Finances & Money

Best Finance Articles from Carnival of Personal Finance #118

Money, Matter & More Musings (aka MMM) has put together a giant Carnival of Personal Finance this week, with 88 articles from over 100 entries. MMM also added snippets of fun money facts between each section to help liven the mood.

My own article “Talking Money with My Teenage Cousins” made it into the Money Management section. Here are a few of my own favorites from the carnival:

• I liked most of MMM’s editor’s choices as well. First is One Million and Beyond’s article about accepting financial responsibility. I actually just left a response on Mapgirl’s article about biting off more than you can chew espousing the same ideas. Ultimately, you, the buyer, are directly responsible for every single one of your purchases! If you don’t know something, ask until you understand it. Don’t just trust “the expert”.
• Next, I enjoyed My Two Dollars commentary on which Jones family are we keeping up with, and then Advanced Personal Finance’s response in “Climbing the Consumption Ladder Together“. Both points of view have merit, but as I just said, you’re responsible for all your purchases. Don’t try to blame advertisers for your weaknesses.
• Cash Money Life gives 10 reasons credit cards are good. The debt you incur is bad though, but not if you pay it off each month, and as long as you’re not buying just to get a reward.
• As a followup, check out Blueprint for Financial Prosperity’s 7 unwritten and often forgotten credit card secrets.
• I always enjoy looking at things backwards, which is what Rather Be Shopping did in “Tips on how to ruin your finances“.
• Grad Money Matters has a huge A-Z list of online money management software. Sorry, haven’t tried any of these myself, but I like big lists.
• And lastly, SAHmy Says to purge that paper with some tips to clear out your financial filing cabinets.

Wow, that was alot to get through!