Ah yes, the holiday season is almost upon us. And in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, some of us are cringing in horror at the prospects of having to keep up the appearance of a ‘typical’ Christmas. But why? So the next day the family can haul their loot to far off corners of the house only to have it be forgotten in a week or so. What exactly have we come to? $15 CDs, $20 DVDs, $25 gift cards as stocking stuffers! What happened to some peppermint sticks, a plum, and a few oranges, turning the kiddies inside out with delight? If you’ve had it with the ridiculous costs of Christmas, here are a few ways to cut your costs while keeping the holiday spirit of giving intact.

1. Do it Yourself

It’s time to put some of those seldom-used skills to use. Are you proficient at carpentry? Have you a knack for music? Is it possible you could force yourself to cook? Consider making your own Christmas gifts this year. A CD of favorite songs for a loved one, a new handmade dresser or jewelry box, or a dinner cooked to order could be wonderful, not to mention inexpensive Christmas gifts.

2. Husbands and Wives

Women love to be pampered, and men … well, men like attention just as much as their wives. Making coupons for free massages and home spun spa treatments can save you money and get you both you some great pampering time.

3. Child’s Play

It typically isn’t until ages four or five that children begin wanting new, unused toys. Until that point, why spend the money on store bought items when the kiddies are just as happy with used toys or hand-me-downs? Trust me - unless you have a baby Einstein on your hands, they’ll never know the difference. My child has been playing with garage sale finds and family hand-me-downs for three years now and never complained once.

4. Make Stockings Fun Again

You don’t need gift cards, CDs, iPods, cell phones, DVDs, and video games to stuff stockings. Stockings are meant to be filled with little treats that shouldn’t break the bank. Toys, food, candy, and games, are perfect stocking stuffers, many of which can be found at discount or dollars store and can allow you to fill a friend’s or family member’s stocking for $10 or less.

5. Vacation Celebration

Make memories that count this Christmas. If you typically take the family on a yearly vacation, consider making that their Christmas present. You were going to spend the money on it anyway, but doing so at Christmas can allow you to make it a ‘family present’ and could possibly get you out of the cold weather for a while.

6. Play it Again

Logic would tend to point to most people rather having 20 used CDs as opposed to three brand new ones. Yet, seldom do we see resale items showing up as Christmas gifts. As long as the used items still work well, there isn’t much difference except for price. It’s the same for video games and DVDs. With online vendors offering all but the latest releases, going used is a great option for lightening the financial load at Christmas time.

7. Parental Presents

What happened to the days when kids actually made things for their parents? It seems that nowadays kids are asking for money to go out and buy mom this or find dad that, when all parents really want is something from the heart that shows their children still love them like they did when they were three.

8. Start Early, Save Big

One of the best ways to reduce costs during the holiday season is not to wait for the season to arrive to begin your shopping. Keeping your eyes open for deals throughout the year will decrease the pressure on you to run out and buy something that isn’t on sale because you waited until the last minute.

9. Brand Name Pressure

Due to advertising and fashion trends, we often feel tremendous pressure to buy brand name products when we can find store brand items of equal quality for half the price. If you want to save, don’t be swayed by those savvy advertising executives. Buy for quality and price, not just for a name.

10. Trade ‘n Go

If you’ve given up on Christmas gifts altogether, you can always do what my grandparents used to - trade fifty-dollar bills and head out to Walmart. On a serious note though, consider exchanging gift cards to restaurants you like, or stores like Target, Walmart, Home Depot or Lowe’s. This way you can enjoy your gifts and get what you want, while having the option to use them for practical things like going out to eat or doing home repairs and improvements.

About the Author

Kris writes about managing personal finances for an Australian credit cards comparison website where you can can compare 0% balance transfer and cash back credit cards that help you save money throughout the year. In his spare time Kris enjoys reading and spending time with his young family.

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps to have a cushy retirement

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 12th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 11th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 10th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition

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Welcome to the 12th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of career, credit card, debt management programs, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

To the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Just In Time For Labor Day, Some Job Interview Humor posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

nissim ziv presents How to Negotiate a Salary: Negotiation Tips, Questions & Expectations posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “The article brings the best tips, tactics, questions and answers for your salary nagotiations.”

nissim ziv presents Resume Objective Ideas posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Many resume objectives and career summaries are missing the point. A properly written resume objective can pull the reader to your resume while a bad one can drive him or her out.”

FMF presents How to Make Up for Being Ugly posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “One way to make your career better: don’t be ugly.”

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Woman Tribune presents “Can My Credit Card Company Do That To Me?” posted at Woman Tribune, saying, “A list of current complaints from credit cardholders and comprehensive answers about several current credit card terms.”

OnlineCollege presents Online Colleges and Financial Aid - Top Accredited Online Colleges, Universities, and Courses posted at Universities and Colleges.

Braudis Pegram presents Are Some American Banks Un-American? posted at The koH Resources Blog.

Alex presents Is Buying a Rental Property Worth it? posted at MoneyStance - Money Making Opportunity Reviews, saying, “A getting out of debt Journal where Alex is paying down a half a million dollars in debt while simultaneously evicting tenants and battling the woes of a landlord.”

Colin Robertson presents Is Credit Card Interest Deductible? posted at The Truth About Credit Cards.com.

CreditCardAssist presents What Are The Responsibilities of a Co-Signer? posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Some risks and responsibilities to be aware of when co-signing for a credit card account or a loan.”

oneadvice presents Do I Need Debt Advice? posted at One Advice, saying, “Not sure if you need debt advice? Want to find out when the best time is to seek advice about your debts? Find out here…”

oneadvice presents Become Debt Free posted at Debt Free, saying, “Learn how to become debt free. Depending on your circumstances it could be easier than you think…”

Steve Faber presents - The Right Debt Management Solution – How It Can Help You Succeed Financially posted at DebtBlog, saying, “The ability to properly manage and use debt is one of the most vital skills you can possess, and one of the key determinants in your financial success.”

Credit Shout presents How often do credit scores change? posted at CreditShout.

Billeater presents How to Find a New Credit Card posted at Billeater.

Frugal Living

BWL presents Free land? posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “Believe it or not, Kansas is still giving away free land available to homesteaders…”

Joseph presents Cheap DVD Movies posted at How to save money

Investing

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Best Brokerages for Roth IRAs posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Where should you open a Roth IRA? This article reviews some of the best mutual fund firms and discount brokerages for opening a Roth IRA.”

Mike Piper presents How to Rollover a 401k into an IRA posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A step-by-step guide to rolling over a 401(k) account into an IRA. Also includes tips on pitfalls to avoid.”

Retirement Savior presents The Future of ETFs posted at Retirement Savior, saying, “Will the future of ETF’s be good or bad for investors? Times are changing, and the ETF “wild west” period is over.”

Sam presents Buy 500 Companies for $1,000 with a Stock Index Mutual Fund posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “Thanks for including my article. Here’s an excerpt… If you are a small investor who wants to meet your long-term investment goals, to minimize risk and to save the time and expense of researching stocks for yourself, an Index Fund is the ideal investment vehicle. Index Funds allow average people to participate intelligently in the stock market. If you have only $100 to invest, you can still buy shares in an Index Fund. People invest in Index Funds because they believe that stock markets are efficient and that stock-pickers on average will not do as well as the market. When you consider that other mutual funds, those with active managers, often do not perform as well as Index Funds, you can see why many small investors buy Index Funds. Here we answer your questions. What actually is a stock Index? What is an Index Fund? Is an Index Fund a good investment for you? How much does it cost to buy an Index Fund? How much will an Index Fund earn for you? How do you buy shares in an Index Fund? Which Index Fund should you buy? Finally, what are the tax considerations when you buy an Index Fund?”

Others

Bucksome presents Is Your Partner Financially Compatible? posted at Buck$omeboomer’s Financial Path to Retirement, saying, “A study that included over a thousand adults determined that even though people are more likely to select partners that with matching personality traits and looks they go for the opposite when it comes to finances. Of course the result of the opposite orientation is fighting. In my Financial Peace University class, Dave Ramsey mentions that money is the number one reason couples fight (and in some cases divorce). So what do you do once you fall in love with a financial opposite and marry?”

Property

Chris presents Buying a home? Learn how negative equity can become your worst nightmare. posted at Home I Own.

Jeff Rose presents How to Hire an Architect For Building Your Dream Home posted at Jeff Rose.

Retirement

Bill Spohnholtz presents 401K Rollovers (Gimme My Money Back) | Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade posted at Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade, saying, “You left the company for a reason, why let your money make your old company some money? There are better ways!”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 11th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 10th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Budgeting for your financial goal: that illusive “other” category
• $170 million richer - 5 + 1 points on what everyone can learn from mint.com
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• Is this the time to invest in gold?

In this post, Natalie from One Advice discusses the difference between Debt Management Programs and Debt Consolidation and how it can help you to get rid of your debt.

How Debt Management Programs Can Help You Get Rid of Debt

You may have come across debt management plans under a number of various names, including financial management plans, debt payment programs and debt payment plans. For people with bad credit, this is something that they may already have heard of.

All of these are basically names for the same financial product. What a Debt Management Program is designed to do is consolidate all your unsecured debts into a plan which allows you to make a single monthly payment lower than what you were paying before. This is essential if you are looking for credit repair or improve credit ratings.

You may have heard of debt consolidation before and think that this is the same type of thing, to put it simply, it often isn’t. Debt consolidation predominately means that you take out a loan and use this new debt to repay all of your old debt. A debt management program does not involve borrowing any further money so you don’t increase your debt levels. This is an important difference, and when deciding on which debt solution is best for you, it is important that you understand these differences.

How Can a Debt Management Program Help Me Get Rid of Debt?

Debt management plans are arranged by professional debt solutions companies. Make sure you do your research first to ensure that you get getting debt advice from an ethical company who have a long history of successfully working with unsecured creditors to repay debt.

The company will then work at getting the plan put into place. They will talk to your unsecured creditors and agree the debt management plan on your behalf. Some creditors also agree to freezing additional interest and charges which mean you don’t have to worry about your debt increasing, which is perfect when you are looking at ways to get rid of debt as effectively as possible.

A debt management plan can help you get rid of debt. The days of missing repayments to your unsecured debt and landing yourself with monthly charges should be a thing of the past. The debt management plan will be tailored to your own unique set of circumstances at a level which is affordable to you.

Debt management plans are also flexible. If you are in a position where you can increase your repayments then this is possible, just speak to the debt management company and ask that the amendments are make to your plan. Paying off more through your plan should help you get rid of debt even quicker.

If you are looking for a ‘quick fix’ debt solution then a debt management plan is not for you. It does not allow you any type of debt relief. But it does allow you to make your debt more affordable on a monthly basis which is a great way to begin to get rid of debt.

About the Author:

One Advice are a debt solutions company who offer a full range of financial management solutions all under one roof. No matter what your debt level, the One Advice team can ethically advise you as to which of their products is best for your personal financial circumstances.

Other posts on Debt Management:

• Debt management programs - 3 misleading myths

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps to have a cushy retirement

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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Gold has been around for centuries and it is often considered as a symbol of wealth and power from then till now.

Precious metals, in particular gold, has always been a popular investment choice for investors.

Why would you want to invest in gold?

Generally, people invest in or purchase gold for 3 reasons:

1. They are looking for an alternative investment to the share market.
2. They want to hedge (protect) themselves against economic crisis or currency crisis.
3. They want to make money from the increase in gold prices

For no 1, this is normally done for diversification purposes. You’ve already invested in the stock market, properties and now you want to invest in other assets.

For no 2, this is due to the fact that gold prices normally acts in reverse (or negatively correlated) to the economy and the currency. Meaning, if the currency weakens (value of the currency goes down), the price of gold will increase, and vice versa.

For no 3, well, that’s why people invest isn’t it? They ride on the increase in price. For this case, they invest when the gold price increases.

Currently, the US Dollars is weakening and the gold price is increasing - which begs to the question -

Is this the time to invest in gold?

My opinion, yes, this is the time. I personally have begun to invest in gold for these two reasons - the weakening of the US currency and the uncertainty of the recovery of the economy.

Well, look at the gold charts and it will tell you. Or go to the jewelery store and have your gold valued - you’ll be pleasantly surprised that the current value of your gold is greater than the time when you purchased it.

For me, investment in gold is always for the long-run. Well, you can speculate and watch the gold price movement like a hawk, but it will be easier if you do that in the stock market.

Ways you can invest in gold

There are a few ways you can invest in gold.

The usual way is to buy gold ornaments (your wife would love that idea) or to purchase gold coins or purchase gold bullion.

You can also invest in gold through exchange traded funds (or ETFs) or invest shares of companies which operates gold mine or companies which sells gold.

A more sophiscated or savvy investor can also look at commodities, derivatives or spread betting.

Whichever way you like, you should follow what you are comfortable with.

In summary, investment in gold is always a good alternative to invest in shares. While you’re expanding your investment, you may wanna put gold as one of your investment preference.

Photo courtesy of motoyen

Please read the disclaimer

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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The owners of free budget tools website mint.com has a great reason to celebrate – Intuit has agreed to purchase the website for $170 million in cash. This is more amazing considering the fact that mint.com is just a 2-year start up company.

It’s not rocket science and it can potentially be done by everyone.

So what can we learn from all of this?

1. Be at the right place at the right time

One of the reasons how mint.com popularity sky rocketed is because this is the time when people are more conservative in spending and is venturing into more budget and frugal living.

Ever since the mortgage crisis and the recession, the cultural shift from spending spree to prudent spending has helped mint.com achieves natural traffic to its website. Gone are the days where spending spree is a the dominant culture.

When more and more people are scurrying to budget their income and expenses, mint.com gives them the tools that they need – budgeting tools for free.

Whether this is a genius marketing strategy or pure luck (I think it’s the first one), it pays off big to be at the right place at the right time.

2. Give and you shall be rewarded

Everybody likes things for free. And mint.com did just that. Free budgeting tools. Time and time again, we have seen website that gives out free services made it big. Some examples include the all-famous google.com (free search website), facebook.com (free social website), YouTube.com (free video sharing website) and hotmail.com (free email website).

Mint.com competitors which offers a subscription-based service for budgeting tools tanked because of this.

3. Develop useful items for your visitors

This is paramount for any successful websites. Mint.com provides a useful item for a hungry market – a free budgeting tool for a large group of people who wants to straighten out their finances.

4. Viral marketing still works – and it works well

Viral marketing, or marketing from the word of mouth works well. Mint.com became popular from this effect – either through actual word of mouth, or from social network such as facebook.com and MySpace.com

5. We should learn on how to develop applications

This is actually a reminder to me. It’s very easy to create websites now. A 5-minute approach and WHAM! – you got yourself a blog. To make your blog / website a notch higher than the rest, I think it’s important that we need to also learn the nuts and bolts of it so that we can develop tools that will help our visitors to achieve their needs.

6. Visitor & content is king

The final point to note – to make your website useful & popular – you need to have good contents and you need to find out what your visitors are looking for when they surf to your website.

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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In this post, Robin Williams talks about the effectiveness of debt settlement programs in US.

There are many companies that offer debt settlement program in United States but not all debt settlement firms can be relied upon. This is because greed has overpowered benevolence. And this is evident from the innumerable complaints that the state attorney generals, state regulators, BBB have been receiving over the past few months. This holds true not only for debt settlement USA companies but also for debt consolidation companies operating in the United States.

Why are consumers complaining about debt settlement companies?

There are many reasons why consumers have endless grievances against debt settlement US firms though not against all of them. Reports reveal that there are many debt settlement companies that promise to help you with your debts but once they get their money, they fail to keep their promises. Debt settlement companies charge high upfront fees and in case you drop out of the program, you do not get back the fees.

How do debt settlement firms help you to ward off bankruptcy?

Debt settlement is an important option to ward off bankruptcy. When you settle your debts, the total amount you owe gets reduced by a considerable amount. This reduces your debt load too. And if debt settlement is able to help you get rid of your debts, you steer clear of filing bankruptcy.

When you hire their services, they will help you by reducing the total amount you owe by as much as 40% to 60%. This is usually done after negotiations with your creditors. A trust account is created in which you make payments till the time you don’t gather 50% of your outstanding balance. This account will not earn any interest. Once the account has enough cash, negotiations begin. And you pay off your creditors.

Many states have passed bills and few states have enforced laws that regulate the debt settlement firms in the respective states. These bills are usually passed so that the debt settlement firms don’t trick debtors and siphon out money without reason. Prior to hiring the debt settlement firm, make sure it is a member of The Association of Settlement Companies or TASC.

The BBB, state attorney generals and state regulators have been receiving innumerable complaints from the debtors about the anomalies prevailing in the debt help industry. It is being anticipated that these bills will curb the irregularities that are existing in the debt settlement industry to a great extent and will simplify the debt reduction process for debtors.

Other posts on Debt Management:

• Debt management programs - 3 misleading myths

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps to have a cushy retirement

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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Welcome to the 11th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of  career, credit card, debt management programs, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

To the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If  you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Linda Jones presents 100 Blog Posts You Should Read Before Going to Med School posted at Nursing Schools.net.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Working Stiffed posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

nissim ziv presents Teacher Interview Questions and Answers posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Classroom management, discipline, behavioral management, contacting parents and above all your teaching methods are parts of the teacher interview questions. This article suggests answers for the most common questions asked during a teacher’s interview.”

nissim ziv presents How to Pick a Career of Interest? How to Find your Perfect Career? posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Picking a career has never been easy. Particularly today, when almost anything and everything has been converted into a business model, the scenario is quite different from ten to twenty years ago.”

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Finavigation presents What You Should Know About Credit posted at Finavigation, saying, “Post explaining what young people need to know about credit, credit reports, credit scores, and improving their credit.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Equifax Credit Report and Score: Review of Equifax Products posted at The Smarter Wallet

CreditCardAssist presents Excellent Credit Requires Your Own Due Diligence posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Maintaining an excellent credit score has never been more important and these days it requires constant upkeep and due diligence to maintain it.”

Tom Drake presents Debt Service Ratio - GDS and TDS | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “GDS and TDS are ratios that banks and mortgage brokers will calculate to determine if you are financially able to afford your mortgage.”

Vichuda presents Credit Card Free Annual Fee Warnings posted at Kota Medan Guide.

Investing

Silicon Valley Blogger presents ETrade Online Brokerage Account: Top Broker Review posted at The Digerati Life

Tom Drake presents Are Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) Risk Free? posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Guaranteed Investment Certificates are generally considered to be risk free investments. However, there are some risks that you need to be aware of and also some ideas to reduce those risks.”

Investing Toolkit presents Buy Low And Leverage The Stock Market posted at Investing Toolkit

Wealth-Ed presents Get Ready for Roth IRA Conversions in 2010 posted at Wealth Education - Investment Ideas Personal Financial Advice, saying, “This news snuck up on me, but it is worth sharing. There was a provision in a 2006 Tax Bill that removes the limits for Roth IRA Conversions in the 2010 tax year. This means, that as early as January, it will be possible for those making more than $100,000 per year (individuals or ‘married filing jointly’ to convert a Traditional or SEP IRA into a Roth IRA.”

Mike Piper presents Discount Brokerage IRA Comparison posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A comparison of all the major discount brokerage firms, intended to help you determine the lowest cost place to open an IRA.”

Chris McClelland presents Mistakes that can cause your investments to falter posted at Lucrative Investing.

Others

Banker Saver presents TARP Bailout Funds: How Have Banks Used Taxpayers’ Money? posted at Banker Saver.

Emily Simmons presents How to Have a Successful Yard Sale posted at Be In Health Now, saying, “These are the tips my husband and I followed when having our yard sale last week, resulting in more than $400 extra in our traveling fund! Hope you find them helpful, too.”

Mark Aucamp presents Confidence is the key to recovery from this recession posted at Money Saving Tips, Consumer Finance, Expert, Advice and Help | Talk Money Blog.

Chris McClelland presents Right wing conservatives and coal companies join together to promote pollution posted at Lucrative Investing.

Property

Doug Boude presents Buying a New Home is Easy! Part 2 of 2 posted at Doug Boude (rhymes with ‘loud’), saying, “This is actually the third of three posts in the series as I chronicled the building of my wife and I’s new home. I share all of the things you wish you knew ahead of time in hopes of helping others make smart choices in their new home buying experience.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 10th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Budgeting for your financial goal: that illusive “other” category
• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• How debt management programs can help you get rid of debt

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In this post, Adam from RabbitFunds.com talks on his experience in budgetting for his financial goal.

So my wife and I were walking through the mall the other day when she noticed a sale at Bath & Body Works for hand soap. I asked her how our supply of hand soap and lotion was doing and she remarked that it was low. I immediately thought of our budget and asked myself if we had room in our budget. I then realized that we had a recurring problem, “Should purchases at Bath & Body Works go in the Grocery budget, the Personal Care budget, or some other more appropriate budget?”

Now, I imagine that you may be thinking that I am splitting hairs, and I probably am. But this brief conversation in my head gave way to a larger problem. We have purchases that don’t occur monthly that I don’t budget for since our budget is monthly. Some examples include my wife’s trip to the salon every 4 months (approx. $100), oil changes every 3000 miles (approx. $20), and clothes at the beginning of the school year (I have a monthly Clothing budget, but this exceeds it).

Since I am not budgeting for these infrequent purchases, we use savings to pay for them.

And maybe that’s what your savings are for and maybe not. My savings are intended for specific goals (retirement, vacations, large purchases, etc) and for emergencies. Don’t tell my wife, but her hair is not an emergency. So I hate using savings to pay for the trip to the salon.

I brought this issue up to my wife while we strolled through the mall. We currently don’t have an Other category, in part because I find it too non-descript for analysis purposes. However, “other” happens. Meaning, we need an Other budget category to cover purchases that occur on a less than monthly basis. If it happens monthly, then it should have a dedicated category.

How much should my “Other” budget category be?

Well, that’s a harder question to answer. We use Microsoft Money to budget so I can run a couple of reports and see how much I typically spend on Other. Though from month to month, the amount dedicated to this category is probably a moving target. So here is what I suggest. Make your best guess and start there. So for example, let’s say you estimate that on any given month, you have $75 in non-monthly, non-emergency purchases. After two or three months, evaluate what you actually spent. You should specifically look at two things. First, did you spend more or less than the $75. Second, did you need to spend the money. You may find that your Other spending isn’t really necessary.

So this category is my dump for miscellaneous purchases?

No. Be careful with this category. The purpose of a budget is to understand how much you spend and where you spend that money so you can minimize expenditures and maximize savings/investments. Be sure that you don’t use an Other category as a way to avoid facing the facts. If something can and should be tracked, then do so.

So what is in your budget’s Other category?

About the Author

Adam Williams is the founder and author for RabbitFunds.com, a blog with the purpose to help the average family better understand financial issues, financial planning techniques, and ultimately a delineated path to creating a personalized, comprehensive financial plan. Adam received a degree in Financial Planning from the Marriott School of Management, ranked 5th in the nation for undergraduate business programs by Business Week.

Other posts on Budgeting & Financial Goal:

• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• 5 steps to set financial goals that you can achieve
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• Credit card debt - why you shouldn’t pay the minimum amount
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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Welcome to the 10th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of  career, credit card, debt management programs, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

To the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If  you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Patrick @ Military Money presents COBRA Benefits Subsidy in the 2009 Economic Stimulus Recovery Act posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “The 2009 Economic Stimulus Plan includes additional COBRA and unemployment benefits.”

MoneyNing presents How to Get Out of a Rut and Out of a Slump posted at Money Ning, saying, “Ever in a rut? Here’s how to get out.”

nissim ziv presents Why Did You Leave Your Last Job? Interview question posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “There are several answers to the eternal question, “Why did you leave your last job?” While the question can be asked in many ways, the answer should always be the same.”

FMF presents The Best Way to Make Your Resume Stand Out posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Ideas on how to get your resume read.”

MoneyNing presents How to Break Bad Habits posted at Money Ning, saying, “How many bad habits would you like to break?”

Chris McClelland presents Tips to Surviving Business School or Undergraduate Life: Books, Textbooks, and Supplies posted at Lucrative Investing.

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

David presents Capital One® Platinum Prestige Credit Card posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “A review of the Capital One Platinum Prestige credit card.”

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loan posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

PT presents Credit Card Tips and The Best Student Credit Cards posted at Prime Time Money

David presents 10 Super Cool Credit Card Offers (You’ve Never Heard Of) posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Ten super cool credit cards you have never heard of.”

The Dough Roller presents List of Low Interest Credit Cards posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “while credit card companies have a reputation of charging exorbitant interest rates, the truth is that many cards come with modest, single-digit APRs.”

oneadvice presents Debt Management Myths posted at One Advice, saying, “After being inspired by a guest post on Nil2Million.com, I thought it would be good to look at further debt management myths and see how truthful they are…”

Jenny presents Stop The Credit Card Madness posted at Stop Spending Money, saying, “If people remembered that buying an item on credit essentially meant paying an extra 20% more for the item, they would be less likely to spend.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Credit Monitoring Services To Check Your Credit Report posted at The Smarter Wallet

Joe E presents Loan Forgiveness Programs Reduce or Eliminate Student Loan Debt | Consolidating Student Loans Online posted at Consolidating Student Loans Online, saying, “Student loan debt is often times the second largest financial burden (behind a mortgage) that someone may tackle in their lifetime. So needless to say, it’s sometimes to tough to pay back tens of thousands of dollars of student debt - especially in a bad economy where jobs are scarce. There are federal programs available, however, that can help pay off some, or all, of your student loan debt through various loan forgiveness programs.”

Jermey Simon presents Icelandic travel paid for with credit card, kronur posted at blogs.creditcards.com.

Matthew Paulson presents Are Credit Unions Better than Banks for Consumers? posted at American Banking News.

Jim Eastman presents 7 Secrets the Credit Bureaus Don’t Want You to Know posted at Credit Matters and Credit Repair.

MatthewPaulson presents College Debt - Work Study a Unique Solution posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

Billeater presents How To Avoid The Dangers Of Debt Consolidation Loans posted at Billeater.

Frugal Living

The Smarter Wallet presents YNAB (You Need A Budget) Review, Financial Budgeting Software posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Review of a budgeting tool.”

Swiftkickinthe.com presents 7 Ways to Save a Little Money Now posted at Swiftkickinthe.com, saying, “I have been doing a little cost cutting on our wedding budget in the last couple of days. And I started thinking about ways to save a little money in our every day budget as well. So why not share the love and write a post on 7 ways to save a little extra money now.”

Patrick @ Military Money presents Money Management Tips for the New Recruits and Recent Graduates posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Basic money management tips for people going out into the “real world” for the first time. This article applies to new military recruits and recent college graduates.”

Four Pillars presents Back To School Cell Phone Deals posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Comparison of the best cell phone deals for students heading back to school.”

Roshawn Watson presents Should You Buy A House Outright? posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Suppose you find yourself in the somewhat unique predicament of having the resources to purchase your house outright without a mortgage. Is it then financially-wise to make the purchase?”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Pick the Low Hanging Fruit to Get your Finances in Order Quickly posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “These are some simple steps you can take to make big wins with your personal finances. Sometimes the small wins aer more important than the big wins!”

Steve Faber presents How to Find Affordable Engagement Rings posted at Propose To My Girlfriend, saying, “Getting engaged is expensive, and one of the most expensive parts of the entire proposition is the engagement ring. Inside are some strategies to help you get her the ring she deserves and save money doing it.”

Jason @ Redeeming Riches presents What a Cow, a Red Box and Hair Clippers Have in Common posted at Redeeming Riches, saying, “Find out what these three things ahve in common and how they can help you reach your goals!”

Wise_Bread presents Beyond Budgeting Pocketsmith Helps You Forecast posted at Wisebread.

Billeater presents Save Money on Movies and DVDs posted at Billeater.

Insurance

KCLau presents Withdraw EPF Fund to Pay Insurance Premium? posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Vincent Lee from Penang generously shares an idea to use your EPF”

Joseph presents How To Save Money On Auto Insurance posted at How to save money.

MatthewPaulson presents Investing in Renters Insurance posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

Investing

Adam Williams presents The number one thing you should consider when investing posted at RabbitFunds.com, saying, “Many investors focus primarily on return. However, in the myriad of factors to consider when investing, liquidity should be at the top for the average investor.”

Investing Toolkit presents What’s A Stock Market Index? posted at Investing Toolkit.

Investing School presents Scottrade Promotion and Review posted at Investing School, saying, “Scottrade has been winning customers over with its amazing customer support. See what the stock broker offers.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Scottrade, OptionsHouse, and tradeMONSTER Review posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Reviews of Scottrade, OptionsHouse, and tradeMONSTER, three of the top online discount brokerage firms.”

Vlada Kynsky presents Short interest posted at StockWeb, saying, “What is short interest and where to find useful information. Short interest filter, short interest in chart and reports.”

ABC presents Investment Real Return posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A simple explanation of investment real return.”

Finance Tips 101 presents 7 Easy Tips To Help Save Money At The Grocery Store | Finance Tips 101 posted at Finance Tips 101.

The Dough Roller presents Summary of the Best Online Discount Brokers posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “You’ve probably heard of many discount sites that allow you to trade stocks online (e.g., Zecco, Scottrade), but I’m guessing there are a lot of online brokers you’ve never heard of (Sogotrade may be one example).”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents OptionsXpress For Stock Investing and Options Trading posted at The Digerati Life

Jimmy Atkinson presents Fixed Income ETFs: What Every Financial Advisor Needs To Know | ETF Database posted at ETF Database.

ABC presents REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) – Invest In Real Estate The Easy Way posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short and simple explanation of REITs - Real estate investment trusts.”

Mike Piper presents Should I Rollover my 401k into an IRA? posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A guide to answering one of the most frequently asked investing questions: Should I rollover my 401k?”

Pinyo presents 401k Rollover To IRA: What is it and how does it work? posted at Moolanomy, saying, “Learn how 401k rollover works and which rollover is the best for your situation.”

Ben presents Stock Analysis: Earnings per Share Price to Earnings Ratio posted at Money Smart Life.

straight presents Bernanke posted at Stock Market News.

20smoney presents 401(k) Planning: The Best Way To Supplement Your 401(k) posted at 20s Money, saying, “The best ways to supplement your 401(k) plan!”

Make Money Online

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Cheap Web Hosting Services For Those On A Budget posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Consider cheap web hosting for your online business!”

Joseph Ekwu presents LAMIDO SANUSI SACKS BANK MD?s posted at Josephekwu’s Weblog, saying, “This is Nigeria…read please”

Jeremy presents How to Lower Your Car Insurance Payments posted at The Car Spot, saying, “A great way to save money is to lower your monthly car insurance payments.”

Online Dividends presents $75 Checking Bonus Deal at Bank of America posted at Blogging Banks.

Sam Selim presents Fast Cash through Affiliate Marketing posted at Intense Buzz Gateway to Online Profits.

Sam Selim presents Make Money When Visitors Leave your Site posted at Intense Buzz Gateway to Online Profits.

Others

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents How to Stop Junk Mail Forever posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Tips on how to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive”

nickel presents What is a Mortgage Escrow Account? posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Cindi presents The Business Education You Never Got? posted at Chiropractic Marketing | Chiropractic Advertising, saying, “I’ve had to educate myself on how to run a successful business, and specifically how to market my business. During this time, I’ve read literally hundreds of books.”

R.J. Weiss presents Personal Finance Plan: Phase 1 posted at Genyweath.com.

R.J. Weiss presents Personal Finance Plan Phase 2 posted at Genyweath.com.

Matt Mason presents Do You Really Need Good Credit? posted at FYMO Personal Finance Blog.

Deposit Accounts presents How to Find a Financial Planner posted at Deposit Accounts.

Matt Mason presents Should You Let The Snow Melt? posted at FYMO Personal Finance Blog.

Property

MoneyNing presents The Beauty of Supply and Demand posted at Money Ning, saying, “Sometimes, this simple concept can really help us save big!”

Tallahassee Real Estate presents Changes In Real Estate Marketing posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “The Internet has changed the way that REALTORS communicate with the market and with prospective customers. Knowing where the largest source of home buyers go to seek real estate information is part of a broker’s job when guiding real estate marketing efforts. Recent studies suggest that 87-92% of home buyers begin their search online, so being in the right place, at the right time, is certainly mission critical for every real estate broker.”

Chris presents What mortgage stress is and why should we care posted at Home I Own, saying, “For the folks who only heard about the mortgage part, but never about the stress part, here the exact definition of a mortgage stress: when people are paying above 30 percent of their income on mortgage repayments, they are under mortgage stress.”

Savings

Banker Saver presents Sneaky Bank Fees: How To Avoid Those Extra Charges posted at Banker Saver, saying, “on bank fees.”

Tom Drake presents Are Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) Risk Free? posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Guaranteed Investment Certificates are generally considered to be risk free investments. However, there are some risks that you need to be aware of and also some ideas to reduce those risks.”

Faizal Nisar presents Master the Art of Saving Money posted at Be Truly Happy, saying, “Learn to maximize your savings with patience, self-discipline and making a savings plan.”

Bucksome presents 5 Warehouse Club Services to save Money posted at Buck$omeboomer’s Financial Path to Retirement, saying, “This article describes five categories of savings you might not expect at the warehouse stores including insurance, investing, auto-buying, business services and more.”

MatthewPaulson presents What to Look for Other Than Interest Rates with an Online Bank posted at American Banking News.

Ben presents 7 Ways to Save Money on Back to School Shopping posted at Money Smart Life.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Photo by Crystian Cruz

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• How debt management programs can help you get rid of debt

…

…

Welcome to the 9th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of  career, credit card, debt management, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If  you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Alvina Lopez presents 100 Best Personal Finance Blogs for Recent College Grads – Online Degree Programs.org: Top Online Degrees posted at Online Degree Programs.org.

Linda Jones presents 100 Places to Plan & Research Your Next Career Move posted at Best Colleges Online.

nissim ziv presents How to Decide on a Career? How to Choose a Career Path? posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “All of us have some thoughts and ideas about our careers and professions. It is however sad to see that not everyone reaches a career or path of profession that they would like to.”

nissim ziv presents How to Reach your Career Goals and Objectives posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Being successful in a profession covers a lot of aspects. Being successful in a career does not only mean being paid at the end of the month and getting appraisals at the end of a year or more. .”

nissim ziv presents Why Did You Choose This Career - Interview Question and Answers posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Some of these job interview questions are trick questions, which are basically asked in a bid to differentiate between the good interviewees and the best interviewees. One such tricky question is why did you choose this career?”

Logan Flatt, CFA presents Volunteering to be Selfish | PowerWealth.com posted at PowerWealth.com.

Jeff Rose presents Changing Careers? How To Become a Certified Financial Planner posted at Jeff Rose.

Kate Hopkins presents 100 Best Blogs for Career-Minded Students posted at Online Schools.

Alvina Lopez presents How to Not Go Broke in College: 100 Tips, Tools, and Tricks posted at Associate Degree Blog.

Linda Jones presents Beyond Monster: 50 Great Career Links for Recent College Grads posted at Online Universities.com.

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Bob Brooks presents Nightline Busts these Debt Settlement Scams posted at Deceptive Money.

Damon Day presents Top 5 myths told by Debt Settlement Companies posted at Damon Day, saying, “Often times Debt Settlement Salesmen will say anything to sign up consumers into their programs. It is important for consumers to educate themselves on the topic of debt settlement so they can recognize when they are being told the truth and when they are being led down the wrong financial path.”

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loans posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

David presents Balance Transfer for Life Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Review of balance transfer for life offers.”

The Dough Roller presents AccountNow Prepaid Visa and MasterCard posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Review of the AccountNow prepaid credit card.”

BrandonLaughridge presents Credit Scores: How Important Are They? posted at Mortgage Loan Place Blog, saying, “Learn how to improve your credit score and why it matters.”

CreditCardAssist presents Debit Cards Are Popular But Credit Cards Still Needed posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Post that discusses the rising popularity of debit cards and the need for solid, conservative credit card products and services is still in great demand from consumers.”

James Williamson presents Instant Approval Unsecured Credit Cards posted at Spare Dollars.

SpendOnLife.com presents Can My Credit Card Company Sue Me? posted at SpendOnLife.

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loan posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

The Dough Roller presents List of Free Prepaid Credit Cards posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “A list of free and low cost prepaid cards.”

Frugal Living

KCLau presents Thoughtless Spending posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “I was surfing the web recently and an article in Yahoo finance caught my attention. The article emphasizes the need to curb spending on the miscellaneous things in daily life.”

Insurance

List of Auto Insurance Companies posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “A great list of Auto insurance companies to help find the best quotes together with customer satisfaction scores. Makes some interesting reading!!”

Master Your Card presents What to Expect If You Declare Yourself Bankrupt | Master Your Card posted at Master Your Card, saying, “If you’ve made the difficult decision to declare yourself bankrupt, you’re probably breathing a big sigh of relief at having the weight lifted off your shoulders. Once this passes though, you’ll probably be wondering what life will be like now that you’ve taken the plunge, and how you can rebuild your credit situation again.”

Joshua Dorkin presents Health and Life Insurance: Two Policies – Two Different Needs (slightly off topic of RE) posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

Investing

Ashley Cook presents Money Saving & Goal Setting posted at Saving Money Today, saying, “When it comes to saving money, it is important to have goals.”

Debt Wizard presents Savings and Timeframes posted at Money Help, saying, “When it comes to saving money, you need to keep in mind your timeframe.”

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Debt Consolidation vs. Bankruptcy | Debt Loans posted at Debt Loans, saying, “Despite Australia seemingly missing the worst of the Global Financial Crisis, there is no question that these are difficult economic times. To many people, it is a struggle just to pay the bills each month. Other people are in an even more difficult situation and, with each passing day, they are falling even further behind. What do they do? Debt consolidation and bankruptcy are two options available for those who are deeply in debt. However, is one option better than the other? Which option is right for you?”

Investing School presents What is Net Working Capital? posted at Investing School, saying, “Net working capital is one of the most important asset to have.”

Marvin Johnson presents Forex Trading Software That Really Works: Cutting-Edge Forex Trading Software Released By Noted Ivy League Wiz posted at Forex Trading Software That Really Works.

Stock Trading Brokers presents Investing Basics - Work With an Online Broker For The Right Reasons posted at Stock Trading Brokers, saying, “Remember to know why you are using an online broker.”

Jimmy Atkinson presents Sugar ETF Surges On Supply Concerns posted at ETF Database.

Finance Tips 101 presents Pocket Some Hard Earned Cash By Saving On The Electric Bill posted at Finance Tips 101.

Jeff Rose presents Using a Roth IRA to Maximize Your Wealth posted at Jeff Rose.

Rohit presents Dump your savings account..! posted at eMoneyLog, saying, “Thoughts on how High Yield checking accounts have made savings account obsolete.”

MoneyNing presents Rental Property vs REIT posted at Money Ning, saying, “Which is best? Getting a rental property or investing in REITs? Here we weigh in.”

Make Money Online

Mike smmrs johnson presents How to Make money online fast posted at how to make money online… Fast!, saying, “It’s easy to make money online once you know what you are doing. At one point their was no money, and look how much there is now. There are various forms of money all over the world.”

Gregory E. Rouse presents FREE Online Office Programs posted at Free Online Business.org, saying, “FreeOnlineBusiness.org the site that finds and posts FREE software and tools for running an online business!”

Ross G presents August $50 giveaway posted at Will it change you: portal for personal growth, saying, “Does giving money away manifest it back to you?”

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Debt Consolidation Services: What You Need To Know | Debt Loans posted at Debt Loans, saying, “Debt consolidation is relatively simple to understand; as the name implies, you are consolidating your debts. This means that instead of keeping track of multiple loans and multiple payments, you take out one large personal loan that assumes all of your current debt. This way, you only keep track of one loan and one payment with a single interest rate.”

CPF presents How to make money writing for Hubpages posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Tips for beginning to create passive income with Hubpages”

Brian Campbell presents 5 Secret Characteristics of Successful Forex Traders posted at Brian Campbell, saying, “Ever wonder what makes a successful forex trader tick? Find out the 5 secret characteritcs that every successful forex trader possess.”

Others

Master Your Card presents Beware The Curse of The Cosigner posted at Master Your Card, saying, “If you’re diligent about paying your bills and keeping your credit score high, the time may come that someone may ask you to cosign for a credit card. This will become even more likely once President Obama’s CARD Act goes into effect in 2010, requiring anyone under age 21 applying for a credit card to have a cosigner if they don’t have sufficient income. Often, the person asking is a family member or friend that you may find it hard to turn down. But is the satisfaction of helping another worth the risk of destroying the credit rating you’ve worked so hard to achieve? Only you can answer that question, but there are a few things you should consider before making your decision.”

KCLau presents I achieved financial freedom at 38 posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “This post is contributed by WaiYin, a reader whom I admire very much because she achieved financial freedom at age 38! Here, she shares how she did it.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Is Your Car Eligible for the Cash For Clunkers Program? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “There is a lot of confusion regarding which vehicles are eligible for the $3,500 to $4,500 voucher for the Cash for Clunkers program.”

Harold presents Cash for Clunkers – An Uncertain Future posted at The Car Enthusiast, saying, “Although the Cash for Clunkers program has been quite popular, it has faced its fair share of challenges and criticisms.”

CPF presents Is the iPhone coming to verizon? posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Rumor has it that the iPhone will be coming to Verizon soon - could it be true?”

Property

FMF presents A Moving Nightmare posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A warning about the perils of moving.”

Retirement

MoneyNing presents 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Savings Not The Same posted at Money Ning, saying, “When you plan for retirement, do you really look into the tax situation and how it will affect your account balances?”

Savings

Patrick @ Money Saving Deals presents Chase Bank $150 Coupon Code for New Chase Checking Account posted at Cash Money Life Deals, saying, “Get a $150 sign up bonus with Chase Bank Checking Account.”

Barbara Williams presents 100 Money-Saving Hacks for Living Large on a Student Budget posted at Online Courses.

Ashley Cook presents Easy Ways to Save Money at the Gas Station posted at Saving Money Today, saying, “With rising gas prices and pressure on the economy, pinching pennies at the gas pump can add up to some seriously big bucks.”

Barbara Williams presents 100 Productive Ways to Spend Your Summer Vacation posted at Online Courses.org.

Lazy Man and Money presents How I Saved Hundreds in a Half Hour posted at Lazy Man and Money.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 4th Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• Simplest way to make money online - paid surveys

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