Welcome to the Stuff Happens October Edition of the Carnival of Passive Investing. As I’m sure you noticed, it’s way past October 31st. The reason this carnival is late is because……stuff happens. Scheduling conflicts actually have me hosting two carnivals this week!

WHAT IS PASSIVE INVESTING?

Passive investing suggests choosing an asset allocation of diverse index funds, appropriate to your risk tolerance, and rebalancing these holdings every year or so. Or, you might choose to dollar cost average regularly into your chosen funds. This type of strategy does not guarantee out-sized returns nor does it shield your assets from losses. What it does is make sure you don’t make stupid moves in your portfolio which will lead to lower than market returns. It also frees up your time for other activities. And finally, passive investing keeps your investing costs rock bottom.

In passive investing you obtain a market return commensurate with the percentages invested and indexes chosen. And, if you believe world economies will continue to grow, and historical trends will continue, then the long term return should be in the 7% range. But in investing, as in life, stuff happens. Your long term returns won’t be consistent, there will be up some up years and some down others. Just like in life, there are ups and downs.

EDITOR’S PICKS

Our guest editor this edition Jerry Tweddell, author of Winning With Index Funds, generously agreed to pick our winner for this carnival.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

1. Glen Craig presents What is DRIP Investing and How Can it Grow Your Wealth? posted at Free From Broke .We hear how dividends can grow your wealth. One way this is done is through a dividend reinvestment plan. But what is a DRIP and how exactly can it grow your wealth? If you are new to investing, this is a great way to get started.

THE RUNNERS UP

2. Suba presents This little piggy wants to retire posted at Wealth Informatics. A very clever investing tale, inspired by an old story.

3. The Wealthy Canadian presents Becoming An Index Investor: The Strategy | The Wealthy Canadian posted at The Wealthy Canadian.This article discusses incorporating index funds and ETFs as part of one’s overall investment strategy. Part 1 of 3.

ENJOY THE REST

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents Was The “Lost Decade” Really Lost For Investors? posted at My Personal Finance Journey. The past 10 years have often been coined as “the lost decade” since the overall stock market indices are more or less where they were 10 years ago. However, this post examines whether or not the use of passively managed portfolios with rebalancing to maintain proper asset allocation targets would actually have resulted in a lost decade. The results make for some interesting reading.
Mike Piper presents Evaluating Vanguard’s New LifeStrategy Funds posted at Oblivious Investor.Vanguard recently announced major changes to their “LifeStrategy” funds. Are the changes positive? And what type of investors should be considering these funds?
Glen Craig presents Say Goodbye to Paper Bonds, Say Hello to Electronic Bonds posted at Free From Broke .  Remember the days when you’d get a bond in an envelope for your birthday from Grandma? Well say goodbye to paper bonds and hello to electronic bonds as the Treasury is changing how bonds are issued.
The Wealthy Canadian presents The Dividend Growth Portfolio Project: My 3 Picks posted at The Wealthy Canadian.A group of like-minded dividend investors launched, “the Dividend Growth Index”, which is a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks that offers long-term growth prospects for the investor.
The DIV-Net presentsRoth IRAs posted at The DIV-Net. Learn how to invest in dividend paying stocks without ever having to pay taxes on your investment.
Bob presents 2 Important Questions To Ask Your Financial Planner posted at ChristianPF. Keep your family covered for the future with these two personal finance questions.
Glen Craig presents Will Your Investments Cover 30 Years of Retirement? posted at Free From Broke . Lifespans lengthen, is your money keeping up?
Darwin presents When Faith Kills – Life, Death and Your Finances posted at Darwin’s Money. Faith will cannot replace smart investment planning.
Evan presentsWhat Other Dividend Lists Exist Besides the Dividend Aristocrats? posted at My Journey to Millions. I think I am going to jump ship on the Dividend Aristocrats and start using the Dividend Champions as my first line of selection. Whether the stock is part of the S&P doesn’t particularly matter when looking for undervalued quarter century dividend payers.
Paula @ Afford Anything presents How I Make $70 Per Hour Working From Home posted at Afford Anything. Buying a fixer-upper, rehabbing it myself, and then becoming a landlord — and collecting passive income on it once the property is fully repaid — is my passive income strategy. Hear why it’s worth my time to fix up the home rather than buy one in mint-condition.Buying a fixer-upper, rehabbing it myself, and then becoming a landlord — and collecting passive income on it once the property is fully repaid — is my passive income strategy.
YFS presents Dollar Cost Averaging: A Safer Way to Invest in the Stock Market posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. YFS explains dollar cost averaging, how it works , how safe it is, its criticisms and its benefits.
Jeremy Waller presentsAre Annuities A Good Investment? posted at Personal Finance Whiz. I’ve seen a lot of popular financial advisers and finance bloggers preach the evils of this vehicle. For some people, that advise is solid. But for others, annuities might actually be useful. So are annuities a good investment?

Dough Roller presents How To Pick Your First Mutual Fund posted at Dough Roller.Don’t over-complicate things and make sure you don’t wait long before picking your first mutual fund.
SB presents What is Passive Income and How do I Create It? posted at One Cent at a Time. What is a passive income and what qualifies as a passive income and what not. Learn what are the most basic ways to earn a passive income. In addition to interest and dividends from investments, learn about other ways to make some “passive” cash.
Dough Roller presents Six Great Ways To Introduce Kids to Stock Investing posted at Dough Roller. I owned Pixar stock at a young age, and even though it was just a few shares, my interest in investing began.There is no substitute for time in the market to grow long term wealth.
Flexo presents Betterment Review posted at Consumerism Commentary.Opened up a Betterment account to see if their higher fee structure will result in a higher return. This start-up has quite an interesting platform
Ryan presents Betterment Review: Incredibly Simple Investing posted at Outlaw Finance. How Betterment works and what it costs.
Mike Holman presents Canadian Discount Brokerage Comparison posted at Money Smarts Blog. Comprehensive comparison of Canadian discount brokerages.
Billy Hart presents Stock Market Indexes, What are The Dow, The S&P 500 and The NASDAQ – Investing Basics posted at inMessment – Life Investments | Stocks | ETFs | Money.
Mike Holman presents How To Buy Canadian Dividend Stocks posted at Money Smarts Blog.Guide to buying Canadian dividend stocks.
SB presents Get Excited By Red and Depressed By Green posted at One Cent at a Time. Why I love it when market goes down and stays low, because I get chance to buy stocks for cheap. When market is at high, even though my net worth increases, I can’t enter the market for investing further due to already inflated stock prices.
John Border presents Best Investments for long term posted at Learn Stock market basics. The articles describes the best investments for today as well as from a longer term perspective. It is all about time in the market as opposed to market timing when it comes to investments for the future.
Dividend Growth Investor presents How dividend stocks protect investors from inflation posted at Dividend Growth Investor. A portfolio of quality dividend stocks with rising earnings and dividends will deliver sufficient income growth to provide an inflation adjusted stream of dividend income while also delivering capital gains in the process.
Mike Holman presents How To Buy Canadian Dividend Stocks posted at Money Smarts Blog. Guide to buying Canadian dividend stocks.

Remember to submit your articles for next months Carnival of Passive Investing

image credit; amol sawant

I am honored to host The Carnival of Personal Finance #334 this week. This iconic carnival showcases some of the best personal finance articles from across the blogosphere. With the onslaught of winter weather, the carnival highlights how weather impacts our money. The editor’s picks were extrememly difficult to select from among the scores of superb articles and are listed in no particular order. The excellent reads were so plentiful, I could have included another 15 or 20 picks!

Extra money drags are everywhere in WINTER, from higher utility costs, to winter clothes, and holiday shopping. Remember to enjoy the beautiful change of seasons and prepare for unexpected expenses with a hefty “emergency fund.” (image credit;philipleemiller)

EDITORS PICKS

Lindy from Minting Nickels presents Selling Thrift Store Finds for Profit on eBay, and says, “For the first edition of my Nickel Note series, Carrie from Careful Cents shares her adventures in making money by turning thrift store finds into eBay profits. (She has great tips too)”

Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents Young People Avoiding Investing In Record Numbers, and says, “What is the impact of the Great Recession on young investors?”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents Free Online Checking Accounts – Why Pay More Fees Than You Have To, and says, “Sick of paying crazy fees for your checking account? Take a look at these free online checking accounts and find the best checking account for you.

Suba from Broke Professionals presents Managing vs micromanaging your money, and says, “Would you consider yourself to be someone that is good at managing money or an individual that micromanages their financial life?”

Miranada from Financial Highway presents 4 Creative Business Ideas, and says, “Do you want to start your own business and make a little extra money? It can seem daunting at first, since there are so many others out there trying to get something started. Here are 4 creative business ideas that can help you get started. ”

MONEY MANAGEMENT

Flexo from Consumerism Commentary presents Layaway Programs: How to Buy What You Can’t Afford (Yet), and says, “Layway programs were a big deal about 15 years ago and they’re making a comeback! Knowing layaway programs are a poor financial decision, there are a few benefits.”
Kay Lynn Akers from Bucksome Boomer presents Are You Penny Wise but Pound Foolish?, and says, “While we are busy feeling good about reducing little costs here and there, we may really be throwing money away.”
Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim presents Before You Get Married – How To Have The Money Talk, and says, “Before you get married, talk about money. Forget the flowers and think finances. According to Jeffrey Dew, assistant professor at Utah State University, you are 30% more likely to end up with a divorce if you and your spouse argue about money once a week or more. The question is, how do you start “the talk”?”
Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents A “Gift”, Black Jack, and a Brand New Truck, and says, “Here’s a humorous financial rant about a conversation with someone who has no “financial clue” how to handle their IRA or their financial affairs. ”
Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents The Pros and Cons of Choosing Home Exercise Over a Gym Membership, and says, “Exercise can help you to improve both your mental and physical health but for many people, affording a gym membership is out of the question financially. This doesn’t mean that you have to give up on the idea of exercising full stop though – there is the option of working out at home instead.”
Clint from Accumulating Money presents The Impact of Debit Card Fees on Consumers, and says, “As the majority of consumers have already heard, a significant amount of banks in the United States have decided to add a fee when a consumer purchases a product or service using a debit card. Other than an increase in consumer outrage, few have taken the time to analyze the repercussions of such a fee on debit card use.”
PKamp3 from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents 45-49 Years Old: The Peak of Your Financial Prowess, and says, “Aging presents a host of problems – not least of them a decline in your financial intelligence and understanding. In this article are the implications, and the warning signs of cognitive decline on financial topics.”
Jim R. from Free By 50 presents Lottery Odds and an Odds Calculator, and says, “If you’re going to play the lottery (for fun only) then you should at least pick the one that has better odds.
Suba from Wealth Informatics presents Fire your bank : Here is a guide and checklist to help, and says, “With a lot of banks raising fees and coming up with new fees, the only reason people stay with their old banks is the process of changing is painful. Here is a guide (including a checking account comparison sheet) and a checklist to make a smooth move.”

SPRING brings lots of time outside cleaning up  the yard and lots of money on freshening up the landscape. Apartment dwellers fill those planters again. Cleaning the carpets and paying for the tax filing all add a few bucks to the spring budget. But, if you managed your withholding well, you won’t have a large tax refund which should have been yours to invest during the year. (image credit; kezwan)

BUDGETING

Corey from 20′s Finances presents What Would You Do with Extra Income?, and says, “If you got a huge raise like my wife just did and you didn’t need the money to pay your bills, what would you do with the extra income?”
Craig Ford from Money Help For Christians presents 3 Reasons Why We Kissed Budgeting Goodbye, and says, “We stopped budgeting! Learn why.”
Bret from Hope to Prosper presents Money Fail: Never Track Finances, and says, “One common thread between most people who flounder financially, is that they don’t keep track of their finances.”

INVESTING

d4l from Dividend Growth Stocks presents Spanning the World For The Best Dividend Stocks, and says, “Knowledgeable investors will agree that a well-planned asset allocation should include a defined percentage dedicated to international investments. As an investor in dividend growth stocks, this has been one of the more challenging allocations within my portfolio.”
IS from Intelligent Speculator presents How Much Is A Great Leader Such As Steve Jobs Worth? Could You Quantify It?, and says, “What can a strong leader provide?”
Sustainable PF from Sustainable Personal Finance presents Is Reinvesting Dividends the Right Choice?, and says, “Reinvesting dividends allows for greater capital appreciation. That means more of your money will be at work each time a dividend is paid out. You may have to ask yourself a few questions though. Would you rather have the cash today or would you be willing to wait a few years for the possibility of greater principal?”
Colin Williams from humble savers presents The Psychology of Investing – For Retirement, and says, “Humans don’t like pain or change; trouble is to invest for our retirement will mean we suffer both change and pain. We have 15 simple steps to follow to make investing for our retirement less painful.”
Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Netflix, and says, “A look at the history of Netflix, what they did right, and what they did very wrong.”
Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents What’s Your Investing Horror Story?, and says, “Do you have an investing horror story?”
MD from Studenomics presents How Does The Stock Market Work?, and says, “Do you know how the stock market works?”
NCN from No Credit Needed presents Make The Payment To Yourself, and says, “Instead of borrowing money to finance major purchases, “make the payment to yourself”. You will save money, interest, and avoid debt.”

SAVING

Hank from Money Q & A presents Three Short Term Cash Investments to Consider, and says, “Where should you stash cash in the short term? There are several short term cash investments that you may want to consider. Find out what they are.”
Chris Holdheide from Stumble Forward presents 10 Ways On How To Save Money On Gas, and says, “Learn about 10 things I did to save more money on gas.”
Peter from Bible Money Matters presents 5 Ways to Prepare for Winter, and says, “The cold usually means higher energy bills and sometimes unexpected repairs, but with a little planning, you can avoid some of the extra costs that come with the cold”
Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents Lifestyle Changes at Home That Can Help You Travel More, and says, “Changes to make today so that we can save more money on the road.”

SUMMER vacation and the kids activities can sink good money intentions. Plan throughout the year to avoid Summer money drain. (image credit; CubaGallery)

CAREER

Paula @ Afford Anything from Afford Anything presents Find a Niche. Conquer It. Create Something Amazing., and says, “Conventional wisdom wants you to sell yourself short. Most advice says you should trade your limited time and energy for a few bucks: mow lawns, clean people’s houses, host a car wash. But these jobs could be done by a middle school student … you’ve got to start thinking big. ”
Kyle Taylor from The Penny Hoarder presents How to Get Royalty Checks Every Month, and says, “Whether you’re a starving artist or a savvy investor, here are a couple of ways to start earning annual royalty checks. ”
Mike from The Financial Blogger presents October Monthly Income Report Or How I Make $218.15 an hour, and says, “How much money came in October?”
Eric J. Nisall from DollarVersity presents Interview Tips For the First-Time Job Seeker (Or Any Other For That Matter), and says, “Whether you are looking for your very first job, or you are on the downside of your career looking for a change, nailing the interview process is the key.”

FRUGALITY

Alex Manson-Smith from TotallyMoney presents Simple ways to stay warm for less, and says, “$ simple tips to save heating costs this winter”
Jon the Saver from Free Money Wisdom presents Common Sense Ways to Save on Electricity, and says, “There are plenty of simple ways to cut down the electric bill, which the following will just begin to cover.”
Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents How A Small Vase Of Flowers Makes Me Feel Rich, and says, “Sometimes the little things can make you feel pretty darn good!”

DEBT

Ashley from Money Talks Coaching presents Close the Window!, and says, “Paying interest is like heating a home with the windows open. Your money is just flying out the window.”
NCN from No Credit Needed presents Make The Payment To Yourself, and says, “Instead of borrowing money to finance major purchases, “make the payment to yourself”. You will save money, interest, and avoid debt.”

CREDIT

David J from CardViews Blog presents Top 10 Cash Back Credit Cards, and says, “Here’s a review of the top 10 cash back credit cards. From Capital One to MasterCard, learn how to use everyday purchases to put more money back in your pocket.”
Jake Gibson from NerdWallet Credit Card Blog presents Earn Up to 9 Points per $1 Spent with the Starwood American Express Through Dec. 18, and says, “Starwood is upping the ante with double or triple points on all stays from September 6th through December 18th.”
FMF from Free Money Finance presents The Case for the Mileage Based Credit Card, and says, “There are some circumstances where mileage based credit cards are better, and you’ll want to properly evaluate your situation so you can make the right decision.”
Jeff Weber from Smart Balance Transfers presents It Never Hurts To Ask: How To Use Credit Card Customer Service To Reduce Fees And Increase Rewards, and says, “A few minutes on the phone with customer service can go a long way in getting fees removed or even getting better rewards from your card.”
Dough Roller from The Dough Roller presents How an Unpaid Traffic Ticket Can Wreck Your Credit Score, and says, “I’ve only been given a couple of parking tickets in my lifetime, but I’m glad I always paid them on time. Just letting them fester is a dangerous game.”

AUTUMN will blow the budget if you let back to school shopping get out of hand. But the beauty in nature is so plentiful and free activities abound. Enjoy the leaves and festivals, and keep your wallet under control. (image credit; mgrabisch)

RETIREMENT

Tyler Wright from Debt Reckoning presents Saving for Retirement: How Much Do I Need?, and says, “Saving for retirement is essential, yet many working adults are not exactly sure how much money they need in order to live comfortably in their golden years.”
Kacie from Sense to Save presents Cashing in our whole life insurance policies, and says, “This is one of our money mistakes. What do you think?”
N.W. Journey from Net Worth Journey presents 401(k) Retirement Account, and says, “A basic primer on the 401k retirement account.
David J from CardViews Blog presents Top 10 Rewards Checking Accounts, and says, “Here’s a review of the top 10 cash back credit cards. From Capital One to MasterCard, learn how to use everyday purchases to put more money back in your pocket.”

TAXES

Amanda from Frugal Living presents 10 Tax Deductions for Bloggers, and says, “Making money from your blog doesn’t mean you have to get slammed with taxes as well as fees. Keep the aforementioned deductions in mind, and run them by your accountant when it;s time to file your taxes.”
Investor Junkie from Investor Junkie presents Perry Tax Plan: Choose Your Tax Rate, and says, “Governor Rick Perry’s tax plan is relatively new — and interesting. He suggests that Americans choose what sort of tax they want to pay.”

OTHER

Evan from My Journey to Millions presents My Scary Health Insurance Choices, and says, “I figured since it was Halloween l would post about something really scary…My Health Insurance Options and Premiums. Considering it is open enrollment season I am sure most people are facing the same decisions.”
Mr. Money from Smart on Money presents Is It Time to Reconsider the ARM?, and says, “An ARM isn’t for everyone. However, when used properly, an ARM can save some homeowners quite a bit, and help them build equity to boot.”
Teacher Man from My University Money presents Maclean’s 2011 University Rankings, and says, “We take a look at the infamous Maclean’s university rankings and give our take on the matter”
Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents School (and other) fundraisers, and says, “Do you buy things from your coworkers for school fundraisers? Do you sell? Nicole and Maggie discussMD from Passive Income Now presents Using a Home Buying Calculator to Save YOU Money, and says, “How a home buying calculator will save you tons of money.”
Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Financial One Liners, and says, “I could only think of a few good financial one liners, but are there others?”
Squirrelers from Squirrelers presents Sleep or Money?, and says, “More money, less sleep – or less money, more sleep. Which would you choose? This article highlights the tradeoffs and lengths people will go to in order to make more money.”

Thanks to all who participated in this event and stopped by to read the excellent articles. Please promote on twitter, facebook, and other social media, so others have a chance to enjoy these excellent articles.

Sign up on top right to get free WEALTH TIP’s Newsletter, and FREE bonus eBook; 20 Minute Guide to Investing!

And don’t forget to pick up my RSS feed or email subscription and follow me on twitter so you get the word immediately. 

I am honored to be hosting this Carnival Today. Please forward this Carnival Link to anyone who likes SAVING MONEY! Isn’t is fascinating how conserving resources not only helps our pocketbooks, but also the environment? Keep waste and excess to a minimum and help the world.

These articles range from saving money eating out, travel, doing your taxes, using (or not) your car, your bank, and many other topics. Learn something new and tell your friends about all the great money saving resources here. 

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Don’t Let Costly Auto Repair Estimates Get You Down posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “How you can control your spending on car maintenance.”

Donna Freedman presents Do you scrape burned toast? posted at Surviving and Thriving, saying, “The waste of food in this country is staggering. It reflects poor stewardship of resources, an increasing separation from the production of food we eat, and an inability to comprehend just how blessed we are.”

CPF presents 3 Budgeting Ideas That Changed My Life posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “Check out these principles that can change your life if applied.”

Craig Ford presents The Best TurboTax Discounts | Save 35% Off posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “The results after scouring the web for TurboTax discounts.” i am eligible for about half of these discounts…BIG SAVINGS!

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Financial Fast: Week Four posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “While trying a financial fast to save money and reduce spending, we encountered some unforeseen obstacles, but learned some important lessons as well.”

Jim Yih presents The Latte Factor posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying, “The Latte Factor is those small, day-to-day purchases that, when eliminated, can actually provide you with a significant, and somewhat surprising, sum of money.”

Michael Pruser presents Eating Healthy is Becoming More Expensive Every Day posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “No wonder why America has trouble with weight … have you seen the cost of healthy food lately?”

Michael presents Is Frugality Still Here? posted at Consumerism Commentary, saying, “Even though we talk about the term often, has frugality left economics for good?”

Dave@50plusfinance presents The Best Time of Year to Buy Things and Go on Vacations posted at 50 Plus Finance, saying, “It’s always time to save some money. Knowing which products to buy at right time of year will lead to more money in your pocket.”

Kristia presents My Menu/Grocery List Clipboard posted at Family Balance Sheet, saying, “This clipboard saves me time and money.”

Money Beagle presents Saving The Day (And Some Money) At Work posted at Money Beagle. Clever thinking and a bit of elbow grease led to big savings!

RE Ausetkmt presents Remember Earth is Our Ship ? Not Our Dumpster posted at Reality Ausetkmt – Recycled Frockery, saying, “We’re talking about Earthships again. this time we’re showing you both the high end; and the low end. the designer and architect Mike Reynolds committed his skills toward green relief. his chosen project was to begin to build sustainable housing in Haiti. of course they’re earthships.”

Stephan Marks presents How to Make Money with Paid Surveys posted at Promo Code Center. A balanced approach to a tricky topic!!

Paul Foley presents Eating out on a budget: Restaurant.com posted at Life and Times Living with In-Laws, saying, “Walking through the math of Restraunt.com certificates to get the best possible deal”

FMF presents The Cost of Being Overweight posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Save money by losing weight.”

MoneyNing presents 6 Ways to Avoid the Temptation to Eat Out posted at Money Ning, saying, “Do you always want to eat out? Here’s how to avoid always spending too much on food.”

Arjun Rudra presents How To Adapt Your Investing Approach To Changing Market Cycles With Eden Rahim, Portfolio Manager at Jov Investment Inc. posted at Investing Thesis, saying, “Highlighting the importance of adapting your investing approach to changing market cycles with Eden Rahim, Portfolio Manager at Jov Investment Inc.” A sophisticated investing article filled with fascinating data.

Saymour Hodge presents How To Be Frugal: Frugal Car Shopping Tips posted at All Things Frugal, saying, “Shopping for a car can be an anxiety-inducing experience. It’s a major expense and a purchase most people usually only make once every handful of years. The goal in shopping for a car is to walk away feeling good about your purchase. Follow these tips to achieve that goal”

Jeff Rose, CFP presents Why Wielding a Credit Card is the Best way to Approach Credit Restoration posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “For those people looking to rebuild their credit standing, the answer is, perhaps surprisingly, use of a credit card.”

N.W. Journey presents Understanding Your Financial Values posted at Networth Journey, saying, “Your financial values affect how you spend your money.”

Jeri Ford presents 27 Websites to Visit Before You Book Your Next Vacation posted at Help Me Travel Cheap, saying, “Save money on vacation with these websites.”

Miranda presents Why I Don’t Shop Much at Club Stores posted at Coupon Shoebox Tips, saying, “Club stores may be a foundation of frugal living, but for a small family like mine, they aren’t worth the membership fee.”

Rhiana presents Why Be Frugal? posted at A Frugal Life, saying, “Why Be Frugal? -Inspired by a Seth Godin blog post on What is School for? I decided to post on why you might want to live a more frugal lifestyle. The question comes up as I think of a lot of people I know who SHOULD be a bit more frugal, but aren’t”

Kyle James presents 6 Easy Ways To Save $500 Per Month posted at Kyle. Give them a try!

Niki presents Why we are a one car family posted at Debt Free by Thirty.

FIRE Getters presents Car Pool, Ride Share, Hitch Hike your way to Fun & Dollars! posted at FIRE Finance, saying, “There are days when we wished someone else was at the wheels so that we could relax for a while. Bad boss, uncooperative colleague, difficult deadlines, too many meetings – often build up a lot of stress. Imagine how risky it is if we had to drive on such a day when our nerves were already strained. To add insult to injury we could end up being late for dinner, courtesy bumper to bumper traffic. Sounds familiar?”

liverealnow presents Medical Costs and Choices posted at Live Real, Now, saying, “Medical costs can be insane. Is it worth it to automatically pay for the best doctor for every procedure?”

Craig/FFB presents The 8 Least-Evil Banks as Determined by CNNMoney posted at Free From Broke, saying, “The banks listed here can help you save on dreaded bank fees which most banks are increasing.”

Mr. Cents presents Pocket Change posted at Personal Cents.

MoneyThinking presents So, Today, I Went to the Store? posted at Money Thinking.

Dana J. presents Start Saving For Your Summer Vacation Now! | Not Made Of Money posted at Not Made Of Money, saying, “Start saving money now for that summer vacation so you can enjoy it debt free.”

Ken presents Where to Find Tax Help and Free Tax Preparation Service | Spruce Up Your Finances posted at Spruce Up Your Finances, saying, “Even with the free online tax filing, there are still a number of people who just don’t want to do the taxes themselves. Shows the list of IRS programs that offer free “person-to-person” tax preparation service.”

Tim Chen presents Continental 50,000 Mile Credit Card Sign Up Bonus (United Too!) posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch, saying, “Continental and United are merging their mile programs at the end of 2011, as part of their recent merger, so users of both mile programs should take note of this huge sign up bonus offer.”

Grace presents Frugality: Temporary, Tenuous, and Not Really Our Style posted at GRACEful Retirement.

Fanny Seto presents Free 2011 Hello Kitty Calendar posted at Living Richly on a Budget, saying, “This is a free, printable Hello Kitty calendar for 2011.”

Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance has 25 ideas for recreation that can save you big bucks in; 25 CHEAP IDEAS FOR FUN. Add to the list and pass it on!

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of festival of frugality 2 using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

image credit: woodleywonderworks

AVOIDING PERFECTIONISM

Until I met El Carino, I never realized perfectionism was unhelpful. In fact, El Carino is the anti-perfectionist and a MASTER at creating multiple streams of income. In his spare time, on the week ends, he writes books, chapters, and research articles. On top of that he consults and trains both in the U.S. and internationally. The sum total is quite a bit of additional income. He doesn’t worry about typos or making a draft without errors. Not only that, he prioritizes time with the family and fun! He is a huge inspiration to me!

For my first jump into the Carnival Hosting pool, I am going counter to my “perfectionist” traits. In fact, this Carnival is dedicated to El Carino, the anti-perfectionist. The carnival has no special theme. What it does have is some wonderful Money Stories. Please check  them out.

For all of you participants: Don’t forget to link back here from your own site. Please promote the carnival as well; twitter, facebook, tipd, stumble, and delicious are great! (see icons at the bottom of the carnival)

Personal Finance

• BWL presents Reaching Your Goals: A Lesson From Joseph posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “A look at the old story of Joseph from the Bible and what we can learn about reaching our goals…”
• Everything Finance presents Budgeting Tips for Couples posted at Everything Finance, saying, “The days where your biggest decision as a couple was what movie you were going to watch are over. Now, you are taking a new step as partners – perhaps you have recently moved in together, or are considering starting a family.  
•  Odysseas presents Gas Credit Cards Provide a Little Slice of Jersey posted at Wallet Blog, saying, “Looking for a way to save money on gas? Read this story of how one blogger found the perfect gas credit card and ended up saving $190 in one year.”
• Kristina presents Retirement Savings Plan Update: It’s Time to Smile posted at Dual Income No Kids, saying, “I don’t believe in paying for something that I can do myself “
• Shaheen E Lakhan presents The Price of Happiness posted at Brain Blogger, saying, “An analysis of income and happiness in the United States reveals that a salary of $75,000 does, in fact, buy happiness.”
• Debt kid presents Getting That Home-Stretch Feeling posted at DebtKid.
• Ctreit presents Spend money on relationships! posted at Money Obedience, saying, “Relationships are very important in life. Make sure that you nourish them.”

Business

•  Christina Crowe presents How Reading without Action Can Make Your Business Suffer posted at Cash Campfire, saying, “All too often I see this, and yet all too often I fall into the same trap. By soaking in information without taking action, your business cannot grow. This article talks about how too much information can prevent progress, and, ultimately, set you up for failure.”
• Randall Davidson presents 233 Ways to Make Money posted at Transcription Blog, saying, “A list of 233 legitimate ways to make money, most of which don’t require any special training.”
•  FMF presents My Recent New Car Purchase posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “I just bought a new car. Here’s how I did it.”
• Neal Frankle presents How To Hire A Top Financial Advisor Even If You Don’t Have Much To Invest posted at Wealth Pilgrim: Money Management Advice, Financial Stess Management, Addiction Recovery Plan & Resources, saying, “You can hire a top financial advisor – even if you don’t have much money.”
• Len Penzo presents How A Lemonade Stand Taught My Daughter To Love Monopolies posted at Len Penzo . Com. You gotta read this one!

Career

• Jeff Rose, CFP presents Is College Overrated? The Top 12 Highest Paying Jobs with NO College Degree posted at Jeff Rose, saying, “This article takes a look at some of the highest paying jobs that one could get with no college degree.”

Debt

• J. Jeff Rose, CFP presents Being Flat Broke Sucks: Inspiring Story of Surving Rock Bottom posted at soldieroffinance.com, saying, “There’s nothing more uplifting that a personal journey that ends it triumph. Here’s his story of how after day-trading away a quarter million dollars began digging his way out of debt in 2007″
• Wenchypoo presents New Ways Bankers are Spying on You posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “In an effort to head off personal financial meltdowns, an individual financial version of the Patriot Act has been unleashed on us all. Like WE were the sole cause of the LAST meltdown!”

Housing

• Kristia presents Our Riskiest Money Decision posted at Family Balance Sheet, saying, “I’m taking a chance now to hopefully save us thousands of dollars later.”  
• Big Cajun Man presents That is One BIG Mortgage posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Canadians hold over a trillion dollars in Mortgage debt.”  
• Passive family income presents How I Saved Over $70,000 on my Mortgage posted at Passive Family Income, saying, “Financial independence can only be achieved by taking two separate but equally important actions – spending less and earning more. Cutting back on your mortgage is one way we saved a lot more.”

Investing

• Roger Wohlner presents The Election and Your Financial Plan posted at Chicago Financial Planner.  
• HomeList presents The Story of My First Time Investing posted at The Investor’s Journal.
• Mike @ Green Panda presents Know When to Sell Your Investments posted at Green Panda Treehouse, saying, “A look at when and why to get out of investments.”  
• Joe Plemon presents How to 86 your 401(k) posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, “Your retirement account is NOT a savings account. This story makes the point.”
• Studenomist presents Is Student Debt Good Debt? posted at Studenomics.com, saying, “Can you consider student debt to be good?”
• Sandy presents One Year On Prosper posted at Yes, I Am Cheap, saying, “It’s been one year since I began investing through Prosper.com. Time to see how I did.”  
• Freefrombroke presents An Against the Grain Approach to Prioritizing Your Savings posted at Free From Broke, saying, “Before we can start thinking about the future we need to make sure our present finances are taken care of.”

Net Worth

•  Rachel presents When “Saving” Isn’t Saving | MomVesting posted at MomVesting.
•  The Financial Blogger presents Lifestyle Inflation Infection posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “How many of us are guilty of spending more than we should.” Read this one for a smile!

Other

• Michael Pruser presents Should Kids Save for Their Own College Fund? posted at The Dough Roller.
• Michael presents Mint Data: More Than You Care to Know About Other People’s Spending Habits posted at Consumerism Commentary.
•  Buck Weber presents Ten Tips to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck posted at THE BUCK LIST, saying, “The figures are startling to say the least – over 70 percent of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. By the time pay day comes around, they’re broke and waiting to get their hands on the money that is due them. It’s a vicious cycle that they cannot seem to break; it becomes a habit that is hard to get rid of; in short, it’s like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.”
• Briana Ford presents Join Our Group Writing Project: Holidays and Money posted at GoBankingRates, saying, “It’s time again for the next Go Banking Rates writing project! This month’s theme is geared toward the upcoming holiday season, so everyone should be able to add their two cents.”
• Liz M. presents The Emotional Impact of the Economy: Case Study posted at Suddenly Downsized, saying, “A look at the emotional impact of the economy and tips for coping with the negative effects.”
• J. Savings presents Always keep $100 in your checking account posted at Budgets Are Sexy, saying, “…to save you from making an ass out of youself! ”
• Ray @ Financial Highway presents Will You Have a Frugal Holiday Season? posted at Financial Highway, saying, “Are consumers really ready to spend more money come this holiday season? Maybe not. Perhaps frugality has caught on a bit. Maybe it will become a new holiday tradition.”
• Donna Freedman presents Let me eat cake. posted at Surviving and Thriving, saying, “Must PF bloggers always be beyond reproach, or at least approaching the off-ramp?”
• J. Jeff Rose, CFP presents Finding Your True Battle Buddy to Combat Your Financial Demons posted at soldieroffinance.com, saying, “As you go through the Solder Of Finance process and just sort of take charge of your life again, you are going to need support.”

Shopping

• Lauren Mendel presents No Need to Stir! posted at Richly Reasonable – Successes and failures, all in the name of living reasonably., saying, “What would you do for a couple of bucks? At what point does the money at stake become important enough to raise your blood pressure? For some, the principle of the matter is always worth the time and effort spent.”
• Cynthia presents My Car is Ruining my Shoes! posted at Cynthia’s Debt Marathon.
• Khaleef @ KNS Financial presents CVS Shopping for the Week of 11.07.10 – Saved $42, Spent $5, Made $9 posted at Faithful With A Few, saying, “Check out how we took advantage of deals, coupons, and ECBs in order to have CVS pay us to shop! Learn how to find these deals and match up coupons without spending an afternoon clipping away!”
• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Frugal Health and Beauty Tips: Look Good & Save $800 A Year posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “My personal stories on how to look good and stay healthy on a budget.”
•  Wenchypoo presents Cash Back Program Didn’t Include Food as Groceries posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
•  Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Theme Your Christmas posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Declaring a theme for Christmas is one of the best ways that we forced ourselves to save money for the holidays.”

image credit: EGSalms

Next week’s host is, Prarie Eco Thrifter. And a thank you to Blog Carnival and Mrs. Accountability for managing the event.  Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of money stories 2 using the carnival submission form.

EXCITING NEWS: October 23^rd I will be discussing Values and Money with Inger Molina on her radio program: Let’s Talk Dollars with Sense.

20 Minute Guide to Investing is NOW AVAILABLE! If you have any interest in learning about investing, either now or later, you must download this FREE eBook!

Featuring Craig Ford from Money Help for Christians

I Screwed Up!

Have any of you said you would do something and then not followed through? Many years ago I went back on a committment to follow through with something, and you know what? I still feel bad about it today! I think it is extremely important to live a life of character. When I make a commitment, I follow through….. Except when I make a mistake.

Here is what happened.

As you can see from my website and my shameless self promotion, I launched an eBook this week, 20 Minute Guide to Investing. Included in the appendix are links to some of my Personal Finance blogging colleagues from the Yakezie Network. One of the last activities in completing the book was reviewing the links and incorporating them into the appendix. I was honored that my blogging buddies contributed to my work and was excited to include their investing links in the guide.

After the book was completed, uploaded, and the distribution was set up, I relaxed, for a minute.

Oops, I messed up. I uncovered some links for the appendix from one of my blogging friends, Craig Ford at Money Help for Christians that I had misplaced. His links DID NOT GET IN THE BOOK. I felt awful. What should I do? It seemed lame to email him with an apology, but I really wanted to undo my mistake.

So, Craig, mea culpa…. your investing posts are the focus of this round up!

Why was this Mistake so Important to me?

• Relationships matter and my word means something. I don’t want to be viewed as the blogger who does not follow through.
• Karma – I don’t know if there is Karma or not, but I don’t want to risk building bad Karma if it exists!
• Reciprocating is one of my key values. When someone does something for me, reaches out, or pumps me up, then I want to thank them by reciprocating!
• Inclusiveness is another important value. (See above)
• Strong dependable character is crucial. I can’t maintain it if I blow someone off!

Craig Ford and other Great Reads-Welcome to some of the articles I enjoyed recently:

Sit back, relax, and check out all of the interesting articles (especially those from Money Help for Christians)

The missing investing links from Money Help for Christians

• Value Averaging Investment Strategy
• How to Start Investing; A Step by Step Investing Guide for Newbie Investors
• Mutual Fund Capital Gains Tax
• Are You Smart Enough to Time the Market?

“Yakezie member post: Roshawn Watson” of Watson, Inc.

Tight Fisted Miser shares “September Income”. A  fascinating look at how one blogger makes money!

Yes I am Cheap comes clean with “It’s Your Fault that You’re Still Unemployed”. Do you think this is right or wrong?

Money Reasons offers sage advice with “Roth IRA the Dividend Shield”. Basic investing advice for now and later.

Mike at  Saving Money Today wrote a wonderful book review at the Yakezie.com site entitled “Fight Back against unfair Debt Collection Practices.” An interesting look at both sides of the debt collection world.

You can’t go wrong with Dividend Monk’s ” Invest in What you Understand”. Good site for those of you interested in individual stock investing.

Financial Samurai wrote one of the coolest articles this week, “Automatic Good Financial Habits.”

“…….It’s amazing how we can blink roughly 36,000 times a day and not even be aware.  Yet, if we were to be consciously aware of our need to blink, we’d probably drive ourselves mad.  How great it is that our bodies protect ourselves from insanity by doing the things for us we have no desire of doing ourselves.”

Canadian Finance Blog has a great take on “RISK”…

“……Risk is different from uncertainty. Risk describes the expected payoffs when their probabilities of occurrence are known. Actuarial mortality tables are a familiar example. The actuary does not know what will happen in 14 years to Mr. Frank Smith but does know quite precisely what to expect for a group of 100 million people as a group—in each and every year. “Riskiness” in investing, by contrast, is akin to uncer­tainty, and that’s what the academics mean when they discuss beta (relative volatility) and market risk. Too bad they don’t use the exact terms. Risk is not having the money you need when you need it.”

Oblivious Investor has a must read NOW in “Planning Your Retirement Spending“…..

“…..In other words, we’re eliminating two of the biggest uncertainties that go into retirement planning — inflation and market returns — and leaving only one: longevity risk. You don’t know how long you’re going to live. In light of that fact, how much would you spend each year?”

Carol at IntheTrenches explains “Why I Often Buy Used”……

“…..When we think of the balance sheet we often think only of major purchases such as a home, cash, investment portfolio, or vehicles. All of these things clearly are important but applying the same principles to all purchases can assist to insure that we are getting the best deal for our money and achieving frugal objectives.”

“Book Review, 20 Minute Guide to Investing”,  by Kevin at Invest it Wisely. Of course, I think the review is great, even though he did point out some areas of improvement…..

“……This is an incredibly dense nugget of information. There is more substance in this free eBook than there is in many costly personal finance books.”

Car Negotiation Coach asks, “How will Google Monetize Car Buying?” What do you think, will google branch into this arena?

RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS & LINK ROUND UPS

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by the websites and check out the fine articles?

The following sites promoted the 20 Minute Guide to Investing is Here. Thank you to all!

Invest it Wisely included 20 Minute Guide to Investing is HERE.

Free from Broke

Wealthinformatics

Dividend Monk 

The BOOK MARKETING CARNIVAL at Selling Books.com also showcased the Guide.

Barbara Friedberg Member Post was published at Yakezie.com: Premier Personal Finance on the web.

Look for my GUEST POST, “What is a Stock and Why Should I Care?” on Monday October 18^th at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff!

image credit: LSG

20 MINUTE GUIDE TO INVESTING is launching next week! Stayed tuned, it’s going to be amazing! (and it’s free)

“True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense.”
Emanuel Swedenborg

This Swedish scientist hit the nail on the head. Charity and service to others is a part of life. Although many are wary of speaking about money, I don’t like to talk about charity. I feel like it’s kind of personal. But with that said, charity serves the giver more than the receiver!

MAIN TOPIC: How I Automated Giving

Like most of you out there, I get the pleas in the mail to contribute to this charity and that. Then of course there is my religious institution. Additionally, I try to live my beliefs by helping out neighbors, friends in need and others; ie visiting the sick in the hospital and preparing tax returns for low income folks. El Carino gives back to society every day through his job! (Somehow I feel this is really personal, what do you think?)

I frequently felt guilty if I didn’t respond to a request for help in the mail. But over time, I began receiving tons of these requests, and I questioned whether sending a few bucks to each was really making much of a difference. After all, the cost to keep me on their mailing list was certainly high.

Here’s how I reconciled our family’s charitable contributions.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Values and Charity Navigator

One day I decided to organize our family’s giving, just like we organize the rest of our lives. Step one was to consider our values; what were the causes we were most committed to. As with time and money, choices were made, we can’t give to every cause. We decided to categorize our giving into 4-5 different areas that we felt passionate about. Included in this list were children’s causes and charities that led to personal independence and accountability (micro loans & sustainability).

I logged on the Charity Navigator and started to investigate familiar charities, looking at the CEO’s pay, percent of the contribution that went to the cause, their overall rating, and the various components of the evaluation. I continued until I came up with a list of 10-15 charities that we wanted to support. Then I decided to contribute from the partner site, (there’s a small fee, but it’s tax deductible) Network for Good. I set up quarterly payments for each of the chosen charities.

DONE- Our contributions are automatically done quarterly to the charities of our choice! No more Less guilt over throwing the charity request envelopes away (sometimes I mail them back and ask to be removed from their mailing list.)

Part of WEALTH IN LIFE is giving back. It doesn’t mean that charitable contributions need to be stressful and time consuming. Automate, for more free time!

Another type of community service motivated me to start BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance; I am passionate, knowledgeable and successful financially and want to share my wealth of knowledge with others. I spend more time than I’d like to admit on-line and here are some of the outstanding articles I’ve read this week, and I want to share them with you.

Please check them out and enjoy:

The Girl with the Red Balloon disclosed her Adventures in Student Loans:

“On Tuesday last week, I realized something startling. My mammoth loan that I’ve been paying down since May was missing from my EdFinancial loan summary page……”

The Saved Quarter explained how She made an extra $1,100 in April, see if you can do it too:

“I was hoping to get back on track in April for my annual goal of $6,000, and to do that, I had to save over $1,050 this month. I wasn’t sure if I could make it happen, but I surprised myself by achieving and surpassing this goal before the end of the month! Here’s where the money came from:…….”

Read about how Darwin’s Moneygot a NEW REFRIGERATOR with a Nasty gram:

“But after weeks of complete incompetence and delays (the repair companies kept cancelling and the story kept changing from all customer service reps), I sent the following email (cut/pasted in its entirety so excuse additional contextual details) to Samsung customer service and guess what? New Fridge completely!…..”

Invest it Wisely introduced FREE Tips to Become more Productive with Google Aps:

“I personally make heavy use of Google Apps, and I find that it helps me save a lot of time on many everyday tasks….”

My Financial Objectives tackled the occasional question: Buy a new or used car? I liked his approach:

“As you may or may not know, I am an avid proponent of driving “beaters”, or something slightly abovea “beater” in an effort to save some cash.  I realize however, that I’m rather unique in having this mentality compared to a lot of people (not necessarily PF bloggers).  I’ll admit though, when I drive in a nicer car, I love it….”

Go Banking Rates tackled a common question on parents and 20 somethings minds, Moving Back Home after College: 

“One of the most exciting things about graduating college is the prospect of becoming a real “grown-up” and moving on to a new career, and even better, a new apartment. That’s in the beginning, anyway. Sooner or later, most fresh grads come to the realization that they’ve accumulated too much college debt during a down economy and poor job market to afford living on their own….”

I’m a sucker for How to Save Money at the Grocery Store and Not Made of Moneydid not disappoint:

“I’m trying to keep tabs on my grocery bill and here are some things I’m doing this Fall to keep the expenses in check:…..”

Debt Free Adventure addressed the age old question, How to Save Money Fast:

“If you’re in need of help, read through this list with an open mind.  Be ready to work and ready to change.  Saving money takes purpose and action, and if you are truly passionate about saving the money, you should be able to get the job done by using one or more of these strategies….”

Money Help for Christians lays out a Step by Step Investing Guide for Newbies:

“For many, the investing world is a maze of complexity.  But it does not need to be so intimidating. In this post, I’m going to try and track back about 15 years ago to when I first invested in a mutual fund.  Knowing what I know now, what would I have done to start investing?…”

Happy Fall-Everyday tips & thoughts gives us 15 Inexpensive Things to do in the Fall:

“I love the fall, it is my favorite time of year.  I don’t know if it is the childhood memories of raking and burning leaves or what, but for a month or so, the world just seems perfect to me…..”

Wealth Artisan shares how to Win with Time:

“When we use the term “winning with time” we’re simply discussing how you can use time efficiently, either to enjoy a certain quality of life, or to be paid adequately to compensate for the lost time….”

WISE BREAD asks is Giving up your Car Easier than you Think?:

“Getting over that initial stigma of “downsizing” to one vehicle wasn’t easy at first, but the idea gradually started to appeal more to us over time…….”

image credit: Klodiana

RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS & LINK ROUND UPS

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by the websites and check out the fine articles?  

Carnival of financial planning at Personal Finance by the Book posted A Sneak Peek inside the Friedberg Portfolio, Part 1

Carnival of Money Stories 2 at Miss Thrifty posted Who Wants a Free MP3 Player?

Carnival of Personal Finance  at Well Heeled Blog posted A Sneak Peek Inside the Friedberg Portfolio-Part 2

Euphoria Blog Carnival at Reaching Euphoria and Invest it Wisely both published  The Secret to Amazing Life Success

Len Penzo dot Com and KNS Financial posted Who Wants a Free MP3 Player?

My Financial Objectives posted Passive Income Fact or Fiction?

How do you handle your charitable giving and service? Are you apprehensive about discussing it?

Assess Your Risk Tolerance

EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK. And it’s FREE to my readers.

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” Warren Buffett

I’ve been investing for many many years. In my 20’s all I could think about was “the great depression” and how so many lost so much. Although I had a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and had taken a class or 2 in the stock market, I was scared of stock investing. I was terrified of risk and I certainly didn’t know much about investing.

As I acquired some cash, I went to visit a stock broker who respected my preferences and introduced me to some bonds and bond funds. He introduced me to the dollar cost averaging  and answered my investing questions by loaning me his investing training manuals. After dipping my toe in the investing pool, learning a bit about investments, and watching my net worth grow for a while, I gained some confidence. A lifelong passion was born.

MAIN TOPIC; Risk tolerance THEN and NOW

Although my investment portfolio went up and down, I got used to the volatility. I was still afraid of “losing it all,” but learned through study, that if I diversified my assets, the ups and downs of my portfolio would even out. I didn’t know it at the time, but my RISK TOLERANCE was governing my investment decisions.

For those of you just starting out, or learning about investing, start with introspection. When your investment value goes down 10-15%, are you a nervous wreck? Does this small percent drop in your portfolio terrify you and keep you up at night? If so, you need to titrate your portfolio to honor your temperament.

WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN?

Riskier assets with more ups and downs usually offer HIGHER RETURNS.

Stock investments: Individual stocks, stock mutual funds, international stocks offer the possibility of greater returns along with more risk.

Bond investments: Individual bonds, bond funds, corporate, and government bonds offer lower returns and less volatility.

SOUNDS SIMPLE; JUST INVEST IN STOCKS, GET HIGHER RETURNS.

OR –  SCARED OF RISK? INVEST IN BONDS AND ACCEPT LOWER RETURNS.

Wait a minute, not so simple.

These investing maxims have held up over the long term IN THE PAST; but what about the last 5 years? According to Morningstar.com,  during the last 5 years, bonds outperformed stocks by a large margin.

5 YEAR RETURNS-annualized

Morningstar US Market Index-0.67%

Morningstar Core Bond Index-6.04%

Practical Application: What should I do?

Are you totally confused? To summarize, long term stocks offer higher return with more risk; bonds have lower returns and lower risk. But in the past 5 years, stocks had high volatility and low returns and bonds outperformed stocks by a huge margin.

Welcome: DIVERSIFICATION

Those rules of risk and return have held true in the past over the long term, > 10 years.

 NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TYPE OF RETURNS AND VOLATILITY THE MARKETS HOLD IN THE FUTURE.

Protect your investments by spreading around the risk.

During the past 5 years, if your investment portfolio looked like this:

50% STOCKS

50% BONDS

Your annualized return would have been 3.36% with moderated volatility.

The lesson is to choose investment funds in a variety of asset classes. The ups and downs will balance out and moderate the returns and risks.

Conventional wisdom recommends a greater percent of your investment in stocks if you are younger and can tolerate more risk. If you are older and/or more risk averse, raise the percent of bond assets.

Continue reading this series and you will learn how I invest our family assets.

BEFORE YOU INVEST YOU MUST READ 10 STEPS YOU MUST TAKE BEFORE BEGINNING AN INVESTING PROGRAM.

Caveat: This article is for information purposes only and may not be appropriate for your individual situation.

ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Take a RISK TOLERANCE QUIZ or 2 and jot down whether to weight your portfolio more toward stocks or bonds.

MSN Money Risk Quiz 

 Risk Tolerance Quiz from Rutgers University site by 2 finance professors (Source: Grable, J. E., & Lytton, R. H. (1999). Financial risk tolerance revisited: The development of a risk assessment instrument. Financial Services Review, 8, 163-181.)

image credit; purplemattfish

RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS & Link Round up

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by & check out the fine articles?  

 How to Design a Budget with Room for the Fun Stuff was selected for a link round up at KNS Financial

Carnival of Money Stories at Eventual Millionaire published No Brainer Money Management for College Students

Carnival of Wealth at Personal Dividends posted Follow these Instructions and Get Wealthy

YAKEZIE PERSONAL FINANCE BLOGS

After every article for the next several weeks, you will be introduced to several Personal Finance web sites in the Yakezie network. Each one has their own unique voice and style. The consistency in all is their desire to help others. Consider visiting a few each day!

My Personal Finance Journey
Narrow Bridge
Not Made of Money
One Money Design
Out of Debt Again
Parenting Family Money
Peak Personal Finance
Personal Finance by the Book

EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK. And it’s FREE to my readers.

“Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.”
Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder offers some provocative advice. Are link posts in alignment with Wilder’s thinking or is this a stretch?

MAIN TOPIC: Help me out, please

I want your advice.

Yes or no, do you read link posts and find them useful or not?

Here is what I’ve been reading this week-end. There’s so much worthy info in the blogosphere, what do you think?

Would you prefer a typical article or do you enjoy the diversity of a link post?

How to Budget in Less than 20 Minutes a Week at Moolanomy  

How many of you earn over $100,000/year  It’s all about the comments! I Will Teach you to be Rich

Spending too much Money and Course Correcting at Financial Samurai

10 Money Lessons every College Student & Parent should Know at PT Money

Blogging Essentials at Free from Broke    

How to Invest in Vanguard Funds using ETFs and Save Money while you’re at it at Invest it Wisely

Financial Automation at Dividend Monk

Gather Your Data: Debt and Net Worth at Eventual Millionaire Millionaire

Making Money Challenge at Aspiring Millionaire

Are Gen Yers Different? Do I Follow the Stereotype? at My Journey to Millions

ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Spend a few minutes reading something which will grow your wealth.

 image credit: Rachel Sian

RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS & LINK ROUND  UPS

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by and check out the fine articles? 

The Yakezie Carnival at Aspiring Millionaire presented Reduce Money Stress; Get Rid of Dysfunctional Money Behaviors

Beating the Index published How to Design a Budget with Room for the Fun Stuff

 YAKEZIE PERSONAL FINANCE BLOGS

After every article for the next several weeks, you will be introduced to several Personal Finance web sites in the Yakezie network. Each one has their own unique voice and style. The consistency in all is their desire to help others. Consider visiting a few each day!

Personal Finance Journey
Personal Finance Student
PF Firewall
Planting Dollars
Punch Debt in the Face
Rainy-Day Saver
Redeeming Riches
Retirement Investing Today

Money Management for the OVERWHELMED

EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK. And it’s FREE to my readers. 

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”  William James 

Stress and adversity hit us all. What defines a person of strength is how she/he handles the challenges. Follow William James’ advice, choose calm thoughts, and tackle one task at a time. 

Be calm & hang on to your sense of humor.

MAIN TOPIC: THINGS AREN’T GOING AS PLANNED

Have you ever felt like the s—t is hitting the fan? At every corner there is a new problem or difficulty to contend with? All of your plans and expectations are in the toilet!

Welcome to my world. There are a lot of stressors in play now-not really financial – but other things going wrong ALL AT ONCE. Unfortunately, when things go wrong, we still need to go on living and keep up with our responsibilities, especially our financial ones. What happens if in the midst of chaos, you let your finances go on the back burner? …….TROUBLE FOLLOWS….   Fees, interest, and more expenses make things WORSE. 

This article is for those times when EVERYTHING SEEMS TOO MUCH. When your mind is consumed with lots of other things, do the bare minimum. Keep focused, don’t freak out, and only do what’s necessary.
 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: READ THIS IN TIMES OF STRESS & CRISIS

Be in the present. I know your mind is going in all different directions, but you can’t concentrate with too much stimuli. Deal with the most important task first. 

Take a deep breath. No, really, do it. Now, take another one. 

During times of stress, your goal is this; do only these 4 money tasks. 

1. Pay all bills on time.
2. Continue with debt repayments, pay more than the minimum.
3. Continue to keep track of your money in your pocket and in your accounts.
4. Maintain adequate balances to avoid fees in your accounts.

THAT’S IT. NOTHING MORE. Or maybe you could smile and think about something funny, like penguins. 

When things get crazy, slow down and SIMPLIFY. But don’t forget basic money management. If you do, MORE STRESS WILL FOLLOW. 

Read more about this topic at Funny about Money in Getting over it, Strategies to Conquer Stress and Money. Or consider the Power of 1, a powerful strategy for your personal finances  from Simple Financial Lifestyle.

Add to the conversation. How do you deal with stressful and overwhelming times? What are the tricks that work for you? 

 ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans. 

Take a moment to slow down and follow the 4 steps.  

BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance Around Web 

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by the CARNIVALS and round ups to check out the fine articles?   

Carnival of Personal Finance at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff published No Brainer Money Management for College Students  

KNS Financial  referenced IF you Need Extra Money; Do not do this, on his site last week. 

Dividend Monk and Invest it Wisely both included  The Best of BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance; 6 Month Anniversary Edition in their round ups this week. 

YAKEZIE PERSONAL FINANCE BLOGS 

After every article for the next several weeks, you will be introduced to several Personal Finance web sites in the Yakezie network. Each one has their own unique voice and style. The consistency in all is their desire to help others. Consider visiting a few each day! 

Suburban Dollar
Sustainable Life Blog
Sweating the Big Stuff
The Amateur Financier
The Centsible Life
The Consumer Boomer 

I Feel Lucky; Gambling as a Road to Wealth

EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook about Investing. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK; and it’s FREE to my readers.

This article is the 4^th  in a series relating poor money behaviors with stress. The topics are inspired by an article entitled Emotions, Money, & Financial Stress by Nancy Losinno, published at the US Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory website.

Why not read the whole series?

Part 1: GO SHOPPING to solve your problems?

Part 2: Overcome a Passion for Procrastination (in dealing with financial matters)

Part 3: Money & Relationships-Make it Work!

“Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?” Jay Leno

 Is this an indictment on psychics or the lottery? I’m not certain, but either way winning the lottery is highly unlikely.

MAIN TOPIC: Can you Believe this Guy?

Last week a well dressed business man pulled up a chair, laid down his laptop, and proceeded to the counter to pick up his coffee. As he walked into the shop, I marveled once again at the number of virtual office workers who congregate at the coffee shop.

 Wow, was I surprised when the man laid out his “work.” He had about 10 lottery tickets which he began scraping with a small tool. This time I forced myself to KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT! 

 Here’s what went through my mind:

 “Oh my G-d. Doesn’t this guy know that he is flushing his money down the toilet? Didn’t anyone tell him the odds of winning anything significant is at least 1 in a million? He should take the amount he regularly wastes on the lottery and put it in a broad based index mutual fund like the Vanguard Total World Stock Index! ……… I really want to talk to him, but I know it is none of my business.”

This is one of my biggest financial pet peeves; trying to WIN YOUR WAY TO WEALTH. Unfortunately, this stranger is not the only one I know with this mindset. Several family members share this distorted money-making attitude. It’s the demonstration of trying to GET RICH QUICK. It is very very unlikely! The lottery ticket buyers are frequently those individuals who carry large credit card balances, and collect the latest gadgets (even when they can’t afford them).

 These individuals are missing a key SUCCESS STRATEGY: the ability to DELAY GRATIFICATION.

 PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Get Rid of Toxic Thinking

Any sort of gambling will not lead to wealth; not lotteries, black jack, roulette, poker etc. The odds are IN FAVOR OF THE HOUSE.

If you even consider gambling or playing the lottery in the hopes of “STRIKING IT RICH,” ADJUST YOUR THINKING NOW.

 As Losinno said, “The reality is that most of us will have to work until we get to retire, and only a tiny percentage of people ever win lotteries.  It’s far better to use your wits to plan soundly towards making your retirement dream comfortable.  You’ll probably come out ahead anyway, by being a tortoise rather than the hare, since most Lotto winners have lost their winnings within the first five years.” 

Old thinking: Buy lottery tickets to get rich!

New thinking: There is no such thing as a free ticket to wealth. I have to plan, save, and invest in order to gain wealth. It’s not easy, but if I take it step-by-step, it’s possible. Delaying Gratification leads to financial success.

 ACTION STEPS:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

1. Go to the human resources (HR) office at work to set up an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck into a savings account. If it’s taken out immediately, you will not miss the cash.
2. While you are at the HR office inquire about a savings plan &/or 401(K). Don’t get scared if you don’t understand the program, ask the human resources staff to help you. It’s their job!
3. Pick up my RSS feed (the big orange striped button on the top right) and read BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance regularly to learn how to achieve wealth.

RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS

I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by the CARNIVALS and check out the fine articles?  

The Carnival of Personal Finance at Miss Thrifty featured my article, 3 Amazing Career Tips

The Carnival of Money Stories 2 at Simply Forties ran How Daniel Makes Extra Money and you can too.