Welcome to the 6th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance and to Free Money Finance. For those of you who are new to the carnival, it's a sampling of some of the best articles from top personal finance bloggers over the past week. I subscribe to every one of the blogs in this week's carnival and I can attest that they all contain some good stuff. I've learned plenty from every one of them and it's likely you will too.
If you want to see more of the carnivals, last week's edition was hosted by I Will Teach You to be Rich and next week's will be hosted by In Cash Flow We Trust. But for now, this week's version is here at Free Money Finance. So brace yourself for a ton of ideas to help your finances! Here they are:
Is AAA Worth It?
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity asks Is AAA Worth It? Personally, I think it is. Jim has a different conclusion. In this post he talks about how his AAA membership is too expensive and how he's going to cancel it. The best part of the post isn't necessarily the post itself but the numerous comments people have left -- they uncovered some benefits that Jim didn't know about. He still cancelled it though. :-)
Teaching Kids about Money
Everybody Loves Your Money gives some advice on how to Teach Your Kids to be Smart With Money. This is a brief post that talks about ideas to teach your kids good money habits -- from ideas for earning money to what to do with it once they have earned it. This is something I will certainly read. Now, if I could only get my 9-year-old and 7-year-old to internalize it...
Save Money on Staples
Frugal for Life writes about Staples on a Shoestring. If anyone knows how to save money, it's Dawn, so I'd really recommend you check this out. She particularly likes this post because "it brought about a number of people who voiced their opinion and that is always a good thing." So be sure to read the comments here too.
There's More to Life than Money
I Will Teach You to be Rich discusses What are we doing on this site? In this post Ramit shares an interesting first-hand story about how he discovered that there’s more to life than just budgeting and saving. There is? Oh, yes, of course there is!
The Bottom Line on Student Loans
Optimized Living writes about Student Loan Consolidation. The post encourages consolidating student loans and then using various incentives to reduce the fixed rate. It's a must read for those of you who have student loans outstanding.
The Origin of Saving for Retirement
In Cash Flow We Trust posts Saving for Retirement and asks when the phrase "Saving for Retirement" first came into play. I guess I never thought of it -- but Steve has. For his thoughts, check out this post.
Are You Wealthy?
All Things Financial gives the inside scoop on How to Determine if You’re Wealthy. He uses the rule-of-thumb formula used in The Millionaire Next Door (my favorite financial book of all time) for determining whether or not you are wealthy. Check it out and see if you're rich or not! :-)
Is Auto Leasing a Good Deal?
Mighty Bargain Hunter discusses Auto Leasing is Back — and Better? While the article he discusses seems to think that leasing is a good (or at least better than in the past) idea, this blogger is not so sure. Read the post and see what he recommends.
What to Do about Identity Theft
Modblog.com discusses Identity Theft......What to do About It based on his experience receiving a horrible phone call. His credit card company called to ask about an unusual charge. A charge he hadn't made. Yes, someone had stolen his card. Read this post to see what he recommends you do to protect yourself from identity theft and what you should do if you find yourself facing this situation.
Chasing Investment Performance
The Canadian Capitalist enters this week's carnival with Chasing Performance. The post addresses one of the deadly sins of investing, chasing performance, and how mutual fund investors tend to make precisely the wrong investment at the wrong time. Sounds like they're talking about my investing history! ;-)
Free Consumer Reports!
Five Cent Nickel adds Free Access to Consumer Reports (and More) to the carnival. I personally LOVE Consumer Reports. But what I love even more is FREE stuff (it's my first name, after all). Nickel tells how to get my beloved Consumer Reports (and many other publications) for free!! This post saved me $30 per year with CR alone! Check it out to see how you can save too.
Mutual Fund Basics
The Happy Capitalist posts The ABCs of Mutual Funds. He comments that nothing is quite so perplexing to mutual fund investors as the issues around sales charges and share classes, no-load funds and advisor-distributed funds, the alphabet of share classes and 12b-1 fees. What do they all mean? This post is a discussion of the mind-numbing array of share classes and expenses
associated with advisor-distributed mutual funds.
Business for Women
Tick Marks rounds out the carnival with a post titled Ladies: Start Your Business (vroom, vroom) that details where women can get help starting their own businesses (a great way to add to your income and move your net worth up a bit).
The GE of China
The Real Returns posts on Reliance Industries - India, India’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. He calls it "India’s GE."
What Will Happen in a Market Crash?
Smart Money Daily wonders about a market crash and suggests "a large part of money management is anticipating and mitigating risk. The next black Tuesday will happen, just like the next earthquake, the question is when. It's worth it every once and a while to pretend it is tomorrow and see what kind of shape you'd be in."
Tour of Free Money Finance
I don't have an entry per se this week -- I'm just basking in the glow of all these other great posts. However, if you'd like to know more about Free Money Finance, you can take this mini-tour to see what this blog is about. I posted it when Business Week magazine recently recommended Free Money Finance.
Thanks for dropping in to this week's carnival -- I really do appreciate you stopping by! And as a reminder, next week's Carnival of Personal Finance is at In Cash Flow We Trust. So mark your calendars and be sure to stop by there next Monday. Have a GREAT week!
Update: Linking to the Beltway Traffic Jam.
Nicely done Free Money-you've set the bar high for next week!
Posted by: Steve Mertz | July 25, 2005 at 04:05 PM
Congratulations! For the first time ever (I believe) you have been linked by the blogfather (Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit).
Posted by: Dan Meyer | July 25, 2005 at 04:58 PM
Should have been more clear on the first post. This is the first time (I believe) that Instapundit has linked to the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Posted by: Dan Meyer | July 25, 2005 at 07:45 PM
Yes, Glenn was very kind to link here. I read his blog several times a day and am grateful for the link. However, I think he has linked to the Carnival a couple times before -- he is very generous that way when it comes to introducing his traffic to new blogs through carnivals. ;-)
Posted by: FMF | July 25, 2005 at 08:50 PM
Wow... this looks like the who's who of personal finance blogs.
Pick me for your Carnival of Finance #7. :)
This is an interesting community.
Monty Loree's - Financial Maturity Blog
Posted by: Monty Loree | July 25, 2005 at 10:21 PM
In a recent interview with Warren Buffet it was said that “ when Warren Buffett holds cash and says he doesn't see opportunity, it sets off alarm bells for everyone”. My comment on this is that In a period of turmoil where so many risk such as gasoline prices are threatening the continental economy the most advantageous way of keeping your finance in the black s in 1-2-3 steps [1st] maintaining your financial charge low and [2nd] protecting your capital as well as [3 rd] reducing tax cost. The first step could be achieve by acquiring swaps or long position on fixed interest rate the second by selling call option on stock that performed well for a strike price that insure your gain and buy put option at this same price. If the stock soars you may have to sell, but you’ll make money anyway, otherwise you’ll simply insure your profit for a fraction of the normal cost. The 3rd step is acheived by paying your personnal debt first and maintain your investment debt as low as possible.
Michel Maher, CGA, LLD, Lawyer (Québec Bar)
If interested in these strategies you may have more detail in a book on taxation of financial derivatives at http://www.carswell.com/law/law_book_news/LBN04October.pdf or consult at http://www.alphalogiques.com
Posted by: michel Maher | October 11, 2005 at 08:57 AM
I know this is an outdated post, but can anyone eloborate this "Carnival" thing. I already read about it elsewhere, but I don't really get the point..anyone?
Posted by: Casper @mymoneyblog.info | April 15, 2009 at 06:10 AM
Casper --
Read this:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2005/08/best_practices_.html
Posted by: FMF | April 15, 2009 at 07:50 AM