Finances & Money

Carnival of Personal Finance #88 – Quick Picks

My submission is near the bottom of yet another Carnival of Personal Finance (at Stock Market Beat), but I won’t hold that against anyone. At least it’s included. You can check out my entry about Saving Energy and Money by Insulating Your Crawl Space and these other interesting highlights:

• William Trent (in a guest post on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) puts it bluntly that as long as you are too busy to spend money, then you won’t spend money. If you try too hard to save money, you could miss out on other things in life.
• Frugal Law Student makes me wonder if I’m a Spendthrift or a Tightwad (my wife will answer that one for me)
• The Coin Jar talks about a woman who sold a painting hoping to pay for some of her daughter’s college expenses. Turns out it was worth $650,000+. I’ve been thinking of selling some treasured things to get further out of debt, but it’s hard to get rid of stuff!
• The Stubborn Capitalist explains 9 Fallacies of the Poor. My family can be considered poor (or lower middle class maybe), and I’m lazy, but I am still doing something with my life. If you’re poor, get off your butt and do something about it! (legally)
• The King and Queen of Debt (now so popular because of NY Times) talk about discussing financial roles with your spouse. With finances being the main reason for divorce, it’s the number one priority to be on the same page about responsibilities and roles.
• Stranger in a Strange Land discusses dying before you get to retire. Hey, it’s very likely, but does that mean we should spend like there’s no tomorrow or just have a very good will?
• My Financial Journey has a long, but good story/article on renting vs buying a home. They take a story out of their own lives and detail the true costs of ownership and the benefits of renting. We’re going through a serious decision in our lives right now that may impact for the next few years, but stay tuned for that (might be a few months away or never…)
• Making Our Way has an excellent list of “Who is the 30s and 40s Personal Finance Audience“. I really fit the stereotypes except for the kids.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter shows us how to buy food at wholesale prices at a retail grocery store. Never thought of that, but I’m able to get my food at Sam’s Club while his family needs some specialty foods not available elsewhere (you’ll read why).

And those are my highlights. Enjoy!