Hello and welcome to the 362nd edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. My name is James Petzke, and if you have never been on my blog before, I have a financial goal of graduating college with a surplus instead of a massive debt. I am very honored and excited to be the host of this carnival this week. I have decided to call this edition the LessJunk edition. For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I’ve been working on a search engine called LessJunk.org. This week is the official launch of that search engine, and this seemed like a great way to announce that. It also has a double meaning in that I hope this carnival is full of only good posts, and less of the not so good stuff. Well without further ado, here is this week’s carnival!

Editor’s Picks

Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents Money Tips for New Grads, and says, “This weekend, I had the pleasure of watching my sister graduate Summa Cum Lade from the University of Arkansas. While in Fayetteville, I watched thousands of students receive their degrees, but I realized that most did not get a financial education on par with their newly minted degrees. Here are some top tips for new graduates around the world.” Any new graduates (which there are lots of this time of year) will be sure to find this article immensely useful.

PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents How Do You Know You’re Ready For Active Investing?, and says, “One man’s journey from Efficient Market Hypothesizer to, um, speculator. My process for deciding it was time to take the plunge…” I’m a big believer that active investing can be much smarter than using mutual funds, and this article will help tell you if you’re ready for that or not.

Pierre from Intelligent Speculator presents How To Buy Facebook, and says, “Do you want to invest in Facebook?” Facebook’s IPO has been major news these last couple weeks. Is it worth buying some of their newly available stock?

Martin from Studenomics presents Why You Need to Stop Wasting Your Time Chasing Passive Income, and says, “I want you to make real money and to stop being delusional about passive income.” As much as I love the idea of passive income, this article points out that it takes time to build up, and you need to focus on making money now.

Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Bike Your Way to a Healthier, Richer, Happier You, and says, “Last summer, I purchased a hybrid bicycle for less than $600, and I biked to work every day. I had an 8-week stretch where I didn’t have to put a single ounce of gas in my car’s tank. I could have purchased 2 brand-new bikes for how much I would have been spending on gasoline.” Biking is definitely one of the best ways to save money, I plan on biking as much as possible in college next year, it can save a fortune.

Budgeting

Dan Meyers from Your Life, Their Life presents How to transition to a single income family, and says, “Are you getting SIK (single income, kids) due to your transition from a DINK (dual income, no kids)? If so, learn how to manage the transition!”

Earth and Money from Earth and Money presents Planning a Green Frugal Wedding – Guests, and says, “At most weddings, there is a fixed cost associated with every guest that attends – food, dishes, venue, all these things are related to the number of guests that you have. So that begs the question – do you really want to invite your dad’s cousin’s nephew’s boyfriend who winds up getting drunk at the open bar?”

Sean from One Smart Dollar presents How to Create a Budget So you Can Stay Out of Debt, and says, “Creating a budget is the first and best way to start getting yourself on the right path to financial independence.”

Khaleef Crumbley from Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet presents Planning A Financial Diet – Eat Healthy And Spend Less, and says, “Eat healthy and spend less…something that seems impossible However, if you follow these tips you can do both!”

Michelle from See Debt Run presents Pampering Your Baby Without Using Pampers, and says, “Tips for successfully using cloth diapers with your new baby: What kind of diapers to buy, how to wash cloth diapers, and how to keep from burning out.”

Sandy from Yes, I am Cheap presents The Food Stamp (SNAP) Challenge, and says, “How much do you spend per week on food for yourself? Take away what you spend on eating out. Do you think that you could live on $33.25 per week for food?”

Career

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Is Losing Your Job The Best Thing That Could Happen to You?, and says, “What would happen if you lost your job?”

Credit

Bethy Hardeman from Credit Karma Blog presents 4 Ways You Could Be Hurting Your Credit, and says, “If you’ve been a long-time reader of the Credit Karma Blog, you know which financial moves can do some serious credit score damage: late bill payments, tax liens, bankruptcies, foreclosures and federal judgments, to name a few. But did you know that there are some other actions that can cripple your credit?”

Nathan Richardson from ComplexSearch.com presents What is a Good Credit Score, and says, “We’ve researched and linked to dozens of resources for people to read the opinion of experts on their specific credit score. (with graphics!).”

Justin from The Family Finances presents Monitor Your Credit Report, and says, “Everyone in the United States is entitled to a free credit report each year from the three main rating agencies. By checking one every four months, you can stay on top of your credit and help prevent damage from identity theft.”

Debt

Jackie from The Debt Myth presents Live Like No One Else, and says, “When you decide to live like no one else, what you’re really deciding is to make your money work for you (instead of the other way around).”

Khaleef Crumbley from Faithful With A Few presents My Hundred Dollar Carnival Experience, and says, “I lost a $100 bill at a carnival yesterday! After a while of calming down and putting things in perspective, I realized that the only difference between losing that money and some of the debt I have accumulated is the regret that I did not get to enjoy it on myself!”

Boomer from Boomer & Echo presents How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster, and says, “When you pay off your mortgage faster, a big part of your household budget will become available to help you achieve your other financial goals. “

Economy

Bret from Hope to Prosper presents 10 Reasons why Banks Must be Closely Regulated, and says, “I believe banks must be firmly regulated for their own good and the good of our country. It’s the right thing to do for Wall Street and for Main Street. Here are 10 reasons why.

Robert Palmer from NakedTruthFinance presents The Real Unemployment Rate in the US, and says, “The non USDA (U.S. Dept of Agriculture) Farm Payroll report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states the unemployment rate is 8.3 percent and that 227,000 jobs were created for the month of February. The USDA statistics mention the unemployment rate has remained unchanged and the household survey data states the unemployment rate is only 8.3 percent but is this correct?

Finance

FMF from Free Money Finance presents The Butterfly Effect, and says, “The Butterfly Effect is the term given to the theory that small, seemingly insignificant actions can have far-reaching effects.”

Frugality

Eric J. Nisall from DollarVersity presents There Is Being Frugal And Then There Is Being CHEAP, and says, “Saving money is a priority for many. Is there ever a point where the idea of saving money overshadows everything else including living life?”

Harri Pierce from TotallyMoney presents Lessons from living below the line, and says, “Lessons learnt from a week living below the poverty line”

Philip from PT Money Personal Finance presents Your Mileage May Vary on Hybrid Cars, and says, “Includes some hidden costs and factors about hybrid cars that you should consider before purchasing one.”

Glen from Parenting Family Money presents Is a Child’s Gift Registry a Good Idea?, and says, “Retailers are getting better at helping people shop, aren’t they? One great example is a child’s gift registry for their birthday. But is it really such a bad idea?”

SB from One Cent At A Time presents 101 Ways To Save Money in Everyday Life, and says, “101 ways to save money on almost anything in your daily life. You are not required to follow all, but, you may consider a number of them. Even following 10% of it can save serious money.”

Investing

D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents Warning Signs of an Imminent Dividend Cut, and says, “One important lesson we learned from the 2008-2009 financial crisis was that it didn’t matter how long a company had increased its dividend, tough economic times could push it to cut its dividend. In most cases the companies’ investors were not surprised because they saw the early warning signs that indicated a dividend cut was imminent. Here are three signs that a company is heading toward a dividend cut…”

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents Borrowing from Your Roth IRA, and says, “Can you borrow money from your Roth IRA? The decisive answer is yes! …and no.”

Drew from Objective Wealth presents Keep It Simple Stupid, and says, “I’m not for one minute calling investors stupid, but it’s so easy to over complicate things when trying to figure out the optimum portfolio. Maybe keeping it ultra-simple is the smartest choice?”

Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Searching for Hidden Dividend Stars, and says, “As a dividend growth investor, I try to maintain a disciplined approach to buying attractively valued companies. I do maintain a list with entry criterion, which I apply against a list of dividend growth stocks. I usually use the dividend champions and dividend achievers groups of stocks in my screening process.”

Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents What I Would Do With $10,000, and says, “How I would invest this sum of money.”

FamilyMoneyValues from Family Money Values presents How to Buy Stock – Market Folklore, and says, “Last year (2011) the stock market fulfilled some of the longstanding folklore sayings which some believe are predictors of market activity.
What are these sayings and should you pay heed?”

Money Management

Mr. Money from Smart on Money presents Are You Making Money Decisions While Impaired?, and says, “When you make a decision, it’s important to think clearly. This is especially true when it comes to making money decisions. However, there are a number of ways in which your ability to make sound decisions can be impaired. Whether you are investing, or trying to decide whether or not you want to buy something, you need to watch out: Impaired decision making can cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime.”

Liana from Card Hub presents What Do the VISA & MasterCard Digital Wallets Have to Offer?, and says, “On your mark…Get set…Go! Digital Wallet Service – Is it a race to see whose the fastest at getting their technology out or a race to see whose the fastest at making spending easier? One other question does remain, will consumers adopt using this technology fast enough to sustain that race?”

Lance from Money Life & More presents The Parent Tax, and says, “I had never heard of The Parent Tax before but the idea was simple enough. Whenever a child makes any amount of money they have an additional tax to pay and, like the name would suggest, it is paid to the child’s parents.”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents Should You Charge Your Boomerang Kids Rent?, and says, “It’s no longer a given that kids will move out on their own when college ends. In fact there’s a term for this group – Boomerang Kids. Should you charge rent to these boomerang kids?”

Jason Price from One Money Design presents Should Parents Pay Children an Allowance?, and says, “My wife and I have started to get more serious about teaching our children principles of stewardship by providing opportunities for them to earn money and use give, save spend banks.”

Squeezer from Personal Finance Success presents <a href=”http://pfsuccess.com/2012/05/why-social-security-should-not-be-your-sole-source-of-retirement-income/“>Why Social Security should not be your sole source of retirement income</a>, and says, “What happens if one depends on Social Security for retirement?  I explain the risk and other options that are available.”

Real Estate

vh from Funny about Money presents Home Prices…Up 20%????, and says, “The Phoenix real estate market, among the hardest hit by the implosion of the Bubble, is rebounding fast. Alarmingly fast…”

Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents Where Will You Live After College?, and says, “Where you can live after college.”

Saving

Colin Williams from humble savers presents Money Myth Busters, and says, “Money Myth Busters – We give our True of False verdicts to five popular money myths. Do you agree with our verdicts?”

Taxes

Adam from Things To Learn presents How Long Do You Keep Tax Records?, and says, “Ever wonder how long you need to keep those pesky tax documents? Well, some of them you can get rid of a lot sooner than you think. Take it from me, I used to be a tax examiner!”

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured presents Haig Simons Taxes: Is the tax system unfair to paid labor?, and says, “Nicole and Maggie discuss one form of tax fairness. Should we be encouraging home production and discouraging market production through the tax code? ‘Cuz that’s what the tax system does.”

Other

Clint from Accumulating Money presents Accident Injuries: Get Compensated Fairly, and says, “While some accidents are minor, requiring little by way of recovery, some injuries take months of medical rehabilitation, and others result in death. These costs, along with wages lost due to the inability to work and payments made to replace any damaged property, can quickly add up and ruin someone’s personal finances.”

John from Wallet Blog presents How’s a Little Medical Bill Transparency Sound?, and says, “What are you talking about? The system for payment of services in the healthcare industry can’t possibly be broken! Yeah, sure, tell me another one…”

Matt Bell from Sound Mind Investing presents When Should You Let Your Kids Get a Cell Phone?, and says, “The decision of when to allow your kids to get a cell phone comes with financial ramifications and more. Here are some ways to think through this important decision.”

Young from Young And Thrifty presents How To Use A Podcast, and says, “No I am not trying to sell you an eBook on how to make the perfect podcast and I’m not looking to rent you my god-like podcast consulting services at an “ungodly” rate. I don’t care if you make a podcast, what I want to talk about today is how to use a podcast from a listener’s point of view.”

Mike from Experiglot presents Challenging Yourself to the Complete Max, and says, “Do you push yourself to your max?”

Roshawn Watson from Watson Inc presents Is Money Real?, and says, “To what extent is money even real? After all, isn’t it just a medium of exchange?”

Madison from My Dollar Plan presents 51 Finance Tips for New Graduates, and says, “Do you have a graduate in the family? Or are you graduating this month? After years of studying it is such a great accomplishment, but it’s also a turning point in life that can impact the rest of your financial life. If you have a new graduate in your life, do them a favor and share some financial wisdom with them!”