120th Carnival of Personal Finance

Wow… the Carnival of Personal Finance has hit its 120th edition and My Retirement Blog was tapped to celebrate its centennial and a fifth, having a carnival go this long is pretty amazing when you consider so many have come and gone. This one is a bit of a doozy, with a ton of submissions, so please take the time to go through and pick and choose what you read. I’ve briefly scanned most of them (not all I’m afraid), and pulled out a few favorites. The rest I put into general categories that I thought made sense, though I may have mis-categorized a few (sorry in advance!). Enjoy!

My Favorites

• Shadox from Money and Such presents Rent is Not Waste, and says, “I am tired of hearing people saying that renting a house is a waste of money. It’s not. Renting is an investment. In many case, a better investment than renting a house.”
• Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Watch Prices Go Up: Interesting Facts About Inflation.

• The Financial Blogger from The Financial Blogger presents There Are no Needs for an Emergency Fund. Very contrarian.

• NCN from No Credit Needed presents The Emergency Fund.

Credit & Debt

• Golbguru from Money, Matter, and More Musings presents Sign The Back Of Your Credit Cards – Useless Fraud Prevention Advice?, and says, “Don?t sign your credit cards. It?s useless as a deterrent, as anyone who takes your card then has a sample of your signature which they can not only use on any charge slip, but on your checks as well.”
• Mandy from Frugal Dollar presents The Day I Realized Almost Everyone was in Debt.
• Mr Credit Card presents Guaranteed Credit Card For Bad Credit Folks.

Frugality

• Sarah from Frugal Underground presents Frugal Vacations.
• Four Pillars from Quest For Four Pillars presents I can be frugal too!, and says, “Four Pillars gives an example of where he was frugal which is a departure from his past.”
• Kris from Cheap Healthy Good presents Treating Food-Borne Affluenza: 15 Tips to Curb Your Foodie Leanings.
• Ashley from College of Cash presents href="http://www.collegeofcash.com/living-off-student-loans/">Living Off Student Loans, and says, “Extra money from student loans is not to be spent on play things.”
• Shawna from One Girl’s Quest presents Eating at home really does save a fortune.
• Jason Dean from Smart Money Daily presents Four Easy Ways to Save on College Costs, and says, “One of the most difficult things about starting college isn?t having to do your own laundry?it?s navigating the maze of financial aid, student loans, scholarships, and money in general. Luckily, there are a few things that you may not have considered that can help take some stress away from paying for college.”
• Penny Nickel from Money and Values presents Over-the-counter drugs: generic vs brand-name, and says, “It’s almost always smarter to buy generic rather than brand-name drugs. Are there times when it’s not?”

Investing/Retirement

• Mariette from Boulevard to Retirement presents Balancing Your Life with Your Retirement Vision.
• Pinyo B. from Moolanomy presents Determine Your Retirement Needs In 3 Easy Steps.
• KMC from Advanced Personal Finance presents How to Deal With a 401(k) Plan That Sucks.
• TFB from The Finance Buff presents Cascading Asset Allocation Method.
• Randy from Boulevard to Retirement presents It’s Hard to Eat Your House.
• Brian from Financial Reference presents A Quarter to Remember.
• Art Dinkin from Moment on Money presents Impact of Sub-Prime Loans, and says, “What are sub-prime loans and why are they effecting the stock market? This post examines those issues as well as examining the impact of this crisis.”

Taxes

• Chief Family Officer from Chief Family Officer presents How much should you contribute to a Flexible Spending Account?.
• Mike from TwoWiseAcres presents 5 Tax Fee Ways to Make Money with Real Estate Investing.
• J at IHB and HFF from Home Finance Freedom presents Home Mortgage Tax Deduction Snake Oil: Housing Myths Part 7.

General Personal Finance

• nickel from FiveCentNickel presents Switching to a Bank of America Money Market Account.
• FMF from Free Money Finance presents Ask for More Money When You’re Offered a Job, and says, “Don’t just take a job offer without asking for a better salary.”
• Brett McKay from The Frugal Law Student presents Who
  Takes Care of the Finances in Your Family.
• Sarah from Frugal Underground presents Review: Mighty Bargain Hunter.
• MoneyNing from Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning presents Perceived Cost vs Real Cost, and says, “The perceived cost is often not the same as the real cost!”
• Exjackly from Exjackly.com presents Personal Goals and Financial Life, and says, “This talks about setting goals and discusses considerations beyond the standard SMART acronym that should be applied.”
• Smarty from Growing Money presents Business Idea #3: Taxi Debit Cards.
• The baglady from The Baglady presents The Dangers of Keeping Score with Money.
• Brip Blap from Brip Blap presents Saving Too Much, and says, “There are a few times when saving isn’t the best idea!”
• Tyler from MarriedAndBroke.com presents Having Your Important Information Secured But Accessible to Your Spouse
• chica with issues from One Snarky Chica with Issues presents A guide to the best personal finance websites and resources.
• paidtwice from I’ve Paid For This Twice Already presents Extra Paycheck Strategy.

• Bob Vineyard, CLU from InsureBlog presents The Government Made Me Fat.

• Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents How To Calculate Your Net Worth (and see how you compare).

• Matthew Paulson from FinanceIsPersonal.com presents Con Artists Stealing Guardianship of Senior Parents.
• Jason Shafrin from Healthcare Economist presents A Random Walk, and says, “What happened during the Tulip bulb craze in 17th century Holland? Could the South Seas bubble in England have been prevented? The Healthcare Economist reviews the seminal book “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” which has answers to these questions and important investing advice.”
• Trent Hamm from The Simple Dollar presents Making A Major Life Change: Is It Time For Kathy To Abandon The City?.
• Madame X from My Open Wallet presents All These Mortgage Sob Stories…, and says, “Do people who can’t understand the financial transactions required to borrow a home deserve any sympathy when they end up in foreclosure?”
• FIRE Finance from FIRE Finance presents Are Banks Safe In A Falling Market?.
• Yan from ProBargainHunter presents Extreme saving: hide your money from yourself.
• bluntmoney from Blunt Money presents Procrastinating on Finances.
• The Happy Rock from The Happy Rock presents 4 Reasons We Rush Into Replacing Our Cars, and says, “A look at a few reasons why we rush into replacing our older cars.”
• Clever Dude from Clever Dude Personal Finance presents Don’t let pride ruin your life.
• Dan Melson from Searchlight Crusade presents Low Equity (or Worse!) Relocations in a Buyer’s Market.
• DR from The Dough Roller presents Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan is Slick, So Watch Your Step, and says, “A critical
  look at the real cost of Hillary Clinton’s health care reform plan.”
• Nina from Queercents presents Women and Men: Thinking Differently about Money, and says, “More analysis on the topic
  of Gender and Money.”
• Ben from Money Smart Life presents Six Ingredients for Generating Passive Income.
• plonkee from plonkee money presents standing up to the green-eyed monster, and says, “I’m trying to stop being envious of my successful friends, its not really improving my finances.”
• MoneyNing from Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning presents Are you motivated enough to be financially free?, and says, “It takes persistence to be financially free!”