use to produce passive income?, and says, "Looking for ways to make money without working for it? Welcome to the world of passive income. In this article I cover the various assets that you can use to produce passive income. Some of these assets classes have existed since a long time and some of these are fairly new. Generating passive income is difficult but you can work towards it to have a steady cash flow when you retire. If you can do it before retirement age, then you can even retire early.
Amanda from My Dollar Plan presents Get More Out of Your Business Travel, and says, "If you travel for business, this is a great read!"
Spencer from Military Money Manual presents My 1 Year Plan: Where I Want to be Financially on Dec 31, 2013, and says, "My 2013 game plan for my finances"
Nicole from Grumpy Rumblings of the Half-Tenured presents Consumption value of chores, and says, "Is a weekend spent doing chores instead of spending money out wasted? Nicole and Maggie discuss how you spend your time depends on what your individual utility function and budget constraints are."
Philip from PT Money Personal Finance presents 52 Week Money Saving Challenge: Start with $1 and End with $1738, and says, "If you haven't been in the habit of saving money, this simple challenge is a great way to get the ball rolling."
Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents IRA Contribution Deadline, and says, "Taxpayers will have until Monday, April 15 to make their 2012 IRA contributions. Even if you are just now opening an account you want to contribute toward last year first. Once the deadline passes you cannot contribute for that tax year in the future."
Khaleef Crumbley from Faithful With A Few presents Discovering the Right Business for You, and says, "With the economy showing little hopes of improving greatly, more people are looking to start their own business Here’s how to discover the right one for you!"
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Favorite Superbowl Commercial #3
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SB from One Cent at a Time presents Truecost of buying home- other hidden expenses, and says, "There are sizable hidden costs associated with home buying which may inflate your buying price up to 5%. Know these costs before looking for a new home and save more money to provision for these costs as well. "
DPF from Digital Personal Finance presents How Frequently Should You Check Your Investments?, and says, "Sometimes, we all have our obsessions. When it comes to investment performance, there are many people who are obsessed with checking on stocks daily - or even hourly. This post discusses what might actually make sense for most of us."
TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Should Money Make Someone Attractive?, and says, "As the saying goes, money isn't everything? However, for many, having money can make a person very attractive in the eyes of some people. This post starts an open discussion of just how important should it really be, and in what way."
Ray from Squirrelers presents Drink Tap Water to Save Money, and says, "People spend a lot of money annually on drinks of all kinds. I've been there. What about drinking more water - tap water - to save money while being healthy?"
Mike Collins from Wealthy Turtle presents Would You Borrow From Your 401k to Start a Business?, and says, "You need capital to start a business, but is it a good idea to borrow from your 401k and risk your retirement years?"
Sean Owen from Renewable Wealth presents Do What You Love, but Don't Expect to Get Paid For It, and says, "My article focuses on the need to ignite passion in others, not just in yourself, to be a success."
Pauline from Reach Financial Independence presents 13 money resolutions for 2013: #8 be happy!, and says, "We live in a world where we always want more, and never have enough. Reflecting on what you have and being content about your current situation will help you limit your spending, and achieve further money goals quickly."
Jon from Novel Investor presents Fiscal Cliff Tax Changes That Impact Your Return, and says, "The Fiscal Cliff tax changes retroactively restores several tax credits and deductions for the 2012 tax year that could impact your 2013 tax returns."
Michael @ Excess Return from Excess Return presents Why A Strong Dollar Will Be Bad For Your Portfolio, and says, "Interest rates are low. Quantitative easing measures, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the American economy, are high. The fed has, for years, been following a course of flushing the dollar down the pan"
Myscha @ Financial Highway from Financial Highway presents 9 Winning Ways to Build Passive Income.
Lazy Man from Lazy Man and Money presents Exposing the MLM Tool ScamWorld (with Bonus: Neucopia Scam Analysis), and says, "I got an email recently suggesting that I expose a dark underbelly of the dark underbelly known as MLM. When it comes to MLM, it's probably more appropriate to call it an onion of evil. You pull off one layer and there's another one underneath. I've written before about The Business of MLM (or What Gives Freddy Krueger Nightmares). What I forgot to mention in that article is the MLM tool scams... which is like inviting Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers to the party."
PK from Don't Quit Your Day Job... presents 2012 S&P Return, and says, "Comparing apples to apples is the name of the game when it comes to investing. When using the S&P 500 for comparison, you should use the 'total return' index - which factors in dividend reinvestment. Here's how much of a difference it made in 2012."
Young from Young and Thrifty presents Passive Income: How to Get It, and says, "I had a wise friend once tell me that no one really can become wealthy through their day job, and that people usually become wealthy through money that they put away from their day job, through passive income."
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Favorite Superbowl Commercial #4
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Teacher Man from My University Money presents Goals for 2013, and says, "With everyone talking up their goals for the New Year, I figure I’d better jump on board here before the train leaves the station."
Pat S from compounding returns presents Investing Basics: Understand Your Company, and says, "Investing Basics: Peter Lynch Style"
Edward Antrobus from Edward Antrobus presents How to Save Money Shaving, and says, "Shaving can be an expensive part of your personal hygiene routine. Ignore the marketing hype and learn how to save over 25% on your shaving needs."
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents The Difference Between Looking Rich and Being Rich, and says, "The reality is that they only look rich to outside observers. It probably doesn’t occur to these outside observers, and probably not even to many of these men’s friends, that these guys aren’t rich. Their so-called wealth is actually debt."
The Happy Homeowner from The Happy Homeowner presents Yes, My Boyfriend is Paying Me Rent, and says, "My boyfriend recently moved into my condo and I'm definitely charging him rent. In fact, we're splitting everything down the middle. Read more to find out why!"
Grayson from Debt RoundUp presents The Day My Personal and Financial Life Changed, and says, "I never knew how much my life would change until my son was born. I realized that I would have to tighten my budget and learn about all of the proper savings avenues in order to provide financial security for my family."
Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents What Does My Credit Score Mean?, and says, "A common saying tells us that our credit score is the only grade that matters after we graduate from school. It is used for new credit, mortgage loans, phone accounts, job applications, and even dating. If it is so important, it is a good idea that you understand it."
Colin Williams from humble savers presents What Is The Real Cost Of Coffee, Snacks And Lunch To You?, and says, "This post includes a Free calculator that will instantly tell you how much money you are really spending on coffee, snacks and just about any other items. It highlights how much money you could have if you saved it instead. For an example, your daily cup of coffee can easily cost you more than $90,000"
eemusings from NZ Muse presents The dangers of recommending a friend for a job, and says, "Mixing work and friendship - is it a good idea?"
Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim presents An Easy Budgeting Process That Works, and says, "Just about everyone I know has a budget. But how many have a budgeting process that works? Very few. That’s a shame because a good budget will help you spend less money, enjoy your life more, worry less, have a wonderful retirement and never get into debt. Just about the only thing a good budget won’t do for you is cure the common cold."
Jason Price from One Money Design presents Best Ways to Achieve Your Savings Goals this Year, and says, "Looking to save more money this year? Most people want to achieve savings goals and I'm convinced you can't do it unless you do these three things."
Lance from Money Life and More presents Four Ways to Split Expenses at Home, and says, "Splitting expenses is a often a touchy topic when you’re living with a significant other, roommates or family. If everyone doesn’t agree it can get pretty nasty fast. There are a few ways to split expenses between yourself and those you live with but I’m going to highlight four of the most common ways today."
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Favorite Superbowl Commercial #5
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Well, that concludes this week's edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance! To all of this week's participants - it was an honor to be able to read and get involved with such high quality articles! Please remember to link back to this post if your article was included here and to promote via social media when possible.
Next week's carnival (#398) is scheduled to take place on February 4th, 2013. Be sure to submit your articles for next week's edition, using the following handy submission form.
Also, if you're interested in hosting a future edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, you can apply using this form.
How about you all? What is your favorite Superbowl commercial of all time?
