Carnival Of Financial Camaraderie # 13 – Christmas Edition

Welcome to the 13th edition to our Carnival.  We have another huge turnout on the submissions this week and we’re glad to start passing the carnival on to others in the new year.  Have a Great Christmas everyone!

Boomer and Echo will be our first host on Jan.7th and the rest of the schedule can be found here.  Stop by our Carnival Page to request a spot to host the carnival on your site in the new year!

Business

Linsey presents How Can I Advertise My Business for Free? posted at 1099 Mom, saying, While the best methods of advertising may require a cost up front, there are some reputable ways to get your name out there. Here are a few of the best ideas from our community:

Career

Kevin presents College Kids Need Skills, Not Good Grades posted at Thousandaire, saying, Get a skill like accounting or engineering in college. It’s way more valuable than getting a high GPA without any real skills.

PITR presents Owning Blogs vs. Staff Writing posted at Passive Income To Retire, saying, To earn money online, you can do one of two things. Find out what is the best way to make money online.

Marissa presents Live to work or work to live posted at Thirty Six Months, saying, A closer look at Gen Y and different mentalities and priorities when it comes to work-life balance.

Financial Advice

Glen Craig presents Mint.com Review – Manage Your Money Online Free posted at Free From Broke , saying, Looking for an easy and FREE way to track your money? Take a look at this Mint.com review! You can track your money, spending, investments, credit, and more.

Michael presents Real Estate Buyer Tips: Why buying this winter is a smart strategy posted at Begging To Retire, saying, The housing market is not in a good place right now but if you look around for deals this holiday season, you might find something too good to pass up.

Hank presents One Time Is Too Many With Identity Theft posted at Money Q&A, saying, How do you protect yourself from identity theft? What are the warning signs of identity theft? One incident is too many when it comes to protecting your identity.

Daniel presents IRA Contribution Income Limits Should Be Based on Tax Rates posted at Sweating the Big Stuff, saying When taxes rise there is less disposable income, so contribution limits should rise, but they don’t.

Corey presents Turn Around Your Finances posted at 20s Finances, saying, People often find themselves with a bad credit score due to poor financial choices in the past. The sooner the credit score is repaired the better. It is a good idea to put aside money every month to cover any emergencies that may arise. Opening an account with the best savings rates makes it possible to save enough money for emergency use so that important month.

A Blinkin presents How To Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers posted at Funancials, saying, This article will show you how to stop receiving credit card offers and junk mail.

YFS presents 401k Is Not Enough: Alternatives to Your Retirement Planning posted at Your Finances Simplified, saying, Nowadays, it’s disconcerting to realize how employee retirement plans just don’t seem to be enough to cover one’s retirement.

W presents Understanding IPOs and IPO Scams posted at Off-Road Financesaying, here is some information on the downsides of IPOs.

Kevin presents Five Financial Conversations to Have Before You Get Married posted at Invest It Wisely, saying, Here are five financial conservations you should have before you get married.

Penny presents Financial Lessons From Unexpected Places posted at Penny Pinching Professional, saying, What personal finance lessons do you think can be learned from a board game based on subsistence farming in 17th century Europe?

Beating Broke presents Is Your Stuff Owning You? How to Break Free posted at Beating Broke, saying, I’m the worst person to go shopping with now. I second guess every purchase. If I do end up buying something, I ask myself, “what will I get rid of now?” You know, the one in and one out policy. I don’t like to fill up my place with stuff, I would rather experience more.

Jason presents Two Reasons to Save and One Reason Not To posted at Live Real, Now, saying, I’m a fan of saving money. I’m not doing as much of it as I’d like, but that’s because I’m focusing on killing my final credit card, first. I postpone saving, knowing that it’s something that I need to do the moment my credit cards are paid off. It won’t wait any longer than that.

Sustainable PF presents Donating Land for Singificant Tax Breaks posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, The government of Canada uses tax provisions to encourage charitable giving. If you own a piece of ecologically valuable land, giving it to future generations is well worth considering.

Peter presents Consider Giving Your Spouse Gifts All Year Long posted at Bible Money Matters, saying, If you are frugal (or even if you are not but are busy paying off debt or building an emergency or retirement fund), consider the following way to show your spouse you care:

Justin presents 5 Purchases to Wait on This Holiday Season posted at Money Is the Root, saying, If you are one of my fellow procrastinators then do yourself a favor and hold off on these these purchases until 2012. In fact, start your Christmas 2012 shopping next month, you will be amazed at how much you can save!

Bob presents 2011 Expiring Tax Provisions posted at ChristianPF, saying, At the end of 2011, there are several tax provisions that are expiring. This may be the last opportunity to use these provisions between now and January 1, 2012. Hurry!

Melissa presents How to Save Money on a Car Loan posted at Mom’s Plans, saying, Most people will pay thousands of dollars in interest over the life of the loan. However, there are several ways you can save on your car loan.

Kelsey presents Can’t Make Ends Meet? Time to Get Creative posted at Money Mum, saying, Perhaps you recently lost a job, you have a large number of unexpected medical bills, or you’re trying to pay for university tuition. Instead of letting stress get the best of you, be proactive and consider bringing in some extra cash in a new, creative way.

Alan presents Don’t Be Perfect posted at Canadian Finance Blog, saying, I wanted to take my money and utilize it the absolute max. However, by attempting to be perfect, I’ve lost something even more valuable along the way – time.

Ashley presents Numbers from 2011 That Are Too Crazy to Believe posted at Money Talks Coaching, saying, A person shouldn’t read a blog called The Economic Collapse Blog. I mean, what good can come from that? That said, they had a pretty interesting article over there called 50 economic numbers from 2011 that are almost too crazy to believe. I’m not going to go over all 50 but if you want to read the full list click that link.

Jon the Saver presents An Interview with Paula from Afford Anything posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, There are few blogs out there that catch my attention these days. Paula from Afford Anything is one of the exceptions. Her blog is dedicated to helping you achieve your dreams and finally conquering the things you want without going into debt for them.

Miss T. presents Planning How to Buy a House posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter, saying, Planning a home purchase isn’t something that you should just jump into without some careful planning. It pays to get yourself in the best financial position before you do anything as this can potentially make or break your plans. Here are some tips for planning your house purchase from a financial point-of-view.

Mike presents CIBC Visa Cards: Comparing The Options posted at Rewards Cards Canada, saying, CIBC Visa cards offer a wide range of benefits and services including rewards, cash-back and competitive interest rates.

Cash Flow Mantra presents Follow Up on Bloggers Making $1000 per Month posted at Cash Flow Mantra, saying, I developed an idea for a new blog and contacted the one that I felt inspired me to step up my game and make it all happen, Derek from Life and My Finances. Together with Melissa from Mom’s Plans, the three of us will be working to provide our readers with a weekly idea for making an extra $1000 per month on a part-time basis. These will not only be online ventures but offline as well in case someone is not computer savvy or has no real interest in internet income.

Crystal presents How to Determine Your Used Car’s Value posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, saying, If you’re unfamiliar with the process, privately selling your car can be confusing. How do you get the word out about your used car? How do you transfer a title? And most importantly, how do you figure out your used car’s value? It’s that last question, determining a car’s selling price, which gives people a lot of trouble. It’s a difficult question to answer because a lot of factors can affect the value of a used car. Read on to learn how to determine the value of your used car.

Roshawn Watson presents 4 Things To Stop Doing With Your Finances posted at Watson Inc, saying, Often personal finance writers discuss what we need to do; however, it is also what you are willing to walk away from that will determine your future prosperity. Here are 4 disastrous behaviors to stop doing with your finances.

Evan presents Calculating Future Housing Costs to Determine Affordability posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, The Wife and I have been giving serious thought to listing our house after the new year, and it was in the course of a recent discussion that The Wife told me she just wanted to know the “bottom line” in terms of future housing costs. So, I set to work doing a few calculations.

Frugality

Lazy Man presents Today’s Deal: Ditch Your Landline for VOIP and Save Big posted at Lazy Man and Money, saying, Nearly two years ago I wrote about how you can get free lifetime phone service for $150. The product is called the Ooma Telo and it’s something that I’ve been using the for many months now. It is a great savings over both a standard landline phone and alternative VOIP services such as Vonage (which I had before I switched.)

SB presents How to use alternate energy to save money posted at One Cent at a Time, saying, By converting to green energy you can actually save a lot of money going forward. Within a few years you recover the cost of equipment. you can also sell excess energy to grid and make money.

Sabrina presents 5 Tips for Keeping Your Pets and Your Budget posted at Frugal Living, saying, There’s no way around the fact that pets are expensive, but there are ways to save. Here are our 5 favourite money saving ideas for pet care:

Kelly presents Cheap-o-Vision: Save Money on Your Movies posted at Wallet Watcher , saying, The following tips ought to help you keep the burden of movie entertainment costs lighter and your wallet a bit heavier.

Saving Mentor presents How to Save Money on Internet Services posted at HowToSaveMoney.ca, saying, This guide will show you how you can reduce your internet costs, upgrade your service for less, and increase or eliminate your bandwidth caps.

Matt presents Financial Excellence: Saving Money at Christmas Time posted at Living in Financial Excellence, saying, Today I share tips and tricks from the Financial Excellence community about how to save money on Christmas gifts, decorations, and other holiday expenses.

D.J. presents Save Money on Off Season Family Getaways posted at The Family Wallet, saying, Traveling off season is a great way to save money on family vacations. Not only will you have more money in your wallet, but fewer tourists will be around, affording you more time to enjoy your activities.

Marie presents Dorm Living and Other Money-Saving Tips for College Students posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying, If you’re going to school full-time, you’ll have a limited number of hours each week to work and earn money. So it’s important to learn how to cut costs and live on a budget. Here are some money-saving tips that will help.

Investing

Don presents Dividends Paying Expenses – My Thoughts posted at Money Reasons, saying, This is why I think dividends paying expenses is a great idea. See if you agree…

Money Cone presents How to Calculate Your Retirement Income posted at Money Cone, saying, In this post I’m going to show you how to find out what your income will be at retirement, if you continue saving what you are currently saving. No, no worksheets or spreadsheets or complicated calculations! Not on this blog! I want to highlight a FREE Retirement Income Calculator I found very useful.

Mr. Money presents Why NOW Is the Best Time to Start Saving for Your Retirement posted at Smart on Money, saying, Actually, years ago was the best time to start saving for retirement. As soon as you started earning income was the best time to save for retirement. But now is the second best time to start saving for retirement.

Dan presents Here’s What Happens When You Chase 10% Dividend Yields posted at High Yield Edge, saying, If you find stocks yielding 10% to be attractive, beware this common outcome. Here’s what happened to a very popular high yielder which is all too familiar to income investors.

Darwin presents How Does Your Personal Capital-To-Income Ratio Stack Up with This Recommendation? posted at Darwin’s Money, saying, Check out how your personal Capital to Income ratio stacks up against the recommended level for your age. You might be surprised!

Kanwal Sarai presents Are These Your Top 4 Reasons for Buying Mutual Funds? posted at Simply Investing, saying, In this article we’ll examine why many people choose mutual funds… and why mutual funds may not be your best bet for improving your portfolio.

Investor Junkie presents REITs vs. Real Estate Investing posted at Investor Junkie, saying, Investing in REITs and direct investment in real estate both come with advantages and disadvantages.

Boomer presents Is Your Investment Loan Tax Deductible? posted at Boomer & Echo, saying, If the interest you are paying on your investment loan is tax deductible, then it’s usually considered good debt, as it is the equivalent of paying a lower rate of interest on the loan.

Kay Lynn presents 3 Reasons to Roll Over Your 401K posted at Bucksome Boomer, saying, Now that you have left your employer (career change or possible retirement), you have an important choice to make. You can either leave the money with your previous employer in the 401k plan or you can do what’s called a 401k rollover. The former seems like the easy option but let me give you some reasons why you want consider rolling over to your own personal Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

Mark presents Top Canadian REITs posted at My Own Advisor, saying, “Check out what I think, are some of the best Canadian REITs to invest it! Thanks for consideration!”

Barb Friedberg presents Reader Question; SHOULD I INVEST IN A CLOSED END FUND?posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, saying, “Learn about closed end mutual funds. Get the basices to figure out whether they are for you or not?”

Other

Dr. Dean presents Decisions: How YOU Can Improve! posted at Dr. Dean’s TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, “Do you make good decisions? The decisions we make impact all areas of our life, including our finances. Join me in a review of the process and ways to improve your method.”

Paul Kamp presents Are College Graduates Better Off Today Than in the Past? posted at Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Personal Finance, Economics and Investing, saying, “Is a college graduate in 2011 better off than someone in the same shoes in 1989 or 1976? The answer may surprise you!”

Julie presents Pets: The Gift That Keeps on Eating posted at The Family CEO, saying, Just imagine the look on your child’s face when, from underneath the Christmas tree, comes a Golden Retriever puppy. The unbridled joy, unconditional love, and initial enthusiasm will give you the moniker of the greatest joy.

Aloysa presents Five Things Everyone Should Know About Twitter posted at My Broken Coin, saying, I’ve recently learned the value of twitter! Read these 5 things that everybody should know about twitter too!

Suba presents Get Your Accomplishments Noticed posted at Broke Professionals, saying, It’s tough at work these days, companies are trying to do more with fewer employees. Employees are struggling to meet increased workloads without ruining their personal lives. Most are probably just making it through the critical, must do, tasks each day. In this kind of environment, it is sometimes hard to make sure that your Get Your Accomplishment.

Shaun presents Who Spends More UK or US Parents: Average Family Christmas Gift Spending Per Child 2011 posted at Smart Family Finance, saying, How similar are UK and US family spending on Christmas gifts in 2011? Do parents in both nations spoil their children the same?

101 Centavos presents almost Live from Sao Paulo – random notes posted at 101 Centavos, saying, Notes about my trip to Sao Paulo, another fascinating place!

Eddie presents Christmas Gift Guide For Your New Relationship posted at Finance Fox, saying, This gift can say the world about you or it can become a ticking time bomb, especially if you’re in a new relationship.There are no rules per se when it comes to gift giving, ultimately you place the final value on the gift. Buying too much, too early in the relationship can be a disaster too.

Erika presents Rich and single or Poor and In Love? posted at Newlyweds on a Budget, saying, Do finances affect the way you look at potential mates? Should financed play such an important role in marriage and relationships?

We were also included in the following carnivals:

Carnival of Personal Finance

Canadian Finance Carnival

Have a merry Christmas everyone!