Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City

June 30th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance. There are 87 great PF submissions this week. Enjoy! If there’s any article you particularly like, let everyone know about it in the comments. To find out about next week’s carnival, check back at the Carnival of Personal Finance Website.

If you enjoy reading or writing about personal finance, you may also want to check out the cool new website: Personal Finance Buzz. Just click on the icon.

I hope you enjoy this week’s theme. Give a stumble if you do! We’ll all benefit if it gets picked up.

abu-dhabi-map Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City Near the oil rich desert city of Abu Dhabi, construction of the first ever attempt at a zero-emissions city began on May 1st. The PF carnival makes a stop there this week, to understand the goal of the project’s planners, and to see how the work is progressing.

Editor’s Picks

Top Pick goes to Dan Ray from Taking Charge for his article Congressional Testimony: Student Credit Card Issuers Under Investigation. A revealing post describing predatory credit card company tactics at colleges, and what Congress is doing to stop them.

G Blogger from Can I Get Rich On A Salary gets secondary honors for his great article: Four Specific Paths To Automatic Saving and Investing. I love the specific details here.

Other editor favorite picks:

Penny Nickel from Money and Values gives us a great post on Retirement Savings 101: All about retirement accounts (and why to start saving now!). Another article with great detail.

In honor of George Carlin, who passed away last week, Broke Grad Student from Broke Grad Student shares some of the comedy great’s best money one-liners in A George Carlin Tribute - Finance Jokes.

Saver from She’s a saver, He’s a spender describes the challenges she and her husband are tackling as they slowly merge their finances in 4 Phases of Money Merging.

Want to see some of the toys of the rich and famous? Check out the Silicon Valley Blogger’s post from The Digerati Life - Big Toys For Top Dollar: 5 Reasons People Spoil Their Kids

Cortni Marrazzo from Saving Advice presents The Surprising Costs of DIY, and says, “For anyone else out there considering a DIY project, it’s important to understand and anticipate unexpected costs before you start.”

NCN from No Credit Needed shares his family’s financial management guidelines with Creating My List Of Financial Priorities.

Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary presents a great critique of an on-line trade broker I’d never heard of in TradeKing Review: A Discount Broker with Loads of Features.

DR from The Dough Roller gives us a detailed step-by-step tutorial entitled The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Money Making WordPress Blog. I like how he highlights the money making aspect.

John MacKenzie from Adult ADD and Money provides us with a great article on “staying the course” that I found beneficial even though I don’t have ADD. It’s called Six Overlooked Reasons why you are struggling with your finances: Reason #6 - System Failure.

The new self-sustainable city, named Masdar, is being built from the ground up for an estimated cost of $22 billion dollars. Funding comes from the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who will employ the most innovative architects, engineers, and scientists from around the world to accomplish the project. The UAE’s long term goal is to be less dependent on oil, and to become the World Research Center for Renewable Energy.

Budgeting

Madison DuPaix from My Dollar Plan presents How to Handle Irregular Paychecks.

Deepali from Paradigm Shifted talks about Planning a Budget When You Don’t Know How Much Things Cost, as she plans for a long term trip out of the country next year.

Andrea from Queercents describes the unexpected dent in her budget when she decided to become a pet owner for the first time in her life, in Reducing Pet Costs: Thinking Through the Budget.

Careers

Todd from Harvesting Dollars presents an article from his series, Is Getting an MBA Worth It?. Find out when it is and when it isn’t.

Mary from American Entrepreneurship highlights some key customer relations skills in Customer Service Communication Tips.

Chica with issues from One Snarky Chica with Issues gives us some ideas on getting those kids moving, in Summer vacation money making ideas for teens.

Credit

Ben from Trees Full of Money shows us a simple technique for cleaning up our credit report with Remove Late Payments from Your Credit Report With a Goodwill Letter.

Plonkee from plonkee money explains why Credit Cards are Like Alcohol. Hard to believe? Check out her article.

BJP from OneChanceToLive offers up another interesting perspective on credit card debt in Bad Acne = Credit Card Debt.

Heather Allen from The DebtFree Playbook Blog has some great suggestions on easing debt induced stress in Debt is Making You Sick.

Get some good advice on What to do if Your Purse or Wallet is Stolen from Mr Credit Card at Ask Mr Credit Card.

LAL from LivingAlmostLarge presents Kicking the Plastic Habit?, and says, “In the wrong hands credit cards can cause great pain and suffering.”

Debt Freedom Fighter from Discover Debt Freedom offers some great credit score watch-outs in Credit Score Killers: 5 Things to Look Out For.

SGM from SingleGuyMoney presents Paid Off Debt and My Credit Score Dropped, and asks” Has anyone else had this problem?

cityzero Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City

The City will house 50,000 people and 1,500 hundred businesses.

Debt

Mike Leonard from Until Debt Do Us Part provides moral support for those of you battling to get out of debt in Debt – you’re going to get through this. It just takes time.

Economy

Maria from Frugal Homesteading Blog worries about a possible deeper economic downturn in Economic Crash Possible, Banks Warn.

Mbhunter from Mighty Bargain Hunter gives us his theory on what people will give up first to pay for fuel in A great high gas price indicator.

Savvy Frugality from Savvy Frugality presents Pawn Shops Doing Briks Business in a Sluggish Economy.

Finance

PT from Prime Time Money provides some great tips here, in 10 Ways to Simplify Your Finances.

JS from Smart Money Daily presents How Rich People Spend Their Time, and says, “Have you ever thought about what it really means to be wealthy?”

Henry Stern, LUTCF, CBC from InsureBlog describes how the new IRS regulations affect your Health Savings Plan in IRS and HSA: Good News Update.

masdar1 Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City Water will come from solar powered desalination plants, and will be recycled (called “gray water”) for watering plants and food plantations set up around the city. All food will be locally grown. Electricity will be generated from photo-voltaic panels, and cooling will be provided by solar panels.

Frugality

Katharine from The Femmes Frugal gives us a passionate look at doing our part to save the world in The 3 R’s of being Frugal and Green - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. There’s also some great coupon/sale tips at the end of her post.

Pamela Grundy from Personal Finance Analyst dreams about life in a post-corporate world in A Midsummer Financial Dream.

Katie (”K”) from The Pennywise Librarians, a new blog in the blogosphere, describes a successful on-line shopping excursion in How I got a yearly People magazine subscription for $86.

Kevin from The Red Stapler Chronicles tells us how he’s managing when some of his expenses increase in Green Eggs and Spam.

MoneyNing (David) from Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning presents A Dollar Saved is Two Dollars Earned But Two Dollars Earned is Twenty Dollars Saved, and says, “A new look at savings and income!”

Story from My Money and My Life presents tells all in My Spending Weakness.

FMF from Free Money Finance talks about how Weighing Your Produce CAN Save You Money.

Grey from Frugal Fu makes the frugality/sustainability connection with “The Second R” or “How I Became a Reuse Addict“.

Passive Family Income from Passive Family Income describes some an observation of an astute shopper in Smaller Sizes and Higher Prices.

Aryn from Sound Money Matters submitted How Community Resources Can Save You Money, and says, “Sharing resources with friends and neighbors is an old-fashioned concept due for a return.”

Luke from Money & Fitness Blog presents Fifty Frugal Date Ideas. Many creative dates here!

That One Caveman’s Wife from One Caveman’s Financial Journey presents Save Big With Summer Bargain Hunting, and says, “You don’t have to spend a fortune on brand name clothing for your kids; your children don’t realize what they are wearing anyway. I’ve never seen one baby criticizing another just because he wasn’t wearing the latest fashions.”

Kelly from My Small Cents presents Cool Your House Frugally. Learn how to cool your home like they do in France.

Patrick from Military Finance Network lists a long list of Military Discounts. A must view if it pertains to you, but interesting even if it doesn’t.

Curt from PennyJobs presents Indian Style Living: a look at how living communally can decrease living costs. The article reminds of the Kibbutzim I’ve read about in Israel. publictrans Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City

Transportation will be in driverless electric transports providing door-to-door service. You punch in your destination at home, and a car will come get you and take you there. These battery powered vehicles will either run on tracks or be powered by magnetic levitation.

Investing

Patrick from Cash Money Life presents Don’t Buy Too Much Company Stock, and says, “People shouldn’t place too much of their portfolio in their company’s stock. There are too many things that can happen!”

Clint from Accumulating Money provides us with 3 Simple Ways to Keep Track of Your Stock Investments.

Dividends4Life from Dividends4Life discusses the pros and cons of international securities in International ETF Dividend Investing.

DMH from Daily Money Hacks helps you brush up on federal tax laws governing stocks in Excess Capital Loss Rules. With the market going the way it is, this article could come in handy.

Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents When to Sell Your Dividend Stocks, Part 2.

The Dividend Guy from The Dividend Guy presents a different slant to decreasing dividends in 3 Possible Actions to Take with a Dividend Decrease.

Jared from Investor Pit Stop offers an interesting alternative strategy for those getting heartburn worrying about their current volatile stock investments, in 1 Bullet-Proof Money Making Stock.

RC from Think Your Way To Wealth gives us some good, common sense advice with Defining and Investing for Short, Medium, and Long Term Personal Finance Goals.

Money Management

Ron from The Wisdom Journal presents a useful teaching metaphor in How I Teach My Kids About Money and Life By Using Bricks.

NtJS from Not the Jet Set speaks of the perils and causes of overspending in Switching From Plastic To Cash.

Zeeshan Syed from Credit and Mortgage Index presents How to Save Some Money - Money Saving Tips, and discusses a debt management plan originally introduced on Oprah in 2006.

Ashley from Wide Open Wallet tells us about her coupon fairy in The Gift of Coupons.

The Financial Blogger from The Financial Blogger presents How To Find A Good Financial Advisor Part 1, and says, “While some people are really good at managing their money, the majority of us are driving blindly.”

AndyS from Saving to Invest contributes Effectively Using Freed up Daycare Dollars , and says, “Use them wisely rather than fritter them away. ”

Jesse from You Need A Budget, teaches his son, Porter, some hard money lessons in A Four-Year Old, a Light Saber, and an Invaluable Lesson in Personal Finance.

Bryce from Save and Conquer presents The House Always Wins, and says,”Gambling can be fun when used for entertainment purposes, but over time, you will always lose.”

Money Answer Guy from Money Answer Guy presents Should You Ever Buy a New Car? He makes a lot of sense to me.

Dana from Not Made of Money tells us how important it is to be able to get at our money should an emergency arise in Just How Liquid Are Your Assets?

waste Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City All waste will be recyclable. Wouldn’t it be nice to live without so much garbage? Here’s a picture of what it’s like for us now.

Real Estate

Dan Melson from Searchlight Crusade describes the most profitable remodeling tips before selling your home in What Remodeling is Likely to Show a Profit on Sale?

If you’re looking to purchase a home, Debbie, from American Consumer News, offers some tips you’ll find useful in An Effective Way to Obtain a Lower Mortgage Rate.

Saving

Shana from Smart Easy Money tries to determine how much money she actually needs in When is it Enough?

Kacper from KacperWrzesniewski collected a fine set of 13 Articles That Will Help You Save Money on Gas.

Ben from Money Smart Life gives us some smart consumer tips in Save Money on Gas - Small, Easy Gas Saving Tips Take a Big Bite Out of High GasPrices.

FFB from Free From Broke tells us about a great summer savings opportunity with the New York State Empire Passport.

Bob from Christian Finances highlights the ups and downs of keeping that old clunker of-a-car in Saving money with your car.

D.J. at The Family Wallet provides us with some tips on how to Save Money While Dressing Your Kids. One of his highlights: garage sales are a parent’s best friend.

B.B. from Beating Broke continues his series on personal finance rules with Beating Broke Rules: Emergency Fund.

BeThisWay from Are You Going To Be This Way the Rest of the Time I Know You? tells us about a great energy saving table in How Much Energy Does That Appliance Use?

Taxes

Ryan Suenaga from Uncommon Cents tells us about a lesson learned in Oops: A Mistake to Learn From.

What are the pros and cons of having a professional do your taxes? Find out from Andy at Finance Viewpoint in Should you hire an accountant to do your taxes?

Other

Phil for Humanity from Phil for Humanity answers the question, What is Rich?

Mapgirl from Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge presents Personal Finance Reading Techniques, and says, “There’s lots of ways to read a book, but have you tried reading it with your paystub and a calculator?”

Retire Happy from My Retirement Blog presents good evidence to support his post Last Will and Testament Advice: Have One!

Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity discusses the procedure for jewelry protection in Engagement Ring Appraised & Insured (Finally).

J. Savings from Budgets are Sexy, talks about ways to avoid getting ripped off in It’s the Principal of the Matter … Literally!

Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator presents Logical Fallacies In The Financial Media, and says, “The financial media makes its fair share of logical fallacies.”

Michael from Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck gives us a section of his speech in Graduation Speech Part 6: Use Protection, and says, “Short but sweet post about the importance (and lack thereof) of certain insurance coverages for the new graduate.”

Foxie from Dreaming of Ferraris presents The Thing About Retirement…, and says, “The most prevalent advice isn’t always what you need to listen to.”

Help Smarty from Growing Money figure out why he has such a Huge Electric Bill. Any ideas?

And last, but by no means least,
The Happy Rock from The Happy Rock describes an economical and particularly memorable recent camping trip in How Expensive Is Tent Camping?

There is a definite advantage to building the city from the ground up. All buildings will have energy efficient designs from the very beginning. This will save on cost, and make an all around better building. However, they are hoping that this first experiment in sustainability will provide much needed information on improving the pollution situation in current cities such as Los Angeles and London.

airla1 Carnival of Personal Finance, #159: The First Zero-Emissions City