Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance

Welcome to week 31 of the Carnival of Personal Finance! I have received a ton of great posts this week... it's taken me hours to put the carnival together simply because I keep getting sidetracked by all the great reading material. I'm excited this week because we have several first-time Carnival participants.... Musing Money has their first carnival post this week as well, and offers some educational information this week on portfolio diversification and allocation. Another newcomer to the Carnival is mapgirl. This week she posts about Frumperella - dressing down to save money. And yet another newcomer is Bill from No BS Finance and his post Start Saving Now. Frank the Financially Savvy Atheist (say that five times fast!) shares his view on the lottery topic in a very detailed spreadsheet. And our final new carnival participant, Fearless Money, shares his experiences this week on some of the unexpected benefits of budgeting. And now for some great posts by our Carnival Regulars... Funny Money has contributed an article about Flexible Spending Accounts, and how to make the most of this tax deduction. Madame X at My Open Wallet has written an article with her own predictions on the next big personal finance books. More than one of her predictions has been added to my library wait list! Frugal For Life has written about minimalist living and what that means. A great article for those curious about minimizing their life, or just their expenses. Ashish's Niti has posted a very detailed rent vs. buy analysis for the Bay Area. Consumerism Commentary also has a post this week on buying versus renting and its effect on wealth building, and links to an article that points out an online rent vs. buy calculator may not be the best way to analyze your investment. Free Money Finance has a great round-up of their posts you can use to shape up your finances for the new year. Frugal Underground offers up a review of the newest online personal finance software (bonus - it's free!). Five Cent Nickel shares his predictions of what this year has in store for interest rates and what will happen if they stop rising. Search Light Crusade also has a post this week about interest rates and their affect on the housing bubble. This week, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity defines good debt and bad debt. Sound Money Tips debunks some horrible advice offered in Money Magazine this week. InsureBlog shares some information this week on how to be proactive when shopping for health care. Below the Beltway offers this week their thoughts on the changing retirement landscape. Sitting Pretty writes about why work doesn't always pay. The Picket Line offers us some suggestions on taking advantage of the new green tax credits available this year. Mighty Bargain Hunter wrote this week about Generation P... read the article to find out why that's not a typo. Personal Finance Advice has written this week a timely article about TurboTax's giftcard promotion (and why it may or may not be a good deal for you). Boston Gal's Open Wallet shares her frustration with those that view lottery tickets as investments. In Cash Flow We Trust has a helpful link this week for search engine optimization. Investor Geeks has submitted a post about a topic that I would like to know more about... the Morningstar Fund Screener. Fat Pitch Financials also has some information this week on how to get FREE Morningstar stock research! Million Dollar Goal writes this week about how the national debt affects individuals. Brian at Financial Reference has a very educational post about the various fees that often come with mutual fund investments. Retire at 30 shares with us this week his workaround for an annoying flaw built intentionally into Quicken. Frugal For Life has a post this week about the perceptions of a good deal. No Credit Needed writes this week about his decision to take the plunge and start funding a Roth IRA! JLP at All Things Financial has submitted a breakdown of the benefits of the Kroger 1-2-3 Mastercard. Financially Independent has an educational posting this week about liquid savings and fixed savings and how those play a role in becoming financially independent. Cap from StopBuyingCrap has a review up on the book, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me by Richard Paul Evans. Here's a last minute review of Motley Fool: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers from Investing Guide. Thank you everyone who submitted material this week, I can hardly believe the wide variety of topics! If anyone would like to add their post, please email me or post a comment below and I will update throughout the week. Next week's Carnival will be hosted by the Capitalist Blogger. I'll see you there! Tags: Carnival of Personal Finance, personal finance, budgeting, retirement, saving, money