Carnival of Money March Madness Edition

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Money, March Madness Edition! While you are watching your favorite team score more points than the other team, check out a few of these excellent articles:

Cat presents I Don’t Have a Boyfriend, but I’m Planning My Wedding posted at Budget Blonde, saying, “I’m now preparing to meet The One, and what better way to prepare for that then getting a good idea of how much my future wedding will cost?”

Larry presents Ten Small Changes that Can Make Millions posted at KrantCents, saying, “Saving for your retirement can be impossible unless you know what to do. Putting money into a 401K is a no brainer, but where do you find the money?”

Adam presents Day 24 – Talk To Someone At Your Bank or Credit Union posted at Stop Worrying About Money, saying, “Today, I want to cover getting to know the people who work at the local branch of the bank or credit union you use.”

Emily presents Why Don’t More People Do Their Own Taxes? at EvolvingPF, saying, “Understanding tax basics is part of being a responsible citizen, so why don’t more people prepare their own returns when they have simple financial situations?”

Charles presents Why Do You Allow Others To Keep You Poor posted at Getting A Rich Life, saying, “Everyone stresses about money, why should you be different? People are happiest when they perceive to be doing better than those around them.”

Sustainable PF presents Is the New Freelance Economy Such a Bad Thing for You? posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, “One of the trends becoming apparent following the recent global financial crisis and worldwide recession is that the new economy is likely to be a freelance economy.”

Monica presents How To Live On One Paycheck posted at Monica On Money, saying, “Living on one paycheck is a thought that many dual income households do not think about.”

Alexa presents How to Get Rid of Debt on Your Own posted at Defeat Our Debt, saying, “There is no easy way to get rid of debt. You have several options, each come with their own set of pros and cons. Here is how to get rid of debt on your own.”

Natalie presents Do You Get Upset When You Can’t Save? posted at Debt and the Girl, saying, “Personal finance bloggers are an interesting lot. I like to think that we are a little more financially savvy than the average bear. This can have its drawbacks too.”

Matt presents 3 Steps to Set up a Budget posted at Budget Snob, saying, “Simply put, the big difference between financially secure people and those who are not usually boils down to one specific thing; a budget.”

Alexa presents 4 Weeks to a Freelance Writing Job – The Pep Talk posted at Single Moms Income, saying, “My number one piece of advice is to just take that first step – face your fears, put yourself out there, and get started.”

Oscar presents Wills and Trusts aren’t just for the Wealthy posted at Money is the Root, saying, “Unfortunately, if you don’t make a prior arrangements for what will happen to your assets after you pass away, the federal government will step in and make those decisions in your place.”

Jack presents Why it’s Best to Use Caution with Bitcoins posted at Money Saving Ethics, saying, “Regulators as well as financial advisors, despite the buzz that it continues to create, have begun cautioning consumers about virtual currency Bitcoins.”

Andrea presents How to Keep Your Kids From Ruining Their Electronics posted at So Over This, saying, “When my oldest daughter turned thirteen, I gave her her first cell phone. She lost it within a week. Later that year, she tried to download the Katy Perry movie, and instead introduced a virus onto our family computer that wiped it flat.”

Amy presents Organization is the Key to a Less Stressful Divorce posted at Money Mishaps, saying, “Frankly, getting divorced usually means a lot of difficulty and emotion. We can’t really help you with the emotional side of divorce, but when it comes to reducing your stress financially, we can tell you that being prepared and organized is one of the best ways to do it.”

Lenny presents Court steps in to stop robocalls aimed at seniors posted at Best Money Saving Blog, saying, “Unfortunately elderly members of society seem to get victimized much more often than others and, when it comes to phone scams the numbers are startling.”

Aaron presents Why an IRA May be Better than a 401(k) posted at Aaron Hung, saying, “For many years American consumers have looked towards their 401(k) plan offered by the company that employed them as one of the best places to put their money for retirement.”

Hadley presents Why are so many people Investing in ETFs? posted at Epic Finances, saying, “Over the last few years there has been a great proliferation in ETFs, both in the number and type that are being offered to investors. ”

Sam presents House passes Flood Insurance Bill posted at The New Business Blog, saying, “Since your home, and its related expenses, are certainly a very big part of your personal finance picture, today’s blog definitely falls under the category of ‘important to know.'”

Bob presents Are you the Victim of Identity Theft? Check the Signs posted at Dwindling Debt, saying, “Nearly 17 million people were victimized by identity thieves in 2012 according to the US Justice Department, including 40% who were victimized through their credit cards and 37% through their bank accounts.”

Justin presents Are those Extended Warranties really Worth the Extra Cost? posted at Edward Antrobus, saying, “You are already making a large purchase and, as you sit there listening to their spiel, you wonder to yourself if you should pay even more for coverage that you probably will never need”

Daniel presents How to Survive Losing Your Job posted at Make Money Make Cents, saying, “Losing your job can be a very difficult and stressful event. Whether you were terminated from your job, your position was deemed redundant, or your company closed down, you will still be affected the same way.”

Lily presents Talk about combining work and play: $1 million working ‘vacation’ offered posted at Paying Debt Down, saying, “In what may well be the average (and above average) person’s lifelong dream, luxury travel companies Luxury Travel Intelligence and VeryFirstTo.com are searching for someone (or possibly a couple) to travel around the world for one year on their dime.”

Marissa presents Quirky tips for conserving cash posted at Finance Triggers, saying, “Here are a few quirky tips for saving some cash. Read on to find out how you do not have to turn your life inside out to gain control of your finances.”

Marissa presents Tips to Make Your First Real Estate Investment a Success posted at Thirty Six Months, saying, “Most of us do not really think of accumulating investment properties. It is just not something that we are programmed to do, but it is an area that more GEN Y should start taking seriously.”