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Carnival of Personal Finance 190: Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?

Welcome to the 190th Carnival of Personal Finance! This is Funny about Money’s first opportunity to host the CoPF, and I feel very privileged to do so. It’s a large carnival, and this week we have many excellent and worthy submissions.

Here we are in times that eerily echo the Great Depression. We have a tumbling stock market, collapsing financial institutions, soaring rates of foreclosures and unemployment, catastrophic weather events, and a new President influenced by Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Maynard Keynes who takes office after a period of unbridled greed and excess. Hence this week’s theme: buddy, can you spare a dime? Luckily we’re not yet in the dire straits that the country entered during the 1930s, and we hope not to get there. But it’s worth reminding ourselves that people did survive hard times then, and so will we.

Editor’s Choices are flagged with adoring red hearts: *

Money: Tending to What’s Left

Crowds gather outside New York Stock Exchange, 1929

Crowds converge on Wall Street, 1929

VC
The Penny Daily
Should I Invest in Certificates of Deposit
Everything you wanted to know about CDs, and then some. A good survey.

Greg Keene
Managing Money God’s Way
I Want My 401(k) Back!
Greg counsels patience and calm. It’s too late to panic, anyway.

Dividend Tree
Commodity Asset Class in Dividend Growth Portfolio
This is a sophisticated discussion of how and why corporations engaged in commodity businesses are good proxy for the commodity asset class.

Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck
Roth IRA Contribution Limits: Your Earnings, Income, and Marital Status Matter
So does your age, as Beyond notes in passing. Useful pointers on Roths.

Steve
Personal Finance Start-up Blog
Biggest Lesson I Learned from This Bear Market
Steve examines degrees of risk-aversiveness and what they mean.

Dan Melson
Searchlight Crusade
Be Careful Moving Your Down Payment Money
Dan offers some interesting advice about how sudden movements of large cash sums will be viewed by lenders.

???Jim
Bargaineering
High-interest Savings Accounts Profiles
Exactly who are those outfits that propose to pay you a high rate on your savings account? Jim offers an excellent survey of high-interest account providers with information about each.

FFB
Free From Broke
Nine Reasons You Need an Online High-Yield Savings Account
And, while we’re on the subject, here’s more to consider.

Patrick
Cash Money Life
ING Business Savings Account Review
Another high-yield savings account; good survey of its features and how to get it

Money
Moneymonk
Personal Gurus, I’m Getting Tired of Your Advice
Money observes that celebrity PF gurus seem to do things quite differently from what they advise.

Steward
My Family’s Money
Budgeting Basics: Income Tracker
Steward suggests that part of a budget is increasing income as well as amount saved; he shows how to build an income-tracking spreadsheet.

CJ
The Coin Jar
Pay off Your Mortgage? Look at More than Just Numbers
In the pay-it-off vs. put-the-cash-in-savings debate, CJ is firmly in the pay-off corner but allows that factors other than the numbers may come into play.

???The Dividend Guy
3 Free Sources for Dividend Data
Whoa! This is interesting! Dividend Guy not only provides some sources for information about a company’s dividend history, he tells you how to access it and provides some hints about how to figure out what it means.

Sun
The Sun’s Financial Diary
A Free Stock Analysis Tool
Here’s an online tool that provides a surprising amount of data.

DR
Dough Roller
Online Banking: A Complete Guide to Internet Banks
A survey of the kinds of online banking, its features, and how to select the best service for you

Smarty
Growing Money
5 High-Yield Dividend Stocks for 2009
If you still have a nickel and a dime to rub together, here are some “buy” recommendations for the down market.

Ryan Suenaga
Uncommon Sense
Can One Ever Properly Prepare for Death?
Managing your shekels doesn’t stop until you shuffle off this mortal coil.

Dividend Growth Investor
Dividend Yields for Major US Indexes
Interesting information about the nature of dividend stocks; DGI notes that index yields are beating ten-year notes for the first time in fifty years.

Ben
Money Smart Life
Insurance Policies 101: Understanding Insurance Policies and Claims
Broke or not, you need to insure your property and protect yourself from liability. Here’s a clear, well written primer.

DJ
The Family Wallet
Is Your Emergency Fund Adequate in Today’s Economy?
DJ raises a good point.

PFR
Personal Finance Reviews
FICO 08 to Be Available to Consumers Soon
Fair Isaac is about to roll out its new FICO scoring; PFR previews some of its features.

Getting By

Walking toward Los Angeles

*Hannah
Monogamoney
The Financial Lessons I’ve Learned from My Younger Self
A thoughtful essay: Hannah looks back on earlier tough times to see the things she did right then, and reflects on how they apply today.

Greener Pastures
Economic Collapse-R-Us: 22 Lifestyle Changes of Middle-Class America
Interesting! See how many of these you’re already doing.

Bret Frohlich
BretFrohlich.com
Why I Never Budget
A man who can trust himself…or who has no fear.

Miranda
Yielding Wealth
Can You REALLY Live a Cash-only Lifestyle?
While conceding that it’s possible, Miranda suggests some ways to build your credit rating without racking up charges.

Stephanie
Poorer than You
Is It OK to Bridge the Gap with Credit Cards?
Stephanie contemplates the possibility that her student loans will start to come due before she can land a job.

*Kate
The Paycheck Chronicles
5 Reasons that Not Saving Money Is Saving Me Money
In a neat, insightful article, Kate explains a seeming contradiction.

FIRE Finance
A Simple Budget that Works?
Some thoughts on simplicity in budgeting, and a story to go with

Silicon Valley Blogger
The Digerati Life
YNAB (You Need a Budget) Personal Budget Software Review
A very detailed description of this program

Jacques Sprenger
The Smarter Wallet
Downsize and Cut Costs, or Work at a Second Job?
Jacques sees two options for dealing with recessionary times.

Mara Rogers
Secrets for Money
Turn Your Your Home into a Boardinghouse and Other Ways to Leverage Your Home
Here’s a way to get some money in the event of a layoff.

The Strump
5 Things I Learned from the Last Recession
The world may not be ending, after all…

Dana
Not Made of Money
Medical Insurance: Review Your Coverage for the New Year
Good advice: review your health insurance coverage to head off any unpleasant surprises.

The Happy Rock
Reader Stories: The Beauty of Frugality and Family
More evidence that the world is not ending!

Down at the Salt Mine

Working on Shasta Dam

Todd
Harvesting Dollars
Improve Your Career
Good advice on how to move up in the job you’ve chosen.

*PT Money
Prime Time Money
52 Ways to Make Extra Money
Feeling at a loss as to how to start a second income stream? Try one of these ideas.

Single Guy Money
Had My Performance Evaluation Today
w00t! Single Guy got a raise! Single, eh? hmmm…

*Moolanomy
Five Reasons Lending Club Beats Credit Cards When Funding a Small Business
This guest post by Dough Roller presents an interesting proposition. You find a bonus reason if you read all the way through.

Free stuff

Free haircut at the general store

Thomas
Paying for Retirement
Free Online Storage Backup
Get two gigs of password-protected storage space. A great way to save yourself a lot of grief and heaven only knows how much in data retrieval costs if your system goes down.

Madison
My Dollar Plan
6 Free E-file Options
File your taxes online for free.

Splurge without breaking the bank

Dancing the jitterbug

Beatrice
Ginger Beat
Beatrice Goes Granola
Here’s a tasty recipe for a large amount of granola. Be advised: it’s not cheaper than store-bought…but it’s sure better, and you know exactly what’s in it.

FMF
Free Money Finance
Do You Expect to Get Fair Market Value out of Gift Cards You Receive?
FMF looks a gift horse in the mouth. His readers join in the examination.

When You Walk through the Storm…

Dust storm in Rolla, Kansas

SD Guy
StretchyDollar.com
The Power of a Vision
Why it’s not only OK to dream, it’s a good idea.

*Karen Chan
Plan Well, Retire Well
Think You Might Be Getting Laid Off? Here Are Some Questions to Ask Yourself
Good checklist from a university’s PF site.

FruGal
How to Find a Job in a Recession
Advice on preparing your job-hunting package

Darwin
Darwin’s Finance
Generation Debt: Our Children Will Hate Us
Darwin worries that what goes around will come around.

Adam
Your Money Relationship
Should You Forgo A Match From a 401(k) In Order to Start an
Emergency Fund?
Adam addresses one of those questions that haunt you at three in the morning.

The Weakonomist
Weakonomics
Divorce: The Destroyer of Wealth?
There’s never a good time to divorce (or, as The Weakonomist suggests, never a good time to make an ill-considered marriage), but given the astonishing costs of splitting up, this may be one of the worst times.

RC
Think Your Way to Wealth
Discussing Money Issues with Your Wife or Husband
Speaking of marital issues, here’s some commonsense advice on talking about money matters between husband and wife.

Destroy Debt
What You Should Know about Debt Settlement before Signing on the Dotted Line
Interesting article about a strategy of last resort

Mr. CC
Ask Mr. Credit Card’s Blog
Unauthorized Cosigners and Repaying Old Debt
Here’s a two-for-one as Mr. CC addresses a pair of readers’ predicaments

Passive Family Income

Share and Enjoy:

February 2, 2009 | Filed Under Carnivals & Festivals

comments

54 Responses to “Carnival of Personal Finance 190: Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?”

Miranda on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for including me in this week’s carnival. A great round up of resources.
Adam on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for hosting this week!
This Week’s Carnivals and Festivals | Financial Reflections on February 2nd, 2009

[...] The Carnival of Personal finance is hosted by Funny About Moneyand has my Tax Time Links. There’s more for this week, and I will add them as the week goes along. Share and Enjoy: [...]
stretchydollar on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for doing the dirty work this week – looks like a sweet bunch of personal finance goodness.
FFB on February 2nd, 2009

Does this carnival get bigger every week?!? Great job putting this all together. Thanks!
Financial literacy, recovery rebate credits, and living in balance at Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck on February 2nd, 2009

[...] just finished reading through this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Funny About Money and featuring my article Roth IRA Contribution Limits: Your Earnings, [...]
Another Day at the Carnival | Managing Money God's Way on February 2nd, 2009

[...] about Money is hosting this weeks Carnival of Personal Finance. Check out the carnival and read some great posts including my post titled I want my 401(k) back! [...]
the weakonomist on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for including me! I always love a good list!
Moolanomy on February 2nd, 2009

Thank you for choosing the article on my blog as an editor’s choice. I like how you set this up, mixing editor’s picks with other great submissions.
» Turn Your Home Into A Boardinghouse And Other Ways To Leverage Your HomeSecrets for Money:Inspirational Tips For More Money, More Time, And More Fun on February 2nd, 2009

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thomas on February 2nd, 2009

nice writeup and thanks for the inclusion. Some great posts this week.
Carnival of Personal Finance 190 | Paying For Retirement on February 2nd, 2009

[...] carnival is up. This week it is being hosted by Funny About Money. My article about free online storage was selected for this week’s carnival. Be sure to check [...]
Laura @ no more spending on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for hosting and including my post. One big Carnival
Carnival of Personal Finance #190 at Funny-About-Money » American Consumer News on February 2nd, 2009

[...] week, Funny-About-Money hosts the 190th issue of the Carnival of Personal Finance, drawing inspiration from the depression [...]
J. Money on February 2nd, 2009

sweetness – good work!
SingleGuyMoney on February 2nd, 2009

Great job on the carnival. Thanks for including my post.
Do You Conduct Layoff Drills? | The Red Stapler Chronicles on February 2nd, 2009

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headknocker on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for including me in this weeks carnival. Good job in getting so many people involved.
funnyaboutmoney1 on February 2nd, 2009

I think that in fact the CoPF is always pretty large: it’s a very popular carnival. This edition probably looks unusually large because of its format, which provides a separate graf for each entry, and because of the large number of full-size images. And FaM’s layout has a rather narrow column for copy.
How To Setup Your File Cabinet For Tax Season - stumbleforward.com on February 2nd, 2009

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RC@Thinkyourwaytowealth on February 2nd, 2009

Great job- there are some really good photos included. Thanks for including my article!
cashmoneylife on February 2nd, 2009

Thanks for hosting!
Darwin's Finance on February 2nd, 2009

Hey, thanks for the inclusion. I hope I’m wrong about future generations hating us for blowing it. I’m an optimist after all!
Carnival of Personal Finance #190 | Growing Money on February 2nd, 2009

[...] http://funny-about-money.com/2009/02/02/carnival-of-personal-finance-190-buddy-can-you-spare-a-dime [...]
The Dividend Guy on February 3rd, 2009

Cool – thanks for making one of mine the editor’s choice. I greatly appreciate it!

TDG
johnschr on February 3rd, 2009

Thank you for including my post this week in the carnival.
Dividend Tree on February 3rd, 2009

Thank you for the great effort in summarizing the articles. Excellent theme. Thank you for including my post.

Best Regards,
DT
PFI Weekly Updates - February 3 (2009) — Passive Family Income on February 3rd, 2009

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The Happy Rock on February 3rd, 2009

Thanks for hosting and all the summaries, I know it takes quite a long time.
funnyaboutmoney1 on February 3rd, 2009

It didn’t take all that long. I figure if an author goes to the trouble of writing a blog entry (some of which are well researched and written with some real flair), the least you can do in a round-up is give the person a little plug.
SimplyForties on February 4th, 2009

Great job with the carnival, especially since you ended up pressed for time! Great theme and great pcitures!
No Job Layoffs! Best Companies That Avoid Corporate Downsizing on February 5th, 2009

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Earning More or Spending Less? Plus Helpful Financial Guides on February 5th, 2009

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Weekly Roundup and Carnivals on February 6th, 2009

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Weekly Dividend Investing Roundup - February 7, 2009 | The Dividend Guy Blog on February 7th, 2009

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Tom on February 7th, 2009

Thanks for including me!
Cheers!
This Week at the Carnivals and Festivals | Uncommon Cents on February 7th, 2009

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Weekly Links in Investing and Personal Finance Feb 7, 2009 | Darwin's Finance on February 7th, 2009

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Weekly Roundup - One Million Edition | Cash Money Life : Cash Money Life on February 8th, 2009

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Weekend Roundup - 02/08/2009 on February 8th, 2009

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Link Love Makes Me Happy « Happy Money Medium on February 8th, 2009

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Weekend Linkage - February 7, 2009 on February 8th, 2009

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Weekly Personal Finance Links- Will the Stimulus Actually Stimulate the Economy? | Think Your Way to Wealth on February 9th, 2009

[...] about Money hosted the 190th Carnival of Personal Finance-Buddy Can You Spare a Dime Edition, and included my article “Discussing Money Issues with Your Wife or [...]
Weekend Roundup - Ice In Florida Edition | Money Tips, Save Money, Frugal Living & More Ways to Stretch Your Budget on February 9th, 2009

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Blog Carnivals: Headachey Edition » Poorer Than You on February 9th, 2009

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Weekly Roundup and Carnivals « Credit Crunch Finance on February 9th, 2009

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QuickHits: Late Edition | Prime Time Money on February 9th, 2009

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Weekend Roundup - Ice In Florida Edition | Finance Money Financial News on February 10th, 2009

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Personal Finance Carnival Round-Up - #22 | swfinance.info on February 18th, 2009

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Is the Fed running the U.S. economy into the ground? on February 20th, 2009

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Recent Blog Carnivals (February 2009) | Pecuniarities on February 20th, 2009

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* Five Reasons Lending Club Beats Credit Cards When Funding a Small Business on April 7th, 2009

[...] investment. The result may very well be faster funding of loans.This article was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Funny About Money. Related ArticlesWhy Lending Club Has Stopped Taking New Lenders [...]
money-saving-tips on April 27th, 2009

Another interesting article from your blog When will it stop….hopefully never