Best of Money Carnival #1

It's my pleasure to host the first ever Best of Money Carnival, the blog carnival that recognizes the top 10 personal finance posts each week.

I had over 100 articles submitted this week, though many of them did not qualify. Why not? Because they did not follow the carnival rules and include a short description of their post. So for those of you wondering why you didn't make the top 10, it may be because you were disqualified before you even got started. There's nothing to fear though since I'm sure you'll get it right next week. 

That said, here are the ten best accurately submitted posts for this week, in countdown order, along with each author's description of their post:

10 -  Debt Tsunami: The Ultimate Method For Paying Off Debt - When it comes to debt reduction methods, chances are you've heard of the Debt Snowball, as well as paying Highest-Interest First. However, when contemplating how best to attack your debt your best bet may be the Debt Tsunami! The Debt Tsunami is a hybrid approach, which focuses on eliminating the debt with the greatest emotion impact. This post contains a thorough explanation of benefits/drawbacks, as well as detailed step by step instructions for getting your Tsunami into action!

9 - Pay Off Mortgage Early? Or Invest? - Should you pay off your mortgage early? Or should you focus on investing with your spare cash? This is one of the most hotly debated topics in personal finance, with vocal proponents on both sides. In this article, I take a look at this issue from both angles and then share our approach with you.

8 - How to Save Money on Your Wedding - We go through the big day at least once but many people think it's one of the most expensive days of our lives. Here are some tips that will help reduce the expenses of this important day.

7 - 25 Traits Of The Not So Well To Do - One thing I've noticed among folks I know that are cash-strapped is that they have a number of traits in common. I've compiled a list of 25 things I see in what I call the Not So Well To Do. Check it out!

6 - Spend $.42 And Achieve Your Goals in 2009 - It’s Not Too Late - Even if you write down your financial goals, you may find it difficult to achieve them. Here's a very easy trick you can play on yourself that will boost the chances of actually achieving your goal.

5 - Using Financial Aid to Graduate Debt Free - A guide to help college students and parents navigate through the financial aid maze. The post details the different types of grants and loans. Also goes over the expected family contribution and how that is calculated.

4 - How to Review Your Equifax Credit Report - This is a detailed post discussing the various parts of your Equifax credit report, including how you can save the report and how you can dispute any errors. 

3 - Amish Finances - A look into one of the most secret personal and community-wide financial systems in the world through interviews with Amish and my father, a personal Amish driver for over ten years. "Amish Finances" is filled with takeaway lessons that will leave the reader wondering whether or not they should shed hundreds of years of progress in order to get their finances straight.

2 - 10 Economic and Business Pro Tips from World of Warcraft - The economic recession, investor panic, and the numerous bailouts might have been avoided if only CEO's and Wall Street traders weren’t n00bs, and had played World of Warcraft to learn these Pro Economic and Business lessons.

1 - How To Avoid Foreclosure: Keep Your House In Troubled Times - These days, people are thinking that walking away from their home may be the solution to escape their financial burdens. But before you do something like this, make sure you've tried everything! We cover some of that reasoning in this article.

And there you have it -- the top 10 personal finance posts of the week and the conclusion of the first ever Best of Money Carnival.

If you'd like to be considered for the carnival next week, here are details on how to submit a post. For those of you interested, the carnival will be hosted next week by Debt Free Adventure.

Comments

[nickel]

Nice job putting together the carnival. I went ahead and submitted it to Tip'd. Here's the link for anyone that wants to "tip" it:

http://tipd.com/Personal-Finance/free-money-finance-best-of-money-carnival-1-1/

[Tim]

Thanks for putting this together. Great Monday morning reading!

[jim]

Great idea adding a filter, so much chaff out there that some of the carnivals are so huge they are unreadable. Tipd it!

[Bible Money Matters]

Great choices for some great articles - good diversity in style and content!

[FFB]

I'm honored to be included in the first ever Best of Money Carnival! Thank you for the selection, creating the carnival, and the hard work of reading through all of the selections.

[MLR]

Thanks for the inclusion, I am honored!

[Baker]

You own! Not only a fantastic idea for a carnival, but someone who is willing to do the work and have the clout to launch it well.

Awesome to be in the 1st ever edition. Looking forward to hosting.

[Health Insurance Guru]

Nice read about paying off debt - very timely.

[best]

Hi its a Nice Carnival. Pay through debt consolidation one of the easiest way to say goodbye to debt.

[The Digerati Life]

Great carnival and like Baker, I'm excited about the time when I get to host! :) I'll be letting my readers know about this carnival. Thanks for allowing my article to be part of this!