Finances & Money

Best of the Best: Carnival of Personal Finance Review

The Carnival of Personal Finance is 2 years old today, and JD from Get Rich Slowly has hosted 82 “Best Of” articles in this edition. Yours truly submitted Frugal Lunch as CleverDude.com’s best article, but as you know, it wasn’t even my own article… It was my wife’s! I had also considered my article on “How I get free laptops and plasma TVs“, but I felt health and frugality was more important than beating a system. You can see other “Best of Clever Dude” articles on the right sidebar.

Out of the 81 other articles included in this edition, here are my Top 5 picks (in no particular order):

1. I’ve highlighted this article by The Happy Rock in the past, but I want to bring it to your attention again in case you missed it. Happy Rock writes about “what getting out of debt ‘buys’ you“. You may notice over on the right that as of the writing of this post, we have about $60,000 in non-home debt, but had up to $112,000 in debt in the last 6 years (cars, student loans, credit cards). The weight of debt can be crushing, so Happy Rock’s article can give you something to which to look forward.
2. If you know me, you know I hate clutter and junk. If I could, I would dump everything I own and sleep on the floor, but of course I can’t do that. Accumulating Money wrote a short, but great post about “doing things rather than owning things“. I look around our home and see so much stuff that either cost us or loved ones money to put here. There’s just so much STUFF, and I feel like it’s following me around. People, just stop buying stuff!
3. Nina at Queercents wrote about ensuring you and your mate are financially compatible before committing. Stacie and I discussed finances before we got engaged, and we got through all the arguments before we were committed in marriage. Queercents is a site by, but not just for, alternative lifestyle couples, and I think the challenges in long-term gay and lesbian relationships can help illustrate how to manage financial disagreements without the legal commitment that binds married couples. The article actually provides a great starting point for discussing finances with your prospective soulmate.
4. David at Money Under 30 worked as a new car salesman and dishes out a few great tips for buying a new car. Although I think we should go for a used car next, I’m still attracted like a magnet to new car showrooms, so new is still an option, if it’s a good deal.
5. Storied Money gives 4 tips, that we actually practice already, for saving money with little effort. I like frugality, and I also like being lazy. Get the most results with the least effort!

And here are a few Honorable Mentions:

• Five Cent Nickel gives 10 ways to cover your “ass(ets)”. For someone who writes about personal finance, and has 4 kids’ futures to consider, I’d listen.
• Free Money Finance gives 10 of the best money moves you can make. Also, each item has links to more resources.
• Not Made of Money gives a good personal walk-through of how they sold their home on their own.
• Journey 2 Retirement did a detailed analysis of the commuting times of various distances at various speeds, and assessed the risk-return of speeding.