Creating the weekly Carnival of Wealth is a grueling process. Lots of writing, rewriting, editing, reediting, formatting and research. That’s on the part of the submitters. We just collect everything and make it look semi-pretty. So if you’re an aspiring blogger or even an established one, submit your entry here. If you’re someone who loves to read insightful personal finance articles, try LenPenzo.com. Or come back here Sunday.
Carnival of Wealth, Stickler Edition
September 26, 2011
"Yeah, so what's the problem?"
This is the first Carnival of Wealth we’ve hosted since Greg’s guest post on ProBlogger, where a few people chose to remind him that proper grammar and spelling are nothing more than trivialities for uptight people to obsess over. Will our plea for readable English make a difference this week? Let’s take a look. Again, these are the most entertaining personal finance blog posts of the past 7 days:
Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgrim is busy raising 3 daughters. How this hasn’t turned him into an alcoholic, we have no idea. (Then again, we’ve never met him. Maybe it has.) Societal pressure dictates that he’s going to have to pay to get them married off, but he explains how he won’t be impoverishing himself to do so.
Take a page from Mike Piper. The Oblivious Investor provides good, worthwhile information every week and presents it beautifully. Mike discusses the upcoming year’s tax bracket calculations this week, and almost – almost – makes them interesting.
Rob Bennett tore into Mike on a previous Control Your Cash guest post, so it’s only fitting that Rob follow Mike up today with his (Rob’s) guest post on Invest it Wisely about investing in stocks for the long term. How long? Longer than you think.
This week’s informercial masquerading as a blog post is from John Chellan, a guest poster at NCH Software’s blog. He thinks you should buy something they sell.
There’s no such thing as a “good” housing market nor a “bad” one. There are just low and high prices. Right now, prices are low. So are mortgage rates. This is unprecedented, and Mike Holman at Money Smarts Blog shows how some homeowners can use that to their advantage.
Tony at Prairie Eco-Thrifter writes about technical stock analysis, fundamental analysis, and a third type of analysis of his own observation. He either thinks history repeats itself, or it doesn’t. Maybe both.
Meanwhile, Karen Bryan at Help Me To Save thinks you should save money. In her words, “I still believe that you should try to make some provision for tomorrow.” Thank you, Karen. Insight: it’s what we do.
If you don’t know how to receive a free copy of your credit report, Consumer Boomer does. Read his findings, or just click on one of the 4 sponsored links at the top of his page.
Journalistically trained Miranda Marquit visits Everything Finance Blog this week, where she opens with “Gold prices may be slumping today,” and it just gets better from there. Apparently she wrote this post in 1999.
Journalistically trained Miranda didn’t notice what Mike Collins at Saving Money Today (and everyone else) did, which is that gold prices are historically high. Mike must be an aficionado of Ogden’s Simple English, because he managed to write an entire post without using a single comma (excluding the one in “$1,000”.) That is not easy to do. Mike writes about gold. He writes about the different forms gold comes in. See Mike write. Write, Mike, write.
One of these days, Carlos Sera at Financial Tales is going to spend a couple of minutes replacing the WordPress template that came with his blog. In the meantime, read what he has to say about investment portfolio makeup having no correlation to age.
First you’re Canadian, then you die. Boomer & Echo explain how even after you’ve decomposed and met your Maker, Revenue Canada still wants its cut. Learn how to minimize the final bite, even though you won’t be there to enjoy it.
Another infomercial masquerading as a blog post? Sure, why not? Submitters are starting to drop off in the CoW, possibly because we hurt their feelings, so Tim Chen at Nerd Wallet is picking up the slack with a paean to his new favorite credit card.
A few paragraphs in, we honestly thought this one came from a remote assistant who gets paid by the keyword. Nope, it’s from Ken Faulkenberry at Arbor Investment Planner. Allocate your assets, buy defense and civil engineering stocks, and use “needs” as a noun.
(Dear Jonathan at Blogging Your Passion: Carnival of Wealth. Not metaphorical wealth, actual wealth. Stop sending us unrelated stuff. Also, Anthony Robbins wants his talking points back.)
Craig Ford at Help Me Travel Cheap (they left off the “-ly” for savings, apparently) argues that if you like to travel, and got a particular credit card specifically for its miles rewards, there are some cases in which you might be better off with a straight-up cash-back card.
Concise writing gets the point across. The appropriately named Net Worth Journey prefers to take the long way, thank you very much. For those of you unfamiliar with the word, N-Dub helpfully explains that “Retirement by definition is to withdraw from one’s occupation, or business, by stopping working especially because a particular age is reached.”
Does Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff have a home protection plan (slightly different than a warranty)? She seems like a fairly sharp cookie, so we certainly hope she does. This week Crystal explains how she and Mr. Fun Stuff sock away money in the hopes that their appliances will break down and they can get fresh new replacements.
For the second consecutive week, a guest post from contest guru Matthew Fletcher. This time Free Money Finance acts as the conduit. Fletcher has managed to draw his debt down and get some exposure in the process. If you’re wondering why we’re running similar submissions back-to-back, it’s because Fletcher is loony and uninhibited. Last week we saw only his disturbingly gay promotional photo: this week, we get actual video footage of this curious young man decked out as a Cypriot. Press Play; it’s entertaining.
Borrowing from your 401(k) is one of the dumbest things you can do, as it incurs a 10% penalty. But as James Bush at 401(k) Calculator points out, you might not have a choice. Fortunately, if you’re heading to Iraq or undergoing chemotherapy it might soften the blow. See? God never closes a door without opening a window.
Finally, Suba at Wealth Informatics understands. She argues that money can buy happiness, and she’s absolutely right. Anyone who disagrees with this a) prefers to have fewer options in life, and b) doesn’t believe that adding value to society (and receiving a concomitant share) is important.
Thanks again for reading, and we’ll do it again next Monday morning. If you want in to next week’s carnival, the deadline is Sunday at midnight (Pacific Time, UTC-8.) Submit here.
Totally Money Blog Carnival XXXVII
September 19, 2011
(Photographer’s conception)
Another carnival? Believe it. The Totally Money Blog Carnival is the brainchild of Crystal, founder of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, who describes herself as “a late-20s, very happily married woman who is the definition of middle-class”, lives in Houston and owns 2 dogs.
(The “very happily married woman” part has to be to thwart cyberpervs, right? Otherwise it’d be an endless barrage of “Yeah, like, uh, Crystal…just a note to tell you that I really like your blog and I was wondering if you, like…hey, I’m going to be in Houston sometime, we should get together sometime.”)
Anyhow, Crystal gets it. And by “gets it” we mean “isn’t scared to let Control Your Cash host a blog.” Yes, Bank Nerd is taking a week off. So here goes. Actual blog posts from actual bloggers (and a couple of Indian remote assistants, evidently):
Every time we hear Roger the Amateur Financier, we can’t help but think of Roger the Engineer, because we’re a) huge Jeff Beck fans and b) old. This week Roger reviews an awesomely titled book, Getting Loaded, and includes a helpful explanation of the expression “don’t judge a book by its cover”.
Speaking of awesome names, Odysseas Papadimitriou gave us a guest post last week. (It seems the moniker Greeky Grecian had already been taken.) Anyhow, he’s back with a WalletBlog exclusive on the death of free checking. Thank you, Senator Dick Durbin, for proving government’s beneficence yet again.
Sen. Durbin and his cronies Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank aren’t even close to done yet, either. Marjorie at Card Hub explains how when our elected representatives cap debit card interchange fees, it forces card issuers to find other revenue. And means merchants can ultimately set minima for card purchases. How convenient.
Phil at PT Money gives us an audio offering this week, his interview with a guy who makes money hosting online video contests and who looks like a contemporary Freddie Mercury.
(Submission deleted due to atrocious spelling. Unless Warren Buffett legally changed his name to Buffet between the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, stay consistent. Also, the plural/possessive apostrophe thing. Shame, because the content wasn’t horrible.)
Our first list post! Stupid Cents recites 7 things you shouldn’t do when you receive a windfall. Briana draws on her windfall-receiving experience to let us know that gambling away what you receive is not a good idea. Repeat, NOT a good idea.
For a blog whose founder and logo both sport big smiles, Jim Yih’s Retire Happy Blog has something of a downer post on retirement. You might have to support your kids, or your grandkids, or your grandparents, or your…you know what? Do the smart thing and keep working until you die.
If you’re like us, you find it insulting that you’re still receiving mail in 2011. Tim at Faith & Finance looks at the staggeringly obese white elephant that is the United States Postal Service, and offers some suggestions to keep her viable. Good luck.
Dr. Dean at Millionaire Nurse Blog offers 15 recommendations on what not to do financially when a natural disaster takes you out. Our favorite line: “Stay calm…someone needs to be the Russell Crowe in the family.” Isn’t he the actor who screams at hotel desk clerks and throws telephones at them?
Another one. This is from Jen at Master the Art of Saving. She’s the only lady in the history of the internet who blogs about trying to both save money and lose weight.
We looked at this last post late at night, and initially thought that the uncapitalized rothira.com was the website of an underpublicized Japanese monster who does battle with Godzilla and Rodan. Instead, it’s Kevin Mulligan’s blog about…well, you can probably figure it out. This week he argues that you should automatically reinvest your dividends, unless you shouldn’t.
This week’s “infomercial masquerading as a blog post” is from Glen Craig at Free From Broke, who reviews the awesomest company ever, TD Ameritrade.
There’s nothing more fun than when ladies touch on sports. Our carnival matriarch, Crystal at Budgeting In The Fun Stuff, shares the story of Prince Amukamara. He’s a rookie defensive back for the New York Giants (she left that part out, they’re the team that has those pretty blue uniforms with the red trim), who learned how to haggle at a car dealership instead of pulling a Floyd Mayweather and throwing his money wherever it will land. Prince proves that not all sociology graduates (Nebraska, ’11) are financially inept.
His last name is Vachon, and his blog is called The Frugal Toad? That one took us a second, but we got it. This week he explains buying a car vs. leasing. (Helpful hint, Monsieur V.: if you’re assuming your readers don’t know what a lease is, they probably don’t know what the acronym MSRP means.)
Now THIS is what we’re talking about. Shaun at Smart Family Finance again runs the numbers on how college grads make more money than people who only have high school diplomas. Of course, he didn’t bother breaking down those college degrees by discipline. The women’s studies major who’s in a better financial position than the licensed electrician who got a 4-year head start on earning money while not incurring student loans has yet to be born. Also, going to college apparently still isn’t enough to help a professional writer distinguish between homonyms.
Ever wonder how sites like Beezid can auction off iPads that sell for $5? Bob at Christian PF explains the inner workings of this unseemly sector of commerce.
Scott McCartney at the Wall Street Journal, er, Dough Roller, examined the major airline loyalty programs and figured out which ones make it easy to redeem your rewards.
If you buy stuff in bulk, you can save money. But you need to have a place to store it, and you shouldn’t buy perishables that will rot. There’s a freaking revelation. Thank you, Kelsey at MoneyMom.com.au.
(One submission per customer. Read the directions.)
One of our new favorites is Shawanda Greene at They Call Me Cheap. She sums up her submission more succinctly than we could: “How to make money if you have a criminal past, you’re an illegal immigrant, or you have bad credit…there are no excuses for not earning money.”
Tired of squandering money on cigarettes, extended warranties and vehicle undercoating? Kyle Berks at the oxymoronic Safe Online Payday Loan tells you how to find “reputable” lenders who will charge you triple- or quadruple-digit interest. It seems he’s serious.
Are all Australians retarded, or just the ones who submit to carnivals? Andy Boyd at MyBusiness.com.au thinks you should learn your company’s rules on personal use before using your company credit card. Another secret of the universe uncovered, right here.
Finally, our Editor’s Picks:
Tangible investment advice that you can apply? No way. Dan at ETF Base has it. Shorting Treasury bonds isn’t for everyone, but Dan shows how to make it work (and more importantly, discloses everything.)
Sure, you think you know what an income statement is. But if you can’t tell the difference between one and a balance sheet or a cash flow statement, you need to read this magnificence by Nelson Smith at Canadian Finance Blog. Now might also be a good time to mention that CFB hosts next week’s Carnival. Oh, and that Nelson’s own Financial Uproar is hosting the Carnival of Wealth.
From T-bonds to their more ephemeral cousins, T-bills. Everything Finance explains how even though Treasury bills are the quintessential safe investment, they might not be for you.
Paula at Afford Anything says what we’ve been trying to articulate for years: The world is oversaturated in money management advice, and yet so many people are deep in debt. Why? Where are we screwing up? She nailed it. Amen.
Darwin at Darwin’s Money rounds out our Editor’s Picks, with this colorfully illustrated post on how old people are screwing us over with their incessant refusals to hold onto stocks and to die.
Next week, the Totally Money Blog Carnival sets sail for Canadian Finance Blog. ‘Til then.
