Some of us are going to be seeing a lot of traffic lights over the next week or so . . . Here are some articles that I like:

A great article from Kevin at Moolanomy where he challenges us to help ourselves, not the economy. He is right. Our government needs us to spend money. They want us to spend money, even if it is not in our best interests. I say that they need to balance their own books.

Being Frugal recommends using Smarty Pig to save for Christmas next year. That particular type of account has some interesting applications.

Peter at Bible Money Matters suggests 50 frugal gifts that you can give this Christmas. Outstanding.

Some of you are living in houses that are worth more than the Pontiac Silverdome! Unbelievable. Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has done the homework.

Ron at the Wisdom Journal suggests some ways to fight a health insurance claim denial. Good things to know. My money says that trying to get coverage from a private health insurer might be easier than dealing with a government bureaucrat . . . but we’ll see . . .

Have a great week and don’t just spend money, spend time with family.

Article by Stew

Photo by Mr. Freshtags

• Christian teen budgeting Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he...
• Ask me anything - The Answers Photo by: goldberg About 2 weeks ago, I gave my readers a chance to ask...
• The Friday Gathering for 8/3/2007 Well, another week of summer has quickly gone by, and another week closer to school...
• The Friday gathering - House updates edition Failure number 2 occurred last week in our house hunting adventure.  I sure hope this...
• Friday Gathering: Favre is back! Edition I don't even care that he is playing for the Vikings, I love watching that...

Here are some articles that Mrs. Stew liked this week:

Think Your Way to Wealth wrote about the challenges of living on one income. There are challenges, but also blessings to having a parent at home all day . . .

This article might be a hint from Mrs. Stew – Borrow from None wrote about lesson six in the Financial Peace University: Buyer Beware. I could probably do a better job in that area sometimes.

Mrs. Stew enjoyed the discussion about money itself from Aristotles perspective posted by Mrs. Micah over at Finance for a Freelance Life.

Tough Money Love details his attempts to discontinue his subscriber based radio service. He is getting quite the run-a-round. I have experienced similar tactics in dealing with newspaper subscriptions.

Do you have a personal finance firewall? Frugal Dad tells you how to set one up (with some help from Jim at Bargaineering).

Christian PF talks about time management skills for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is an American art form that I find fascinating. Small business owners can be some of the most creative, generous, decent people you will ever meet.

Remember that you can Ask Me Anything at glblstew(@)gmail.com and have a great weekend! Don’t just spend money, spend time with family.

Article by Stew

Photo by mighty ohm

Last week’s Carnivals:

Festival of Frugality (Editor’s pick!)

Carnival of Twenty Something Finance (Editor’s pick!)

Carnival of Personal Finance #230

• The Friday Gathering for 11/2/2007 To be honest, I'm glad this week is almost behind me. Between trying to get...
• Carnivals for the week of 9/16/2007 Photo by Jenn's Photography I went a little carnival crazy this week and submitted articles...
• 12 Frugal Wedding Ideas from Stew Okay, these ideas are not really from Stew, but Stew gets some credit because he...
• The Friday gathering for 5/23/2008 Photo by: Mr.Thomas Today is my wife and I's 16 year anniversary. It simply doesn't...
• The Friday Gathering for 12/14/2007 4:00pm today signals the beginning of 3 weeks of vacation. I don't have to return...

I don’t know about you, but I think Daylight Savings is dumb. Why not just let the amount of sunlight wax and wane naturally? I miss driving home when the sun is still up at 5 pm . . . not a big deal, but I would love to get rid of it. Here are some articles that I found interesting this week:

Ron from the Wisdom Journal posted the top 10 consumer credit card events of 2009 – a good read. I am not sure that our current credit paradigm is going to last much longer. We’ll see . . .

The Silican Valley Blogger give a few suggestions of the best ways to invest small amounts of money.

A guest post on Christian PF entitled “There is no such thing as a free lunch – or is there?”. Read it to find out.

Kevin, a staff writer at Moolanomy tells why the first time home buyer extension is a bad idea. I tend to agree with him.

Two weeks ago, I announced the return of Ask Me Anything. I have received several questions and I am working on responses. When I make the final edits, I will post them as a part of my Friday posts. In the meantime, if you want to “ask me anything”, send your questions to glblstew(at)gmail(dot)com.

Have a great weekend. Remember – don’t just spend money, spend time with family.

And the winners are….

Here are the 5 winners of the book “In Cheap We Trust”:

Kate

Financial Samurai

Jermaine

Rob Garcia

Sally Williamson

Winners will be contacted by emails over the weekend.

thx for all the participants!

Article by Stew

Photo by Chris Makarsky

• 10 Things not to do during an interview Photo by: Antonio Bonanno I'm an IT manager in the "real world" and as result,...
• 1 Year Ago Today - 10 things we've done to regain financial control One year ago today was a life changing day for my family and I. Honestly,...
• Ask me anything #3rd edition Photo by: star5112 Each week I give the readers of Gather Little by Little a...
• The Friday Gathering For 9/28/2007   It's been an exciting week for Gather Little By Little. I had set a...
• Ask me anything 4th edition Photo by: NickStarr Each week I give the readers of Gather Little by Little a...

Here are some articles that I like this week. I hope you find something to think about!

Craig Ford at Moolanomy asked should parents have a financial double standard for sons and daughters? I have both.

Mighty Bargain Hunter is worried that the new credit card legislation will result in higher costs for responsible credit card users. He might be over reacting, but the history of government interference in private enterprise is not good. It almost always has unintended consequences.

Patrick at Cash Money Life helps us find the best rates on a Roth IRA.

Peter at Bible Money Matters reveals his low cost television set-up. When I was a kid, my parents had a low-cost television arrangement as well. It was called “read a book”. Not sure that will work for my kids . . .

Madison at My Dollar Plan just joined a credit union.

Mr. Cheap at 4Pillars believes that working with computers nerds might require some understanding.

Green Panda Treehouse warns against being taken by modeling scams. I feel pretty sure that if someone ever offered to buy pictures of me, I would know it was a scam.

That’s the list! Enjoy your weekend and remember, don’t just spend money, spend time with family.

Article by Stew

Photo by mysticchildz

Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Twenty Something Finance

Economy and your Finance Carnival

• Get a Day-to-Day Credit Card and Make Money! Since I recently bought this blog, I keep going back in time through the GLBL...
• Credit Card Companies - How to really stick it to them My disdain for credit card companies and their unethical practices isn't a secret.  I've written...
• Thank God for Credit Cards! "Thank God for Credit Cards!" where the words spoken my our neighbor and minister's wife...
• 10 Good uses for a credit cards Photo by: shortiestar3000 - Teething toy? Maybe not... I am not a fan of credit...
• Trendy Credit Card Practices Many Not Be Worth It As with most industries – change is going to come. Not all change is welcome...

My daughter has requested a fairly expensive Halloween costume. She wants to be “Kit” from the American Girl book series. Hopefully I can convince her to accept one of the low cost costume ideas from Lynnae at Being Frugal. I am also taking suggestions.

Jason, one the writers at Bible Money Matters tells what you need to know about money management. As GI Joe used to tell us “knowing is half the battle”.

Craig at Christian PF puts a price tag on what it costs to raise a child. Take a look, it might be less than you thought and his numbers are closer to what my family spends rather than the numbers given by “conventional wisdom”.

If you read this post at the Wisdom Journal, your kids might stop being an expense in their early twenties . . . and maybe even have the dough to support you some day!

For those of you who have the misfortune to be unemployed, Mrs. Micah wants to help you organize your job search. I recently read about an $11 an hour job that had over 600 applicants in Illinois last week – you need every advantage you can get.

Have a great weekend! Remember, don’t just spend money, spend time with family.

Article by Stew

Photo by danperry.com

• DIY Financial Planning When we first decided to get control of our finances and change the way we...
• Reduce Your Expenses By Avoiding Temptation I was reflecting last night on how our lives have changed since we decided to...
• The Friday Gathering: Japanese Maple Edition Photo by: titanium22 This week has actually been a fairly normal week for us for...
• The Friday Gathering for 1/25/2008 Photo by: jon hanson I've closed down the poll for how you pronounce glblguy. It...
• What is a budget? Photo by: adamjinj I enjoy reading and spend a decent amount of time each week...

Here is some reading that I found stimulating this week.

Borrow From None presented a challenging analysis of Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

Plonkee wrote about shared finances for couples who are cohabitating. I’m old fashioned when it comes to those sorts of things – I think finances work better when marriage is the foundation. Beyond that, Plonkee’s characterization of certain approaches to handling money as capitalist, communist and socialist to cause thought.

Moolanomy staff writer, Craig Ford wrote one of the best articles in the last month called 21 financial lessons learned from the financial crisis of 2008-09. Really outstanding.

Patrick at Cash Money Life gives some advice regarding the top 10 consumer complaints and how to protect yourself.

Mighty Bargain Hunter wrote an article that resulted in a personal email from one of the VP’s at restaurants.com.

Did you know that each individual player who wins the World Series will get over $300,000? The losers only earn a bonus of around $200,000. Jim at Bargaineering has all the numbers.

Have a great weekend! Don’t just spend money, spend time with family. - Article by Stew

Photo by Tell Jeeves.

Carnival of Personal Finance

The Festival of Frugality

Twenty Something Finances Carnival

Carnival of Money Hacks

• The Friday Gathering - Looking at a house edition Photo by: trekkyandy For a few years now, my wife and I have desired to...
• Carnivals for the week of 8/10 The Carnival of Personal Finance #117 was hosted yesterday over at KMull.  My article Personal...
• The Friday Gathering for 8/3/2007 Well, another week of summer has quickly gone by, and another week closer to school...
• The Friday Gathering for 12/21/2007 Photo by: My Wife I am really enjoying my vacation from my "real job". I'm...
• The Friday Gathering for 11/23/2007 - Black Friday Picture by: alexisfisher I hope everyone had a wonderful and joyful Thanksgiving! I also hope...

Here are some articles that I enjoyed this week:

The Silicon Valley Blogger confesses that she has a lot of stray 401K’s bouncing around out there. She is going to consolidate and roll them over into an IRA. You should too.

The Investing Toolkit posted an article about utilizing online investment tools. Investing sure has changed over the last fifteen years.

JLP at AllFinancialMatters highlighted a great series of Youtube videos that explain a great deal about banking and investing. I found them to be enlightening and you might as well.

Being Frugal posted a well-researched comparison of various banks – both the big ones and some of the little ones. She focused on the fees, but this is a good place to start if you are looking for a new bank.

No Credit Needed is talking about change – change for the better and it all started with getting out of debt.

Tough Money Love exposes the fact that economic experts are really just well-educated guessers. I personally think that the more dependent we are on our federal government and the more that government depends on economic theorists, the worse off we will be.

Enjoy your weekend! Don’t just spend money, spend time with family and friends.   - Article by Stew

Photo by fauxto digit

CARNIVALS:

Carnival of peronsal finance

Carnival of Money Hacks

Festival of frugality

• The Friday Gathering - Arizona Edition Within the next few hours, I'll be back on a plane and headed home. I...
• Ask me anything - The Answers Photo by: goldberg About 2 weeks ago, I gave my readers a chance to ask...
• Friday Gathering: Away from home Edition I am almost 600 miles away from home tonight, but I can still write this...
• 4 ways to be better prepared for Christmas next year This article is part of an M-Network group writing project, the 12 Days of Christmas...
• Friday Gathering: Looking for Labor Day Edition Here are some articles that I found interesting or useful this week: Pretty basic, but...

Here are several articles that I found interesting during the past week:

If you are a first time home buyer, you might qualify for an Federal Housing Adminsitration backed loan. You can read all the details at Bargaineering. One statement that I found a little brow wrinkling was the FHA uses no tax-payer funding . . . could be, I guess.

Christian PF asked the question asked the somewhat inflammatory question, Is Capitalism “Anti-Jesus”? Sounds like a topic that I might like to tackle.

Have a good weekend, hope you are safe from the flooding. Take a minute to pray for those whose lives might have been affected. Don’t just spend money, spend time with your family.

Consumerism Commentary is wondering how banks will make up revenue due to changes in government regulations in the finance industry. Just spend less than you earn and keep track of your accounts and you should be okay in most situations.

PT Money recently became a father and is now discussing the pros and cons of the various college savings plans out there. He picked the 529.

Madison at My Dollar Plan is pretty upset with her Fidelity 401K, so she is taking her retirement savings elsewhere.

Photo by US Geological Survey

Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Money Hacks

Festival of Frugality EDITORS PICK!

• How To Get Your Finances Under Control - Step 4 Create a Budget AND Follow It! This article is step 4 of the series called How to Get Your Finances Under...
• Free Money Finance - Final Four March Madness over at Free Money Finance is almost over and fortunately I am in...
• August In Review August was a big month for Gather Little By Little. We became part of the...
• The Friday gathering - White coat syndrome? Last week ago I went to the hand surgeon for a follow up on my...
• Geesh, It's only $5.00 - A story of financial peer pressure Photo by: infomatique "Geesh, It's only $5.00!". These were the words I heard uttered by...

Here are some articles that I found interesting this week:

The Silicon Valley Blogger asks what do you plan to do in retirement? As part of the article, she posted a fascinating video about a 93 year old stock broker. Watch it.

The Smarter Wallet wrote down some thoughts on health care. I pretty much operate under the assumption that if there are problems with something, handing it over to the government is a sure way to make it worse.  Health care is a worry for all of us and there are problems with the system . . . I would just like to find the solution outside of government, but we’ll see . . .

Jason, one of the writers at Bible Money Matters wrote an encouraging and challenging devotional called “Leaning on my own understanding”. I hope that I always look for wisdom from above.

Christian PF suggests some tips for people who do not like to budget. I like his “power of positive thinking” approach to budgeting. Good read.

A guest post at My Two Dollars caught my attention. We have all seen the ads for debt reduction and debt counseling companies, but Debbie is convinced that you do not need a third party in order to get your finances under control.

Getting started on the road to fiscal responsibility and debt reduction is difficult, but things do not always get easier after you have had some success. I’ve Paid for This Twice Already reveals that the home stretch can be as difficult as the start – but worth it. - Article by Stew

Photo by Maurice

Carnivals:

Carnival of Money Hackers

Festival of Frugality

Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Money Stories

• The Friday gathering: Ban bump keys edition Ever heard of a bump key?  If not, you need to.  A bump key is...
• Best of Money Carnival #5 Hi there and welcome to the Best of Money Carnival #5!  What? You've never heard...
• Government Bail out fails - That's a good thing Yesterday was most likely one of those days that will go down in economic history....
• Carnivals for Tuesday 9/4/2007 My two favorite personal finance carnivals are up for this week, The Carnival of Personal...
• Key Steps You Can Take Now To Get Out of Debt Romans 13:8 - Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one...

Here are some articles that I found interesting or useful this week:

Pretty basic, but we can all use a reminder. Lynnae at Being Frugal lists five steps to pay off your credit cards.

I love to travel and I do a great deal – mostly within the States, but I fly or drive across state lines close to twenty-five times a year. Plonkee from Plonkee Money wrote an article listing seven travel items that a person should not bother buying and five things that might save you money while traveling. I might do a couple of my own lists on this topic sometime – interesting idea.

Mighty Bargain Hunter wrote about “remerchandising relinquishment”. Don’t look at me, click the link.

Our parent’s generation did not change jobs very often. Their parent’s generation never changed jobs. We do it all the time. Prime Time Money asks if changing jobs for more money is worth it.

Generation X financing posted that your car is making you poor. In my case, yes, but there is nothing I can do about it at the moment . . .

Frugal Dad exhorts us to not allow fear to guide financial decisions. I prefer to trust in the promise of God to meet the needs of my family. The problem is that He thinks my family needs a lot less that I do.

Have a great three-day weekend. I am working two out of the three days, good thing that I love what I do! Remember: Do not just spend money, spend time with family.        - Article by Stew

Photo by kiringqueen

Carnival of Personal Finance

• Dealing with the debt timebomb Photo by: pingnews.com This is a guest post by Jonathan who created Friends and Money...
• Alternative income from the internet One of the golden rules of investing is to never have all of your eggs...
• The Friday Gathering for 12/14/2007 4:00pm today signals the beginning of 3 weeks of vacation. I don't have to return...
• One dollar, two dollar, three dollar, four Sometimes it really can be hard to control the small, impulse purchases. You know, the...
• Friday Gathering: Indian Summer Edition (can I say that?) My daughter has requested a fairly expensive Halloween costume. She wants to be "Kit" from...