Carnival of Personal Finance #391 : Who Do You Have to Get Christmas Gifts For?

Welcome back to another edition! Can you believe it is #391?

This edition is titled : who do you have to get Christmas gifts for?

It’s the last minute and I’m stressing about exactly who to buy gifts for this year. I don’t want to miss anybody. I don’t want to hurt more feelings than I normally do.

I narrowed my list down to:

• Girlfriend.
• Close friends.
• Two brothers and parents.

What about the others? How many gifts are you buying this year? Will your mail man get a gift? What about the guy that does your taxes out of his basement?

Oh and just for fun, I’m going to share the best gifts that I gave/received in the past.

Editor’s hits.

A trip to the Bahamas. I worked like a mad man and saved up like crazy to get this for my parents back in 2009. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth seeing the smiles on their faces.

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents 45 Timeless Quotes from Zig Ziglar and a Life Full of Gratitude and Positivity, and says, “Zig Ziglar was one of the most quotable speakers that I’ve come across, but in this list I’ve tried to come up with some of his best quotes on life, love, money and success.”

Miss T. from Prairie Eco Thrifter presents 5 Things You Should Know When Planning Your Financial Future, and says, “Here are five things that are invaluable to know when you are starting to plan for your financial future.”

Teacher Man from My University Money presents Subletting Your Apartment, and says, “It must be great to be a landlord in most major Canadian cities these days. Other than the whole putting up with renters thing I mean. Your properties’ value have skyrocketed the last couple of decades, and rental vacancy rates are so low that you have a tremendous amount of leverage as far as finding new clientele. ”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents Creative Life Planning Solutions For Retirement, Part 1, and says, “Creative life planning solution for retirement.”

Career.

Wrestlemania tickets. This is what my girlfriend got my last year. I was beyond shocked. I always wanted to attend a live Wrestlemania and 2012 was the first time I got to.

Daniel from Make Money Make Cents presents Effectively Controlling Your Online Image, and says, “Learn to control your online image.”

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents My Evil Plan To Start The New Year With A Boom, and says, “The evil, yet useful plan to start 2013 off!”

Credit.

That’s all I could think of. I suck at gifts. Sorry.

Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Personal Finance Blog presents The Christmas Fiscal Cliff, and says, “Will you end up like the U.S. government after Christmas? You might if you use too much credit”

Donna Freedman from Frugal Nation presents Rewards programs don’t save you money, and says, “Want true savings? Use this simple trick to make rewards credit cards and other programs work for you.”

Bob from Dwindling Debt presents Is Debt Cancellation a Good Option?, and says, “Find out the other side of debt settlement.”

Budgeting.

J.P. from Novel Investor presents Gifting The 21st Century Savings Bond, and says, “For decades the savings bond was the easiest way to gift money that would grow over time. Times have changed and now there is a better option.”

TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Who Actually Gets a New Car for Christmas?, and says, “The holiday season is an amazing time of year for many. That being said, should financial responsibility be put on the backburner – to the point of buying a someone a new car? ”

Mike from CreditDonkey presents How to Haggle, and says, “3 simple tips on how to haggle, and where to haggle for most success.”

Money Thinker from Money Thinking presents 4 Smart Ways to Give Charitably, and says, “It’s the holidays, and that means it’s the time of year when most people give to charity. Is there a “right” way to do it? Money Thinker shares some tips for giving to charity this holiday season.”

Matt from Budget SNOB presents Using Cash to Stop Overspending and Stay On Your Budget, and says, “One of the most forgotten ways to stay on a budget is also the easiest.”

Amy from Money Mishaps presents Planning a Budget as a Couple, and says, “Set up a simple budget to reduce the stress in your relationship.”

Investing.

Neal Frankle from Wealth Pilgrim presents Retire With A Million Dollars – Starting Late, and says, “You can accumulate and retire with a million dollars even if you are over 40. It’s not easy, but it is definitely possible to build a million dollar nest egg.”

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents Is an Annuity The Worst Investment a Young Person Can Make?, and says, “First, let’s look at the basics of annuities. Annuities are another form of retirement savings, different from IRA’s, 401(k)’s, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and savings accounts.”

D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks presents Dividend Investors Should Focus On Stocks, Not The Market, and says, “The election may be settled, but investors fears are not. After Obama was elected, the market plunged on worries of the looming Fiscal Cliff and European concerns. Budget negotiations began on Capitol Hill, optimism returned and the market responded. Is it a stock market, or a yo-yo? Looking at this CNN Money chart might lead you to believe that “yo-yo” is the more appropriate term…”

Pete from Intelligent Speculator presents Passive Income Brainstorming: Retiring in remote location, and says, “What if you retired to a remote location?”

Roger Wohlner from The Chicago Financial Planner presents 5 Timeless 401(k) Investing Tips, and says, “Your 401(k) can be a great retirement savings vehicle. Like any other investment, it does take work to ensure that your savings are working hard for your retirement.”

Mark Biller from Sound Mind Investing presents How Much of Your Employer’s Stock Should You Hold?, and says, “Investing in the stock of your employer can be a good thing, or not. It depends on how much of it you decide to buy.”

PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… presents The Dividend Cliff, and says, “Upcoming changes in dividend laws are perhaps the most onerous potential changes in a ‘fiscal cliff’ scenario. In one scenario, dividend rates for some people could raise from 15% to over 40% – on top of state tax rate increases.”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents The Fiscal Cliff Doesn’t Just Affect the Rich, and says, “People think the fiscal cliff is about the wealthy and their taxes. Truth is the fiscal cliff affects those who aren’t wealthy, especially the poor.

Saving.

Lily from Money Mishaps presents Tips for Cutting Back on Natural Gas and Propane Usage, and says, “There are a number of things you can do to lower you natural gas bill.”

Bob from Dwindling Debt presents Secrets to Creating a Budget, and says, “Find out why your budgets haven’t worked.”

Lance from Money Life and More presents Interview with Myself: “Retirement Is Possible”, and says, “Retirement preparedness is almost never positively portrayed in the media. There is constant fear mongering. They conduct plenty of polls that show that the majority of people are not financially prepared and aren’t taking the correct steps to get themselves to a successful retirement. Today I’d like to share a different side of the same story.”

Emily from PT Money Personal Finance presents Have You Considered [the Cost of] Adoption?, and says, “If you’re considering adoption, this insightful post breaks down the 3 types of adoptions and the costs that can accompany them.”

Ray from Squirrelers presents Real or Fake Christmas Tree – Which to Buy?, and says, “The holiday season involves so many traditions. For those who celebrate Christmas, it also includes a tree. This post discusses which the pros and cons of real vs. fake trees, as where you might choose to spend your money”

Jefferson from See Debt Run presents Budget Opening Up, and says, “When getting out of debt, as you start to pay off your creditors one by one, you will find that you have additional money each month to throw at your debt total”

Money management.

Martin from Start Freelancing Now presents What Happens When You Don’t Win Millions of Dollars in The Lottery?, and says, “How-to react when you don’t win the lottery.”

Mike from Experiglot presents Three Courses I Wish Existed in High School, and says, “The courses I wish were offered to young folks.”

Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents What Jobs Make You The Most Money in Tips?, and says, “Where you can make the most money in tips.”

Mr. Money from Smart on Money presents Should You Use Your Cell Phone as a Credit Card?, and says, “Technology is likely to continue changing the way we interact with money. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it’s important that you understand the challenges and prepare to boost your security, even as you enjoy the benefits.”

Daniel from Make Money Make Cents presents Beating Out Inflation, and says, “How not to let inflation eat away at your hard earned savings.”

Edward Antrobus from Edward Antrobus presents How to Save Money on Gas Prices, and says, “Gas can be a major expense in some households. We’ve been spending $150/month on gas! By being a savvy shopper, you can save money on the gas prices.”

Other.

Darwin from Darwin’s Money presents The Cost of Lice: A Financial Evaluation from Recent Experience, and says, “While the topic’s nasty, the costs are real…LICE! Here’s what a recent bout of being “exposed” to a lice house cost us.”

Michael Kitces from Nerd’s Eye View presents How To Handle A Long-Term Care Insurance Rate Increase, and says, “Retirees with long-term care insurance are increasingly receiving notifications of premium increases, and sometimes they’re substantial. The good news is that companies give policyowners a lot of choices about how to handle a premium increase; the bad news is that you have a lot to choose from!”

Kristen from My Dollar Plan presents Inexpensive Gift Ideas for Teachers, and says, “If you’re looking for gift ideas for your kids’ teachers but don’t want to break the bank, read on!”

Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance presents Get Rid of Your File Cabinet with Manilla, and says, “I recently compared financial organization site Manilla with financial management and budgeting site Mint.com In my comparison of Mint and Manilla, I suggested that the services are complementary and both would be helpful. Since that time, I have put even more of my accounts on Manilla and have considered using it to dump my file cabinet once and for all.”

Kathleen from Frugal Portland presents The Truth About Being Single Around the Holidays, and says, “Being single is a bit more painful this time of year, so I’m making my own traditions.”

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