Welcome to the anniversary edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance! What a year it has been. The first Carnival of Personal Finance was posted on June 20, 2005. To celebrate the Carnival’s first birthday, I asked participants to submit two articles: a recent favorite as usual and one of their favorites from the past year.
Before we get started, if you’re new to Consumerism Commentary, please read more about me (Flexo) and this site or browse some of my favorite entries from 2005.
This week’s submissions are sorted by number of words in the entry, so before you spend time reading an article, you can get a relative idea of how much time the author spent putting the article together. There are many good articles here, especially within the authors’ “favorites.” Some of my favorites from this week’s submissions are highlighted in yellow.
By the way, I didn’t include the few submissions bordering on spam, affiliate links, etc. Here we go.
| I Will Teach You To Be Rich | The World’s Easiest Guide To Understanding Retirement Accounts (2,907 words) Ramit Sethi presents a comprehensive introduction to the 401(k) in addition to other types of retirement accounts. | Favorite: The Best Financial Decision vs. the Financially Smart One |
| Teapot Tantrums | Death Tax Debate (2,229 words) HMIL gives a highly politicized opinion of the “death tax.” | No favorite. |
| Die Eigenheit | John Burley’s 7 Levels of Investor (2,174 words) This post is a critical examination of some of the advice provided by “prosperity trainer” and real estate investment “guru” John Burley, who comes up short. | Favorite: John Burley’s Investment Returns |
| Experiments in Finance | Is getting an MBA worthwhile? (1,678 words) Ricemutt bets her MBA reputation on some points to consider before getting that advanced degree. | Favorite: The pitfalls and dangers of target retirement funds |
| 2million | A Better Look at My Credit Score (1,364 words) 2million finally had a chance to get all 3 credit scores and score impact factors at once from his lender. | Favorite: 0% Balance Transfers Hurt My Credit Score |
| Searchlight Crusade | The Effects of Divorce on Real Estate (1,295 words) Dan Melson presents a few rules of thumb for dealing with real estate while involved with a divorce. | Favorite: The Fallacies of Index Fund Investing |
| BeanCounter Blog | Investing Options Series: Money Market Funds (1,099 words) A comprehensive guide to money market funds, this is the first of a series of articles looking at places to keep your money. | Favorite: Why You Should Give Your Kids Monopoly for Christmas |
| Single Ma’s Fabulous Financials | Friday’s Fabulous Financial: The Emergency Fund (1,041 words) Single Ma takes a look at the Emergency Fund. “Life has a way of throwing us curve balls… and the emergency fund is like our catcher’s mitt.” | Favorite: Pay Off Debt or Save? |
| StopBuyingCrap | HOWTO: Let the Government Teach U Personal Finance (969 words) Cap presents a guide on getting financial information from your favorite government. | Favorite: What’s In Our Wallets? |
| The Investimist | Get Financially Secure, Not Rich (958 words) The author looks at CNN Money’s 4 tips for financial security, even if being wealthy is out of the question. | No favorite. |
| Pragmatic Finance | The 0% Interest Balance Transfer Game (834 words) Jason presents some tips and tricks for making the most aout of 0% interest credit card offers. | Favorite: Rising Interest Rates for Student Loans |
| Don’t Mess With Taxes | Hot hybrids = lower credit, but the boss might help out (823 words) Still thinking about buying a hybrid? If it’s a Toyota you want, then you better act fast to get the full tax credit. | Favorite: Hearts and flowers |
| Debt Blog | The AMT – If You’re Not Scared, You Damn Well Should Be! (820 words) “The year was 1969. There was Free Love, the Hait, cheap gas, cars with big V-8s, and a growing unrest in America. Lurking in the background was the most insidious piece of legislation ever to be perpetrated.” | No favorite. |
| Money and Values | Are consumer surveys, focus groups, etc, too much promoting commercialism? (784 words) “Advertising tries to make us dissatisfied with our lives and ourselves, and then tells us that buying things is the solution.” Is Penny Nickel a hypocrite for supporting advertising through her participation in focus groups? | Favorite: Socially Responsible Investing: Part 1 |
| MotherLoad: The MomAdvice Blog | The Quest to Find Cheap Baby Food (718 words) Amy offers tips for feeding your baby on the cheap and helps keep money in your pocket. Is homemade baby food less expensive than the store bought variety? | Favorite: Easy Ways to Save Your Family Money |
| Entrepreneur’s Journey | Has AdSense Gone Too Far? (695 words) “When a webmaster gets a taste for the money suddenly their eyes start to sparkle and… the motivation behind building the website goes from one of indulging in a hobby to making money.” | Favorite: What Is The 80/20 Rule And Why It Will Change Your Life |
| Ask Uncle Bill | Fifteen Ways to Leave Your…Money (664 words) Uncle Bill didn’t think too highly of a recent Yahoo Finance article offering 15 ways to live more cheaply. | No favorite. |
| The Mortgage Reports | Interest Only vs. 50-Year Mortgages (640 words) The author says, “50-year mortgages are gimmicks. This entry explains mathematically why interest only mortgages are better.” | Favorite: In Defense of Interest Only Mortgages |
| Financial Options | The Week Ahead: Your Financial Road Map for June 19-23, 2006 (639 words) Tom Hanna gives a rundown listing what to expect this upcoming week regarding economic indicators. | No favorite. |
| Small Business Branding | You Will Be Successful in 5 Years (602 words) According to Yaro, if your business meets a need, it will be successful in 5 years. | Favorite: The Small Business Success Secret |
| Budgeting Babe | A Rewarding Life (579 words) “Volunteering has been my religion of choice for as long as I can remember. Working full time presents a challenge, though.” Read about how the Budgeting Babe manages to volunteer time. | Favorite: A Budgeting Babe’s Life |
| Journey to Financial Freedom | 6 Wrong Mindsets in Personal Finance (565 words) Harrison has discovered six “mindsets” that are destructive to one’s personal finances. | Favorite: Formula To Be Financially Free |
| Free Money Finance | How to Create Wealth: Lessons from a New Retiree (564 words) FMF looks at an article from the Washington Post and builds on the Post’s retiring columnist’s suggestions for building financial security. | Favorite: Poverty to Prosperity |
| Home Insurance Guide | HOWTO: Lower Your Homeowner’s Insurance Premium Rates (537 words) The author lists five helpful tips on how to lower you homeowner’s insurance bill. | Favorite: Always Get Renter’s or Homeowner’s Insurance |
| My 1st Million at 33 | Definition of Being Frugal (537 words) “The choice between spending and saving money is always a personal one. For many people, it’s a constant fight against one’s material desires. For some people on the other extreme, it’s a default choice of saving, a tedious time-consuming almost-love affair of pinching every last penny. Where is the proper balance?” | Favorite: MyTwoMillionsAt28 dot com |
| Financial Reflections | Google Spreadsheets: A Review (535 words) The author looks at the pros and cons of Google Spreadsheets so far. | Favorite: Financial Goals 2006 |
| Towards Better Life | Do You Really Need to Buy A New Car? (482 words) The author of this article has a car that is 5++ years old and feels other people should not buy new cars. | Favorite: Towards Property Millionaire |
| Boston Gal’s Open Wallet | Five Year Plan (463 words) Jane Dough takes a look at her next financial steps and decides on ten goals for the next five years. | Favorite: How could I afford my house? By renting out my basement! |
| Mighty Bargain Hunter | Doing what you love vs. doing what pays well (443 words) How much more money would you need to be offered for you to decide to change your job? | Favorite: Missed Fortune 101 – Horrible Advice |
| Make Love, Not Debt | Should You Pay Off Student Loan Interest While In School? (432 words) Her responds to a commenter’s question, “Should we pay the interest on student loans while in school?” | Favorite: Veni’s Debt Diet |
| Rasing4Boys | Introducing the 401(kid) (399 words) Dad describes how he offers matching funds to his kids when they save money, creating a kind of 401(k). | Favorite: Our Allowance System |
| Privet Colorado | Budgeting 102: – Spreadsheeting (387 words) The author takes a quick look at several budgeting tools and emphasizes it’s important to choose one that works for you. | Favorite: Balance Transfers |
| Multiple Mentality | Not So Rewarding (385 words) The reward programs offered by credit cards are hard to use. How much have you gotten our of your rewards program? | No favorite. |
| Career Intensity | Face Your Fears (382 words) Those who wish to intensify their careers are oftentimes held back by fear. Author David Lorenzo offers some of the most typical fears, and ideas for conquering them. | Favorite: Is Wealth Bad? |
| Clay and Wattles | Slaying Another Fossil Fuel Monster (380 words) Kevin shares how he cut his furnace oil bill by 40%. | Favorite: Do We Do Enough About Poverty? |
| Stock Market Beat | Market Using FedEx to Deliver News of Slowing Economy (344 words) Sometimes you look at a stock to see whether you want to invest in it. Other times, you look at it to see what it can tell you about the economy as a whole. | Favorite: Starbucks vs. McDonalds |
| Financial Freedumb | How Am I Going To Meet My Goal? Part 2 (340 words) “I need to figure out a way to turn less money into more. This means, I’m going to hit $65,710.00 out of the $100,000.00 goal I set. How the heck am I going to actually hit $100,000?!?!” | Favorite: So You Think You’ve Heard All the Gas Savings Tips? |
| Five Cent Nickel | Cut Costs and Buy a Plasma TV (326 words) The Today Show recommended cutting costs and buying a plasma television with the newfound money. Find out why this makes Nickel a genius. | Favorite: Worst. Job. Ever. |
| How to Make a Million Dollars | Who Can You Trust With Your Money? (305 words) This article questions those who handle your money and talks about the author’s recent experience with a financial planner. | No favorite. |
| In Cash Flow We Trust | Venture Capitalists Don’t Wear Dresses (300 words) Steve Mertz has some observations about the demographic consistency of venture capitalists. | Favorite: You Gotta Want It! |
| We’re In Debt | Life Lesson (266 words) The “King of Debt” writes about a conversation with a coworker about that individual’s debt. | Favorite: Day 1: It Begins |
| Canadian Capitalist | What’s in your Shopping List? (234 words) The recent plunge in the markets is a good opportunity to get exposure to asset classes that you currently don’t have. It is a good idea to get a shopping list ready. | Favorite: Are Emergency Funds for Everyone? |
| Don Surber | Fat Tax Doesn’t Work (225 words) Well, We just happen to have a soft drinks tax in West Virginia that covers those sugary drinks, yet West Virginia ranks third in adult obesity and third in adult diabetes. | No favorite. |
| MyMoneyForest | Airline Flight Costs Increase (215 words) “Most airlines have decided to bump you up, but not to first class. Nope, 6 of the largest airlines have decided to bump up your ticket costs by about $50 each way.” | Favorite: Retirement: Do I Need to be Rich? |
| InsureBlog | Who is Reading Your Medical File? (213 words) So you’ve survived the ER visit, and the dent to your wallet (as well as your noggin). At least your private medical and financial info is safe, right? Don’t be so sure. | Favorite: Death of a Salesman (and his business) |
| The Holistic Economy | The Individual Development Account (IDA) (210 words) The author explains the new Individual Development Account (IDA), an account to help people learn how to save money (with incentives). | Favorite: Dissecting the High Cost of Healthcare |
| A Penny Saved… | Grocery Shopping at Amazon (207 words) Amazon has recently opened up it’s beta of Amazon Grocery to the public and thatedeguy took a look. | Favorite: New Parent Money Mistakes, Part 1 |
| The Family CEO | Mary Hunt Hits the Nail on the Head! (181 words) The author takes a quick look at Mary Hunt’s Live Your Life for Half the Price. | Favorite: Hiring Myself |
| SavingMoney | The Secret To Removing A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Permanently (162 words) The author presents a way to easily and legally remove a Chapter 7 bankruptcy from your credit reports. This entry contains a link to the full article. | Favorite: Never Pay For An Experian Credit Report Again… |
| Blueprint for Financial Prosperity | Don’t Get Electronic Credit Card Statements (161 words) Not receiving statements in traditional print form through the mail may cause problems. | Favorite: CostCo’s Incredible Return Policy |
| Consumer-Driven Finance | Health Insurance More Like Car Insurance (149 words) New tax-sheltered Health Savings Accounts are making health insurance more like car insurance and encouraging people to be healthier and save more. | Favorite: Finally Getting Frugal |
| Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge | The Lenscrafters Mall Conspiracy (133 words) Be mindful while waiting an hour for those glasses. | Favorite: Buying Insurance |
| The Frugal Underground | How Much Do You Have in Savings? (117 words) Sarah presents a straightfoward poll on the topic of savings with some good information in the comments. | Favorite: Frugal Meal Planning |
| My Financial Awareness | Overcoming the Budget Blues (100 words) Do you have the “budget blues?” This article simply links to another on this fellow’s website. | Favorite: Don’t Give Up Your Latte |
Whew! That’s it for the anniversary edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. If you made it this far, let me know you want a free cookie (although I have none to give away). Thank you to everyone who participated in this edition, particularly those who submitted two articles as I requested. Thanks also to everyone who has hosted the Carnival in its first year of existence.
Next week’s host is Mighty Bargain Hunter. You can find out how to participate here.
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Teeeerific job…and Mazel Tov on the CoPF blogiversary (that’s a word, isn’t it?).
Thank you for hosting!
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Thanks for hosting! Good color shading on the table. It fits well with your color theme. :-)
Here’s to another year of success for the CoPF! Hip Hip Hooray!
here’s to five more years of spiffiness.
Flexo-Great job and thanks so much for all of your efforts. May all your hard work get you a Google Page Rank of 9!
Thanks for throwing such a great birthday party! I’ve invited all my readers to attend.