youngandthrifty.ca » young and thrifty carnival

Yakezie Carnival- Yakezies Unite for Japan Edition

young — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:20:29 +0000

It’s my turn to host the Yakezie Carnival today (in case you don’t know, it’s a collection of the best personal finance blogs on this planet, basically), and given the current events in Japan, I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but wanted to encourage everyone to think about Japan today and consider donating to the red cross. It’s the least we can do. Rachelle from Landlord Rescue has a very creative way of determining how much you should donate (e.g. if you have ever eaten sushi, donate $5; if you own a Sony, donate $5…)

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!

Happy Blogiversary to ME! Youngandthrifty.ca Turns One!

young — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:40:43 +0000

If you read about the blogiversary bonanza giveaway a few posts back, you’ll know that today is cause for celebration! Today officially marks “one year” that youngandthrifty.ca has existed in this internet realm.

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)!

If I were a boy…

young — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:05:55 +0000

Fabulously Broke (a fantastic no-nonsense female blogger) approached me to see if I was interested in participating in a one time carnival about our experiences in our industry, noting whether it was female or male dominated, and sharing an experience where I felt that there was male/female disparity. She wanted me to share a bit about my background and my industry. So here goes!

AGE:
late 20′s

INDUSTRY:
public sector

Although I can’t think of a personal male-female situation in my industry that comes to mind, I can think of my experience and observations in my industry as a whole. I work in a primarily female dominated industry sector and even though it is not a male-dominated industry, I feel as though males tend to “climb the ladder” more quickly and more effectively. They are also more respected without having to “earn the respect” so to say. More male employees are in middle management or management, even if they actually have fewer years of experience than other female employees. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoy working with the males in my industry. Men, compared to women, are just not as nit-picky and are more drama-free (sorry, girls!)… period. Actually, come to think of it, there is one situation that comes to mind, but it doesn’t affect me directly and I have not asked my colleague what she thought of the situation. I’ll share with you anyway. My two colleagues, both middle-management and in equal “levels” when it comes to rank were at a meeting with us lowly non-middle-management peons. When discussing what needed to be done in order to take action on a new project, the male middle-management employee asked the female middle-management employee to do something task oriented and mindless (like making a list to put up in the office) but this menial task actually fell under the responsibility of the male middle-management employee. She smiled graciously (but possibly in a way that said “who do you think I am? Your maid?? Do it yourself!”) and said she would make that list.

I pride myself on being quite observant on facial gestures and non-verbal communication, and my female colleague seemed to not be too happy that my male colleague asked her to do something like that. This is not only the first time that he has asked her to do menial things in a meeting. I think it has happened about two to three times consecutively. Again, I haven’t asked her what she thought because I don’t want to start office gossip or anything, so I kept my observations to myself.

I don’t know if my male colleague realizes that he’s acting that way. Is my male colleague implying that his time is more important than my female colleagues? They are both equally busy at work. Maybe I am being overly feminist and overly sensitive about this, but sometimes it seems that male colleagues are better at delegating tasks to females. Maybe it’s not delegating and maybe he’s inspiring team work and collaboration between the employees. Maybe it’s the difference in how women and men interpret things and finish projects at work.

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.

I’m interested to know what you think? Is this a subtle example of male-domination in a female-dominated industry?

If you were the female middle-management employee, what would you do?

Would you delegate things to him at meetings? Speak to him privately about it? Stay “mum” about the whole subject and let things slide?

Here’s what other female bloggers participating in the carnival have to say:

“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

No related posts.

youngandthrifty.ca Blogiversary Bonanza! $250+ in Prizes

young — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:29:02 +0000

In about two weeks, it will be officially ONE YEAR since I wrote my first post (you can see it here. As you can see, I was likely the only one who read that post lol). I can’t believe that I have survived a year! It’s been great and I have learned so much (you can read me yammering on about how much youngandthrifty.ca’s grown with respect to what I have learned this first year of blogging on the actual blogiversary post in two weeks).

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!

Weekend Ramblings and PF blog love: Good Samaritan Edition

young — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:23:06 +0000

photo credit jayled2

The first week of summer has passed already, only eight or so more weekends to take in and savor. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far.

I went shopping (walked through, really) Holt Renfrew yesterday and saw that there was sale. Holt Renfrew is this high end designer department store (super duper duper high end). People were shopping there like there was no tomorrow! It honestly did not look like a recession to me- what happened to saving money and not succumbing to instant gratification? Just out of curiosity, I checked out the shoe section and browsed at some of the shoes that were there. Coach shoes, Manolo Blahniks, Jimmy Choos…all these shoes were in the price range of $350-$800! I stuffed my foot into a $500 shoe (just for kicks- sorry- had to say it… get it? kicks??) just to feel what $500 would feel like on my foot. It felt nice, the craftsmanship of the shoes were really nice, but I can not justify paying $500 for a pair of shoes…that’s like a month’s rent!

Last night my sister called me and said her car ran out of battery at the grocery store. She didn’t have the jumper cables in her car so I went to save the day. I hooked up the jumper cables (and managed not to electrocute myself, to which I am grateful for) and we started our cars and nothing happened. I did have a suspicious that it might not start because my battery was leaking (and had been leaking for quite some time). A nice lady came to really save the day. She hooked up her car to my sisters car and voila- my sister’s car was good to go.

The Good Samaritan said that someone helped her when her battery died and it was pouring buckets (yes, the 300 days a year when it’s raining here in Vancouver), and so she wanted pass it on. She asked us to pass on the good deed too (as well, told me that my battery needed changing). Thanks and I will!

So Good Samaritans still exist!

Have you encountered any Good Samaritans that have helped you renew your faith in mankind lately?

Here are some links from around the web:

Financial Samurai concludes that West Coast Living- is really that much better (can’t agree more!!)
Early Retirement Extreme gives some tips on how to spend less eating out
Len Penzo tells you to visualize your financial future
Money Funk gives you tips on how to control emotional spending
Wealth Pilgrim analyzes whether it’s a good time to buy a house
Bucksome Boomer‘s first blog cheque came in the mail! Woot woot!
Little House looks at strategy discount shopping
Money Reasons tells the Financial Neo to Wake Up (Keanu Reeves can wake up next to me, too??)
Frugal Zeitgeist lets you know how long to keep financial records
Squawkfox gives you a great tip on how to make Pie in a Jar to give as presents
Financial Cents has a 5 part series analyzing which Telco to buy

Have a fantasmic weekend everyone!!

The Yakezie Challenge Carnival

young — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:39:14 +0000

As some of you may know, I wouldn’t be where I am today without having joined the Yakezie group, started by natural born leader and Yakezie mastermind Financial Samurai. I have learned so much and am forever grateful for the connections I have made with other personal finance bloggers. Members of the Yakezie have a chance to host the Yakezie carnival, so it’s my turn today! I’m going to start from the bottom up- Bottoms up! (Just went to a wedding yesterday night, so don’t mind my references to alcohol)

Here it is for some fun sunny summery Sunday reading! (Can you say that three times fast?)

PS HAPPY SUMMER! I hope everyone is as excited about summer as I am. =)

PPS Happy Father’s Day to all the fantastic, dedicated, hard-working dads out there!

Readers, what has your father taught you about personal finance that really ‘stuck’? Please share!

My father has taught me so much about being an entrepreneur, and owning your own business. He never really worked for anyone and always had many businesses going on, yet he still had time to go on month long trips with us in the summer. He also taught me that cash flow from real estate properties is a good thing. He was always so hard working, a real ‘do-it-yourself-er’. …I really admire him when it comes to personal finance (among other things, of course). Happy father’s day, dad!

Yakezie Carnival

Smart on Money gives us ten great tips on how to save money on a tight budget
Miss Thrifty searches for Yorkshire’s Thriftiest Granny
Wealth Informatics says it’s Christmas Time
Chasing Prosperity is baaaack!! (in April)
Retirement Investing Today talks about UK Rates and Mortgage Approvals
The Wealth Artisan thinks that fun shouldn’t cost a fortune
More Style Than Cash tells you the key people that you should call for back up when the sh*t hits the fan
Darwin’s Money rounds up his favourite posts, and apologizes for apologizing to BP
Digging Out from Our Mess gives a word of caution to us young’uns
Smarter Spend is moving so he’s taking a little break from blogging
Invest it Wisely talks about opening up new frontiers (hi ho hi ho!)
Frugal Confessions lets us in on her Frugal Confessions Friday
Downturn Living discusses whether being completely Vegan is really that much more beneficial for the planet
Dividend Monk talks about constant income amidst falling value
Narrow Bridge Adventures talks about how the final stage of the credit card act will affect you
Car Negotiation Coach talks about flying cars! (yes you read that right!)
Financial Poor rounds up his Friday Night Likes
My Money Minute counts down to the end of the Federal Housing Tax Credit expiry in April
Single Guy Money warns you not to buy the new car!
Stay at Home Mom CFO tells you how you can get $75 back if you bought a lawnmower in the last 16 years
The Saved Quarter shares their passion for fresh fruits and veggies
Bible Debt talks about being faithfully rich
Watson Inc. talks about how you shouldn’t let your dream (home) become a nightmare
Foreigner’s Finance explains why you need an emergency fund
Peak Personal Finance teaches you how to automate your banking
Clarifinancial teaches you how to tell between a true quote or a fake insurance quote
BarbaraFreidberg Personal Finance tells you how trading in a car every 2 years makes financial sense
Money Beagle asks you homeowners if you’re treading water (gulp! I hope I won’t have to ever be in that position)
151 Days Off Prays 2.0
Christian Common Sense reviews the book Control your Cash
Girl With the Red Balloon helps you answer whether you need life insurance
Zach Younkin lets you know the options for College Financial Aid
PF Firewall tells you 60 ways you can feel rich without the price tag
CJBowker talks about how you only get one chance at it, so make it good!
My Financial Objectives got nominated for a top 50 Financial Mentors award (me too!)
Redeeming Riches tells you why making more money isn’t the answer (I concur!!)
The Amateur Financier gives us his thoughts on tipping
Beating Broke got nominated for the same award too! (yay Yakezie!)
Evolution of Wealth explains what sole proprietorship means
MillionaireNurse rounds up great nurse blogs of the week
Money Help for Christians shares his free download spreadsheet tool that can help you pay off your debt
The Centsible Life lets us know who won her Father’s Day Giveaway (darn I didn’t win the dremmel tool!)
Couple Money reviews E3 (sounds fun!)
Cool to be Frugal shares with us her net worth and blogging goals
Little House gives us the range of the rent across the nation (OMG New York is that expensive?)
Engineer your Finances reviews the book Enjoy your Money (I reviewed it too- it’s good!)
20′s Money asks you what you are pursuing
Fiscal Fizzle updates us on his blog sabbatical (come baccccckkk, Wojo!)
Out of Debt Again shares with us her Friday Finds
Budgeting the Fun Stuff shares with us her weekly favourites, too
Consumer Boomer reviews Ally Bank
Personal Finance By the Book shares with us his father’s day =) (what a cute drawing)
Bucksome Boomer shares with us some sweet memories of her father, in honour of fathers day
Frugal Zeitgeist shows you that shopping for car insurance is really easy, if you follow his steps
Joe Taxpayer calculates the math of refinancing
One Money Design helps you decide whether you should transfer the balance to another credit card
Saving Money Today shares us his lesson on trying to remember to think before you speak (I need help on that one big time!! you’re not alone)
Money Reasons is reading The Snowball ( I want to read that too!) and learns that Warren Buffett was a renter
Rainy Day Saver shares her Fix it Friday, learn how to put in a tree flowerbed (cute!)
Not Made of Money shares some money saving coupon deals
PunchDebt helps a reader decide whether to be a whore to money or not
Deliver Away Debt updates us on the state of the blog
My Journey to Millions shares with us a quote from the Fountainhead
Monevator rounds up weekly posts and comments on England and the World Cup
Ultimate Money Blog reviews WTDirect
Sweating the Big Stuff went to bank heaven (can I go too?)
Money Funk teaches you how to set up a spending plan
Wealth Pilgrim gives us his fave links for the week, and tells us about Moolanomy’s new forum
Len Penzo gives us his fave links for the week too
Canadian Finance Blog gives us his fave links too, from a Canadiana perspective
Early Retirement Extreme talks about how it might be the death of the buy and hold strategy as we know it
Planting Dollars talks about financial baby steps
Free from Broke asks whether the first time home buyer tax credit should be extended
Eliminate the Muda gives us an example of the 5S strategy in action
Consumerism Commentary gives us an update on the Smithee Debt
Credit Card Chaser explains what a reloadable credit card is
Financial Samurai tells us that the reply button is there for a reason (hint- it’s not to ignore it for emails!)

Carnival of the Young and Thrifty Edition #4

young — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:03:43 +0000

Welcome to the April 16, 2010 edition of carnival of the young and thrifty. I unfortunately have to put this carnival on hold after this edition (for the time being). My inbox is too overwhelmed with submissions… so I’m just going to take a brief hiatus from blog carnivaling for a bit! Partied wayyy to hard with the Carnival of the Young and Thrifty lol! I have a small hangover now. =)

So hang tight, my friends- Carnival will be back! In the meantime, check out these great submissions!

Ryan @ Cash Money Life presents Financial Risk Test posted at Cash Money Life.
Billeater.com presents Use Twitter to Save Money posted at Billeater.
Silicon Valley Blogger presents YNAB (You Need A Budget) Personal Budget Software Review posted at The Digerati Life.
DaveOzment presents Dollars Spent posted at Do You Dave Ramsey?.
The Smarter Wallet presents How To Save Money On Generic Drugs posted at The Smarter Wallet.
Tom Tessin presents Getting Student Discounts on Laptops posted at FCC Student Blog.
ABC presents What Are Junk Bonds? posted at ABCs of Investing.
Wise Bread presents Teach Your Way Around the World posted at Wisebread.
Larry Russell presents Evaluating Roth IRA Conversions posted at Best Personal Financial Planning Software.
PT Money presents A New Low-Fee Charge Card for Young People: The ZYNC Card from American Express posted at PT Money.
Juliana Torres presents 100 Personal Finance Posts Every College Student Needs to Read posted at Career Overview.
Brad presents 6 Warren Buffett Quotes That Will Make You Rich posted at Learn Save Invest.
PT Money presents Cheap Car Insurance: Women Have the Advantage posted at PT Money.
David de Souza presents Overseas Student Tax Tips posted at Tax Return Blog.
Florine Church presents The Psychology of Spending Money: 25 Tricks You Need to Know posted at Career Overview.
me in millions presents 11 Ways I Save on Food posted at me in millions.
Tom Tessin presents How to Find CampusFood.com Coupons posted at FCC Student Blog.
Roshawn Watson presents What’s Your Financial Mindset posted at Watson Inc.
FIRE Finance presents Free Money – Online Bank Account Signup Bonuses over $1100 in all posted at FIRE Finance.
Mariana Ashley presents 20 Best Blogs for Tax Advice posted at Career Overview.

Carnival of the Young and Thrifty Edition #3

young — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:50:51 +0000

Welcome to the March 19, 2010 edition of carnival of the young and thrifty.

Making Money:

FIRE Getters presents Want To Be A Millionaire? Follow the YAWN Philosophy posted at FIRE Finance.
Inside Mutual Funds presents Mutual Funds For Beginners posted at Inside Mutual Funds.
David de Souza presents Tax Rebate Forms ? Tips and Advice posted at UK Tax Blog, saying, “Some tips and advice for when you complete your tax rebate forms this year.”
ABC presents Technical Analysis Trading posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A short explanation of technical analysis stock trading.”
Four Pillars presents Use Your Cell Phone Apps To Manage Your Money posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Some cell phone apps to help track your finances” <—- I love these Apps for my iTouch!
tristin presents How to Become a Millionaire ? Are You Bored of Those Get Rich Quick Schemes posted at tristinaugustus.com, saying, “inspiration 4 everybody”

Frugality:

20stravel presents The Biggest Money Sucks for Twenty-Somethings posted at Twenty-Something Travel. <— excellent post! I love 20stravel (feeds my travel junkie addiction)
MyMaria presents Debt Snowball: Making Progress posted at Frugal Homesteading Blog, saying, “We’ve paid off more than 75% of our debt since starting the debt snowball. Here’s how we did it.”
Nathan Bishop presents The Purpose Driven Life – My Journey Begins posted at The Debt Hawk, saying, “Today, my wife and I are starting our 40 day Purpose Driven Life journey. I hope you don’t mind that I thought that I would use The Debt Hawk as my Purpose Driven Life Journal.”
Gin G. presents Call Us Cheap So What posted at Sense Scribe, saying, “Learning tips and advice to save money and costs in a slow economy. Read more.”
Wenchypoo presents The Diminished Incentive to Save posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket
Kathryn presents edgi – 30 Ways to Recycle Your Cool Graphic Tees posted at Edgi Blog, saying, “Save money by getting more use out of the t-shirts you own.”
The Investor presents Are you wasting your money on memories? posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Younger people tend to put much more emphasis on travel and gaining experiences and memories than previous generations did. But is this any better than just consuming stuff, really, and does it lead to happiness?”
Debra Jacobson presents How To Be Frugal: Saving Money on Eating Out posted at All Things Frugal, saying, “In lean economic times, eating at restaurants is generally avoided. However, there are ways to eat out without breaking the bank.”
Abigail Perry presents Want an affordable iPhone? Get an iPod Touch. posted at I Pick Up Pennies, saying, “iPhones are lust-worthy devices, but can an iPod Touch be a better answer for your finances?”
Zhu presents A Nation Under Debt | Correr Es Mi Destino posted at Correr Es Mi Destino, saying, “I came to Canada with just a French checking account ($3,000) and about $100 worth of Travelers’ Cheques. Five years later, I have a checking account and a saving account at Scotiabank, two credit cards from CIBC (a regular one and a student one I keep on forgetting to cancel) and I’m about to apply for a better Bank Of Montreal credit card (the air miles thing, you know). Oh, and let’s not forget about my Paypal account.”

Work Stuff:

nissim ziv presents Job Application: Covering Letter for Job Application- Samples posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “No resume is completed if no cover letter accompanies it.”
nissim ziv presents Being Your Own Boss: Advantages and Disadvantages posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “The Big Boss, The Head Honcho Who doesn’t want to be the boss? Let’s face it – no one grows up thinking, “I hope I always have someone standing over me to tell me what to do and how to do it.” Yet most people don’t end up being the head honcho, do they?”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition (one month away!) of carnival of the young and thrifty using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Please just submit only one article. Just a gentle reminder that anything not relevant to personal finance won’t be included, of course! The next one is slotted for April the 16th. See y’all then!

Yakezie Challenge Mid-week Round-Up

young — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:13:11 +0000

The Yakezie Challenge is an idea created by Financial Samurai, a highly entertaining personal finance blogger. It facilitates a sense of community in the personal finance world by encouraging us to work together to help increase each other’s Alexa rankings. Alexa, in case you don’t know, is the website that lets you know where your website ranks in the web world. LOL How many times did I use the word “web” in there?

Inspired by Deliver Away Debt’s awesome weekend links of Yakezie group members- he stayed up until 2-3am to write it, thought I’d do the same for mid-week (but try not to stay up too late past my bed time!). Anyway, here are some great links to lighten up your work week. Maybe you can peruse them at work if you’re not busy or if you’re having a bad Wednesday (hey look on the brighter side, you’re on hump day! Just two more days until the weekend).

I’m only going to post up the Yakezie members who are above the 200,000 goal for July 4, 2010 because I am falling asleep on my laptop as we speak… (My sincerest apologies to all you high ranked Alexa personal finance bloggers!)

Enjoy! Happy Wednesday!

Rainy Day Saver has a new webpage design- go check it out here!

Stay at Home Mom CFO writes about how she received a credit from the IRS (wow since WHEN did the government gladly give US money? =P )

My Money Minute enlightens us on the $40,000 video game… and how old stuff may actually be worth preserving- after reading that post I ransacked my old video game collection but alas, did not find any gems that were worth $40,000.

Chasing Prosperity talks about Lessons learned from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics (Having experienced the Olympics here in Vancouver, I learned that 6 hour line ups all over the place kind of suck! And that trying to get into Heineken House three times and getting rejected three times hurts your feelings! And that Vancouver is really in the lime light now!)

151 Days Off has a picture that will surely excite your boring ol’ Wednesday–> Check out what they did at the Sydney Opera House.

Foreigner’s Finances talks about how to save money for retirement while working abroad. He’s teaching English in Japan right now- and while you don’t have to pay your home country’s tax, you also don’t get access to all the retirement planning!

Little House in the Valley also changed her theme- it’s really cool- check it out here!

The Amateur Finacier shares his Net Worth AND talks about how he jumped 100,000 spots on the Alexa Ranking- woo hoo!

Elle @ Couple Money also shares her Net Worth for last month

Downturn Living talks about the Price of Fame, a Story about Pre-Planning.

CJ Bowker explains to us what his response is when someone asks “What do you Do?”

Clarifinancial interviews Elle from Couple Money on his Fresh Perspective post =)

Money Reasons shares with us the Important Financial Lessons his Son Learned Today

Blog Income Life talks about Twitter and All That Social Media Stuff

Deliver Away Debt shares with us his Net Worth too!

WellHeeledBlog talks about Eat Pray Love’s Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book about her and her ex husbands relationship with money.

Evolution of Wealth defines Financial Planning, and what it REALLY means.

Money Funk also shares her family’s Net Worth. Check it out. She has automated most of her bills- good tip!

Wealth Pilgrim gives you the “in” on How You Know if You Are Saving enough for Retirement.

Ultimate Money Blog shares with us how she makes Embroidery Wall Hoops for her home. Cute!

Punch Debt in the Face justifies how he is planning to spend $4000 on his honeymoon (I say go for it!! People have to live their lives somehow. We need to be saving for the sake of enjoying aspects of life, not just for saving!) P.S. the picture associated with the post is hilarious. It could be on one of those Carlton cards!

My Journey to Millions talks about how cool the Yakezie Group is. It’s cool. Get in on the action!

Early Retirement Extreme talks about how you should Never Do Things for Their own Sake.

Enemy of Debt encourages us to Live Life to the Fullest by Getting Out of Debt.

Carnival of the Young and Thrifty: Edition #2

young — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:28:34 +0000

Welcome to the February 19, 2010 edition #2 of carnival of the young and thrifty. It’s personal finance PARTAY Time!

Debt Links:

oneadvice presents Single Parents Debt Advice posted at One Advice, saying, “Sometime money can be a struggle for single parents. But knowing how to make the most of single parents debt advice means that you can be back in control of your finances…”
The Debtress presents The Benefits of Cleaning Out Your Wallet (or Purse) posted at - The Debtress Blog -, saying, “Stuffing napkins under your hip to balance a stuffed wallet? Throwing out your back just hauling around your purse? Some times cleaning out your purse or wallet makes financial sense.”
Keith Morris presents What the Credit Card Changes Mean to You posted at LifeTuner, saying, “In 2009, Congress passed a new credit card law with much fanfare. Consumer protection groups generally praised the legislation as helping consumers. But what does that mean for you and me on a practical level?”

Investing:

healthylivinggal presents The Problem With Dow ETFs posted at ETFdb.
Deposit Accounts presents How to Build a CD Ladder (Infographic) posted at Deposit Accounts.
Leslie Yoelson presents Ultimate Guide To Biotech ETFs posted at ETFdb, saying, “ETF investors looking to gain exposure to the biotech sector have a number of options to consider–five to be exact. While there are some similarities between these funds, there are also some significant differences that result in unique risk and return profiles and diverging returns. In this article, we profile each of the ETF options, highlighting the pros and cons of each.
Patty Pedersen presents Fidelity Investments Offers Free ETF Trading posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters – Investing Blog, saying, “Following Schwab’s move, Fidelity is offering free trades on a wide range of ETFs. This article explains how can investors can prudently you use free trading of ETF to their advantage.”

Taxes:

Peak Personal Finance presents Tax Time: Home Related Tax Breaks posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, “These tax savings are a benefit of home ownership.”
JJF presents IRS Imputed Interest Rules | IRS Tax Advice posted at The Personal Finance Blog.

Post-Valentines Day (likely many people got engaged!) Wedding Planning:

Vicky presents Planning a Wedding in an Economic Recession posted at Affordable Wedding Planning, saying, “In an economic slump, the last thing you want to do is spend $20k+ on a wedding.”
Steve Faber presents Propose To My Girlfriend » Cheap Wedding Plans – How to Save A Bundle of Money on Your Dream Wedding posted at Propose To My Girlfriend.

Saving Money, Job Hunting, and Good Stuff:

Condo Blues presents Keep in the Heat: Insulate Outlets and Switches posted at Condo Blues.
nissim ziv presents Job Interview Questions and Answers posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Anticipating the job interview questions is one of the best ways to get ready for an interview. Getting ready for an interview requires homework, but the hours of prep time will be worth it.”
Honeypurple presents 100 Best RSS Feeds for Your Financial Literacy posted at Accounting Degree.com.
Honeypurple presents 100 Important Personal Finance Posts for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.

That concludes this edition- stay tuned next month! Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of the young and thrifty using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.