Carnival of Personal Finance #136 Is Here

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #136! The carnival is in town for this week only, so make the best of it. As you explore around I’ll highlight some great games that you might enjoy. This is not your usual carnival, as the games aren’t fixed and the rules are explained clearly.

Here are some of my favorites this week:

• Being Frugal offers practical advice in Personal Finance for Children and Pre-Teens. Learning about finance shouldn’t start when we’re adults and have made some pretty large mistakes. Lynnae’s post highlighted the need to start young.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter reveals the relationship between Personal Finance and Discipline. I think that this posts sums up the idea most personal bloggers teach: it’s a lifestyle change, not a numbers game.
• Me vs Debt found financial advice using a forklift! This is a wonderful posts that shows that life offers many lessons if we pay attention.
• A Dollar a Day and I share a pet peeve: Hidden Fees drive us insane. As if we don’t have enough stress with our bills.
• King of Debt found time to rebalance their life insurance. It reminded me to get my stuff together with my husband.
• If you’re like me, I want to make sure my savings account is competitive. Money Blue Book tells us Which Online High Yield Savings Account Offers The Best Interest Rate.
• Moolanomy has great information on How To Protect Your Greatest Asset, 6 Ideas

  

While a lion in the wild can eat you right up, carnival lions are not as dangerous. You have to stay away from the predators, kind of like credit cards and debt. You need to be in control of them.

• My Dollar Plan shows How to Organize Your Credit Report.
• Stacking Pennies sees a interesting situation in Parents and Personal Finance.
• Rather-Be-Shopping Are Credit Cards Really The Problem?
• How to avoid debt . Curious? Askix – Making every penny count
• 5 Smart Financial Moves for Teens the Simple Nickle
• Head over to US News and read Alpha Consumer’s Recovering From Debt Overload, I thought it was a nice piece that focused on the credit limit amount.
• I’ve had a hard time cnceling a service, but My Family’s Money shares a story about his Hard Selling Indian Friend offering an unnecessary product repeatedly.

Imagine how fair you can go if you not only cut your debt, but increased you finances income!

• How to get a raise at your current job fabulous finances shows you how to do just that.
• Debt Free asks Should the Insurance Industry Use Your Credit Score to Set Rates?
• Money Crashers has Five Real Ways To Make More Money This Year.
• I need to take notes this week! Money Smart Life has some ideas on How to Earn Extra Money in 2008.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has a neat post on 50 Fun Facts About Banks.
• My Wealth Builder discusses ways to signal wealth.
• Chief Family Officer is going to have February be an all cash month.

Real estate is a rough and tumble game, but if you plan ahead you can minimize some risk. Knowledge is power. Have all your ducks in a row.

• A Countrywide Financial Customer wonders how the buyout affects him. Moment on Money gives his thoughts.
• Do Not Fall for Rent to Buy Mortgage Loan Schemes warns Mortgage Loan Calculator.
• Are Homeowners Gamblers? 5 Tips For a Cure Milionaire Mommy Next Door
• Two Pennies Earned shows the relationship between Housing and Net Worth.
• Dog Ate My Finances offers a bright side view of real estate with Renting at 27 Below Market. So Why Is It Sad?

Let me show you a wonderful race. Here the winner isn’t who finishes first, it’s who starts first! How is this possible? It’s the race for investing and retirement. (Psst..the secret is using compound interest in your favor.)

• Cash Money Life answers the question, What is Peer to Peer Lending?
• Do You Really “Earn” Your Investment Income? Four Pillars poses this question.
• How I made $1921.11 In Passive Income Last Month. Curious? Check out Living off Dividends
• LWM Weblog Fidelity Magellan Opens to New Investors
• Don’t just throw your money in investing, Invest In What You Know. Trading Sphere explains how it’s done.
• Keep your money safer. Don’t Hold Stocks in Certificate Form. Family and Finances can show you why.
• Aussie Investor offers How to Invest in Gold.
• Stock Market 2008 – Third Worst Opening Day My Simple Trading System
• How to live off the interest shows how it’s possible by J.C.’s Blog.
• What I Think About thought about How To Learn To Make A Good Investment.
  
• Early Retirement Extreme feels like a Stranger in a strange land.

Everybody loves watching jugglers handle so many things at once! Our jugglers handle savings, reducing debt, retirement, and much more using proper money management skills.

• The Honest Dollar explores Financial Voyeurism: Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned
• Prime Time Money warns Being Cheap is Bad for Your Health. This is true as you want to manage your money to improve your quality of life.
• Hill’s Personal Finance reveals Ben Bernanke’s Holdings. I kept thinking of Honest dollar’s article on this very thing.
• One Million and Beyond had to manage money when he did not get paid! That takes skill. He reviewed what he learned.
• Bootstrapper has 50 Tools and Resources for Freelancers During Tax Season.
• Addicted to Spending? Plonkee Money
• Stop Waiting For Tomorrow – And Get Informed, Honest, And Focused ! Good advice by No Credit Needed
• The Great Money Challenge presents Simplify Your Finances. That’s what we all should do, as it is more likely to keep us on track.
• We all need a plan before we can do something worthwhile. Fathersez shares How he keeps track of his financial progress.
• Frigal Babeknows that you still need to focus on personal finance in a less than stellar economy.

Do like to find treasure, then explore our saving and frugality seekers games. The two go hand in hand.

• Penny Pinching found some Savings at CVS.
• A good way to save is by learning to be content. Saving Advice looks into that idea.
• Uncommon Cents explains how he’ll avoid unnecessary birthday spending.
• Change Your Tree gives Two Simple Savings Concepts You Should Be Utilizing But Probably Aren’t
• Put Things Off Think Different – Buy a Bigger Envelope
• How to avoid debt is a something we’d all like to do and Askix offers help.
• Lease vs. Buy Analysis on your Cable Modem Finance Puzzle
• Is Clutter Costing You Money? I know it does for me. Cheap Diva explains.
• We all have to eat, so Jesse has 6 Tips to Cutting Down Your Spending on Groceries .
• $272 of Found Money? I’ll take that! Too bad, it belongs to Aspire 2 Wealth.
• Fair trade flowers, chocolate, and more for Valentine’s Day by Penny Nickel gives an interesting idea on how to help others while giving your loved ones a gift.
• Dollar Frugal shares her story on Living With an Extreme Frugal Person.
• Free at 45 talks (get it?) about What is Left Unsaid. How do we come up with our decisions. Are they based completely on numbers?
• Something we need to work on is spending a little less for entertainment and Sound Money Matters has written on how to Reduce Your Family Entertainment Cost.
• Coupons are popular with the frugal crowd, but American Consumer News asks, Coupons – To Clip, or Not to Clip?
• Life,Liberty and the Pursuit of Money managed to Save 33% on their Grocery Bill.

Still anxious to look around? there are some great things off the beaten path that you should try out.

• Free stuff Alert! FIRE Finance presents FREE Download – Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2008!.
• Living Almost Large wonders about College Obligations?
• QueerCents asked Why do some people “find” money and others “find” sex?
• Aetna Repo Man is probably the worst job ever. Don’t believe me? Check out InsureBlog.
• The Frugal Law Student gets some knowledge from TV as he tells us that Everything I Need to Know About Personal Finance I Learned From Carlton Banks.
• The Financial Blogger presents An Hour Before My Job Interview
• The Best Way to Save Money – Learn Contentment according to Savings Advice.
• Money Management And You! has a unique idea to get some money by asking if Poker as a form of income.
• Finding Financial Peace gives the case for The Value of Long Term Planning.

Come visit the carnival next week when it’s hosted by The Dividend Guy. Come back again and if you liked what you saw today, please subscribe to some of these wonderful sites, including mine!

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