Carnival of Personal Finance – Tour of Ireland Edition

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance! With St. Patrick’s Day rapidly approaching, I thought I’d take you on a tour of Ireland to celebrate the Patron Saint of Ireland. In between tourist stops, we’ll also be stopping to visit the top personal finance articles from around the blogosphere. It’s like a two for one deal! Here we go!

Glendalough, or The Glen of the Two Lakes, was an early Christian settlement. Even though the site was neglected for many years, it remains a beautiful and peaceful place to visit.

Editor’s Picks

0% Interest Loans sound like a good deal. But Adam from Magical Penny asks Are 0% interest Loans Really Free Money?

MD from Studenomics tells you Why Parent’s Shouldn’t Pay For Their Kids’ College Education .

Are you living the life what you want? That’s what the Everyday Minimalist wants to know.

Mike from Personal Finance Ninja presents Life Style Inflation: Why Your Savings Is Not Growing as Fast as Your Income.

Money Management

Ron from The Wisdom Journal shows you 101 Common Money Myths.

Need to make some quick cash and save money? FMF from Free Money Finance tells you to Make and Save Money by Getting Rid of Your Junk.

Craig/FFB from Free From Broke presents Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) Are Awesome – 7 Reasons.

Where did we get our current ideas about retirement and are those ideas what we should be striving for? Paul Williams from Provident Planning answers the question in Rethinking Retirement.

Nicole from Rainy-Day Saver wants you to Prepare Your Finances for Vacation before you get on that plane.

Are you Earning a Living or Living an Earning? LeanLifeCoach from Eliminate the Muda! explains the difference.

Not satisfied with your bank? DR from Dough Roller shows you How to Switch Banks in 5 Easy Steps.

Named the Fourth Greatest Wonder in the United Kingdom, The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns caused by volcanic eruption.

Finance

Ryan from The Financial Student shows us how how successful running lessons also translate well to personal finance in Lessons Running Taught Me About Money.

When it comes to planning for retirement, don’t pull a Homer J. Simpson “Doh!” moment and make a costly move. Instead read Doh! Avoid These Retirement Mistakes by Junior Boomer at Consumer Boomer.

You’re A Sucker To Have Life Insurance… Sort Of. Financial Uproar explains why.

If you need a little extra cash, follow Single Guy Money’s Tips To Make Money on Craigslist.

Investing

Best Index Funds; Does Vanguard Still Rule The Roost? Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator lets you know!

D4L from Dividends Value presents Increasing Dividend Yield Part II: REITs.

Dividend Growth Investor says you can Capitalize on China’s Growth with these dividend stocks.

Opening a Roth IRA? PT Money shows you where to look for the best rates at Roth IRA Rates: How to Find the Best Rate.

Miranda Marquit from Growing Money shows you the Advantages of Index Funds.

AlexG from Magic Formula Pro presents Undervalued Stocks.

What’s the Best 529 Fund?  That’s a good question, and Helen from Science and Money answers it.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year. ElizabethG from Modern Gal teaches us Stock Market Lessons A Year After the Lows.

What’s a visit to Dublin without a stop at the Guinness Storehouse? You’ll learn all you want to know (and more) about the world’s most famous beer.

Budgeting

Frugal Dad writes about Implementing PAYGO Rules for Personal Finance. Now if everyone would PAYGO…

Dave from Do You Dave Ramsey looks at his Dollars Spent and reflects on how what you see is not necessarily what is happening.

Saving

Amanda from My Dollar Plan is getting married, and she shows you How to Save Money on a Wedding, From a Future Bride.

The largest private originator for student loans, Sallie Mae, has entered the world of saving and banking. Silicon Valley Blogger writes about it with High Yield CD & Online Savings Products From Sallie Mae at The Digerati Life.

Frugality

Money Beagle says Confession Time: I Got Charged With The Stupid Tax. Oops.  You’ll have to read to find out what happened.

10 bucks a month can add up quickly. NCN from No Credit Needed shows you 10 Ways To Save 10 Bucks Each Month.

Debt

Olivia from Independent Beginnings presents The Purpose of Debt. Hint: it’s not to accumulate as much stuff as you can. But you’ll have to read the post to find the answer.

Barb from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance says Get Rid of Debt Once and for All, and shows you how much it really costs to carry a credit card balance.

Now that you know how much credit card debt really costs, Craig Ford from Money Help For Christians gives you A step by step guide for getting out of credit card debt.

Legacy Debt Solutions vs Credit Solutions – Who Can Bankrupt a Client Faster? The answer should be neither, but find out the real answer at Damon Day and Associates.

Chris from My Debt Relief Options presents an alternative to the above article with Do It Yourself Debt Settlement: How To Negotiate With Your Creditors.

The largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland is Trim Castle. It was opened to the public in the year 2000.

Credit

A.B. from Modern Tightwad presents 365 Days of Saving Money: Your Annual Credit Report Is Free, Your “Free Credit Report” Is Not. If you don’t know the difference between the two, please read. I’m with A.B. on this one.

Jim from Bargaineering shows you the American Express Purchase Protection Perk.

Credit Card Changes Are in Effect, Baby! and J. Money from Budgets are Sexy is celebrating!

Mr. Credit Card from Ask Mr. Credit Card is Looking for Post-CARD Tricks and Traps.

Reviews

Wealth Pilgrim gives you some Simple Ideas for a Balanced Life with his review of Unautomate Your Finances.

Austin from Foreigner’s Finances tells you about The 5 Books That Changed My Money Life.

2 Cents from Balance Junkie reviews You’re Broke Because You Want to Be.

Are you ready for tax season? The Smarter Wallet tells you about H&R Block Tax Products & Online Services (Formerly TaxCut.

Real Estate

There’s A New Pardigm for Home Ownership. Super Saver from My Wealth Builder tells you what it is.

Having trouble making your mortgage payment? Ryan from Cash Money Life presents Options for Homeowners Who Can’t Make the Mortgage.

The Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Looms, and Paul Walsh from Finance Trails Blog tells you what you need to know.

Career

Kyle C. from Suburban Dollar commands When Opportunity Knocks, Open the Damn Door!.

Looking to create your own start-up company from scratch? If so, read this and take notes! Building Real Wealth: Small Company Equity by Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents.

Jason from MyMoneyMinute is having trouble collecting unemployment in Unemployment Benefits – Denied!.

Built in 1792 and shut down in 1924, Kilmainham Gaol is Irelands most famous unused prison.

Taxes

FT from Million Dollar Journey tells you about the Canada Income Tax Deadline.

Ben from Money Smart Life shows you How to File Taxes Online.

Darwin from Darwin’s Finance presents 6 Reasons You Won’t Go to Finance Hell if You’re Getting a Tax Refund This Year. I’m not getting a refund, but I’m glad I wouldn’t be going to Finance Hell if I was!

Jeremy from Generation X Finance tells you How to Avoid and Prepare For a Tax Audit by the IRS.

Not going to get your taxes done by April 15? Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary shows you How to File a Tax Extension.

Economy

Consumers, business and the Government each have a responsibility to each other and to the economy. What are they? Bret from Hope to Prosper gives his opinion in Consumer Protection & Responsbility.

With economic “experts” out there spouting conflicting advice, who do you listen to? Pop from Pop Economics tells you The difference between a good expert and a bad expert.

Other

Jason from Live Real, Now teaches you the 5 D’s of Identity Theft.

Bob from Christian Personal Finance asks What’s the best way to help the poor? It’s a good question. Read and share your opinion.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog from Canadian Finance Blog answers the question What is Financial Literacy?

Sometimes it’s hard to know how to help, when people are facing tough times. Miss Bankrupt gives some suggestions on How to Help Single Parents.

Thank you for reading the Carnival of Personal Finance – Tour of Ireland Edition! Next week’s carnival will be hosted by Amateur Asset Allocator.  Don’t forget to submit your posts! G’day!

Photos by Shadowgate, edvvc, futureshape, andrewcparnell, and IrishFireside.

Tourism information taken from IrishTourist.com.