Welcome to the 46th edition of the Carnival of Financial Independence, a selection of the best articles related to Financial Independence this week. If you would like to be included next week, please submit your post via Blogger Carnivals. If you would like to host for a future edition, you can contact Pauline at Reach Financial Independence.
The guidelines are:
- You can submit a post that was published during the last month
- The posts have to relate to reaching financial independence, and fit within the following categories: Savings and Simple living, Travel and Lifestyle, Wealth and Passive income, Real Estate and Investing, or Self employment.
- Submit by Wednesday night for the Saturday edition
- Please mention the carnival in your roundups if you have been featured!
Editor’s Picks
Matt Becker @ Mom and Dad Money writes Use the Saver’s Credit to Turbocharge Your Retirement Savings – What if there was a way to make saving for retirement a little more affordable? What if we could actually get some of the money we put away for retirement back in the form of cold, hard cash? Well you can. It’s a little known tax credit called the saver’s credit and it can be a huge financial boon for the people who can use it.
Justin @ Root of Good writes Dividend Investing – Find out how Root of Good earned $22,300 in dividends during 2013. Learn how you can focus on dividends in your own portfolio, and why dividends are important for Root of Good’s early retirement. You can even earn fat dividends with these suggested low cost index funds.
TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE
Tushar Mathur @ Everything Finance writes 4 Things I Want To Accomplish in 2014 – It’s always fun to set some goals when the new year is off to a fresh start, so here’s what I want to accomplish in 2014.
Mr. Frenzy @ Frenzied Finances writes How to Take Advantage of What Your Community Has to Offer – Living in a community is a wonderful experience. To live to the fullest it is important to learn how to take advantage of what your community has to offer.
Bargain Babe @ BargainBabe.com writes How to Have an Indoor Garage Sale – How to have an indoor garage sale in the winter months and make money from it!
Corey @ 20s Finances writes My 2014 Financial Goals – 2013 was a year of change and progress for me and my wife. When I sat down to calculate the our net worth, I found that we were short of our ambitious 50% increase YTD goal, but not by much.
Lauren @ L Bee and the Money Tree writes 5 Dietary Changes That Will Make You Rich – I think people like money almost as much as they like food. Or at least that’s me. So perhaps I can perk a few ears with these 5 tips on dietary changes that will make you rich.
Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Do One Thing for a Healthier You – Starting a new year, why not do this one thing for a healthier you!
SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Your Financial Goal for 2014 – 2014 is coming up fast! Time to examine your year in spending and saving – and establishing goals for 2014, while you’re at it.
Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Back on the Weight Watchers Online Wagon – I like to eat. And I really like to eat during the holidays.
Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes One Year In: Our Experience Sponsoring a Child in Africa – We’ve now sponsored Janvier for a year. While our experience has been good, it hasn’t necessarily been the experience we expected.
Alice @ Drop the Cookies! writes Tracking Weight Loss Successfully – Scales are shifty buggers and there are many other valid and accurate ways to measure your weight loss success. Use as many of these as you can to keep yourself motivated, focused and on track to successful weight loss.
Lenny @ Best Money Saving Blog writes Prepare yourself for Small Business Success in 2014 – as a small business owner, preparing yourself for success is something that should never stop. The thing is, there’s really not much of a difference between the end of one year and the beginning of the next.
Marissa @ Finance Triggers writes The Perks of Living in the Suburbs – More and more people are moving are looking to move out of the city core, find out The Perks of Living in the Suburbs.
Larry @ KrantCents writes My 2014 New Year’s Resolutions – My 2014 New Year’s Resolutions will be different! Normally, I do not make New Year’s Resolutions because I do not believe in them. Why wait for a particular date to resolve or promise to make changes?
Kelly Mac Donald @ Try New Things writes Retirement Gamble: Gambling on Now…Not Later – The choice of early retirement is a gamble where you choose to travel and enjoy life now, versus a later that may never happen.
Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Breaking a Habitual Cycle – A while ago, I verbalized a financial habit through a conversation that made me realize I had a cycle I needed to change. But that first step was verbalization.
Claire @ ReadyForZero Blog writes How To Turn New Year’s Resolutions Into Lifestyle Resolutions – 2014 is here! Instead of setting resolutions that fizzle why not focus on making lifestyle changes that stick? We share tips to help you set sustainable goals for the New Year – and beyond.
WEALTH & PASSIVE INCOME
JP @ My Family Finances writes Small Business ‘To Do’ List for 2014 – Growing your small business should maximize money and time. Owners must also consider the impact of expansion on liability and taxes, among other factors.
Crystal @ Married (with Debt) writes Advice I Don’t Follow – As we start out a new year, I want to take an opportunity to mind-dump some money ideas that I’ve been having, and also confess about some advice I gave you that I don’t follow.
Justin @ Root of Good @ Root of Good writes Enjoying Four Months of Early Retirement – Come find out how Root of Good is doing four months after retiring at 33. In addition to revealing what he does with all his free time, this early retiree shares all the gritty details of his household’s monthly expenses and income (including the $13,000 in dividends received in December!).
Michael Kitces @ Nerd’s Eye View writes Investing Around Human Capital – Is Your Career A Stock Or A Bond? – For most people, their greatest asset is their ability to work and generate income. Yet as an “asset” an individual’s human capital can rise and fall, and be managed and invested in. Are you focusing on nurturing your human capital the way you look to your portfolio and financial capital, and even use one to diversify the other?
Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes Anchored in this Anomalous Economy – How will it affect me to have all my financial anchors emerge from the post-Great Recession economy? I believe the stock market always goes up, interest rates are super low, and that I have high job security.
Mario @ Debt BLAG writes Should I move my emergency fund to Bitcoin? – I briefly introduce what Bitcoin is, ask whether it makes sense to keep my rainy day fund in Bitcoin, and decide that no, it does not.
Daisy @ Suburban Finance writes 4 Easy Ways to Make Passive Income 2014 – There are many ways of making passive income, but coming up with passive income ideas can be difficult, because there are mental blocks to earning passively. I’m giving you four easy and fun ways to make passive income in 2014
Alice @ Hurricanes, Panties & Dollars writes The pterodactyl retirement plan – An interesting conversation, a plan to trap a pterodactyl and waking back up in the real world. Plus a fun, catchy video and perhaps a little talk about retirement.
Dee @ Color Me Frugal writes Talking to Your Partner About Money – It’s so important to be able to talk to your mate about money. Check out these tips on how to accomplish this task without sacrificing your relationship.
Marvin @ Brick By Brick Investing writes How To Manage Your Thrift Savings Plan – A detailed look at how anyone can manage their Thrift Savings Plan like a stock market professional.
Chad @ The Stock Market and I writes Dividends: The Gift That Keeps on Giving – After posting a terrific year in 2013, 2014 looks to be even better for shareholders who are looking for dividend payouts.
GYF @ Gaming Your Finances writes Net Worth Update: $750,364 – Wow! What a year. A net worth increase of $130,413. The Gaming Your Finances household details their current financial net worth of over $750k.
REAL ESTATE AND INVESTING
Kyle @ The Penny Hoarder writes 5 Weird Ways to Make Extra Cash with Your Home – When it comes to making extra money I’m a huge fan of squeezing cash out of things you already do or already own. One of the most underutilized resources many of us have is our home. Our house doesn’t have to just be a place we live, but it can also be a cash generator.
Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes How To Turn Your House Into A Rental (And Get Higher Rents!) – Are you interested to learn how to turn your house into a rental? Maybe you are underwater and selling doesn’t make sense so you want to become a landlord?
Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes What If You Were Down 27%? – The Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) rose 72.37 points, or 0.4%, to 16,576.66 on the last trading day of 2013.
Lindy @ Minting Nickels writes Controlling Your Finances More Effectively In The New Year – New Year is a time when most of us cast an eye to the future, after reflecting on the past.
Ryan @ Cash Money Life writes How to Invest in Dividend Stocks for as Little as $10 – Dividend stocks are an important part of an investment portfolio. Start investing in dividend stocks with Direct Stock Purchase Plans, partial shares, etc.
Daniel @ Make Money Make Cents writes It’s time to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses – More than likely you have heard the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses” more than a few times in your life. What it refers to is the phenomenon of using your neighbors as a standard for which to compare your own life and material goods.
Irfan@BeingInvestor @ Being Investor writes Best Stock Investing Tips – The stock market can be a bloody place for unseasoned investors. But knowing the ins and outs can reap great benefits. The stock market is perfect for those who seek to build wealth in the short or long term.
Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Have High Investment Costs? Try These Quality Choices – High investment costs are often overlooked. However, net returns that reflect management expenses and trading costs should also be considered.
SELF EMPLOYMENT AND CAREER
CAPI @ Creating a Passive Income writes 10 Jobs Requiring No Experience and How to Get Them – In today’s world landing a job has become more difficult. Not to fear – there are plenty of jobs requiring little to no experience! Read here for our list.
John @ Frugal Rules writes Financial Independence Starts With One Important Question – Many want to live to be financially independent but fail to reach it. The reason behind why so many fail to reach it is that they do not stop to look at the value they’re getting when they purchase things. If you’re able to start determining what value you get, then the road to financial independence is much clearer.
Brian Fourman @ Luke1428 writes Some Unforeseen but Realistic Drawbacks to Chasing Your Dream – Our tendency is to inadequately prepare for the drawbacks that come from chasing a dream. They creep up on us quite unexpectedly. When we finally realize what is happening, it takes some time to deal with it.
Glen @ Glennalicious.org writes Making A Career Change At 50 – Making a career change at any age can be especially stressful and financially difficult. If you are planning on taking your career in a new direction, starting your own business, or want to advance faster, learn about the steps you need to take beforehand to ensure your future success.
John @ Frugal Rules writes Retirement Planning Tip for the Self-Employed: Don’t Make My Mistake – Retirement planning when you’re self-employed can be easily overlooked when you’re busy managing your business. However, this can cause a worse problem as you’re also losing out on a 401k match. With some appropriate planning and selection of the appropriate retirement vehicle you can set yourself up for success and grow your retirement portfolio at the same time. Just make sure that the option you select is the one that’ll benefit you from both a retirement and a taxation perspective.
Michelle @ Diversified Finances writes How To Be More Productive When Working From Home – Being able to work at home for the past two months so far has been great. I’m able to run my business entirely from my laptop.
Jim @ Critical Financial writes 10 Reasons Why ‘The Donald’, I Am Not! – Being the small time real estate investor I am, I have to admit, one of the people I find rather interesting in the investing business is the one and only, Donald Trump
SAVINGS AND SIMPLE LIVING
Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes 2014–The Year to Save – This year, instead of setting annual goals which seem to peter out as the year progresses, I’m setting quarterly goals and writing them big and bad on the wall!
Mark Ross @ Money Saving Dude writes 30 Ways You Can Do To Save Money As A Student – Know the different ways how you can save money as a student, and start growing your wealth early in your life.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes How to Start Saving Money (Even if you’re always broke) – Each month our debt was growing, so how could I save 10% of nothing or $50 we didn’t have? I couldn’t, so I had to come up with another solution to be able to save money even though we were beyond broke.
PFC @ PF Carny writes The Starter Emergency Fund – Sure most people would agree that keeping money set aside in case of emergency is a wise idea. But not everybody has the money or interest needed to have a fully funded emergency fund.
Stu @ Poor Student writes 3 Reasons It’s Easier to be Frugal as a Student – It’s much easier to be frugal when you are a student for many reasons, so students should be taking advantage of the ease of saving money while they are still students!
Christopher @ This That and The MBA writes Money Saving Tips For College Students – Most students have experienced the difficulty of saving money from over the summer at their summer jobs. Usually the amount of money parents give them is just right for their needs and other school-related things and when there is something left, it is not enough for the personal purchases the students want to make.
Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Cut Back on Some Expenses to Have Your Dream Wedding – To us, the more important aspects of our wedding are the food (everyone remembers the food), the venue, and the photos. We are saving money on some other things so that we can afford to spend a little more on the important pieces.
Mr.CBB @ canadian budget binder writes Prepare your budget for the renovation money monster – Things always get in the way whenever you’re planning to do renovations especially when you’re doing all the work yourself. Time is the biggest factor quickly followed by money.