Canadian Finance BlogCarnival – Canadian Finance Blog

Canadian Finance Carnival #79

Tom Drake — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Do You Budget?, saying “Prior to budgeting I spent money I didn’t have because I didn’t want to feel deprived of anything. I wanted to experience life to the max. I always found a way to justify the purchase to myself, and bought whatever I wanted in the end. Obviously I didn’t think about the repercussions and after years of being in debt I woke up and realized the mess I had created. “

Matt at RamblingFever Money presents The Cost of Gas: Who to Blame and What To Do About It, saying “People love to save money and people hate that they are forced to pay high prices for gas. It’s a necessary evil that everybody has to put up with. Who is to blame for the high prices and what can you do about it?”

Lily Hua at FinanciallYou presents Which is cheaper to live in – US or Canada? Part I – income taxes, saying “Part I of a look into the cost differences for Canadians moving down to the live in the US.”

N.W. Journey at Net Worth Journey presents Tips to help you Track Everyday Expenses, saying “Simple and effecitve tips for tracking your every day expenses.”

Business

Sicorra at Tackling Our Debt presents Working Too Many Hours? 4 Great Tips to Help You Manage Your Time and Your Business Better , saying “Here are 4 different ways that I know of that will help people manage all of their online businesses simultaneously and effectively and still allow them to have time to enjoy a balanced lifestyle.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How to Buy Your First Rental Property, saying “Buying an investment property is a big deal. It is a huge asset for most individuals, and it requires work. Many individuals actually view owning a rental property as being more similar to a small business than an investment, because it involves tenants customers and vendors. “

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents How to look and act like a business owner, saying “Providing tips on how to look and act like a business owner, especially when deals with clients directly.”

Career

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents The Hierarchy of Financial Aid, saying “Financial aid packages such as grants, scholarships and work-study are considered \free\ money that does not have to be repaid. Learn about money for college. “

Jason at Work Save Live presents Does Fear Control Your Life?, saying “What’s Holding You Back? Why are you scared to take risk the risk of following a new career path, pursuing a dream job, starting a website or blog and sharing your story? Why are you scared to test your limits and challenge the things that you think you’re capable of?”

MR at Money Reasons presents Working Two Jobs At Once – Making Twice As Much, saying “My buddy worked two jobs last year at the same time and made twice as much money as he could have normally made by working only one job. Read his story!”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Jobs in College – Part 2, saying “Are you looking for the best jobs in college? It’s hard to say which one is the best job in college, but it is clear that having a job in college has its benefits as I discussed last week . What are the job opportunities available to college students? What do certain jobs offer to college students? These are all questions that college students have. I’m here to help change that. “

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Canadian Natural Resources and the Ecology of Business, saying “In my day job, I have to scour the planet for the cheapest/best/safest companies to manufacture our company’s products. This gives me a unique insight on companies.”

Jason at One Money Design presents How to Be More Productive at Work, saying “Consider these tips to be more productive at work and get more accomplished!”

Suba at Wealth Informatics presents Are men financially irrelevant?, saying “Education and employment statistics point to a clear and growing dominance in women’s status at home and in the workplace. Are men primed for a comeback or have the old rules changed for good? Are men financially irrelevant now?”

Debt and Credit

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents Why We Decided Not to Buy a House…., saying “Many people think that homeownership is the American dream, but I disagree. Im a proud renter, and its not that I cant afford a house I can actually afford a really nice, big house. I just choose to rent a nice big house instead. Heres why…”

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents Multiple Bank Accounts: Is More Better or Worse?, saying “Opening multiple bank accounts can be better for organizations, but it can also be confusing, too. “

Daisy at Add Vodka presents How Different Debt Relief Strategies Affect Your Credit, saying “There are multiple options for getting relief for your debts. Depending on your specific situation, some debt relief strategies will work better than others. Many times consumers will avoid their debts because they do not know all of the options!”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Paying off my student loans, saying “Pay off student loans faster to save money on interest and get out of debt faster. “

Kevin at Thousandaire presents My Girlfriend Signed Up for PerkStreet, saying “The PerkStreet Rewards Checking Account is a great way to earn rewards for debit card purchases, and doesn’t charge a monthly fee. It’s a great account. “

Dana at Not Made of Money presents 8 Reasons Why You Should Not Transfer Your Student Loan Debt to a Credit Card, saying “The average American college student graduates from college with $25,000 in student loan debt according to CNN. That student loan debt can be repaid in 10 to 20 years. Often, if you stretch it out over 20 years you may have a more manageable monthly payment, but you will spend nearly as much on interest as on the loan itself.”

Craig Ford at Christian Debt Coach presents A Simple Stress Free Way to Prioritize Your Debt, saying “Learn a simple system for developing your debt repayment strategy.”

Economy

Janet at Credit, Eh presents Canadian Economy Loses Jobs; Are You Ready for an Economic Slowdown?, saying “Now, there are concerns that the Canadian economy might slow down, and even worries that there is a housing bubble on the verge of bursting. As you consider the future, it’s time to consider whether or not you would be ready for an economic slow down.”

Extra Income

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Sell Your Own Handmade Arts and Crafts Projects, saying “If you are artistic and like to make projects, you might want to look into starting a side business to sell your own arts and crafts projects. “

Grand Per Month at Grand Per Month presents It All Starts with One, saying “We all have to start somewhere. McDonald’s had to sell that first cheeseburger. Nike had to sell that first pair of shoes. Thomas Edison had to test that first filament to discover a better method. And Len Penzo had to publish that first post, get that first visitor, and respond to his first comment. Every success story starts with one.”

Frugality

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Gas Prices are Skyrocketing. How High Will They Go?, saying “The cost of gas has gone through the roof. I saw gas at nearly $4.50 last week. in Los Angeles. What will gas prices look like this summer for you? “

John at Passive Family Income presents Health Food that Is Cheap: Black Beans, saying “Black beans are another healthy food that is cheap that my family has several times per week. These legumes are high in fiber, low in fat, and are a staple of most vegan or vegetarian diets. They can be bought at any grocery store either in a can or dried. If your goal is to eat healthy, then black beans are a logical choice to add to your weekly menu.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Have a Party without Breaking the Bank, saying “Everyone likes a good party, right? If you want to throw a party without breaking the bank, check out these ten easy tips.”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Vacation Planning on a Budget, saying “If you’re strapped for cash and you’re dreaming of an out-of-town vacation this year, there are plenty of ways to make your wish come true. If you’re willing to think out of the box and sacrifice a few luxuries, you can save a bundle while still enjoying a fun trip. Try these strategies to enjoy your vacation on a budget:”

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Which Canadian stock has increased their dividends the most over past 10 years, saying “Rob Carrick the Personal Finance Columnist at The Globe and Mail listed a chart yesterday that showed the top 20 TSX-listed stocks that have increased their dividends the most over the past 10 years. It was surprising to me which company was #1.”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents 20 ways to collect Air Miles Rewards Faster, saying “Air Miles is one of the best reward programs but many people do not know what the secrets are on the Air Miles program and I wanted to share 20 ways you can collect Air Miles faster with Air Miles secrets”

Melissa at Mom’s Plans presents The Frugal Guide to Getting Ready for Summer, saying “As we shed the heavy, bulky clothing of winter, we need to turn our focus more to our appearance because there is more of it on display during the warm months! Here are my favorite frugal ways to get summer ready:”

Jeffrey Strain at The Frugal Toad presents 11 Ways to Save Money While Skiing, saying “Whether you ski locally or abroad, saving a few dollars while you’re doing it might help you enjoy more trips per year and have a better time while you’re there. Here’s a list of several ways to keep costs down when you go. Hopefully you’ll find one or two you haven’t thought of.”

Investing

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents 32 Investment Rules and Strategies to Make You a Better Investor, saying “These 32 investment rules and strategies will reduce your number of mistakes, help you take prudent risks that favor positive returns, and make you a better investor.”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents RRSP Contributions vs Paying Off Credit Card, saying “After the seasonal marketing push for RRSP contributions that we recently seen exert its pressures the last few weeks, it struck me just how single-minded the whole thing seemed to be.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Executing the Defensive Plan by Selling Covered Calls, saying “On Monday, I stated that I was concerned about the stock market and listed several reasons why I thought I should assume a more defensive posture with regards to my retirement portfolio. Well yesterday, I began to execute my plan by selling covered calls on several of the stocks that I own.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents How to Invest In The Facebook IPO , saying “The impending Facebook IPO has been generating a ton of buzz. But should you invest in Facebook? If you will, how will you invest in Facebook. See some ways to get in on the action.”

Mich at BeatingTheIndex presents Investing in Offshore Drilling Companies, saying “While presenting the industry with its biggest challenges, deep water exploration and development yields the greatest potential rewards and healthy profit margins to the oil service companies involved.”

Lifestyle

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Why You Need Spare Cash to Cover Your Emergencies, saying “Today, just like at every point in history, the person most motivated to care about you is yourself, and sometimes, a bit of spare cash can make a world of difference!”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents Lending Money to Family and Friends, saying “The general consensus is it is a very bad idea to lend money to family and friends. I learnt this the hard way.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Money and Fun: You Can Have Both, saying “The sad fact of life is that a lot of fun things in life cost money! However, just because it is fun and DOES cost money doesn’t mean that you need to spend a fortune on the things you enjoy. The key to this is shopping around for discounts so that your dollar goes farther. You can have fun on a budget, but you have to work a bit harder and spend a little more time planning it out. “

Justin at Budget Snob presents How to Lower Your Life Insurance Premiums, saying “Fortunately, there are simple ways you can help keep your life insurance costs under control. “

MMD at MyMoneyDesign presents What Exercise Has Taught Me About Money, saying “Many of the things I’ve learned from exercising apply to more than just fitness. Here are 12 lessons that will also help you with your personal finances. “

Kari at Small Budget Big Dreams presents Hired Help: Lazy or Economical?, saying “The BF and I have recently been debating whether we should hire a housekeeper. Is, “outsourcing” our cleaning lazy? Or a smart economic decision?”

vh at Funny about Money presents Update on the Nest, saying “An expensive gift that looks like an extravagance leads to a surprising saving.”

Marissa at Finance Triggers presents 5 Great Places to Travel in Europe for cheap, saying “Listing the top 5 places to visit in Europe on a budget.”

Karl at CultOfMoney presents Couples Strategy for building wealth and saving money, saying “Do you want to effectively double your income or more without any extra work? Do you want to effectively cut your expenses in half while still having all the material benefits you have now? Do you want to go to grad school without loans even if you don’t have a scholarship? All these benefits can be yours with a careful application of Couples Strategy.”

Other

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents Hiring A Financial Planner? 5 Good Reasons Why You Should, saying “Your finances is something that you should always get in order. After all, much of your future and your family’s depend on the financial decisions that you make in life when you were younger. “

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Do You Spend Enough Time on Yourself?, saying “Do you need more time to relax? Find out how to maximize your efficiency and create time for yourself. “

krantcents at KrantCents presents The 3 G’s of Success, saying “The 3 G’s of Success is the Seventh in a series of articles to help you reach your goal. What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made! Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where you have been.”

Luke at Learn Bonds presents What does GM know about savings bonds?, saying “What do you do if you make more cars they people want to buy? A short-term solution is to discount the car through big rebates . . “

Corey at Steadfast Finances presents 5 Inflation Survival Tips That Will Save You Money, saying “Learn about 5 inflation survival tips that will help you save money.”

John at Married with Debt presents Make a Monthly Debt Budget: Rule 3, saying “A debt budget spreadsheet puts everything in one place, keeps you focused, and prevents missed or late payments.FREE spreadsheet inside! “

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Affordable Modes of Transportation, saying “Affordable modes of transportation may seem rare, but they really aren’t that hard to find. “

Jeremy Waller at Personal Finance Whiz presents Sometimes It’s The Simple Things in Life, saying “There’s the saying that the best things in life are free. Recently we’ve cut out budget way back to help meet some of our financial goals this year. That means our fun budget is pretty thin right now. But that didn’t stop us from having a great weekend.”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents We Applied for a Mortgage Refinance, saying “Well, after much discussion and back and forth we finally applied to refinance our mortgage! We have a rate of 3.875 percent locked in and we have submitted all our paperwork so now we wait and see what they have to say.”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Do You Know Why You Spend Money?, saying “If you think that shopaholics want to go shopping all the time, you are wrong. The urges to run to the blissful place that I call The Mall come and go in waves. Usually it happens on days when I am stressed and feel vulnerable. Here is a list of reasons we spend money.”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents Save Money: Embrace Free, saying “One of the best ways to save money is to take advantage of free stuff. It sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes our perception is a bit skewed when it comes to this notion. Why do we sometimes perceive something that’s free to be of lesser quality than what we pay money for?”

Tushar at Start Investing Money presents The Golden Rule of Smart Investing: Pay Yourself First, saying “It is incredible how many people live from paycheck to paycheck. It might be the way of millions of people, but it isn’t the smart way. It certainly doesn’t make life easy when it comes to investing for your future. If you put everyone and everything else first financially, you won’t have any money left by the end of each month to invest in something for you. Get smart pay yourself first!”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents I Love Bank of America And Their New Fee Schedule, saying “When you read this title you probably thought I was being sarcastic, but I wasn’t. I know a lot of America is outraged over Bank of America’s announcement this morning to revise their fee schedule, but I’m not jumping on the bashing bandwagon. I happen to love what they’re doing. “

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents Myths and Rituals that Perpetuate the Mystery and Power of Money, saying “Early Saturday morning after several bouts of tossing and turning I decided to go to the living room and grab my laptop for a little flow-of-consciousness “

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Spent $1000 in 24 hours, Ouch!, saying “We bought a new desk, a new office chair, and a new tablet Asus Transformer. “

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Proof Owning Blogs is More Profitable than Staff Writing, saying “Ever wondered if owning blogs is more profitable than staff writing? Find out how long it takes to earn more money. “

FG at Financial God presents Why are Manufacturing Jobs Leaving the US?, saying “There’s a neat post on just why manufacturing has been leaving the U.S. to other countries in drove. Why is this? Is it cause of wages? High costs? Perhaps excessive regulation and cronyism has something to do with it.”

Young at Youngandthrifty presents Youngandthrifty Book Review: Findependence Day, saying “They say that the best way to learn something and become engaged with the content you are learning is to listen to a story. “

Real Estate

Hank at Money Q&A presents Ten Ways To Cut Costs On Moving Expenses, saying “Moving is expensive, but that does not mean that there are not ways to cut costs. You can save a lot of money on your move by planning ahead and thinking outside of the box a little. “

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Why It Is Time To Invest In Your Family, saying “Here are a few ways to invest in your family and produce beneficial financial results that could protect them in the long term “

Suba at Broke Professionals presents 5 Things to Consider Before Deciding To Pay off Debt or Invest, saying “Owning a home with a white picket fence is beginning to cost more than we expected, not to mention consumerism that is brainwashing us to get the latest deal on a gadget we don’t even need. Because of the way society is shaped, many of us end up in loans we never would have gotten into if it wasn’t for the normalcy we attribute to it. “

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents The Government Supports The Rich With Foreclosures, saying “The US Government has tried many times to thwart off the rise of foreclosures from the bursting of the housing bubble. They came out with catchy programs: HARP, HAMP, and now HARP2. Sadly, none of these tricks worked.”

Retirement

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Top 10 Dream Retirement Locations on the Cheap, saying “Retiring in a tropical paradise doesn’t have to cost much. Check out these top ten retirement locations that will leave your wallet alone. “

Ryan at Early Retirement Investments presents Finding Money for Retirement When Your Paycheck is Small, saying “You may be surprised, but nearly everyone has a little extra money that can be put away for retirement. Here are some creative sources of money that can be used for retirement savings.”

Dividend Ninja at The Dividend Ninja presents Using Dividends For Passive Income In Retirement, saying “written by Hank Coleman My father-in-law was a bank executive for over thirty years at a large regional bank in the United States, and he amassed quite a bit of his company’s stock through options over his career. Now, in addition to his pension, he also has quarterly dividends that support him in retirement. That is the beauty of dividends. They are truly a passive income stream.”

Dividend Growth Investor at Dividend Growth Investor presents When can you retire on dividends?, saying “The goal of every dividend investor is to one day accumulate a portfolio of income producing stocks, which would throw off a large amount of dividends every month. The goal of living off dividends is achievable, but it takes capital, time, skill or luck in order to get to the magic point. The magic point is where the dividend income exceeds the expenses of the dividend investor.”

Saving

SFB at Simple Finance Blog presents The Not-So-Simple Way To Buy Savings Bonds, saying “I thought the government’s new method to buy savings bonds was supposed to make the process simpler? Why I find fault with the TreasuryDirect system. “

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents How to Save for a Car, saying “Even with historically low interest rates, saving for a car is important for one’s personal finances. Instead of rushing out to buy a new car every two or three years, try planning out your next purchase and avoid paying tons of interest.”

Adam at Magical Penny presents How to Stop Yourself Dipping in Your Savings | Saving Lessons from ‘Up’ , saying “Whilst a strong mindset is the most important thing, here are some things that helped me grow my Emergency Fund.”

Taxes

Steve at Money Infant presents A Tax on ALL Sinners, saying “A sin tax a regressive tax that is levied on items considered to be vices such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling. These taxes can also be called a sumptuary tax.”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Smart Tax Planning Strategies, saying “Reduce the taxes you pay to the least amount possible. The key components of smart tax planning are the three “D”s – deduct, defer and divide.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #79 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on March 11, 2012.

The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #23

Tom Drake — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

Sandy at Yes, I Am Cheap presents Get Out of Debt in 2012: Cutting the Fat, saying “Think back to the past two weeks. Where have you spent money from your entertainment or miscellaneous jar? Do you see the latest movies every week? Are you buying new clothes from the clearance sales? Lots and lots of mocha-choca-latta-ya-ya ( I had to slip that Lady Marmalade reference in there)? How often are you eating out?”

eemusings at Musings of an Abstract Aucklander presents Should the student allowance be enough to live on?, saying “Student life isn’t MEANT to be easy. “

Business

Evan at Smart Wealth presents Business Survival in a Down Economy, saying “One just needs to look around at any decent sized city to see the effect of the current economy. Homes being foreclosed all over, businesses that have had to shut their doors or are going out of business, but there are things your business can do to survive despite a down economy.”

Career

Young at Young and Thrifty presents I Graduated From College or University…Now What?, saying “If you were lucky (or smart enough) to choose a career path that was in demand while you were going through post-secondary education, then congratulations, you’re transition into the working world will be made a whole lot easier. For those of us who chose to become “well-rounded” students and take courses of study that had a less-defined labour market the journey can be a little more interesting.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents Productivity, Success, and Happiness, What the Hell?, saying “How much time do you spend doing things that don’t contribute to your success? Defining success goals will guide you to your most productive behavior. Join me in a discussion of goals that lead to success.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents 6 Reasons Learning a Foreign Language Is Completely Useless, saying “Never one to shy from contraversy, after reading “Learning a Foreign Language is Completely Useless” you may well agree!”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Living With Parents after Graduation from College, saying “In preparation for graduation from college, I am sure many college students have big plans. They plan to get a job immediately after college and perhaps buy their own home soon after that. Maybe living with your parents can help you with this goal.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates 2012 – #8, saying “My goal is to reach earnings of $30,000 from all blogging related activites in 2012. (This is $2,500 per month average, I accomplished this in January, but fell short in February…good thing I already have some earnings built into March!)”

Suba at Wealth Informatics presents How to negotiate salary even in a tough economy, saying “Most of the times general tips on negotiating better salary don’t work, because we have a lot of personal barriers. Here is a step by step guide to persuade the employer to offer you a higher salary without taking yourself out of the running for the job”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents I Want to Be a Bookkeeper, saying “Today’s “I Want to Be” Series features Nikki Hughes , a bookkeeper, blogger, homemaker and more! Nikki recently released Your Blogging Business, a must-have resource for keeping finances and tax info straight when you blog! Find out how to connect with Nikki at the end of this article.”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents In Business You Cannot Do It Alone, saying “The one piece of advice I would give to someone who was starting a business would be to get into community with other like-minded people.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents Is Buying a Franchise a Good Idea?, saying “It is important to understand the pros and cons of buying a franchise.”

Karl at CultOfMoney presents Lifestyle trade-offs – Hurray for diabetes?, saying “It was a conscience choice to change both my lifestyle and career path. Some people love to travel and can do it forever, some people burn out after a year or two. The benefits are nice. First class upgrades all the time, no fees, premium salary, eating at nice restaurants. But do realize you are making trade-off all the time, and your employment is not different. Start making choices that lead you to live the life you want, have a plan and execute on that plan to achieve your desires.”

Credit

Dana at Caffeinated Finance presents How Do You Know If You Have a Debt Problem?, saying “Many people are in denial about their debt situation. Here are 10 tell tale signs that you have a debt problem. “

Jim at Bargaineering presents Soft Credit Check vs Hard Credit Check, saying “There is an enormous difference between a soft and hard credit inquiry, understand them and their effects on your credit.”

Evan at My Journey to Millions presents How Much Interest Do I Pay? An Update, saying “In November of 2009 where I sat down and actually calculated how much of my monthly payments were going to interest; again, I repeated this exercise on June 23, 2011. Well it has been another eight months or so, which means it is about time to figure out how much of my money is going to just servicing my debt via interest payments.”

Jeremy Waller at Personal Finance Whiz presents How to Deal With Creditors When You Can’t Pay, saying “Despite the harsh lessons that were taught to us by the Great Recession, it seems that we haven’t quite gotten the message about the dangers of overleveraging!”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents How To Get Rid of Your Student Loans Without Paying or Ruining Your Credit!, saying “The only way I know that you can get rid of student loans is through the process of Permanent Disability Discharge, in which individuals get assistance in paying off the amount of their education loan. However, there is a strict guideline as to who can qualify…”

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents 5 Ways to Save Money at Starbucks, saying “The latte factor is a term coined by financial author David Bach to describe daily, wasteful spending. For those of us trying to save more and lessen/consolidate debt, knowledge of the latte factor can cause a sense of guilt as we slyly shuffle into a Starbucks to spend our hard earned money. On the weekend,”

MR at Money Reasons presents Blaming Your Credit Card Debt On Your Spouse, saying “Do you blame your credit card problems on your spouse? Are you sure they are really the problem? My friend thought so too, but it was really him…”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Does Your Credit Score Need a Makeover?, saying “If you are trying to buy a house or make any other large purchase on credit, it would help you to know your credit score before you apply.”

Liana at Card Hub presents How can stay at home parents get credit cards?, saying “Can a stay-at-home spouses still build credit under their own name since the Federal Reserve’s new rules went into effect? Not to worry, there are still several options available for building and maintaining your credit score!”

Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer presents Life after Debt, saying “I made the last payment to Sallie Mae (student loan servicing company) today. It was the last debt, and the biggest, so by the time I got to it with the debt snowball the monthly payment averaged $2,000. That motivated the budget makeover recently as we figured out where to allocate those funds.”

Everything Finance at Everything Finance presents How Do I Stay Motivated to Pay Off Debt?, saying “It can be hard to stay motivated to pay off debt, especially when you’ve already been paying off debt for more than a year. Making sacrifices and giving up buying things and fun vacations for the sake of being debt free doesn’t feel so great until you’re actually debt free. So how do I stay motivated to pay off debt?”

Mike at Rewards Cards USA presents Hilton HHonors Credit Cards, saying “The Hilton HHonors program is one of the most popular hotel rewards programs available. You have three credit card options when it comes to the Hilton HHonors credit cards:”

Amanda at My Dollar Plan presents What is the Difference Between Refundable and Nonrefundable Tax Credits?, saying “Whether a tax credit is refundable or not can make a big difference. Read this to learn more!”

Education

Dannielle at Odd Cents presents Should I Pay My Course Fees as a Lump Sum or Installments?, saying “Based on a scenario, I try to decide whether I should pay course fees as a lump sum or installments.”

Financial Advice

Money Cone at Money Cone presents Why I Chose a 30 Year Mortgage Even Though I Could Pay It Off in 15 Years, saying “Having lived debt-free, it would’ve made perfect sense to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible via a 15 year loan. But after careful consideration, I decided, I’ll choose a 30 year loan. Call me crazy, but hear me out.”

Mr. Money at Smart on Money presents Ready to Refinance? Here’s What You’ll Need, saying “Mortgage rates are low right now. Really low. Indeed, for many homeowners, now is the perfect time to refinance. Credit requirements have loosened up a bit (compared to what they were for a couple years after the financial crisis). As a result, many people are interested in refinancing their homes. Before you head to the bank to look for your refinance, though, you should be prepared.”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Fat Wallet Tuesday, saying “Happy Mardi Gras to all! For those who aren’t familiar with this raging holiday, Mardi Gras is french for Fat Tuesday. Excluding the exchange of beads, there is a lesson to be learned here! Fat Tuesday refers to the practice of the last night of eating richer before the ritual fasting of Lent.”

Anisha Sekar at NerdWallet presents 4 Ways to Apply for a Credit Card So You’ll Get Approved, saying “When and how you apply for a credit card can make all the difference in your credit limit, terms and even whether you are approved. Some factors you can’t really change, such as a history of bankruptcy or missed payments. Some require a change in behavior. But some can be altered just before you apply, and a little planning can help you qualify for the credit card you want.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents A Tale of Two Buffets, saying “Even if the person making $50,000 in taxable income isn’t paying 25%, it still seems wrong that billionaires can pay 15% on dozens of millions of dollars and an average Joe (not necessarily Joe the Plumber) is paying 17% on his ordinary income. That’s a raw deal and it isn’t going unnoticed.”

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents A Strategy to Save a Bundle; The Train Conductor’s Money Saving Tip, saying “This tip has already saved me $200.00 and I’m certain it will save me thousands in the future. And I learned about it while eavesdropping on the train.”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents Do Politics Have Any Place in Personal Finances, saying “Do politics have a place in personal finance? Do our financial beliefs have any bearing on who and how we vote? Should they? I think the short answer is yes.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents How to Let Go of Debt Guilt, saying “Guilt is a powerful emotion, and it can hinder our efforts to make things right. By letting go of guilt, you give yourself a better chance of recovering from debt.”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Avoiding Financial Traps and Saving Money on Big-Ticket Purchases, saying “If you’re in the market to buy a Big-Ticket item (i.e. a new car, TV, or other technology gadget), here are some ways to make the purchase more affordable.”

Super Frugalette at Super Frugalette presents How to Estimate Your Taxes for 2012, saying “When I read how many people are receiving refunds for 2011, I have to ask myself why would anyone want to do that…when you can have your money an entire year earlier? I have come to realize that many people have no idea how to anticipate their upcoming taxes and make the necessary changes on their W4. Here are the 10 steps to figuring out your 2012 taxes.”

Steve at Brip Blap presents America Saves. . .Should It?, saying “Do you rely solely on your employer’s beneficence for income? Stop it. Get something going on the side. I’ll guarantee that side income will be the sweetest money you’ll ever make, and you’ll get that much closer to your goals that much more quickly. Save first – that’s critical. But earn more: “

Paul Vachon at The Frugal Toad presents Home Affordable Modification Program – HAMP, saying “The Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP, was created to help homeowners who are facing foreclosure keep their homes. This important loan modification program comes at a time when many homeowners are struggling to make ends meet.”

Bob at Christian Personal Finance presents Is Refinancing Your Mortgage A Good Idea?, saying “Of course we would all love to lower our mortgage payment, but before making the jump to refinance your home, there are a few things to consider.”

Frugality

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Why retirement contributions are at record low levels, saying “Contributions to registered retirement savings plans in Canada are on track to shrink to a share of personal disposable income not seen since the 1970s, according to a report released by the Royal Bank of Canada. Well, my thoughts are that RRSP contributions come from Canadian’s disposable income.”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts Canada presents Has anyone seen the Grocery shrink ray ?, saying “The ‘grocery shrink ray’ is a term coined by Meghann Marco for the trend for groceries to be reduced in size while being sold at the same price point. Manufacturers perform these reductions to reduce their own costs, but do not pass any savings on to the customer.”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents Used Appliances are The Best!, saying “Don’t buy expensive new appliances. Use someone else’s old appliances and save tons of money “

FIRE Finance at FIRE Finance presents Smart Refrigeration Lowers Electricity Bill, saying “Tips on smart refrigeration will help you to cut down your electricity bill …”

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents Be Young, Be Frugal, saying “I was pretty young when I got serious about saving money and being more frugal. I didn’t do it with some grand notion of preparing for my old age or anything, I just wanted more money for emergencies and to give me more choices in terms of where I might live and work. Looking back, though, I understand now why starting young was the smartest thing I could do.”

Odysseas at Wallet Blog presents No Balance Transfer Fee Credit Cards Are Back, But Are They Here to Stay?, saying “No balance transfer fee credit cards-no longer a thing of the past. But can issuers make enough profit to continue to offer them in the future? As the Magic 8 Ball may say “Don’t Count on It!” Consumers may only have a limited window to take advantage of some new offers out there”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Saving for Vacation: 3 Simple Tips, saying “The perfect vacation is only as good as the price, right? If that’s something you believe, then now is the time to get ready for your next trip. Follow along as we look at three simple tips that will get your savings and vacation on track for your taste.”

Matt at RamblingFever Money presents Don’t Be a Cheapskate While Dining Out, saying “There is nothing wrong with being frugal, and saving money to improve your personal finance situation is a good thing. But, when it comes to eating out, I have to respectfully disagree with most of the frugal advice. In fact, I would go so far as to say that frugality while dining out is a contributing factor to some of the bad economic times.”

Philip Taylor at PT Money Personal Finance presents How to Get Free Food, saying “Jokingly discusses how to get free food by stealing.”

Jeremy Biberdorf at Modest Money presents My Decision To Live In An Expensive City, saying “As I prepare for my move at the end of the month, I’ve been thinking more and more about my decision to stay close to Vancouver. It is a very expensive city to live in, but I feel at home here. Am I a fool for staying here when I can’t really afford it? Maybe, but I just can’t see myself living anywhere else at this point in my life.”

Investing

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Why I Wish I Controlled My Pension, saying “I simply hate the idea that I have to give up so much of my money. I don’t understand how it’s legal for a union to effectively say, “We know how to handle your money better than you do, you have NO CHOICE but to let us handle your pension, oh and we’ll be taking over 3% of your gross income in union dues as well.””

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Investing Without Investment Experience, saying “Investing your money can be one of the best ways to generate a passive income, depending on the type of investment which you choose to make. Many people believe that they will need to have significant experience in investing in order to generate a profit as an investor, but this is not necessarily the case.”

Kanwal at Simply Investing presents Want To Increase Your Investment Income With Dividends?, saying “Are you looking to increase your investment income? What is the simplest and quickest way to increase your earnings? Dividends! Not just any dividends but dividends that increase regularly. In this article let’s take a look at the power of dividends and some recent dividend increases. A dividend is money that you receive for being a shareholder.”

Tushar at Start Investing Money presents Could You Invest in a Business?, saying “This Post was Originally published at Could You Invest in a Business? on Start Investing MoneyWhen we think about investments we often think about stocks, shares and different forms of bank accounts. But what about investing in a business? Could this prove to be one of the best ways to invest your money for a good return in the future? What type of business should you invest in?”

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents Stop, Limit, Profit and Loss, saying “Trading with the protection of stop-loss and profit-limit orders.”

Ryan at Early Retirement Investments presents Avoid These Investments that Don’t Keep Pace with Inflation, saying “If you invest in investments that don’t keep pace with inflation, you are investing in a vehicle that is a money loser than a money winner!”

Mich at BeatingTheIndex presents Natural Gas Stocks: Beware of Declining Natural Gas Prices, saying “Whether you’re a contrarian investor or a value investor looking for exposure to natural gas weighted producers, make sure you review the following variables.

Justin at Budget Snob presents The Energy Crunch, saying “If you are looking to invest your money in stocks that have an almost guaranteed ticket to uptick, then start investing in companies that create and use renewable and alternative forms of energy and the products that support them.”

MMD at MyMoneyDesign presents What is Shorting a Stock?, saying “A simple example of how shorting a stock works using examples from the recent famous movie Wall Street 2.”

J.P. at Novel Investor presents What Type Of Investment Strategy Should You Use?, saying “People are constantly on the lookout for the perfect investment strategy. That Holy Grail of constant profitable returns. Here’s a few strategies to consider while investing.”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents How Index Funds Compare To Equity Mutual Funds, saying “I compared the 10-year performance of high cost Canadian equity mutual funds to the equivalent low-cost index funds. Here are the results:”

My Own Advisor at My Own Advisor presents Closing your DRIPs and SPPs, transferring your shares to your brokerage, saying “At some point, after a few years have passed maybe, you might be in the fortunate position to own enough shares to start a synthetic DRIP with your discount broker. That is, you now own enough shares so when dividends are paid dividends buy at least one whole stock share. This is a great position to be in because you don’t need to rely on the transfer agents or your cheques to buy shares….your dividends do it for you. Money that makes money, makes more money. For me, when this happened (I owned enough shares to consider running a synthetic DRIP recently) it was the trigger for me to move my shares from the transfer agent to my brokerage account. If you’re in this position this post is for you!”

Melissa at Fiscal Phoenix presents Market Captalization: Large, Small, Mid Cap, saying “Would you rather have a stock that is up 10% one day and then down 10% the next or one that steadily increases by 1% a day? Avoiding those wide swings and creating a stable portfolio is probably your main goal. There is a way to diversify by company size and it should keep your portfolio stable and steady.”

Other

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Early, saying “Your house is for most, your largest expense. Not only in terms of the size of the monthly payment, but also in terms of time.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How to Save More Money & Play the Lottery for Free, saying “My significant other and I rarely have disagreements over our finances, but the one spending habit that we disagree on is whether to play the lottery. I know it’s only a few bucks a week, but it irks me to throw money at what I believe is a waste. “

SFB at Simple Finance Blog presents Why Index Funds Will Always Beat Active Managed Funds, saying “There are basically two types of funds. The first is the ‘active’ managed fund and second the passive or the ‘index’ fund. Which is better? And why?”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents A Frugal Date for Long Distance and Near Distance Couples, saying “Most of my relationship with Paul has been long distance. We met in Japan in our 20s, fell madly in love, and spent the next several years traversing the globe”

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Creative Ways to Save on Your Wedding, saying “Need creative ways to save money on your wedding? Here are a few ways that everyone needs to know as they prepare for their wedding day.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Smart Family Finance Mortgage Basics: Lifetime and Reverse Mortgages Explained, saying “While a lifetime mortgage is not right for everyone, it can be a viable alternative for retirees who want a larger fixed income for no additional monthly expense.”

Steve at Money Infant presents What’s Love Got to Do With It!, saying “One of the long standing personal finance questions is Buying vs renting a home. Let’s take a look at the financial wisdom of buying a home versus renting. “

John at Married with Debt presents Spend Less than You Earn, saying “To spend less than you earn is the most important personal finance rule, and the hardest to master. Join us as we learn how and why.”

krantcents at KrantCents presents The 3 F’s of Success, saying “The 3 F’s of Success is the Sixth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal. What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made!”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents Tax Refunds- The Good, The Bad and Why We Get One Anyways, saying “Financial experts along with many personal finance bloggers frown upon getting tax refunds. Why? They actually have a valid point—why loan the government money?”

Corey at Steadfast Finances presents Future Tax Policy and Why You Don’t Want a Roth IRA, saying “Are you investing in a Roth IRA without considering the future tax policies. Future taxes on your roth ira could limit your investment return. “

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents Tax Hack: Use Premium Features of Turbo Tax For Free and Save, saying “Turbo Tax has many premium features that you can use for free while calculating your refund. Follow these steps to use Turbo Tax without paying a thing. “

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents 65 Things to do When You Retire, saying “I recently received a copy of, 65 Things to Do When You Retire, 65 Notable Achievers on How to Make the Most of the Rest of Your Life to review.”

Luke at Learn Bonds presents Greek, China, and Europe News Prevents Stocks From Rising, saying “US markets retreated on Wednesday as markets remain skeptical about Greece’s ability to stick to tough new measures imposed by EU leaders.”

Dana at Not Made of Money presents The Best Tips for Automating Your Finances, saying “The most common area for people to struggle in their lives is with their finances. Remembering to pay bills on time, putting paychecks in the bank and keeping everything running smoothly can be impossible with the responsibilities present in everyday life. Unordered finances lead to bounced check fees, overdraft fees, late fees and other problems,”

Dividend Ninja at The Dividend Ninja presents When Issuing A Dividend Can Be Dangerous, saying “A dividend can actually be a huge red flag depending on where the company gets the money for it. If you know what to look for, a company paying or increasing its dividend is not always a good sign. How does your favorite dividend paying company get the money for those annual or quarterly payments?”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents I Want To Quit My Job: Leaving Work Without Burning Bridges, saying “The day I finally decided to quit my job was one of the most exhilarating – and terrifying. Here’s what I learned about giving two weeks notice.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents The Ideal Amount of Savings at Age 30, saying “I would like to live comfortably in retirement. Just how much do I need to save by age 30 to never have to save another penny for retirement?”

Hank at Money Q&A presents The Dangers Of A Tax Refund Anticipation Loan, saying “With a little bit of prior planning, there are other options that you can take in order to avoid a tax refund anticipation loan. You do not have to use a tax refund anticipation loan with its high fees and interest rate.”

Jason at Work Save Live presents Pros and Cons of Online Banks, saying “What is an Online Bank? An online bank is much of what it sounds like. It is a bank in most terms that we classify the ‘normal’ banks that you access and utilize online.”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Custom Wavefront PRK, saying “A review of the Custom Wavefront PRK procedure at the Chao Vision Institute in Irvine and Orange County.”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents 5 Advantages of Comparing Products Online, saying “Online comparison sites often open up their pages to comments from product users. Rather than relying solely on the claims from manufacturers, you have the ability to hear from people who have actually purchased and used these items in their homes. “

Daisy at Add Vodka presents Individual Opportunity Costs, saying “Everyone has a price. At work the other day, we were playing the ‘what if’ game, after a particularly horrifying happening on Fear Factor. It was along the lines of ‘Would you ever cheat?’”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents More on Investing in the Basics: Chocolate, saying “Ask any lady about the bare necessities of life, and chocolate ranks way on up there. Food, fire and shelter… and fudge brownies!”

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Make the Most of Your Pay Check, saying “If you want to make your paycheck stretch further every month, you don’t have to play the lottery and hope for the best. There are plenty of everyday things you can do!”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents How Does Your “Money Style” Affect Your Life, saying “What is your money style? According to Wife.org there are 3 basic money styles; hoarder, avoider, or splurger.If you dont know what your money style is you can take the quiz over on Wife.org. I dont even need to take the quiz. I know Im a hoarder. What are you? Think about your money style “

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Our Meeting with a Tax Lawyer, saying “As I have mentioned, Mr. BFS and I really didn’t know how we were going to proceed tax-wise now. So we scheduled a one-on-one meeting with a tax lawyer. “

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Making Term Life Insurance a Worthwhile Investment, saying “Is life insurance really worth it? Instead of treating it like a burden, why not treat it like an investment? Life insurance is important. “

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Happiness = Having Kids or Not Having Kids?, saying “My long-time girlfriend and I recently visited some old family friends of mine. We ended up having a great time, but on the way home, we sort of had a sudden realization. The extremely comfortable lifestyle we had just witnessed could be all ours if we made one simple decision – to not have children.”

Young at YoungAndThrifty presents Critical Illness Insurance and Why You Need It, saying “Remember, having money is equivalent to having more choices. Choices such as taking time off work if needed and spending it on yourself or with family so that you can get better and recover. Serious illness can last for months or years and financial backing is critical to protect yourself, your family, and your money.”

Roshawn Watson at Watson Inc presents 3 Myths Regarding The Great Idea, saying “Everyone has had an idea that could have dramatically changed the course of his or her life. It’s not the idea that makes the difference though; it’s what one does with the idea that counts. “

Saving

Squeezer at Personal Finance Success presents 5 Ways to save at the gas pump, saying “Others tell us to drive more slowly, coast more, brake less, or sell your gas guzzler for something more fuel efficient. While some of these may be good ideas, I think there are more ways that one can save at the pump than using these methods.”

Karen Bryan at Help Me To Save presents Your Favourite Piggy Bank, saying “Saving money can be a serious business, so why not have some fun with our humourous piggy banks?”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Minimize Your Impact on the Environment with Your Finances, saying “Have you ever considered saving money to be more “Green”? Well actually it is. The simplest way to save money, and to help the environment is not purchase items that you don’t need. Many people, including myself forget that part.”

Emily at Evolving Personal Finance presents Private School Angst, saying “I’m glad my parents paid for me to attend a private college. But as my husband and I look forward to having children and saving for their educations, I have to ask myself – would I do the same?”

Kennedi at Face and Fitness presents 12 Ways Being Fit Can Help You Save Money, saying “Being fit is something we all want, but did you know that it can help you save money?”

Kari at Small Budget Big Dreams presents Is Your Bill Basket Making You Broke, saying “Is your bill basket a hot mess? Are you bills strewn across the house unopened, or opened and tossed in the basket? Have you ever lost a bill or forgot to pay a bill because you couldn’t find it? If you answered, “Yes” to one or more of the questions above, your bill basket might be making you broke! “

The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #23 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on March 3, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #77

Tom Drake — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

Business

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Why I Prefer Online Purchases, saying “Shopping online offers many benefits. Find out how online shopping can save you time and money.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Three Right Ways to Grow Your Business with Twitter, saying “There are a handful of very effective strategies you can employ to spread the word about your small business on Twitter — and they reflect the values and techniques you should already be doing in real life! Here are three of my favorites, taken directly from experiences I’ve had with small businesses (experiences that caused me to actually become a customer!)”

Career

Dana at Not Made of Money presents Save Money by Sharing a Nanny, saying “If you need full-time childcare, you may be shocked by the cost. When I worked full-time and my husband went to school full-time, we discovered quality care in our area outside a large city would cost approximately $900 a month. If you look into hiring a nanny, the cost is usually higher.”

Suba at Wealth Informatics presents You don’t quit because you are a quitter, saying “According to a recent survey only 21% if the overall workforce are passionate about their jobs. Which means the rest of the 79% of us are toiling in a job that we no longer love for one reason or the other. Why is that? Why are we unable to break the shackles and go after what makes us happy? After some serious soul searching and research I’ve identified 7 reasons why we behave in this irrational manner.”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents Does blogging affect your work?, saying “It was evident in my year-end appraisal this year that blogging it affecting my work performance. Read more to find out what you can do to manage the same situation I found myself in”

Debt and Credit

Tushar at Small Business Resource presents Anonymous Banker on SBA Loans, saying “Joe Nocera has a blog in the New York Times called Executive Suite, and can also be heard on NPR. He has had what he calls an Anonymous Banker writing to him. Todays Topic:Why Are S.B.A. Loans Disappearing?By Joe NoceraAnonymous Banker, who is fast becoming Executive Suite’s new best friend, is back, this time with a first-hand explanation about why banks aren’t making small-business loans.”

MR at Money Reasons presents Wealth Myth – Stay Married to Become Wealthy, saying “Staying married to become wealthy is a myth! It really depend on the couple and if one a unstoppable spender or not.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents The 10 Weirdest Investments on Lending Club, saying “Last week I wrote about how you can earn 17by loaning money to couple on Prosper.com that is trying to adopt a baby. Well, not to be out done, LendingClub.com just sent over a list of some of the weirdest loans that their members funded last year. Its a pretty great list…”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Jobs in College – Part 1, saying “Are you looking for a job in college? Many of the best jobs in college are hard to get, leaving you fighting for a few extra bucks while in college. We all know that it is hard to graduate from college without debt and finding a job in college is one of the best ways to avoid it. Have you ever wondered what the best jobs in college are? Or maybe how to get them?”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents So Someone Tried to Use My Credit Card to Buy a Laptop. . ., saying “11.1 million people fall victim to identity theft each year and fraudulent credit card use account for nearly half a billion dollars worth of loss each year! Here are tips to help you avoid being another statistic.”

Mike at Rewards Cards USA presents Use A Rewards Credit Card To Help Plan Your Wedding, saying “One way to save money on your honeymoon is to pay for your wedding with a rewards credit card – but you don’t want to run up a huge credit card bill.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Four Places Not to Use Your Credit Card , saying “Credit cards can be a great tool but there are some places you should just not use them. See four situations where you shouldn’t use your credit card.”

Extra Income

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates 2012 – #7, saying “Up until now I had all but given up on earning “passive” income. Here is how all of my “active” extra income endeavors are going:”

Grand Per Month at Grand Per Month presents Make a Grand Per Month as a Stay at Home Parent, saying “I find it much more rewarding to stay home, care for my children, and do work that I love on the weekends when my husband cares for our kids or during the week while they nap or sleep at night. You can do it too! Read through the ideas on Grand Per Month, find one you think you would enjoy, and lay the groundwork for your business. While it may take as long as six to twelve months to earn $1,000 a month, it is possible.”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Five Ways to Increase Your Income Today, saying “Here are five ways to increase your income today. But in order for this to work, you have to change your way of thinking. That means changing your entire mentality as it pertains to money. Don’t believe that it isn’t possible. Believe it and acknowledge it!”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents The Millionaire Fastlane, saying “If you’ve ever given though to starting your own business, or are just unhappy with your job, I think The Millionaire Fastlane is an excellent book to read.”

Frugality

Carrie at Heartland Living on a Budget presents Recording Product Prices in a Log Book Lowers Grocery Bill , saying “Price books prove to be invaluable in saving money at the grocery store.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents New Car Import DIY: Save Thousands, saying “Importing a car into Canada may seem to be a daunting task but it really isn’t too difficult. This past summer I imported one of the 2011 Subaru Outbacks and the process was incredibly smooth. In addition we saved over $9300! In this post I will detail how to DIY import a car to Canada from the United States.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Save Money Using Long Distance Providers, saying “There are essentially three types of long distance providers that you might consider using and that is what this guide is all about.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Save on Food Costs with a Community Garden, saying “If you are not familiar with the concept, a community garden is a plot of land that has several gardening plots that individuals can use to plant their own gardens. If you don’t have enough land to garden on your own property or if you live in an apartment complex, a community garden can offer you a chance to grow your own produce. There are some benefits to utilizing a community garden:”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents Can You Survive on a Teacher’s Salary?, saying “Danny has been teaching for only 12 years and only makes $43k per year. While that’s not a bad income, it’s certainly not a lot of money. Yet Danny and his wife are debt free except the mortgage! Danny is a wonderful voice of sanity in a world where we constantly clamor for higher income because we “just don’t make enough.””

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents 50 Ways to Reuse Dryer Sheets, saying “I have to admit that I enjoy figuring out new ways to use things. I’ve never thought much of the lowly dryer sheet (sometimes referred to as a fabric softener sheet), but have come to learn that it can do a lot of wonderful things — even after it’s been used. You may be surprised at the wide variety of ways that used dryer sheets can be reused to still be useful even after doing a dryer run.”

Everything Finance at Everything Finance presents How to Host an Oscar Party on a Budget, saying “Consider these red carpet-worthy ways to throw an unforgettable Oscar party on a budget:”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents What Is Swagbucks All About?, saying “I like the concept of SwagBucks. It’s a simple way to earn rewards on the web by doing things you would normally do every day, like searching the web.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Ways to Listen to Music for Less, saying “I’m going to focus on some ways that all of us can use to cut down on our music costs and avoid the wrong side of the law at the same time.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents How to Get in Free, saying “It may take a little creativity and planning, but you can get in to more events than you might think for exactly zero dollars. Read on for three tips to find entertainment near you for free.”

Investing

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Dear Insurance Agent, I Wish my Car Insurance Was Cheaper!, saying “We’ve been together for well over 7 years, and with no major infractions. Honestly, I’ve been a really solid client. Just ask my driving record. I know you’re not a magician, and I don’t expect you to make magic happen, however I’d like a cheaper auto insurance quote.”

FG at Financial God presents How the Federal Minimum Wage Crushed the Economy of American Samoa, saying “Most people probably have not heard of American Samoa, or what has been happening there. It is a small island located tens of thousands of miles away from the continental United States, and has a small economy with a high rate of unemployment and a low level of income per capita.”

Dividend Ninja at The Dividend Ninja presents Website Income Versus Dividend Stocks, saying “Ive written a guest post for Young and Thrifty on passive income, titled Website Income vs Dividend Stocks: Which One Comes Out On Top? Once I started seriously investing in divided paying stocks, I was amazed in such a short period of time how quickly dividend income can build a portfolio. For me dividend stocks are a great investment.”

Steve at Money Infant presents Is Blogging the Path to Wealth?, saying “Making money blogging is a subject I am familiar with and over the years I have often considered writing about it. So, I thought it was time to get this out of my system.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents What Makes More Sense – High Insurance Premiums or a High Deductible?, saying “The decision about whether to take a risk with a high premium insurance plan or a high deductible insurance plan is a tough one. Here are some tips.”

Justin at Budget Snob presents Key Difference Between Money Market and Mutual Funds, saying “There are some key differences between money market funds and mutual funds. Knowing these differences can help you choose which fund is right for you to put your money in.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents Eight Reasons Why Single Women Buying a Home is Nuts, saying “Twenty percent of single women own homes, compared to just 10% of single men. Most experts think single women are drawn to the comfort/security that comes from living in your own place. Is buying a home a good investment?”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents The Challenges Of Writing An eBook, saying “I reported about a month ago that I was pushing off from shore and beginning my quest to pen an eBook worthy of your collective attention. I believe I have made some great progress along the way, and learned many lessons, but I must admit that it has not come easily. Many financial bloggers have recently released eBooks and most have claimed it was pretty difficult – now I understand why.”

The Passive Income Earner at The Passive Income Earner presents Goodbye ScotiaITrade, Hello RBC Direct Investing!, saying “RBC Direct Investing was meeting the most requirements I had as a Dividend investor and it led to my switch away from Scotia ITrade.”

Leanne at Money Challenge presents Be Alert, saying “Check to make sure you’re not buying investments off the back of a truck.”

Lifestyle

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Time Management Part II, saying “At work, I have 4-5 major projects I’m working on. Some of these are behind schedule. I get interrupted sometimes twenty times per day. Each one of those interruptions kills my concentration; it wrecks my groove. By the time I’m back on track, 20 minutes have passed and I’m getting interrupted again. No wonder I don’t seem to get anything done.”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents 3 Tips for Good Financial Health, saying “Just like with our physical health, there are some key rules that everyone should follow in order to stay financially healthy. By veering away from these basics, you run the risk of not attaining future financial goals, or worse yet, having unmanageable debt.”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Have You Checked Out Manteresting?, saying “Jesse Michelsen and Ninja from Punch Debt in the Face literally just launched a new site called Manteresting.com, a site that finally offers “pinning” (aka “nailing” now) for the not-so-into-recipes crowd that Pinterest usually attracts. “

Sunil@TheExtraMoneyBlog at The Extra Money Blog presents Proof, Learn How Annonymous Blogging Can Succeed Given Value and Persona, saying “If you tune into successful bloggers like Pat Flynn from the Smart Passive Income and Yaro Starak from the Entrepreneur’s Journey (two of my inspirations), they say those that achieve success quicker and in larger heaps are those who are fully transparent about who they are. Their identities are reflected on their blog. There is no difference between their personal and cyber lives, a difference that many personal finance bloggers have to maintain.”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Tips for Buying Life Insurance without the Stress, saying “As important as life insurance is, many people continually put this on the backburner. There is no denying that buying life insurance comes along with a certain level of stress. During this time, you will begin to think about your death and what it means to your loved ones. If this does not stress you out, nothing will. Despite the fact that buying life insurance can be stressful, there are things you can do to settle the situation and ensure that you move forward in the best way possible.”

Barbara Friedberg at http://barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com/ presents HOW TO LIVE WELL WHEN YOUR PASSION DOESN’T PAY WELL, saying “There’s lots of talk about finding your passion and making lots of money. what if you found your passion, and it doesn’t pay well. What next? “

Busy Executive at The “Busy Executive” Money Blog presents If time is money, doesn’t money management really mean time management?, saying “How do you manage your time? Do you plan out every aspect of your life or do you simply live as one priority interrupt after another? Life is complicated for sure. Managing our relationships, kids, careers, health and spirituality are just the obvious big items. Within each of these, we can come up with 10 or more subcategories all needing a specific plan to get the desired result. They also tend to be interrelated. Negligence in one area will inevitably have impact on another. How does this translate to money management? Well, think about it this way. Diversifying your assets is a form of parallelism. It means employing several different vehicles to reach financial independence vs. having all your eggs in one basket and then discovering (if those are eggs are not enough)…that you’re out of time!”

Real Estate

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents How Do You Know When a House is Right for You?, saying “Looking for a house is often as frustrating as it is exciting. You want to find the perfect house for you and your family, but how do you know when youve found it? How do you know what you can afford? The second question is often easier to answer than the first.”

Marie at FamilyMoneyValues at Family Money Values presents Real Estate Investing Resources – Still More Real World Experience, saying “Are you wondering if now is the time to buy your first home, move up or downsize to a different one? Perhaps you wonder how to save money while renting – as you save up that down payment; or wonder what the buying and selling experiences might be like. In this post, we will take a look at what others have experienced in saving money while renting as well as their buying and selling stories”

Hank at Money Q&A presents Strategies To Stretch The Travel Budget, saying “One of the best strategies to stretch your travel money and to save money on a vacation is to visit locations during their off seasons.”

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Motivation for Early Retirement, saying “Find out what my motivation for early retirement is and how this might influence your retirement plans.”

Emmie at Frugalist presents Saving for Retirement: 7 Super Strategies, saying “Starting to save sooner rather than later and tracking your goals along the way is the main key to a successful retirement plan. Consider the following strategies to build up your own retirement fund:”

Saving

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Emergency Savings Fund, saying “Building an emergency savings fund can be difficult when you are strapped for cash. Find practical ways to create an emergency savings fund.”

Taxes

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents How to Do Your Taxes on the Cheap, saying “What you need to know about filing your taxes on your own. Do your taxes with TurboTax or other online tax programs and save money filing taxes.”

Jason at Work Save Live presents Understanding Taxes: Tax Deductions, saying “A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the first step in understanding taxes: knowing which tax bracket you fall in. The next part of understanding taxes is to learn about TAX DEDUCTIONS! What is a Tax Deduction? A tax deduction is different from a tax credit.”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents Tax Deductions and Tax Credits Debunked, saying “Tax deductions and tax credits are similar, but they are not the same thing. As we approach tax season, it is good to know the difference when you go into the accountant’s office.”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents RRSP Over Contribution Limit And Carry Forward Rules, saying “There’s some confusion around the RRSP over contribution limit and RRSP carry forward rules. This post explains both of these rules.”

Other

Ryan at Early Retirement Investments presents Learn How to Monetize Anything by Understanding the Value Proposition, saying “Learn How to Monetize Anything by Understanding the Value Proposition.”

Luke at Learn Bonds presents Is The US Economy Recovering? The Market Says YES!, saying “Stocks were up big today. All three major stock indexes were rose between 0.96and The DOW had a triple digit gain rising 123 points. Normally, I would talk about the”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents To Tip or Not to Tip-The Crappy Waitress, saying “I should probably start off by saying that I have been a waitress before for a few years, so I know how it is. Also, the state this waitress worked in isnt one of the states where the waitress gets a buck or two an hour and depends on their tips to pay the bills.”

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents Retiring to Panama, saying “Youre looking for somewhere warm to retire but you dont have much money. Instead of Florida or Mexico, consider another spot, instead Panama. We spent two weeks driving around this lovely country last year, staying at hotels, B&Bs, and even a beachside resort. What we discovered surprised us: both good and bad. “

John at Married with Debt presents Thought Leader: What Makes One?, saying “A thought leader is someone who seeks to help people by changing the way they think.This empowers you to solve future problems on your own.”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Buying Uranium When It’s in the Gutter, saying “The March 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster gutted the uranium mining industry, but is it now a time buy?”

Corey at Steadfast Finances presents Should the Fed be Fighting Deflation or Inflation?, saying “The economy isn’t as predictable as many would make it seem. Find out whether inflation or deflation is worse.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Financial Reasons to Get Rid of Your Junk, saying “You need to realize that the more stuff you have, the larger the costs above will grow. As stuff accumulates so does the cost of keeping all that stuff.”

Mich at Beating The Index presents Xtreme Coil Drilling: Undervalued Drilling Company on the Cusp of Strong Growth, saying “XDC is currently trading at about 0.6x of Book Value which makes it one of the most undervalued stocks in the energy services sector. But wait, there’s more, analysts are forecasting a 70 percent increase in rig operating days in 2012 fueled by a 50 percent increase in its average fleet size.”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents How Do You Judge Value?, saying “If you have been following Funancials for an extended period of time, you have noticed the direction of my articles have changed. I used to focus primarily on numbers. Numbers don’t lie. Numbers make sense; and numbers are black and white. There is a problem in viewing financial decisions with this binary code approach.”

Jeremy Waller at Personal Finance Whiz presents The True Risk of Investing: Understanding the Types of Investment Risk, saying “In my last post I talked about the fact that there is no such thing as a risk free investment. Specifically I talked about how some of the investments that are traditionally considered safe are some of the riskiest. Many people dont really understand risk which skews their perception of risk.”

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents I’ve Lived on Food Stamps – and Couldn’t Wait To Get Off, saying “Getting free money for food isn’t nearly as awesome as it sounds. In fact, you may just be even more driven to get off the food stamps program and earn more instead.”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents What Are The Most Annoying Co-Worker Habits?, saying “I need help writing my next song. What are the most annoying coworker habits?”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents How will moving affect our budget?, saying “Moving into a bigger place is going to put a big dent into our budget. As a somewhat personal finance blogger, I feel like I need to justify this expense and our decision to move. And while I know that people may have several different opinions, we know this is whats best for us and maybe you too!”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents 50 Things No One Told Me About America, saying “Twelve years ago I arrived to the Salt Lake City International Airport with broken luggage it was duct taped all over to hold my precious possessions in hand, and two hundred dollars in my wallet. I came to America with great expectations and hope for a better future. I had a very vague idea about what it was really like!”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents The Fork In My Husband’s Career Path, saying “My husband’s found himself having to choose between two career opportunities: one that will result in better pay, and another that could lead to better jobs.”

krantcents at KrantCents presents The 3 D’s of Success, saying “The 3 D’s of Success is the fourth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal. What are your goals? I know you thought about it! You know, it is your dream, wish or resolution you made! Before you can get to where you want to be, you need to know where”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents How Long To Keep Financial Documents, saying “This time of year, as many people go through their clutter of receipts and statements from the previous year, I always get asked: – how long should I keep my statements – or – do I need to keep this for any reason -?”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents True Acceptance of Your Circumstances and Your Finances, saying “The funniest thing happened to me the other day. While standing in line at a Subway I looked out of the window into the parking lot long enough to see someone drive away with my car! Needless to say I was shocked!”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents Teaching Money to Preschoolers through Play, saying “We can use playtime with preschoolers to set the foundation of financial literacy. Here are some fun activities to get you started.”

SFB at Simple Finance Blog presents The Dark Side of Automatic Payments, saying “While I still use online billpay to pay my accounts, all it took was one major accident for me to swear off automatic payments.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #77 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 26, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #74

Tom Drake — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

N.W. Journey at Net Worth Journey presents Stay Within the Boundaries, saying “Learn how staying in the boundaries reaps massive rewards.”

Craig Ford at Christian Debt Coach presents Little Changes Make Big Differences: $100 Spending Cut Challenge, saying “Cutting a $100 spending per month can make a big difference.”

Glen at Parenting Family Money presents 5 Kids Expenses to Budget For – Apart from College , saying “There are other expenses for kids-not on the magnitude of college-that are also worthy of budgets all there own. Make sure you budget for these kids expenses!”

Business

Small Business Resource at Small Business Resource presents Top Tips For Small Businesses To Survive The Recession, saying “Here are some tips for small businesses to survive the recession …. courtesy of the everywoman network!”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Airline’s Charge to Check Bags = One Big Cash Grab, saying “Despite a pretty smooth trip overall, I had the pleasure of paying $25 to check my bag. Three different airports, three different starting points and that’s $75 less I had in my wallet.”

Career

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents 3 Common Selling Strategies for Your Small Business (and Which One Actually Works), saying “Everyone knows that a thriving business needs customers; finding them, however, is usually much easier than getting them to buy. Recently, I’ve noticed a wide range of methods for obtaining new business in a variety of fields. In freelancing, blogging, and social media, specifically, I’ve seen the greatest range of tactics. They go something like this:”

Chris at Experiglot presents Attitude and Sales, saying “Could you make it in sales?”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents How to Deal With Difficult Clients and Customers, saying “In our day to day work, we often come across difficult clients or customers. We ought to have tricks to handle them in certain way so that at the end mutual ego and sanctity is maintained.”

Debt and Credit

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Can Bad Credit Cost You Your Job?, saying “Many companies feel that your credit report gives them a sneak peak at your true character. Having a good credit history indicates that you are a responsible person with excellent character. Having a bad credit history means that you are an unreliable person of poor character. True or not and fairly or not, this is the current belief running throughout company hiring departments.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents PC MasterCard Review, saying “If you bank at PC Financial and shop regularly at Loblaws or Superstore, it makes sense to use the PC MasterCard to earn even more PC Points.”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Living Life on a Debit Card, saying “If you don’t qualify for a credit card for whatever reason—no history, troubled employment situation, self-employed without significant financial backing, poor credit score, etc.—there is still hope for retaining the convenience of plastic without all the added negatives that come with using credit cards. The answer? Debit cards, of course.”

Dr. Jason Cabler at Celebrating Financial Freedom presents Winning Without a Credit Score, saying “A story about my friends mom “Marge” who got turned down for a credit card because she has no credit score, and how that means she’s been winning with money for over 40 years.”

Economy

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Is Our Old Age Security Program Sustainable?, saying “It appears the government is planning to gradually change the Old Age Security program so that the age of eligibility is raised to 67 from age 65.”

Frugality

Young at Young and Thrifty presents Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel Book Review and Giveaway, saying “Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is written by Phil Vallarreal. If you don’t know who he is, I have to be honest with you, you’ve been living under some sort of rock because he’s one of the writers/ contributors to the Consumerist. Basically, the book give 100 dirty little money-grubbing secrets that will help you save money.”

Sandy at Yes, I am Cheap presents Get Out of Debt in 2012: How Much Do You Owe?, saying “The money that you earn must be greater than or equal to the money that you spend. Most of us tend to be okay with the left side of the equation; it’s the right side that’s the problem. I know that many of you will probably disagree with me and say that you’re just not making enough money, but trust me, that’s usually not the case.”

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents How to Host a Superbowl Party on the Cheap, saying “The Super Bowl is just around the corner and if your house is about be invaded by party-goers, you might be worried about what hosting a huge party is going to cost you. Potlucks and BYOB are always a good way to host a party on the cheap!”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Shop for Furniture at Thrift Stores, saying “If you are looking for ways to cut costs in your household, you should take the time to check out some of the thrift stores in your area.”

James Petzke at James Petzke: Graduating with a Surplus presents Choosing a School that Makes Financial Sense, saying “Choosing what school to go to can be difficult. This post breaks down how exactly the financial element of this important decision comes into play.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Money Saving Tips for Buying Video Games, saying “We simply can’t afford to buy our kids a new $50 or $60 video game every time a new one is released. Here are the money saving tips we use to reduce our costs:”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Money Saving Tips for New Parents, saying “Here are the top five money saving tips for new parents to help ease the cost.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Getting More Miles Out of the Old Van, saying “My 2004 Pontiac Montana just clicked over 167,000 miles, and I couldn’t be more excited. It is my goal to get up to 200,000 with it. “

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents Use Less and Sve Money! 25 Things You Can Cut Your Use in Half, saying “No matter what the cause, becoming aware that you may be needlessly wasting money by using too much gives you the opportunity to examine the way you currently use things and see if you can get the results you want without using quite so much.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Why Use Cloth Diapers?, saying “What follows are my thoughts on why cloth is more sustainable, not only for the planet but also for your pocketbook – the reasons why we use cloth diapers.”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents 20 Inexpensive Indoor Activities for Kids and Teens, saying “How many days of winter can your kids handle before you hear those dreaded words, “I’m bored”? Here are 20 cheap, indoor family activities to get you through the darkest of winter days.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Calling Retentions Can Really Slash Your Bills, saying “The big secret here is that you don’t have to wait until you are unhappy with your service or you want to cancel before you call retentions! They are overcharging you now, so why wait?! “

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Biggest Money Wasters in Your 20s, saying “How you’re blowing money in your 20s.”

Brian at Wallet Watcher presents Saving on Energy Costs: Insulation, saying “If you aren’t up-to-date with insulation in your home, you might be wasting plenty of money on energy. Take some of the following tips in stride – there is a lot of information that simply can’t be covered presently.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents Money Saving Clubs: To Join or Not to Join?, saying ““To join, or not to join?” That certainly is the question when it comes to saving money. Every company would have us believe that by applying for their credit card, joining their rewards program or becoming a member of their club we will save more than we ever dreamed possible. But while that idea may seem too good to be true, there is some truth to it: we may sometimes save money by jumping on the bandwagon. So the question you really need to ask yourself is this: is it worth it to me?”

Melissa at Fiscal Phoenix presents Do You Really Want a Typical Valentine’s Day?, saying “Showing your love on Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be through the gifts that companies and marketers make you feel you have to buy. Instead of using your hard-earned money on consumables that will be gone in just a few days, choose a different activity that will help you create a memory.”

Investing

W at Off-Road Finance presents Adjusting To Market Volatility, saying “This article looks at what market volatility is, how it’s measured, and how it impacts you as an investor or trader.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents The Beginner’s Guide – How To Find A Mutual Fund, saying “There are tens of thousands of mutual funds out there for investors to choose from. It is very intimidating for new beginner investors to learn how to find a mutual fund.”

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents How You Can Build Wealth, saying “Building wealth takes time and knowledge. There is no get rich quick method. There are a few ways to begin building wealth. Passive income is the key.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Passive Income Done Right, saying “Do you often think about how you could create a passive income? Maybe you’re just itching to get out of your job and would love to create a real estate empire, or perhaps a franchise that is run completely by someone other than you. These dreams are all well and good, but you must first have your finances in order before you can pursue opportunities such as these…”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents 10 Easy Tips for Saving Money on Car Insurance, saying “Everyone has to have car insurance, but it can be a pain to find something that works for you and that you can afford. If you are tight on funds, or if you simply want to save some money, here are ten easy tips for saving money on your car insurance.”

MR at Money Reasons presents Why Taxing Dividend Income Hurts The Elderly, saying “Taxing dividends at a higher percentage hurts the elderly and the young.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents A Review of OptionHouse’s iPhone App, saying “Despite a few quirks, I’m impressed with the App! This is by far the best trading App I’ve come across! The feature list is just right and not overwhelming. Though I don’t like the dark background, the screen doesn’t look too cluttered. A couple of features I would’ve expected in a trading app but missing in OptionsHouse’s App:”

Kanwal Sarai at Simply Investing presents My Best Investment Yet, saying “275.97% return since I first purchased shares in TransCanada Corporation (TRP) in 2000. “

Matt at RamblingFever Money presents Keeping a Mortgage for Greater Investment Gain, saying “The 15 vs 30 year mortgage debate. I ran some numbers and was shocked to find out that it might actually make mathematical sense to stick with the 30-year. Is this the best choice though as it pertains to your “personal” finances?”

Mich at Oil and Gas ETFs presents Learning How to Invest in Oil to Maximize Profits and Minimize Risks, saying “Let’s face it, the era for cheap oil is behind us, oil has become more expensive to find and to extract from the ground which requires sustained high oil prices to ensure future supply. A look at ways to invest in oil.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Are Target Date Mutual Funds Right for You, saying “An article from my friend, Jeff Rose caught my attention recently: Why I Hate Target Date Mutual Funds and You Should, Too. The title caught my attention – hate is a strong word that I haven’t seen Rose use too often.”

Martin at Studenomics presents Should You Invest in the Stock Market in Your 20s?, saying “Should 20-somethings be involved in the stock market?”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents Dividend Bubble? Think Again!, saying “What does the future for dividends hold?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Dividend Investing Will Make You Rich, saying “Are you still waiting to get into the dividend game?”

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents Learning to Invest, saying “Here is a great break down of researching stocks the smart way.”

Lifestyle

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Why a Young Conservative Supports Ron Paul, saying “I am guided by my principles, not people. Should Ron Paul one day forsake them, I will no longer support him. I don’t agree with him on everything, including some of his foreign policy. But I know that under his presidency, my freedoms would be protected, and I would rather be free than safe from harm. Ultimately, this is why young conservatives like myself support him.”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents 8 Important Bible Versus about Money for Christians, saying “Today I want to give 8 of my favorite bible verses about money, and talk about why I think they’re important for all Christians to know and understand.”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents When a Pumpkin Is More Valuable than a $1,000, saying “When a Pumpkin is More Valuable Than $1,000″

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Don’t Underestimate the Cost of Living When Deciding Where to Live , saying “There are a lot of factors that can go into deciding where to live, but one many underestimate is the cost of living where you want to live.”

Phil at PT Money presents 31 Days to Financial Improvement, saying “The culmination of a month-long series aimed at helping readers make incremental improvements that will positively affect their financial situations.”

Suba at Wealth Informatics presents Stay at home or to work : What is the financial & professional price?, saying “Stay at home or to work : This is not a post to convince anyone that they should stay at home or that they should be a working parent. Rather this post is a thinking process on what changes financially/professionally so that we can better prepare for it (as much as possible).”

Real Estate

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Mistakes Young Families Make When Financing Their First Home, saying “Money mistakes made by young, educated and affluent families were a direct cause of our current economic turmoil. If families fail to learn from those home buying mistakes, we are doomed to repeat the consequences.”

krantcents at KrantCents presents Protecting your home when on holiday: top tips, saying “Whatever kind of neighbourhood you live in, you will want to protect your home while you are away from it. Should you be embarking on a big holiday in the coming weeks and months and you find yourself away from the house for two weeks or more, there are a number of things you can”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Simple Home Maintenance Anyone Can Do, saying “If you own a home, you can save time and money by learning to do some common and simple home maintenance. The time you save is the time needed to locate a repair person, wait for them to arrive and do the task. The money you save is their labor charge.”

Little House at Little House in the Valley presents I Know I Should Buy but I Am Not, saying “I knew I had to do three things before I buy a home: improve my credit, pay down my debt, and save for a down payment. I’ve completed two of these three things with the last one being a bit more challenging for me”

Martin at Passive Income Now presents Why Does Everyone Want to Buy a Home Instead of Renting?, saying “Is it better to buy or rent?”

Retirement

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents Double Tax Benefits for Mid to Low Income Households Who Contribute to Retirement Accounts, saying “When you think about retirement, are you stuck in disillusionment somewhere between your dreams and the reality of an empty retirement account? “

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Early Retirement, saying “In preparation for early retirement, what are you doing? Find out what I am doing to prepare for early retirement.”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Are You A Mental Accountant? Grand Finale, saying “Remember when Jeff Foxworthy came out with his unforgettable series, ‘You Might Be A Redneck?’ It was a huge hit that led to book deals, TV shows, and enough riches to fund every redneck’s retirement. Read my take on being a mental accountant with a Jeff Foxworthy spin.”

Todd R. Tresidder at Financial Mentor presents Are Safe Withdrawal Rates Really Safe?, saying “An exhaustive analysis that finally puts to rest the safe withdrawal rate debate. The 4% rule is dead so learn the alternative solutions so you can safeguard your wealth in retirement.”

The Passive Income Earner at The Passive Income Earner presents How To Maximize Your RRSP, saying “Do you really know how to maximize your RRSP? Have a look to see how you can grow your nest egg even bigger.”

Saving

Teacher Man at My University Money presents More Rewarding: Earning vs Saving, saying “Us personal finance nerds seem to have an ongoing debate raging (ok, maybe a slightly aggressive term) concerning who is cooler, the guys/gals that save more, or the guys/gals that earn more. Clearly the coolest peeps are the ones that save as much as possible and instead of wasting valuable time partaking in a fairly mundane exchange of stale views, earn more than the rest of us as well…”

Marie at Family Money Values at Family Money Values presents Five Fabulous Financial Moves, saying “Life is full of decisions. As you come to them – you make them, the best you can, with what you know and have at the time. Some of them turn out to be gems, others are more like dog poop. Looking back over my adult life from the ripe old age of 63, highlighted some of my and my spouses finest financial moments in bold relief. Some other day, we’ll talk about the dog poop side of things!”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents How-to Overcome The Fear of Getting Rich Slowly, saying “How you can make money over time.”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents Emergency Money Fund: Building Savings in a Low Interest Rate Environment, saying “Having adequate emergency money is the foundation of a solid financial plan. Here is one way to build an emergency savings fund.”

Taxes

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents 37 Must-Read Posts for Tax Savings, saying “A collection of the best tax tips posts that cover a wide range of tax topics, including deductions, tips for filing, and working with an accountant.”

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents 2012 IRA Contribution Limits, saying “Curious what the 2012 IRA Contributions Limits are?”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How to Make Money Buying Virtual Real Estate, saying “Real estate is such a valuable investment, you no longer need it to be real to make money. Learn how real-life virtual real estate entrepreneurs have made millions.”

Other

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents How ‘Do Not Need’ Lists Can Save You A Buck, saying “I am on a three month no-buy resolution. I figured it is a good prelude to start implementing my next resolution – de-cluttering. Where do you usually start? I, of course, started with my favorite place which happens to be you guessed it, right! my closet.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Paypal Income Reporting Requirements for Bloggers, saying “The IRS required PayPal to issue Form 1099-K to those making over $20,000 a year on PayPal. Since it was so confusing, the IRS did something smart.”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents What to Look for in Mutual Funds – Part 1, saying “This is my first part of a two part series on what to look for in Mutual Funds.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents Confidence is Great, Right? Nope, It’ll Wreck Your Life, saying “We’re all taught to be confident from childhood. You know, those confidence boosters like getting a trophy no matter where you placed, parents telling you that you can do anything in life and so on. On some level, having confidence in yourself and what you can achieve does allow you to think big, stretch your your limits and achieve great things.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents How To Raise The Next Millionaire Entrepreneur, saying “Giving them a solid foundation to launch their creative ideas will help them achieve a financial freedom. A true millionaire entrepreneur knows that they can’t wait for opportunities to find them.”

Mich at Beating The Index presents Investing in Canadian Well Completion & Drilling Companies, saying “The oilfield services industry provides investors with exposure to the oil and gas commodity sector minus the inherent risks associated with exploration and development drilling.”

FG at Financial God presents Is Canada Immune to a Financial Blowup?, saying “My Own Advisor recently wrote about the heavy austerity in Greece, and thanks his lucky stars that things are nowhere near this bad in Canada. I agree that those in Canada are very lucky that the country has weathered the financial storm in relatively good shape, and not only that but the Canadian government has wasted less of the people’s wealth on ‘stimulus’.”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents My Biggest Financial Fear, saying “Sometimes fear can motivate us and other times, it can paralyze us or dictate our decisions. I have plenty of fears, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Of all…..”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents How do you talk about money with your husband?, saying “Who manages the finances in your relationship? And how do you decide how to spend your money?”

John at Married with Debt presents Frugal Living is All About Creating the Debt Free Magic in Your Life, saying “This site is about helping people, both financially and in all aspects of their lives. Because I want this site to be a community, you will see from time to time, guest posts from readers and fellow financial bloggers. “

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Unexpected Crisis, saying “Find out how I managed to take care of a lot of things in a short amount of time.”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Redneck Dividends, saying “As I was editing the notorious 101 Centavos Dividend Portfolio that is featured on this site, it occurred to me that some of the dividend picks shared …”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents Cheap Things That Make Life Easier, saying “Sometimes people get so caught up in the idea of saving money that they won’t use their hard earned cash to buy something that would improve their quality of life. What the heck are you working for if you can’t buy yourself something that will make you happier? “

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Cheap Romantic Dates, saying “Cheap romantic dates are great on the budget and relationship. Find creative ideas here.”

Corey at Steadfast Finances presents Fake Prosperity: U.S. National Debt Growth vs. GDP Growth, saying “If you’re a member of Gen X and Gen Y, this is probably the scariest chart you will see in in the Economy, and possibly, right up to the time you’re old and gray.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents Disabiliy: Nothing to Quack About, saying “You owe it to your family to make prudent plans to protect them in the event you are injured and can’t work. Read all about why you need disability insurance and what to look for in your coverage.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #74 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 5, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #73

Tom Drake — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

N.W. Journey at Net Worth Journey presents Teaching your Children about Money, saying “Tips for teaching children about money”

Business

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents What is an entrepreneur?, saying “What is an entrepreneur and do you become one? “

Ronika Khanna at Montreal Financial presents Essential Facts about Shareholder Loans for Incorporated Small Business Owners, saying “There are three primary ways in which you, as an owner-manager, can withdraw funds from your corporation. You can pay yourself a salary, you can declare a dividend or you can borrow money from the corporation. When you borrow money from your own corporation the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has put into place strict rules as to when you have to repay the loan. This is essentially to ensure that the owner-manager does not avoid paying taxes indefinitely. “

Career

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks, saying “The job market has been bad for a very long time, but there are high paying careers out there. Apparently being a butler is one of them! Free room and board plus up to a hundred thousand dollars a year ‘ why not consider being a butler? You don’t even need a college degree, and Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks!”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents My Husband Is Now Working from Home with Me!, saying “Yes, you read that right. Mr. BFS resigned from his position as a school librarian last week!!! Last Friday was his last day! Today is his first official day working with me at home!!! HOLY MOLY “

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Afraid of Life? Grad School Isn’t the Answer, saying “Many have of course moved on to jobs, others to careers, and still others are pursuing leisure travel or other whims. One option I am seeing taken more and more is to go back to grad school.”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents From 30K to 176K in 8 years; The Chronology of My Income, saying “A look at a steady increase in income.”

Debt and Credit

Eddie at Finance Fox presents 5 Rules to Teach Your Kids About Credit Cards, saying “Some parents think that credit cards are evil and that keeping kids on the other side is the only way to keep them safe. My parents just never had the time or true knowledge to share anything with me about credit cards.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents Mortgage Activity Gone Wild Due Record Low Rates – Are You Taking Advantage?, saying “Last week, there was a 20″

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Taking control of our finances, saying “How one young couple hopes to take control of their finances, pay off debt and save money in 2012.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Get Your Family Out of Debt, saying “Being in debt can feel like you are being held captive by your finances. Many find that once they begin getting into debt, it begins to spiral out of control. There are ways to get out of debt if you put your mind to it, and focus on being debt free.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents Scotia Rewards Program Review, saying “The Scotia Rewards program is a points-based system where members are awarded one Scotia Rewards point for every $1 in purchases charged to your ScotiaGold Passport Visa account or ScotiaGold Passport for business Visa account.”

Mike at Rewards Cards USA presents Create A Plan To Earn More Rewards Points, saying “One of the biggest complaints that many people have regarding their credit card rewards is that it takes too long to earn the requisite number of points to redeem for anything worthwhile.”

Janet at Credit, Eh presents Two Reward Cards: Priority Club World MasterCard from Capital One, saying “If you are looking for a solid travel rewards credit card, you have two options when you consider the Priority Club World MasterCard from Capital One and the Priority Club Platinum MasterCard. “

Extra Income

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Problems with Askimet? Try These Great Free Alternatives, saying “Akismet was once the only game in town, but this is true no longer. Here is a list of plugins that can improve upon or even replace Akismet entirely:”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Ways Your Teenagers Can Increase Their Spending, saying “If your teen is short on cash, here are some ideas that he could use to earn the money he needs.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates, 2012 – #3, saying “Reach earnings of $30,000 from all blogging related activites in 2012. (This is $2,500 per month average, I’m at $1,735 through so far, can I do it?)”

Grand Per Month at Grand Per Month presents How to Start a Money Making Blog – Part 3, saying “Welcome to our little Saturday series on starting a money making blog. I am sharing my tips and advice for developing a steady stream of blogging income just like I have been able to do for the past few months.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Working from Home. . .With a Toddler, saying “I can imagine that for most Moms, there is at least one “high-needs” kid in the household. Working from home with one in your care, however, takes a delicate balance of being attentive and not allowing yourself to be completely run over. “

Frugality

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Differences between TFSA and RRSP – Explanation and terms, saying “According to the BMO Financial group, 40% of Canadians still don’t know the difference between a TFSA and RRSP. This sounds like a high figure but in speaking to some of my peers, personal finance is not a topic most people enjoy to talk about.”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents How to save money eating a gluten-free diet, saying “I have tried a lot of gluten free breads, cookies, and pastas and have finally found some wonderful products. Now I have yummy gluten free substitutes for all of the foods that I was used to eating before going gluten free. Here are some tips for eating gluten free on a budget:”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Stop Being Cheap and Invest In Yourself, saying “The following post was featured in a blog swap in November 2011 at My Personal Finance Journey. Now, that I have many more readers and much better exposure, I decided to publish it on my blog. I am a spender. But even big spenders like me have their limits.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents How to Cancel DirecTV without Paying a Penalty, saying “Yes I actually did cancel DirectTV before the end of my contract without paying a fee and without even asking (at least not directly)!”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Seek Alternatives to Save on Your Monthly Phone Bill, saying “If you are looking to pay off debt or just to trim your household budget, one good place to look to make further cuts is your home telephone service. With so many options currently available, you may find that you don’t even need your home phone service or the expense.”

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Cheap Movie Alternatives, saying “It isnt uncommon for young families to be strapped for cash. When you are looking for creative ways to save money without making a huge sacrifice, it is time to get creative. With the popularity of motion picture, it is hard to give up movies. Yet, going to the movies is not getting cheaper.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents 5 Home Renovation Saving Tips, saying “Home renovations are a necessary process when you own your home. Sooner or later you will want or need to remodel your bathroom or your kitchen or perhaps finish off that basement. Not only will renovations provide pleasure and function to you, but they could increase the sale value of your home a bit. Here are a few tips on saving money while doing renovations.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Sorry, I Recycle for the Money, saying “Unlike most individuals, I don’t recycle for the greater good, sorry. For me, it’s not about the environment, saving resources, or minimizing pollution. It’s about cold, hard cash.”

Kelly at Wallet Watcher presents Seven Fun Hobbies that Won’t Cost You a Cent, saying “Here’s a handful of hobbies that are sure to be entertaining, beneficial and basically free of charge.”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents 8 Tricks to Get Cheap Flight Tickets, saying “Over the years, I learned to be more observant, practical, and strategic with my flight ticket purchases. They became some of my techniques in looking for cheap flights. If you want to get them at a bargain, take note of these tips”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents Complete Guide to the Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Program, saying “The Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Program is one of the most popular retail loyalty programs. The program is really easy. When you make any purchase at Shoppers Drug Mart you earn Optimum Points.”

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents How to download and watch legal and free movies for Canadians, saying “With the price of admission to a movie close to $12 (depending where you live in Canada), I wanted to share some free resources to watch and download movies online in Canada legally.”

Lina at Baby Alerts presents Valentine’s Day DIY Projects for Kids, saying “I have put together a post full of more than twenty ideas for Valentines for classmates, recipes, Valentine’s Day decor and more.”

Glen at Parenting Family Money presents How to Save on Groceries When You Have a Food Intolerance , saying “When you discover you have a food intolerance, your diet has to change. But you’ll find that groceries get expensive. Save with these tips.”

Investing

krantcents at KrantCents presents Term Life Insurance Is My Choice!, saying “Term life insurance is my choice, should it be yours? We all know that life insurance is important, so it is a matter of choice which one is right for you. If you are young, healthy and expect to stay that way, term life insurance should be your choice.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents More Factors Affecting Covered Call Premiums, saying “We have already discussed a couple of the factors that influence the premium that one might receive for selling a covered call and will summarize those at the end, but another important factor that can influence the price of an option contract is the volatility of the underlying stock.”

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents WHAT’S THE BEST AGE AT WHICH TO EXPERIENCE A STOCK MARKET CRASH, saying “Fascinating look at how your future wealth is impacted by a stock market crash. Obviously, the youngest investors are least affected by a crash. Enjoy this well written guest article by Rob Bennett.”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents What Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You About How to Successfully Reduce Your Nest Egg, saying “What Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You About How to Successfully Reduce Your Nest Egg”

John at Buy Stocks Online presents What is a Good Dividend Yield for a Stock?, saying “What is a good dividend yield for a stock? The answer depends on your investment strategy. Some investors prefer to buy stocks that have lots of growth potential while others may prefer to target value stocks.”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Important Dividend Information for Young Investors, saying “Do you know how dividends work?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Dividend Investing Is Not Just A Trend, saying “Why dividend investing will be around for a long time.”

Martin at Studenomics presents Should You Even Bother With a Savings Account?, saying “We look at savings accounts and if they are worth it.”

Lifestyle

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents How to Raise Kids to Be Wise with Money, saying “Today’s children still need to be taught good financial habits so that they end up more like Millennials and less like Millennials’ Gen X parents and Boomer grandparents. That’s why I’m sharing a few things you can do to teach your kids about good personal finances:”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Reviewing My 2011 Goals, saying “With 2011 now a distant memory, it’s time to go back and look at my goals for 2011. That’s one major benefit of blogging, there’s accountability baked into everything I do. In 2011, I had set 5 goals, most of them business-related.”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents Teaching Your Kids about Money: January Edition, saying “What sources of income are available for kids and teens? We kick off our Teach Your Kids about Money series by examining common resources for kids, from allowances to part time jobs.”

Sunil at The Extra Money Blog presents Negative People Will Impede Your Progress – Act and Respond Accordingly, saying “The world is full of skeptics and negative people. Just the other day we met a couple at a friend’s house who was extraordinarily vocal about their negativity, so I thought I’d take a quick break from entrepreneurship, internet marketing, blogging and personal finance to discuss this topic, which can impede your progress toward achieving your goals and objectives in the endeavors you choose to embark on.”

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents How to Save Money on Clothing: Confessions of an Image Consultant, saying ” Over the (many) years I’ve been in business, I’ve learned certain principles that I think can help anyone improve their wardrobe no matter what their budget.”

Kelsey at Money Mum presents 5 Time Management Tips for Busy Mums, saying “If you’re feeling overwhelmed or short on time, here are some time management tips to get you back on track:”

Emily at PT Money Personal Finance presents The Costa Concordia Tragedy and the Need for Travel Insurance, saying “Uses the tragedy as a springboard for a discussion on the necessity of travel insurance.”

Mike at Saving Money Today presents How to Pay for Kid’s Activities without Breaking the Bank, saying “If you have children who want to explore many extracurricular activities, here are some ways to keep them active without breaking your budget. “

Real Estate

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents How People Buy Real Estate with “No Money Down”, saying “Some of my favorite infomercials include the ridiculous ‘No Money Down’ real estate videos. If you haven’t already wasted your $360, allow me to spill the beans.”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents Live A Life of Wealth, saying “If I were to ask you to describe what being wealthy means to you, how would you answer? A young me late teenager would have answered that question as follows: Wealthy to me is a huge house with an outdoor pool, but now I see wealth differently.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How People Buy Real Estate with “No Money Down”, saying “Some of my favorite infomercials include the ridiculous No Money Down real estate videos. If you haven’t already wasted your $360, allow me to spill the beans.”

Retirement

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents How Much Should You be Saving?, saying “The following is a guest post. When you are young, retirement seems to be a lifetime away. Being told that you should save for that day is difficult to comprehend. But the fact of the matter is that even if we are young and healthy and fit, we have parents and grandparents who are older. So the question is how much should you be saving?”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents How CARP Benefits Aging Canadians, saying “CARP stands for Canadian Association of Retired Persons. It is a national advocacy organization that serves the needs of Canadians age 50 and over.”

Saving

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents Some Unusual Savings Tips, saying “If you find yourself short of cash when it comes time to add to your ISA, it may be time to consider a few money saving tips for individual savings accounts.”

Shawanda Greene at You Have More Than You Think presents 10 Things We Love to Buy and Hate to Use, saying “10 Specific products that are fun to buy, but far less enjoyable to use. “

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Buying on Sale: Are You Really Saving Money?, saying “It seems that everybody loves a good sale, but the real question is when you buy stuff on sale are you really saving money? Well, sure, you are saving money off the regular price of that particular product at that particular store, but is that even meaningful?”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents How to Negotiate Lower Rent in Your Current Apartment , saying “You’d love to take advantage of the lower rents you keep hearing about but you already have a place you like. See how to negotiate lower rent in your current apartment.”

Taxes

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Should Tax Evaders Be Given A Safe Haven?, saying “The IRS has given tax evaders who have hidden money in offshore accounts a chance to avoid jail time, netting the IRS at least $4.4 billion.”

Other

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents My Blog Owning Strategy, saying “Find out my blog owning strategy that I am using to approach building up my multiple blogs.”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents Can I Survive At the Poverty Line?, saying “I completed my interview with 107 WINA on Sunday December 18th concerning my article on ‘Can you survive the poverty line’. I would like to thank Wendy Edwards for reaching out to me and giving me the opportunity to conduct the interview.”

MR at Money Reasons presents Are Famous Personal Finance Authors Too Rich To Understand You?, saying “Do rich personal finance authors forget what it’s like to live in the middle? Do you think personal finance bloggers walk the walk and talk the talk better?”

Hank at Money Q&A presents How I Recently Invested In A Rock Band, saying “There are tons of other great projects on Kickstarter that you can invest in like the new Crowfield album. Kickstarter is a great way to invest in a rock band and other awesome projects.”

Young And Thrifty at YoungAndThrifty presents Bloggers for Charity: Trans-Himalayan Aid Society, saying “Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter created an initiative called Bloggers for Charity where people can bid to guest post on some well-known Canadian finance blogs.”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents My Budget Spreadsheet is Too Much Work, saying “My budget spreadsheet is too complicated. I’m making things easier on myself and switching to Mint.com”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Are You A Mental Accountant?, saying “I hope most of you have had a chance to read my previous article about The Legend of the Man in the Green Bathrobe. If you haven’t, go back and read it. It’s a prerequisite for continuing this post. I anticipated what the responses would be in the comments before they came rolling in.”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Nickel-Plated Trailers: a Centavos Dividend Portfolio Update, saying “With the last portfolio update back in November, we’re about due for another one. Some new additions to the lineup: United Mobile Homes UMH, read more to find out my lineup!”

Mich at Beating The Index presents Hyperion Exploration Carries Strong Operational Momentum into 2012, saying “Hyperion Exploration exited 2011 with a bang; the company was able to exceed its exit guidance by spending less capital than anticipated. I believe this strong operational momentum will carry into 2012 with the upcoming operational update and the 2012 capex program due at any day before the end of this month. Find out why!”

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Efficiency for your Business, saying “If you are trying to be more efficient at work, you may be curious of ways to maximize your time and lower your costs. Jester and I certainly value the importance of multitasking, but sometimes this just isn’t an option.”

FG at Financial God presents Immigrant Workers Are Coming to a Shore Near You to Steal Your Jobs!, saying “Silicon Valley has been put on notice: A new startup, Blueseed, plans to set up ship just 12 miles off the coast. These ships will hold hundreds of bold and creative entrepreneurs from countries such as India and China. They will circumvent immigration laws and restrictions by placing their ships just outside of the territorial!”

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents Making Space For Roommates: Are the Savings Worth the Hassles?, saying “Sharing an apartment with roommates can save money, but it often means making other sacrifices too. I weigh the pros and cons of roommates for my next move.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Confessions of a Street Canvasser, saying “Have you ever been walking down the street in New York City, Boston, DC, Chicago, or San Francisco and been stopped by a young person carrying a clipboard and wearing a charity t-shirt? This strange phenomenon has a name ‘ street canvassing.”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents How to Save Money on Dieting, saying “Comparing diet program costs is one way to maximize the amount of money you have to spend on dieting or to make you run the other way with your hard earned money, see how they stack up against one another!”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents Everybody Can Have an Emergency Fund!, saying “If you don’t have an emergency fund at all, then why not start with a goal of $100? Sure it’s not going to be too helpful should a big financial emergency.”

Chris at Experiglot presents Traits of Success Based on Reading dozens of Presidential Biographies, saying “Great insights learned from past Presidents.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #73 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 29, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #72

Tom Drake — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Big Cajun Man at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Quicken 2012 a Review, saying “A review of Quicken 2012 a great budgeting tool.”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Pay Off Debt Fast or Build Assets?, saying “Yes, I would rather have all my currents debts paid off than be in my current financial position… because then I could turn around and put myself in much better debt all over again! ”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents Top 10 Budgeting Tips for The Year, saying “10 important tips for yearly budget. This explains the characteristics of a good budget that can help you throughout the year on controlling expenses and saving money.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents New RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking Account, saying “The new program will take effect on March 17, 2012, and will feature a co-branded RBC Shoppers Optimum banking account and debit card with enhanced Shoppers Optimum rewards.”

Don at Money Reasons presents My Son Is A Young Entrepreneur, saying “This is about my son’s transformation in becoming a young entrepreneur. Not bad considering he is only eleven.”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents 8 Tips on How to Get Along with Your Boss, saying “If you get into the all too common habit of seeing your boss as an enemy—or at least as an adversary—you will display that through your behavior and attitude. But see your boss as a friend in authority, and you might forge the kind of alliance that will advance your boss’s career and yours at the same time.”

Philip Taylor at PT Money Personal Finance presents How to Become an Online Tutor and Make an Extra $1,000 a Month, saying “Ways to Make More Money: An interview with an online tutor discussing the pros/cons and qualifications needed pursue a part-time job in that field.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Why Financing a Car Can be a Bad Idea, saying “If you are looking to get a car and you don’t have enough money saved to purchase the car outright, you may be tempted to get a car loan so that you don’t have to wait. But is this really the best route to take?”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents 4 Tips to Improve Credit Even After A Bankruptcy, saying “A bankruptcy can be a financial event which wrecks credit and hurts a consumers ability to qualify for loans. Its effects can be felt for years afterwards, as it appears on a credit report for 7-10 years depending on what type of BK you file for.”

krantcents at KrantCents presents How Students with NO Credit History, Can Begin to Build a Financial Record, saying “Here are 3 ways to allow young adults to safely build credit without the risk of going into debt.”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Million Dollar Question: Should I Use My Savings To Pay Down Debt or Fund My Retirement Plan?, saying “Mortgage vs RRSP. TFSA vs Student Loan. Credit Card Debt vs RRSP. TFSA vs Mortgage. RRSP vs Car Payment. Lots of different situations, some of us are in one of these and others may have two or more different forms of debt to pay down.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents US Debt Now Equivalent to Entire US Economy – Investing in This New Era, saying “The United States has just reached the dreaded 100Det-to-GDP ratio with its $15.2 Trillion debt level surpassing the value of all goods and services produced in-country. This is important because it vaults us into a whole new echelon of debt-ridden societies with financial crises of their own: only Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal have debt-to-GDP ratios exceeding 100 This is scary stuff folks!”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents What To Do After You Are Debt Free, saying “You are debt free! The cycle of debt that you have lived before is starting to break. But now that you have gotten over that mountain and can now see from the top the question most people ask is, “What’s next?” The answer I give you is: plenty. Here are some tips and things to do to keep you motivated and focused now that you are debt free:”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents Get Out of Debt Even If You Can’t Maintain It, saying “I think paying off your debt is a valuable exercise even if you don’t think you can maintain the debt-loss. You will practice skills you need to improve your financial life just like dieting did for my weight. It will bring your debt into focus and you will see it in a way that you’ve never seen it before.”

John at Passive Family Income presents When Being Gazelle Intense, Take Time to Regroup, saying ” If you are aggressively paying down debt, take the time to recoup occasionally. Here are some tips to remember for avoiding gazelle intensity burnout:”

Annabelle at Shopping Detox presents Credit cards vs. frugality, saying “Is it better to get a points credit card, or just pay down your balance with a low-interest card?”

Mike Collins at Saving Money Today presents Costco American Express Card Review, saying “Is the Costco American Express credit card worth adding to your wallet?”

Grand Per Month at Grand Per Month presents How to Make $1000 a Month as a Virtual Assistant, saying “Are you organized? Self-motivated? Do you like to work from home and have office skills such as computer knowledge and typing ability? If so, you may want to consider working as a virtual assistant.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents The World of High Stakes Sweepers – Is It Real?, saying “Suddenly, just as “Extreme Couponing”caused a bunch of new people to start furiously clipping, there is a new interest in entering sweepstakes, and some people are left wondering if winning prizes will be their ticket out of debt, poverty, or working a regular job. ”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents January Net Worth + 14.62% It’s Payback Time!, saying “Are you paying your debt off?”

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents 3 Frugal Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day, saying “Remember, there’s no need to spend a fortune on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, a bit of cheap fun is all you need. So, what are your ideas for Valentine’s Day this year?”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Live A Little: Have A Latte, saying “This is a new series I am starting on this blog. It is called Live A Little, and it is not about how to save more by cutting expenses and living frugal. It is about spending, but in an intelligent way.”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Easy Ways to Improve Your Gas Mileage, saying “Many drivers have sought to cut their spending on gas by driving less. While this is certainly a good strategy, we can’t stay home all the time. Here are some tips for using less gas when you do drive.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Start Early – How to Encourage Kids to be Savers, saying “So how do you encourage kids to be savers? The best way to teach kids how to save is to teach them that buying brand name items is not necessary when store brand names or cheap name brands are just as nice and “in” as they would say. ”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents The Best Price Comparison Sites in Canada, saying “Using price comparison websites is one of the easiest ways to save money when shopping online. They also come in handy when shopping offline because prices are usually identical for stores that have both an online and an offline presence.”

CF at The Outlier Model presents Cutting down your hydro or electricity bill, saying “As we all know, heating costs are a major consideration for the Canadian winter! Living in Vancouver, this doesn’t affect us as much, however the recent cold snap to hit the West Coast has really affected our hydro costs. Check out what we’re doing to keep costs down!”

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents 101 Simple Pleasures That Don’t Cost a Dime, saying “There are a lot of simple pleasures out there and many of them cost nothing to very little. Embrace them. Actively seek to find them daily. Enjoy life on the cheap.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents How to Eliminate Your Home Phone Bill and Long Distance Charges!, saying “The Internet is becoming the only infrastructure necessary to do many of the things that used to require special mediums before like making phone calls, watching TV, listening to music, and so on. Yes, the internet can even help you completely eliminate your monthly home phone bill as well as the long distance charges you may have become accustomed to!”

Kennedi at Face and Fitness presents Getting Fit on a Budget, saying “Not everyone can go out and pick up an expensive gym membership. Here’s a list of free or low-cost resources to help you stay healthy on a budget.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Lottery Winner Loses Everything in Four Years: Smart Approaches for Families with Income Windfalls, saying “Lottery winners are famous for winning fortunes and then losing them. That is because it is easy to make financial mistakes when families run into income windfalls. However, there are a few approaches to help you to make smart decisions and minimize the risks of losing everything.”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents Health Insurance Companies Give Financial Incentives for Good Habits, saying “Since I discussed a ‘stick’ approach my health insurance company began on January 1, 2012 by charging a higher premium for smokers than for non-smokers, I’d like to take the time to discuss a ‘carrot’ incentive approach!”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents CD’s are for Hypocrites, saying “I would venture to say that there are two investment products people learn about before any others Stocks and CDs Certificates of Deposit. Assuming most people learn about these two options when theyre young, I would think the way they were explained was elementary. Something like stocks are risky CDs are risk-free. But are they remembering inflation?”

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents A Side Income, saying “Finding a side income can go a long ways to meet your financial needs. Find out how to manage your time and make it happen.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents How to Invest in India, saying “India has shown tremendous growth and to see where India might be in another decade, just look at China today! For those who missed the China train, India might be a good opportunity. Even Buffett thinks so!”

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Generate passive income – How to do it, saying “If you want to generate passive income, you need to know the two ways that people establish a passive income.”

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgrim presents What Is a Mutual Fund Prospectus? How to Read and Understand It., saying “What is a mutual fund prospectus? It’s a document that gives you an inside look at your mutual fund, and it’s about as inviting to read as a telephone book. That’s exactly the way Wall Street likes it. As long as you don’t take the five minutes it usually requires to go through the document, you won’t be aware of the fees the fund charges you. Also, by failing to read the prospectus, you’ll be in the dark about the wild investments the 25-year-old multi-billion dollar fund manager can make with your money. There is no way around it. For certain investors, reading the prospectus is a critical step in mutual fund evaluation.”

John at Buy Stocks Online presents In the Money Options Explained, saying “In order for a stock option to be considered in the money, it must be worth exercising. This means that the strike price of the contract must hold more value than the current share price of the underlying stock. Both puts and calls can be considered in the money, however the process of determining this is different for each.”

Marie at Family Money Values at Family Money Values presents High Beta Wealthy and the Forbes 400, saying “There is a new theory floating around that a group called High Beta Wealthy exist. The idea is that folks in the top 1% of the wealthy don’t stay there – they are ‘high beta’. Find out how these Forbes 400 folks dropped off the list and whether or not YOU are high beta.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents How Do You Become A Great Investor? Learn How to Shop!, saying “I actually find it pretty amazing that people will trample over each other to save a few dollars during black friday, yet run away in fear when stocks tank.”

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents The importance of investing in the new year, saying “Discusses why you should make investing a top priority this year,”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents What Are Some Investing Risks Worth Taking?, saying “Risks worth giving a shot.”

Martin at Studenomics presents What’s The Best Online Bank For Young Professionals?, saying “Have you found the right bank account yet?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents How I Caculate Returns For Long And Short Tech Picks, saying “A peak at some investing tips.”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents If You Want to Know Where the Stock Market is Heading, Read the Following, saying “A look at the future of the market.”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Let’s Talk Pets and Other Unexpected Expenses, saying “I’ve been complaining on and off about the cost of my poor Pug’s allergies, so I thought I’d do a little post to let all of us vent a little about unexpected expenses.”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents Creative Ways to Tithe, saying “You may think that I am a heathen for suggesting such a blasphemous thing, but I believe it is perfectly justified to contribute your tithe towards other causes”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates, 2012 – #2, saying “Welcome to the 2012 blogging updates for Money Is The Root. Just as last year, I will provide weekly updates on my site statistics, blogging income, and intended goals for the short and long term. These posts will provide ongoing updates regarding my progress on my three blogs, and perhaps more in the near future, as well as achieving $30,000 in online income this year”

Robert at The College Investor presents Change Requires Action, saying “Changing your financial habits requires you to act – here are some tips and tricks to help!”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Alternative and Sustainable Energy Sources: Biodiesel and Biomass Fuels, saying “Several factors have lead to increasing interest and research in biofuels. These include the price of oil and the fluctuations in its price, the desire for more security of fuel and energy and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuelled vehicles.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Why We Use Holistic Blend Healthy Dog Food, saying “What do you feed your dog (or pets)? Have you ever wondered why your dog seems to get sick or suffer from various ailments, some more serious than others? Do you take your dog to the vet for issues other than regular check ups? Have you ever taken a close look at what is in your dog’s diet? Well, you should.”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents I Visited a Psychic Monk – You Read that Right, saying “I like being spontaneous and I never want to look back on life and regret not doing something fun. This is why I woke up at 5:45am last Wednesday so we could wait in line for a reading with a psychic monk.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents Party Tips for the Broke Young Professionals, saying “How can you open your home and make your friends feel welcome without going broke in the process? Check out the frugal party tips below.”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents My Plan to Lose Ten Pounds in Three Months, saying “Have you joined the 10-Pound Challenge yet? Lose ten pounds in three months, win money! Everyone needs a plan to lose ten pounds in three months. We all want to lose weight fast and find the easiest shortcut to get there. ”

Mich at Beating The Index presents NAL Energy to Underperform in 2012?, saying “I believe the stock will underperform in 2012 based on running 2 set of scenarios which indicate the company is not in its best shape.”

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents What is a Portfolio?, saying “A portfolio is made up of assets. There are five major asset classes of intangible financial instruments; Stocks, Bonds, Options, Futures, and Foreign exchange.”

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents Is Outsourcing Household Chores a Luxury or a Smart Money Move?, saying “I don’t like cleaning; and I make no secret of that fact. Dust can multiply for months, and I might notice that it is there, but I probably won’t clean it. I do have the basics that I do every day – dishes, and general picking up. I clean the bathrooms and sweep and mop the kitchen floor, so I am not a complete slob, but I hate deep cleaning.”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents Radical Idea to Create Jobs, saying “I have many crazy ideas. Most aren’t fit to become reality like my spray-painting lawnmower for when the summer heat turns your grass brown. But every so often, I come up with something that I feel holds merit. And my”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Five Ways to Save Money and Get Fit at Work, saying “Now that the New Year is here, we are all looking for ways to trim down the expenses and the waistlines. Here are a few ideas on how to do that before or after work or at lunch time. Use Lunch Get some exercise on your lunch break. Read this article for more ideas!”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents How NOT to Invest in Water, saying “I’ve been reading quite a bit about water lately. Set a Google alert for water scarcity India China, and your inbox is bound to fill up with stories of water scarcity.”

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents Five Reasons to Give Up Goal Setting, saying “Should we give up goal setting to achieve more success? Goals are something everyone uses, but is it the most effective for getting things done. Here’s a discussion why it might not be.”

Young and Thrifty at YoungAndThrifty presents Quicken Home and Business 2012 Review, saying “I was very excited to try Quicken because I have heard so many great things about it and it almost seems that any Personal Finance Blogger isn’t really a personal finance blogger if they don’t use some sort of snazzy personal finance software like Quicken to track their spending, their budgets, and their investments all in one place.”

W at Off-Road Finance presents Additive vs. Multiplicative Thinking About Money, saying “A look at two ways of thinking about money and which is appropriate when.”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents Claim Your Unclaimed Property, saying “Check to see if you have unclaimed property free money waiting for you. Just search at your state’s website and you might have something!”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents 4 Reasons You Should Not Invest in Real Estate Right Now, saying “A few weeks ago we shared with you some reasons why this might be a good time to invest in real estate and this week we wanted to present the other side of the argument. Here are four good reasons not to buy real estate right now…”

Madison at My Dollar Plan presents Pay Off Your Mortgage with a Credit Card, saying “Some might see this as a risky move but paying off your mortgage with a 0% credit card can save you a lot of money! Read on to hear one person’s story.”

Forest Parks at Frugal Zeitgeist presents Canada’s Most Affordable Cities For Real Estate, saying “Canada’s real estate costs vary quite widely area to area. This article looks at which cities are considered to be the most affordable.”

Martin at Passive Income Now presents Maintaining Your Rental Property Once You Hand The Keys Over, saying “How you can survive as a landlord.”

Todd R. Tresidder at Financial Mentor presents 5 Surprising Reasons Why Retirement Calculators Can’t Be Trusted, saying “Retirement calculators appear simple on the surface, but underneath that facade is a complex set of assumptions that can confound even the most seasoned expert. Discover 5 reasons why you should rethink how you use a retirement calculator…”

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents The Number One Retirement Fear, saying “According to an AARP study recently released, health care issues are the number one biggest fear retirees have. Is retirement affordable? The biggest challenge for most potential retirees is the cost of care and the ability to stay healthy through retirement. Experts claim one will need an extra $200-$300,000 to pay just for health care.”

ETZ25 at Entertainment Timez presents Starting Up A Roth IRA For Kids, saying “My son now has earned income and we are starting up a Roth IRA for him to participate in. Read why are are starting a Roth IRA for Kids!”

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Retirement Planning for Young Families, saying “Find out what the first step of retirement planning should be for young families.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Time to Buy that Vacation/Retirement Place?, saying “The interesting thing is that as we were considering this, I opened up this month’s issue of Smart Money and James B. Stewart’s Common Sense column mentions buying that vacation/retirement place now… for the exact reasons were were considering… he’s looking for “something that’s cheap and likely to appreciate.”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Do You Have A Locked In RRSP?, saying “Locked In Retirement Accounts (LIRAs) were created to transfer vested pension funds that you take with you if you leave your employer prior to retirement, such as when you change jobs.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents Fitness Affects Finances: How?, saying “There are more reasons than ever to take responsibility for your health and fitness. Wherever you are in your retirement planning, it’s time to take care of the only body you have to get you to retirement and beyond.”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents Saving, Investing, and Gambling: The Importance of Differentiation and Compartmentalization, saying “Definitions of saving, investing, and gambling with an explanation for the need to differentiate and compartmentalize each.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents How to Get a Bargain When Apartment Hunting , saying “The demand for renting has increased as the housing market flounders. Don’t get caught paying too much for rent! See how to get a bargain when you are apartment hunting.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents Four Great Benefits Of Buying A House, saying “There are many great benefits of buying a house such as wealth creation, tax savings, forced savings, and others. Renting should not be your default option when there are so many great benefits of buying a house.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Tax Evasion Costs Over $300 Billion Each Year, saying “Think tax evasion is a small problem? Thing again: tax evasion in the U.S. amounts to $337.3 billion a year.”

Tushar at Everything Finance presents H & R Block Opt Not To Offer Refund Anticipation Loans This Tax Season, saying “For now, refund anticipation loans are still legal, but declining in popularity, as evidenced by H & R Block’s continued tax filing growth, even without offering the expensive convenience of refund anticipation loans.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #72 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 22, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #71

Tom Drake — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Budgeting

CF at The Outlier Model presents How to make a budget that works, saying “Creating a budget that works can be a difficult task, if you don’t know where to start. This simple ‘how-to’ guide will get you started on creating a basic, balanced budget. Laying out your income and expenses is the first step towards improving your financial health and living a better life.”

Career

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents Unemployment Benefits for the Self-Employed?, saying “I was poking around the internet the other day and came across this article in Time and learned about a new unemployment policy for the self-employed. Here is my take on it:”

Penny at Penny Pinching Professional presents Writing a Resume, saying “Your resume is an important part of finding a good job so you can make money. Do you know the most important information to include in your resume?”

Martin at Studenomics presents 7 Laws of Working For Yourself, saying “What to consider if you want to branch off on your own.”

Debt and Credit

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Should I Cancel My Credit Card?, saying “Over the last few years, Credit Reporting has gotten a lot of attention in the media. Part of it due to the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act, but I also give a lot of credit to the jingles of Freecreditreport.com. Although I love the commercials, I’m not a huge advocate of the website. “

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Paying down student loans, saying “The following is a guest post. My student loans stand at approximately $22,550. I originally had about 9 different loans, but I ended up consolidating them. Debt consolidation loans help minimize the payment you have to pay, which was a huge help back when I was a broke college graduate.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents How I Made Money on a $371 Visit to the Mechanic, saying “After bringing in my car for maintenance, I was given a loaner for a 1,000 mile to and from San Francisco. Just how much money did that save me?”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Different Types of Financial Aid, saying “Learning the different forms of financial aid can make all the difference in reducing your college debt.”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents Suze Orman Release Prepaid Debit Card. Wait, What?, saying “Phil, from PT Money, blasted Suze for the card, on his site and on twitter. I can’t say that I entirely disagree with him. His problem with the card, and mine, is that prepaid cards should be a last resort for people who are unable to get a bank or Credit Union account that has a debit card attached to it. “

Philip Taylor at PT Money Personal Finance presents Suze Orman’s Pre-Paid Debit Card – The Approved Card, saying “Discusses whether or not Orman’s pre-paid debit card is a good financial product for the middle class.”

Janet at Credit, Eh presents The House That Credit Card Rewards Built [Infographic], saying “A rewards credit card can be just the thing to help you earn cash back, get free stuff, and enjoy an upgraded lifestyle. Before you get too excited, though, it’s important to understand that your credit card rewards are basically worthless if you carry a balance.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents CIBC Petro Points MasterCard, saying “The CIBC Petro Points MasterCard is a no annual fee rewards credit card that lets you save 2 cents off every litre of fuel at participating Petro-Canada stations across Canada.”

Economy

Big Cajun Man at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Unemployment Up to end 2011, saying “Unemployment numbers are not encouraging to end 2011 in Canada.”

Extra Income

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates, 2012 – #1, saying “Welcome to the 2012 blogging updates for Money Is The Root. Just as last year, I will provide weekly updates on my site statistics, blogging income, and intended goals for the short and long term. These posts will provide ongoing updates regarding my progress on my three blogs, and perhaps more in the near future, as well as achieving $30,000 in online income this year.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Investing in Guaranteed Losers, saying “How about investing in a guaranteed winner? That is exactly what I plan on doing this year. In fact, I will be getting a return of over 20% by paying off my Discover Credit Card. “

JT at Grand Per Month presents How to Make $1000 a Month as a Personal Trainer, saying “Here is how to make $1000 a month as a personal trainer working just 15 to 20 hours extra per week.”

Sunil at The Extra Money Blog presents The Correct Way to Edit a Blog Post: Avoid Search Engine Penalties, saying “While there is nothing wrong with editing an older blog post, the way you do it makes a big difference to avoid search engine penalties.”

Marie at FamilyMoneyValues at FamilyMoneyValues presents Growing Your Blog with Staff Writers, saying “Answers from real live bloggers who use staff writers on : the benefits of using staff writers; management tasks related to use of them; payment and legal aspects of their use; and the blog results seen from using them.”

Frugality

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Have you ever seen a frugal celebrity?, saying “Actress and celebrity Zooey Deschanel recently showed that she earns an average of $95,000 a month and her expenses average $22,550 per month. This means she saves 76% of her income!”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents Totally Plastic Free Challenge for 2012 – No credit cards, saying “Our first challenge will be going plastic free (no credit cards). As many, we to use our credit cards to purchase goods to accumulate airmiles. This year we have decided to move away from this method in order to completely remove that cushion that exists with plastic. No matter how well you budget, using credit cards gives you a false sense of security.”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents A Great Site to Sign up for Email Offers, saying “Learn about this great tool to hone your frugal skills like I do!”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents It Never Hurts to Ask, saying “I recently bought an electric razor from Amazon. Within a couple of days, the price of the same razor dropped by 25%! Even though Amazon’s policy is not to refund the difference, I decided to call and ask.”

Annabelle at Shopping Detox presents Marilyn Monroe: the frugality audit, saying “Marilyn Monroe, secret thrifty genius bookworm!”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents How to Save When Hiring Professional Movers, saying “There are a number of ways you can cut down on the expenses associated with hiring professional movers.”

Young and Thrifty at Youngandthrifty presents Save $750+ on Shaw Cable and Internet by being a (Starving) Student, saying “Students must get some sort of a break on cable, seeing as students have no income and yet need some sort of distraction from studying. Students also need internet. They must give students a break!! Stay young and thrifty =)”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents My Sirius/XM Discount Journey, saying “I constantly amazes me what the mark up is on certain products and services, and how much money you can save by remembering that Everything Is Negotiable! I’ve saved little bits of money on monthly services such as my phone, internet, and television costs before, but my most recent frugal adventure came courtesy of my new satellite radio.”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents You Cancelled What? LIfe Without 200 Channels, saying “In an effort to trim up our budget, we cancelled our cable TV. We are saving money and rediscovering hobbies. Our four kids, however, put their financial skills to work and presented us with another option.”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents Complete Guide on where to find coupons?, saying “One of the most common questions we receive from our readers, is where can I find coupons? Coupons are everywhere that once you become consciously aware of coupons you will spot them in the most unlikely places. It also depends on how much time you spend and how hard you look for them.”

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Free tax filing software in Canada, saying “Tax season is getting started and it is time to start thinking of your RRSP contributions and tax free savings accounts. My favorite tax software, StudioTax, has released their free pre-certified version and I wanted to share reasons why it rocks!”

Investing

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents Little Futures on the Prairie, saying “Do you remember Little House on the Prairie? If Pa had known about the futures market he could have made money selling a futures contract. Futures introduction.”

Doctor Stock at Invest in the Markets presents Diversification Strategy, saying “Diversification strategy isn’t a phrase that should scare you, even if you are a new investor, because it doesn’t have to be complicated. After all, it’s really a simple way of saying, “Don’t put all your investment eggs into one basket.” Simple, right? Truly, it is. In fact, you’re better at this than you might think. All you likely need are some guidelines to help you get started… and stay on track. So, let’s do this… together.”

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, saying “Andrew Hallam is an excellent teacher, and he continues to inspire and motivate me through his passion toward finance and life. He uses humour and anecdotes to get us interested in the message, and then to show that he’s serious, he backs it up with a comprehensive set of references and research.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Why Do Dividend Stock Investing?, saying “Not sure if dividend stock investing is for you or you think it is too risky? Consider the following reasons on why this type of investment tool can help build personal wealth while minimizing potential risks.”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents Portfolio Management: Part I of Series on Investment Risk and Returns, saying “Exhibits and provides examples of the importance of understanding investment risk and return in portfolio management.”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Is An RRSP Loan Necessary?, saying “If you simply don’t have the money to come up with an RRSP contribution you may think that getting an RRSP loan is the only solution.”

Pierre at Intelligent Speculator presents The Biggest Investing Mistake I’ve Made…, saying “A story from an investment gone wrong.”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents Best Canadian Dividend Stocks for 2012, saying “The best dividend stocks to watch out for.”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents What’s Your Investment Strategy?, saying “What’s your plan for your money?”

Lifestyle

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents DIY Project Gone Wrong, saying “A few months ago I wrote a post about whether the benefits of hiring a professional outweigh the frustrations of trying to do a project yourself. In that post, I mentioned we had skilled friends who knew what they were doing and had the right tools. In today’s show I share a personal DIY project that went wrong. Big time. And it cost me a bunch more than it would have to hire a professional.”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Deathbed Regrets, saying “A friend recently pointed me to an article written by a hospice nurse. This nurse spent her career working with people who were dying, beyond recovery, and aware of it. Her job, primarily, was to provide comfort, whether that be physical or emotional. During her conversations, she found several themes when her patients discussed their regrets and she lists the 5 most common regrets in her article.”

Mr. Money at Smart on Money presents The Cost of Resolutions, saying “The New Year is here and we are all striving to get ourselves off on the right foot by committing to the right resolutions. However, not all resolutions are created equal. While most will improve your health or your mental well-being, there are a few in particular that will save you thousands of dollars over the course of your life in addition to improving your mental and physical well-being. A few of the most cost-effective New Year’s resolutions include:”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Make a Relationship Last, saying “A relationship takes work by both partners if it is to be fulfilling and lasting. As years go by, people change and this means that the relationship is going to change too. Here are some tips to help you understand how to make a relationship last.”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents What’s The Worst Money Advice You Have Ever Heard?, saying “We are not all financial experts. When we are faced with important life decisions regarding financial matters, we approach professionals to advise us on the best route to take. Unfortunately, we do not always get sound advice.”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents 4 Ways Colleges Are Ripping Students Off, saying ” Most of the high priced items on campus—such as textbooks, meal plans and student parking—can be avoided if you know about the alternatives. And because I don’t want you leaving college with a huge student debt—beware of the following high-priced college cons on your student campus:”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents 5 Emergency Budget Cuts to Consider, saying “We would all be better off if we forced ourselves to look honestly at our spending, our credit cards and our bank accounts, and identify the things that can be cut out easily and immediately. That will buy you more time if you do lose your job or take a cut in your income, and will help you stretch the money you have. Every family is different, but the list below will give you some ideas to start with.”

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents Why I Don’t Want a Smart Phone, Tablet, or eReader, saying “Although some may see it as a financial decision, my choice to forgoe smart phones, tablets, and eReaders is a lifestyle choice. I do not need to be connected 24/7. Read more about this personal decision.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Do You or Your Spouse Handle the Finances Solely? Why This Might Not be a Good Idea , saying “It’s pretty common to see one spouse handle the finances solely in a relationship. Usually the other spouse doesn’t want to know about them. See why this isn’t a good idea.”

W at Off-Road Finance presents Leaving The Middle Class, saying “A look at what it means to leave the middle class and become rich.”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents How I Will Take Control of My Finance in 2012, saying “My plan for owning finances in 2012.”

Real Estate

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Easiest Way to Make a Profit in Real Estate, saying “Investing in real estate can be a great way to set yourself up for the future. If you invest in the right property at the right price, you can create a positive cash flow from the beginning. “

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Is it Possible to Retire on Rental Properties?, saying “Not only is it possible to retire on real estate, there are many benefits that you need to take advantage of.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents No Cost Refinance – A No-Lose Financial Move?, saying “A no-cost refi is starting to make more sense to me now that I’ve read more about it, and I was especially surprised to see the number of no-cost refinance companies out there. I’ve been contemplating a refi for some time now and had initially put it off due to the exorbitant fees…”

Retirement

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents Retirement Planning Requires Action, saying “If you are starting to think about your own retirement, you are on the right path. You have taken the first step towards achieving that dream retirement. You may need to spend some time writing down your goals and/or expectations for retirement, but asking the questions is where everyone begins. Yet, just thinking about retirement”

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents Retirement Planning: Consider Your Time as Well as Your Money, saying “The biggest problem in retirememnt is what to do with your time. Most of us can’t wait to quit working, but once we quit, what do we do? We say we want to travel, spend time with family, play golf, or just sit on the porch, but after a lifetime of work is that enough? “

Ray @ Financial Highway at Financial Highway presents RRSP Deadline 2012-Limits , saying “The RRSP season has begun! Every bank, every branch and every teller will remind you to contribute to your RRSP before the deadline. With so many people vying for your RRSP contributions, who should you trust? “

Saving

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents Our Net Worth Increased By 125k in 1 year, saying “So last year turned out to be really good for the YFS household. How good? Well I’ll let you decide. At the start of 2011 our net worth was $122,403.43. At the start of 2012 our net worth is $246,756.54! That is s serious gain, IMHO!”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents Get Paid to Reduce Your Energy Usage, saying “There are some money-saving ideas that you’ve no doubt heard a million times. Some of the most oft repeated tips are how to reduce your energy bill. Turn off the lights. Lower the thermostat in the winter. Buy an energy efficient water heater. Those are all great ideas, but one company is taking it a step further to help motivate us. Read on to learn more!”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Save Money on Insurance: Simplify by Bundling, saying “As the quest continues to save money on insurance premiums, individuals and families may be overlooking a common method to doing so. Going with one company could just be the ticket, not only for the health of your bank account, but also to make things just a bit simpler.”

Evan at Smart Wealth presents A Financially Responsible 2012, saying “I have decided to set goals for my wife and I in order to have a financially responsible 2012 and save for our future as we want to grow our family.”

Taxes

Matt at RamblingFever Money presents Common Sense Commentary on the Government Welfare State, saying “Some of us Americans have a stereotype that Canada’s society runs in a socialistic or even welfare state. This post highlights one American’s complaints about the abuse of our government welfare system. I wonder if Canadian’s have similar complaints about theirs?”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents Do I Need to File a Tax Return? It Depends on a Variety of Factors, saying “In some situations people may want to go through with filing even if they’re not required because they may be entitled to a refund of taxes paid, or they may qualify for a refundable tax credit of some kind. Found out that you may not need to file for 2011? You may want to if you’re eligible for refundable tax credits like the following.”

Tushar at Everything Finance presents Finding an Accountant If You Are a Blogger, saying “As a blogger watching your blog grow and earning money is rewarding. However, once the blog grows beyond a hobby, you need to consider the tax implications. Hiring an accountant who understands the blogging world is essential.”

Other

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Interview With Foster Wilson of MESA EXPLORATION, saying “Mesa Exploration formerly Mesa Uranium is a junior exploration company active in Utah and Arizona. I bought shares of MSA MSJAF on the pink sheets …”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents How to Prepare to Give an Effective Presentation, saying “Presenting ideas, products and information is an integral part of being in business. Whether you are trying to convince the boss to give you a raise; nudge your customer into buying the latest shiny product the company makes; or pry venture capital lose from an angel investor, you need presentation skills. Read on to lean my thoughts.”

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Appropriate Tip, saying “Find out what an appropriate tip is when you are eating out. How much are you overspending?”

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents Should You Leave a Life Insurance Policy to Your Kids?, saying “Determining whether or not to purchase a life insurance policy is a big decision. Many of us want to leave something behind for our family, but there are a few things you need to consider before taking on a monthly premium!”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Would You Date a Guy From a Trailer Park?, saying “I try not to judge a book by i’s cover because usually the cover very seldom reveals what is written inside of the book. A few years ago I passed judgment on one of my good friends based on a social stigma. Read my social class dilemma!”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Reasons to Buy a Car in January – After the Holidays!, saying “Consumers used to shop heavily during December in order to reap the great rewards from the retailers. However, times have changed. Consumers are getting more wiser and January has also become a hot month for retail therapy.”

Don at Money Reasons presents Home Security! Deciding to Spend or Not to Spend, saying “It’s Jan 1, 2012 at 4:14am, my dog started barking like an entire gang was at my front door trying to break in. Much like the dad in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, Twas the night before Christmas, I sprang out of my bed in an adrenaline pumping state ready to encounter whatever threat might exist.”

Julie at The Family CEO presents A Masterminds List of the Top Ten Posts of 2011, saying “Check out my 10 most popular posts for 2011″

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents The Real Cost of Eating Out, saying “I was looking over my budget for the previous month and something stood out. At first, I thought I made a typo along the way. Maybe I categorized a purchase incorrectly somewhere along the way. After checking and rechecking and I discover the real cost of eating out!”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Crash Course in UCC Check Indorsement Rules for Newlyweds and Why You Should Never Use ‘And’ or ‘&’ When Writing Checks to Newlyweds, saying “Newlyweds face unique complications in cashing wedding checks thanks to the ambiguity of name changes. Learn what the UCC rules are for signing and cashing checks and never put the word and or & on a check to newlyweds”

Hank at Money Q&A presents Seven Car Insurance Myths You Need To Know, saying “There are a lot of car insurance myths that continue to be spread around by consumers. It is important to understand as much as you can about how your car insurance rates are calculated and to debunk the popular car insurance myths.”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents 25 Everyday Techniques to Save Environment, saying “These are 25 pretty easy-to-follow ways to help our mother earth by saving the environment around us. Charity begins at home, you start today, your neighbor starts tomorrow and the whole city starts doing this by year end, how about that?”

Canadian Finance Carnival #71 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 15, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #70

Tom Drake — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Business

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Robert Kiyosaki and Multi-Level Marketing Exposed!, saying “Today, I’d like to share some thoughts on the business of MLM and pair that with well-known personality Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. As you can tell from the title, this is going to be a little harsh on Kiyosaki, but keep in mind that Rich Dad, Poor Dad was major motivation for me to begin this blog.”

Career

Penny at Penny Pinching Professional presents Career Fairs Part (III), saying “This is the third in a four part mini series about how to be success at career fairs. Read the whole series to find out how to make a great impression on recruiters and move yourself to the top of their candidate list. A good job is the first step toward great finances!”

Brad at RESUME Mag presents New Year’s Resume Resolution, saying “New Year’s resolutions don’t only apply to yourself, but you can also make resolutions for your resume. After all, to a potential employer, your resume is you. This post has taken the four most common resolutions and have applied them to your resume:”

Debt and Credit

Kris Bickell at Debt Tips presents Don’t believe everything you read, saying “Don’t believe everything you read about debt and credit – learn what you should not believe so you don’t end up making a big mistake.”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents How to Recover from a Holiday Spending Hangover, saying “Even if you have gone overboard this year, it doesn’t mean you have to spend all of 2012 digging yourself out of the hole. Here’s a step-by-step and (relatively) painless plan for paying off your holiday spending spree.”

Extra Income

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents The Best Way to Start Your Own Business After College, saying “How you can start a business after college.”

Martin at Passive Income Now presents How to Make Money as a Blogger, saying “Quick and easy guide for getting started with blogging.”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents How to Make Money by Blogging, saying “In today’s show Matt discusses a topic brought up in our discussion forums about how to make money by blogging. There are a lot of ways to make money from blogging, but they all depend on having a really good blog”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Review of CFM Stats from 2011, saying “I wanted to take the time to review the stats for the first seven months that Cash Flow Mantra was online. I will also comment a little about these past months and also look ahead to 2012 to set a few blog specific goals for the next 12 months.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Six Tips for Making $1000 a Month as a Part-Time Blogger, saying “Making extra money through blogging is anything but quick and probably won’t make you as rich as you might dream. But if you are willing to put in the effort, it can over the period of six months to a year provide you with some meaningful extra income that can be used to pay off debt, increase your savings, pay a bill or two, or help with the effects from a layoff.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents URGENT: SOPA Will Kill Your Mom Blog and WAHM Business, saying “Maybe you’ve heard a lot of buzz surrounding SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). You might have even thought that it was harmless (after all, what could be so bad about a law that protects musicians and movie makers from having their works stolen online?) While it could potentially be used for this valiant effort, the danger of SOPA is far worse than anyone expected, and this is why bloggers and those in the online media are fighting so hard against it.”

Frugality

Lina Zussino at Baby Alerts Canada presents Should you buy a new or used car seat?, saying “Should I invest in a new car seat or is a second hand seat okay? If you’re asking this question, use this as a guide to help make your decision.”

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Guide to cancelling your Rogers cell phone service, saying “Tricks to look out for when cancelling your Rogers cell phone bill. How to avoid paying extra fees when cancelling your invoice.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents Weekend Project: Saving Money by Switching to Prepaid, saying “Goal: To save money by cutting down on a recurring expense – my monthly cell phone bill – to a prepaid plan without changing my phone number.”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Going Green in the Kitchen, saying “Going green doesn’t mean you have to spend more money, though. In fact, it should save you money. Going green is about consuming less and living a simpler life—doing more with less. It can also provide you with a little peace of mind that you are treating not only your environment better but also yourself. And what better place to practice living a green life but in the kitchen?”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Are You Frugal or Cheap? Find Out with This Test, saying “So, how would you know if you are frugal or cheap? Moolanomy came out with a frugal vs. cheap test a while back which inspired this post. Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil and answer these 12 short questions:”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents How to Keep Heating Bills Low This Winter, saying “Some innovative frugal ways to keep heating bills lower this winter or every winter. Some techniques to consume lower electricity and some to use alternate an cheaper source of energy to keep your heating bills lower.”

Investing

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Do You Trust Your Government?, saying “What do you think is the role of the government?”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents My Investor Xmas Wish List, saying “Sharing a few investment wishes.”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents How Much of Your Investment Portfolio Can Your Afford to Lose?, saying “A breakeven loss analysis chart demonstrates why your asset allocation and risk management must control investment losses.”

Kanwal Sarai at Simply Investing presents Mutual Funds Vs. Simply Investing, saying “Mutual funds make poor investments, and I’ve written about them before here and here. Stop handing over your money to mutual fund sales people. Save your hard-earned cash, and invest it wisely. It”

John at Buy Stocks Online presents Can You Buy Stocks Without a Broker?, saying “As a dividend income investor, I am focused on limiting my expenses whenever possible. Spending an extra 2% on fees and commissions wipes out a 2% annual dividend return on investment. These added costs are just not acceptable to me, which is why I searched for an alternative.”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents Best Stock Picks For 2012, saying “Here are my best stock picks for 2012. My theory is that most of these stocks were beat-up last year and have the potential to rebound this year.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents Are Your Collectibles Really an Investment?, saying “One of the biggest problems with trying to make money of collectibles comes when you try to cash in on a trend. Remember the Beanie Baby toys? At the height of the craze, when they were must-haves, prices spiked. But now you can get them for as little as $0.99 if you know where to look”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Why the Facebook IPO May Never Happen, saying “One of the hottest topics for 2012 is the possibility of an initial public offering or IPO for, arguably, the number one social networking site, Facebook.”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Stock Market Picking Contest, saying ” The more I read and gain experience with investing, the more sure I am that the best course for 99% of people out there is basic ETFs and index funds. So why then am I entering a stock picking contest hosted by Nelson over at Financial Uproar? Because I’m a geek with nothing else to do.”

Mike Collins at Saving Money Today presents Why I Like Stocks That Pay Dividends, saying “One of the best ways to increase your net worth and build wealth is to invest in stocks that pay dividends.”

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents Women and Investing, saying “A look at the differences in numbers between men and women when it comes to investing.”

Lifestyle

Amanda at Frugal Living presents How to Green Your Finances, saying “When you think of going green, your finances may not necessarily come to mind. The fact of the matter is that money management is often overlooked as a way to make responsible and sustainable choices that help the planet. By taking a few simple steps you can make an enormous impact on the environment without breaking the bank.”

Evan at My Journey to Millions presents Goals and Objectives for 2012, saying “A couple of days ago I “graded” myself as to how I did for my 2011 Goals and Objectives and with only a couple days left in 2011 it is about time to lay it on the line for what I expect for myself in 2012″

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Recap of Personal Goals for 2012, saying “Happy New Year! The beginning of the new year is a common time to make new goals for the year ahead. First, let’s take a look at my goals from 2011 and evaluate how I did:”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents 2012: The Year the World Ended, saying “This is traditionally the time that people look back at the previous year, and make resolutions they don’t intend to keep in the following year. Who am I to buck tradition?”

Big Cajun Man at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Financial Resolutions for 2012, saying “In preparation for 2012, I started writing down the things that I’d like to accomplish for the coming year, and I was diligently scribing and wracking my memory for ideas, and making up goals for myself and such, when I remembered that I had done this pretty much every year for a long time. I have obsessively written things down, with goals and stretches, on how I was going to make myself a better person, and make my life better, but at the end of it all, I realized the best way to do this kind of self-improvement exercise.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Shopping Online is Safe, Easy and Saves Money, saying “A strong motivator for shopping online is that it can definitely save you a lot of money, not to mention it is also very convenient. You still have to be vigilant ensuring what you are buying is actually well priced, just like you would when shopping in a retail store, but your chances of getting a great deal when shopping online are much higher because comparison shopping and price checks are so quick and easy to do.”

Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer presents A Look Back at 2011, saying “Some people might look at year end goal results and think FAIL. I look at it and appreciate what was accomplished. Goals or resolutions are there for us to stretch ourselves and hold one accountable. Without this list, I might not have accomplished any of it.”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Health Update #2 – Crystal Light Challenge, saying “I’m still happy with myself since I was only leisurely walking 3 times a week before this. This is really the first time in years that I’m getting my heart rate up and my endurance has built up alot.”

Pam Whitlcok at The MoneyTrail Blog presents What Do Our Kids Really Understand about Money? 5 Assumptions Parents Often Make, saying “Our kids see us handle money and credit cards on a daily basis so it is easy to assume that they understand the basic financial literacy concepts. What do they really know? We look at 5 assumptions that parents often regarding kids and money.”

Sabrina at Wallet Watcher presents How to Get Your Kids to Stop Treating You Like an ATM, saying “When raising children, no one sets out to raise a brat. No parent thinks to themselves, “I want my child to be irrational and demanding.” No one purposely fosters unreasonable expectations. And yet many parents reach an unpleasant day when they look at their child and realize that somehow, they have.”

Philip Taylor at PT Money Personal Finance presents Improve Your Finances, saying “Days 1through 6 in a month-long series on improving your finances. Each post contains short action items to equip readers to make strides toward financial improvements.”

Real Estate

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents To Do This Year: Buy Renters Insurance , saying “With buying a home so risky many are turning to renting. But what many are forgetting is that they should buy renters insurance as well! See some reasons why.”

Forest Parks at Frugal Zeitgeist presents Canada Mortgage Rates Forecast 2012, saying “Fixed mortgage rates are at an all time low in the United States, and the 2012 forecast for Canada seems just as promising. As I mentioned in an article last week, fixed mortgage rates hit a record low at 3.94% in America. This all-time low is also There are many factors that affect both fixed and variable mortgage rates, and many experts are able to project what the year 2012 has in store for home buyers.”

Retirement

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Imagining Your Retirement, saying “The first step to achieving your retirement is to figure out what you want in retirement. If you fail to start thinking of your retirement plan now (regardless of how old you are), I think you will fail to achieve your goals.”

Taxes

Janet at Credit, Eh presents CRA Warns of Fraudulent Communications, saying “The CRA recently released information that scammers are trying to trick you this tax season by using the agency’s name.”

Amanda at Frugal Living presents 5 Overlooked Tax Deductions for Freelancers, saying “Being a freelancer doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg come tax time. Make sure to claim some of these often overlooked deductions – remember that every dollar counts, especially when you’re self employed!”

Other

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents Did 2011 Suck? Let’s Kill it in 2012, saying “The plan for having an amazing year.”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents the problem with chasing bank rates, saying “pend time wisely, there’s very little to gain from chasing interest rates. When you invest in yourself you just can’t go wrong. Save time from switching banks and spend on something more useful for your time.”

Martin at Studenomics presents 24 Random Life Lessons Learned in 24 Years, saying “My life lessons that I share with you all.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents What Is Air Miles Cash?, saying “Air Miles Cash is a new program feature that lets you redeem reward miles instantly at checkout towards everyday purchases at places like the grocery store, gas station and pharmacy through a new Air Miles Cash balance.”

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents 2012 Foolproof New Years Resolutions (Part 2), saying “Understand a superior plan for success. Forget New Years Resolutions and get tips for accomplising your dreams in 2012.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents New Years Resolutions: An Alternative, saying “Forget New Year’s resolutions. We never follow through anyway. This year, we’re doing the Mighty Mantra Mumbles. Let me explain the MMM’s.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #70 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 8, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #69

Tom Drake — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder to submitters that the post topics for the Canadian Finance Carnival need to be applicable to Canadian readers. I had to delete five submissions ranging from Lending Club to Roth IRAs. But also keep in mind that you can submit older posts, as long as they are still relevant. So even if every post you wrote last week was strictly US focused, you can always submit something from back in your archives that you’d like to see get some more attention and links!

Budgeting

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Mint.com Review – Manage Your Money Online Free , 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.”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Are You a Last Minute Shopper?, saying “How do you shop?”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents The Wow Factor: Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck, saying “Learn to rank your choices on your own personal Wow Factor scale, and you will find that your satisfaction with your budgeting and spending choices will increase substantially.”

Squirrelers at Squirrelers presents What Do You Think of Gift Cards as Holiday or Birthday Gifts?, saying “When buying and receiving holiday gifts, what are you thoughts on gift cards? This post explores that topic.”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Where did our money go?, saying “One newlywed couple reviews their annual budget to answer the question: Where did our money go?”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents The Problem With Money Ratios, saying “I really enjoyed the book. However, the book is geared more toward people in their 40s and beyond.”

Mr. Money at Smart on Money presents From Billionaire to Broke: One Wealthy Heiress and Her Slide Into Bankruptcy, saying “While it’s fun to read the stories that had a good ending, unfortunately there are far too many examples of people who have squandered their fortunes as well. Today I wanted to look at one such story, that of Billionaire Heiress Patricia Kluge.”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents 9 Tips to Get Control of Your Finances, saying “Many people are so intimidated by setting up a budget that they never do it. Setting up a budget is really an easy process. It can be done in nine easy steps.”

Business

Eddie at Finance Fox presents 7 Things About Reality That Business Education Never Taught Me!, saying “Despite my educational background and a passion for business, reality is different. And as much as I’ve learned in school, I have equally as much learned on my own.Here are 7 things that I never learned in school which I learned on my own.”

Career

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents How to Live Well When Your Passion Doesn’t Pay Well; (part 2), saying “Actionable tips for living well if you work in a low paying field. Part inspiration, part motivation, and part action tips. Must read for the underpaid and those interested in squeezing more living out of limited resources.”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Woman’s Work, saying “Is the concept of woman’s work or man’s work still around? If not, then why are there not more woman CEO’s? Why do all father’s not get paternity leave? Why do men not aspire to administrative assistant jobs? Why do more women still bear primary responsibility for child rearing and housekeeping? Interested? Read more!”

Debt and Credit

Martin at Studenomics presents How Can You Kill That Annoying Credit Card Debt?, saying “2,000 words on how you can kill credit card debt.”

Evan at My Journey to Millions presents Our Credit Card Spending November to December, saying “I am sharing exactly how much we spent on our credit card in November and December. I was completely shocked when I read these numbers (like sick to stomach sick), but after reading through them a bit I think I figured out what was going on.”

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents How to Get Out of Student Loan Debt, saying “There is no clear path to becoming debt free instantly; it is a mental shift. I am a lot more conscious of my decisions and being aware of my financial situation has allowed me a clarity that I value.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents What Is the Difference Between Good Debt and Bad Debt?, saying “Most people assume that any type of debt is bad and that the ultimate goal should be to have no debt at all. However, not all debt is bad. As a matter of fact, there are many types of debt that are excellent for your credit and financial well-being. “

Janet at Credit, Eh presents 5 Credit Card Resolutions for the New Year, saying “While it might take time to work through some of your credit card issues, you can still resolve to make improvements and set money goals that will work for you. As you get ready for a brand new year, here are 5 credit card resolutions to consider.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Stay on Top of Credit Card Payments – How to Make Sure You Pay Your Credit Card on Time , saying “How to stay on top of credit card payments? You’re well-meaning but you just can’t get your credit card bills paid on time. See some great techniques to pay your credit card on time.”

Extra Income

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Should I Open an eBay Store?, saying “Ebay stores have been a popular way to sell goods for quite awhile. I remember when the auction-style listings were hot, and stores were more of an afterthought. In today’s small business economy, however, many types of mom-owned businesses are successfully using Ebay’s store features to easily list and sell all kinds of products. I have done both the store and auction format, and here is what I have found.”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents The Simple Rules For Success, saying “The simple rules for succeeding.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Joining the 30k Challenge, saying “Initially, I thought it might be impossible for me to make it to $30,000 in one year, but I created a spreadsheet as part of my initial 30K post for their site and think it might actually be doable now.”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Does Income Affect My Peeps?, saying “Evan from My Journey to Millions brought up an interesting question on my Christmas Spending post – “Curious, considering you put for the world to see your recent income increases did anyone expect a bigger gift?” It’s a good question and here’s what ran through my mind…”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Is a Penny Saved a Penny Earned?, saying “As you can see, earning money is far more exciting than saving money – and as an added bonus there is a limit to how much you can save – but the amount you can earn – is limitless.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Review of SEO Profiler, saying “Perhaps you’ve wished that your SEO was a bit tighter. Maybe you’ve even considered paying a “professional” to help you fine-tune your rankings. Before you invest a lot of money in controversial methods of getting more Google Juice, might I suggest a DIY solution?”

Frugality

Steven Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Which Celebrity gave the most to charity in 2011?, saying “I read an article this morning that was very interesting that showed the top reported celebrity donations in 2011. It included celebs like Jerry Seinfeld, and Hugh Hefner. This information is all public information so that is how this is based. I am sure some donors give anonymously without receiving publicity. “

Steven Zussino at Grocery Alerts Canada presents 10 Essentials for your Italian Frugal Kitchen Pantry, saying “There are some foods that last longer than others and some of these foods that last a while can be expensive so it is a good a idea to stock up while they are on sale and purchase them with a coupon during the sale. I chose these items for a frugal pantry because buying them in small amounts may add up and cost more than a larger purchase in bulk.”

Lina Zussino at Baby Alerts Canada presents 5 reasons to use cloth diapers, saying “Deciding on which type of diaper to use for your new baby can be a tough decision to make especially as moms we tend to be so busy. However there are many advantages of using cloth diapers.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Is This Morally Wrong?, saying “After feeling a little ripped off on the original purchase, this is what I did to get my money back with very little hassle.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Tips for Saving Money on Heating Bills, saying “With just a few changes there are many ways that you can reduce your fuel bills significantly. Here are a few tips to help get you started:”

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents Ways to save money online, saying “Online shopping is on the rise, and this year was no exception. The flexibility and convenience is alone is the worth it, but shopping from home allows for bargain hunting. Here are some ways to save money online shopping. “

Investing

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Why You Should Own Apple Stocks, saying “Where’s your money at?”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents Is Investing in Gold a Good Investment or a Store of Value?, saying “THE question that should be asked before investing in gold is: Is gold a good investment or a store of value? A discussion of the difference beween an investment and a store of value is necessary for investors to decide if investing in gold is right for them.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Don’t Chase Mutual Fund Winners, saying “I believe buying mutual funds based on the last year’s performance can be a mistake. Top performers are often risky funds that have limited diversity. Instead, well-researched funds that have a high level of diversity are better additions to the portfolio. Though the gains are often smaller in percentage, the risk of large losses is dramatically reduced.”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents The Smith Manoeuvre – Make Your Mortgage Tax Deductible, saying “Many of the personal finance sites I visit like to share their own financial situation in with their readers. I believe I finally have something that might stir some thought one way or another – The Smith Manoeuvre.”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents Sending a Little Extra to Retirement, saying “My husband and I found ourselves in the fortunate position to get rid of our $70 a month cell phone bill. To me, the financial nerd, the most exciting part of that is the fact that we can actually get rid of a bill. You don’t get that chance very often.”

Mike Collins at Saving Money Today presents Dividend Aristocrats List 2012, saying “The S&P Dividend Aristocrats list grew a bit larger in 2012 as ten new stocks joined the list and one was dropped for not increasing their dividend.”

Shailesh Kumar at Value Stock Guide presents Buy Stocks – Stay Focused – Investment Advice for 2012, saying “2011 tested patience of many investors with plenty of economic shocks keeping the stock market volatile. As 2012 rolls in, it is important for investors to focus on the basic principles of investing.”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents RDSP: Registered Disablity Savings Plan, saying “A Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is a tax-deferred savings vehicle that provides long-term financial security for people living with a disability.”

Lifestyle

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents Live to work or work to live, saying “A look at Gen Y and the different schools of thought when it comes to work life balance.”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Under Beaker’s Microscope: Why I Let My Wife Shop, saying “I am a believer that everything is shared in a marriage. We share the ups and downs, the good times and the bad. We are a team that strives to improve our lives for the better, and we do this together.”

Don at Money Reasons presents Will Buying A Laptop For Christmas Make My Son A Digerati?, saying “Supplying your kids with the latest technology may make then superior technology users. Will they become Digerati?”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents Rich Dad, Poor Dad Review – Revisited Ten Years Later, saying “While I still recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad, especially for starting entrepreneurs, the book has some flaws. Take some of what Robert Kiyosaki says with a grain of salt. It should be read, if not for the motivation, just to get you to think differently than a salaried employee. I don’t love it, or hate and hence the reason why I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. In my opinion, many topics he discusses hold the test of time.”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Subsidized Assisted Living Explained, saying “If you have a loved one who needs some assistance but is capable of living on his or her own, assisted living might be the answer. Assisted living communities provide housing for senior citizens, as well as certain services that they may need.”

Emily at PT Money Personal Finance presents Teaching Money to Children and Teenagers Through the Ages, saying “Discusses ways to teach your child to be money savvy at any age.”

Real Estate

Martin at Passive Income Now presents What’s The Point of a Landlord Credit Check?, saying “Why should you do a credit check as a landlord?”

John at Passive Family Income presents How to Save on Your Homeowners Insurance Escrow Payment, saying “When my wife and I became first-time homeowners over 10 years ago, we thought having a mortgage escrow account was perfect for us. Now that we are in our new home and recently refinanced, our thought process has changed. Instead of letting our lender earn interest off of our money, we want to make our money to work for us instead.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents Here’s What Happens When You Rent to College Kids, saying “Renting to college students is no walk in the park as evidenced by our recent experience as landlords.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents A Guide to Common Seller Concessions: Because a Home Buyer Might Ask You to Throw In a Ferrari, saying “Odd, but some homebuyers have asked for Ferrari’s as a seller concession. Knowing what the common seller concessions are will help you be a better home seller.”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents 8 Hidden Costs of Home Ownership, saying “Owning a home has always been a part of the American dream. It’s something that we fantasize about when we’re young, something we scrimp and save for, and quite frankly, something we end up paying for, for the rest of our lives. Check out these eight hidden cost associated with the dream!”

Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer presents Home Ownership Isn’t a Money Losing Proposition, saying “After owning seven homes over the past three decade, my experience has shown it does make financial sense. Of course, you should follow some common sense guidelines.”

Retirement

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

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents Retirement Planning Software, saying “There are lots of free retirement calculators available on the web. These can be interesting but when you are planning for your retirement they are of limited use. They often give ballpark figures and point you to their company’s financial advisers. Retirement planning software gives you the ability to make a more comprehensive plan. Check out these!”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Retiring Abroad – A Few Things to Ponder, saying “Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money. ~Jonathan Clement… Stretch you dollar farther by considering retirement abroad!”

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents My Early Retirement Plan in Detail, saying “I share my early retirement plan in detail, including target dates and monthly target income amounts. Find out how I am going to do it.”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Saving Money to Retire: Yesterday’s Dream, Reality Today, saying “There are many pluses to considering a move outside the United States. If your retirement savings will support it, and you are able to uproot your lifestyle to head south – or north – of the border, here’s an overview of the top three beautiful and affordable paradises that could make for a comfortable and exotic lifestyle after you retire.”

Other

Money Cone at Money Cone presents A Review of Forbes Magazine (and Some Link Love!), saying “I received my third free issue of Forbes and thought I’ll do a write up on it. People do book reviews, this is a magazine review!”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents A Bit of Christmas Magic, saying “When my wife got to the giant store that had our new car seats on sale, she discovered that she had neglected to put the tailgate back up on the truck when she unpacked. This was the box that held most of our budgeting overspend, all of our Christmas presents. Gone.”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Why I Love (and Hate) Gift Cards, saying “Have you ever had that someone (or many someones) that is impossible to shop for? If so, then Gift Cards seem like the golden answer, except when they aren’t!!!”

Julie at The Family CEO presents Last Minute Gift Idea: Charitable Donations, saying “Stuck for a last minute gift idea? How about a charitable donation? Here are three things to consider when giving a charitable donation as a gift.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents Have You Been Scammed or Ripped Off? How to Get Help and Get The Problem Resolved., saying “Have You Been Scammed or Ripped Off? How to Get Help and Get The Problem Resolved.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents Where Should I Sell My Gift Card?, saying “Check out our comparison chart of the leading gift card buyback companies. Find out who will pay you the highest amount for your gift card.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents New Air Miles Expiry Policy, saying “The new Air Miles expiry policy begins on December 31st, 2011. All Air Miles reward miles in your account will have a date stamp of 5 years. read more » “

Mike at Experiglot presents What Is the Most Productive Type of Reading?, saying “How do you read?”

Canadian Finance Carnival #69 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 1, 2012.

Canadian Finance Carnival #68

Tom Drake — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Business

Money Cone at Money Cone presents Political Contributions of Banks and Credit Unions, saying “Banks, and credit unions to a certain extent, spend a massive amount of money lobbying. Yes that’s your money, that these organizations use for lobbying. Here are some very curious statistics I gathered!”

Miranda Marquit at Planting Money Seeds presents Tax Deduction: Home Office, saying “If you own a home business, one of the deductions you are eligible for is the home office tax deduction. The IRS terms this business use of your home.”

Career

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

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Get Your Accomplishments Noticed, 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 you Get Your Accomplishment Noticed”

Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer presents Have You Ever Seen an Ugly CEO, saying “I have been actively working in a few different corporate headquarters over the past 3 years, and there is one thing that I have recently noticed: ugly people don’t often get promoted.”

Philip at PT Money Personal Finance presents How to Make $10,000 a Month from Online Advertising Management and Blogging: Crystal Stemberger’s Success Story, saying “An interview with Crystal Stemberger reveals how she turned something that was her hobby into a $10,000/month career.”

Debt and Credit

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

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents Choice Rewards Program: How It Works, saying “Choice Rewards is a pretty neat loyalty program for credit unions, and the points actually go pretty far.”

Extra Income

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Follow Up on Bloggers Making $1000 per Month, 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.”

Frugality

Julie at The Family CEO presents Pets: The Gift That Keeps on Eating, 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, but let’s take a look at the other side of the fence: ownership costs!”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Bah Humbug! Presents Make No Economic Cents, saying “Christmas has turned into a holiday of commerce, and we don’t agree with it.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Skip the Gym: Sweat at Home Part 5, saying “Just like saving money and investing in our financial future, we need to put that same effort into investing in our health. Eating well and being active are the keys to a long healthy life. So without further adieu, get your comfy clothes and you sneakers on and get ready to sweat.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents How to Save Money on Internet Service, 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.”

John at Passive Family Income presents Healthy Food That Is Cheap: Kale, saying “One healthy food that is cheap that my wife and I recently discovered is kale. We have added this low cost (and healthy) vegetable to our weekly meal planning. Not only is it very good for you, but it is darn right cheap compared to other food options.”

Investing

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgirm presents Your 8-Step Small Business Continuity Plan, saying “Small business owners tend not to think about continuation, but that’s often a mistake. If your business generates any profit, it’s worth something. Sometimes it’s worth a great deal. It makes perfect sense to spend a little time to protect your enterprise with a small business continuity plan. A side benefit is that the same ingredients of this plan will help you make your business more successful.”

Doctor Stock at Invest in the Markets presents Applying Risk Management to Investing in the Stock Market, saying “Risk Management is a crucial component to successful investing. This article explore practical and specific ways investors can develop and apply risk management techniques in order to preserve capital, minimize risk, and maximize returns.”

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

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents How To Reduce Mutual Fund Fees And Expenses, saying “This post reviews a very helpful personal investing book titled Low Cost Mutual Funds and ETFs. This book focuses on the most important problem facing many investors today: investing costs that are excessive and unwarranted.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents 2012 Dividend Aristocrats, saying “The 2012 S &P 500 Dividend Aristocrats list is 51 companies that have increased dividends (not just remained the same) for 25 years straight. For 2012 a total of 10 companies were added from the list, and only one was removed.”

Mike Collins at Saving Money Today presents The Power of Compund Interest, saying “Albert Einstein once said that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Learn how to use it to boost your savings and investments.”

Lifestyle

Kanwal Sarai at Simply Investing presents What Are Dividends? Why Should You Care?, saying “Dividend investing is a great way to give yourself a consistent stream of positive cash flow as an investor, and is a very useful way to screen out stocks that are too risky. They hold up very well during recessionary periods (like the present one) because their dividend payouts are so attractive to investors that need immediate money from their investments, and the capital gains they experience during a bull market provide a nice overall return for patient investors as well.”

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

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents Is Your Stuff Owning You? How to Break Free, 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.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Turn Around Your 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.”

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

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents How to Use a Gap Year to Make Some Extra Cash, saying “An increasing number of upcoming college students are using their gap year to work and earn money. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to keep the job they had during high school. There are lots of ways that they can make money and gain valuable life and/or job experience. Here are some ways to accomplish that.”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents Is There Such a Thing as Giving Too Much? Finding Balance in Giving and Saving, saying “The questions I have for you today though are: is there such a thing as giving too much? And, can giving be a detriment to your life?”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents My Husband Hired a Personal Trainer, saying “What this boils down to though is that my husband is now paying about $150 a month for a personal trainer. So far he loves it though.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents 5 Purchases to Wait on This Holiday Season, 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!”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents 10 Christian Personal Finance Blogs that Rock!, saying “There are many personal finance blogs out on the web, but which blogs are worth your time if you’re a Christian? No need to go out and research because I have hand picked ten top notch Bible based personal finance blogs. Each of these blogs have epic content that you won’t want to miss.”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents Support Is Important When Trying to Make a Change, saying “Having supportive people in your life is critical to making lasting changes.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents 5 Tips for Keeping Your Pets and Your Budget, 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:”

Kelsey at Money Mum presents Can’t Make Ends Meet? Time to Get Creative, 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.”

Miranda at Personal Dividends presents Reducing Financial Stress in Your Life, saying “Reducing financial stress in your life won’t happen overnight. However, there are some things you can do to take steps to make money less stressful in the future.”

Real Estate

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

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Save Money with HARP-Refinance on an Investment Property with PMI , saying “Having lived in Chumpsville long enough, I decided to call up my lender and see what they could do for me. I came to them as almost a perfect example of who shouldn’t get their interest lowered. I had three things going against me:”

Retirement

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

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

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents How Much Do You Need to Retire?, saying “Today I welcome special guest Pam Otten, financial adviser and host of the “Intelligent Investing with Pamela Otten” radio show. Together we discuss how to determine the right nest egg size for your retirement.”

Saving

Mike at Stupid Cents presents Money Saving New Year’s Resolutions, saying “Here are a few money saving New Year’s resolutions. The new year is a fresh slate where you can eliminate your bad habits and start forming good ones.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Tips to Stop Spending and Start Saving, saying “It can be difficult to curb your spending habits in favor of saving money. The first thing to realize is that your current spending habits have been established for some time and it will take some changes in your lifestyle to get you back on track. Changing your ways is very possible and before you know it you will be planning for tomorrow, today.”

Jim Yih at Retire Happy Blog presents How would you like to learn from a Millionaire Teacher?, saying “Andrew Hallam is a self-made millionaire. In this well written book, The Millionaire Teacher, Hallam shares his 9 rules to become a millionaire.”

Taxes

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Donating Land for Significant Tax Breaks, 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.”

Other

Hank at Money Q&A presents One Time Is Too Many With Identity Theft, 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.”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Christmas Gift Guide For Your New Relationship, 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 at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Rich and single or Poor and In Love?, saying “Do finances affect the way you look at potential mates? Should financed play such an important role in marriage and relationships?”

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

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

Canadian Finance Carnival #68 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on December 26, 2011.