Military Finance Network

Welcome to the 84th Edition of the Money Hacks Carnival. This carnival features a variety of recent personal finance articles, reviews, and resources from a wide range of personal finance websites.

What is a Money Hack? A money hack is anything that makes it easier to manage your personal finances, better understand a complex financial topic, earn money, save money , or improve your finances. Each article in this carnival will help you improve your financial situation.

What you will find in this week’s selections: There were almost 100 articles submitted for this carnival, and my job as editor was to go through them to provide only the most recent and helpful money hacks in one place – so you don’t have to search the web for the latest and greatest. It took awhile, but I got the job done. I cut out quite a few articles to keep the focus on “money hacks.” What you will find: hacks, tips, tutorials, and comparisons designed to help you make money, save money, get out of debt, become a better investor, or create a better financial lifestyle. What you will not find: commentary, economics, or articles more than a few weeks old.

Editor’s Choice:

• J. Savings presents 401(k) vs. IRA – Which is Better For Your Extra Money? posted at Budgets are Sexy., saying, “Once you’re contributing up to your company’s 401(k) match, do you continue upping the % or do you jump to the IRA?”
• Chris Holdheide presents How To Avoid Ebay Seller Scams posted at stumbleforward.com, saying, “Learn about how one of my readers lost $141 in an eBay seller scam and how you can avoid this financial scam.”
• David presents 6 Credit Card Offers That Support Our Troops posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Six credit card offers that allow us to show our support for the military.”
• The Dough Roller presents 23 Powerful Tips and Tools to Eliminate Debt posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Here are some tips and tools to help you get out of debt.”
• MoneyNing presents How to Make a Roth IRA Conversion posted at Money Ning, saying, “Pretty soon, everyone will be allowed to convert do a Roth IRA conversion. Is it worth it and what’s the process?”

Personal Finance

• Jason presents Change Your Attitudes to Change Your Finances posted at Automatic Finances.
• debt kid presents Saving Time and Money Shopping for Essentials posted at DebtKid.
• Ben presents Personal Budget Tracking Creates Results posted at Money Smart Life.

Career

• Luke Grand presents Chart Early Retirement posted at Cash Out Life.
• April presents 5 Ways To Rescue Your Rotten Résumé posted at Get Rich Slowly, saying, “Kerry from Squawkfox outlines countless actionable tips to improve your resume! Complete with pictures and samples. Fantastic resource.”

Debt & Credit

• Mr Credit Card presents Credit Card Issuer Bends Backward on Rate Increases posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.
• Matt Jabs presents More Reasons to Pay Off Credit Card Debt posted at Debt Free Adventure!, saying, “Consumers are cutting back, and credit card companies are striking back! With more and more Americans saving more and spending less the credit card banks are really starting to take a hit – but… they are not taking the hit lying down! How are the banks responding to the decrease in consumer credit use? Here is what recently happened to me…”
• PT asks What Makes a Good 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card and Patrick answers with the Best 12 month 0% balance transfer credit card. Balance transfer cards offering 0% interest for 12 months are rare. Check out this card if you are looking to transfer your credit card balance.
• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Repair Bad Credit, Avoid The Scams posted at The Digerati Life.
• studenomist presents Reduce Credit Card Debt Right Now posted at studenomics.com.

Frugality & Saving Money

• Wren Caulfield presents Save a bob when you travel abroad posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.
• Little House presents Simple Savings Tips posted at Little House in the Valley, saying, “Easy Savings Tips Everyone Can Use!”
• 20smoney presents Personal Finance Capital Allocation posted at 20s Money, saying, “A look at the 3 different ways that we allocate our money.”
• vh presents Frugal Cosmetics: Lemons for your beauty routine posted at Funny about Money.
• Baker presents The “Sh**-That-Doesn’t-Inspire-You” Factor posted at Man Vs. Debt, saying, “You’ve probably heard of the Latte Factor. But for me that doesn’t quite cut it. I’m having much more luck implementing the “sh**-that-doesn’t-inspire-you” factor!”
• d. ninja presents The PF Diet posted at Punch Debt In The Face, saying, “Don’t be lazy. You’re actions can’t be counterproductive to your stated goals.”
• Banker Saver presents CD Ladder Basics: Diversifying With Certificates of Deposit posted at Banker Saver.
• Kyle presents You are Nothing Without a Good Defense posted at Suburban Dollar» Suburban Dollar: Personal Finance Blog from a Suburbanite’s Perspective.
• B Simple presents Simple Personal Financial Tips – the Car Purchase posted at Simplified Financial Lifestyle.
• Chance.pfsr presents Snowmint Budget posted at Personal Finance Software Reviews, saying, “A very in-depth review of Snowmint’s Budget, an envelope budgeting software application for Mac and Windows.”

Income

• FMF presents What to Do with Your Retirement Savings When You Change Jobs posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Your options for managing your 401k when you switch jobs.”
• Craig Ford presents How Should you Fund your Small Business? posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, “With so many financing options available small business owners must decide if and how they will finance their business.”
• Madison presents HSBC Direct $50 Bonus posted at My Dollar Plan.
• Manshu presents Retirement planning calculator facts posted at OneMint, saying, “Key things to keep in mind while using a retirement planning calculator”

Investing

• Retirement Savior presents Index Funds – When NOT to Use Them posted at Retirement Savior, saying, “If you know where to look, mutual funds can have a place in your portfolio.”
• Paul Williams presents How to Invest for Retirement: A Diversified Investment Portfolio posted at Provident Planning, saying, “Use this free portfolio allocation calculator to invest in a low-cost portfolio of index funds at Vanguard.”
• George presents Special Situations Real Money Portfolio Summer 2009 Update posted at Fat Pitch Financials. George writes, ” The Special Situations Real Money Portfolio was up 38.0% year-to-date on August 31, 2009. That crushes the S&P 500 year-to-date total return of 14.97% over the same period. Learn how that performance was achieved.”
• Dividend Growth Investor presents Not all dividend stocks are overvalued posted at Dividend Growth Investor, saying, “While the market has enjoyed impressive gains ever since it hit a multi year low in March 2009, investors are beginning to get nervous about valuation. If valuation is too high, chances are that investors are overpaying for stocks purchased, which could lead to lower performance over time.”
• Investing Toolkit presents How To Find A Good Mutual Fund posted at Investing Toolkit.

Other

• The Amateur Financier presents Scams, Schemes, and Scum: Protecting Yourself posted at The Amateur Financier, saying, “Generalized advice on how to identify scams, protect yourself, and keep your money safe.”
• Aryn presents A Reminder about Renter’s Insurance posted at Sound Money Matters.
• Adam Williams presents God is a financial planner. Wait, what?! posted at RabbitFunds.com, saying, “Little did you know but God is actually a financial planner. In fact, He was the first to give that age old advice, “S-A-V-E!””
• Tom Drake presents How To Use Spousal RRSPs To Split Retirement Income posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “A spousal RRSP is an RRSP that you make contributions to but the plan is registered in your spouse’s name.”

Taxes

• Kate Kashman presents Calculating the Energy Efficiency Tax Credit posted at The Paycheck Chronicles, saying, “Make sure you understand how the energy efficiency tax credit is calculated before you make any purchases.”
• My Life ROI presents Do I Have to Pay Capital Gains Tax on my House? posted at My Life ROI, Getting the Best Return On Life, saying, “Some people are unfamiliar with the capital gains tax rule for house sales. Whether you have no clue or you are following the old rule that deducted whatever you reinvested into another home, this article will bring you up to speed.”

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

Related posts:

1. March Edition of the Carnival of Financial Goals
2. 207th Carnival of Debt Reduction
3. Carnival of Financial Goals – Financial Freedom Edition
4. Carnival of Financial-Planning 10-02-09
5. Money Management and Money Saving Tips