I received an advance copy of Carl Richards’ book scheduled for wide release on January 3, The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money. Carl is a Certified Financial Planner who began writing articles — and sketching on napkins — at his own website, behaviorgap.com, and now does the same for the New York Times. His napkin sketches stemmed from his love and the effectiveness of using whiteboards to illustrate financial concepts for his clients.

Earlier this week, I spoke to Carl for an upcoming episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, hosted by Bryan J Busch. Listen to this podcast when it airs a week from tomorrow to learn more about the new book — one of the few new personal finance books I was genuinely excited to read. In addition to concepts from the book, we also discussed Carl’s experience losing his house due to his choice to buy into a real estate market bubble that soon imploded.

Carl has offered ten 8×10 prints of one of his most relevant sketches to Consumerism Commentary readers and listeners. The sketch explains who to determine what issues are the most important, whether in financial planning or in life. It is a Venn diagram emphasizing the intersection of things that matter and things you can control. The print is on high-quality, thick card stock.

Here’s how to get a free 8×10 print of the napkin sketch

In order to receive a free print, email book@behaviorgap.com with a subject line indicating you’re participating in the giveaway from Flexo or Consumerism Commentary, and include in the email a proof of purchase. The proof can be a copy of your order notice from Amazon, a picture of your receipt, or anything else that shows you’ve purchased the book. Carl’s team will contact the first ten people directly to ensure the prints find their way to the winners’ hands.

Continue reading for some of the best personal finance articles I discovered this week. Read the full article →

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This is it. Somehow, I’ve survived Giveaway May, having operated contests every weekday this past month. Many winners have not yet been contacted, so if you haven’t heard from me, hang tight. The rest of the winners will be contacted within the next few days, and all winners will be announced on Consumerism Commentary. Each winner is chosen randomly (using the random number generator at random.org) from among those who have successfully completed any and all tasks required for that day.

I’m excited to have Wise Bread as a partner for the final giveaway this month at Consumerism Commentary. Wise Bread is one of the foremost blogs covering the topics of money and frugality. I’ve written a few articles for Wise Bread, as well, and I plan to write more as time allows. Thanks to Wise Bread and Will Chen, we can offer readers $200 in Amazon.com Gift Cards today. Consumerism Commentary will match a $100 gift card for Amazon.com from Wise Bread with the same. Today’s winner will walk away with $200 to spend at the online store.

Here is what you’ll need to do by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on May 31, 2011 to be entered into today’s giveaway.

1. Follow @flexo on Twitter. If you’re already following @flexo, you can ignore this step.
2. Follow @WiseBread on Twitter. If you’re already following @WiseBread, you can ignore this step.
3. Find your favorite personal finance blog on Wise Bread’s top 100 pf blogs chart. See this screenshot for detailed instructions. (Choosing Consumerism Commentary will not increase your chances of winning the giveaway, but it will make me smile!)
4. Tweet: “My favorite blog [blog's Twitter handle or name] is #[ranking] on @WiseBread’s #top100 chart http://bit.ly/toppfblogs” by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. (For example, a suggested Twitter message might read, “My favorite blog @flexo is #12 on @WiseBread’s #top100 chart http://bit.ly/toppfblogs.”)

Thanks, and good luck!

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To readers in the United States, happy Memorial Day! For Americans serving overseas — please arrive home safely.

Many of us had long weekends for the holiday; I spent the weekend traveling. A friend of mine got married recently, and rather than having the traditional wedding, their marriage was private and followed by a honeymoon; when they returned, they celebrated with friends and family with a traditional reception. I traveled with my girlfriend to upstate New York to participate in the festivities. I also had a chance to revisit the town that I lived in from age two to ten. It was my first time back in many years, and the town has changed, with more big-box stores, more chain restaurants, more highways, but still a lot of undeveloped land.

Today, I’m back in New York City, celebrating Memorial Day with my girlfriend’s family. Today, MoneyCrush is joining as a partner for the latest giveaway in Giveaway May at Consumerism Commentary. Every weekday this month, including today’s holiday, Consumerism Commentary is providing a luck reader with a prize. In addition to my $50 Amazon.com Gift Card, Money Crush will be providing the same, making today’s prize worth $100 in total.

Here is what you’ll need to do by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on May 30, 2011 to be entered into today’s giveaway.

1. Subscribe to the Consumerism Commentary RSS feed using your favorite RSS reader. You can use these buttons to add Consumerism Commentary directly into your favorite software, and if you’re already a subscriber, you can skip this step.
   
2. Subscribe to the Money Crush feed using your favorite RSS reader. You can use these buttons, and if you’re already a subscriber, you can skip this step.
   
3. Leave a comment here by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Monday, May 30, 2011.

If you win, you’ll need to meet all the conditions outlined in the Giveaway May introduction. Good luck!

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