The Digerati Life

Gee, I thought Halloween was over but it seems that the scare factor and nervousness in the financial arena are more apparent than ever. Here are are few stories of financial gloom and doom that can add to the chill and nip in the air.

• United States Heading Towards A Financial Collapse? @ My Two Dollars
• A Trip down the Housing Graveyard: The Casualties of the Housing Bear Market @ Dr. Housing Bubble

So far, I’m not feeling much agitation — I’m still not convinced that the economy is receding just yet (Bernanke expects slow but positive growth ahead), the sliding currency does have an up side, and next month is Christmas. How bad can it get? Well, I’ve set my sights far enough down the road and believe our portfolio will be able to weather the market difficulties of the next few years. I try to remind myself that with pain comes opportunity.

Personal Finance Reads

• Money Smart Life: Before settling down, one of the bigger topics that unmarried couples may want to discuss is the subject of finances. It may be a bit “unromantic” to do so, but better preparation may yield a better relationship.
• Lazy Man and Money: Now that you’ve decided you’ll be discussing your finances with your partner, here are some great tips to handle the communication process.
• Gen X Finance: One of the most exciting financial concepts that is more fun in action than in theory is “the power of compounding”. The Rule of 72 is one such illustration of how money grows.
• Money, Matter and More Musings: For more illustrations, how about some really cool graphical displays of cash flow?
• The Sun’s Financial Diary: Sun has presented some really good information here from the 2007 Consumer Reports Ultimate Money Guide, where this installment covers credit, debt and borrowing.
• The Simple Dollar: Do you give your kids an allowance? Different families have different “rules” on this, though I’m also for providing a basic allowance not used as a reward.
• My Money Blog: How do you rank as a taxpayer? In our case, we’ve fluctuated across income categories in the last few years as our income has been unstable recently.
• Five Cent Nickel: Your credit is actually scored in a dozen or so various ways according to lenders. They score you to figure out what sort of offer to pitch to you.
• All Financial Matters: I’ve got relatives who’ve gone into franchising but I’m personally wary of doing so. Like JLP, I would pass on these franchise concepts as well!
• Blueprint For Financial Prosperity: The king of bookmarkable posts has come up with yet another post I’m saving: how to set up your finances for pure autopilot.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter: This article explores when what you think is a bargain isn’t really a bargain. These points are very well made, especially the ones on safety.
• No Credit Needed: If you need more convincing about maximizing your retirement contributions, here’s just the ticket! The charts make the point.
• Free Money Finance: With the job market looking steady right now, how about some timeless tips for job interview success!

Additional Readings Around The Web

• Sumo Omni Review and Contest @ Fat Pitch Financials - Enter to win a futon/bean bag chair!
• Twelve Paper Letters Containing Your Account Number @ Punny Money
• Determining Rents–The Offering of No Basement @ Two Wise Acres
• How to keep Gas prices down @ Blogging My Way Out Of Debt

Recent Carnivals

Fine Financial Carnivals
61st Festival of Stocks - A Big Thanks to Stock Trading To Go for the Editor’s Choice!
Cavalcade of Risk # 38
The Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate
Mom and Women Entrepreneurs Issue #2
Carnival of Inspiration and Motivation: First edition
Working at Home Blog Carnival-Fifty-eighth Edition
Carnival of Cities Comes Back to Buenos Aires
2nd Edition of the SheBlogs Carnival
Carnival of Family Life- Bonfire edition
Personal Development & Happiness Carnival: Issue 15
The Blogger’s MardiGras

 
Image Credit: BBC.co.uk