Welcome to my first carnival hosting gig.  This was supposed to come out yesterday, but I was at a wedding and didn’t really have time to write up a post since I left early Friday morning. I was the best man, so I kind of needed to be there.  There are some great articles in this week’s carnival.  I have a lot of reading to do.  I will say that I had a heck of a time at the wedding.  It was awesome.  We  had good food, great drinks, and fun people all around us.  I was happy to be a part of it.  I am a little jealous that the bride and groom get to go to Hawaii for 2 weeks, but I will get over it.  All in all, this was a crazy and wild weekend.  There might be some posts about it coming up later.  You never know.

Enjoy this weeks carnival and be sure to give some love to these bloggers.

BUDGETING

Alexis @ FITnancials writes Prep Your Meals For The Week – Save Money! – By prepping your meals each week you will not only save time throughout the week making the meals, you’ll save calories as well! And you can most likely save money too.

Steve @ Grocery Alerts writes Save Money with these 9 Under-Practiced Food Hacks – Already appalled at the rising food costs that we saw in 2012? 2013 promises to bring higher receipt totals still. I can help you keep a significant portion of that in your pocket – where it belongs – with these 9 under-practiced food hacks.

Christina @ MLIQ101 writes How To Get Life Insurance Quotes Online – Written by a former life insurance agent and broker, this article highlights the pros and cons of whole, universal, and term life insurance as well as discussing the primary differences between permanent and term coverage. If you are looking for a strong overview of life insurance protection, this post can help you determine what types of policies you should be looking at.

Grayson @ Debt RoundUp writes Budget Fail: Unrealistic Expectations While Shopping – We all shop, but when we go shopping with unrealistic expectations, then we are destined to fail. I blew my budget in one fail swoop by not researching the product I wanted to buy fully before venturing out.

Sean @ One Smart Dollar writes The Rise of the 15 Year Mortgage – With interest rates at such low levels, 15 year mortgages have become increasingly popular. Are they right for you?

BUSINESS

Grand Per Month @ Grand Per Month writes 4 Ways to Market on a Shoestring Budget – If you don’t have a budget for marketing, don’t despair. Kelly Lester hasn’t spent any money on advertising, and her business has grown by leaps and bounds in three years. Yours can, too, if you take heed of some of these free marketing strategies. Rather than asking “What’s in it for me?” ask, “What can I do for others?” You may be surprised by how this mindset shift grows your business.

Mike @ The Financial Blogger writes Part5: Strategies To Make Over $200 With Your Newsletter THIS Year – Various Sources – How to increase income from your newsletter.

CAREER & EDUCATION

Robert @ My Multiple Incomes writes The Best SEO Practice: Meaty Content – Even last year we were talking about thin content being out. But now there is solid proof this is the case, and that is just the starting point. Let me give you some examples…

Crystal @ Married (with Debt) writes If You Are Struggling with Debt, Do Not Get Pets… – When in debt, avoid the pets. I should know. Our pets have cost us about $3000 in 4 years…

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Buy Cheap Wine For Your Friends But Tell Them It Was Expensive – Five Cent Nickel recently posted about wines prices and perceptions, noting a Freakonomics podcast that discussed the topic. I’ve always been a big fan of Freakonomics, and was even mentioned in their blog way back when I was a college student with an internship. The specific podcast talked about how individals rate cheap and expensive…

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes How Much Does an MBA Really Cost? – On average, you could pay more than $60,000 for a two-year MBA program. But getting your MBA from one of the most prestigious institutions in the United States could cost more than $100,000.

Kevin @ 20smoney.com writes Common Financial Mistakes made by People in their 20s and how to avoid them – Most people start earning their first regular paychecks in their early 20s. However, their financial education is still that of a teenager.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Why Freelancing Might Not Be For You – Sometimes I think about going rogue and doing stuff on my own, but not everyone can survive as a freelancer. Not everyone will.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes A Continuation of the Minimum Wage Debate – Evidence and quotations from academic economists on why raising the minimum wage is a bad idea.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Insights from Our Free Investment Portfolio Check-Up, and How to Get Yours – There is something that I have learned along the way in my frugal decadent lifestyle: if you practice frugality all of your life, then you are most likely going

Jason @ Live Real Now writes Make Extra Money Part 4: Keyword Selection – In this installment of the Make Extra Money series, I’m going to show you how I do keyword research. Properly done–unless you get lucky–this is the single most time-consuming part of making a niche site. If you aren’t targeting search terms that people use, you are wasting your time.

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes How to Prepare for Life After College – Life after college does not have to be difficult. Preparation, though, must begin as soon as yesterday.

Jon Haver @ Pay My Student Loans writes Scholarships for the Deaf – This scholarship is part of the overall Graduate Student Scholarship program. This funding opportunity is offered each year, and the 2013 competition will be opening in early spring of 2013.

Gary @ Gajizmo.com writes How To Answer Interview Questions – If you are a student graduating this summer, unemployed, or currently employed but looking to make a jump to another company or industry, preparing for an interview is a sure way of making sure you make it to the next round of the process. Here is a list of the most common interview questions you can expect as well as tips and suggestions on how to answer each.

FINANCIAL ADVICE

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes No, Your MLM Health Product Does Not “Work” – I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I create Lazymandium, a mix of garlic, tumeric, cacao, and chili powder, and sell it via MLM at a price of 30 pills for $50, it doesn’t “work.” I’m simply using known psychology to exploit you and make your wallet a little lighter.

Michelle @ Making Sense of Cents writes $823 in Extra Income and Life Updates – Our good friends (W has been good friends with the guy since first grade) are getting married this Friday and decided to plan a quick wedding so we have a lot to do this week to get ready for that and it’ll be a lot of fun!

Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes How I Made Over $1,000 By Knowing My Rights – I want to share with you two stories of how being proactive and knowing your rights could help save–and even make– you free money.

Glen Craig @ Free From Broke writes Is the YOLO (You Only Live Once) Mentality Dangerous for Your Finances? – You Only Live Once (YOLO) sounds great until you have to pay your bills later on. Don’t get fooled by the YOLO mentality.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Run Your Family Finances Like A Business – When we opened oXYGen Financial back in 2008, we introduced two very important financial planning concepts.

Andrew @ 101 Centavos writes Stupid Friends are Expensive – A moral tale on the uselessness of idiot friends, whereby a young man must make a choice between standing by his old (and stupid) high school chum, and getting on with life.

MMD @ My Money Design writes The Roth IRA Basics and What You Need to Know to Get Started Today! – If you’re trying to figure out what to do differently with your money, read on as I explain all the Roth IRA basics and how you can make the most of them.

Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes Real Estate Law Help – What To Do When You’re Facing Eviction – If you’re in the uncomfortable position of facing eviction, especially due to non payment, you can try to stay or you can decide to leave peacefully. If your financial situation has changed, and you can no longer afford the apartment, it may just be best to face reality and move to a more modest apartment you can afford. However, if you’d like to stay in your apartment, there are certain things you can do to improve your chances of being able to do so, if that’s what you would like to

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Paying Down Debt with Windfalls and Good Fortune – So far, 2013 has been a year of good fortune for me so far (knock on wood, right?) I’ve had a couple of unexpected jobs pop up that have allowed me to pay down some of the credit card debt I racked up last year and I’m really close to a salary increase of monumental proportions (I’ll have more information on that in the next 3 weeks). I’m feeling a little, dare I say, lucky.

Jon Haver @ Pay My Student Loans writes Scholarships for the Deaf – This scholarship is part of the overall Graduate Student Scholarship program. This funding opportunity is offered each year, and the 2013 competition will be opening in early spring of 2013.

Joe @ Midlife Finance writes Buying A House – Finalizing The Sale – Buying a house — if you’re interested in saving money, effort and time, that is — means careful preparation and planning.

William @ Quote Me A Price writes What You Need to Know About Structured Settlements – When a person is fortunate enough to be awarded a settlement or win a large cash prize, many think they will undoubtedly choose to get their money in a large lump sum, but this is not actually the case. Instead, most people choose to get their money through structured settlement payments.

Girl Meets Debt @ Girl Meets Debt writes Observations of a Former Bank Teller – Many people who know me in my real life are surprised to find out that I went into banking in the first place since I am horrible at math (2+2=let me see check on my Iphone calculator)

Jules Wilson @ Faithful With a Few writes Don’t Get a Divorce – Unless You Can Afford To! – Unfortunately, divorce and finances have become a part of American life. Find out what financial matters you need to consider if faced with the prospect of divorce!

FRUGALITY

Peter @ Bible Money Matters writes How to Set Up the Ooma Telo VOIP Device: 15 Minutes to Drop Your Landline Forever – On the Ooma website it talks about how easy it is to activate and setup the Ooma home phone service, in fact it says it should take less than 15 minutes. I decided to put their 15 minute setup claim to the test.

Penny @ Penny Thots writes Watching Every Penny – The holidays have come and gone. After a short “Jingle Bells” break, winter has now spit on its hands and taken a tighter grip. Also, if you’re typical in any way, two lovely things will be in your mailbox shortly, if they’re not already there this month: The bills from those holiday celebrations Income tax forms (oh joy) Now’s the time to really watch every penny you spend. Sure, it was fun. It will be again. But for now, can you:

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Expanding Your Home’s Footprint Out of Doors – Since I’m maybe 2 years away from purchasing a house of my own, and knowing that it probably won’t be my “dream home” but instead rather on the small-ish side, I’ll have to make the most of every square foot, including the out doors. Using the out doors properly, with the help of a porch, deck, or slab, can expand the interior footprint by quite a lot.

Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Gas Dryer Savings Are Worth a Big Risk – While we have gas heat and a gas stove, the laundry hook-up for some reason is electric. I thought there must be gas running to laundry as well, but there isn’t. That was a major disappointment. Why? Gas is really cheap nowadays, and cheaper in general.

Mary Rhodes @ Fine Tune Finances writes When to consider leasing a vehicle – Given the right situation, leasing a new car or truck can make more sense than financing it over a long period of time to buy.

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Save Money Exercising – Here are some no-gym fee ways to stay motivated and have fun exercising in the winter.

KK @ Student Debt Survivor writes Financial Lessons Learned From My 80 Year Old Grandma – The original frugalista, my grandmother stayed at home with my mother and didn’t begin working outside of the home, or driving a car until she was in her 40′s. Because they didn’t have a lot of money, grammy knows a whole host of frugal tips and tricks.

Jules Wilson @ Fat Guy,Skinny Wallet writes Price Battle: Aldi Vs. Peapod – A grocery store price comparison is the best way to ensure you get the most out of your grocery budget. Today we compare grocery delivery service, Peapod to Aldi’s.

Joe @ Modest Money writes Study on Why You Will Overspend This Season – When you are shopping this season, make sure you think about the impact of each and every purchase. If you find yourself creeping over your budget, stop, refocus, and look behind you because the perceptual contrast principle could be right behind you!

INVESTING

Jason Hull @ Hull Financial Planning writes Do You Have Too Much Money in Fixed Income? – This article examines how people could be misallocating their investments by not accounting for other streams of income.

FMF @ Free Money Finance writes We Bought Property #2 – I’ve been busy on the shopping front and have purchased two 4-unit buildings.Since we closed on this property at the end of December, there are still a lot of things in flux. But here are some highlights to give you a flavor for the set-up. As promised, I will update you as time goes on and new developments occur.

Pete @ Intelligent Speculator writes Passive Income Project: Am I Actually Willing To Become A Landlord? – What to consider before buying a rental property.

Div Guy @ The Dividend Guy Blog writes Power Corporation POW Dividend Stock Analysis – We look at the potential of this stock.

Roger Wohlner @ The Chicago Financial Planner writes E*Trade’s Fee Commercials – Informative or Misleading? – During the Super Bowl I watched E*Trade Financial’s commercials deriding the 2% (of assets under management) fees they claim are charged by many financial advisors and portraying their advice services as the white knight answer to this problem. Are these commercials informative or misleading?

Kanwal @ Simply Investing writes What is Dividend Investing? Why Should You Do It? – Mike from The Dividend Guy Blog and Dividend Stock Analysis wrote a great blog post over at My Own Adivsor that I’d like to share with my readers. Mike discusses the benefits of investing in dividend stocks, and my favourite the section on “Index Investing vs. Dividend Investing” is a must read.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes My Farming Past Taught Me More than just How to Muck Manure – A former farmer shares money-spending-saving-investing wisdom.

Kevin @ Simplefinancialfreedom writes Renting vs. Buying a Home – The issue of renting vs. buying a home is something every adult has to face at least once in his or her lifetime.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes A Simple Retirement Plan for You! – Retirement can happen at any time! A typical definition of retirement is the act of leaving one’s job and ceasing work. In my parent’s generation, you kicked back and did not do much. It was a way of withdrawing or retreating from the work world.

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Real Estate for Retirement – Real estate can be an important element of any retirement plan.

Marvin @ Brick By Brick Investing writes How To Invest In TSP – Detailed description of how to properly and successfully invest in the Thrift Savings Plan.

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Mutual Funds: What Are They? Are They Safe? How Do I Choose? – Investors have different opinions on whether you should invest in mutual funds, but it is really quite simple.

PPlan @ Provident Plan writes How to increase your credit score quickly – We want to buy a house quickly, so we are following these steps to raise our credit score quickly.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Dividend News: Rogers Ups Dividends by 10% – 10 percent dividend increase by Rogers Communication, nice increase!

Kevin @ AllPersonalFinance writes Investing in Real Estate – What you need to know – Investing in real estate is not for everyone. Unlike stocks or mutual funds, you cannot buy real estate in chunks. Further, you also cannot sell real estate very easily. The whole process of investing in real estate is like watching a plant grow. However, like a plant that grows surely and steadily, prices of real estate also grow surely and steadily with time.

Tushar @ Finance TUBE writes Securing you Future after Retirement – Making your future secured this is the punch line. Yes, you would receive a sum of money every month, sitting at home without having to invest anything substantial. This would be a lifetime income solution for you. However, it’s not easy receiving the social security retirement benefits.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Another Riches to Rags Story – Even though I’m certainly not the type to laugh at anyone’s misfortunes, riches to rags stories are certainly a huge laugh for me.

MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central writes Roth and Traditional IRA Income Limits – Can I Contribute? – If you don’t exceed the Roth and Traditional IRA income limits for 2013, then you may be able to invest more of your money into a fund for tax free growth.

SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Diversification Made Simple – Active investing can be quite overwhelming. Not only is it often a new experience for new people, but most people usually do it in passive forms (index or mutual funds). While I’m not a day trader or anywhere close to being an expert investor, I do know that many of the basic rules of investing. The post Diversification Made Simple appeared first on Simple Budget.

Josh @ Becoming Your Own Bank writes How Banks and the Federal Reserve are Working Hard to Rob America – Ever heard of fractional reserve lending or Fiat money? Check out how the Federal Reserve and banks are hurting us in our latest interview with Mark Thornton, from Ludwig von Mises Institute

Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes Investing with the Dividend Discount Model – The beauty of the dividend discount model is in its simplicity and effectiveness on dividend-paying stocks.

John S @ Frugal Rules writes 5 Investing Mistakes That Are Easy to Make – We all make mistakes, we’re human after all. Investing mistakes can not only be costly, but they can also have a major impact on the overall health and performance of your long term portfolio.

SAVING

Grayson @ Debt RoundUp writes Want to Save Money? Here Are 13 Ways! – We all think about saving money, but have we thought how easy it really is. Here are 13 things that you can save you money and they are easy to do.

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes The practicality of joint or separate bank accounts – Where do you stand on joint vs separate bank accounts? Read my take!

Jon @ Novel Investor writes Ally Bank Review: The Best Online Bank? – Brick and mortar banks offer most of the same features as their online counterparts. Yet, they still fall short when compared to Ally and other online banks.

OTHER

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey @ My Personal Finance Journey writes “What a Deal! Only a $59.99 Fee to File a 1040EZ!” Please No. Instead, Try a FREE Step-by-Step Guide to Filling Out Your 1040EZ – This post warns the American taxpayer with a simple tax return about falling for those that claim they will do your 1040EZ for “just $59.99”, or whatever the price may be. You can fill it out just fine by yourself (or better yet, with the help of a free online tax preparation/filing software, something which will be covered elsewhere in more depth) and not pay a dime to an accountant! This post shows you how.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Stumbles on the way to paying our debt – Last week we were very happy to announce that we had repaid some lb100k ($157k) in a tad over 3 years. But don’t believe it was all plain sailing – changing our lives to accommodate budgets and be more careful with money was breaking a (bad) habit of a lifetime.

Mike @ Personal Finance Journey writes How to define simple living money saving tips – A great how to on money saving tips, help you reflect on your attitude and PFJ hot 5 tips on simple living money saving tips.

CT @ Cashtastrophe writes What to Do If Your Not Making Ends Meet – Read what to do if your not making ends meet! Even if you aren’t in this situation, it’s good to prepare for it.

Kevin @ PersonalFinance-Tips writes Why Invest in Precious Medals – A metal does not become a good investment just because it is precious. Its relatively higher price in the market today does not automatically promise us that it will grow faster than other assets. However, there definitely are some good reasons why you should invest in precious metals.

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Three insurance policies you should have – When devising your personal financial plan, one of the most important things to consider is how best to protect your assets. There is obviously no greater asset to you than your loved ones, which is why should consider taking out a life insurance policy among others.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Bull Flattener, Bear Flattener, Bull Steepener and Bear Steepener Explained – An explanation of the four different ways the yield curve changes which ware Bull Flatterner, Bear Flattener, Bull Steepener, and Bear Steepener.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Cash Discount for Car Repairs – Everyone hates car repairs and I’m no different. Nothing feels like throwing money away more than to paying for something you can’t see and gives you no

Corey @ 20s Finances writes Clipping Coupons: Is it Worth It? – In order to determine whether coupons are worth your time, consider this simple argument.

harry campbell @ Your PF Pro writes Why Should I Donate Blood? – “Give blood today and save some lives.” Doesn’t that sound great? I’m sure you’ve seen some form of that saying around town or in a bulletin floating around work. It seems like there’s always a shortage of blood and never enough donors. My donation days started way back in college with the Red Cross. Once a quarter, in exchange for giving blood, I would receive a coupon for a free Chipotle burrito. That’s all I needed to hear, giving blood became a no-brainer seeing as how I

Michelle @ The Shop My Closet Project writes Money Love Blanket-Saving money is an act of self-love – It’s my view that the concept of saving money is sold to people in the wrong way. We’re told that we should save because it’s a good thing to do, you should save in case of an emergency. There is a lack of connecting with emotions that affect our money lives. These things that we’re saving for seem so abstract and I don’t know about you but I like to live in the fool’s paradise where emergencies don’t happen to me. Emergencies happen to other people.

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes Get Paid $15 to Share Your Favorite Website – Mobile Expressions, a cell phone research group, is giving away free $15 Visa gift cards if you sign up for their study. Here’s how to do it..

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes Romance 101: How to Turn Up the Heat This Valentine’s Day – Does Valentine’s Day remind you of how sad your romantic life has been? Well, all is not lost, and here’s how you can express your feelings and affection in a special way.

Tony @ We Only Do This Once writes The 8 Week Rule – The 8 week rule is key for a lot of reasons, but most important is that you should not make judgements too early on the progress you are making. Creating new connections in the brain takes time. You must keep at it, even if you feel like you are not making immediate improvement.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes APY vs APR – Understanding the Difference – nterest is expressed either as an annual percentage rate (APR) or as an annual percentage yield (APY). You should understand the difference between these two expressions in order to better understand your money and what you’re really being charged when borrowing money.

Kevin @ Passiveincometoretire writes My Top Passive Income Ideas – To build a passive income, we need to own properties that generate a regular income for us with minimal involvement after they have been created. This can be contrasted with working at a job or working for someone for pay, where, at the end of the transaction, we do not or own any income-generating property.

MR @ Money Reasons writes Why Diversifying Isn’t Always Necessary For High Stock Market Returns – Time has shown that stock diversification isn’t always best approach for stock market returns.

Cash Flow Mantra @ Cash Flow Mantra writes Updates on the Goals for 2013 – I have heard that most New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten by mid-February so I thought I would take a look and see how I am doing on my 2 main goals for 2013.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Money and Child Raising: Saving for Child’s College – A discussion of the pros and cons of saving and investing to help your child pay for their college education when they reach that point.

CAPI @ Creating a Passive Income writes The Skinny on Renting Out Living Space for Passive Income – Passive income just has a good sound to it. The idea of doing nothing (or, in most cases, very little) and making money is appealing. It’s all about finding things you already have and making them work for you. In the case of renting space, you’re taking an area that was just sitting around and making it productive.

Hank @ Money Q&A writes What To Do Right Now Before You Lose Your Wallet – Here are tips that you can use right now to make sure that if you lose your wallet it doesn’t completely ruin your financial day and worse end in identity theft.

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes The Importance of Planning and Saving for the Future – Most of us realize we should put some regular effort into saving money for our futures. However in reality we don’t all manage to do it.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Why The Envelope System is Perfect for a Marriage – This envelope system is great for married couples and helping them get back on track financially.

Kevin @ MyDividendStocks writes Dividend Stock Strategies – Dividend refers to the cash payout made by a company to its shareholders. Since a company is a profit-generating enterprise, paying out dividend is one way a company can share its profits with its shareholders, who are part owners of the company.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes It’s Going To Be A Big Year For My Family – From my daughter’s first day of school to a major announcement about my family’s future, I’m looking at some of the big steps on the horizon.

Nick @ A Young Pro writes Losing the Freshman 15 – As a student, you frequently hear the term “The Freshman 15″. This is the story of my “Freshman 15″ and what I am doing to lose it.

John @ Card Hub writes Warning: Payday Loans May Cause Excessive Money Loss, But Don’t Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater – Afew things are clear when it comes to payday loans: they’re expensive, they’re marketed in a predatory manner, they’re desperately in need of regulation, and many people use them not as an emergency financial bridge but instead as a crutch to support an unsustainable lifestyle. The best advice is to avoid them if you can, otherwise proceed with caution.

Charles @ Wallet Hub writes Will the Changes to FHA Reverse Mortgages Work? Probably Not. – Back in September, we identified a looming disaster in the reserve mortgage market and concluded that major changes might be needed to prevent the system from collapsing like the larger mortgage market did in 2008. With a few months behind us, it’s starting to look like we hit the mark: the FHA recently announced sweeping changes to their reverse mortgage products, and hinted that more changes could be coming.

Mr.CBB @ Canadian Budget Binder writes Income Tax Is Like A Four Letter Word – Income tax doesn’t have to be a four letter word if you plan and maximize on the credits available for your personal or your business returns.

This carnival is hosted every second week by My University Money and you can submit articles at Blogger Carnivals or Blog Carnival HQ.

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