Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 6/7/07

• My Money and My Life has a break even goal for the summer. Good luck!
• The Credit and Credit Card Blog talks about the pitfalls of revolving debt.
• Consumerism Commentary talks about saving for your kids instead of yourself.
• Personal Investing Advice has some tips on saving for the future.
• All Financial Matters created a directory of past posts. Very useful!
• The Dough Roller teaches his kids to use Quicken.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 6/1/07

• Plonkee talks about what to do with a windfall.
• $1 Million to my Name - Part IV in the retirement saving pitfalls series - going into credit card debt.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 5/23/07

• Zen Habits lists 6 free alternatives to MS Money and Quicken.
• Young and Broke talks about financial planning for 20-somethings.
• Q&A on Vanguard’s new fee structure.
• Cash Money Life talks about the advantages of debit cards.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter talks about the disadvantages of debit cards.
• Money, Matter and More thinks there should be a credit card qualifying test.
• $1 Million to my Name - Part I in his retirement savings blunders series - pre-paying your mortgage.
• My Debt Relief Plan talks about how getting organized can help with your debt.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 5/15/07

• Wise Bread has a post on 10 frugal ways to get to $1 Million.
• SmartMoney talks about what retirement is going to be like for Generations X & Y. (Hint: It’s not pretty)
• All Financial Matters re-posts the 13 unbreakable laws of finance.
• 3 Debt Consolidation talks about the difference between good and bad debt.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 5/11/07

• Smart Money Daily has a great article about recovering from bankruptcy.
• Make Your Nut gives more advice to new grads.
• Free Money Finance lists 18 ways to save on a small income.
• Money and Such give some tips on how to save on travel.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 5/9/07

• Advanced Personal Finance talks about why he doesn’t have an emergency fund.
• Adventures in Money Making gives us 5 ways to go broke.
• Five Cent Nickel talks about why credit cards rock.
• Get Rich Slowly talks about eating well for less.
• Free Money Finance talks about how to save money on a small income.
• Make Your Nut gives advice to new grads.
• Wealth Building World talks about the importance of saving.
• Personal Finance Articles talks about why it's important to budget.
  

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/23/07

• Credit Card Blog lists 10 reasons why everyone needs a credit card.
• Debt Consolidation News talks about how to get a pre-nup signed. I know it’s a touchy subject for a lot of people but I’m personally in favor of pre-nups. People argue that it means you’re assuming the marriage will fail but IMO, all you’re doing is being realistic. There is a chance that the marriage will end and if you address that in advance it probably means you have great communication which will probably help your marriage last.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has a great post on why it may make sense to NOT roll over a 401k to an IRA. I agree with him and I get asked this question all the time in my classes. There are times when it makes sense to leave your money in a 401k. Typically they are when you have access to investments that would otherwise be closed to you.
• Free Money Finance talks about asset allocation.
• Enhanced Life talks about the excuses people make for not saving.
• Life of a Resident Alien gives 22 tips on how to build an emergency fund.
• An Engineering Approach to Money talks about why it’s good to fund your Roth early.
• 3 Debt Consolidation talks about different debt consolidation methods.
• Canadian Financial stuff talks about how even our northern neighbors hate payday loans.
• Queercents talks about developing a spending plan.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/14/07

• Frugal Zeitgeist talks about marriage and money.
• My Money Blog discusses renting vs. buying.
• Money Walks gives ideas on how to teach kids about money.
• Free Money Finance talks about the 10 best money moves you can make.
• Blogging Away Debt wonders who’s responsible for your debt.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/11/07

• Ask Mr. Credit Card discusses debt repayment plans.
• 3 Debt Consolidation talks about debt reduction mistakes.
• My Personal Finance Odyssey talks about the US savings rate.
• 5 Cent Nickel talks about how to prioritize your retirement contributions.
• The Bargain Queen gives us a lesson in bargain shopping 101.
• Make Your Nut talks about credit scoring and the 7 year myth.
• Canadian Dream lists 10 signs your retirement plan isn’t going to work.
• Everybody Loves Your Money talks about finding the balance between living for today and saving for tomorrow.
• Free Money Finance talks about how Social Security is a rip-off.
• Queercents talks about 101 ways to save a buck or two.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/9/07

• Get Rich Slowly talks about choosing to fund a retirement account vs. paying off debt.
• Debt Free talks about the statute of limitations on old debts.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity asks if married couples should combine finances.
• Living Almost Large talks about the risks of being a stay at home parent.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/8/07

• Sameer Writer talks about the advantages and disadvantages of socially responsible investing.
• Mint talks about what to do now that you’ve graduated.
• The DINKS talk about how to pay off debt.
• The Frugal Law Student talks about what it means to be frugal when you’re wealthy.
• Investments and Loans talks about the evils of credit cards.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 4/7/07

• Personal Finance Odyssey talks about applying the 80/20 principle to personal finance.
• Debt Consolidation News talks about how to get your expenses under control.
• Ask Mr. Credit Card gives tips on how to choose a debt consolidation company.
• 1031 Exchange Lowdown talks about things that keep people poor.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 3/28/07

• 7CM reminds us to Take a Money Day to Organize Your Finances
• Financial Baby Steps asks Should Personal Finance Be A General Education Class?. My answer is a resounding YES!!! The reason I started my business was because I kept hearing from way too many people who started their adult lives without even basic financial education and got themselves into trouble. It's horrible! My goal is to eventually start a non-profit geared towards requiring financial education in both high school and college. I think that the basics about credit and debt should be taught in high school before they start getting credit cards and digging a hole. In college they should expand on their basic education by teaching students about investing, retirement planning, goal setting and how to manage debt. Hopefully our government will wake up and take care of this.
• Wealth Building Lessons gives is Ben Stein’s Basic Rules of Retirement.
• Financial Hack talks about the benefits of low-cost living.
• Endless Gibberish talks about why they like credit cards.
• Ask Mr. Credit Card talks about drastic things you can do for debt reduction.
• My Wealth Builder illustrates how carrying debt can keep you from being wealthy.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 3/20/07

• Wealth Building Lessons gives us some tips on How to Become a Millionaire.
• The Digerati Life tells us about the mistakes he's made that cost him $1000.
• Money and Such talks about how to use credit cards to help with your debt.
• Your Credit Score Secrets talks about debt to credit ratios and how they impact your score.

Personal Finance 101 posts of the day 3/7/07

• Matt Hutter talks about why you should calculate your budget annually not just monthly.
• 360 Success talks about the symptoms of debt overload.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 3/1/07

• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity tell us 6 10-minute money moves that can change your life.
• Universe of Success talks about how to get out of debt.

Personal Finance 101 posts of the day 2/27/07

• The Skilled Investor talks about why diversification is important.
• Getting Green tells us 10 facts the credit card industry doesn’t want us to know.

Be careful with those balance transfers

Young and Broke did a great post about Balance Transfer Boo Boos.

Balance transfers can be great but there are definitely some things you want to look out for and Y&B covers the main 5. Those who are playing the balance transfer game (whether it's to pay of debt or earn money) should definitely check it out.

Borrowing money to pay off debt

War On Credit Cards posted a discussion about whether you should borrow money to pay off debt. They are in support of it if you can get reduced rates on your debt and I agree with some of their points. The biggest concerns I have are when people do the following:

1. Trade unsecured debt for secured debt by using money from a HELOC to pay off credit cards. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, the main being: you get a lower rate but you potentially put your house on the line. My biggest concern with this method is, if you haven't learned your lesson, you can put the debt on your HELOC and then you run up your credit cards again compounding your problem. There's also the problem of, if you hit a financial rough spot and can't pay your HELOC payment, with credit cards they just trash your credit but with a HELOC they can take your house. It can be dangerous so keep that in mind.
2. Borrow money from a 401(k) or 403(b). It sounds like a great idea because you're paying interest (at a low rate) to yourself. However there are some dangers. First, if you lose your job, most likely your loan is due within 60 days and if you can't pay it, it's considered a taxable distribution and you have to pay taxes and penalties. Second, many times if you have an active loan you can't make additional contributions. This may mean that you miss out on employer match. It definitely means that you miss out on the ability to contribute (you can't replace missed contributions) which can drastically reduce the money you have in retirement since you also lose all of those earnings. Third, as in the second example, when the money is out of your account for the loan it isn't earning for you and you can never replace the benefits of those compounded earnings which could have a much larger impact on your financial future than carrying credit card debt.

So, basically, if you're borrowing money from credit cards or prosper or something similar in order to get a lower rate then go for it. However, if you're borrowing from your house or retirement, please, think long and hard because if something happens you can really do serious damage to your financial future.

Personal Finance 101 Posts of the Day 2/23/07

• The Free Geek tells us 12 little known facts that cardholders should know.
• Debt Consolidation News talks about how to avoid debt traps.