Sean @ One Smart Dollar writes The Cost of Halloween Doesn’t Need to be Scary – The average American will spend $80 this year on Halloween. This doesn’t need to be the case if you find creative ways to cut down on the costs.

Michael @ Modest Money writes Why Is Talking About Money Hard? – When it comes to discussing issues revolving around money with parents or partners, the conversation can get awkward, or even aggressive, quickly. As a result, many people try to avoid bringing up money matters as much as possible. This is the wrong approach.

Mich @ BeatingTheIndex writes Argent Energy Trust: Eagle Ford Shale Upside Beacons – Argent Energy Trust is the third member in the select cross border club of Canadian income trusts. It offers high yield & exposure to the Eagle Ford shale oil play in Texas.

J.P. @ Novel Investor writes 2013 IRA Contribution Limits Increased – The IRS has announced the inflation adjusted numbers for the 2013 IRA contribution limits. Most important was the bump in the maximum contribution.

Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes 10 Frugal Ways to Save on Food – According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food is the third largest monthly expenditure families have after housing and transportation. With a little planning, you can save on food costs by trying some of these easy tips.

Gen Y @ Gen Y Finance Journey writes The Joy of Slow Cooking – A slow cooker is the best friend of someone who has little kitchen space, little time to cook, and is on a budget. Though many slow cooker recipe books will instruct you to do copious amounts of prep work, you can usually get the same great flavors, or close to them, with absolutely no prep work, meaning you have fewer dishes, and spend less time cooking.

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Tips for saving money on your Halloween party – October is here and many people are planning halloween parties. Depending on the size of your crowd, your party could get costly. Here are a few ways to plan a spooktacular halloween party on a budget.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Getting The Most “Bang” For Your Halloween Bucks – A lot of people always complain that Halloween costumes are such a waste of money.

SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Budgeting for Vacations – Find out how you can scrounge a few extra pennies to go on an exotic trip.

Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes Using a Midwife – One Year Later – The Experience – Details of our midwife and home birth experience a year after we welcomed our son into our lives

MR @ Money Reasons writes Financial Benefits of Having a Fuel-Efficient Car – I’m buying a new car, and unlike when I was younger, I’m now going to buy a fuel-efficient car to get the best overall value with my purchase.

IMB @ Investing Money writes How to Evaluate a Stock – Find out how you can evaluate a stock and what you need to know to make a wise investment.

Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes How to Place Real Estate in an IRA – Have you ever wondered how you can place real estate in an IRA account? It is something most Americans don’t know about and it’s easier than you think!

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes I’m A Bonafied Professional: Finding Financial Independence – Financial independence snuck up on me – after working freelance for two years, I finally managed to find a gig that makes me a professional writer!

Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes What Happens When You Don’t Pay Taxes – Perhaps you haven’t given it much thought, but there are very different implications and penalties for not paying your taxes.

Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes Tricks and Scams to Avoid When Buying a Diamond or Engagement Ring – So you’re ready to start shopping for a diamond engagement ring? Congratulations! But how can you be sure that you’re dealing with a reputable diamond

Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Seasonal Expenses – Find out why my family spends more money in particular seasons and how we are able to save more money in others.

Eddie @ Finance Fox writes Change is Good – Glad I Switched to an iPhone – After spending an hour in the Telus store, talking, comparing and crunching numbers, I walked out with a new iPhone.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Spending Priorities for Your Family – Juggling the many expenses of raising a family is difficult. There are lots of things that demand money and even more things that you would like to purchase with whatever money that you have left over.

Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes RESP Explained – Learn about the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)

Tushar @ Finance TUBE writes Saving For Kids College Education – Today we will talk about saving for Kids College Education. If you have kids then you will know how important it is to start saving for the college education.

Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes Liquidating Our Electronic Graveyard: How did We do? – I opened up our closet in Paul’s office the other day and realized that our graveyard of electronic carcasses had grown big enough in size for me to attempt…

ETZ25 @ Entertainment Timez writes Staying The Weekend At The House Of A Friend – This is one of my more frugal activities, but when money is tight, nothing beats staying at a close friend’s house for the weekend!

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes What Are You Teaching Your Kids About Money? – We teach our kids almost everything they know… whether we like it or not. Sometimes I wish my kids wouldn’t learn what I’m teaching.

Luke @ Learn Bonds writes I Know Where CD rates will be in 2015! Why Doesn’t Nobel Laureate Thomas Sargent – Thomas Sargent says he doesn’t know where CD rates will be in a couple of years. Here’s why we know what he doesn’t.

Maria @ The Money Principle writes Changing my position on credit cards: a sign of weakness or growth – Is changing our minds a sign of weakness or growth? I illustrate my point using my opinion on credit cards as an example; and it is growth!

CAPI @ Creating a Passive Income writes Five Methods to Create Passive Income – Have you heard the hyped up ways to generate passive income? Find real ways to create passive income. No gimmicks. No Hype. Real life experience.

Jason @ Work Save Live writes 5 Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks – 5 Simple Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks It’s no secret that college tuition costs are going up each year.

Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes Menu Plan Monday: “Back At It” Edition – In recent weeks, I’ve eaten most meals away from home. Even though I buy a lot of grub from budget friendly Peruvian grills, the costs add up.

BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes SHOULD I TRADE IN MY CAR? – You can trade in a car and still build wealth. Save and spend on what you value.

krantcents @ KrantCents writes Get Paid to Stay Healthy – Paid to stay healthy? Can you imagine insurance companies paying you to stay healthy? I can’t! Health insurance companies are routinely vilified for their practices. Now they are not only encouraging healthy behaviors, but actually paying you for it. It is a 180 degree change, but I will gladly take it.

TDB @ Tax Deduction Blog writes How to Do A 401K Rollover – A step by step guide – A 401K retirement plan follows employees all through their careers and it is a noteworthy benefit of this plan. But when an employee has to change jobs, there comes an important decision to be made – what is to be done with his/her 401K? Since a decision in this regard is imperative, it requires one…

Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes Tips for Building a Solid Mutual Fund – This Post was Originally published at Tips for Building a Solid Mutual Fund on Start Investing MoneyIf you’re thinking about building a mutual fund, it is well worth finding out as much as you can about it before you get started. One thing you should know is there are lots of options out there for building a mutual fund.

Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes How to Get Kids Interested in Money and Investing – One of the best ways to get kids interested in money is to start when they are young. Children still want to hear everything you have to say.

Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Our House is a Money Thief – Moving is expensive and new homes come with a lot of expenses. Here are the ones we expected and a few we didn’t.

TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Is it Better to Leverage Your Money? – Find out the advantages and disadvantages of leveraging your money. This may not be the best route to take for those who are afraid of risk.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Could Free Returns Be The Policy Of The Future? – The only time that shopping in a store is cheaper is when you have to return a product. But what is all stores offered free return shipping?

JP @ My Family Finances writes Women Lie More than Men When It Comes to How Much They Work – If you’ll lower your defenses for a moment, I’ll explain why women lie more than men when it comes to how much they work.

SFB @ Simple Finance Blog writes (Inexpensive) Personalized Gifts – We all have that person on our shopping list: the person who has, literally, everything. For me, this impossible-to-buy-for person is my youngest brother-in-law. The guy really does have everything.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Staying Out of Debt with Insurance – While many people perceive financial despair and bankruptcy as a result of bad decisions, the truth of the matter is that many similar situations arise because people are not adequately covered in case of extreme situations.

Corey @ 20s Finances writes What Would You Do with Extra Money? – If you have ever received a bonus, raise, or a little extra cash, you have likely had to ask yourself what to do with your extra money.

Rich @ Growing Money Smart writes Dollar Cost Averaging In Practice – In my last post, I wrote about what Dollar-Cost Averaging is about and gave some example of how it works. Today, I’m going to talk about how I personally use Dollar-Cost Averaging in my “real life” and why I think overall it’s the way to go.

Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes How Much Cash Do You Carry? – Is there a right answer? Not exact, so let’s discuss how much cash you carry. I’ll reveal how much cash I carry around!

Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes How To Make Extra Money with Forex – Forex trading is one of the most popular ways to invest outside of the stock market. In fact, Forex trading is actually the largest market in the world, with trillions of dollars being traded everyday around the world.

Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes 6 Ways to Cut Your Halloween Costs – A list of methods to cut down the expense of your Halloween party and other activities, from your costume to your candy to give out and your pumpkin for carving

Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes 10 Things That Make You Poorer – CNNMoney recently posted an article about 10 Things That Make You Poorer. The list includes: Smartphones Cars Credit Cards Rent-To-Own Anything Money Market Funds Lottery Tickets Cigarettes TV Collectibles House I think this is an interesting list.

PPlan @ Provident Plan writes Finances and Going Back to School – Going back to school isn’t cheap. You need to find out how you can afford it before making the leap.

Your Boss @ What Your Boss Really Thinks writes Ask Your Boss: Why Does A Boss Care if I am Late Ten Minutes – Why does a boss care about someone being 10 mins late to work but doesn’t notice when that person works through her lunch to meet a deadline? Just from the way you formulated this question, I can see that you are frustrated with your boss.

Michelle @ The Shop My Closet Project writes One Payday A Month-kind of sucks… – I get paid once a month. The last business day of the month. It kind of sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful and blessed that I have a job and that I even get paid. But, it almost feels like each month I’m waiting to see if I’ve won the lottery.

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes My Passive Income Challenge – Find out which passive investment is generating the best return.

Ray @ Squirrelers writes Crazy Money Quotes: Things People Actually Said – Have you ever heard some people make some money-related comments that just seemed a bit crazy to you? This post shares 6 such comments that I heard, and were memorable to me.

TTMK @ Tie the Money Knot writes Would You Want a Gift Card for Christmas? – Would you like to recieve a gift card as a present? Now, would you like to GIVE a gift card as a present? If your answers are different, you’re probably not alone.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes Can the Government Save the Economy? – 1. CAN the government save the economy? and if yes, 2. SHOULD the government save the economy? We can answer the first question rather simply. Any ECON 101 course will teach you that, through monetary and fiscal policy, the government CAN impact the economy.

Mike @ Personal Finance Journey writes Christmas on a Budget – Planning a great Christmas on a Budget is simply about thinking ahead and following our great advice on squeezing the most out of your dollar.

John @ Married (with Debt) writes The BEST Emergency Fund Setup Ever – Read here to learn how to setup the BEST emergency fund ever. It’s diversified, tiered and easily accessible.

Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Is Entrepreneurship Dying? – Once upon a time, men and women across America had aspirations that amounted to great entrepreneurial feats. Millions wanted to develop businesses, and sought nothing more than a company or organization to call their own.

Teacher Man @ My University Money writes My Love-Hate Relationship With The Campus Bookstore – As a book nerd, I’m all about bookstores. I love the atmosphere, the celebration of literature, and the quiet library-esque respect that generally pervades the area. Campus bookstores are pretty cool places if you are into book culture.

Joe @ Midlife Finance writes Saving For Retirement: More… or Less? – There’s a new trend out there, arguing against the long-held advice put out by practically every financial guru, from Money magazine to Suze Orman: You don’t really need as much for retirement as they’ve said all these years.

Steve @ Ready To Quit My Job! writes Calculating the Monthly Nut and How Your Savings Affects Your Decision to Quit – You need a plan and since you also need a roof over your head and food in your belly (among other things) the first thing you want to figure out is how much you need to cover your expenses on a monthly basis.

Carnival Love

• Investment Reading and Finance Links
• Yakezie Carnival
• Carnival of Personal Finance #385 — Favorite Junk Food Edition
• Carnival of Retirement- 43rd Edition
• The Haunted Carnival of Carnivals — Rise of the Machines!
• Carnival of Financial Planning
• The Carnival of Financial Camaraderie

In Canada you can text ASIA to 30333 to donate $5 (will show up on your cell phone bill)

If you live in the US, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10  (will show up on your cell phone bill)

I’m not sure what the difference in dollar amounts of set donation amounts say about us in Canada (that we are cheap?) but if you want to donate more, you can go directly to the redcross website (Canada and US) to donate more.

Now on to the Yakezie Carnival:

This week, it’s my turn to host and I have the honor of receiving the torch from last week’s host, Dr. Dean!  Next week, it’ll be Control your Cash who will be hosting the Yakezie Carnival, so be sure to tune in and follow the Yakezie torch

• My Personal Finance Journey discusses about Why A Credit Score Boost Is Necessary For Most Consumers.  Jacob looks at the various factors that go in to calculating your specific credit score and a reminder of the benefits of keeping it as high as you possibly can.
• Squirrelers has a light-hearted blog post, a post looking at some Crazy Keywords. He says “it’s often funny to see the keywords people use to find their way to your blog. Someone came to my blog looking to find out about humans
  exterminating alligators!”  Hmm I wonder what that post that was referring to?
• Kevin over at Invest it Wisely has a great post I found very useful as a first time home buyer-  called “Don’t Get Suckered by the Banks: How Much Can You *Really* Afford to Spend on a New Home?” In this post he proposes spending no more than 33% of your net worth on ALL housing costs including mortgage, utilites, taxes, etc.
• Dr. Dean over at the Millionaire Nurse Blog has a great post too, titled “Buy and Hold: Is It Dead?“  Buy and Hold as an investing strategy has been declared dead by many.  In the post are his thoughts this and a poem to boot, too! (Dr. Dean sure is a creative cat!)
• Don at Money Reasons has a creative post (all these creative cats in the Yakezie, I tell ya!) “Best Way to Crush Aluminum Cans“.  The article is about how his son’s aluminum can recycling experiment has accumulated in the garage and how Money Reasons discovered an easier way to crush the cans to make the process much quicker.
• Krantcents has a great article I really enjoyed myself, called The Emotional Side of Retirement.  Planning retirement is more than just savings, what are you going to do?
• Bucksome Boomer talks about how to dispute a credit card charge
• Joe from Retireby40 blog discusses who really loses in a short sale
• A Yakezie challenger, the Ultimate Juggle reveals how you can work remotely (one of my ultimate dreams).  In this post, ultimate juggle talks about the adjustment she had to make when she started telecommuting into work.  She still drives to work a few days a week and that’s a piece of cake.  But with a baby at home, working remotely required an adjustment period.  She hopes this helps other that are following a similar path!
• Crystal from Budgeting in the Fun Stuff gives  you the low down on how to buy a car.

That’s it for the yakezie carnival this week, folks!  Please tune in to next week’s host, Control your Cash as he catches the torch and passes the Yakezie light on.

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

I just want to say that I honestly cannot believe that my blog has survived for one year.  I remember when I was starting out, I would be excited if 10 people visited my site…in a week.  Now there is an average of 350+ people who stumble by my site in a single day!  Most importantly, through this blog, I have learned so so so much, about blogging, wordpress, html, coding (er.. maybe), personal finance, friendship, networking, social media etc. etc.  the list goes on.

I have learned a lot about personal finance from reading what other PF bloggers have written.  I am so grateful to have met so many other PF bloggers out there, all across Canada, into the United States, and even into New Zealand!  It’s been great getting to know everyone a little better through twitter, reading, and commenting.  It has also been great developing some friendships and dialogue with other PF bloggers (albeit online and not in person ).

Youngandthrifty.ca has come a l-o-n-g way, baby.  I remember when I first started, my boyfriend and family would laugh at me as I would excitedly tell them how I had a new comment on my site.  They thought I was crazy to start a blog.  I even remember how I almost wanted to quit at the six month mark.  Now BF doesn’t tease me anymore about my blog.  What a milestone! lol!

I am so thankful for you readers and fellow PF bloggers (“shout outs” to my fellow Canadian PF blogger peeps and the Yakezie). Without your comments and encouragement I honestly don’t know if I would have lasted this long.  I also highly doubt I would be where I am today.  I learn so much from you all and am happy to have this medium (the blog) as a way to share ideas and communicate them to learn from each other in this quaint little online community.

If you want a bit more “juice” about how I got started with blogging, check out my member post on Yakezie.

I hope youngandthrifty.ca has many more years of blogging ahead and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading.  I hope that you continue to follow along my personal finance journey.

Thank you to the members of the Yakezie for donating some great prizes for my one year blogiversary.  The Yakezie members never cease to amaze me- and the Yakezie is growing!

Thank you for entering the contest and subscribing.  There were well over 85 entries for 13 prizes, the largest amount of entries EVER on youngandthrifty.ca.  The winners were picked via random.org after all the entries were submitted on November 28.

So, without further delay, the winners of the giveaway according to random.org are…..*drum roll please* :

• $100 Visa Gift Card courtesy of youngandthrifty.ca:  Heather (congrats Healther on the big prize!)
  
• Subscription to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine courtesy of Couple Money:  Money Reasons!
• The Simple Dollar by Trent Hamm courtesy of Budgeting the Fun Stuff: The Amateur Financier
• Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D. Roth courtesy of Wealth Informatics: Frugal Zeitgeist
• The Elements of Investing by Burton G. Makiel courtesy of Invest It Wisely:  Clay
• I Will Teach you to be Rich by Ramit Sethi courtesy of PF Firewall: Sandy @Yes I am Cheap
• “The Skinny On..” series book courtesy of My Journey to Millions: Financially Poor
• How Rich People Think by Steve Siebold courtesy of Mr. Yakezie himself, Financial Samurai: Free From Broke
• $25 via paypal courtesy of Maximizing Money: James
• $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon courtesy of Frugal Zeitgeist: Mike Gogola
• $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon courtesy of Bucksome Boomer: Michael
• $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon courtesy of Squirrelers: DJ Clement
• $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon courtesy of KNS Financial: Invest it Wisely

I have emailed all the generous contributors and the winners of the prizes.  Thanks for participating and subscribing and tweeting (and reading)!

This male middle management colleague of mine is a hard worker, great to work with and drama-free, but sounds very “traditional-circa-1950′s-male-and-female-role-playing” in his home life.  But I might be making assumptions.

“If I were a Boy” Carnival

This post is part of a series of bloggers sharing their candid experiences or observations about women in the workplace which is not at all meant to be a male-bashing expedition whatsoever.

Please head over to these other wonderful bloggers and read about their experiences.

• Jacq of Single Mom Rich Mom — Accounting, 40s
• Fabulously Broke in the City — Consulting, 20s
• Stacking Pennies — Engineering, 20s
• Musings of an Abstract Aucklander — Publishing, 20s
• Little Miss Moneybags — Publishing — 20s
• Dog Ate my Finances
• Young and Thrifty — Public Sector, 20s
• Paranoid Asteroid
• Insomniac Lab Rat — Science, 20s

To celebrate this momentous occasion, the wonderful personal finance bloggers over at Yakezie (who are youngandthrifty’s heart and soul!) have generously donated some wonderful books and gift cards to celebrate this first year blogiversary (and hopefully not last, lol!).  I will be throwing in a VISA gift card as a first prize, too (just to show how much I appreciate you as a reader!).

How much do all these prizes add up to? Over $250+ in prizes to be won!!

FIRST PRIZE:

A $100 VISA Gift Card courtesy of moi!

This gift card should be able to be used in the United States, but will be $100 in Canadian funds (which works out to be about the same now anyway )  So my American friends please enter this contest too!

BOOK PRIZES:

• Couple Money is generously donating a  subscription to Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine ($36 value cover price)

Elle has been blogging over at Couple Money on how she and her family handles their finances while building mobile income based on their passions.  She’s a really nice person to boot! One of my fave posts is 11 ways to save money at the grocery store.

• Budgeting the Fun Stuff is donating a copy of The Simple Dollar by Trent Hamm ($19.99 value)

Crystal over at Budgeting the Fun Stuff sees money as a tool that is used to provide for our needs, our future, and the fun stuff in between.   She also has an allergy ridden pug too- which automatically deserves big props as I have one too.

• Suba at Wealth Informatics is donating a copy of Your Money: The Missing Manual
  by J.D. Roth (a $21.99 value)

Suba strives to provide Information empowering debt reduction, financial planning, informed consumerism, savvy investing, fun & frugal living leading to financial freedom.  She also is a big fan of paying yourself first

• Invest It Wisely is donating a copy of The Elements of Investing by Burton G. Makiel ($20 value)

Invest it Wisely is a both great Canadian and Yakezie read, one of his most popular posts is what you need to do to get out of the rat race and achieve financial freedom

• Jesse from PF Firewall will giveaway a copy of I Will Teach you to be Rich by Ramit Sethi ($13.95 value)

PF Firewall will be used to track everything going in or out of his personal finance and he will try and provide any ways he has found to patch breaches in my personal finance firewall (awesome analogy!)

• Evan from My Journey to Millions is donating a book from “The Skinny On..” series ($14.95 value)

Evan, a lawyer, dad, husband to The Wife and personal finance blogger has great posts, including an explanation on our mutual love, dividends.

• Sam from Financial Samurai is donating “How Rich People Think” by Steve Siebold ($16.99 value)

Sam is the guru behind the Yakezie and a fantastic writer with posts that are always thought-provoking. I have a ton of favourite posts from him, two being: his Samurai finance rules and How to Get your Super Motivated Boyfriend to Marry You

GIFT CERTIFICATES/ CASH PRIZES:

• Maximizing Money is giving away $25 via paypal

Maximizing Money runs my kind of blog- a blog focusing on financial tips on how to save money and earn extra cash be reaping the benefits of reward credit cards.

• Frugal Zeitgeist is donating a $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon

Frugal Zeitgeist lives my ultimate fantasy- living in Cairo, Egypt.  One of his popular articles is how to simply your life

• Bucksome Boomer is donating a $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon

Bucksome is a personal finance blogger writing from a boomer perspective.  She shares with us how her budget has changed over the last 12 years (us young’uns can learn from her experience)

• Squirrelers is donating a $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon

Squirrelers was launched to help Mr. Squirrel himself and others share thoughts on money, and help us reach our financial goals – while having fun doing it.  He has a fun series called “Squirreling gone wild”, in which the most recent edition was about The Extractor

• KNS Financial is donating a $10 Gift Certificate to Amazon

Khaleef combines faith and finances is a fantastic and introspective personal finance blog.  He also helps people out in real life with budgeting assistance.

Here’s how to Enter in the youngandthrifty.ca Blogiversary Bonanza:

1 ENTRY: Subscribe by RSS (please comment below to show you have entered so I can get your email address- don’t worry it won’t be shared) or email subscription.  If you’ve already subscribed (thank you!) just comment below.

1 EXTRA ENTRY: Follow youngandthrifty on twitter and tweet:

youngandthrifty.ca BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY thanks #Yakezie $250+ to be won! http://bit.ly/9KIwpc (via @youngandthrifty)

Contest ends Sunday November 28, 2010 at midnight PST.  Winners announced on Monday November 29.

The twelve winners will be picked by random.org (13! Good odds!)

One winner per prize (so you can’t win a $100 Visa Gift card AND a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate, sorry!)

Good Luck and thanks for reading!