I’m happy to be hosting this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance. This last weekend, I took a quick trip with my best friend to Hood River (about an hour east of Portland). I’ll take you on a tour of that lovely little town, as well as highlight the posts this week!
Hood River is in fact on the river
Editor’s Picks
Since I love fuzzy accounting (Arthur Anderson would have liked me!), I enjoyed this post by Squirrelers about Alternative Ways to Calculate Your Real Net Worth.
Money Beagle lets us know that even though we might think we’re saving as much as we possibly can, There Are Always Savings Opportunities.
Now that I barely know what FHA stands for, I really enjoyed reading this: The FHA Might Need a Bailout.
Both Kristen from My Dollar Plan (Turn Your Spring Cleaning into Extra Cash) and Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance (4 Simple Ways to Make Money Through Spring Cleaning), offer some fantastic advice about getting rid of crap and making a few dollars doing so.
Glen Craig from Free From Broke asks,Where’s My Tax Refund?. I’m lucky that mine just showed up in my account, mere days after filing, but if you’re not so lucky, check out Glen’s tips.
Grayson Bell from Debt Roundup boldly in Love and Money – An Internal Debate, that he would not necessarily pay his spouse’s debt. I loved the honesty and openness in this post, and I’m fascinated with how couples handle their money.
Debt
SB from One Cent at a Time presents 19 Pretty Things to Make Debt Snowball a Motivating Factor, and says, “Debt snowball is an effective method for getting out of debt.”
Money Management
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Is Automatic Bill Pay Right for You?, and says, “Automatic bill pay can be a great help to many consumers who want to make sure that their payments are made on time and in full. But there are some considerations associated with automatic bill pay.”
Martin from Studenomics presents How You Gamble With Your Financial Future Every Single Day, and says, “How you’re making mistakes with your money on a daily basis without seeing it.”
Oscar from Money is the Root presents The Perception of Value, and says, “Is perception of value really just a perception?”
Hood River has a well-labeled museum
Peter from Bible Money Matters presents Mint.com Will Soon Be Integrating with a Bank Website Near You, and says, “This past month Mint.com announced that they were going to be creating a new suite of tools that can be integrated with banking partners’ websites, to give customers of the partner banks a more comprehensive PFM tool, all while giving the banks a new opportunity to cross-sell other products from their bank.”
Philip from PT Money presents How to Retire Early – Let’s Run the Numbers, and says, “Ever wonder exactly how much you need saved to retire early? There is a way to figure it out and make early retirement possible.”
Hadley from Epic Finances presents Should you Switch Your Current Account?, and says, “You are not locked down to the same accounts you’ve always had.”
Danielle from Saving Without A Budget presents Money Myths Fourth Edition, and says, “The 4th edition of debunking money myths.”
PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents Were Your Parents Good With Money?, and says, “I present here some evidence that adult children are burying their heads in the sand with regards to their parents’ finances. Newsflash: your parents weren’t perfect with money, even if a majority of you feel that way.”
TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Should People Know the Details of Their Parents’ Finances, and says, “Most of us value of privacy, particularly when it comes to money. That being said, are there reasons why people should know details of their parents’ finances?”
Frugality
Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents How-to Prepare For Your Post-College Trip, and says, “Let’s get ready for that first post-college trip.”
Lynn from Wallet Blog presents Break Out of Your Grocery Rut (and Save in the Process!), and says, “Some people shop at the same store at the same time on the same day, week in and week out. If this sounds like you, you’re missing out on some great bargains. Here are some ways to break out of your grocery rut and save money on your food budget.”
Jay from Daily Fuel Economy Tip presents The Best Tips to Get the Most Fuel Economy Out of Your Car, and says, “Get the most out of every single gallon of gas you buy.”
Lily from Paying Debt Down presents Tips to Cut College Costs and Avoid Borrowing for College, and says, “Tips for your specific college saving plans.”
Bob from Dwindling Debt presents Saving Money by Renting Out a Room, and says, “Offsetting your bills with a roommate may be a great way to lower your mortgage.”
Barbara Friedberg from BARBARA FRIEDBERG PERSONAL FINANCE presents HOW TO AMASS $70,000 BY CHANGING ONE LIFESTYLE HABIT, and says, “Find out how a middle class earner can make a few behavioral changes each week and end up with $70,000. It’s easier than you think.”
Hood River has a water wheel. These used to be much more important than they are now. Go figure.
Budgeting
John from Card Hub presents Spring is Here, Summer Vacations Are Near: Tips for Planning and Saving, and says, “Regardless of what screams spring to you, summer will be here before we know it, so it’s probably wise to start planning potential trips soon. Planning a vacation sooner rather than later gives you something to look forward to, enables better budgeting, and offers more time to find the best possible deals on hotels and airfare.”
Career
Mike from The Financial Blogger presents The 3 Prime Jobs I’ve Refused So Far, and says, “Have you ever turned down a sweet gig?”
Lenny from Best Money Saving Blog presents The Most Important Questions you Should Answer Before You Retire, and says, “If you have retirement on the brain make sure you read this first.”
Gary from Gajizmo.com presents Best Careers For The Future, and says, “Regardless of whether you are entering or exiting college or a post-graduate program, or even considering a change in careers, it is important to look at the long-term financial prospects of the industry you plan to work in. This is a list of the best jobs for the future, supported with statistics on job growth rates, salaries, benefits, and future stability of the sector.”
Sam from The New Business Blog presents Marketing and Advertising Tips for the Small Business Owner-Part 4, and says, “More tips to build and brand your small business.”
Real Estate
Daniel from Make Money Make Cents presents The Costs of Selling Your Home, and says, “Things to think about before you sell.”
Jack from Money Saving Ethics presents My Thoughts on the Real Estate Market, and says, “A finance professional’s opinion on the real estate market.”
Hood River is a rich agricultural area
Saving
Michal from Dough Roller presents How Much Money Can You Save Working From Home?, and says, “Forty percent of American employees hold jobs that could easily be done from home.”
Matt from Budget SNOB presents Saving on Travel in 2013, and says, “Tips on how to save on your travel in 2013.”
Lance from Money Life and More presents 3 Steps to Simplify Your Banking and Other Accounts, and says, “Over the years I have lived in many different cities and states. I seem to have opened a similarly large number of banking and other accounts as I’ve moved. It isn’t something I’ve consciously done, but whenever I move on to a new bank or service I almost always leave the old service open (assuming it doesn’t have any fees) just in case I need it again in the future.”
Investing
Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents Investing: 7 Steps to Spring Clean Your Portfolio, and says, “Spring time is traditionally the time to clean the garage and to get the yard in shape. It’s also a great time to clean up your investment portfolio. Here are 7 steps to a cleaner, more efficient portfolio.”
Katie from IRA Basics presents What is an Educational IRA, and says, “Learn more about an education savings account.”
D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents Characteristics of Great Dividend Growth Stocks, and says, “What makes a great dividend stock? Investors in dividend growth stocks are looking for stocks that will increase their dividend each and every year at a rate that makes the stock a better investment than fixed income alternatives on a risk adjusted basis. I have found that stocks that are able to do this share some common characteristics.”
Jon from Novel Investor presents The Two Sides Of Investment Risk, and says, “Investment risk comes in many forms. Most of the time the market does a good job interpreting those risks. But not always.”
Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey from My Personal Finance Journey presents Which Short-Term Bond Mutual Fund Should You Use For Your Fixed Income Asset Allocation in Taxable and Tax-Sheltered Accounts?, and says, “This post seeks to answer the question, “What is the best specific type of short-term bond fund for my needs?”"
nicole from Grumpy Rumblings presents Why I like stocks over real estate, and says, “Nicole and Maggie discuss why they prefer passive stock investing to active real estate investing.”
harry campbell from Your PF Pro presents What Should I Do With My Bond Funds?, and says, “Bonds are an essential part of any diversified portfolio. Although we generally don’t expect the same high returns with bonds as we do with stocks, there is much less risk. Bond funds can be a great diversification tool since they have low correlation with stock funds. Essentially, that means that the health of the stock market will have little to do with the bond market. Stocks could be soaring while bonds remain relatively neutral or even negative(and vice versa).”
Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Six Dividend Paying Stocks I Purchased for my IRA, and says, “I purchased six dividend stocks in an IRA. By making this IRA contribution, I was able to reduce my tax due by more than half. The amount I put in that IRA produced an instant tax savings that was equivalent to over one third of its value in taxes. ”
Michael Kitces from Nerd’s Eye View presents Why Cancelling An Existing Whole Life Or Universal Life Policy May Be A Bad Idea, and says, “Normally, most people who don’t need life insurance simply cancel the coverage. But in today’s low return environment, the reality is that an existing life insurance policy can actually provide a remarkably appealing fixed return if held until death, which means even if you wouldn’t buy the coverage today, it may make a lot of sense to keep what you’ve already got!”
Credit
Glen from Credit Card Smarts presents More Credit Card Issuers Reduce Missed Payment Penalties, and says, “Missing a payment date on your credit card used to mean a late fee and a rate hike. But more cards are coming out that show leniency with late payments.”
It will be interesting to see if my net worth goes down before it goes up. My guess is that it will.
