Win A Free $10 BP Rewards Card! – My Personal Finance Journey’s First Ever Giveaway

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Enough with this slow winter days business. Let’s give away something FREE, shall we?!

Previously on My Personal Finance Journey, I’ve written about how I am a loyal BP fan and customer (regardless of their recent horrific accident). In one of my first ever posts in January of 2010 on this blog, I wrote about how if I only had to choose two credit cards to use, one of them would be the Chase BP Cash Back Rewards Visa card.


Note: I am still using this credit card for all of my gas purchases, and earn 5% cash back in the process!!

A recent promotion that BP has been running, called the Thank You Days reward program, is rewarding BP customers for their continued business (this was recently reviewed and publicized by Jonathan and My Money Blog) by giving away $10 reward cards after the 5th gas fill up of 8 gallons of gas or more.

Now that I’ve successfully completed this promotion and gotten my five codes, I want to give them away for free to readers of my blog!

Follow the instructions below to accumulate points to qualify to win the $10 BP reward card!

1) Leave a comment below (be sure to include your email) to let me know you are participating and what you are doing to accumulate points – Worth 1 point 
AND, if you leave a comment regarding your financial goals for 2011 – Worth 2 

points 

2) Refer a subscriber (send the email of the person you referred via my “Contact” tab above) – Worth 5 

points

3) Follow me on Twitter – Worth 1 

point

4) Subscribe to my website via email (Place your email in the Feedburner subscriber box on the right or click here) – Worth 2 points
5) Link to this page from your website (send the link of the page you are linking to me from via my “Contact” tab above) – Worth 3 points
6) Review my website on Alexa.com – Worth 1 point

7) “Like” me on Facebook – Worth 1 point
8) Leave a [value adding] comment on any other post on this site (comments already left do not count – be sure to leave your email address) – Worth 2 points
9) Complete the My Personal Finance Journey site reader feedback questionnaire (only takes one minute) – Worth 3 points
There is no limit to the amount of points you can earn. If you refer 10 subscribers – your name will have accumulated 50 points!

In the event of a tie, I will be using Random.org to select the winner, and the coupon codes will be sent to your email that you provide when placing a comment.

The deadline for entries will end on February 8th, 2011 at 11:59pm (2 weeks from today). Good luck to you all!

***Photo courtesy of http://www.smartcouponing.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/01/BPReward-card-300×186.jpg

Vanguard Review – Our 2nd Ever Guest Post Today at Investor Junkie

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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On several previous occasions at My Personal Finance Journey, I have posted about my experiences with Vanguard’s investing services.

A couple of these previous posts included a comparison of Vanguard vs. Fidelity as well as a detailed description of which Vanguard mutual funds I employ in my investment strategy.

Continuing in the spirit of sharing my experiences with Vanguard as well as my continued blogging goal for 2011 to do more guest posting, I wanted to share the link to My Personal Finance Journey’s 2nd ever guest post on another site – a general review of Vanguard posted at Investor Junkie.

You can view the complete post by clicking the link below!


Vanguard Review – InvestorJunkie.com

Take a look at the review and post a comment about your experiences with Vanguard!


***Photo courtesy of http://images.writeitsideways.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cc_magnifying_glass.jpg

Carnival of Money Stories # 90 – Average Incomes Around The Globe – January 24, 2011 Edition

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Welcome to the January 24, 2011 edition of the Carnival of Money Stories, a weekly blog carnival where people share their stories and experiences regarding money.

And come on now! If you are somewhat nosy (like me) and like to be in the know about other people’s business, who doesn’t like stories such as these?!

This week, the carnival had a total of 58 article submissions! In reading/judging the posts, I found that many people misunderstood the intent of the carnival (i.e. I could only publish 22 out of the 58 articles submitted), and DID NOT submit articles containing money stories. In the future, please only submit articles containing stories regarding financial matters. This will make it more straight-forward for future hosts.

The theme of today’s Carnival is the very interesting subject of the differences in the average income of different countries around the globe. All figures are based on data from 2009 from World Bank.

It is very wild to think that there is an $85,000 difference on a per capita basis of Gross National Income between the 1st ranked and last ranked country. 

I hope you enjoy the money stories and the economic tidbits spread throughout, and stop by to say “hi” again on my non-carnival days as well.

Editor’s Top 3 Picks

1. Barb Friedberg presents WEALTH IN LIFE: PATIENCE LEADS TO SUCCESS (Part 2) posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance, saying, “Read a story about how eating marshmallows at age 4 can determine life success and wealth.”

2. The Financial Blogger presents 5 Reasons Why You Need A Partner In Your Business posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “My story on why a business partner is a great idea.”

3. Jonathan presents My Financial Story posted at Fiscally Fearless, saying, “This article discusses the author’s relationship with money through his life.”
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Gross National Income Per Capita

  • # 1 = Norway @ 85,000 US$
  • # 8 = United States @ 46,000 US$
  • # 16 = Canada @ 42,000 US$

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Business

Craig Ford presents Introducing the PNG Small Business Start Up Loan Program posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “My story about how we started a small business loan program.”


Career

MD presents Why You Should Start With Freelancing Right Now posted at Passive Income Now, saying, “Why you should start freelancing now to increase your income – what you can learn from my own experiences.”

Mrs. Accountability presents, How the 2011 Tax Changes Affected My Take Home Pay, posted at Out of Debt Again.


Credit

Sustainable PF presents My Journey to the Best Canadian Rewards Credit Card posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, “It took many years but I finally feel I have control over my credit card selection and I surely enjoy the credit card company paying ME!”

Mr. Cents presents Money Story: The Finger of Blame? posted at Personal Cents.


Debt

Kaye presents What We Will One Day Do With Our Money posted at Mrs Nespy’s World, saying, “I cannot wait until we own our money. This is what we will do with it.”

MoneyThinking presents Oh Student Loans, How I Dispise Thee.. posted at Money Thinking.


Investing

Madison DuPaix presents Investing in Tax Lien Certificates and Tax Deeds posted at My Dollar Plan, saying, “Follow me on my journey as I find out about more about this interesting investing option.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Should You Cash Out of Your Retirement Savings Plan? posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “My thoughts on borrowing or cashing out of one’s retirement account to use the money for various purposes.”
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Gross National Income Per Capita

  • Japan – 38,000 US$
  • Chile – 9,470 US$
  • Mexico – $9,000 US$ 

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Net Worth

Darwin presents Present Value of Money Explained – MBA Monday posted at Darwin’s Money, saying, “One of the most important financial concepts is also one of the most misunderstood. Make sure you understand the Present value of Money – with these real life examples. It will save you thousands!”


Other

FMF presents How Not to Retire posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Here’s how NOT to manage your resources for retirement.”

Pat @ DNW presents 12 Meaningless Time Eaters in Your Day posted at Experiments in Finance, saying, “A funny look at how time is often wasted in any given day for me.”

PT presents How to Stop Spending Money posted at Prime Time Money, saying, “Is mindless spending derailing your financial goals? Put your budget on a diet with this tip.”

Tiffany Merritt presents An Honest Talk About Finances (Vlog! Please watch!) posted at Stuff Parents Need, saying, “This vlog is about my husband and I creating a budget for the first time in our 8 year marriage.”

Michael presents Zions Bank Online Savings Account Review posted at Consumerism Commentary.

Moneywalks presents Eating out is for broke people posted at moneywalks.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents New Years resolutions: Financial Resolutions posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “My wife and I have started to make New Years resolutions, or more specifically financial resolutions, to focus our efforts together for the next year.”
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Gross National Income Per Capita

  • Iraq – 2,200 US$
  • India – 1,180 US$
  • Congo & Burundi – 150-160 US$ (lowest on list)

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Shopping

MD presents Jersey Shore Life: The True Cost of GTL posted at studenomics.com, saying, “A fun look at the money that you would need to spend to GTL.”

Daniel presents Is this Being Frugal, Cheap, or Stealing? posted at Sweating The Big Stuff.

Well – that concludes this week’s edition.

Be sure to submit your best money story articles for inclusion in next week’s Carnival of Money Stories, which will be featured by our friends over at Miss Thrifty. You can submit your blog article to the next edition by using the handy dandy carnival submission form provided by BlogCarnival.

Also, if you are interested in hosting an upcoming edition of the Carnival of Money Stories, you can read the hosting requirements and submit your request at the following link.

***Photo courtesy of http://modernsynthesis.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/800px-ukrainian_salary_map.png?w=720&h=503

How You Can Get A FREE Book – Index Funds – The 12-Step Program for Active Investors

So, who out there likes free books? Or better yet – who out there likes hardcover, new, full-color, 400 page beautiful books on passive investing?! Everyone, right?!

Well, today, I’ll share with you a little tip on how to get a copy of Mark T. Hebner’s book, Index Funds: The 12-Step Program for Active Investors, for FREE.

In fact, my free copy just arrived in the mail yesterday following this same process! There’s not even a charge for shipping/handling.

Here’s how you can get your free copy:

  • Call Index Fund Advisors at 888-643-3133.
  • Tell the person that answers that you were recently listening to an Index Fund Advisor’s Podcast that mentioned you could get a free copy of Mark Hebner’s book. Optional: you can listen to the podcast by clicking the following link – Index Fund Advisors Podcasts Page.
  • Next, tell them your address, and they will ship you your free book! It’s that easy!

Enjoy!

***Photo courtesy of http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JlU725RBL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

My Personal Finance Journey’s First Ever Guest Post For Another Site!

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Today is truly a historic day in the history of My Personal Finance Journey. In the past year that we have existed, we have featured nearly 30 great guest posts from many different contributors.

However, during this time, I have either been too shy, too stubborn, too busy, or too greedy to reach out and write a high quality guest post for another site.

All excuses aside though, as I mentioned in my blogging goals post a few days ago, one of my important targets to hit for 2011 is to write at least one guest post for another blog per month.

Today, I am happy to report that my first guest post went live on one of my favorite personal finance sites, Free Money Finance. You can read the complete post by clicking on the link below!

How Much Is Your Smart Phone Data Plan Really Costing You? – Free Money Finance

How about you all, other personal finance bloggers? Are you being better than me and keeping up the guest posting on other sites?! I know I have been bad about this in the past.


***Photo courtesy of http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_k2j8qFXzOU8/Rxpq520An1I/AAAAAAAAAw0/lFPw07VwvdI/s400/globebutton_large.jpg

What Would Your Daily Routine Be Like If You Were Rich?

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Recently, during the extremely uncomfortable 10 hour plane trip from Dallas Fort-Worth to Santiago, Chile, I decided to pass a little of the time by recording ideas for blog topics from the different thoughts floating around in my head.

One topic in particular peaked my interest, and I wanted to share it with you all today!

The question/topic? Just what would your daily schedule be like if you were either rich or had enough money to retire early (and not have to worry about money for the rest of my life)?

For me, while I would definitely at first, want to sort of “enjoy the moment and live it up” by doing some traveling around the world, a routine I could see myself settling in to would be as follows:

  • 8 AM – Wake up, have a cup of freshly ground coffee.
  • 9 AM – Go help out at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) by walking the doggies or go for a trail run.
  • 10 AM – 4 PM – Go to a job I enjoy where I can contribute to advancing human health. Either that or help out with a charitable organization that contributes to advancing human health.
  • 4 PM – 6 PM – Work on my personal finance blog. 
  • Once per week  – Teach a night class about Finance at a community college or to high school students.
  • 6 PM – bedtime – Have a glass of fresh Virginia wine with dinner!

Yep! I think that schedule would be quite nice!

How about you all? What would your daily routine be like?! 


Share your thoughts by commenting below!


***Photo courtesy of http://baseballsnatcher.mlblogs.com/What%20would%20you%20do.jpg

My Personal Finance Journey Blogging Goals for 2011

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” for “First-Time Visitor pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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With this being a new year and all, I’ve decided to lay out some blogging goals for My Personal Finance Journey during 2011. I have also added a reminder on my Outlook calendar to track our progress pertaining to these goals each month.

By doing, this I am hoping that it provides us with more accountability and visibility to what we are doing and where we want to go with this community/blog.

So, here goes! The blog goals for 2011 are as follows, with progress updates given in bold type, current as of April 12th, 2011.
  1. Obtain Alexa ranking of 200k or less. Dream goal = 100k. Currently at 112,000! Yah! We actually were lower than this and falling until I got busy with the semester course-work in my Chemical Engineering PhD program about a month ago.
  2. Read and interact with (comment) 5 partner blogs per day. Currently below this average, but hope to improve. However, I have been doing well this past week by reading and commenting on most all of the Yakezie Blog Swap posts (which were very good, by the way!).
  3. Continue active participation as a proud Yakezie Personal Finance Blog Network member. Have posted a total of 800 comments on the Yakezie Forums advising and learning from others. Also, I have now coordinated 5 advertising campaigns, bringing in a total of $3700 revenue (and counting!) to partner blogs and have hosted the 4th Yakezie Blog Swap.
  4. Publish 3-5 blog posts per week. On target for this average currently. I’m very proud that I’ve kept up the consistency!
  5. Obtain 200 unique visitors per day average by end of 2011. Currently averaging 180 per day. I was up to 307 average per day a month ago before I had to focus more time in to my graduate program’s classes.
  6. Host all personal finance blog carnivals (Festival of Frugality, Best of Money, Tax Carnival, Carnival of Personal Finance, etc). Have hosted all blog carnivals that have allowed me! If any one out there needs a host in the future, just send me an email!
  7. Grow Carnival of Passive Investing to point where someone would be proud to host it. Have now had 4 editions of the carnival. Three were hosted by me, and the last one was hosted by Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog (who actually just won the Free Money Finance March Madness tournament!). The April carnival will be hosted by A Rich Life. Submit your passive investing posts by clicking here.
  8. Continue to spread word about benefits of passive investing over active investing. Get involved in BogleHeads forums as well. Need to do this more. I have done a good job organizing the Carnival of Passive Investing, but have neglected visiting the BogleHeads forums. However, I just placed an automatic weekly recurring reminder on my Outlook calendar to try to increase my participation.
  9. Write and publish 1 guest post for another blog per month. On target with this goal. Have guest posted once this year on Free Money Finance, twice on InvestorJunkie.com (a review of Sharebuilder and a review of Vanguard), and guest posted a total of three times during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Yakezie Blog Swaps.
  10. Create an eBook on one of the following topics – a) Ways to be Frugal b) Investing Strategy c) Steps to Buying a Home. Ongoing, but have not yet started.
  11. Possibly transfer blog to WordPress hosting???? This is still a maybe. I am leaning more towards not going to WordPress. I know that it limits me from doing some things, but with weekly manual backups, I feel safe using Blogger for now.
  12. Create newsletter – “X Number of Weeks to a Frugal Lifestyle”. Ongoing, but have not yet started.
  13. Two free giveaways / contests during 2011. Have hosted 3 giveaways so far this year – a $25 Amazon gift card to the best cheapskate story, a $25 Wal-Mart gift card for the best passive investing article from the March 31st Carnival of Passive Investing, and an H&R Block At Home giveaway of 5 tax software codes.
  14. Put together material to present to groups and or classes on personal finance. Ongoing, have not done yet.
  15. Attend blogging, marketing, finance, or real estate classes at local community college or nearby conference locations. Need to search for seminars. Found classes offered at local community college in blogging and marketing. Have not made any progress on this yet.
How about you all? What goals do you have set for 2011?

Share your experiences by commenting below!


***Photo courtesy of http://www.workfromhomenetworkmarketing.com/images/Reach-For-Stars.jpg

Carnival of Personal Finance #292 – Most Expensive Homes in The World Edition

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, a weekly listing of the top personal finance articles around the blogosphere in the following categories – taxes, money management, investing, career, debt, frugality, credit, economy, finance, real estate, saving, and budgeting.

The theme for this week’s carnival is the most expensive homes in the world! I hope you enjoy the posts and amazingly huge home pictures and that you can stop by My Personal Finance Journey on my non-carnival days as well!

This week, we had 76 total submissions. However, listed below are this week’s top 3 editor’s picks. Congrats to the three winners!

1. Len from Len Penzo dot Com presents My Ketchup Taste Test: Surprise! Guess Which Brand Topped Heinz.

2. Shaun from Money Cactus presents Why the Global Financial Crisis has Improved My Work Wealth, and says, “Ever feel like you spend too much time at work and not enough time doing other things you love? Here’s a formula you can use to improve your working wealth and how I have implemented it!”

3. Barbara Friedberg from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents MBA Class 2011; Risk vs. Reward, and says, “Understand the relationship between risk and reward and become a smarter investor. There is an unavoidable trade off between risk and reward. If you desire a higher return on your investment, you must take greater risk.

The “Antilla” in Mumbai – costs $1 Billion, consists of 27 stories, 40,000 sq. ft, and 600 servants! Very nice humble home!

And, listed below are the rest of this week’s great article submissions.

Taxes


Daniel from Sweating The Big Stuff presents Federal and State Estimated Quarterly Tax Payments are Due!.

Jason from One Money Design presents Tax Refund Estimator: Best Calculators to Estimate Your Tax Refund, and says, “Will you owe the IRS money this year? Check out these three tax refund estimator calculators you may find helpful in planning for 2011 taxes.”

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents 2011 Federal Tax Brackets & Rates, 2011 Standard Deductions, and says, “Some things you need to prepare for this year’s taxes.”

Amanda from My Dollar Plan presents Investing in Tax Lien Certificates and Tax Deeds, and says, “Don’t know much about this investment option? Read this to find out about Tax Lien Certificates & Tax Deeds.”

Craig from Free From Broke presents 2011 Federal Income Tax Brackets, and says, “See what the 2011 income tax brackets are and where you fit.”

Junior Boomer from Consumer Boomer presents 2011 Dividend Tax Rates, and says, “Find out what the future tax burdens will be for many Americans across the country in 2011 how it will affect you. “

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents 2011 Energy Tax Credit for Home Improvements, and says, “Here’s how you can save money on your taxes by making home efficiency upgrades to your home.”

Craig Ford from Money Help for Christians presents Start Online Tax Filing Free with TurboTax, and says, “Use free online tax services to file your taxes or to get a point of comparison to review the work of your tax accountant.”

Villa Leopolda in the French Riviera – $506 Million – Who doesn’t need 80,000 sq. ft, 19 bed rooms, and 50 full time gardeners?

Money Management


RC from Think Your Way To Wealth presents Developing Your Financial Willpower.

Clint from Accumulating Money presents Recent Grad Confused about Personal Finance? Empower Yourself through Education.

Pf blogger from Personal cents presents Looking to retirement.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog from Canadian Finance Blog presents 6 Financial Habits to Take Control of Your Money, and says, “Take control of your money by learning financial habits like manage your debt, live within your means and know where your money is invested.”

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents Adventures in Cell Phone Purchasing, and says, “Nicole and Maggie discuss pre-paid phones vs. monthly plans and remind everybody to check their provider to see if they offer an employee discount.”

vh from Funny about Money presents Ten Ways to Deal with Bag Lady Syndrome.

Shawna from Making Money Make Cents presents How To Do A Personal Finance Gap Analysis – And Why You Should.

Pat S. from compounding returns presents Your Checklist for Financial Freedom, and says, “A checklist to take you from here to retirement with a step by step explanation of why each factor builds on the other.”

Bob from Christian Finances presents Juggling the Baby Steps, and says, “You know Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps to financial freedom. Perhaps you’ve even destroyed your non-mortgage debt and built that hefty emergency fund! You’re even a Financial Peace University graduate! Great job! But inevitably then comes the question: What next?”

N.W. Journey from Net Worth Journey presents 3 Tips to Protecting Your Spouse, and says, “Tips for keeping your information private.”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents Seven Financial Resolutions for the New Year, and says, “Here are seven practices to take you from pauper to prince or princess if you add one each year.”

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents 30 Financial Moves Before You Turn 30, and says, “30 smart money moves for all 20-somethings out there.”

Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents Setting The Course For The Impossible, and says, “What’s possible for you is determined by your capacity to believe.”

Fairfield Mansion – The Hamptons – $170 Million – Because who wouldn’t need a 91 foot dining room or a $150,000 hot tub? I know I do.

Investing

Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Six Consumer Stocks to own in 2011, and says, “The companies that could benefit from the increase in consumer spending all have diversified portfolios of strong brand names, wide moats and high returns on equity. Their strong fundamentals have enabled them to weather several recessions over the past 2 decades and have also allowed them to increase dividends for over a quarter of a century. “

Matt from Dividend Monk presents Four Things I’m Bullish On Going Into 2011, and says, “Four areas of stocks, including several specific companies for each category, are mentioned as places worth having a look this year. “

PT from PT Money presents Discount Brokers vs Mutual Fund Companies, and says, “When you begin investing with a broker there are a couple of main types to choose from. There are pros and cons to each.”

Grace from GRACEful Retirement presents Bonds–Trying to Get Some Perspective, and says, “A near-retiree’s dilemma–Grace needs bonds in her 401(k) but now is the worst time to be buying them. What to do?”

Sean Smarty from Grow Money presents Advantages of Index Funds.

Financial Uproar from Financial Uproar presents My Research Process When Buying A Stock, and says, “Many investors don’t do the proper research when they buy a stock. Maybe the process I take can be helpful.”

Mark from Buy Like Buffett presents The Beginners Investing Guide.

Mike from Experiglot presents ETF Asset Allocation Portfolio, and says, “How to properly set up your portfolio with ETFs.”

Mike from Do Not Wait presents Business Owners: Getting Ready to Retire!, and says, “How business owners can prepare for retirement.”

IS from Intelligent Speculator presents A good day to be an Apple shareholder.

Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents 2011 Top 10 Canadian REITs List, and says, “An interesting read for all of the Canadian investors reading this.”

Mike Piper from Oblivious Investor presents Emerging Market Risks, and says, “Why are emerging market mutual funds thought to be high risk?”

D4L from Dividends Value presents Who Owns The Top Dividend Stocks?, and says, “The internet provides investors with so much useful and interesting information. I could not imagine going back a decade or so and trying to analyze stocks without the internet. One of my job responsibilities is the statutory reporting for the corporation I work for. Filing 10-Ks, 10-Qs and other such required reports is often tedious, but it gives me a great appreciation of what information is available, including who owns some of the top dividend stocks.”

Jessica from MomVesting presents Investing in Another Mom, and says, “Expand your investing horizons: We need to support and invest in each other. Whoever it is, taking a moment to invest in them will reap some serious benefits in their lives.”

Career

ElizabethG from Modern Gal presents Tips for Maximizing Income.

Squirrelers from Squirrelers presents Top Five Job Search Strategies, and says, “With one’s career being an important part of cash flow for most people, it makes sense to know how to effectively find a job. This article summarizes five strategies.”

MD from Studenomics presents When College is Not Worth The Money, and says, “Some occasions where college is not a great investment.”

The Spelling Manor, Los Angeles, California – $150 Million – 56,000 sq. ft.

Debt


Ramsay from moneyedup presents Use Extra Income To Pay Off Student Loans, and says, “Once you have high interest debt, like credit cards, paid off, it’s a good idea to turn your attention to student loan debt.”

RJ Weiss from Gen Y Wealth presents Pay Off Low Interest Debt or Invest?, and says, “If you have the money to make a lump sum payment and pay off a low interest loan, should you do it?”

Reviews

Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary presents 2010 Year in Review.

Kevin McKee from Thousandaire presents Don’t Pay Off Your Student Loans, and says, “A compelling argument why paying off student loans instead of investing that money elsewhere is like throwing away money.”

Credit

Tim Chen from NerdWallet Credit Card Blog presents Capital One Credit Cards: Which is Right for You?, and says, “Capital One is one of the largest credit card issuers in the US, so it stands to reason that they offer a little something for everyone.”

Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents Now’s A Good Time To Check Your Credit Report.

Kim at MMI from Blogging for Change presents Should you get a vanity credit card?

Economy

Stuart from Pennywise2Pennyworth presents Do You Tip at Buffets? (You Should!), and says, “Tipping isn’t just for services rendered…For the low-wage worker it is an absolute necessity to supplement a non-livable wage. THIS is why you need to tip at a buffet (better yet, raise minimum wage to a realistic “livable” wage).”


Frugality

The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents The Many Uses of Baking Soda, A Cheap Household Cleaner, and says, “Some great ideas on how to save on cleaners and other household items by using baking soda as an alternative!”

Control Your Cash presents Man of the Year 2010, and says, “Awarding the prize was a tough decision. The incumbent, Bob from Las Vegas, did nothing to disgrace himself. Nor did runner-up Brandon Jennings, one of the most underpaid players in the NBA but a guy who knows the value of a buck.”

Jason from Live Real, Now presents Quit Smoking: My First Frugal Move…Ever, and says, “Smoking is expensive. I’ve saved $10,000 since I quite.”

Donna Freedman from Smart Spending presents 20 minutes to keep your house clean, and says, “Need to slash your budget? Fire your housecleaner and pick up a broom. This won’t take long. “

Miss T from Prairie Eco-Thrifter presents 7 Free Ways to Lose Weight.

Finance

Miranda from Personal Dividends presents Will You Get a Raise in 2011?.


Real Estate

Mike from Green Panda Treehouse presents How-to Pick the Right House For a First Time Home Buyer, and says, “A look at how you can pick the right house as a first time home buyer.”

Saving

Adam from Magical Penny presents Confessions of a Procrastinator -And Why You Should Be Saving For Retirement Today, and says, “It’s hard to tell the effect of an extra few hours of preparation could have made in some instances but one thing where the impact of preparation is not in question is when it comes to saving for retirement.

Updown Court – Surrey, UK – $140 Million – Who doesn’t need a home bigger than Buckingham Palace? Sometimes 30,000 sq. ft is just too small.

Budgeting

Money Thinker from Money Thinking presents So, Today, I Went to the Store , and says, “Isn’t that exciting? No, not really. Anyway, today, I went to the grocery store down the street from my house. We’re supposed to get this big snowstorm this week, so I thought it would be in my best interest to go get some things in case I got snowed in…”

Crystal from Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Eating Out on a Budget, and says, “This is a great post that covers some ways you too can eat out on a tight budget.”

Other

Well Heeled from Well Heeled Blog presents Non-Traditional Engagement Rings: Thinking Beyond the Diamond, and says, “Diamond engagement rings are expensive, but if you want something a little unique and are open to non-diamond gem stones or lab-created stones, you can find something beautiful, meaningful, and probably for much cheaper than a diamond.”

Miss Thrifty presents Miss Thrifty Manifesto, Revised: New Year, New Me?.

Dan from Taking Charge presents Cleanliness lesson from ATMs, toilets, germs and Charlie Sheen.

FruGal from FruGal presents Fighting winter blues on a budget.

Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim presents 3 Weekend Jobs that Pay $50 an Hour, and says, “If you want to earn some extra serious cabbage and don’t have a lot of time to do it, I have 3 ideas you’ll be interested in learning more about.”

Ron from The Wisdom Journal presents A Resolution Worth Keeping: Get An Insurance Checkup, and says, “There are several resolutions worth keeping this new year. One of them should be to review your insurance needs. Let’s face it: Your life changes on a daily basis but rarely do we make the needed tweaks and changes to our insurance. Here’s what to look out for:”

Bogey from Back Nine Finance presents Best Financial Move for 2010: Spending More.

Well, that concludes this week’s edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance! To all of this week’s participants – it was an honor to be able to read and get involved with such high quality articles!

Next week’s carnival, # 293, will be hosted by our good friends at Living Richly On A Budget and is scheduled for January 24th, 2011. Be sure to submit your articles for next week’s edition, using the following handy submission form.

Also, if you’re interested in hosting a future edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, you can apply using this form.

Best of Money Carnival # 86 – Best Cartoon Theme Song Jingles

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Welcome to the Best of Money Carnival (a weekly listing of the top 10 personal finance posts)– Best Cartoon Theme Song Jingles Edition!  


I hope you enjoy the flashbacks and the posts – and then come back to visit My Personal Finance Journey on my non-carnival days too.


This week, we had 62 articles submitted. Below are my choices for the Top 10 Personal Finance posts of the last couple of weeks (that were submitted properly of course) in countdown order (from 10 to 1).  A big congrats to all of this week’s winners!

10. Darwin presents Value of Tax Shield Explained – MBA Mondays posted at Darwin’s MoneyThe value of tax a tax shield is explained here. Ever wonder why people and businesses love to borrow so much? Here it is put to the numbers test.

9. Mike Piper presents Stocks or Mutual Funds: Which Should I Buy? posted at Oblivious Investor. Ever wonder which route you should take? This post will answer a lot of your questions.

8. Echo presents Gifts That Keep On Taking posted at Boomer & Echo. This post explains what to do when you receive a gift that requires you to upgrade your lifestyle (aka spend more).

The Jetson’s! I wish I had a car like that!

7. Wise Bread presents Paper Checks: Going, Going, Gone posted at Wisebread. A look at the slow decline of paper payments and what other options are available. Where do you stand?

6. Miranda presents Are You Responsible for Your Spouse’s Debt? posted at Moolanomy. Ever wondered if you’ll be liable for the debt of your fiancée once you get married? This post will answer your questions.

5. Michael presents Six Great Ways To Introduce Kids to Stock Investing posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “It’s never too early to teach kids about money and specifically, stock investing.”

The Flintstones! I always was jealous of the way they could drive using their feet!

4. Kevin McKee presents Good Debt Exists (and it’s Awesome!) posted at Thousandaire, saying, “Some people don’t believe in “Good Debt”, which is sad because people use it every day to make a lot of money. Don’t avoid low-interest debt; use it to your advantage!”

3. Ryan @ CML presents How to Interview a Financial Planner posted at Cash Money Life. This post gives some good tips on how you can interview, screen, and hire a financial planner to help you manage your money; includes tips on doing a background check to verify credentials.

2. Flexo presents Should You and Your Spouse Combine Money? posted at Consumerism Commentary, saying, “Be prepared to get stares from your spouse if you continue to keep your money a secret from each other.”

Scooby Doo! I could never figure out why Shaggy sounds more like a dog name than Scooby..

And, last, but obviously not least, this week’s overall winner……

1. The Amateur Financier presents I Couldn’t Make This Up: 50 Cent, Penny Stocks, and Twitter posted at The Amateur Financier. This post shares a lesson of caution about penny stocks, derived from the tale of 50 Cent and his use of Twitter in a pump and dump scam. Enjoy and most of all, learn!

Well, that concludes this week’s Best of Money Edition. To all participants – it was a pleasure reading your articles this week!


Please submit your posts to the next edition of the Best of Money Carnival using the carnival submission form. The next carnival (#87) will be hosted by Live Real, Now and is scheduled for January 24, 2011


Also, If you’d like to host a future carnival, send FMF an email asking for a slot.


***Photo courtesy of http://www.theliberaloc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/scoobydoo.jpg

Happy One Year Anniversary to My Personal Finance Journey

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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My my how time has flown! Today, January 16th, 2011 marks the official one year anniversary of My Personal Finance Journey.

One year ago on this day, the first post on this site went up describing a $30 Bonus Sign Up Offer for a Chase Amazon Credit Card. Brings back great memories to look at the first few posts of this blog!

Thanks to everyone for making this past year a great success. We’ll continue to bring you all great content and a warm community as long as you all will tune in!

As a token of our appreciation, we will be holding a free giveaway contest very soon for a $25 Wal-Mart giftcard (basically the same as cash with how many options Wal-Mart has these days!). Be on the lookout for more information to follow shortly!


Keep on learning!
-The My Personal Finance Journey Team

***Photo courtesy of http://www.wayneschools.com/schools/high/waynevalley/clubs_and_activities/sda/images/party.gif

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