The Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance #3

Welcome to the third edition of The Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance, where every featured post is an Editor’s Pick!  Unlike some “Best of” carnivals there is absolutely no voting here, folks.  Instead, selections are solely based upon who is willing to pay me the most money. 

Hey, I’m only kidding!  Please don’t report me to the National Association of Personal Finance Bloggers.  I don’t want to get fined again like I was after offending a few folks with my article on Ten (Extremely) Out-of-the-Box Ideas for Saving Money. 

As usual, it was a very difficult job trying to choose only the Top 10 from among all of the great articles I received. For the month of May I received 145 articles for consideration, not counting all of the spam, and other flotsam and jetsam that was also submitted.

I had a lot of fun reading everyone’s submissions.  Thank you all for contributing and if you didn’t make it this month, please try again next month!

Here now, in no particular order, are the best of the best in money and personal finance for May 2009:

I Love Free Software presents List of Best Free Software for New Computer, posted at I Love Free Software, saying, “Here is a nice way to save some money in this economy – get all the software for free. We searched all over the web, and compiled this list… Each one of these is best in its class, and still totally free!”

Who doesn’t love free stuff?  I know folks who will drive 50 miles and spend $15 in gasoline just because they heard some Dairy Queen in Timbuktu was running a promotion for a free ice cream cone.  I Love Free Software has compiled a very nice list of free software that has the potential to save you some big bucks – sorry, Microsoft – and the best part is you don’t have to drive to Timbuktu to take advantage of it! 

Nickel presents Setting a Savings Ceiling – How Much is Enough?, posted at Five Cent Nickel.

What a great piece!  In this thought-provoking article, Matt Jabs discusses his decision to consider setting a personal savings ceiling and then give his excess money away.   It’s a very noble and Utopian idea, but also one fraught with risk for those of us who are not independently wealthy, especially when you consider all of life’s uncertainties.   Then again, my dad continuously reminds me that he’s never seen a Brink’s truck follow a hearse, so maybe Matt is on to something there. 

Ask Mr. Credit Card presents Mrs Credit Card 40th Charity Birthday Party For Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation, posted at Ask Mr. Credit Card.

A very, very, inspiring and humbling article by Mr. Credit Card that puts life in perspective.  Wow… 

Patrick presents How to Create Alternative Income, posted at Cash, Money, Life, offering “Tips on how you can make more money by creating alternative income streams – and why it is important.”

Another great post from Patrick, who makes his second appearance at The Best of the Best!  By the way, Patrick, I want to offer a very warm congratulations to you and your wife on being first-time parents – I know you won’t regret your family’s decision to make a go of it on a single income!   The Honeybee and I became a single income household shortly after our first child was born 12 years ago and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. 

Debt Kid presents What Puking After a Workout Taught Me About Finance, posted at Debt Kid.

You have my sympathy, Debt Kid.  I did the same thing after watching DeNiro and Pacino team-up in Righteous Kill. 

Khan Ben presents Investing on a Shoestring Budget, posted at Higher Education and Career Blog, saying, “Even college students can afford to build their portfolios.”

Just as there are a few business majors out there who probably experienced the same epiphany as Debt Kid after a typical random Friday night of binge drinking, I’ll bet there are many other college students who could take advantage of Khan Ben’s excellent insights on how to invest on a shoestring budget.  Khan makes some great points on why you are never too broke to start planning for your financial future.  Check it out. 

Financial Health Guy presents The Problem With Credit: Don’t Rent Your Money, posted at Financial Health Guy, saying, “My personal favorite also happens to be my most recent! Debt interest and penalties are terrible for good financial health; add in taxation on the interest and there is real trouble.”

The Financial Health Guy provides a really nice example on why we “rent” our money when we insist on carrying a monthly balance on our credit cards.  Don’t be alarmed when he starts talking about uncontrolled discretionary expenses in the “V/D category.”  Thankfully, FHG was kind enough to include an associated hyperlink to clarify that dubious term for dummies like me.  Yes, I’m a bit embarrassed. 

Rate Nerd presents 10 Ways to Beat a Credit Hangover, posted at RateNerd, saying, “Walking to work or eating leftovers might sound frugal, but your weekend binges at the mall — especially the incoming bills from this past holiday season — say otherwise. Here are 10 tips that just might help you look at debt and spending a wee bit differently in 2009 and beyond.”

I really liked RateNerd’s thoroughly researched and insightful article on improving our spending habits.  One of the most interesting tidbits from the article included a quote from an honest-to-goodness “expert giveologist.”   I was most happy to learn that my penchant for re-gifting is no longer considered socially unacceptable.  Hey, who am I to argue with an expert giveologist?  By the way, you can bet I’ll definitely be forwarding this post to all my relatives during the Christmas holidays. 

Will presents How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt, posted at Your Finish Rich Plan, saying, “These days credit card companies are much more open to negotiation.”

This no-nonsense article is essential reading for those of you out there on the precipice and looking for a way to relieve some of the financial pressure bearing down on you.   Very nice piece, Will! 

MoneyNing presents Let Businesses Deal with Sales Tax, posted at MoneyNing, saying, “Government really needs to improve on some things and I say to let businesses deal with sales taxes!”

This fine post attracted my attention because I, too, have always wondered why listed prices generally do not include the sales tax!  If I had to guess I’d say it’s because unless it is explicitly mandated by law to do so, competition tacitly drives businesses to advertise their prices without taxes.  Confidential Note to MoneyNing: As a fellow Californian I’m actually more upset on the tax-front with the entitlements, absurd government pensions, and non-essential government services our nanny-state legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger have decided to put its citizens on the hook for over the past ten years.  But that’s a topic for another day…

And with that, folks, the May 2009 edition of the Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance is officially over.

Please send your entries for the June 2009 edition of the Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance using our carnival submission form.  For more information, check out our carnival index page.

As a friendly reminder, please please please stick to the carnival guidelines.  Two very good articles I received were disqualified solely because they were posted in a month other than May 2009.   Submissions for the next carnival should include only posts written during the month of June 2009.

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