Carnival of Personal Finance

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance, where we gather the best articles and posts of all things personal finance related.

As I was making my selections, I figured I should explain what rationale I used to pick these posts over others. In one word: interesting. There were some helpful articles that had good information, but I was looking for posts that had meat and were also interesting—that is, they kept me glued to the page.

I just wanted to put that out there in case people were curious how I picked what I picked—it’s not totally arbitrary!

Now, on with the show!

Taxes

Andy from Tight Fisted Miser presents Five Radical Ways for the U.S. Government to Raise Revenue. Andy is half serious, but it’s interesting to consider if/when the government would ever consider some of these moves.

Debt

Destroy Debt from Destroy Debt presents When it’s Time to Wave the White Flag and File Bankruptcy. Sometimes you have to know when to just fold’em.

Investing

1MansMoney from 1MansMoney presents We Don’t Bank With Them, But We Bought Their Stock. As a BofA stockholder, I too hope their stock play works out.

Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator presents Arguments Against Investing In A 401k, and says, “Three arguments against investing in a 401k and a few alternatives.” You can’t beat 401(k) and their matching features, but there are some downsides…

CPF from Christian Finances presents Interview with Jim O’Donnell | The Shortest Investment Book Ever, and says, “This is an interview with Jim O’Donnell, the Author of the Shortest Investment Book Ever. A great book that shows beginners how to invest in their 401ks.” If you’ve read the book, you’ll want to check out the interview.

Steve from The Inside Guide Today presents 10 tips for talking to teenagers about investing, and says, “Just as saving is a good subject for children to learn, investing is a great skill for teenagers.” These are some good tips to get your kids thinking about money in a responsible way.

DoneToZen from Done To Zen presents Purpose-driven investment, and says, “Decide with a purpose; save because you want to use the money for a better purpose.” This is why I’m specifically saving for a brand-new computer. Without a purpose, motivation becomes a problem.

Frugality

Lazy Man from Lazy Man and Money presents Get VIP Treatment On a Slim Budget , and says, “You don’t have to be VIP to be treated like a VIP.” I guess you don’t have to slum it to live the high life.

Flexo from Consumerism Commentary presents 3 Major Ways to Scrimp and Save in an Economic Recession, and says, “Here are some tips for scrimping and saving through a recession.” We’re going to need all the tips we can get…

Career

Jennifer Derrick from Saving Advice presents Why Being “Above” A Job is a Dumb Strategy, and says, “I just don’t get people who would rather rack up the debt or even go completely broke than take a job that they consider undesirable, beneath them, or in any way “imperfect.” ” I totally agree—when things are tough you gotta just start anywhere and get to work.

Shadox from Money and Such presents Good Things I Learned from Bad Bosses. This is the perfect attitude: put your terrible experiences to good use for the future.

jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity presents Accomplishment
Journal: Record Your Achievements. As a writer, I know the power of writing things down…and so does jim.

Adam from Your Money Relationship presents Things to Do When You Graduate Without a Job. Good advice here—it felt like forever for me to get a job after I graduated…it’s not easy.

Money Management

Super Saver from My Wealth Builder presents Develop a Good Strategy. Sometimes the strategy you pick is one of the key factors that will determine whether or not it’s successful.

Jacques Sprenger from The Smarter Wallet presents 10 Personal Financial Tools and Sites To Help With Your Finances, and says, “Thanks!” Some are obvious, some are overlooked, but all can help.

MoneyNing from Personal Finance Blog by MoneyNing presents Toilet Train Yourself to Become a Personal Finance Expert, and says, “Some people blame the educational system for not having personal finance classes, but there are ways to learn outside of school too! It’s not like my teacher taught me how to use the toilet!” I never would’ve imagined anyone would ever connect toilet training with personal finance…go figure.

Ron from The Wisdom Journal presents 21 Ways To Save Some Cash By Letting Your Fingers Do The Walking. I hate making phone calls to total strangers, but here are 21 reasons why I should just get over it already.

Steve from brip blap presents paying for a missing item, and says, “My server at lunch forgot to include something on the check, and so I didn’t pay for it – was I wrong?” He’s got some great comments going on this thread…morality discussions brings ‘em out of the woodworks.

Saving

Erin Peterson from Atomic Podcasts presents Five ways podcasts have saved me money, and says, “I love listening to podcasts — and saving money. Sometimes I can do both.” Podcasts are one of those things I’m familiar with but haven’t really gotten into…this may be a great set of reasons to finally do so.

Finance

MGL from MoneyGrubbingLawyer presents Prison Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Personal Finance. Now this is an interesting post!

Reviews

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Lending Club Review: A Leading Peer To Peer Lending Network, and says, “Thanks you!” Here’s a nice rundown of Lending Club and what they do.

Economy

Curt from PennyJobs.com presents Will Obama Save the Economy?. Lots of people are wondering about this question…they shouldn’t hold their breath.

Thanks for coming over and checking it out! It was a lot of work but hopefully I’ve exposed you to some new/interesting posts!