Yakezie Winter Round Up

It’s been a mild winter, even by Southern California standards, but for those who are starting to feel the chill, here’s some personal finance reading to get you through your day. Some stories I gathered from around the Yakezie network:

• First Gen American with How to Take a Break from Toxic People
• Financial Samurai with Always be the Underdog
• Financially Consumed shares PT Money’s Personal Finance Blogger Map
• Well Heeled Blog with Income, Goals, and How Much is “Enough”
• Sustainable Life Blog with Getting Back on Track with Rewards
• Budgeting in the Fun Stuff with I visited a Psychic Monk – Your Read that Right -  a hilarious personal experience of visiting a psychic. I think I’ll skip a palm reading, thank you.
• Barbara Friedberg with Why You Need Feeback for Success
• Frugal Confessions with How to Save Money on Dieting since it’s a hot topic this month; dieting that is, well and maybe saving money.
• Krantcents with Interview Questions that make you go hmmm…
• The Saved Quarter with The Saved Quarter Challenge: Take Charge of Your Credit Penny’s set up her annual saved quarter challenge and offers solid advice for getting your credit in shape.
• Super Frugalette with Using Price Comparison Websites to Save Money
• Debt Free by Thirty with Learning from the Lilkendeys: Entertainment Value
• Minting Nickels with Perfection Not Required
• Financially Consumed with How Much Will You Pay for Gasoline in 2012? I’d say an arm and maybe a leg, but I’ll just ride my bike more.
• Not Made of Money with Our Rules for Credit Card Use I recently switched to using credit cards for everyday purchases and I like the change so far.

And our weekly carnival submissions

(Thanks, Don for helping me with this!)

Debt Black Hole: Creating A Financial Plan For 2012 Conventions & Conferences – Attending Comic Book/Sci-Fi Conventions & Professional Conferences can be expensive. That’s why creating a plan to pay for these events is important. This is a breakdown of the financial plan I’m using to attend 6 different events in 2012.

Sense to Save: Even small amounts have a big impact when prepaying the mortgage – If you’re early in the amortization period of an installment loan, the impact of even a few extra dollars per month can be huge. I was surprised to see that only $10 more/month could shave nearly a year off my 30-year term.

Personal Finance Whiz: Should I Fix My Car or Get a New One? – If you own a car it’s inevitable that you’ll someday face a stupidly expensive repair bill. How do you know when it’s worth it to fix your car and when it’s time to trash it?

The College Investor: Free Online Money Management Tools – A look at some of the best online money management tools that are FREE!

My Multiple Incomes: Are You Ready For Mobile Readers? – A look at how many mobile readers your site gets, and if they can really even read your content on their mobile device.

My Journey to Millions: What Do You Do with Your Children’s Money? – “What Should I do with Money my child has received for a gift?

Narrow Bridge Finance: Why New Year’s Resolutions Are a Waste of Time – Don’t make new year’s resolutions, make “right now” resolutions

Invest It Wisely: 3 Frugal Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day – Remember, there’s no need to spend a fortune on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, a bit of cheap fun is all you need. So, what are your ideas for Valentine’s Day this year?

MoneyGreenLife: MoneyFail #3 – Dumb With 401k Contribution – Don’t be dumb by not participating in your company’s 401k program. I will lose almost $300,000 by not enrolling for 18 months a few years back.

compounding returns: The Poor Man’s Guide to Getting Rich – A simple, 3 step plan that will allow anyone to build real wealth!

20s Finances : Why Financing a Car Can be a Bad Idea – If you are looking to get a car and you don’t have enough money saved to purchase the car outright, you may be tempted to get a car loan so that you don’t have to wait. But is this really the best route to take?

Thousandaire : Claim Your Unclaimed Property – Check to see if you have unclaimed property (free money) waiting for you. Just search at your state’s website and you might have something!

My Broken Coin : Live A Little: Have A Latte – This is a new series I am starting on this blog. It is called Live A Little, and it is not about how to save more by cutting expenses and living frugal. It is about spending, but in an intelligent way.

Money Q&A : Four Great Benefits Of Buying A House – There are many great benefits of buying a house such as wealth creation, tax savings, forced savings, and others. Renting should not be your default option when there are so many great benefits of buying a house.

101 Centavos : How NOT to Invest in Water – I’ve been reading quite a bit about water lately. Set a Google alert for water scarcity India China, and your inbox is bound to fill up with stories of water scarcity.

Passive Income To Retire : Generate passive income – How to do it – If you want to generate passive income, you need to know the two ways that people establish a passive income.

Your Finances Simplified : 4 Tips to Improve Credit Even After A Bankruptcy – A bankruptcy can be a financial event which wrecks credit and hurts a consumers ability to qualify for loans. Its effects can be felt for years afterwards, as it appears on a credit report for 7-10 years (depending on what type of BK you file for).

Newlyweds on a Budget : My Plan to Lose Ten Pounds in Three Months – Have you joined the 10-Pound Challenge yet? Lose ten pounds in three months, win money! Everyone needs a plan to lose ten pounds in three months. We all want to lose weight fast and find the easiest shortcut to get there.

Smart Family Finance : Lottery Winner Loses Everything in Four Years: Smart Approaches for Families with Income Windfalls – Lottery winners are famous for winning fortunes and then losing them. That is because it is easy to make financial mistakes when families run into income windfalls. However, there are a few approaches to help you to make smart decisions and minimize the risks of losing everything.

Funancials : CD’s are for Hypocrites – I would venture to say that there are two investment products people learn about before any others – Stocks and CD’s (Certificates of Deposit). Assuming most people learn about these two options when they’re young, I would think the way they were explained was elementary. Something like – stocks are risky – CD’s are risk-free. But are they remembering inflation?

Finance Fox : Million Dollar Question: Should I Use My Savings To Pay Down Debt or Fund My Retirement Plan? – Mortgage vs RRSP. TFSA vs Student Loan. Credit Card Debt vs RRSP. TFSA vs Mortgage. RRSP vs Car Payment. Lots of different situations, some of us are in one of these and others may have two or more different forms of debt to pay down.

Frugal Confessions : Health Insurance Companies Give Financial Incentives for Good Habits – Since I discussed a ‘stick’ approach my health insurance company began on January 1, 2012 by charging a higher premium for smokers than for non-smokers, I’d like to take the time to discuss a ‘carrot’ incentive approach!

Financial Success for Young Adults : What is a Portfolio? – A portfolio is made up of assets. There are five major asset classes of intangible financial instruments; Stocks, Bonds, Options, Futures, and Foreign exchange.

Broke Professionals : Five Ways to Save Money and Get Fit at Work – Now that the New Year is here, we are all looking for ways to trim down the expenses and the waistlines. Here are a few ideas on how to do that before or after work or at lunch time. Use Lunch Get some exercise on your lunch break. Read this article for more ideas!

The Penny Hoarder : 4 Reasons You Should Not Invest in Real Estate Right Now – A few weeks ago we shared with you some reasons why this might be a good time to invest in real estate and this week we wanted to present the other side of the argument. Here are four good reasons not to buy real estate right now…

Darwin’s Money : US Debt Now Equivalent to Entire US Economy – Investing in This New Era – The United States has just reached the dreaded 100% Debt-to-GDP ratio with its $15.2 Trillion debt level surpassing the value of all goods and services produced in-country. This is important because it vaults us into a whole new echelon of debt-ridden societies with financial crises of their own: only Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal have debt-to-GDP ratios exceeding 100%. This is scary stuff folks!

My Retirement Blog : The Number One Retirement Fear – According to an AARP study recently released, health care issues are the number one biggest fear retirees have. Is retirement affordable? The biggest challenge for most potential retirees is the cost of care and the ability to stay healthy through retirement. Experts claim one will need an extra $200-$300,000 to pay just for health care.

Personal Finance Journey : Is Outsourcing Household Chores a Luxury or a Smart Money Move? – I don’t like cleaning; and I make no secret of that fact. Dust can multiply for months, and I might notice that it is there, but I probably won’t clean it. I do have the basics that I do every day – dishes, and general picking up. I clean the bathrooms and sweep and mop the kitchen floor, so I am not a complete slob, but I hate deep cleaning.

Young Family Finance : Retirement Planning for Young Families – Find out what the first step of retirement planning should be for young families.

The Ultimate Juggle : A Side Income – Finding a side income can go a long ways to meet your financial needs. Find out how to manage your time and make it happen.

MoneySmartGuides : Radical Idea to Create Jobs – I have many crazy ideas. Most aren’t fit to become reality (like my spray-painting lawnmower for when the summer heat turns your grass brown). But every so often, I come up with something that I feel holds merit. And my

KrantCents : How Students with NO Credit History, Can Begin to Build a Financial Record – Here are 3 ways to allow young adults to safely build credit without the risk of going into debt.

Beating The Index : NAL Energy to Underperform in 2012? – I believe the stock will underperform in 2012 based on running 2 set of scenarios which indicate the company is not in its best shape.

Entertainment Timez : Starting Up A Roth IRA For Kids – My son now has earned income and we are starting up a Roth IRA for him to participate in. Read why are are starting a Roth IRA for Kids!

Sweating the Big Stuff : Tax Evasion Costs Over $300 Billion Each Year – Think tax evasion is a small problem? Thing again: tax evasion in the U.S. amounts to $337.3 billion a year.

Money Reasons : My Son Is A Young Entrepreneur – This is about my son’s transformation in becoming a young entrepreneur. Not bad considering he is only eleven.

Money Spruce : Five Reasons to Give Up Goal Setting – Should we give up goal setting to achieve more success? Goals are something everyone uses, but is it the most effective for getting things done. Here’s a discussion why it might not be.

Beating Broke: How to Overcome Dissapointment when Our Financial Role Models Disappoint Us – How do we overcome that level of disappointment when someone we trust to give good advice, and to behave in a professional manner, doesn’t?

Smart on Money: American Express Bank Personal Savings Account Review – American Express is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Most people know about them because of their credit and charge cards (that’s where I first came upon them), but they’ve also quickly become a good solid option when it comes to online savings accounts.

Bucksome Boomer: The Verdict on Jury Duty – Many people try to avoid jury service, but it is a great way to give back to the community. Even Axl Rose served last week! Every citizen should experience the process once. It will restore or strengthen your faith in the system.

Living in Financial Excellence: Handling Business Criticism; Suze Orman’s Approved Card – A summary of my thoughts about Suze’s card? There aren’t any real benefits, and it costs you a monthly fee to have no added benefit. But there’s a lot of discussion on the show, so you’ll have to listen in for the specifics.

Money Talks Coaching: Why You Should Get Out of Debt Even If You Can’t Maintain It – I think paying off your debt is a valuable exercise even if you don’t think you can maintain the debt-loss. You will practice skills you need to improve your financial life just like dieting did for my weight. It will bring your debt into focus and you will see it in a way that you’ve never seen it before.

Cash Flow Mantra: Suze Orman, WTF? – Where Suze has been over the past six months! Does Netflix ring a bell? How about Bank of America and debit card fees? Heck, even the Kardashians were smart enough to recognize that high fees on a debit card were a non-starter

Money Is the Root: Blog Goals and Updates, 2012 – #2 – Welcome to the 2012 blogging updates for Money Is The Root. Just as last year, I will provide weekly updates on my site statistics, blogging income, and intended goals for the short and long term. These posts will provide ongoing updates regarding my progress on my three blogs, and perhaps more in the near future, as well as achieving $30,000 in online income this year

Smart Wealth: How to Save Money on Your Car Insurance – While a necessity, car insurance is also quite costly, and the cost varies depending on several different factors. There are quite a few ways that you can lower your auto insurance, and I will list a few below.

THE Canadian Personal Finance Site: Let’s all Sell Out! – Last week Ms. Orman announced a Debit Card approved by her which sounds innocuous until you started to read the fine print, and this is what is causing me to rethink my opinion of her. While I have no problem with someone hustling to make a buck (heck I do it myself as you have seen with my Quicken Review and other things I have talked about) but this new venture has me scratching my financial head.

The Millionaire Nurse: Projects: Getting Started! A Growing Mushrooms at Home Case Study – Getting things done. That’s the object here. Read about our new project:growing mushrooms. The steps to become SSD’s (spore spawn diddys) are the same for all projects and can help you get organized to complete any task.

Money Beagle: I’m Anxious To See What My Paycheck Will Look Like – The beginning of the year means many changes. What will it mean to the twice a month paycheck?

So You Think You Can Save: Save Money By Keeping Your Car Longer – The average age of a car in America is 10.8 years, a new high. Are you keeping your car longer and reaping the associated savings?

Free Ticket to Japan: How to Prepare Japanese Food on a Budget – Lot of people think Japanese meals are expensive to make. They believe this is so because the food in Japanese restaurants is expensive. In this article, we will shed light on how to prepare cheap Japanese food, using your available resources.

Prairie Eco Thrifter: Buying a Home with the Help of Mortgage Insurance – It’s a positive thing to buy a house and make it the home you always dreamed of. It’s something everyone should experience. But it’s important to make it happen within your means. Sometimes mortgage insurance is the only way homeownership will ever be possible.

My Personal Finance Journey: $196 Giveaway – Community and Charity 10% Monthly Blog Income Give Back # 4 – January 2012 Edition + 2 Year Blog Birthday Celebration – This post describes the details of My Personal Finance Journey’s Monthly Blog Income Giveaway, which gives 10% of MPFJ’s net (after-tax) blogging income/profit to MPFJ readers (5%) and to charity (5%). Instructions on how to enter the giveaway are described, as well as the goals for developing personal relationships with the possible recipient charities.

Free Money Wisdom: Romantic Yet Frugal Tips for Valentine’s Day – Because I have insight into the female gender, I’m going to give you lads a few tips on how to be original this V-Day. Hopefully, this will score you some points with your lady. If not, don’t show her where your ideas came from.

Passive Family Income: Never Shop at a Grocery Store Again – A Review of Peapod – Do you like grocery shopping, or is it one of those tasks that you detest? If you work full-time, is your one day to buy your groceries on Saturday when everyone else has descended upon the stores? If so, and you are ready to say “Enough!”, you may want to take a look at Peapod home grocery delivery.

Family Money Values: Real Estate Mistakes – Buying Before Construction – Learn from my mistakes in real estate – what NOT to do!

Thriftability: Saving Money on Insurance: Simplify by Bundling – As the quest continues to save money on insurance premiums, individuals and families may be overlooking a common method to doing so. Going with one company could just be the ticket, not only for the health of your bank account, but also to make things just a bit simpler.

Saving Advice: 20 Ways to Break Your TV Habit and Save a Fortune – When I started to write about personal finance, I was working a full time job so in order to do it, something had to give. Greatly reducing the amount of TV I watched was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Everything Finance Blog: Do You Need to Pay a Nanny Tax This Year? – There is no doubt that nannies and house cleaners can help you maintain your busy lifestyle. However, before employing one on a regular basis, make sure that you are familiar with the nanny tax laws and what you need to do to file so that you don’t face stiff tax penalties for missed payments

Investor Junkie: What Are DRIPs? – All the way around, DRIPs can help you maximize your dividend investing efforts.

Frugal Zeitgeist: How Much Sugar For Kids? – A look at how much and what types of sugar is appropriate for kids to consume.

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff: Health Update #3 – Crystal Light Challenge/10 Pound Challenge Kick Off – As I told you all towards the end of November 2011, I am posting updates twice a month here to keep me accountable for the $1200 a year for fitness that we are spending on Weight Watchers and our gym memberships. Yep, I am using you as my accountability partners whether you signed up for it or not, hahaha.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job…: S&P Ratings Cuts in Europe – Everyone (except people in their RSS readers!) loves interactivity… and I could think of no better way to present the recent S&P ratings cuts than to graph the entire world. So, here is my best effort to portray the world’s credit risk.

The Money Principle: How can one ‘be’ when there is nothing ‘to do’? – Socrates said that “To do is to be.”; Sartre that “To be is to do.” When one is long term unemployed life is more like Sinatra’s “Do be do be do.” How does one move from Sinatra to Socrates and Sartre?

Affiliate Tips: How To Get A Money Making Mindset – In this article I will show you why it is so important to have a money making mindset, and how you can develop yours.

Stock Trend Investing: Investing Your Savings Sure and Simple – When investing your savings are not just focused on the return on investment. Keep two eyes on the return of investment. Here is an outline and some tips for beginners about the type of assets in which they can invest their savings.

Novel Investor: Asset Allocation And The Benefits Of Rebalancing – How your money is invested, its asset allocation and consistent rebalancing will be the most important decision you’ll make as an investor.

Off-Road Finance: Additive vs. Multiplicative Thinking About Money – A look at two ways of thinking about money, and which applies when.

HowToSaveMoney.ca: How to Eliminate You Home Phone Bill and Long Distance Charges! – The Internet is becoming the only infrastructure necessary to do many of the things that used to require special mediums before like making phone calls, watching TV, listening to music, and so on. Yes, the internet can even help you completely eliminate your monthly home phone bill as well as the long distance charges you may have become accustomed to!

Frugal Living: Party Tips for the Broke Young Professionals – How can you open your home and make your friends feel welcome without going broke in the process? Check out the frugal party tips below.

American Debt Project: Personal Finance Classics Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door – The first of five book reviews on the classics of personal finance! I’d love to hear from others if I have a good list of 5 or if their list is totally different!

Married (with Debt): The OTHER 1% (who WILL Hurt You) – We all know of the OWS 1%, but have you met the OTHER 1%, those who will punch you in the face for disrespecting them? If not, check out this analysis of the trend towards disrespect of others, and how it factors into the way people view money, class and economic policy.

Average Joe’s Money Blog: 5 Steps to Care for an Older Car – New statistics last week show people are saving money by driving their cars longer–in fact, the average car on the road is now 11.1 years old. If you drive an older car, here’s how to keep it running for the long haul.

PT Money Personal Finance: How to Become an Online Tutor and Make an Extra $1,000 a Month – Ways to Make More Money: An interview with an online tutor discussing the pros/cons and qualifications needed pursue a part-time job in that field.

RamblingFever Money: Don’t Sell Yourself Short on Investment Return Expectations – Do you think 10 to 12 percent is unreasonable when it comes to expectations for average annual mutual fund returns? The funds I invest in hit these numbers and I created a chart to explain.

Watson Inc: 3 Reasons to Focus on Household Cash Flow – There is clearly a significant disconnect between our knowing the importance of cash flow and our actions. Here are three reasons for a renewed focus on cash flow.

My University Money: Pay Off Debt Fast or Build Assets? – Yes, I would rather have all my currents debts paid off than be in my current financial position… because then I could turn around and put myself in much better debt all over again!

One Cent At A Time: All you need to know about 2012 tax return – All you need to know for filing income tax for the year 2011, which is needed to be filed on or before April 17, 2012. Contains links to relevant IRS notices and web pages for you quick reference.

Free From Broke : 10 Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions – Don’t pay more taxes than you have to. Take a look at these ten common overlooked tax deductions and see how you can save on your taxes.

Mom’s Plans: Debt Snowflake Challenge #3, Every Little Penny Helps – I have noticed that some people believe that there is no point in snowflaking money because they can’t generate hundreds of dollars to snowflake. Maybe they can only find an extra $5 to snowflake a week, so they think, what is the point? The point is that even the small amounts add up over time, and they can save you much more in interest.