Carnival of Personal Finance #223

It is time once again to check up on the wonderful world of personal finance bloggers, conveniently packaged into this week’s edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Hosted by Taking Charge, a CreditCards.com blog, and edited by one person with an introduction by another, this week certainly gets points for production value.

Narrow Bridge Adventures offered up a primer on trading stocks on margin which was about 75% correct. At least the author makes it clear that he has never done this and doesn’t ever intend to. But I am growing tired of bloggers writing posts on topics they don’t know much about as if they did. Other novices are likely to be misled into doing something foolish.

On the other hand, a blogger who claims to be an amateur, Kyle at Amateur Asset Allocator, posted on How To Invest In A Low-Return Environment, i.e. the environment we are in now and expect to be in for a while. Besides the basics of watching out for fees and taxes, Kyle hits the nail on the head with what may be the most important investing advice of the year: "lower your expectations."

A post I would describe as almost brilliant and certainly worthwhile came from PT Money on the costs of television. The inspired insight that PT almost-but-not-quite makes is that the monthly fees you pay for cable or satellite aren’t really what makes TV expensive. It’s the time you waste watching the damn thing.

In what I am really hoping will be a growing anti-green trend (the purple movement?) two blogs posted on how popular green habits don’t really make sense, or at least don’t really save money. Budget Pulse pointedly asked how much can you really save with reusable shopping bags, and determined the answer to be essentially nothing. And then LenPenzo.com made the rarely heard but strong argument against rechargeable batteries.

More reasons for me to be proud to be an American were provided by Studenomics. Apparently, in that lawless land to our north, banks can still give credit cards to college students, using only tee-shirts and Frisbees as bait for their sinister trap. Once ensnared, the poor children are forced to spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need.

No fewer than four bloggers contributed posts to the carnival on the irresistible theme of lessons learned over the past year. (Gather Little by Little, Budgets are Sexy, My Wealth Builder, and Modern Gal.) One of the lessons cited by Modern Gal is "Don’t give investment or personal financial advice to close friends." As opposed to strangers who read your blog?

And finally, Don’t Mess with Taxes (still one of my favorite blog names) provided a detailed and practical rundown of what is in the healthcare bill proposed by Senator Baucus. It’s more practical and informative than most media accounts, possibly because author Kay Bell took the radical step of actually "thumbing through" the actual bill. It’s innovation like that that makes me keep reading personal finance blogs.

[Photo: Michael Maggs]

Carnivals, PF Blogs | Frank Curmudgeon | September 22, 2009 12:30 pm

36 Comments

By Rob Bennett, September 22, 2009 @ 1:35 pm

Kyle hits the nail on the head with what may be the most important investing advice of the year: “lower your expectations.”

Ever the contrarian, I would think that lower prices would signal far higher returns on a going forward basis. It was during the insane bull market that we all should have been lowering our expectations. If we return to the price levels that applied in the early 1980s (which seems likely), we will be looking at years and years of returns of about 15 percent real.

That’s bad news?

Rob
By Jim, September 22, 2009 @ 4:00 pm

Frank,

Why are you against the ‘green’ movement?
By Frank Curmudgeon, September 22, 2009 @ 5:05 pm

Jim: I could be anti-green becuase I am a curmudgeon who prefers concrete to trees. Or maybe I see it as the ultimate triumph of feel-good-about-yourself form over substance. It’s hard to tell.
By spravki-kupit.ru, June 26, 2023 @ 9:53 pm

справки москва
By проверенный диплом, June 27, 2023 @ 4:56 pm

I will right away grab your rss as I can not find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me understand so that I may subscribe. Thanks.
By накрутить просмотры яппи, July 30, 2023 @ 9:45 am

Hiya very nice blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds also? I am satisfied to seek out numerous useful information here in the publish, we’d like develop more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
By smartremstroy.ru, August 1, 2023 @ 2:17 am

I pay a visit day-to-day some web pages and information sites to read articles, but this blog offers quality based content.
By daachnik.ru, August 1, 2023 @ 7:10 pm

I like it when folks come together and share opinions. Great blog, continue the good work!
By delaremontnika.ru, August 2, 2023 @ 11:15 am

Excellent blog here! Also your website a lot up fast! What host are you using? Can I am getting your associate link in your host? I want my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
By химчистка дивана в жодино, September 2, 2023 @ 8:25 am

This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I have shared your web site in my social networks!
By чистка дивана на дому цена жодино, September 2, 2023 @ 11:39 am

Hey very interesting blog!
By agrosadovnik.ru, September 6, 2023 @ 12:30 pm

Thank you for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next post thank you once again.
By sadovoe-tut.ru, September 6, 2023 @ 12:41 pm

This is my first time go to see at here and i am truly happy to read all at alone place.
By quick loans near me, October 7, 2023 @ 2:32 pm

Heya i’m for the primary time here. I came across this board and I in finding It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to give something back and help others like you helped me.
By online television, October 8, 2023 @ 7:11 pm

Keep this going please, great job!
By online television, October 10, 2023 @ 12:43 pm

I am really thankful to the owner of this website who has shared this wonderful article at at this place.
By отчетные документы за проживание, October 15, 2023 @ 10:09 am

For latest news you have to pay a visit web and on internet I found this site as a most excellent website for most recent updates.
By гостиничные чеки купить, October 16, 2023 @ 7:59 am

Very quickly this website will be famous among all blogging and site-building users, due to it’s good articles or reviews
By online television, October 17, 2023 @ 1:35 pm

Link exchange is nothing else except it is simply placing the other person’s weblog link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do same in favor of you.
By online television, October 19, 2023 @ 12:18 pm

We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with useful information to work on. You have performed an impressive activity and our whole community shall be grateful to you.
By Онлайн казино, October 20, 2023 @ 1:20 am

Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your feed and I am hoping you write again soon!
By Онлайн казино, October 20, 2023 @ 11:47 am

I really like it when folks come together and share views. Great website, keep it up!
By Онлайн казино, October 20, 2023 @ 5:59 pm

Thanks to my father who shared with me regarding this website, this webpage is really remarkable.
By стяжка пола стоимость, October 22, 2023 @ 5:45 pm
By snabzhenie-obektov.ru, October 24, 2023 @ 4:49 am

строительное снабжение
By отчетные документы за проживание, October 25, 2023 @ 7:32 pm

When I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there a means you can remove me from that service? Cheers!
By оштукатуривание стен, October 26, 2023 @ 5:18 am

Хотите получить идеально ровные стены в своей квартире или офисе? Обратитесь к профессионалам на сайте mehanizirovannaya-shtukaturka-moscow.ru! Мы предоставляем услуги по механизированной штукатурке стен в Москве и области, а также гарантируем качество работ и доступные цены.
By glavdachnik.ru, October 27, 2023 @ 5:36 am

You can definitely see your expertise in the article you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
By гостиничные чеки куплю, October 29, 2023 @ 12:47 am

Hi there everybody, here every one is sharing these experience, thus it’s pleasant to read this website, and I used to visit this blog daily.
By купить гостиничный чек в москве, October 29, 2023 @ 1:24 am

Hello there, I do think your web site might be having internet browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however, if opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Besides that, great blog!
By гостиничные чеки с подтверждением москва, October 29, 2023 @ 2:03 am

naturally like your web-site however you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome to tell the truth however I will surely come back again.
By где сделать в москве гостиничные чеки, October 29, 2023 @ 2:45 am

Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?
By cheap, July 4, 2024 @ 10:56 am

cipro 800mg
By generic, July 16, 2024 @ 9:10 pm

where to get accutane
By prescription, July 29, 2024 @ 5:08 pm

where can you buy tretinoin cream
By xxxbombo.com/xxxgal1369438513, September 1, 2024 @ 12:43 pm

Pretty! This hass ben aan extremely wopnderful article. Thqnks forr providing this info.