Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Yesterday I posted the Carnival of Personal Finance, but if I had my way, I would have posted this instead. These were articles I really enjoyed last week from many carnival regulars. I also made a special effort to seek out some new blogs I’d never read before.

But I didn’t have time to read everything under the sun for two carnivals, thus this one isn’t as complete as I would like it. (I’m on call this weekend just in case Daylight Savings Time blows things up. Not likely, but your Outlook calendars will definitely be off by an hour for 3 weeks.)

Now onto the Articles I Liked This Week and Last!

Wise Bread and the ugly truth of budgeting. Sometimes, you just don’t want to know.

Her VP told her, she’d better shop around. Turns out it’s not only good job advice, but also for finding a new financial advisor.

FryKitty special guest posting for JD about Prosper. Some good gems of advice in there. I’ll keep them in mind if I decide to step up my Prosper investing.

Comparison shopping links.

Payday Loan Math

Companion story about Payday Loans and what you really ought to do to get out of it

Getting Green on ING Direct

I hate coupons. Perhaps I should try this?

Interesting book review

Walking to work, the most frugal and healthful commute of all. This post really helps break it down.

Miserly Bastard on skipping certain kinds of insurance. I love reading about people’s thought processes. He’s a very different thinker from me and it’s good to get a different perspective.

Boston Gal points us to a great article on holding cash.

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity points us to an article that puts college costs in to perspective and dispels some myths about financial aid.

Hazzard at Everybody Loves Your Money points us to a sad but funny article about misguided priorities in frugality and the harrowing first time homebuying process. I warn you, the article he points to has the F-bomb everywhere, but critically speaking, it’s used to great effect. Kind of like what I would write if I was inclined to use that word all the time while I wrote. But much, much funnier than I could write. Make sure to read part two as well.

A new blog I’ve never read before, Financial Armageddon warns us that banks may have too little in reserve, which is a slightly disturbing trend amongst commercial banks. I think this is a story worth reading. Many of the posts on this site are windmilling arms type stuff. If I read it everyday, I’d probably get really paranoid and start shoving money under a mattress, however, the lengthy blog posts will keep me from reading it. But the articles seem very informative, though I think I lack a deeper understanding about banking, securities and finance to absorb all of arguments presented. Either way, I’ll be reading this blog again now that I know what it is.

Lock in your profits, so says JS Kim of The Zen of Investing. I found his ideas intriguing. Perhaps when I have a better idea of the basics of investing, I’ll be able to shatter all the rules and branch out into more creative investing as he advocates.

Cap on posting your net worth on your blog. He gets a little philosophical on us. Scroll down the comments for his opinion.

Another new blog highlight: http://www.mynewchoice.com/ He writes about why the PayPal Money Market isn’t as great of a savings vehicle as you think it is. Clearly written. Well-reasoned. I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind keeping a few bucks in there waiting for my next online purchase, etc. However, he’s convinced me that I shouldn’t use it over my regular ING account as a long term savings vehicle. (Disclosure: I have family that works for PayPal.)

Corner Office Blog on the old subject of Emergency Funds. The post is short and not very insightful, but the one true gem in it is the notion that your emergency fund is separate from the ‘Oh nuts! I just lost my job!’ Fund. I’ve been mulling this notion for a while, and seeing it in print makes me ponder if I should start a separate account from the Save-O-Meter. Go visit him and leave your thoughts on the matter.

Scott Burns has a blog. I have no idea who he is, but I get the feeling I’ve probably read his work before since he’s UPI syndicated. I like his blog quite a bit. He doesn’t post everyday, but he writes well and he **replies directly to comments**. I think that’s awesome for a well-known author in this field. Oh. The post he had this week which I liked was about time being money and a good example of DVD’s versus movie attendance. The commenters get into TiVo and Netflix as other efficiencies of time as well. Great discussion going on there.