# 4 Edition: Carnival of Everything Finance

Welcome to the October 1, 2007 edition of Carnival of Everything Finance.

We had over 60 really good articles submitted for this edition.
Editor favorites have "*" on them.

Earning Money

*paidtwice presents The Craigslist Empire is Back on Track posted at I've Paid For This Twice Already..., saying, "Simple advertisements can work better than complex ones"

The Career Counselor presents ask the Career Counselor — Helping you Navigate the Career Landscape posted at ask the CareerCounselor.

Real Estate & Mortgage

Rodney Burge - Marketing Strategies presents More Single Women Buying Homes posted at Joyce Gioia - Herman - Future Workforce Trends, saying, "Leading Future Trends Expert Joyce Gioia-Herman writes as more women postpone marriage and family, we see them choosing to buy their own homes and real estate as individuals. Some say they are taking a stand for "financial independence" and others say they say they are investing for the future. Whatever the reason, there is a definite trend towards more single women buying homes of their own and you can read more at her blog at http://www.keyboard-culture-future-workforce-trends.com"

Christopher Smith presents Real estate investing software :: what does it bring to the investor? posted at Real Estate Investing in the Real World, saying, "Real estate investment software is a tool - one of many - that can help investors to reach their goals. Much more important that the tool is the thought process that it supports."

*Steve_Leung presents Keeping Your Sanity While Moving Up to a Larger Home posted at 1SiliconValley.com, saying, "There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to upgrading from your current home to another. Here are 9 ways to make your life easier."

Shopping

*savingadvice presents Shopping Doesn’t Make You Thin, Beautiful and Popular posted at SavingAdvice.com Blog, saying, "Shopping is not a good hobby."

Saving Money

Steve Faber presents - How You Can Save 50% on Your Cable Bill (and a few other things) posted at DebtBlog.

supermom_in_ny presents Chase $75.00 Bank Bonus Ends 10/15/07! posted at Getting Out of Debt, saying, "Open a new checking account with direct deposit and in 10 business days you almost double your money."

*Tiffany Washko presents Our Priorities - Big Oil, Junk Food, and Wal-Mart posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Jason Elder presents How To Find A Cheap Bankruptcy Lawyer - Basic Tips On Choosing One posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog, saying, "Avoid hiring bankruptcy lawyer based on their cheap cost only. You need to acquire a skilled cheap bankruptcy lawyer who can really assist you out from your unfortunate financial injury, Here are some tips..."

Aaron Wakling presents Apply For A Credit Card Online - What You Must Know posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog, saying, "In today’s credit-hungry world, the internet has made it easier to obtain credit cards than ever before. When you apply for a credit card online, you usually know within minutes if you qualify..."

Eric Hudin presents My Estate Planning Career Blog » Blog Archive » The Professional Corporation Trust - Preserving the Value of Your Practice posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog, saying, "The professional corporation trust is simply a revocable living trust with a specific purpose: to keep a licensed individual’s interest in a professional corporation out of probate in the event of the death of its owner."

Allen Taylor presents Stocks Are Your Best Shot For Getting A Return Over And Above The Pace Of Inflation posted at Investing World Today, saying, "Stocks are your best shot for getting a return over and above the pace of inflation. Stocks are estimated to provide higher returns than bonds over the long term, but the premium for investing in stocks isn’t as high as it has been historically."

Tim Ramsey presents How To Save Thousands When Paying Off Student Loans posted at My Debt Relief Blog, saying, "The primary strategy for saving money when paying back student loans is to consolidate multiple loans into one with a (hopefully) lower interest rate, which will reduce the amount of interest you are paying on the loan(s) and will also lower your monthly payment. You truly can save thousands of dollars by consolidating student loans."

Eric Stanley presents Saving For Retirement ? The Big Lie! posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles, saying, "Why is it that only about 5% of the population is rich or financially independent when retirement age arrives? Why are so many Americans hovering around, at, or below the poverty level in the richest nation that has ever been known? The answer to that question is, at the same time, simple and complex."

*Thomas Humes presents Saving Money - An Easy But Tricky Job posted at Wealth Building World, saying, "The advantages of saving money are numerous. Saving money is undoubtedly one of the easiest ways for amassing wealth. But in spite of being easy, people often fail to save properly. It is almost a ritual that needs to be put into practice. Only then one can be assured of accumulating a considerable amount saving."

Daniel Meek presents Financial Reality Check! posted at Got Guts?.

the baglady presents The CPI Is NOT a Cost of Living Index posted at xynny.

*KCLau presents Should you focus on Increasing income or reducing expenses? posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "Cash flow chart involves simple mathematic calculation: Saving = Income - Expenses. Savings is the priority since it appears first in the equation. To increase saving, we can either increase income, reduce expenses, or doing both at the same time. Which option requires your most attention?"

Moneywalks presents Car Gas Experiment: Regular or Premium? posted at moneywalks.

Daily Idea presents How to Get The Best Deal On A New Car posted at Daily Idea.

Investing

Thomas Ott presents A Review Of My Forex Trading posted at Neural Market Trends, saying, "I’m closing in on my 1 year anniversary of trading Forex my $100 Forex Experiment. I did really well ($ wise) in the beginning of the year only to get smacked hard between May and June."

Asset Manager presents Pre-IPO Investing Tips posted at Asset Manager, saying, "Ever looked at pre-ipo investing? Here are some useful tips."

*Stirling Newberry presents Why the dollar is taking another beating now posted at The Agonist, saying, "The outlook for the US dollar is a constant and continued erosion, followed by an extended period where the dollar will be very weak compared to other currencies, until there are clear signs of a change in policy regime in the United States. The issue is confidence."

WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com presents Mutual Fund Corporations versus Mutual Fund Trusts posted at WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com, saying, "Learn the important difference between open-ended and closed-ended mutual funds."

Tom Hanna presents Do stocks go up or down on triple witching option expirations? posted at Financial Options, saying, "Do stocks go up or down on triple witching option expirations?

edithyeung presents The Money Series – Why Didn’t I Think of That Billionaires posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

WBL presents How Will The Rate Cut Affect You posted at Wealth Building Lessons, saying, "Wealth Building Lessons looks at the ramifications of the Fed's rate cut and how to profit from the resulting scenario."

Wayne Hurlbert presents Buying the Right Art, Antiques, and Collectibles by Scott Zema - Book review posted at Blog Business World, saying, "Anyone can profit from buying art, antiques, and collectibles if you think of them as investments, writes Scott Zema in his new book Three Steps To Investment Success: Buying the Right Art, Antiques, and Collectibles. Instead of losing money on foolish purchases, your collections can increase dramatically in value if you follow some important rules. The author provides those rules, and helps the collection investor to avoid the mistakes and misconceptions that haunt the art and antique markets."

AdamF presents How to Cope With Significant Money Losses posted at The Investor's Journal, saying, "Knowing how to cope after taking a big hit to your portfolio is crucial to becoming a successful investor. It happens to everyone atleast once, but you need to know how to bounce back and revive your damaged portfolio. This article will show you some ways to do just that."

The Dividend Guy presents Pre-Screened Securities Through Your Broker posted at The Dividend Guy Blog.

Babak presents Forget Gold, It Is Silver’s Time To Shine posted at Trader's Narrative, saying, "Forget gold! Sure it has run up in price recently, but unless you were along for the ride, it is too late. The precious metal that is poised to rally now is silver."

Spending Wisely

John presents Your Money and Tattoos: Think Before You Ink posted at Queercents, saying, "Expect to pay a lot for a good tattoo: expect to pay a lot more for regretting the tattoo and removing it!"

*Frugal Panda presents Fly or Drive: Which is Cheaper? (A Definitive Answer, Once and For All) posted at Frugal Panda.

Stocks

Sriram presents Should the small investor invest in the stock markets? posted at Chaotic Meditations.

Everything Else Finance

Ted Reimers presents Student Loan Consolidation FAQ posted at CampusGrotto.

Kyle James presents Gender and Money: Do Men and Women Deal With Finances Differently? posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog, saying, "Article explains why men and women view money and fiances differently."

Jeremy Hitchcock presents The Recession Dance posted at WTTF: Welcome to the Future, saying, "What to do when the money goes away."

Dax Desai presents WSJ is free today! posted at Dax Desai, saying, "What is Rupert Murdoch up to with The Wall St. Journal. Explains his media strategy and plans. Also talks about how this will benefit the Wall Street Journal"

*Matthew Paulson presents Protect Your Family, Your Home and Your Possessions: Get a Smoke Detector posted at Getting Green.

Aaman Lamba presents The Demise of the Dollar? posted at Desicritics, saying, "I think you'll find this an interesting article on the Dollar's woes"

Carissa presents GOYB Challenge: Paper Purge Part II posted at SAHMmy Says, saying, "Simple tips to clear your desk and your mind! Please consider my post for inclusion in the upcoming Carnival of Everything Finance. Post includes tips on using checkless checking and stopping credit card offers. Thank you."

ChristianPF presents How to budget with ING direct posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, "ING Direct is my secret budgeting tool. Here are a few steps to start budgeting using ING Direct."

*Trent presents Multiple Income Streams: How They Can Work For You posted at The Simple Dollar.

Sagar Satapathy presents The Amero: An Introduction, A Short History, and What it Would Mean for Our Economy posted at Currency Trading.net, saying, "The Internet has been abuzz lately about a proposed new currency, the “Amero,” which would replace the dollar to become the currency of Canada, Mexico, and the US. It has largely been written off as a conspiracy theory, but there’s still room for speculation that an Amero currency could be in the works. Read on to get the lowdown on this funny money."

Jimmy Atkinson presents 15 Crucial Money Moves for Seniors posted at Ask the Advisor.

Mr Credit Card presents Cash Back Credit Card Guide posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog.

Matthew Paulson presents Many Banks Provide Insufficient Security Measures in Online Banking posted at Getting Green.

Henry Bagdasarian presents When Making Medical Bill Payments posted at Free Identity Theft Prevention, Detection and Fraud Solutions.

ted presents Overdraft Charges- a $17.5 billion dollar a year business « TradeLine Solutions.com posted at TradeLine Solutions.com, saying, "Regardless of how much banks make off the money you give them, there are countless other tactics used to needlessly drain their clients' accounts. Overdraft charges are a $17billion a year industry that you can avoid contributing to."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of everything finance using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Saving for Kids College Education

My daughter will be turning 2 in January. So for my wife and I, its time for us to start planning for her college. Should we go for a College 529 plan, an Education IRA or a Regular Investment account ? What should we do?

So I started researching the various college savings options available. I decided to go to the Vanguard website because Vanguard is the most conservative mutual fund company I know of, because as far as saving for college is concerned I dont want to invest too aggressively. So here is what I found.

529 College savings Plan

529 plans enable you to invest for higher education free of federal and, sometimes, state income taxes. States or schools can sponsor a 529 plan. Most are open to residents of all states. Some plans allow you to invest between $200,000 and $300,000 on behalf of one child, so a 529 plan may be your best bet for fully funding a college education.

Advantage
Enjoy investing flexibility, high contribution limits, and tax advantages to save for college and graduate school.

Disadvantage
The money can ONLY be used for college.
And If your kid doesn't go to college, you may name another eligible family member as beneficiary on the account and use the 529 assets to pay for that person’s education. If no eligible family members can be named beneficiary, then you might have to close the account, paying federal and possibly state income taxes and a 10% federal penalty tax on earnings not used for qualified higher-education expenses.


Education Savings Account

Advantage
you can invest for any level of a child’s education—primary school, high school, college, or beyond. And you can start investing for that child from birth. The money is taxed at the child's tax rate, which is typically lower than the parents' rate.
Although contributions aren't tax-deductible, your earnings grow tax-free and withdrawals are free from federal income taxes when used for qualified education expenses.

Disadvantage
You can only contribute $2000 a year.


UGMA/UTMA accounts

Advantage
A tax-advantaged way to save for a child's future, for higher education or any other purpose that benefits the child.
The accounts dont have any contribution limits, though contributions above a certain amount will trigger the federal gift tax.

Disadvantage
When the child turn 18, he/she gains control of the money and they can do anything with the money.


Regular Investment Account

Advantage
You retain complete control of the account. Select from from a broad lineup of stock, bond, balanced, and short-term investments.

Disadvantage
You do not receive the tax advantages of accounts specifically created for college investing.


So what did we decide ?
As of now, our finances are in order with no credit card debt an we regularly keep a close watch on our savings and spending. Therefore, we went for a regular investment account. We chose the Vanguard STAR fund that is a conservative balanced mutual fund that has consistently given a return of at least 10%.

So do you think we made the right decision ?

Related Links
*Compare College Savings Options
*Keeping Cash Under My Mattress..makes sense ?

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When did you start taking better care of your Finances ?

Was it a particular event in your life or a series of events that took place over a period of time ?
I was recently asked this question and this got me thinking in the past, year 2002, to be precise.

My answer was: After I got married! I realized that I'm responsible for someone else too. I had to have control over my finances for us to enjoy the basic necessities in life, like, buying a home and sending our kids to the best schools and colleges money can buy. In 2002, I was also introduced to the Suze Orman Show on CNBC, and her advice really helped.

I posed this question in MBN forums that has the best Personal Finance bloggers of this age.
Below are their responses!

Debt Free Revolution says "26 Dec 2006 was when I started to get a clue. A couple days later I jumped in with both feet and haven't looked back. That was the day I first heard Dave Ramsey on the radio while driving through louisville, Ky."

Punny Money says "2000-ish, when I was 17 and became the primary income earner for my household."

Generation X Finance says "Early 2005, after a few less than successful business ventures resulted in an overwhelming amount of debt.

Poorer Than You says "Call me the blogosphere success story - I started caring about my finances after I started reading personal finance blogs! "

Plonkee says "When I left university and got a real job."

Financial Dominance says "I've always leaned a bit toward taking good care of my finances until I decided to move in with my girlfriend during the last year of college. I didn't have any income to speak of, but we still decided to party like it was 1999 (except it was 2001).
After exiting college and getting my first job, we have stepped back on track and never looked back."

No Credit Needed says "April 5, 2005... day of my first blog post... http://www.ncnblog.com/2005/04/05/welcome-aka-the-very-first-post/ "

CashGoat says "July 2006. It was after reading the total money makeover. It felt like common sense completely broadsided me. It made me wonder why I had just accepted debt as a "normal" way of life when I clearly didn't need to be in such a deep hole and in fact could prosper if I wasn't. I'm still kicking myself in the rear but heading back in the right direction now. I'm very thankful for having found Dave Ramsey on XM in April of that year while on a drive to see my girlfriend who lived 2 hours away."

financeispersonal says "2004 when I realized that I actually had to pay for college and borrowing up to my eyeballs probably wasn't the best way to go. "

www.gatherlittlebylittle.com says "Earlier this year, I had a personal circumstance that caused me to re-look at a whole mess of things in my life, one of them being my finances.
I started reading blogs, found Dave Ramsey and decided to become debt free. I started a blogger personal blog and found most of my posts were personal finance related and decided to take the next step and create a real blog. My first blog post was on July 1, 2007 on Gather Little By Little."

www.greenpandatreehouse.com says "When I got engaged (May 2006) I knew I had to get serious about my credit card debt. I managed to pay them off 1 month after the wedding. Now I'm trying to pay off my auto loan and in less then a year I have to wok on my student loan."

Moolanomy says "After I graduated college and got my first real job. Once I have to earn my own money, I quickly realized how irresponsible I have been with my parents' money."

www.onlinesavingsblog.com says "the end of 2005, after I met with an Ameriprise advisor (found through a free lunch thing). Their shtick sounded too good too be true (which it is) so I went and did research. But they did introduce me to ING, which led to my online savings account passion ... "

A Penny Closer says "When we decided we wanted a new home. We sat down to look at our finances and realized we couldn't afford to move. That's when we started budgeting and working towards that goal."

So, what was the event in your life that triggered you senses to take better care for your finances ??



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#3 Edition: Carnival of Everything Finance

Welcome to the September 21, 2007 edition of Carnival of Everything Finance.
We had over 60 really good articles submitted for this edition.
Editor favorites have "*" on them.

Earning Money

*SavingWithMe presents 6 Small Businesses I Should Have Started In College posted at Saving With Me.

iwehelp presents How to Make Money from Tumri? posted at iWeHelp.

Robinson Go presents Optimize Your AdSense Income by Spreading Content to Multiple Pages posted at Robinson Go dot Com, saying, "Applying Finance Principles in Google AdSense. Increase your Income now!"

Gustav S presents 7 Lessons to Increase your Productivity and Efficiency a la Personal Growth Style posted at success-is-in-you.com.

Investing

AdamF presents How to Avoid Market Corrections and Crashes posted at The Investor's Journal, saying, "Techniques I developed that helped me avoid two market corrections in 2007. (check the image at the bottom of the article for a line graph of my performance vs the s&p 500)"

*Jimmy Atkinson presents 25 Most Influential Investing Blogs (By the Numbers) posted at Ask the Advisor.

Wealth Building Lessons presents Wealth Building Lessons » Blog Archive » Are Vacation Rentals A Good Investment? posted at Wealth Building Lessons, saying, "Wealth Building Lessons spends a few days at a Vacation Rental in Vegas and decides to find out whether they make a good investment or not"

ChristianPF presents The best money advice of all time posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, "According to MONEY magazine, this is the best money advice from some of the wisest people who have lived."

Leon Gettler presents CFO pessimism grows posted at Sox First, saying, "The market is in turmoil and CFOs are increasingly gloomy about the US economy’s prospect as warning continue that the US will slip into recession."

FIRE Getters presents Investment Risks at a Glance posted at FIRE Finance.

AdamF presents 5 Traits of a Successful Investor posted at The Investor's Journal, saying, "Five universal traits that all successful investors possess. You need to have these traits, regardless of your investing strategy."

Jacob Gorban presents My day-trading lessons posted at Small Business Lessons.

Real Estate & Mortgage

John Crenshaw presents Is That The President?s Hand In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me? posted at John Crenshaw dot Net.

Steve Faber presents - How to Avoid Foreclosure posted at DebtBlog.

Saving Money

Daniel Roach presents Life on a Budget: the Grift on the Gift posted at Daniel Roach.Org, saying, "An easy way to survive the self discipline of life on a budget."

*bluskygirl presents How To Save Money, Even When You Think you Can?t! posted at Goddess, saying, "Some simple tips and tricks that can help you save money without putting a pinch on your wallet."

*paidtwice presents You never know until you ask posted at I've Paid For This Twice Already..., saying, "Asking for a discount can really save you money!"

KCLau presents Analyze Income & Expenses Flow in Your Life with Practical Advices posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "Study your income and expenses trend. There are some unforeseen circumstances that need preparation. Sometimes your income may drop. Sometimes your expenses just shoot over the roof when least expected."

Mr Credit Card presents Shopping For Apple iPod Docking Station With Reward Points (Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog) posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog.

Annette Berlin presents 20 Ways to Save Money on Clothes posted at Frugal Journey, saying, "My family hardly spends an money on clothes, and yet, we always look well dressed. It’s easy, if you know what you’re doing. Here are some tips to get you on the right track."

Shopping

*Frugal Panda presents Top 100 Blogs to Help You Find Free Stuff posted at Frugal Panda.

Spending Wisely

Robert D Flach presents BUY OR LEASE – THAT IS THE QUESTION posted at THE WANDERING TAX PRO.

Colin Robertson presents Five Credit Card Fees You Can Avoid posted at The Truth About Credit Cards.com.

Beno Varghese presents Good Credit Card? Bad Credit Card? posted at Beno Varghese dot-com.

Dean presents The Latte Factor: Starbucks is Evil posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, "Why Starbucks is destroying your savings."

Stocks

Super Saver presents My Core Long Term Stock Holdings posted at My Wealth Builder.

Tate Dwinnell presents IPO Watchlist - SelfInvestors Top 20 posted at Trading Stocks - Self Investors.

Everything Else Finance

Wanda Grindstaff presents Prosperity and Abundance is Your Birthright posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

Michael Chu presents What is a Good Situation to Own a House posted at Make Money Online with Knighty Night's Talk.

R.Pettinger presents How To Get the Better of Multinational Companies posted at Mortgage Blog, saying, "How to save money and avoid unnecessary expenditure"

Sam presents 8 Steps to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, "How the thief steals your identity. How he misuses it. And 8 steps to protect you from the nightmare of Identity Theft."

Bryan C. Fleming presents Million Dollar Savings Club Turns 1 Year Old: One Man’s Journey posted at Bryan C. Fleming, saying, "Look back on my 1 year journey of saving $1 per day. The amazing part is I don't have just $365. I've got well over $1,000!"

Tim presents Reverse Mortgages in Down Housing Markets posted at Reverse Mortgage Information

Dan Melson presents 100% Financing or Low Down Payment or Low Equity: PMI May Be The Only Option posted at Searchlight Crusade.

*Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Reduce The Bonehead Factor - And Save Money - With These Souvenir Strategies posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, "With the advent of online shopping, you don't need to travel to Key West to load up on painted seashells or T-shirts emblazoned with “My friend went to Key West and all I got was this tacky T-shirt”. Still, throbs of folks spend hard-earned cash and valuable vacation time spilling in and out of souvenir shops, loading up on knick knacks stamped with “Made in China”, as proof that they went to Florida and drank enough Margaritas to exercise such bad judgment. Read about my top 7 souvenir strategies."

Jason Elder presents File for Bankruptcy - Personal Bankruptcy Reasons posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog, saying, "When is filing for bankruptcy the only way out? People often wonder under what circumstances they should actually file bankruptcy. Here are some simple guidelines that can assist you in making that decision."

Aaron Wakling presents FICO Score - Understanding Your FICO Credit Score posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog, saying, "Your FICO score is a vital component of managing your finances. This is the number used by the credit bureaus to determine how good your credit is. The FICO scoring system can appear to be pretty complicated if you do not know how it works."

Eric Hudin presents My Estate Planning Career Blog » Blog Archive » Jumbo IRA or Pension - 5 Major Income and Tax Advantages of an LAP Plan posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog, saying, "Do you have a jumbo IRA or pension plan? In the next 2 minutes you will learn how to increase your spendable income while you live and keep it from being taxed as much as 75% after you die!"

Allen Taylor presents On The Quick and Easy Path To Achieving Trading Mastery posted at Investing World Today, saying, "Many books on trading psychology refer to the steps involved in achieving trading mastery. This is usually presented as five steps, starting from beginner, through novice, and finally becoming an expert, or master."

Tim Ramsey presents Debt Settlement - Nothing but the Facts posted at My Debt Relief Blog, saying, "Bankruptcy filings have jumped nearly 17% during the month of August 2007. Unfortunately, this news is not surprising; after all, foreclosures are at an all-time high and credit card debt is skyrocketing. If you're in a situation where youre barely able to keep your head above water, you may be considering debt settlement. Read on for some very important information regarding this form of debt relief."

Eric Stanley presents Retirement Planning - Do You Know If You Have Enough? posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles, saying, "Have you been saving enough for your retirement? Well, if you’re like the large majority of people, the answer is not really."

Thomas Humes presents Retirement Planning - This Simple Rule Can Make it Easy for Baby Boomers posted at Wealth Building World, saying, "For many, the thought of retirement planning makes people queasy. A study by the Savings Council shows that Most American’s spend more time planning a two-week vacation than planning their retirement. Saving and investing for retirement can be intimidating."
Steve Faber presents - What Do Those Terms on Your Auto Lease Mean? posted at DebtBlog.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Taxing Times posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog.

Dax Desai presents Google Spreadsheets - Part Deux posted at Dax Desai, saying, "Gives real world account of the powerful collaboration features of Google Spreadsheets."

*Kyle James presents Gender and Money: Do Men and Women Deal With Finances Differently? posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog, saying, "Differences in how men and women handle their finances."

Empty Spaces presents New Coin Purchase posted at Adventures in Money Making, saying, "Adventures in Money Making looks at why the dollar is devaluing and how to hedge against it."

Sagar Satapathy presents Top 50 Christian Business and Finance Blogs posted at Bootstrapper.

*plonkee presents budgeting for irregular expenses posted at plonkee money, saying, "How to budget for things that only come up occasionally."

Priya Jestin presents 12 Easy Personal Fashion Rules to Increase Your Earning 12% posted at Bootstrapper.

Tom Hanna presents Financial Roadmap September 17 to 21, 2007 posted at Financial Options, saying, "Excerpt: The story this week will be all about the Federal Reserve on Tuesday and oil markets on Wednesday. With markets expecting a 25-50 basis point (0.25%-0.50%) drop in the federal funds rate from Tuesday’s meeting of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee, another month with no rate reduction would be a crushing blow to the stock market and bond yields. A quarter percent cut will leave markets in the doldrums at best until the next Fed meeting, though it may give a short term boost."

*Edith Yeung presents The Money Series – Books that You Just Cannot Miss posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Curb Your "Age Of Turbulence" Enthusiasm posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.

Jimmy Atkinson presents 25 Most Influential Personal Finance Bloggers (By the Numbers) posted at Ask the Advisor.

Admin presents Google cashing in on widget craze posted at Anything Goes & General News, saying, "Google Inc. will try to cash in on the Internet's latest craze by distributing ads within "widgets" — the interactive capsules designed to bring more pizzaz to Web pages. The move, scheduled to be announced Wednesday, represents Google's first attempt to make money off a trend that the online search leader has helped popularize. The Mountain View-based company has for two years offered a platform showcasing small modules, known generally as widgets, that blend data, text, images and software programs."

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

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Features that "DECREASE" the resale value of your Home

A few days back, I had written about features that "ADD RESALE" value to your home. Here is the flip side of that. According to bankrate.com, the 10 things listed below that "DECREASE" the value to your home.
Based on my recent purchase of a new construction single-family home, I have added my comments for each of these items.

1. A Pool
   Personally, I'm not too fond of having a pool in my backyard, mainly because of the maintenance costs. I do like swimming, but fortunately our community has a pool. Also, when it comes time to sell your home, you have automatically limited your buyer market.
   
   
2. No garage or a small garage
   Unless you're living in a condo, a retirement community, or historical or in-town neighborhood most buyers will look for at least a two-car garage. If you don't have a garage, it's a real negative. Personally, for a young family of mine having a 2 car garage is a must. I like having the extra storage space too.
   
   
3. Garbled Floor Plan
   Since we went for a new contruction home, we had to choose one of the floor plans that builder was offering. Fortunately, there was also a model home of the floorplan we liked. Mentally, we have already made plans for each room in the house. We liked the Master Suite a lot. Small rooms and bathrooms, an inconvenient floor plan or a layout that requires you to access bedrooms or bathrooms through other rooms will detract value from your home.
   
   
4. Outmoded appliances or systems
   When a buyer walks into a home, one of the biggest concerns that they have is that the appliances should be in a working condition and should look good too. If you try to open the oven and the door falls off, the buyer is out ta there. We actually chose our own appliances, so no problem there.
   
   
5. Stale or overly personal decor
   Personally, I dont like a red color wall. But many of us do like bright colors in our house. That well and good, but when its time to sell, its a good idea to paint your walls with a neutral color, that would surely appeal to more buyers.
   
   
6. A bad roof
   I dont understand much about how a house is built, but as a buyer, if my home inspector tells me that the house has a bad roof, that would scare the shit out of me and I will run away from there and never look back.
   
   
7. Bad location
   This is an important one. When we were looking for a home, our criteria was an area with good schools for my daughter, shopping close by and quiet and peaceful neighborhood. If our house was anywhere near an airport or an interstate, we would not have considered that location.
   
   
8. Poor maintenance
   I would put this one under the category of "Curb Appeal". If I'm looking for a home and when I drive to it, I see some old chipped paint on it, unven grass on the ground and just overall shabby looking, I would just drive past it. I know these are cosmetic changes, but when I'm buying a home I want the whole package, not just updated appliances in the kitchen.
   
   
9. Environmental hazards
   This where a home inspection comes in real handy. Your inspector should be able to tell you if you might have a problem with mold, lead or asbestos. Even though, these things can be fixed, I, and many other buyers would not like the sound of that.
   
   
10. A laundry list of needed improvements
    As a buyer, if you are looking at a house and realize that there is some significant work/improvements that would need to be done before you actually start enjoying your home, thats a big turn off. You have enough things to worry about like buyng new furniture etc. and spending money on basic improvements that should have been done in the first place does not leave a good taste in my mouth.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy these other related posts:
* Features that add "Resale Value" to a Home
* Buying a new construction home and making some money along the way




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September 12, 2007 edition of Carnival of Everything Finance

Welcome to the September 12, 2007 edition of Carnival of Everything Finance.
We had over 60 really good articles submitted for this edition.
My favorites have "*" on them.

Earning Money

wilson ng presents Getting Rid of Customers as a Road to Profitability posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife, saying, "The conventional wisdom to profitability has been to attract and retain as many customers as you can. However, there ARE customers that are not worth keeping, and if they are eating up more resources than they are paying for, maybe its time to consider that it actually makes better business sense to let them go."
*Tomaz Mencinger presents Why Money Is Only One Third Of Happiness posted at Financial Freedom Ideas.

Marlon J. Broussard presents The 7 Immutable Laws of Building “True Wealth” posted at MoneyBlog, saying, "I have come to realize that my core beliefs about economics, finance, capitalism, business, money, consumerism, and the like, are all contrary to how our world functions today. Now, the questions to ask are rather simple; Does that make the “Worlds” way of functioning wrong?, Are those who make their livelihoods through this way of functioning, bad for doing so?, Are you an anarchist?
The simple answers to these three questions are no, no, & NO!"

Nenad Ristic presents Attribution Theory posted at Money Conciousness.

Investing

*Leon Gettler presents Subprime woes worse than terrorism posted at Sox First, saying, "Subprime trouble is now ranked as a bigger threat than terrorism."

TraderMark presents I totally missed Crocs (CROX) posted at Fund my Mutual Fund, saying, "This is my first attempt at a carnival - I have a lot of articles I think apply - I thought this one would be catchy because everyone knows what Crocs are!"

Jimmy Atkinson presents Top 25 Forex Sites (By the Numbers) posted at Forex Blog.

The Dough Roller presents Asset Allocation for Near and Active Retirees posted at The Dough Roller, saying, "A sample asset allocation for those nearing retirement."

*Adam presents The Fundamentals of Successful Investing posted at The Investor's Journal, saying, "Learn the fundamentals for successful investing"

Money for Military presents First Spouse Gold Coins Investment posted at Money for Military, saying, "I made a 13% return on a gold coin investment. I bought a First Spouse coin from the US Mint for $447 and sold it for $510."

Stirling Newberry presents The Last Wave of This Expansion posted at The Agonist, saying, "The big picture reasons why you should invest in VOIP (and for god's sake, dump Apple)."

Kurt Brouwer presents Stocks ? Clinging to a Wall of Worry posted at Fundmastery Blog, saying, "The stock market is clinging to a wall of worry..."

Babak presents Insiders Tripping Over Each Other To Buy posted at Trader's Narrative, saying, "Corporate executives and other "insiders" who have special insight into their companies future are buying US stocks with the same excitement as the bottom of the bear market in late 2002."

Real Estate & Mortgage

*Matthew Paulson presents How to Stop Abusive Homeowners Associations before Problems Begin posted at Getting Green.

Steve_Leung presents Tools for Protecting Yourself During a Home Purchase posted at 1SiliconValley.com, saying, "Buying a home is a major financial decision but there are several important tools built into the process for your protection."

karyn presents Mental Math for Home Buyers posted at Finance 123.

Andy Hagans presents The Real Estate Marketing Toolkit - 37 Places to List a Home posted at International Listings Blog, saying, "Thanks for your consideration!"

Saving Money

*Abdulrasool Sumar presents How to Negotiate Debt Obligations with Creditors posted at 3 Debt Consolidation Community, saying, "If creditors do not receive on time payments from you, they will often report your delinquency status to the major Credit Bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). But what if you are willing to make payments to the creditors, but not the full amount they are asking for? For example, you have $15,000 of credit card debt and your minimum monthly payment is $375. However, you can only afford to pay $200 a month at the moment. How do you negotiate with your creditors so as to get the payment terms to your advantage and get negative items deleted off your credit report? That is the purpose of this article."

FIRE Getters presents 20000 Bonus Miles From United Mileage Plus Visa! posted at FIRE Finance.

Ted Reimers presents Where to Buy, Sell and Trade Textbooks posted at CampusGrotto.

*teaspoon presents Solving Our Savings and Budget Issues - The No-Budget Budget Way posted at www.TeaspoonFinance.com - Financial wisdom, one teaspoon at a time..., saying, "Proposing a way of looking at handling your savings and budgeting called the no-budget budget."

Save Money presents Step Five to getting Rid of Debt posted at How I Save Money.net.

supermom_in_ny presents Get a $25.00 Bonus from Bank of America posted at Getting Out of Debt, saying, "Open a new checking account and get a $25.00 bonus!"


Erek Ostrowski presents Positive Penny (Life After Debt) posted at Verve Coaching, saying, "Positive Penny asks, "How can I keep myself on track and motivated to save money instead of spending everything I have??""

Shopping

artThailand presents Buying safely online posted at artThailand.

*Wenchypoo presents How’s Your Health Been Lately? posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Spending Wisely

John Hill presents Get Out of Debt posted at Universe Of Success.

Amanda presents To Splurge or Not... posted at Young and Broke.

Kyle James presents How I Got Out Of Credit Card Debt posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog, saying, "Tips on how to get out from under a bunch of credit card debt."

ted presents Random Acts of Self-Control posted at TradeLine Solutions.com, saying, "this post hypothosizes that giving with our money first is the best way to limit our spending and increase our savings."

Stocks

Leon Gettler presents Bailout warnings posted at Sox First, saying, "With the disaster confronting America's home owners now shaping up as a hot political issue, it's no surprise that President George Bush has come up with a rescue package. And the Fed is promising "additional actions as needed". But can bailouts do more damage by flooding the market with cheap money?"

teaspoon presents Your Personal Stock Market Army - The Stop Loss! posted at www.TeaspoonFinance.com - Financial wisdom, one teaspoon at a time..., saying, "Teaspoon proposes that you should never own shares of stock without having a stop loss placed on them. Quite simply, it is human nature to keep accepting a lowering stock price without selling. You begin to rationalize at every new red flag in the lowering stock price. It is also human nature to remain emotionally attached to a high flying stock that becomes a laggard, and thus turn a profit into a loss."

Everything Else Finance

Dean presents 21 Tips on How to Stay Cool This Summer For Less posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, "Beat the summer heat and stay cool for cheap."

Kevin Bedell presents How to Calculate the Savings from using Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs posted at 21st Century Citizen.

Tracy Coenen presents One hour and eleven minutes of my life with Bank of America posted at FRAUDfiles.

Allan Wallace presents Planned Giving Donations, Bequests, and Legacy Gifts posted at - The BFU Journal -
documenting the creation of a new type of college, saying, "Estate planning is more about passing on values than valuables."

*Jason Elder presents Effects of Bankruptcy posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog, saying, "Once you have been declared bankrupt, under the bankruptcy law all assets that belonged to you, including your home come under the control of a Trustee."

Aaron Wakling presents Using the Damaged Credit Card Market to Rebuild Your Credit Score posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog, saying, "If you have experienced credit damage but are now on the road to restoring your credit score one of the quickest ways to assure positive current information making its way on to your credit reports is to establish new credit. Sounds kind of crazy, doesnt it? But obtaining new credit cards is a way to build a new foundation in your credit history."

Eric Hudin presents My Estate Planning Career Blog » Blog Archive » Top 10 Reasons You Need A Trust posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog, saying, "I’m going to describe in a few simple words why you will benefit from a trust."

* Allen Taylor presents Personal Investing Advice » Basic Money Management For Your Trading Portfolio posted at Investing World Today, saying, "A key part of becoming a successful trader is the knowledge of money management. Without a proper understanding of Money Management is and is not, you can have the best trading systems and still blow your account out of the water."

Tim Ramsey presents Reduce My Debt - 5 Secrets for Success posted at My Debt Relief Blog, saying, "Here are 5 easy-to-implement secrets for succeeding in getting out of debt and getting back your peace of mind."

Eric Stanley presents Making Your Mortgage Payments On Time? Doesn?t Mean Your Safe From Foreclosure posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles, saying, "How many foreclosures may have been averted had borrowers been aware their mortgage was sold to another servicing company or their payments were not applied accurately."

Thomas Humes presents How To Be A Master In Money Making - Be The Leader Of The Pack posted at Wealth Building World, saying, "Money mastery does not only mean wealth generation but also total financial success including the way you invest, save and utilize your present income."

Pinyo Bhulipongsanon presents Financial Independence Illustrated posted at Moolanomy, saying, "Congratulation on the new carnival. Please let me know if this is post is good for inclusion into your carnival. Also, are you planning to host his carnival on other blogs? If so, I am interested in being a host."

Henry Bagdasarian presents Buy Credit And Every One Loses posted at Free Identity Theft Prevention, Detection and Fraud Solutions.

Kevin Surbaugh presents Time To Regulate The Loan Sharks posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free, saying, "I received an email last night, asking me to meet a group of people at the (Kansas) State Banking Commissioners Office later today. Why? Because of my perceived knowledge about predatory lending.
So I burned the midnight oil, to come up with a few points to bring up, when I attend this meeting before I go to work. Below is what I came up with."

Ryan Russell presents Finding A Fix: 10 Tips For Resolving Financial Disputes posted at My Money Thinks, saying, "Account and billing mistakes are a reality of personal finances. From the cable bill to the credit card statement, at some point, errors will occur. These errors, even the small ones, become financial disputes that must be resolved. Here's where experience comes in to play -- here's what I've figured out over the years."

Care on Credit presents Learning About Debt Relief Programs posted at Care on Credit, saying, "Do you think that if a credit counseling agency is a non-profit then it must be reputable? Not always the case! Learn how to find out if the debt relief company you are considering is reputable."

Thomas Ott presents S&P500 Next Gen Volatility Model Results posted at Neural Market Trends, saying, "To test how robust the model is, I took a sample from the training data to see if the model would be able to match the actual trend. As I said previously, this volatility model has a predictive accuracy between 60 to 70%, in this case its 65%."

*KCLau presents Top 10 Money Lessons by Dissecting Billionaire Leona Hemsley’s Will posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "After dissecting Helmsley's 14-page will filed in Surrogate’s Court, I am going to elaborate some personal finance money tips in this post. Some facts will amuse you while some lessons are to be learned to alert you of planning your estate more effectively. Here are the top lessons I learn from researching Leona’s will."

Kevin Surbaugh presents 8 Simple Ways to Live Without Credit or Debt posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free.

Mr Credit Card presents Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express | Gold Business Card posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog.

Logan Flatt, CFA presents How to Get Ahead In America (1st of a 12-Part Series) posted at PowerWealth.com, saying, "I am a living example – among millions of such examples in America – that a multi-generation American can make a conscious choice to get ahead financially and then go out into America and make it happen within a reasonable timeframe...Based on my experience, I am confident that you can accelerate your potential to replicate or exceed my financial success if you are willing to adopt my “12 Refusals That Helped Me Pull Ahead in America.”"



That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Everything Finance using our carnival submission form.

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carnival of everything finance, blog carnival.

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Save Money on Homeowner's Insurance

This is my second post on the series on ways to save money on insurance. My first post was about ways in which you can save money on Auto insurance. This one deals with Home owner's insurance. I have recently bought a house so this one "really hits close to home", if you know what I mean :) GoodHouseKeeping.com had these easy ways.

Shop around While automobile insurance rates are expected to go down this year, homeowner policies will likely go up (by about 4 percent). So it pays to hunt for the best price. The same Web sites that quote car insurance rates will also give you the cost of homeowners' coverage.

Ask about discounts Many insurers cut rates by about 5 percent if the homeowner has burglar alarms, smoke detectors, or dead bolt locks. Some give breaks to older people and to families in which no one smokes.

Don't over insure If you bought enough coverage to equal the price you paid for the house, you may have too much insurance. That's because your purchase price included the cost of the land, but even if your house burns down, you don't need to buy the land again. So shrink your policy to the right amount: what it would cost to rebuild your home. You can also cut costs by dropping coverage you bought for jewelry or other valuables that have decreased in value.

But don't under insure Building costs have soared in the past few years. If you haven't increased the size of your policy, you may not be able to replace your house if you're hit by a tragic fire, hurricane, or flood. Ask your agent how much coverage you need today. To hold down your cost, increase the deductible. If you offer to pay up to $1,000 out-of-pocket for a claim, instead of $250, you can save as much as 24 percent.

Choose your next home wisely It is lovely to live near the ocean, but that's where insurance costs the most. In hurricane zones, average premiums will soar 20 to 100 percent this year, reports the Insurance Information Institute. And it's going to get worse. Many insurers aren't renewing policies for homes on the coasts. Florida now has "insurance refugees"--people who can't afford coastal coverage and are moving inland to higher ground. No question about it: Ocean views are going to carry a heavy price.

Want the Best Deal? Price-Shop Online
Use all or some of these Web sites to collect cost information on the kind of auto and homeowners' coverage you want. Then ask an insurance agent to beat the best rate you find.

Price comparison
insweb.com, netquote.com

Major insurers
allstate.com, nationwide.com, statefarm.com, geico.com, progressive.com

Other Related Posts:
Save Money on Auto Insurance


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How to save money on lighting in your home!

Here is the next post in my series of saving money on your energy bill. Please read the first post of this series where I talk about ways to save on energy by using your appliances properly.

Next, in this series, are a few cost effective ways to cut down your energy by using the lighting in your home effectively.

1. Open blinds and shades.

2. Fluorescent bulbs use 1/4 the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs and last six times longer.
* Check out this Fast Company article for more information about the coming fluorescent bulb revolution.

3. Disconnect or remove lamps in multiple lamp fixtures.

4. Putting a lamp in the corner gives off more light than the center of a room.

5. Place security lights on a timer.

6. Use "task lighting."
* Direct light to the areas in a room where it's needed rather than keeping the entire room bright.

7. Check the "lumens" setting when buying a new bulb.
* The higher the lumens, the brighter the bulb.

8. Install dimmer switches on lights when possible.
* Fluorescent lights unfortunately can't use dimmer switches.

9. Use three-setting bulbs when possible.

10. Painting your walls light colors keeps your whole house or apartment brighter.

Related posts:

• High Energy Bills ?? Try out these simple ideas !
• Easy ways to cut your energy bill

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