Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance! I’m proud to kick off the new year with the roundup of fantastic personal finance posts, many of which discuss the year ahead.
2011 was a fantastic year for me, highlighted by my engagement and cross country move to California to start my new life.
I hope we can all learn from our positive and negative experiences of 2011 and apply them to 2012 to make it our best year yet!
Good luck to everyone and have a prosperous year!
Editor’s Picks:
Sustainable PF from Sustainable Personal Finance presents 5 Tips to Help You Grow Your Business, and says, “You need to set things in motion that allow your business to grow, and to thrive. Here are 5 tips that can help you grow your business.”
Darwin from Darwin’s Money presents 2012 Social Security Tax Deal Explained, and says, “Here are the juicy details behind the latest Payroll Tax holiday on Social Security taxes for the beginning of 2012.”
Dan Meyers from Your Life, Their Life presents The Timeline of an Entrepreneur, and says, “Do you feel like you’re working in circles as an entrepreneur? If so, then you can relate to this timeline!”
Squeezer from Personal Finance Success presents The Truth About Extreme Couponing, and says, “Most frugal individuals have seen the TLC show Extreme Couponing; however, a lot of mis-information exists on the subject of extreme couponing. Most individuals seem to think that you can buy a few editions of a Sunday newspaper and have a sufficient stack of coupons to save hundreds of dollars. This idea is false, and I will explain it and provide more truths about extreme couponing.”
Miranada @ Financial Highway from Financial Highway presents 50 Home Business Ideas, and says, “Many of us want to earn extra money from home. And, indeed, starting a home business can be a good way to cultivate additional income, and help you reach other financial goals that you might have. From creative business ideas, to the more mundane, here are 50 home business ideas.”
Money Management
John from Passive Family Income presents 4 Ways to Make Money with Things You’re Already Doing, and says, “But what if there was a way to bring in some extra money without any additional effort on your part? What if you could earn money just by doing the things you’re already doing? The good news is that you can and here’s how.”
Bryan at Pinch that Penny! from Pinch that Penny! presents An Analysis of a 2 Broke Girls Episode, and says, “This post analyzes certain money decisions in a recent episode of the tv show 2 Broke Girls.”
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Throw a Green Party, and says, “Entertaining doesn’t have to be damaging to the environment, nor do you have to limit the fun to throw a green party. Being aware and choosing to make better environmental choices are good ways to start turning things around for our planet. So check out these great tips on how to throw a green party and do your bit for the environment.”
Bob from Christian Personal Finance presents What’s your new years financial resolution?, and says, “A new year is right around the bend. You’re probably already dreaming up a few new year’s resolutions for 2012. Don’t forget some financial resolutions as well! Here are some financial steps you can take in 2012 to get started on the right foot.”
Lisa from Thriftability presents Money Sense: Online Banking, and says, “Online banks offer a great way to save money. However, that doesn’t fully encompass its advantages – in other words, online banks aren’t just a way to conveniently store your money… they offer respectable products. From checking and savings, to IRA’s, great credit card rates, and home loans, online banks can get the job done!”
Crystal from Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents Our Christmas Spending for 2011, and says, “We didn’t go absolutely nuts this year, but we did end up spending more than normal. It helps that we made very good friends over 2010-2011 that we didn’t have before, so our Christmas gift list nearly doubled.”
Kate Kashman from The Paycheck Chronicles presents Setting SMART Goals for 2012, and says, “Goals are great, if you know how to make them work. Using the SMART acronym will help you create truly useful goals.”
Matt Bell from Matt About Money presents To Go Big in 2012, Think Small, and says, “With the start of a new year, lots of people make a list of goals they’d like to accomplish. But success goes not to those with the biggest list; it goes to those with the smallest list of high-impact goals. ”
Finance and Economy
Echo from Boomer & Echo presents Will You Be Better Off Financially Next Year?, and says, “What are some of your financial priorities for 2012? Do you think that you’ll be better off financially next year?”
Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents Yet another “levels of personal finance”, and says, “We present the terrified-of-debt-ultra-responsible-perhaps-too-thrifty-by-US-standards levels of personal finance.”
Revanche from A Gai Shan Life presents In search of a common language: poverty and the great silence.
Crystal Groves from The Money Drain presents Money Tip: Christmas is Over, Here’s What You Do Now.
Credit and Debt
Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents Stay on Top of Credit Card Payments – How to Make Sure You Pay Your Credit Card on Time, and says, “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.”
Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents Home Mortgage Leverage SUCKS!, and says, “An article was circulated last week where the author lamented losing the leverage benefit of having a home mortgage. Here’s a counter-perspective: counter-perspective: home mortgage leverage sucks!”
Ashley from Money Talks Coaching presents Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Review, and says, “The Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class cost me just under $100 and I would say it is worth that smallish investment, especially if you are just getting started in getting control of your money. You will learn skills that will more than pay you back for the $100.”
Chris Holdheide from Stumble Forward presents 5 Ways Prepaid Debit Cards Beat Credit Cards, and says, “Learn how debit cards really are the better alternative to having a credit card.”
Saving
Squirrelers from Squirrelers presents 10 Winter Savings Tips, and says, “With winter upon us, it’s good to keep in mind ways to save money during this season of colder weather.”
Philip from PT Money Personal Finance presents Health Savings Account: Use It or Lose It, and says, “Discusses what an HSA is and ways to maximize its use for your family.”
Investing
Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Tech Dividends on the Rise, and says, “Some companies such as International Business Machines (IBM), Intel (INTC) and Microsoft (MSFT) have been able to generate rising earnings per share over the past decade. This has enabled them to initiate a dividend, and also to increase it over time.”
D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents Bonds Look Morbid When Compared To These Dividend Stocks, and says, “Even hibernating bears know that bonds have essentially been dead money over the last year, or so. Interest rates are ridiculously low and not likely to improve any time soon given the anemic U.S. economy and European financial concerns. What’s done is done, so what should we expect to earn from bonds in the future? Consider these two scenarios.”
IS from Intelligent Speculator presents Do You Trust Your Government?, and says, “Do you trust your government’s role in investing?”
The DIV-Net from The Dividend Investing and Value Network presents Start Off Your New Year Right, and says, “The best way to start building a dividend growth portfolio is to start with a little capital. I personally started with about $7,000 when I initially started building my Freedom Fund.”
Div Guy from Dividend Guy Blog presents My Investor Xmas Wish List, and says, “What I want to see in the investing world.”
Sean Smarty from Grow Money presents Invest In Spreads Rather Than Stocks.
Career
Control Your Cash from Control Your Cash presents If we’re doing too many posts about whiny babies, please let us know, and says, “Pulitzer laureate Richard Russo spent 12 years in college and somehow never learned a thing about economics. Earlier this month, he bitched in the New York Times about how Amazon itself is now encouraging its customers to do what we figured out (and anyone else could) all by ourselves.”
Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents The Best Way to Start Your Own Business After College, and says, “The steps to making money after college.”
Martin from Passive Income Now presents How to Make Money as a Blogger, and says, “The easy steps for making money with a blog in 2012.”
Taxes
Peter from Bible Money Matters presents What Are the Rules for Inheriting a Roth IRA?, and says, “What are the rules if you inherit a Roth IRA? It’s important to know, because an inherited Roth IRA can trigger: Estate Taxes, and/or Income Taxes.”
Other
Colin Williams from humble savers presents Five Ways To Save Money – New Year Resolutions For Your Financial Future, and says, “Many people will have New Year financial resolutions. There easy to make, hard to keep. A quick guide to have financial goals that can be managed and achieved.”
Money Walks from Money Walks presents Three Tips to help you Save on Car Insurance, and says, “Money Walks shares three tips for cutting the cost of your car insurance premiums.”
FMF from Free Money Finance presents Five Retirement Surprises, and says, “Here are 5 surprises I have found in retirement and some suggestions for you on each.”
Teacher Man from My University Money presents My Goals For 2012, and says, “With everyone doing “End of the Year” posts I thought I would join the party with my own modest contribution. Within my job in education, we are all about setting SMART goals:”
vh from Funny about Money presents Seven Must-Have Web Tools, and says, “Money management, time management, frugal travel, bargain hunting, and even security can all be found in the cloud now!”
Money Thinker from Money Thinking presents 4 Financial Resolutions for the New Year, and says, “Money Thinker shares a few New Year’s Resolutions that she’s made considering her finances and encourages readers to do the same.”
Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Did 2011 Suck? Let’s Kill it in 2012, and says, “Are you ready for 2012?”
Martin from Studenomics presents 24 Random Life Lessons Learned in 24 Years, and says, “Life lessons picked up in the last 24 years.”
Dannielle from Odd Cents presents How To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft.
Be sure to
