Mighty Bargain Hunter

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #81

Welcome to the first Carnival of Personal Finance of 2007!  As always, it was great fun reading the submissions.

• No need to have a bubble in your real estate taxes! Blueprint for Financial Prosperity passes on some info on how to lower your real estate tax bill.
• Check out a whole bunch of people’s 2007 goals on Consumerism Commentary.
• Five Cent Nickel has a $150 bonus for you.
• Wenchypoo has a little post-holiday commentary. Looks like consumerism and its waste has her ire up.
• Sun’s Financial Diary bounces off some ideas for saving money and profiting by your Health Savings Account. Possibly the best of both worlds.
• Can you live without a budget? Living Almost Large seems to be doing just fine, thank you very much.
• Kirk Walsh passes on some advice on how to handle a notice from your favorite government agency.
• Financial podcasts are music to Coin Jar’s ears.
• Investor Trip eats some humble pie and shares five lessons learned from some stupid ways he lost money.
• Getting Green isn’t so keen on Quixtar and Amway.
• Bad Credit Advisor explains something I wasn’t aware of when I got my first mortgage: lender paid mortgage insurance.
• My Two Dollars, a new blog charging out of the gates, has mastered the art of complaining to businesses.
• The FraudFiles reminds fortunate recipients of gift cards not to let them go to waste.
• ‘Tis the time for 2007 financial goals, and The Weight of Money, well, weighs in with hers.
• InsureBlog talks on employer health risk assessments and the effect they might have on your premiums.
• Here’s something I finally got around to doing this past fall: My Retirement Blog reminds us to name our IRA beneficiary.
• The Digerati Life didn’t come, see, and conquer, but he did return, exchange, and buy. Return with haste and with caution.
• My Financial Journey has a good list of questions to as a prospective employer in an interview.
• Taking Control Over Money gives some good advice on using 529 plans.
• My Wealth Builder has a review of the T. Rowe Price Retirement Calculator.
• Want to know how to choose a 0% balance transfer card to help reduce your credit card debt? Just Ask Mr Credit Card!
• DebtFree4Ever interviews Kansas House of Representatives member Melody McCray-Miller about legislation that would cap payday loan interest.
• Money Tortoise advises people to just say no to spoon-fed financial advice and predictions.
• A Financial Revolution continues a series with an explanation of tax allowances and exemptions.
• Debt Free has a post with a picture of a smiling Warren Buffett, with five keys to getting good buys on great stocks.
• My Financial Awareness ties in forgiveness to one’s personal finance and the new year.
• Searchlight Crusade tackles a reader question on buying out a partner in a real estate transaction.
• Broke-Donkey Student shares her experience with iGObanking and also posts current rates for online savings accounts.
• FIREFinance explains the booms and busts in sector mutual funds and gives some tips for investing in them.
• Money, Matter, and More Musings wonders about that third decimal place in gas prices. (Congrats on the nearly 1000 diggs!)
• Making Our Way wonders if brokerage firms are raiding our 401(k)s.
• Save Money took a risk and got her credit card rate reduced by a few points.
• ‘Tis the time for 2006 wrap-ups and The Dividend Guy tells us how he did.
• Breaking the Shackles is a little ticked at “Mr. Government” for ruining his yields.
• Some trash-into-cash tips for improving your personal finance bottom line from Money Smart Life.
• The Simple Dollar exercised incredible restraint and saved about 20 gazillion dollars this holiday season.
• “Get Your G’s Together, G!” Don’t worry — I didn’t get it from the title either. The Stingy Students will make it all clear, though.
• Investor Loi advocated fully embracing the power of compounding by maxing out your 2007 Roth now.
• The baby steps count with investing. Check out Thoughts and Riches to find out why.
• Here’s a nice post from Personal Finance for Students and Fresh Grads on academic and student travel deals.
• Smart At Money describes a formula for determining how wealthy you should be by now.
• My Opinion on Everything shares his opinion on Dell.
• Well-heeled “Wanda” got a dividend.
• Wealth Junkie provides eleven debt reduction tips.
• The newest blog of this Carnival, Up From Bankruptcy! has but one post, and here it is.

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year everyone! Get Rich Slowly is up on the block next week.  For more information about the Carnival, check here.