How’s your summer going? Mine’s been amazing thus far. However, I really do want to start devoting more time to Studenomics. As part my plan to improve this site for you guys, I’ve got my little brother learning how to perform some of the tasks that consume a lot of my time (don’t worry he works for free). This should free up more time for me to work on cool stuff (exclusive newsletter) and to do more research for blog posts.

What’s the new at Studenomics?

1. Reader Q&As. I’ve started to address reader questions in the form of a blog post. I often exchange anywhere from 5-15 emails a day with readers. I figured that the advice that is fairly general deserves to be shared with all of you guys. If I don’t have an answer to a question I will research it until I find the answer– or I’ll just offer the topic to a guest author.

2. Exclusive newsletter. I plan on launching my exclusive newsletter here within a week or so. Stay tuned, more information will be shared very soon.

3. Book reviews. I’m slowly working on adding more book reviews to the site. As usual feel free to recommend a book.

4. ??????? What would you guys like to see more of here at Studenomics? Please leave me a comment here with your suggestions.

Also don’t forgot to follow me on Twitter.

Lately instead of selecting a few articles from my favorite blogs, I’ve asked other bloggers to send me their top posts so that I can help promote them. Let’s look at what’s cool around the web!

Selling Stuff Online? What You Need To Consider
A review of Studenomics
What Tax Bracket Am I In? 2010 Tax Brackets
How Your Credit Score Impacts Interest Rates
The Siren’s Call of Passive Income
The Different Types of Mortgages Available
How-to Save Money On a Cruise
10 Worst Roommate Antics
23 Ways to Save Money Building Your Dream Home
Automate Your Savings Accounts
Gulf Oil Leak Finally Capped, Americans Resume Destroying The Planet In Other Ways
How Banks Make Money
Download My Free eBook: Invest Like a Pro
How Much Are You Really Saving with the Mortgage Interest Deduction?
New Student Loan Forgiveness Program
How To Invest In Shares of Common Stock
Save Money On Hefty Hospital Bills Simply By Requesting A Discount
Roth IRA Withdrawal Rules
Internet Savings: Why it Will Dominate the Future of Personal Savings
How to manage your emails
3 questions you need to ask before accepting a new job

Who else is enjoying summer as much as I am? The only negative is that I’m spending much more money than usual. I’m trying to figure out ways that I can save more money (always carrying around a water bottle), while still getting the most out of my summer. Any tips? How are you guys enjoying your summer?

Let’s look at some of the cool articles from around the web from the past week:

How To Have The Money Conversation With Your Significant Other
Financial Benefits of a VA Home Loan
How to Cancel a Credit Card
Four Ways You Can Pay Off Your Home Mortgage Faster
Lending Club Review of Person to Person Loans
Understanding Inheritance Taxes
Checking Account Overdraft: Are the New Rules Better?
How To Proactively Survive A Layoff
Gift Giving Worksheet: Budget Today for Tomorrow’s Gifts
Consolidating Your Bank Accounts

Carnivals that Studenomics was in:

Carnival of Personal Finance @ Suburban Dollar
Carnival of Money Stories @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
Carnival of Debt Reduction

And of course– HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Get off the computer and enjoy your day.

I don’t want to jinx it, but it finally feels like summer is here! (Except for Western Canada– sorry about the snow)

The sun is shining, the shorts and sandals are out, I’m always outdoors, and the patios are packed. Wireless internet is a beautiful thing. I can write blog posts while sitting outside with a cold drink in my hand. How can you complain?

What are your plans for the summer?

I will be back with a post tomorrow. In the mean time, I wanted to share some interesting articles with you guys…

11 Things You Do In Your 20s You Will Regret in 40s
How to make 6 figures working at home
The difference between salespeople and advisors
4 Types of Insurance Your College Bound Teen Needs
Things To Know About Roth IRA Rules For 2010
How to Buy a Foreclosed Home
How to Sell Your Car on Craigslist
25 Stock Market Definitions
Lessons That Everyone Can Learn From Successful Entrepreneurs
How to Get the Best Rates on Term Life Insurance
What We Spend Money On: Eating Out
Have You Tried Peapod Groceries?
Factors of a Credit Score
How to Sell Your Used Car Online
Excessive Credit Card Debt: How Much is Too Much?

Carnivals I participated in:

Carnival of Financial Planning
Carnival of Personal Finance
Festival of Frugality

So let’s address the 1000 pound elephant in the room– why has the quality of the posts gone down around here recently? Well fortunately for you guys I hate excuses so I won’t throw any out at you. On the bright side, I can make a guarantee– I now have more free time to perform more research for all of my posts and to write more quality articles. I also have more free time to work on some of my side projects (eBook and exclusive newsletter).

I will stop yapping away for now and throw out the links of the week for you guys…

How to Create the Perfect Ebay Listing: Step 1 – Research Before You Write
Best Business Credit Cards for Start Ups
Why I Blog
How to Sell Your Used Car Online
Should You Sell Your Car or Trade it In?
How I Track My Finances
The 7 Biggest Money Problems for Most People
How to Get Burglars to Rob Your House
How to Raise My Credit Score
44 Ways to Ruin Your Financial Life By Age 30
Why Aren’t You Worried About Debit and Credit Cards for Teenagers?
Will Your 2011 Tax Rates Go Up?
Ways to Tap Your IRA Account Without Penalty
Credit Cards Are A Good Thing Full Of Benefits
Is It Worth Taking a Part-Time Job to Pay Off Debt?
How To Sell Your House Fast – 9 Tips To Get The Most From Your Home Sale
Losing your job might be the start of something new!
20 Things That Are Only OK in College

Welcome to another edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Edition #254 to be specific.

This is going to be the inspiring quotes edition. I personally hate “feel good” movies and any advice that shifts away from hard work. However, I do see the value in a motivational quote when you’re up late at night or trying to get motivated on a Monday morning (hint hint). Let’s get this carnival rolling.

Editor’s Picks:

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.”

- Jonathan Winters

Jaime from Eventual Millionaire presents How I Quit My Job and Now Live My Passion, and says, “I never would have had the opportunity to quit my job without eliminating my debt!”
vh from Funny about Money presents Why Being Passionate about Your Career Can Drive You Nuts, and says, “Several fellow bloggers contributed guest posts when I was laid up with an injury a week ago. This is one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy it, too.”
Paul Williams from Provident Planning presents Advice to a Young Professional, and says, “Here’s a simple, modern rewrite of Benjamin Franklin’s “Advice to a Young Tradesman.”
Jeremy from Generation X Finance presents Payday Loans – Ripping You Off One Fee at a Time.

Economy:

“Every artist was first an amatuer.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mike from Personal Finance Ninja presents How to Invest in the Economy: The Best Investments for Each Business Cycle.
FMF from Free Money Finance presents The Fragility of Freedom at 60%, and says, “Is our nation at the economic tipping point?”
Curt from PennyJobs.com presents Free Market Principles Provide the Cultural Mandate for a Peaceful and Stable Economy.

Frugality/Saving:

“I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome.”

- Golda Meir

ElizabethG (Modern Gal) from Modern Gal presents Saving and Dieting, Revisited.
FIRE Finance from FIRE Finance presents Top 7 Energy Saving Tips for this Summer, and says, “Every summer as the heat steps up so does our utility bill. This year we are planning ahead on cutting back our energy consumption for the summer. It will do good to our environment and help us pocket a nice saving as well …”
Lucia from moneyStrands blog presents 7 Ways To Go Green and Save Green.
Kristia from Family Balance Sheet presents Small Changes in Your Home Can Protect Your Earth and Your Balance Sheet.
Michael Pruser from The DoughRoller presents SmartyPig to Increase AND Decrease their Interest Rates, and says, “SmartyPig kills two birds with one stone in making a very bold statement: “We want you to save with us, just not that much.”
Daniel from Sweating The Big Stuff presents How To Find Extra Money In Your Budget, and says, “A guest post by Heather from Inexpensively.com on how to save money by cutting back on a three flexible categories.”
Jason from One Money Design presents Cutting Cable Does Save More than Money, and says, “Cutting cable saves more than money such as increasing your productivity and helps you find alternative entertainment.”

Money Management:

“Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration, and inspiration.”

- Evan Esar

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents Interview with Tim Chen, Founder of NerdWallet, and says, “NerdWallet is the best unbiased site for credit card offers. Here’s an interview with the founder with some additional tips for consumers.”
Craig/FFB from Free From Broke presents Term Life Insurance Versus Whole Life Insurance, and says, “Term and Whole are two of the more popular forms of life insurance. Here is a description of what each offers the consumer.”
J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents If He Can’t Put a Ring on it, He Can’t Sign For it!, and says, “When you’re dating/married, how do you manage your finances?”
mbhunter from Mighty Bargain Hunter presents Set your sights on open season preseason, and says, “Got open season soon? Time to plan!”

Credit:

“Success does not consists of never making nay blunders, but in never making the same one a second time.”

- Josh Billings

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Extra Insurance Coverage Through Credit Cards: Use Those Perks.
Mr. Credit Card from Ask Mr. Credit Card presents How Do I Dispute an Incorrectly Reported Account.
Austin from Foreigner’s Finances presents How to Improve Your Credit While Living Abroad, and says, “Access to credit cards and loans can be minimal when you’re living abroad, here’s my suggestions for maintaining and building credit while you live abroad.”
Mrs. Not Made of Money from Not Made of Money presents How to Avoid Credit Card Theft.

Real Estate:

“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”

-Phillips Brooks

Adam from Magical Penny presents We Love Our Houses…but Should We?, and says, “This article is not saying property is a bad investment – like any investment it can be both good and bad -but that the view that property should be your first financial priority should not simply be accepted: It may be the ‘default view’ of many people when they begin their adult lives but have you really considered your options?”
Len from Len Penzo dot Com presents Real Estate Agents: Why You Rarely Get What You Pay For.

Finance:

“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.”

- Voltaire

Pop from Pop Economics presents The perils of imperfect information.
The Financial Blogger from The Financial Blogger presents Is There Anything Better Than Passive Income?, and says, “For the past 12 months, each time I felt nervous about my budget and my financial obligations (having a wife at home is marvelous, but it adds its share of financial pressure), my Blackberry was there to comfort me. The little “bzz bzz” in my pocket each morning telling me that I had received money from Paypal is amazing.”
Darren from MORE than Finances presents How To Find The Right Financial Planner Using 10 Questions, and says, “Have you ever asked, “How do I find the right financial planner for me?” If so, ask the following questions to search for a planner that you’ll feel comfortable working with, and who can meet your needs.”
Single Guy Money from Single Guy Money presents What Happened to Personal Responsibility?

Debt:

“Be assured that it gives much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article whatever which we may seem to want.”

- Thomas Jefferson

The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents How To Get Out of Debt In Four Easy Steps.
Kris Bickell from Debt Tips presents 6 questions to ask before you sign up with any debt relief program.
Jason @ Redeeming Riches from Redeeming Riches presents What is Your Credit Card Payoff?, and says, “Find out how much you can save by paying extra towards your credit card debt!!”
simple in france from Simple Life in France presents Where would you be without debt?, and says, “Is there such a thing as good debt? What about debt you can’t live without?”

Investing:

“Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.”

- Harold B. Melchart

Sean from Grow Money presents Advantages of Index Funds.
Eric from Narrow Bridge presents I’ll See You in Omaha, Mr. Buffett, and says, “A look at why I am going to the Berskhire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting in Omaha.”
Mike Piper from The Oblivious Investor presents What’s the Value of Active Management?, and says, “When your 401k offers actively managed funds with expenses as low (or lower than) the cheapest available index funds, how do you choose between them?”
Junior Boomer from Consumer Boomer presents How to get the best interest rate on your Roth IRA, and says, “What’s the best Roth IRA interest rate? How do I know I am getting the Best IRA rate? What is a IRA rate?
Mike @ Green Panda from Green Panda Treehouse presents Investing for Beginners: Which Investment Type to Choose?, and says, “Paying off your debt is important. Having a solid budget is important too. However, if you don’t invest a part of your money, you will always be chasing your tail to manage your budget and pay off those debts. Why? Because investments have the capacity to grow much faster than your debt repayment schedule or your savings ability.”

Other:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no use being a damn fool about it.”

- W.C. Fields

Amanda from My Dollar Plan presents 10 Free Web Services to Check Out.
Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog from Canadian Finance Blog presents Which Car is Right For Us?, and says, “As my wife and I set out to purchase our first vehicle, we are asking ourselves a lot of questions about what is right for us, both in terms of our finances, and our lifestyle.”
Tahnya from Dinks Finance presents If You Can Make it Here, You Can Make it Anywhere, and says, “Good Business Equals Good Finances.”
PT from PT Money presents Buying Health Insurance as a Self Employed Individual, and says, “What I learned about buying individual health insurance.”
Ryan from The Financial Student presents 10 Ways for High School and College Students to Stay Broke and Waste Money, and says, “A tongue-in-cheek list of ways to ensure young adults stay broke. ”
Wealth Pilgrim from Wealth Pilgrim presents How to Become a Financial Planner, and says, “Do you want to learn how to become a financial planner? It’s not complicated but it takes work. Here are the secrets I’ve learned over the last 25 years.”

I hope you guys enjoyed this edition of the carnival and perhaps a little inspiration comes out on a Monday morning. Check out the carnival of personal finance homepage for future carnivals!

These weeks are just flying by. It’s time I behaved like a good boy and share some links with you guys. I was going to have a link roundup posted over the weekend but I never got around to it. To be honest, I committed a frugality sin. I decided to randomly head up with some friends to Niagara Falls for the weekend. No reason, no reason, and definitely no planning. Now that the school year is coming to an end, it’s time I picked it up a few gears and pushed it at school and here on Studenomics.

Link time!

Financial Planning Series: How to Make a Budget — Includes free downloads, worksheets, and spreadsheets!
The Cons Of Child Life Insurance – Why it usually doesn’t make sense to insure a child.
PocketSmith Personal Finance Software Review – An innovative budgeting and cash flow planning tool, join us as we go under the hood.
How to Choose High Interest Savings Accounts — There are many options available when it comes to online banking, with a wide variety of account features and options. To choose the best high yield savings accounts for your needs, here are a the five simple steps that you can follow.
What a Rewards Checking Program Can Do for a Failing Bank – Rewards checking accounts give you a great rate for very little extra work. You can earn a ton of interest by switching to one of these accounts. But are there hidden risks? Here’s a walkthrough of what these programs can do for failing banks.
27 Must-Check-Out Business Tools for Bloggers, Freelancers, and Small Business Owners
What Are Your Options With Your 401k if You Lose Your Job? – If you get laid off or lose your job, here are your options with your 401k plan. Avoid making a costly mistake.
Health Care Reform Bill Summary, Taxes, and Fines: A closer look at the tax credits, tax increases, and fines in the new bill.
6 Things to Know Before Buying a New Car – Most of us need a vehicle, but when it’s time to buy a new one there are a few things you can do to prevent yourself from making a major financial mistake.
Cheap Car Insurance: Women Have the Advantage – Who’s the safer driver? A woman or a man? Insurance companies give us an answer by how much they charge each for premiums.
Ways People May File Income Taxes For Less Or Even Free – There are many programs out there that can help a person file their taxes for free or for less. See if you qualify.
How to Establish Credit After Bankruptcy–One big casualty of a bankruptcy is your credit score. Hundreds of points can be shaved off a FICO score following bankruptcy. Fortunately, you can rebuild your credit with a few simple moves.
7 Lessons I’ve Learned Post-Bankruptcy – Over 2 two years since his bankruptcy, Debt Kid reflects on what he’s learned.
Worst top ten ideas ever – A funny look at some of the worst ideas for a top ten list compilation.
Four Pillars hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance.

I always try to come up with a title for my link roundup and update you guys with what’s going on. This week I just wanted to throw the links out. I’ve been working on some cool projects, but I’ve been swamped with lots of different work lately. Since I hate excuses I’ll stop right there. I’ll get back to work.

All I will say is– Stay tuned!

What Is That On My Credit Card Bill?
Best Places to Purchase Textbooks for Students
Roth IRA Distributions: Rules And Caveats
The High Price of “Low Cost” Payday Loans
The New Credit Card Statements Are Here
What Are Junk Bonds?
5 Ways to Hurt Your Credit Score Without Using Credit
What is a Good Credit Score?
Choices in Discount Brokerage Firms
Savings Accounts for Children
Fire your bank with the Switch Bank Accounts Checklist
Sallie Mae Bank Savings Account: Plus 10% Upromise Bonus
How to File an Amended Tax Return
SEP IRA – Contribution Limits and Deadlines
Top 10 Smarmy Financial Products on TV
3 Things To Remember About Roth IRAs
What’s a Good Credit Score ? Should You Care and How to Check It
Roth IRA Income Limits: Aged, Contributed, Phased Out, and Converted
Affordable Health Insurance When You are Self Employed
How to Maximize You Rewards Credit Card

Another week of solid posts here at Studenomics. I’ve been true to my word about having 3-5 original posts a week here. I’m also excited to share some cool news with you guys.

1. I will be a launching an exclusive newsletter/private program here! More details will be released within the next few days. For now, don’t worry because it will be high quality and best of all, it will be free.

2. I’ve been working on lots of cool projects that will benefit the readers.

Since I’m running late once again and I have like 5 blog posts I still want to write, I’ll just throw the links out for you guys.

Monday:

The Wisdom Journal gave us 10 things that employers love to see in their employees.

Tuesday:

Fiscal Geek presented us with 12 ways to become a college entrepreneur.
Consumer Boomer answered the popular question: should you invest in Lending Club or is it too risky?

Wednesday:

Million Dollar Journey wrote about your worst enemy when investing in stocks.

Thursday:

The Digerati Life shared some tips for paying off a cash advance payday loan.
Gen X Finance told us how you can negotiate remote work with your employer.

Friday:

Debt Free Adventure shared some vacation planning tips with us.

Carnivals:

Carnival of Personal Finance
Carnival of Debt Reduction
Money Hacks Carnival
Best of Money Carnival

We’re back with another work-work link roundup. I’m pretty excited about the progress that I’ve been making with some blog posts, projects, and general ideas. As always, stay tuned!

On another front- what do you guys think about an exclusive Studenomics newsletter? I’ll be dropping more info as time goes on, but I just want you to think about that for now.

I hate to make excuses, but since I’m short on time (blog posts, school, work, and you know- life) so I will just throw out the best posts from the past week for you guys.

Monday:

Matt Jabs @ Debt Free Adventure showed us how much his debt costs him.

Tuesday:

Jeff Rose @ GFC shared some tips on how to become a successful financial advisor.
The Wisdom Journal gave us 101 common money myths.

Wednesday:

Squawk Fox presented us with help on how to make a budget.

Thursday:

College Candy provided secrets to getting the dream internship.

Friday:

Financial Samurai told us how sometimes saving money is about principle.

Other carnivals:

Festival of Frugality: The Ration Book Edition
Carnival of Personal Finance: March is the Month for Edition
Best of Money Carnival: Snurricane Edition
Carnival of Debt Reduction

I missed the Work Week Carnival last week but I have returned. I went away for a week to Cuba and I have returned recharged and ready to go. I’ ll be discussing this in further detail in a post this Monday (hint: it’s about time management).

Link posts are a good opportunity to update you of the latest news.

Studenomics was nominated for- “Best Personal Finance Blog for College Students” @ The Plutus Awards. If you have a few minutes to spare then please go ahead and cast your vote. If you think that Studenomics is the best PF blog for college students then please vote for it. If not then vote for who you feel is the deserving winner.

As per my Money Makers series I’m still conducting research and finding cool people to talk with. That plus the fact that I need to find more time to write and figure out how-to work on podcasts. The time line is unknown. However, I promise if you stay tuned to Studenomics you’ll receive at least 3-4 quality articles a week, with some really cool posts coming up.

As usual reader feedback is always appreciated it. You can leave a comment here or contact me through email.

Monday:

The devil whispering into Jim Wang’s ear presented why being frugal is foolish. My favorite point is that there’s only so much frugality, yet there’s an unlimited potential to earn more money.

College Candy gave us 7 Spring Break survival tips. I’m a proud Spring Break survivor myself. A must read for any college student that’s going away for Spring Break within the next few weeks.

Tuesday:

Kevin @ No Debt Plan presented his very first video on how to set up a monthly budget and spending plan. It’s a cool video so go ahead and give Kevin some support.

Wednesday:

Pat @ SPI listed 10 things you can do right now to improve your online business or blog. As usual Pat gives us some easy to apply tactics.

Thursday:

Jeff Rose @ GFC wrote about how to get affordable health insurance when you’re self-employed. A must-read for all of the entrepreneurs reading this. I know that health insurance is a major deterrent for many soon-t0-be-entrepreneurs, but it shouldn’t be.

The Financial Blogger told us that you need guts to handle your finances. It’s true. You need to take chances and burst out of your comfort zone.

Erica of you guessed it– Erica.Biz gave us a simple saying that will kill your next business idea. You’ll be surprised when you read what the saying is.

Friday:

Frugal Dad presented financial changes that newly married folks need to make. A topic I’m not going to get into but I’m sure some of you reading this could relate to it.

PT Money asked how do you budget? A post that featured input from yours truly and many other personal finance bloggers.

Honorable Mentions:

My guest post on Untemplater– Straight to the Point Small Biz Financial Success Tips. As many of you know by now, I write 1-2 articles a month for Untemplater.

The Wisdom Journal gave us 20 tips to save money on our next vacation. If you’re under the mindset that you don’t make enough money to go on a vacation, then perhaps this post will help you out.

Best of Money Carnival @ Good Financial Cents