weekly carnival roundup

this week, i participated in several blog carnivals, and submitted the following articles:

• carnival of debt reduction* — 2200 for little brother, consumer debt and poverty, snowball or snowflake?

• carnival of personal finance #175 — watching your expenditures

• carnival of money stories #81 — on library fines

• festival of frugality: free extra money edition — take advantage of your work perks!

• money hacks carnival #35: 1925 railroad edition — on paying yourself first

*i made a mistake, and tried to submit the third post in lieu of the other ones.  however, it turned out bankruptcy access allowed all three articles to be included in the carnival.  thanks bankruptcy access!  i feel a bit embarrassed though :/

debt bloggers network roundup

the other day i ran into on a quest to be debt free’s post on luxuries and necessities.  it made me smile because i just recently wrote an article with very similar (if not the same) ideas, where i also labeled necessities as ‘necessities’, but luxuries as ‘possibles’.

ryan at debt reduction formula wrote about his 5 steps system to debt reduction.  his first step was:

So the first step for me was making the commitment to become debt free.

i believe this is extremely important as well!  i believe that one must begin with the proper mindset.  without that commitment in your heart and your head, it will be too easy to lose focus and motivation, and go astray from your debt reduction plan.  i found the other 4 steps and the order of the steps as a whole quite sound and would recommend that others also follow a similar direction.

towards the end of last year, lulugal wrote in defense of credit cards, at howisavemoney.  i agree with her on the following:

We all need to see credit cards as simple pieces of plastic and realize that it is our actions that determine the kind of relationship we will have with our cards in the future.

By all means use your credit card….but do so responsibly.

i acknowledge and take responsibility today for the fact that i messed up with accruing debt on my credit cards over the years.  i do not blame the cards themselves. after all, i did choose on my own, to sign up for those credit cards in the first place!

pf blogosphere roundup

not long ago, i learned about two radio talk show hosts from my SO: bob brinker, and bill wattenburg.

bob brinker apparently hosts a radio talk show called money talk.  i listened to him only once so far while crocheting in the garage.  his primary area of finance concern is investment.  he also had a surprisingly long list of recommended books.  a few days ago, i requested a free back issue of his monthly newsletter, market timer.

dr. bill wattenburg hosts a show in the evenings (where i live anyway) on the same radio station as bob brinker (kgo 810 fm).  the SO and i listen to him and his callers in the evenings as we prepare for bed.  his background is in physics and electrical engineering, but he discusses anything you want to with him.  i found an interesting article he posted a week or so ago, great ideas to stop the worldwide credit crisis, where he also mentions an idea of bob brinker’s.

frugaldad wrote an article a few years ago about whether we should blame our parents for our financial problems.  he suggests that they are not wholly to blame, and lists 3 other influences.  the one that piqued my interest the most was the fact that our education system has been and is lacking in teaching young people money management.  i have personally agreed with this for some time now.  he hits it right on when he says,

There has long been a serious void in public education when it comes to “real life” studies. And in no subject is this truer than the area of personal finances. We continue to teach kids to pass exams, to recite from memory, and to conform to so-called “advances” in new teaching methods. Despite noble efforts, educators are for the most part equipping our children with the wrong skills. Don’t believe me?  When was the last time you used an algebraic expression to balance your checkbook, or calculus to solve your 1040 tax form? There is a place for those skills, however I believe that place is college, where it is required of students to indicate a path of studies that may require the knowledge of these higher levels of math and sciences (such as medicine, engineering, etc.). For the rest of us, a basic introduction to personal finance topics would be helpful to prepare for the perils of the adult financial world. Upon graduation, and many times before, students will be exposed to credit cards, predatory lenders, car salesman and if they work part time jobs, Uncle Sam’s maze of tax laws. We should push for educational tracts that teach youth how to be responsible citizens, with their money and beyond.

very well said, frugaldad.

freemoneyfinance wrote about why our careers are so important, pointing out that:

In short, it’s the source of everything you have financially [..] the source of your net worth.

i have been fretting over whether i should quit my day job and start freelancing now.  if i had any doubts lately about the ‘necessity’ of having a source of income, they have gone out the window just with that one simple reminder.

recently, i was contacted by an advertiser with nationaltechmark, a company known for payday loans.  i read a discussion at the money blog forum describing the different perspectives of members on the ethics of including ads on payday loans on their personal finance blogs.

i wasn’t really familiar with what payday loans are, or why so many looked down upon them, so i did a little research.  i found a few articles that seemed to explain the pros and cons relatively well, for instance this pros and cons of payday loans at squidoo, and another one at smart money daily.  i’m a bit on the fence in this area.

i noticed a bankrate article called 7 tips on surviving the credit crunch.  in this article, the author talks about credit cards and how the issuers have been getting jumpy about high risk borrowers.  what caught my eye was,

inactive [credit] cards may get closed or not renewed.

i wonder how this would affect me? recently i had a balance transferred from my credit one financial personal loan account to a jo-ann’s mastercard with 0% interest for 6 billing cycles.  i have made a first payment towards it with $1000.

however, i do not plan to use this credit card for regular spending.  i haven’t even called the toll free number on the sticker on the card to activate it.  i don’t want to risk accruing additional debt.  would barclay bank (issuer) necessarily close my account if i don’t start using the card?  even if i have a balance transfer?  might they penalize me in another way?

i came across bankrate’s frugal $ense tips.  one of the entries, coffee to go, is something i too have adopted not long ago!  getting corporate or office discounts is also something i recently wrote about.

i read the educated investor’s budget rules of thumb.  i was amused that the author suggests that only 3-4% of one’s net income should go towards consumer debt payments.  that seems so small to me!  although i realize it’s relative.  currently, i am paying 40% of my monthly income towards paying off debt, as i am determined to pay off 6500 in seven months (now 5500 in six months).

i just realized that my house payments (includes rent, food, utilities) comes from 40% of my income as well, which falls in the suggested range of 21-45%.  interesting that the minimum for transportation is at 6%, and my calculations tell me i only use about 2% with my motorcycle (cool)!

i was doubly amused when i read the rule of 72, and the author’s reference to algebra:

Those of you who passed algebra also see that this formula is useful in determining what rate of return is required, in order for an investment to double in a fixed number of years. For example, in order for an investment to double in 12 years, the investment return must be 6% (72/12 years = 6% return). And the rest of you thought algebra was a waste of time!

the irony?  when i just read about how useless algebra can be at frugaldad’s above.  (don’t get me wrong — i actually do like algebra.)

i’ve subscribed to their free newsletter to see if it’s useful for me.

how about you?

what interesting articles did you find this past week/end?

do/did you find any of the articles above interesting and/or useful to you?