carnivals

Welcome to the 7th edition of the Investors Blog Network. Here are the festival entries.

• Is Early Release of Study Data to Doctors Unfair? by H.S. Ayoub @ BioHealth Investor. Hisham raises a very interesting question “Can the release of early results [drug testing results] to doctors be construed as insider information?“.

Regulators should keep on eye out for investment firms and hedge funds who claim to hire doctors as ‘analysts’, while the true purpose is to have insiders at the major medical meetings and conferences to acquire key preliminary data ahead of the general public.

I never thought along these lines. May be it helps to be investing buddies with a good doctor

• Stocks Vs Real Estate, Winning Investment Strategies by SVB @ The Digerati Life. SVB points out some advantages and disadvantages of investing in real estate as compared to investing in stocks. Of course, each approach has it’s own attractions, but personally, investing in real estate seems a bit intimidating to me - when I think real estate, I think negotiations, heavy leverages, and lack of sufficient scope for diversification.
  

• The Starbucks Effect and the Saturation Point by Market Matador @ Market Matador. Think Starbucks is doing a great job at expansion? Read this post.

By flooding the market with spots for coffee, Starbucks has been wasting growth potential, and opting for current market optimization. Unfortunately, the optimization is becoming wasteful and hurting the brand image.

The effect is apparent in the falling price of Starbucks ( SBUX ) shares. The matador points towards a potential buying opportunity if the trend continues - in the anticipation that the stock will rise in future.

• SBUX: StarBucks International Plans to Enter Russia and India by End of 2007 by TJP @ Investor Trip. Another post wondering whether it’s the right time to buy Starbucks stock ( SBUX ). With earnings projected to grow at 21% annually, and shares hovering near the lowest price over 52 weeks, it does sound tempting. However, in the previous bulleted post above, Market Matador predicts that the price may fall even lower - so a little more wait might be in order.

• Dividend Stock Analysis - Lowe’s Companies Inc (LOW) by Average Joe @ Investment Jungle. Average Joe analyzes the performance of Lowe’s dividend yields.

The posts mentions the term *intrinsic value* with regards to Lowe’s stock ( LOW ) price. For those who don’t know what that is, Investopedia defines “intrinsic value” as:

The actual value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of its true value including all aspects of the business, in terms of both tangible and intangible factors. This value may or may not be the same as the current market value.

So, if a stock is trading at a price lower than it’s intrinsic value, then it is *undervalued* and probably it might be a good idea to buy it - generally, there will be a tendency for the stock price to move towards it’s intrinsic value in time to come - that means greater potential for gain (in my opinion).
Is Gold a Good Investment by WBL @ Wealth Building Lessons. An extensive analysis on the performance of gold as an investment. I started on this gold buying track earlier (you can read about it here and here), but eventually things got a bit complicated for me and I lost the tempo. WBL’s post puts me right back on track. I think I should buy it before I start hearing the words “inflation worries” with increasing frequency on the news.

• How Not To Make Money In Stocks Guaranteed! by Tyler @ Dividend Money. Tyler highlights some surefire ways of not benefiting from investments in stocks. This is for novices like me. With regards to keeping investment records, he says this:

If you’re really lucky, you won’t even know your adjusted cost base for tax purposes!

Well…I am almost there - even with the ridiculously small investments I have made so far.

• Sometimes You Should Roll The Dice by Fletchlives @ fletchlivesforecasts. The author expresses this worry:

What I haven’t learned throughout that process is the most advantageous way to keep track of my thoughts which lead me to make or not make those trades. Sure I can look at a printout, but I don’t have any explanation of why I made the decision in which I did at that time, or what factors led me to believe that the stock would move up or down.

At this point, you (and I) should go back to Tyler’s post above (the previous bulleted entry) and read up the section on record keeping - it will make better sense with this background.

• CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - IBN Network Final Results by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder. During one of the previous festivals, Super Saver initiated a Investors Blog Network (IBN) portfolio to be submitted to CNBC’s Million Dollar Challenge. He shares the results through this post. The portfolio ranked among the top 14% in terms of value with a gain of about 12%.

• Mining Merger Mania: Say It Three Times Fast by Michael K. Dawson @ The Time and Money Group. Michael discusses the increasing tendency of mining companies merging together - an effect caused by demand (mainly due to rapid growth in India and China) overtaking the supply. Invest wisely and make those mergers work in your favor.

• Find People Who Are Looking To Help Financially by Cade Krueger @ Write To Right. If you are in the market to raise money for your business, this article is for you. Cade highlights the questions that may be raised by potential investors before they promise you their money.

That concludes the seventh edition of the Investor’s Blog Network (IBN) Festival. Thanks are due to Hisham @ BioHealth Investor for letting me host this edition of the festival - and for rekindling the “learn more about investing” fire.

In a couple of days, I will be posting about my current investing attitude and will discuss my pathetic portfolio - or whatever is a collection of just a couple of stocks is called. So come back with all the investment advice you have, because I am probably going to need it.

Image sources: Gold - www.everythinginvestment.co.uk

Welcome to the 99^th Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Since there is a lot to read below, we will skip on the introductory blah blah. The entries are organized into 12 different categories and a table of content is provided to make it easier to navigate through the 55 articles featured in the carnival. Just click on the link in the table of content and it will take you the the corresponding topic. To browse another topic, hit the browser’s ‘back‘ button and click on a different link. Alternatively, you could just use your mouse’s scroll wheel to go through the entire carnival (good luck there!).

To add a bit of a flavor to the carnival (sometimes it gets a bit monotonous to read long lists of things), a few short money quotes have been sprinkled under each of the above listed topics. Some are relevant to the topic, some are philosophical, and some are just there to give you a break. To break the ice, let’s start with the mother of all money quotes ever:

The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments. - Mad Magazine

Go ahead and indulge yourself.

• The Four Terrible Money Mistakes We Make With Our Kids by Cap @ Mint’s Minty Blog. Cap shares his thoughts on how some parents may be shielding their children from important lessons in life and suggests better ways of dealing with your kids when it comes to money. Here is an excerpt:
  

  If you aren’t careful with how you help your child financially, you may find yourselves becoming the Bank of Mom and Dad. The last thing any parent would want is for their adult child to call them in the middle of the night, asking to borrow money because of the child’s reckless spending.

• A Collection of Financial Literacy Resources by J. D. Roth @ Get Rich Slowly. Almost everything you wanted to know about personal finance. JD promises that you will be better educated about personal finance after reading all the material highlighted in this post.
• Dear Apartment, You’re Charging Me Too Much For Rent! by Juan @ Millionster. An amusing letter by Juan ranting about the problems he faces in his current apartment. He wraps it up by dictating his own schedule of rent! - way to go dude!

When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous. ~Wayne Dyer

• My Daugher’s Millionaire Dreams Aren’t Far From Reality by CJ @ The Coin Jar. It’s about CJ’s daughter Jessica - a 19 year old with $1600 in a Roth IRA and no student debt - she sure sounds like she is on the right path to be a millionaire.
• 4 Ways to Simplify Finances Where Possible by Flexo @ Consumerism Commentary. Read about how Flexo plans to simply his finances. He has outlined his plans with some specific objectives in mind towards a more manageable financial life.
• Top Ten Ways Personal Finance Blogging has Helped Me by Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money. This probably resonates with thoughts of other personal finance bloggers too. If you have something to add, head over to Lazy’s and drop a line.
• Stupid Money Crap I’ve Done by KMC @ Advanced Personal Finance. Sounds like money trouble most college students get into. Here is an excerpt:
  

  A night of drinking at the bar? Card. Furniture for apartment? Card. Books? Card. Late fees at the library? Freakin’ card. I even paid for food with a credit card. I paid the bill for one card with another card at one point.

• The Cost of School Books is Killing Me! by Wilks @ Highest Echelon. I understand Wilks’ pain; some books are way too over-priced, and some professors seem to have a fancy for new and expensive books (irrespective of whether it’s an improvement over other older and/or cheaper books)
• Identity Theft/Stolen Credit Card in the Middle of an Airport by FMF @ Free Money Finance. FMF eyes folks at airport suspiciously, and whispers his credit card number like this:
  

  While walking/talking, I turned around a couple times (casually) so my voice was not projected in any one direction for the entire reading of the card number. It would make taking the information much more difficult.

• Using My Emergency Fund To Buy A Car? by NCN @ No Credit Needed. NCN runs a few numbers in trying to figure out an efficient way to buy car. Basically, the message is - delay a purchase by a few years - save in the meantime.
• The Chocolate Croissant Effect by Story Girl @ My Money and My Life. Not really like the “latte factor” - it’s more about *enjoying* the full worth of what you buy.
  

  When I didn’t buy a chocolate croissant, I was fully aware that I was not buying one and was very proud of the money I was saving. When I did buy one, I took my time and thoroughly enjoyed it, instead of letting myself feel guilty about spending the money.

Credit is a system whereby a person who can not pay gets another person who can not pay to guarantee that he can pay. ~ Charles Dickens

• 3 Things You Should Know About Credit – Before You Apply for Your Next by Steve Faber @ Debt Free.
  

  Make sure you check in the bowels of any contract you sign to verify weather or not you’ve given permission for your credit to be checked. You’ll have a hard pull the next time you apply for a credit card, make a major purchase on credit or get a mortgage.

• What Does it Mean to Pay Your Credit Card Balance in Full? by Clever Dude @ Clever Dude Personal Finance and Money. Watch out for the “two-cycle billing” practice when you don’t pay your credit card bill in full. Plus, you also need to consider the “grace period” - that’s what kicks in the finance charges - the situation is only made worse by two-cycle billing.
• God Can Help You Eliminate Credit Card Debt says Nina @ Queercents. Remember what the wise folks say? God helps those who help themselves. It’s a good topic for arguments.
• 10 Common Sneaky Fees Credit Card Companies Charge by Sagar @ Credit Card Lowdown.
  

  Fees for not using your card: Maybe you want to put your cards on ice for a while. It’s a good thing, but beware of the fees your issuer may charge for not using your card. It’s true; you can be fined for not charging anything to your card during a specified period of time.

• What’s the Point of Points? by English Major @ An English Major’s Money. Look for reader feedback on how they use their credit card points.

October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February. ~Mark Twain

• Making Bonds Part Of My Portfolio by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder. The post starts with this:
  

  Gentlemen prefer bonds. - Andrew Mellon

  Lol…that will get you to read the rest of it.

• Financial Independence Series #4 - How To Get Started by Jeremy Reeves @ The Road To A Perfect Life. Jeremy gives a few investing ideas towards achieving financial independence. Not all ideas are *easy* to implement for the average person (real estate, foreign exchange, etc.) but it’s always good to know about the available options.
• Playing the Percentages: The Effects of Gains and Losses by Nickel @ Five Cent Nickel. Nickel answers a tricky question that is of interest to investors:
  

  When is 50% not equal to 50%?

• 5 Ways to Make Money from Global Warming by Jon @ Smart Money Daily. Jump on the green bandwagon and invest your money in ventures that stand to gain as global warming concerns intensify in time to come.
• Biggest Tax Cheats? Lower Income Investors by Kay Bell @ Don’t Mess With Taxes. Here is what is bothering Kay:
  

  According to a story in today’s New York Times, the Committee’s acting chief of staff, Thomas A. Barthold, wrote a letter to Emanuel contending that “the majority of the dollar amounts of underreported capital gains income from securities transactions” were among people in the 10 and 15 percent tax brackets.

• Speculative Charitable Giving, how the tax laws create an incentive for you to gamble with your charitable contributions by LAMoneGuy @ It’s Just Money. The post is about a type of investment in which the investor buys a stock with the intention of donating it to charity.
• Vanguard or T. Rowe Price Funds: Actively Managed vs. Index Funds by TFB @ The Finance Buff.
  

  After you knew who won and why, there’s still the question of who will win going forward. That’s what you want to know. If T. Rowe Price funds won in the last 5 years, will they win again in the next 5, 10, or 30 years?

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it. ~Bob Hope

• Direct Deposit to Bank Account - Handle With Care! @ FIRE Finance. A brief discussion about the merits and the demerits of direct deposit facility offered by most banks now-a-days; and things to look out for if you opt for direct deposit.
• What I Consider When Selecting an Online Savings Account by Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary. Apart from high interest rates what other things would you consider when selecting an online savings account? Sun tries to provide an answer.
• Keep the Change Programs by KMull @ Personal Finance at KMull.com. An extensive review of two indirect savings programs: Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” program and AMEX’s One Card.

If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments. ~Earl Wilson

• Getting Out of Debt Would be Easier by Plonkee @ Plonkee Money. An interesting thought here - is getting out of debt easier than trying to increase your net worth when you are not in debt?
  

  When you’re in debt, you have that initial target that you can motivate yourself for, getting to the stage where you have no debt.

• Types of Debt Consolidation Loans by Abdulrasool Sumar @ Debt Consolidation. The post is a brief note on a few ways to consolidate your debt - including home equity line of credit (HELOC) and 0% APR credit cards.
• Sources of Financial Liquidity by Mr. Credit Card @ Ask Mr. Credit Card’s Blog. An article similar in concept to the one above - a list of resources from which you can borrow in an emergency.
• Advice for New Graduates: Student Loans by DDL @ Make Your Nut. A few tips for students on how to handle their debts after getting out of school.
• Loan Pre-Approval Means Nothing by Dan Melson @ Searchlight Crusade. Remember those “pre-approved” credit card offers?
  

  Not to mention the fact that nothing about a pre-approval or pre-qualification is binding. In fact, until the underwriter writes a loan commitment, there is nothing that says you have a loan at all. Furthermore, it’s rare for loans to be rejected outright. What happens far more often is the underwriter puts an unmeetable conditions on it.

• My Experience with Prosper.com by Dan @ Everyday Finance. Dan’s experience comes in the form of an extensive primer on using Prosper.com for lending money.

Wealth - any income that is at least one hundred dollars more a year than the income of one’s wife’s sister’s husband. ~H.L. Mencken

• Net Worth: How am I Doing? by Pfodyssey @ My Personal Finance Odyssey. The author ponders on various benchmarking tools to compare his net worth progress.
• What is Real Net Worth? by Broknowrchlatr @ Broke Now, Rich Later. Some thought provoking stuff about the meaning of net worth. There is an interesting suggestion about including your anticipated rate of return and inflation in your net worth calculations. I have had similar thoughts on the concept of net worth a few months ago.
• What Are Exemptions (or What Can I Keep in Bankruptcy?) by Brett Weiss @ Bankruptcy Law Network. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean you loose everything - here is an article that tells you what you can keep.
  

  Exemptions let you keep assets less than a specific dollar amount (such as a bank account or tax refund worth less than $1,000) or a specific type of item, regardless of value (such as a 401(k), or in some states, a family bible or wedding set).

Almost any man knows how to earn money, but not one in a million knows how to spend it. ~Henry Thoreau

• 10 Energy Saving Home Improvements by Plus6 @ Plus6 Personal Finance. Save energy (and hence the environment) and save some money by following these tips - it’s a win-win situations.
• Spring Cleaning Saves Money by Patrick @ Cash Money Life. Simple message: less clutter = less chaos = more time to think about earning money. Of course, you can sell some of the clutter and earn more bucks.
  

  You might think this last one is a stretch, but ask yourself if you’ve ever looked at a sink or dishwasher full of dirty dishes and decided it was just easier to call Domino’s?

• Tips for Running a Successful Seasonal Business by Michelle Cramer @ GreatFX Business Cards. 3 simple tips for entrepreneurs. But, if you think of it, you could extend these tips to your personal financial life - whether you are an entrepreneur or not.
• Why You Should Become a Personal Finance Blogger by Ben @ Money Smart Life. Get more from life - become a personal finance blogger. Ben lists 13 ways you can benefit by blogging about personal finances.
• Confessions of a Fundraiser @ Carolina Bound. 6 handy tips to make your charity money do what you want it to do.

Business is the art of extracting money from another man’s pocket without resorting to violence. ~Max Amsterdam

• Best Price Guarantee - List Of Top Retailers With The Great Purchase Policies @ Savvy Steward. A pretty useful list of price guarantee policies offered by a variety of retailers. There is Starbucks in the list - wow…I want a return policy on my latte Fooling apart, the Starbucks policy is with reference to the Starbucks Store.
• How To Avoid Paying Retail by @ The Frugalist. A list of 35 tips on how to avoid paying retail price for purchases. The list culminates with “Cut Hair at Home” - oh man!

People are living longer than ever before, a phenomenon undoubtedly made necessary by the 30-year mortgage. ~Doug Larson

• Renting, Rights and Money Mistakes by Dawn @ Frugal for Life. This is a must read for all apartment dwellers like me. It helps to know things like:
  

  Most states require landlords to return refundable portions of a security deposit within 14 to 30 days after the tenant has vacated the premises, even in the case of eviction.

• Don’t Make This Mortgage Refinance Mistake by Nigel Swaby @ Salt lake Real Estate Blog. Nigel quotes a story about a disillusioned homeowner’s refinancing mistakes and explains how unscrupulous lenders can put homeowners in trouble.
• An Interesting Fixed-rate Mortgage by MBH @ Mighty Bargain Hunter. MBH runs a quick analysis to compare conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a different type of fixed-rate mortgage.
  

  The loan is fixed rate, 30 years, but the payment increases after 10 years. It’s not a negative amortization loan or an interest-only loan for the first ten years. Principal is still paid back with each payment, but not as quickly during the first ten years.

• Why I Say Buy A Big New House by Teri Newton @ Personal Finance Advice. An interesting take on buying a house with controversy written all over it.
  

  It amazes me how sometimes when it comes to a purchase as big as a house, people throw their ideals of value out the window. To me, the bigger the purchase, the more something like value becomes important. Just some things to think about next time you are house shopping.

If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion. ~George Bernard Shaw

• No Gas Day: Good Intentions, Horrible Idea, Worse Follow-Through by Stephanie @ Poorer Than You. Why would a “No Gas Day” work in the US? Is there a better way to address the rising prices of gasoline? Stephanie address these question in her post.
• Frugal Vacations: Traveling With Friends (Part 2) by ISPF @ Grad Money Matters. ISPF shares some tips on squeezing the most fun out of vacations with the least amount of efforts. Here is something we have always experienced more often than we would like:
  

  Even the best laid plans can fall apart. So don’t get too attached to a plan.

• Traveling to New York City on a Budget by Matthew Paulson @ Getting Green. A brief note on enjoying The Big Apple without burning a hole in your pocket. Here is one tip from me on this subject - stay with a friend in New Jersey and save money on hotels when you want to visit New York - come on..everyone has a friend in New Jersey.

Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did. ~ James Baldwin

• 5 Money and Currency Facts Your History Teacher Never Told You by SVB @ The Digerati Life. Read some interesting stuff about $10,000 bills and about how the dollar sign got invented.
• The 4% Retirement Rule by FrugalTrader @ Million Dollar Journey. A brief explanation of the 4% rule with a couple of simple examples.
• Scammers and Fools by Henry Stern @ InsureBlog. A rant about an insurance rip-off and the apathy of a government organization in handling the situation.
• The Beatitudes of Money by Vause @ Active Duty Military Money and Matters. Blessed are those who manage their money and life wisely.
• College Student Identity Theft by Colonel @ Money and Credit. A quick thought importance of credit for college students and the dangers of identity theft.
• Spider-Man 3 - Will you pay to see it in the theater? by PT @ Prime Time Money. PT shares a few thoughts on frugal movie watching. About Spider Man 3, we got our student tickets at $4.00 apiece - it was surely worth that kind of money.

Interest works night and day in fair weather and in foul. It gnaws at a man’s substance with invisible teeth. ~ Henry Beecher.

That’s all for this edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Take a moment to read more about the Carnival of Personal Finance and click here to submit your article to the next edition to be hosted at My Open Wallet.

About a dozen articles were not published because of various reasons; primarily, because they were published in other carnivals earlier, or they were old, or they were too specific to be of general interest. If your article was not published, don’t worry too much about it (”Worry is the enemy of productivity.” ~ Golbguru) and try harder and submit your articles to the next edition. To ensure the acceptance of your articles, make sure you follow these guidelines.

Source of money quotes: www.quotegarden.com, http://en.proverbia.net

Let’s start this edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction with some historical perspective on debt in America. Here are some interesting facts on consumer debt in the 19th century (source).

Before organized consumer credit, there were five major lending sources: pawnbrokers, illegal small-loan lenders, retailers, friends and family, and mortgage lenders.

Indebtedness was common prior to the 1800s. Unfortunately, it was hidden from view in the grocer’s book and the pawnshop ledger, in the butcher’s tab and the memory of friends.

Early levels of national consumer debt were measured in 1858, when it was estimated the nation’s total household debt load was 1.5 billion dollars. By 1890 the level of consumer debt had risen to 11 trillion dollars.

The 1890 census discovered the average household had about $880 of debt and only $475 in annual income. Compare that to 1998 when family debt was $33,000 and annual income was $32,800.

Between 1896 and 1916, short-term household indebtedness increased at rates as high as 15 percent a year, averaging an annual rate of 9.3 percent.

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t say whether the figures are inflation adjusted or not…but that’s not the point. The point is that there was a significant amount of consumer debt way back in history. Now, view this information in light of the fact that bank issued credit cards (as they are used in the current sense) were only invented somewhere around 1950s (read this article for more details).

Let’s think over that for a while before we start blaming credit cards (and/or other credit sources) for our debt. Of course, we should actively complain against unfair lending practices, but I have an increasing feeling that we are shoving our consumerist tendencies under the carpet and trying to shift the blame entirely on the system. I wish we had some historical data on human accountability towards this end.

On a related note, here is a New York Times article that provides some more food for thought: The American Way of Debt.

Without further ado, let us now move on to the submissions for the Carnival of Debt Reduction.

Personal Debt Stories

• I’ve Come a Long Way, Baby! by Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt.

A couple years ago I would have “Bought now, thought later” and I would already have the camera in my hands. Not this time. It’s still there waiting until I’m ready.

• 10 Things That Bring Success in Personal Finance: #2 Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt @ PT Money.

I signed up for my first two credit cards in college (you know, to get the free t-shirt). By the time I left college I had a decent amount of debt and two worn out t-shirts.

General Debt Reduction Advice

• Snowball Debt Reduction: Which Method Is Best For You? by Jeffrey Strain @ Personal Finance Advice.

While the classic snowball debt reduction method is the more rational method from a financial perspective since it means paying the least amount in interest charges, many people don’t view money in a rational manner. They instead view many from an emotional perspective.

• Debt Elimination - Snowball Method by Abdulrasool Sumar @ Debt Consolidation.

…it is easy to feel discouraged by the Highest APR to Lowest APR method because it can take literally years to pay off a particular debt. Your behaviour is more important than the math…

Some Debt Food for Thought

• Promoting debt by Dana @ Principled Discovery.

Unfortunately, the problem is embedded deep within our national conscience. It is about Americans fixated on the present and the newest fad. It is about personal irresponsibility.

• Debt is Slavery, Part 4: Retirement is not about age by MBHunter presents @ Mighty Bargain Hunter.

Debt will kill your retirement. The magic of compounding is there, but it’s evil magic — the compounding is working against you rather than for you. It scrambles your nest egg.

• An Age Old Idea Still Rings True… Just Hard to Accomplish by Katie @ Aridni.

I don’t know of any way around debts when you’re young—school loans, mortgages, car loans and credit cards maybe. Some experts think that investing any money while carrying debt is plain stupid. They’re right if your money is sitting in the bank, accomplishing nothing.

• Disappointed in the Women in Red @ Living Almost Large.

Typically I would be happy for the women in red as people trying to get their fiscal lives in order. But right now after reading this article, I wonder how much progress they’ve really made or will make.

• Payday Loans: No, no, no! Big Cajun Man @ Canadian Financial Stuff.

Don’t feel like this is your only way to deal with this, because these Loan Sharks are not the answer to your financial survival, if anything they are the end of your survival…

Credit Cards and Debt

• Credit Card Fees (Further Motivation For Getting Out Of Debt!) by NCN @ No Credit Needed.

Now, I may not be able to persuade you to give up credit cards forever, perhaps I can motivate you to get out of credit card debt as quickly as you can so that you can avoid the following FEES!

• Steps to Reduce Credit Card Spending by Mr Credit Card @ Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog.

I recently got to know two friends who used to have problems with their credit card debt and this was what they suggest you do if you have problems with your spending habits

Not Really About Debt, But Related

• Why Even Dave Ramsey Needs to Consider His Credit Score by FMF @ Free Money Finance.

• 5 Steps to Fixing Your Credit Score by Yourself by Amy Pedersen @ Your Credit Score Secrets.

• The Psychology of the Spending Plan by Moorea @ Queercents.

• Dave Ramsey Resources and Links by Samuel Peery @ Getting Finances Done.

• Making Money Work In Your Early Twenties by Matthew Paulson @ Getting Green.

• The 10 Lies you Should Tell your Wife/Girlfriend About Your Finances by Pushpa Sathish @ Forex Reader.

• 10 Alternatives to Credit Cards (for Those Who Can’t Get One) by The Frugalist @ Frugalist.

• Using A Reverse Mortgage To Pay for Long-term Care and Avoid A Nursing Home Darius @ Related to Mortgage.

Click here to submit your article to the next edition of the carnival.

Welcome to the 6th edition of the Carnival of Money Stories. This relatively new carnival is a product of Andy @ Money Walks‘ original idea with valuable inputs from SVB @ The Digerati Life. Since it is just starting out, there is a high probability that some of the content might overlap with the contents of other carnivals about money and finance. However, I am pretty sure that, in time to come, the carnival will shine with it’s own distinctive color, and will set itself apart from all other carnivals out there. With this positive hope in our hearts, let’s now begin with the submissions. There were 27 submissions in all of which 16 have been included in this edition. Only one submission from each blog was considered.

Money related posts with a personal touch

Adaptation: Lessons learned from being unemployed by Amy Lin @ Wisebread. Looks like unemployment is not that bad after all. There’s a popular saying, “Necessity is the mother of inventions” …after reading Amy’s article, I coined an analogous saying - Adversity is the mother of all adaptation. Or perhaps, stability makes us complacent. Think about it while reading this article.

Preparing Our Taxes Will Be A Cinch, Paying Them Won’t by Silicon Valley Blogger @ The Digerati Life. SVB shares her tax preparation experience using an “enrolled agent”. Apparently, she is having trouble with the cost basis information for her investments. I had similar trouble during last year’s tax time…and unfortunately, I have no idea what I did about it eventually. Most probably, it’s going to bite me this time too.

When Reality is Different Than Perception by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder. Super Saver gives some examples of times when what you see is just an illusion. Here is one of his examples:

When I was about four years old, I remember becoming frantic when my uncle paid cash for a gasoline purchase. I kept telling him that my dad had a plastic card that enabled him to get gas without using any money. I recall thinking that my uncle was wasting money because he didn’ t have a plastic card.

Taxes and the Three Martini Lunch by Bill @ Ask Uncle Bill. Another one in the honor of tax season. Apparently, I just realized that I am having a hard time focusing on anything that has to do with taxes. Probably, some of you may extract more sense out of non-deductible martini expenses that Bill is talking about.

Timeshares: Should we buy one? by LA MoneyGuy @ It’s Just Money. LA MoneyGuy says he has a hobby of attending timeshare presentations and wonders whether he should buy one. There are some interesting comments on this post (most of them discouraging him from the idea of buying timeshares)…make sure you read them.

How I live on $600 a month by Matthew Paulson @ Getting Green. Hmm..interesting. You know, I have been with students who live comfortably within $400 a month in my town …and I am not talking about old times, this is just about 2 years ago. I guess cheap living is a virtue of not-so-large university towns.

“The Science of Getting Rich” Evaluated, Part Two by Debra Moorhead @ Debra Moorhead.com. I didn’t find much of *science* in here, but it may probably appeal to a section of readers.

Ten Money Questions for Jennifer Chrisler by Nina Smith @ Queercents. Jennifer Chrisler is the executive director of Family Pride, a national non-profit organization. Nina of Queercents asked Jennifer to share her views on money, relationships, equality and happiness.

Cash Flow is King by Wilson Ng @ Reflections of a BizDrivenLife. By the way of an example involving his student, Wilson talks about the importance of cash flow. Here is an excerpt that will give you an idea of what his student was up to:

He was risking virtually all his savings to build up a fast food restaurant. Not only that, he was going to borrow an amount that was twice his own money to fund the remaining amount. What’s more, in order to be able to build the restaurant, he was going to build the restaurant on a lot that he proposed to lease - as a way to lessen initial investment and a way to get a better location.

Tim of My Money Forest Contributes To Brass Magazine by Tim @ MyMoneyForest. Not much of a story here, but I thought it may be appropriate to congratulate Tim on the inclusion of his article in Brass Magazine - a publication aimed at informing young people about money. May be, you can try and get some good contacts from him.

Money related general knowledge posts

Don’t look for any personal stories in the following entries. These are some helpful “how to” type of posts dishing out some free advice. The titles are pretty much self-explanatory and hence I will abstain from adding my own jargon in trying to explain what the articles are about.

How to: Make Money with Balance Transfer Arbitrage by Jimmy Atkinson presents @ Ask the Advisor.

What Does it Take to Start a Startup? by John Wesley @ Pick the Brain.

10 Simple Ideas to Save Thousands of Dollars per Year by David @ Worldwide Success.

Money and philosophy posts

OK, I have to admit that I had a hard time understanding the central idea behind the entries below…and whatever is hard to understand can be safely classified as *philosophy* For most of you these may be just general rants, but who knows *shrug*…may be some of you can find the meaning of life and universe, etc., after reading between the lines.

Money Plant by Gazzali Maidin @ Beneficial Learning for Outstanding Generation.

Don’t Eliminate Your Debt, Attract Abundance! by Maria Palma @ The Good Life.

What is Money? by Nenad Ristic @ Money Conciousness

That’s all for this edition of the Carnival of Money Stories. Hope you enjoyed your stay. You can submit your money stories to the next edition of the carnival by clicking here.

‘Adapt or die’ image source: tiki.oneworld.net

I have been very lazy (and busy) of late and haven’t mentioned a few carnivals that some of my blogger friends worked hard on hosting this week. Today I woke up at 4:00 pm and my body is still crying for more sleep. This is partly because of a stressful week at work, resulting in lack of sleep during weekdays, and partly because, to relieve some of the stress, I was playing Age of Empires till very late in the night yesterday (btw, computer games are evil time black holes). Whatever. Let’s get back to the carnivals.

Carnival of Personal Finance #88 hosted by William Trent @ Stock Market Beat. Here are some of the interesting entries:

• Financial Lies - Ways We Convince Ourselves It’s OK To Spend by Jeffrey Strain @ Personal Finance Advice.
• Invest in Gold — Buy Gold by Sun @ Sun’s Financial Diary. I am suddenly intersted in this after reading this article on CBS Marketwatch about the possible rise in the value of gold in the time to come.
• My entry for this carnival was Analyze This; Late Fees And Other Penalties Are Necessary.

Carnival of Money Stories #5 hosted by SVB @ The Digerati Life. This is a relatively new carnival, but is gradually gathering steam. Some interesting carnival submissions were:

• How I Milk Sacred Cows for Cash by Sharon @ The Frugal Duchess.
• Huge stupid tax…timeshare by LAL @ Living Almost Large.
• My entry for this one was The Story Of My Investment In A Motorcycle.

Festival of Frugality #62 hosted by Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money. Nice job with the baseball theme. :). Some entries that I liked:

• Test Your Buyer’s IQ: Quit Wasting Money On Costly Crap by SVB @ The Digerati Life.
• How To Cut Living Expenses by Nina @ Queercents.
• My entry was It’s Easier To Be Frugal When You Are Single; True Or False? Check out some interesting comments on this one.

From the previous week, here are some carnivals that I failed to mention on time.

• Carnival of Personal Finance #87 @ 2Million.
• Carnival of Debt Reduction #74 @ Blogging Away Debt.
• Festival of Frugality #61 @ Hustler’s $$$Blog.

Welcome to the Diamond Jubilee edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Thanks John @ Mighty Bargain Hunter for letting me host this edition of the carnival. Before I start with the entries, let us briefly touch base with the history of the carnival.

The first edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction was hosted at Mighty Bargain Hunter on September 19th, 2005. There were 11 interesting entries in this edition. Do check them out. The noble sentiments behind creation of this carnival are succinctly described in the “About” section on the carnival homepage. I am quoting the words here for all of you to read.

Successful debt reduction stories and good debt reduction advice needs more exposure, and people need to see that debt is not forever. Many inspiring debt reduction stories make their way into blogs, and it is encouraging to everyone involved — bloggers, carnival hosts, and readers — to have their successes and insights highlighted on a regular basis. The Carnival of Debt Reduction is a weekly blog carnival that highlights posts on getting out of debt. Personal debt reduction progress reports and posts about reducing debt are what this carnival is all about!

And now we are ready to proceed with the carnival entries. Enjoy.

Entries with a personal touch on debt and related issues

Shift Your Thinking to Reduce Debt by Paul @ ExtremePerspective: A real life story from Paul about how a paradigm shift in their spending helped them out of debt. Some food for thought for those who are stuck on the latte factor.

How I Plan To Stay Out Of Debt by NCN @ No Credit Needed: This article is more about debt avoidance. It is directed towards people who get out of debt, but sooner or later go right back in because they don’t have a clear plan on how to steer away from debt. Always remember, prevention is better than cure; stop that debt before it gets you again.

Eliminating Mortgage Debt - New Thinking by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder: Super Saver explains how paying off mortgage debt faster might help him to retire early. This sort of applies to all other kinds of debts (well at least applies to the ones with high interest rates); the faster you get out of debt, the more you will be able to concentrate on working towards a better retirement.

Breaking Down Your Debt by King of Debt @ We’re In Debt: Read about King of Debt’s experience on how a graphical visualization of their debt distribution is helping them reduce their debt.

I Don’t Love Capital One - How to Get a Lower APR, or Possibly Not by Andrea Dickson @ Wisebread: If Capital One has shrugged off your threat of “Reduce my interest rates …or else..”, you may not be alone with that kind of experience. Read what Andrea has to say about her experience with trying to negotiate her interest rates with Capital One.

Tax Refunds and Other Lump Sums by Rich @ Queercents: What would you do with your tax refund and other financial windfalls? Rich suggests using them to make payments towards your debt.

Commentary on other debt issues

Dave Ramsey is Good at Psychology by Nickel @ fivecentnickel.com: This article includes an collection of interesting comments (on a previous article) about how different people view Dave Ramsey’s debt reduction approach. According to Nickel, that’s more psychology than math. Here is one of the interesting comments mentioned in the article:

Yes, you save money by paying off the highest interest rate debt first, but you’re missing the psychological reward of not having to cut a check for those trivial debts, month after month.

Soaring Bankruptcy: Top 10 Reasons Why America is leading the World in Bankruptcy Filing by Rich @ Bankruptcy Reader. Rich elaborates on various reasons behind the rising bankruptcies in US. Look out for some interesting numbers in this post. For example:

According to the Federal Reserve, the typical family filing for bankruptcy owes more than one and a half times their annual income. A family that makes $24,000 a year will have $36,000 dollars in debt.

Debt management advice

A Step-by-Step Guide to Reducing Debt on an Irregular Income by ISPF @ Grad Money Matters: A 10-step approach to tackle debt on an irregular income. According to ISPF, the trick is in setting your priorities, in such a way that debt comes near the top, and then distributing your resources wisely among your priorities.

Get Out of Debt Now! by David @ Worldwide Success: The article explores ways to deal with debt and offers some common sense suggestions on how to reduce your debt load. Here is one such suggestion:

Whether you went into debt by your own fault or not, you must rid yourself of any guilty feelings and re-channel this negative energy into positive actions that will get you out of this situation.

Debt management by Andy @ Money Walks: Three simple and common sense steps towards debt reduction.

Getting Out Of Debt (Part 2) by Erek Ostrowski @ Verve Coaching. The article gives some practical tips on how to go about increasing your income in order to get out of debt.

5 Important Ways to Protect Yourself Against Job Loss by Steve Faber @ DebtBlog: Steve lists 5 rules that can help you to keep out of a debt black hole in the event of a job loss.

That’s all for this edition folks. Thanks to all the participants for contributing towards this milestone edition of the carnival. Click here to submit your articles to the next Carnival of Debt Reduction to be hosted at Money Smart Life.

A quick remark for those who might wonder about the term *Diamond Jubilee*. According to Wiki: “A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in British and Commonwealth usage or a 75th anniversary in American usage.“

I will be hosting the 75th edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction on this blog on Monday, Feb 19th. Don’t miss the chance for submitting to this Diamond Jubilee edition.

Click here to submit your articles to the carnival. It goes without saying that your entries need to be related to debt, either directly or indirectly.

To read more about the carnival, click here.

Welcome to the 59th edition of the Festival of Frugality. Let me start the festival by thanking Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity for allowing me to host this festival. I have tried to categorize the entries under various vague sub-headings; but with so many entries, I may have misplaced a few of them. Ok, lets start with the articles already before I put you guys to sleep.

Frugality @ home

Read Barb’s thoughts on using a gadget to make the most out of paste tubes on How To Get To The Last Drop posted at Great Family Gadgets. That is one interesting toy.

Lisa Knight describes her insulating venture with a duct tape in Sunday Insulating Adventures posted at The Frugal Momma. I will vouch for this part “..sometimes it’s easier to pin point the problems once it’s cold..” ..realized it during the recent ice-storm.

Jenn puts forth a case in favor of aprons in Why Are Aprons Frugal? posted at Frugal Upstate. Here is a part of Jenn’s arguments:

Do you really want try to get stains out of your dress clothes? Do you want to have to take them to a dry cleaner and pay extra to try to get oil stains out?

Mama Squirrel presents her philosophy of using creativity and household items to generate unique educational toys/media in An Abundance Post: Make It Do posted at Dewey’s Treehouse.

Tag presents EveryDay Money: Baby Gear (budgeting) posted at EveryDay Money. Tag’s money saving concept is based on the argument that babies don’t need “new and matching stuff”. Get your baby stuff at garage sales seems to be the message here.

Nina presents Can Shampoo Save You Money? posted at Queercents. She is trying to test the difference between ordinary drugstore brands and expensive salon brands.

Frugality @ travel

Stingy Student tells us about how to eat our way to free miles and mentions other resources for getting free miles in his post Free airline miles! at Stingy Students.

Terah Shelton talks about the scope of making money from airline vouchers in Valuable Vouchers posted at Traveler’s Pen. This is about those vouchers that some airline companies offer, if you are ready to give up your seat on an overbooked flight.

Spend more time working out of town? No problem; learn about how to save money while on the move, by reading Makingourway’s More ways to save money while travelling on an expense account posted at makingourway.

Frugality @ everyday life

Check out Ispf’s frugal living tips on Automatic Frugal Living posted at Personal Finance for Students and Fresh Grads. Here is one interesting frugal tip from his list:

Do grocery on weeknights. Or an hour before your favorite show on TV

Take this frugality quiz presented by Ben in the article Money Saving Pop Quiz. How Frugal Are You? posted at Money Smart Life.

Silicon Valley Blogger over at The Digerati Life presents Stop Overspending Now! 14 Ways To Conquer Binge Buying. Here is what appears at #2 in the list.

Sitting around twiddling your thumbs can bring on temptation and things that are harder to control. What’s that old English adage again? An Idle Mind is a Devil’s Workshop. Well, just think of it in terms of spending.

Frugality @ food and drinks

King of Debt presents 8 Ways To Save At The Grocery Store and Stay On Budget at We’re In Debt. Read what the King has to say in point #1 about shopping when hungry and then quickly read this. I am glad more people are acknowledging the “hunger-effect”.

Tannaz Sassooni gives some ideas on how to drink large on small budget in Pop that corkage: Giant list of restaurants that allows you to BYO wine posted at Wise Bread. Honestly, I had never heard of corkage fees before, so this one is all news to me.

Andy suggests ways avoid getting “eaten” by food expenses on 5 ways to save big on groceries posted at Money Walks. Here is the inaugural line of his post:

Not only do you need to eat food to live, the expense of it for the average family can eat you alive!

Kevin Surbaugh shares his free-food endeavors in Eating Well on $0 posted at Eating On A Budget. Some students I know do this on a regular basis. I call them “free-foodies”; they are totally organized about which organization is having which function/gathering over the next couple of weeks and what type of food they will serve.

Debt Hater has more money saving tips in her article Debt Diet — For your wallet and waistline posted at Debt Hater. You will follow her advice when you read this:

I stopped eating cookies and milk every night to save the money. That alone probably accounts for half the weight I lost!

Elizabeth presents some practical ways to cut food costs 7 Ways to Save on Lunch Costs posted at Money for the Rest of Us. Personally, I do not fully agree with the “buy pre-made” advice on the list, and have tried #4 unsuccessfully a couple of times. But, it might work for some of you.

Sharon the Frugal Duchess shares a secret tip on saving money on coke, from her former frugal boss, in NY Editor Saves over $1,400: My Old Boss Shares Secrets: Designated Stadium Driver posted at Frugal Duchess.

FrugalTrader cooks up a saving strategy to amass $1300/year by cooking lunch at home. Read about his ideas on this post Saving Strategy: Brown Bag Your Lunch! at Million Dollar Journey.

Brett McKay shines light on some frugal cooking with eggs in 25 Ways to Cook an Egg posted at The Frugal Law Student. I haven’t heard of this one before:

Egg’s nest- cut a hole in a piece of bread, put contents of egg inside hole, cook in pan.

Two different bags, two different names, but just the same popcorn. Stephanie makes an interesting observation in her post Kellen gets a lesson on brand names posted at Stop the Ride!.

Frugality @ cars

David at My Two Dollars contemplates whether he should give up on his personal car and go for options like Flexcar. Read about it in his post Getting Rid Of My Car Would Save Us About $700 Per Month.

My Financial Journey went from a BMW to a Ford Escort ! Read about why he did this in My Financial Journey’s pimp ride posted at My Financial Journey. Check it out, his Escort is one true piece of eye candy.

Trent at The Simple Dollar also encourages buying late model used cars and offers some tips on how to go about doing it in Time To Buy A Car? Follow These Ten Steps To Maximize Your Deal.

Frugality @ books

Yan explains how students can save money on textbooks using Chegg.com in his post Save on college textbooks with Chegg posted at Pro Bargain Hunter. For non-students it’s slightly less cheaper.

Now this one is applicable to all; In his article, The Best Place to Save on Books posted at Free Money Finance, FMF shows some numbers from a Consumer Reports survey about which place might be the best for buying books.

Frugality @ rings and jewelry
Mr Credit Card wonders on what people may be thinking when getting their rings (other jewelry (?)) from less glamorous places like Costco in this post Is it OK if Your Bling Bling Comes From Costco? posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog.

Frugal writes about how he bought he bought a diamond ring for his wife from an online store, and gives some pointers on diamond shopping in Guess where I bought my diamond engagement ring? posted at My 1st Million At 33.

Frugality @ fixing stuff up
Read about some innovative uses of plastic grocery bags to combat cold weather in Frugal Cold Weather Clothing by DeputyHeadmistress posted at The Common Room. Here is the author’s suggestion for missing mittens:

Missing mittens? Put a sock on each hand, then put a plastic bag over each hand (sandwich bags work for little hands) and another sock over the bag.

Prince of Thrift wants to avoid paying $4 to repair the holes in his jeans pockets by trying to learn how to sew. Read about it in Patching Holey Clothes posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free. What? PS3 burnt a big hole in your pocket? you can take some cues from Prince of Thrift about patching that up

Frugality @ mailing things

NCN offers some quick tips on efficient shipping methods in his article Save Time and Money When Shipping posted at No Credit Needed Blog.

Jim comes across a situation where frugality might be more of a foolishness. Read about it in When Frugality Is A Fault: Certified v. Regular Mail posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Frugality @ home improvement

Alexandra presents Thrifty Remodeling, Our Home Before and After posted at Happy Hearts At Home. This one highly elaborate post. Alexandra discusses a total home makeover –the frugal way.

Dorky Dad will take you through his furniture buying experience in Saving Thousands on Furniture posted at Trying to get it right. For the astute , there is a subtle hint in this post which reads like this:

Remembering, “Happy wife, happy life,” we agreed on a style and fabric,…

Penny Nickel is having a “lifestyle-inflation” pang! and asks for your opinion on frugal ways to handle it, in this post When’s it time to “grow up” and upgrade your stuff? (& does it have to break the bank?), posted at Money and Values.

There, those are all the entries folks. Hope you guys had a good time reading through all of them :). Some entries were not included in the festival for various reasons; sorry about that. If you are interested in contributing to this festival, read more about it here. The next Festival of Frugality will be hosted by Dawn @ Frugal for Life. To submit your articles, click here.
Image sources: toothpaste: http://www.2wheels.org.uk ; airline: http://www.photoblogster.com ; food: www.ame-today.com , ; books: http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au ; ring: http://goldprice.org ; car: http://www.carbiz.ro ; house: http://www.delorie.com

I should have mentioned about this earlier, but better late than never

Check out the 84th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Incredible number of entries in this one.

Trent “The Blogging Machine” of The Simple Dollar hosted the 58th edition of the Festival of Frugality.

Make a point to visit these carnivals if you haven’t done it yet.

Also, I will be hosting the next Festival of Frugality (# 59) on this blog on Tuesday, Jan 30th. Click here to submit your articles.