This week brought some great posts from the M-Network and beyond:

M-Network

• Paid Twice talks about becoming an accidental investor.
• Being Frugal explains how to avoid Murphy’s Law.
• Single Guy Money flaunts his 1 million dollar umbrella.
• Plonkee Money has an extensive interview with Fabulously Broke.
• Moolanomy begins a series on finance basics.
• Gather Little by Little responds to a reader asking how to include a 401k in their net worth calculation.
• Debt Free Revolution debates a commenter about the use of credit cards.
• Christian Personal Finance shows you how to budget with ING Direct.
• Dough Roller continues his comparison of personal finance to chess in Protect Your King, Protect Your Assets.

This week my post, Give Your Graduate the Gift of Financial Education, was included in the Carnival of College and Finance at College and Finance. This is my first foray into this carnival, but I must say I was impressed with the quality of articles. Go check it out!

My most popular post this week was an oldie – Earn Huge Returns at Prosper.com.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I was featured in the following carnivals this week:

Carnival of Personal Finance

The Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted at KMull this week. These were my favorites from the carnival:

• Dax Desai talks about the power of self-directed IRA’s.
• MoneyNing shows how to gain wealth and save money by missing a movie. (well, actually there’s a bigger picture here, but you should read it to find out)
• Edith Yeung has an awesome article about creating passive income.

My article, Should You Listen to Financial Gurus, was included in this carnival.

Carnival of Everything Finance

The Carnival of Everything Finance was hosted at Everything Finance. These were my favorites from the carnival:

• Home Equity Loan Lowdown gives 10 free alternatives to Quicken.
• Ask the Career Counselor gives a reader a post-college career reality check

My article, Why Defining Your Investment Goals is So Important, was included in this carnival.

The M-Network has added a couple of more members as you can see by the M-Network blogroll to the right. I’d like to highlight a couple of great posts from our two newest members – Debt Free Revolution and Single Guy Money:

• Debt Free Revolution thinks that paying bills is fun. I admire their enthusiasm, but I’m nowhere close to thinking that paying bills is a good time.
• Single Guy Money discusses a sly coworker who hides money from her husband. I think sneaking behind your spouse’s back like this is reprehensible and calls into question the character of the person that is doing it. Also see Being Frugal’s post which asks her readers if they keep secrets from their spouse.

This week I submitted my post about Giving Your Graduate the Gift of Financial Education to the Carnival of Financial Planning.

The most popular post on Financial Dominance this week was What is the 4% Rule.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Carnival of Personal Finance

The Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted at The Simple Dollar this week. A few of my favorites from the carnival:

• Mortgage Blog talks about keeping the right balance between work and leisure
• Baglady says it’s not all about the money when evaluating job opportunities
• Advanced Personal Finance shows you how real returns get in the way of a good plan

Carnival of Financial Planning

The Carnival of Financial Planning was hosted at The Skilled Investor this week. A few of my favorites from the carnival:

• Confessions of a Housewife gives the scoop on the budgeting secret that saved her marriage
• Opportunities a Plenty gives a few tips to boost your retirement savings
• The Tao of Making Money explains what gap insurance is and when you may need it

My contribution to both carnivals was What Do I Need to Retire.

Carnival of Personal Finance

• Cash Money Life asks, “How much is the home run record worth?”
• My Wealth Builder explains that we could have profited from the housing and subprime collapse.
• The Digerati Life gives 10 popular reasons to buy new cars instead of used.

My contribution to the Carnival of Personal Finance was my article Maximize Your Paycheck.

Carnival of Debt Reduction

• Gather Little by Little posts part 6 of their series “How to get your finances under control” called Get Out of Debt.
• Clever Dude asks if the thought of debt is ruling your life.
• Free Money Finance tells you to forget about biweekly mortgage payment plans.

My contribution to the Carnival of Debt Reduction was my article High Speed Debt Elimination.

Carnival of Money Stories

• Millionaire Mommy Next Door explains that evaluation is critical to your success.
• Dough Roller instructs you how to pick your first mutual fund.

My contribution to the Carnival of Money Stories was my article Dramatically Cut Your Cooling Costs

As usual, I recommend setting aside a chunk of time to read through many of the articles in these carnivals as they are packed with useful information. I learn several things about personal finance and investing every week!

While I enjoyed a large number of the contributions this week, these were my favorites:

• Dough Roller talks about 10 things he knew at 40 that he wishes he knew at 20. I agree with him on many of his points and have my own list that I may write about at some point.
• Finance is Personal informs you of
  five money topics to discuss with your future spouse before you get married. I would say these are the bare minimum of money topics you need to discuss before marriage. You certainly don’t want to have any huge financial surprises! (of course unless they are something like a secret trust fund with millions of dollars in it).
• Moolanomy explains 35 common sense rules for investing. Bookmark this post and read it every so often to make sure you are investing intelligently.
• Millionaire Mommy Next Door shows how she became a millionaire while working from home. Very impressive. She certainly made some smart decisions to obtain her financial freedom.
• Saving Advice had a very different type of post this week. They compiled 25 money confessions from audience members at talks they had given. Some are quite disturbing.

Again, I recommend reserving some time to take a look at the other articles that I didn’t mention.

In my contribution to the carnival this week, I give 6 ways to increase your kids’ financial intelligence. Enjoy!

1. Saving Advice shows how lifestyle inflation can sneak up on you and how to avoid it.
2. Accumulating Money explains the many benefits of 529 plans (besides the financial ones).
3. Mighty Bargain Hunter ponders the point of raising the minimum wage.
4. Clever Dude explains that focusing on debt should be a part of reaching a future goal.
5. Million Dollar Journey talks about the 1% stock trading rule.

There were a LOT of great posts to read in the carnival this week that are not listed here, so please visit the 111th Carnival of Personal Finance at plonkee money and read a few. Also take a look at my entry for this week where I talk about the return on investment of an MBA.