Best Of Money Carnival #76

Welcome to this week’s Best of Money Carnival!  Choosing only ten posts to feature out of the 52 submitted this week was a lot more difficult than I anticipated.  For every one post I’ve chosen to publish here, there were probably two that were just as good.  But without further adieu, here are the top 10 money posts of the week as judged by me and the voices in my head.

The Week’s Best Money Post

PT presents Cars Under $1000: How to Find Them posted at PT Money.  There are few worse budget-busters out there than buying a car you can’t afford.  PT offers a solution to this problem.  You won’t impress many girls in that $1,000 beater, but you will be able to pay down a significant amount of debt over the 3 or 4 years you drive the car assuming you can avoid a lemon.

The Rest

RJ Weiss presents How to Dominate Your 401(k) in 2011 and Beyond posted at Gen Y Wealth.  RJ offers a kind of one-stop tutorial on saving for retirement here.  The flow chart alone makes this post worth a read for newcomers.  Ever wondered whether you should be contributing to your 401(k), a Roth IRA, or both?  This post will give you a head start!

Khaleef at KNS Financial presents 5 Things You Can Still Do To Increase Your Tax Refund! posted at Faithful With A Few.  Beyond the obvious (charitable donations, 401k contributions, etc), Khaleef mentions two potential tax write-offs most people don’t think about:  qualifying medical expenses and investment loses.  People with large medical expenses stand to save a bundle on their taxes.  And as anybody whose loved one has ever faced a serious medical situation knows, every little bit counts.

Odysseas presents The Most Common Credit Card Mistakes posted at Wallet Blog. Everybody knows you shouldn’t carry a balance on a high-interest credit card, but do you know if your card charges an additional fee for foreign transactions?

Wise Bread presents 5 Signs That Your Credit Card Spending Is Out of Control posted at Wise Bread. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Mike Piper presents 401(k) or IRA? What to Do If Your 401(k) Stinks posted at Oblivious Investor. If you’re like me, every 401(k) you’ve ever had stinks.  I second Mike’s advice.

Jeff Rose, CFP presents Do You Really Need a Million Dollars to Retire? posted at Consumer Boomer. Does the conventional wisdom that you need $1,000,000 to retire hold water?  You just may realize you need substantially less (or more) than you realize.  My?  My private yacht alone will cost more than $1,000,000 per year to maintain.  It’s a terrible problem to have.

Paul Williams presents The 80% or 90% of Income for Retirement Rule Is Stupid posted at Provident Planning. This post touches on an issue dear to my heart.  That is, people have a tendency to turn rules-of-thumb into rules-set-in-stone.  Just because the 10% rule-of-thumb is often repeated doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels after you’ve managed to sock away your 10% for the year.  Your individual needs may require more or less money than the average. Convenient rules-of-thumb don’t relieve you of the responsibility to do your own homework.

Joe Plemon presents How Do You Define Wealth? Hope for the Little Guy. posted at Personal Finance By The Book. Joe’s take on the classic PAW vs UAW concept from The Millionaire Next Door.  Me?  I prefer defining wealth as having a stable enough cash flow to provide for my needs and wants without having to work a job.  Net worth is easier and more fun to calculate, though.

Jennifer Lynch presents 50 Ways to Go Green At Your Wedding posted at Top Online Colleges. Weddings are insanely, unjustifiably expensive but if you’re going to spend all that money anyway, you might as well save the environment.  Did I mention a lot of these suggestions are cheaper as well?  And no mom, don’t read anything into this.