Finances & Money

Best Personal Finance articles from Carnival of Personal Finance #110

George from Fat Pitch Financials posted this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance #110. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person earlier this year during the first DC PF Bloggers happy hour, and learned how much he loved talking about investing and finances. I also learned how little I know about investing.

George was kind enough to post my submission “Is Adoption for You? Costs, Choices and Decisions“. And, drumroll please, here are some of my favorites from the Carnival:

• Ok, if you know me, you would have won a bet that I liked Saving Advice’s post about how dumping TV allowed for quitting a job, starting an online business and funding a retirement account. Personally, I’ve really considered just dropping cable entirely and getting an antenna. Maybe you can multi-task while watching TV, but I can’t and it kills my productivity!
• Happy Rock analyzes the true time and financial costs of watching TV.
• My Two Dollars asks Do you own your stuff, or does your stuff own you?. I hate clutter, but there’s only so much I can get rid of without the wife yelling at me. Honestly, if you haven’t used something for 3 years, then seriously consider dumping/donating/selling it. At 5 years, just get rid of it. Otherwise, you would have used it by now.
• Although we don’t have our own little one yet, Baby on a Budget’s article about cloth diapers really intrigued me. I never considered the potential health risks of disposable diapers, just the environmental impacts. I’m still not keen on tossing poopy stuff into the washer, but if it’s best for baby, it’s best for all of us.
• Hazzard at Everybody Loves Your Money wrote a good example for avoiding cosigning for loans. I had considered helping some of my family members with loans, but then realized 1) managing their money is how people learn responsibility and 2) cosigning a loan is an almost sure-fire way to ruining a relationship.