Money Hacks Carnival – 83rd Edition

Welcome to the 83rd Edition of the Money Hacks Carnival, a collection of recent financial resources and articles from a variety of personal finance websites.

About this week’s selections: There were close to 100 articles submitted this week – far too many to include in one carnival and still offer value to the reader. In most cases I did not include articles that included commentary, stories, or were more than a couple weeks old. Instead, I chose recent articles that best reflected the purpose of the Money Hacks name: hacks, tips, tutorials, and comparisons designed to help you make money, save money, get out of debt, become a better investor, or create a better financial lifestyle.

Editor’s Choice Selections

• Matt_SF from Steadfast Finances shares 10 Reasons You Should Hire an Accountant. Great article. I recommend getting an accountant unless you a) love doing taxes, or b) have a very simple tax return.
• Bucksome has a story about how to prepare for a natural disaster: Our Natural Disaster Story and Lessons. He wrote, “Two years ago, we had to evacuate our home due to a wildfire. This post discusses what we learned from the natural disaster.”
• Jeff Rose presents 2010 Traditional IRA to Roth IRA Conversion Tax Rules. This is very useful if you are considering converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2010.
• Mike Piper shares How to Rollover a 401k into an IRA at his website, The Oblivious Investor. This is something I will need to do in the very near future.
• Wojciech Kulicki presents 15 Signs You’re in Financial Denial at Fiscal Fizzle. It all starts with giving yourself an honest assessment.

Career

• My Life ROI shares a Guide to Getting Hired Quickly. Sometimes when you read a story like this your first intuition is to say “Lucky!” But once you break down the process you really get a handle on how you can apply it to your own life. And lucky you, he has broken down the process for you!

Debt & Credit

• freefrombroke recaps his experience checking his credit scores at MyFico in this article: My Experience With myFICO.
• Mike Power shares tips on How to be debt free at Gather Little By Little. He writes that getting into debt is easy. It only takes a few minutes to make a $5,000 purchase on a credit card. Paying it back though can take years.
• Looking for a good credit card? These cards are among the best available right now: The Dough Roller presents 0% Credit Cards–A Massive List of No Interest Credit Card Offers, and David presents CNN Money Names Top 5 Credit Card Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ.

Frugality & Saving Money

• FMF presents Why You May Not Get What You Pay For at Free Money Finance. We all pay for things that we can’t always use. Here are some items where you may not be getting your money’s worth.
• Kate Kashman has a related article: Pump Up The Savings, posted at The Paycheck Chronicles. She says, “One change will help stop soap & shampoo from running down the drain.”
• Jason @ Redeeming Riches presents How to Save Thousands by Spending $3.99. Is this the best 4 bucks you’ll ever spend, or a clever title? Actually a little bit of both – so long as you are willing to make a change.
• JD Roth gives us some great ways to save money at the grocery store with the article Slash Your Grocery Bill With Store-Brand Products. J.D. compiles actual data from several stores to see just how much money can be saved with store-brand products. The results may surprise you!
• B Simple recommends a Simple Personal Financial Tip: Stop Check Writing. With electronic checks, online bill pay, and direct debit, check writing is almost obsolete. Almost.
• Craig Ford presents Three Things I Like About Ramsey posted at Money Help For Christians. These are his personal thoughts on the things he likes about Dave Ramsey.
• studenomist presents 10 Budget Tips for Hungry College Students posted at studenomics.com.
• Banker Saver presents Are You FDIC Insured? Make Sure Your Money Is Safe posted at Banker, Saver.
• Pinyo compares Money Market Deposit Account Versus Online Savings Account at Moolanomy. This article explains the small differences between a Money Market Deposit Account and an Online Savings Account, but knowing this difference can improve your return on investment and save you some fees.

Income

• J. Savings presents How To Pay Rent By Volunteering For Science Experiments posted at Budgets are Sexy. These aren’t for the faint of heart!
• The Smarter Wallet presents Online Business Guide: Start, Sell and Succeed! posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Building a business income.”
• Madison has a way for you to earn some free money! $25 for Ohio 529 Accounts posted at My Dollar Plan.

Investing

• Dividends4Life presents Finding Dividend Stock Gems In An Overbought Market posted at Dividends Value, saying, “After another week of the market rallying, the number of stocks identified by my model as a buy fell to 4 stocks from 7. So what do you do if you are over-allocated in the four stocks that are a buy?”
• Roth IRA Rules presents Roth IRA Conversion in a Down Market posted at Roth IRA Rules. Is doing a Roth IRA conversion in a down market a smart move? Read this article for more information.
• Darwin presents How Stock Options Work Series: Covered Call Writing posted at Darwin’s Finance, saying, “Everything you need to know about how to sell covered call options for income and hedging against stocks you own.”
• Paul Kamp presents Government Debt, High Yield Debt, Junk Bonds, Risk, Securities, Yield Curves posted at Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Personal Finance, Economics and Investing. He writes that “Bonds give a decent look into investor sentiment and possibly a good prediction of future market turmoil.”
• Paul Williams presents How to Invest for Retirement: Asset Allocation posted at Provident Planning, saying, “Use the simple guideline offered in this article to use the right asset allocation for your retirement investments.”
• TIP Guy presents Overlooked Aspects of Dividend Investing. He writes, There are two key aspects that gets overlooked in this approach (1) quality of dividends; and (2) potential for capital appreciation.
• The Investor presents Seven ways to invest in the stock market when you’ve got no money posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Investing is like any other positive habit – you need to start investing early and repeat it often to see the benefit. The longer you put it off, the harder it will be to grow a nest egg to replace your salary or enable you to retire early.”
• The Financial Blogger presents Did I Miss the Boat: Is It Still the Right Time to Invest? posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “Unfortunately, many investors pulled back their investments during fall 2008 and they are still waiting to get back into the market. Since stock markets have already surged, is it still the right time to invest?”
• Tom Drake presents How To Calculate Your Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Calculating your adjusted cost base (ACB) is necessary to determine the true cost of your investments for capital gains and losses.”
• Investing Toolkit presents How The SIPC Protects Investors From Broker Bankruptcy posted at Investing Toolkit.
• Manshu from One Mint shares a Real Estate ETF List.
• Investing School compares TradeKing vs OptionsXpress, two discount online brokers.

Other

• Baker presents Cost of Living Abroad: International Bloggers Share Expenses posted at Man Vs. Debt, saying, “The cost of traveling/living internationally!”
• PT presents The 1-2-3 Money Plan Book Review posted at Prime Time Money.

Thanks to everyone who submitted an article, and I hope you enjoy these offerings! Submit your blog article to the next edition of money hacks carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page, and be sure to stop by next week’s edition to be held at Military Finance Network.

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