Carnival of Personal Finance #396

Welcome to the 396th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance!

I’m very excited to host this prestigious blog carnival for the 4th time! It’s always wonderful reading all of the great contributions.

Without further ado, let’s get to the articles!

My Favorites

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents 70 Ways to Save Money, and says, “The truth is, there are always ways to pinch a penny, particularly if you’re willing to invest a little time. Here are 70 ways you can save money in your four biggest budget categories: food, transportation, housing, and health.”

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.”

Young from Young and Thrifty presents How to Achieve your Financial Goals, and says, “Whatever your financial goal is, you have the power to make it happen and to achieve your financial dream. No matter how big your financial goal is, you could achieve it if you put your mind to it.”

Ray from Squirrelers presents The Best Money Moves for New or Recent College Graduates, and says, “When starting out after college, many people have to deal with finding entry level work and living on it. Nevertheless, this time of life is a golden opportunity to make some smart money decisions that could pay big dividends down the road.”

Paula from Afford Anything presents To Do More … Do Less, and says, “Pick up to four areas within your life you hope to improve. Fewer than four is fine. More than four, however, is too much.”

The Best of the Rest

Danielle from Saving Without A Budget presents Marketing Tips for Running a Small Business, and says, “A few good marketing tips to get customers in the door.”

eemusings from NZ Muse presents The elements of a perfect bank, and says, “What makes an ideal bank/bank account for you?”

Sean from The Happier Blog presents 5 Personal Finance Experts Share their Top Money Saving Tips for 2013.

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents Avoid the Distractions and Keep Your Focus on Your Goals or You’ll End Up with Empty Pockets, and says, “One of the attributes of millionaires that Thomas J. Stanley discusses in his book The Millionaire Next Door is that they’re able to focus on a goal. They focus on their goal and work towards making it a success, while others tend to focus on many things, not putting enough attention on any one thing to make it a success.”

Amy from Money Mishaps presents Should you use a Credit Counseling Service to get out of Debt?, and says, “Learn about credit counseling before you make a decision.”

Scott Skyles from Mortgage1a.com presents Housing Market on the Road to Recovery with Record Low Mortgage Rates, and says, “The average rates on fixed mortgages in the U.S. have moved closer to their past record lows this last week, allowing eligible candidates a better chance at purchasing an affordable home and therefore helping to stabilize the housing market.”

D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents 9 High Rated, Lower Debt Dividend Stocks With A Reasonable Payout, and says, “New income investors naturally focus on yield, but the highest yielding stocks aren’t always the best investments. To find the very best dividend growth stocks an investor must identify companies that will not just sustain their dividends, but increase them every year. To find these jewels in the rough, there are two very important things the investor must look for…”

Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Cope with the Annual Battle of Car Insurance, and says, “Anyone with car insurance can probably tell you that their only hope each year is that their rates will stay the same so they won’t be tempted to start the whole hunt again. But most of the time, the rates will go up whether they drove perfectly or not. When that happens, here are some ways to find the best deal you can.”

Wealth Guy from Wealth and Wise presents We avoided the fiscal cliff!, and says, “The good news: we probably won’t slide back into recession. The bad news: Nothing is being done to solve our nations’ debt problems.”

Liana from Card Hub Blog presents Q4 2012 Credit Card Landscape Report, and says, “What better way to start off the new year than to take a look at what the credit card industry was doing 4th quarter of the previous year? Boring you say? Maybe so. Afterall, it’s all about numbers – but it is truly informative.”

Charles from Wallet Hub presents Mortgage Points Guide, and says, “Mortgage shoppers often are bewildered by the dizzying array of fees when comparing offers, and no fee gets more attention than mortgage points. They’re quite simple, really, once you break them down, so let’s demystify them once and for all.”

TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Dinner With Friends: How Do You Split the Bill?, and says, “When going out to dinner with other folks, things have the potential to get a bit awkward when the bill arrives. How do you handle sharing the bill?”

DPF from Digital Personal Finance presents Investing and Why Rate of Return Matters, and says, “We all know that getting a better return on our investments is a good thing. However, the extent of the importance of rate of return can be surprising when we look at more closely, as discussed here.”

Kevin from My University Money presents Five Ways for Students to Make Money Online, and says, “It can be tough to earn some money while you are attending university. Sure, you need money, but trying to balance a job with a full-time course load is a lot to handle. But there are ways to make money online, that won’t require you to work a lot of hours at a remote location.”

Harry Campbell from Your PF Pro presents Breathe New Life into your mac or pc omputer, and says, “For the past 5 years, all of my personal computer use has been on a 2009 Macbook Pro that I got as a graduation gift. I didn’t have to worry too much about the cost at the time since it was a gift and I got a small student discount. But recently, I started to notice a huge performance decline, it was running slower and I couldn’t run multiple programs at once. This slowdown was bound to happen eventually but I knew I wasn’t ready to spend another $1,500 for a new laptop.”

John from Wallet Blog presents AIG Shareholders Give U.S. Taxpayers the Middle Finger (And Other Unbelievably True Stories from the Week in News), and says, “AIG suing the US government? Could it be true that, once more, a “Too big to fail” is wasting your time and money?”

Jim from Bargaineering presents A Look at US Holiday Spending, and says, “A look at how much people spend for the holidays.”

Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents Save Money on Your Investments, and says, “Not so long ago, in a city not so far away… I spent a fair amount of time picking stocks and trying to beat the market. I will be honest, I was pretty good at it. However, the time and effort it took did not always justify the effort. Over time, I have moved more toward investing in ETFs and mutual funds so I don’t have to worry as much about my money. With that change, though, came new costs and fees that I have to manage.”

PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents Predicting the S&P 500 Closing Price – January 2013 Edition, and says, “It’s possible to use options prices to get a bead on what the market expects to happen to closing prices in the future for any stock. I like to use SPY, an ETF stacking the S&P 500, to see where the market may be headed.”

Clint from Accumulating Money presents Ways To Buy The Best Car Insurance, and says, “Because there is a huge variety in price, coverage, and customer service quality offered between different insurance companies, you must comparison shop policies to get the ideal coverage for you and your family.”

Jon from Novel Investor presents Your Official 2013 Federal Income Tax Brackets, and says, “The 2013 federal income tax brackets were finalized on the first day of the new year. These tax tables are for the 2013 tax year, with taxes due April 2014.”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents Price Matching at Best Buy, and says, “Remember our discussion of “showrooming”, the practice of looking at/checking out a product at a store, then leaving and buying it cheaper online? It was quite a lively conversation! Well I recently had an experience with it and wanted to let you know how Best Buy handles it.”

Pauline from Reach Financial Independence presents 13 money resolutions for 2013: #4 stop wasting!, and says, “This post is part of a 13 money resolutions series to kick start your finances in the new year. Reducing the waste in your daily life can lead to great savings and help you reach your financial goals faster.”

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings of the Half-Tenured presents Remember to use internet coupon codes!, and says, “Nicole and Maggie remind you that coupon codes are available for all sorts of things online and a quick search can lead to big savings.”

Emily from Evolving Personal Finance presents Holiday Conversations around Money, and says, “My friends and family were surprisingly forthcoming about their financial lives over the holidays. What money conversations did you have?”

Carrie from PT Money Personal Finance presents A Simple Strategy to Get Out of Debt for Good, and says, “Carrie shares why taking your finances public might just be the motivator you need to get out of debt and stay out.”

Jacob from My Personal Finance Journey presents Don’t Let the Stigma of Debt Keep You From Getting Help, and says, “This post describes one blogger’s personal struggle with debt, and how he was so ashamed of his debt that he not only couldn’t begin to add up what he owed, but also that he could not even speak to his loved ones for many years about the situation. This post stresses how one should not let the stigma of debt keep one from getting financial advice and help.”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents What is the European Debt Crisis and How Can It Affect You?, and says, “Did you catch that bit on the news about the European debt crisis? Bet you wonder what the European debt crisis is and how it affects you? Read on to get your head around it.”

Suba from Wealth Informatics presents Credit card or cash – which saves you more money?, and says, “Do people who pay for their purchases with credit card spend more than cash purchasers? Can we save money by going cash only?”

Rohit from The Money Mail presents A complete resource for Roth IRA, and says, “Saving for retirement can be a big challenge. With so many retirement saving options available, it is often hard to decide which one to go for. Roth IRA can be an attractive option if you already max out your 401k or of you are currently in a lower tax bracket then where you expect to be in retirement. Your earning grows tax free and you do not have to pay taxes on qualified withdrawal. Thing death and taxes cannot be avoided? Think again? In this article on Roth IRA you will learn about the basics of Roth IRA. You will be able to identify if you are eligible for the account and how you can get started.”

Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents Annuities: The Wonder Drug for Your Retirement?, and says, “Annuities are often touted as the “cure” for all that ails your retirement. Baby Boomers and retirees are the prime target market for the annuity sales types. You’ve undoubtedly heard many of these pitches in person or as advertisements. Many of these pitches pander to the fear that many investors feel after the last stock market decline. Before writing that check understand what you are buying.”

Don from My Dollar Plan presents Easy Retirement Plan Goals for 2013, and says, “It’s a new year, so that means most people will be making an annual list of resolutions – make sure to add retirement goals to your list!”

Lance from Money Life and More presents I Want To Pay Off My Debt – The Debt Movement, and says, “Student loan debt isn’t even the biggest problem though. Credit cards and payday loans have extremely high interest rates that can keep you in debt if you don’t make an effort to pay them off quickly. There is something that is hoping to change your debt situation. On January 2nd the Debt Movement started. That’s great… but what is it?”

Dividend Growth Investor presents Load up on dividend stocks from a fiscal cliff selloff, and says, “Nowadays, everyone knows what the fiscal cliff is all about as news channels, websites and newspapers have explained everything there is to the matter. Now that we are past “fiscal cliff” territory, the markets have been jittery. Despite the recent relief rally, some spending deals have only been postponed by a few months. In addition, the uncertainty around the US debt ceiling is another factor that could weigh in on investors sentiments.”

Michael Kitces from Nerd’s Eye View presents Special 2012 Lookback Rules To Make A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) From An IRA In 2013, and says, “Amongst the various “extenders” included in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) was the reinstatement of rules allowing retirees to make a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” (QCD) from an IRA. Because the legislation was not enacted until after 2012 ended, though, Congress offers two special rules for those who are charitably inclined – but the “look back” rules end on January 31st!”

Stefan from FBE presents 8 Investment Secrets To Gaining Wealth, and says, “8 secrets by the number 1 ranked financial advisor, Ric Edelman.”

Matt from One Million and Beyond presents Budget Tracking – Old approach Revisited.

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Invest $198 and Make Thousands of Dollars: A Case Study on How to Make Money With Aweber And Enjoy Your Subscription For Free 3, and says, “How to get the most out of your investment.”

Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents How You Can Get The Most Out of a Party, and says, “We look at the ROI of a party.”

Pete from Intelligent Speculator presents Passive Income: P2P Lending, and says, “We look at the viability of P2P lending as an investment.”

MD from Start Freelancing Now presents How Much Caffeine Should a Freelancer Drink?, and says, “We look at the cycle of caffeine consumption based on your freelancing career.”

Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents What Can We Expect From Dividend Stocks in 2013?, and says, “Let’s have some fun and attempt to be prognosticators when it comes to dividend investing.”

Michael from Financial Ramblings presents Education and Unemployment, and says, “The unemployment rate is markedly lower for those with a college degree. Why? The available evidence suggests that it’s because education reduces the likelihood of separating from your employer, as well as the likelihood of entering unemployment when separating from your employer.”