Carnival of Personal Finance #434: The Happy Festivus Edition – The Holiday (Links) For the Rest of Us

Welcome to the Festivus Edition!

In case you do not know what Festivus is all about, it is from one of the funniest and best sitcoms in history — Seinfeld.

Come to think of it, it’s actually quite fitting that I make this the Festivus Edition seeing as Festivus is all about NOT buying stuff and avoiding consumerism, and I am non-religious to boot.

Just watch this video to get an idea of what Festivus is:

See? Perfect fit.

Remember how annoyed I was with the submissions from my last hosting of the Carnival of Personal Finance #430?

Well nothing has changed this round, except this:

FESTIVUS CARNIVAL LINK BACK RULE:

If you don’t link back to this Carnival by January 23rd on your blog itself, I’ll pin your link with a lovely  ‘nofollow tag’ because it’s what the Frank Costanza would have wanted, and who’s to argue with the Godfather of Festivus?

(Why such an ample time frame of 30 days? Because I do all Carnival link backs at the end of the month myself, because I’m very lazy, but not lazy enough to shirk my duties as a host.)

Let the festivities begin!!

EDITOR’S “FEATS OF STRENGTH”

1. Toilets are supposed to flush. That’s pretty much it. – Funny post about Needs versus Wants. Hint: 99% are Wants.
2. Being Rich or Poor is a choice – Yes and No. I’ve written about this topic numerous times in various forms.
3. Lessons I learned in paying off $35,000 in credit card debt – Solid tips, I followed the same route clearing $60,000 of debt in 18 months

4. Documenting how much joy you feel each time you spend your fun money

   — Check and CHECK! Spending money can feel very rewarding, why not enjoy it and savour each penny spent?

ALL THE REST — “SERENITY NOW!!”

I’ve taken the liberty of renaming some of them to what they’re really about, as well as making up the categories they’re really meant to be in.

INVESTING

• Pros and cons of investing in ETFs instead of Index Mutual Funds
• Is the Santa (Stock) Rally in November and December real or a myth?
• Technical review/reason of why you shouldn’t put all your trust into automated trading/investing systems
• Investing excuses you make

• How to balance your bond portfolio with rising interest rates

THE KICKS IN THE ASS

• Don’t play the lottery, no matter what “Business Insider” tells you
• Different ways you can play around with the order of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to Debt Repayment
• Stop procrastinating on the money management things you should do
• Do a financial house cleaning at the end of the year
• Don’t shop on Black Friday, shop online instead, it’s the same thing
• Make more rational financial decisions instead of doing them impulsively
• How to improve your credit score

THE LISTERS

• 5 overlooked insurance policies
• 6 holiday travel tips
• 5 ways to save on a vacation
• 8 holiday gift ideas for people who seem to have everything

• 4 holiday ideas for those who procrastinated

• 5 ways to have fun on the weekends on the cheap
• 28 ways to save money

FAMILY STUFF

• Rules to follow if you’re going to lend money to friends or family
• How much it costs to throw a 5-year old a birthday party

MUSINGS / OTHER

• If you had to pay to use your credit card, would you switch to cash?

• What happens to your credit score when you apply for 5 credit cards on the same day?

• Juggling 22 credit cards = free Hawaiian vacation

• Buying a bed is one of those purchases that is totally worth it

• Ways to stay inspired as a freelance writer
• Can students get a credit card?
• How often should you be posting on your blog?