Carnival of Personal Finance #317 – The Harry Potter Edition

Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #317! It’s my first time hosting this wonderful carnival and I hope you enjoy the great articles selected.

Ten years after the first Harry Potter movie, the last one in the series is being released this week so I thought it fitting to pay tribute to the series which has already grossed $6 billion dollars. The author, J.K. Rowling, went from collecting social benefits to a billionaire according to Forbes Magazine.

Harry Potter does have a lot to do with money! (If you’re reading this via email, you may have to visit the website to see the trailers.)

The Sorcerers Stone (Editor’s Picks)

We meet Harry Potter as he learns he’s a wizard and goes to Hogwarts for year 1. Have fun refreshing your memory before the final movie and seeing the characters grow up.

As a baseball fan, I thoroughly enjoyed Three Personal Finance Lessons from the Dodgers’ Bankruptcy Debacle from Bryan at Pinch that Penny! The lessons apply to your career as well.

James Clear from Passive Panda presents 99 interview tips that will actually help you get a job. This is a great resource for any job hunter.

Most of us use credit cards, but I bet this article by Len from Len Penzo Dot Com on18 Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Your Credit Card teaches you something new.

Paula from Afford Anything presents Quit your Job, Travel, and Live Remarkably. She’s an inspiration for anyone that wants to live outside the box.

The Chamber of Secrets

Echo from Boomer & Echo presents Are Rewards Cards Costing You Money?, and says, “I am a big fan of using rewards cards to help save money on my everyday spending, but can rewards cards actually be costing you money?”

Jeff Weber from Smart Balance Transfers presents Three Ways I Learned to Save Money with Credit Cards, and says, “An overview of how I went from a credit card loser to a credit card winner and the three steps I followed.”

Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | Review, and says, “Want to maximize your spending for free flights on Southwest Airlines? See how to earn free flights and more in this credit card review.”

Nathan Richardson from ComplexSearch presents What is a Great Credit Score?, and says, “When people need to finance a home or a car, people often wish they had a higher credit score. With a great credit score people can get low interest rates, which can save you thousands of dollars.”

The Prisoner of Azkaban

Donna Freedman from Surviving and Thriving presents Dumpster wading, and says, “Some people are dumpster divers. I’m more of a dumpster wader. I’m not willing to climb in and get dirty, or to risk injury. But anything I can reach, I’ll harvest.”

Money Beagle presents Clean Off That Air Conditioning Unit, and says, “Don’t forget this one important task this summer!”

Annabelle from The Year of Shopping Detox presents Why being single is more expensive, and says, “It’s hard out there for all the single ladies, when everything’s cheaper to buy for a family or as 2a couple.”

Amanda L Grossman from Frugal Confessions presents Woe to the Lean Purse: Ways to Fix It, and says, “I take a look at The Richest Man in Babylon’s strategies to curing a lean purse, and add an action step to each so that we can all start implementing these techniques today.”

Jacob from My Personal Finance Journey presents What Motivates You To Be Financially Responsible?, and says, “There are two things that keep me motivated to be fiscally responsible beyond all else – 1) keeping aligned with my Purpose Focused Financial Plan and 2) Updating my net worth and asset allocation each month. This article describes each of these in detail.”

The Goblet of Fire

Nelson from Canadian Finance Blog presents Investing Ethics, and says, “Each and every one of us make decisions that wrestle with ethics. But what about investing ethics? Should you let your morals decide your investments?”

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents How Much Should You Really Save For College, and says, “If you have questions about the cost of college tuition and how much you should be saving you need to read this article.”

Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog presents How To Build a 6 Figure Income Dividend Portfolio with $600 per month, and says, “How you can start working on your dividend portfolio.”

Outlaw from Outlaw Finance presents Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA and a 401K?, and says, “Shares my experience of simultaneously contributing to a Roth IRA and 401K, as well as the requirements you’ll need to meet in order to do the same.”

Ginger Lasky from Frugal Students- Starting a New Life presents A trick to pay less interest on student loans, and says, “This is an easy trick that students, or their parents, can use to save money on student loans while not decrease the amount they are taking.”

Harri Pierce from TotallyMoney presents Top 10 travel insurance tips.

The Order of the Phoenix

Amanda from My Dollar Plan presents Kids and Money: A Summer Job for Our Niece, and says, “A great idea for teaching kids about earning and saving money!”

Lindy from Minting Nickels presents Taking a Trip with Multiple Mes, and says, “Shopping for a vacation hotel can be a confusing experience for someone with multiple spending personalities (like me). ”

md from Passive Income Now presents Why Launching An eBook is Not Passive Income, and says, “A look at the hard work involved in creating an eBook.”

Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings presents Are you doing better than your parents?, and says, “Does the advice not to seek your parent’s standard of living when you’re on your first job seem like good advice or unnecessary? Did you seek their standard of living (or better) before you could really afford it?”

Cathy Moran from MoneyHealthCentral presents Entrepreneur Is Another Word For Utility Player, and says, “Being a small business owner means you play many positions.”

Bob from Christian Finances presents Lessons Learned From Throwing Money Away, and says, “I couldn’t believe it. I was actually digging through the trash for money this week.”

Big Spender from Debt Broke presents Use Facebook and Twitter to Cut Your Debt.

The Half-Blood Prince

Jen from Master the Art of Saving presents Some Spending is Non-negotiable! Any Compromises?, and says, “While the large sums (spending or saving) make a big difference in our finances, we often overlook the small things that can add up.”

Pat S from compounding returns presents First 3 Steps in Debt Recovery, and says, “Start climbing out of debt with these first 3, most important steps.”

Junior Boomer from Consumer Boomer presents Is It Better to Save or Repay Debt?, and says, “Here’s a quick look at the benefits and drawbacks of focusing on saving or repaying debt.”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents How Getting a New Credit Card Impacts Your Credit Score.

Mike from Green Panda Treehouse presents How Daily Savings Add up to Thousands of Bucks, and says, “Saving up money on a daily basis.”

Mike from Experiglot presents Diversify Everything You Can When it Comes to Money, and says, “Getting control of saving your money.”

Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Debt is Like Teenage Sex, and says, “No, I am not saying everyone talks about it, but none of them know what they are doing, but that isn’t a bad analogy either!”

The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Crystal from Stupid Cents presents A Simple Resume Can Get You the Job, and says, “One of the ways that you can land a job is by having a simple resume format. A concise, and well-crafted resume will speak for you in a great way.”

Mike from The Financial Blogger presents Extra Income For Hands On People, and says, “How you can make extra cash right now.”

Darwin from Darwin’s Money presents College Degrees that Leave You With Debt for Life, and says, “Here are several cases of college degrees that have left students with debt for life. It’s critical to consider ROI on your college degree before choosing a major.”

md from Studenomics presents Help a Reader- Leave Country For Work or ?, and says, “Several readers chime in with career advice for a fellow reader.”

Shaun from Money Cactus presents Sometimes its not what you know, and says, “Having great credentials will help you get a new job, but often it comes down to who you know, not what you know. Here’s how I recently made it work for me and you can too”

The Deathly Hallows Part 2

Jim Yih from Retire Happy Blog presents Predictions for Real Estate Prices: Boom or Bust?, and says, “Not a day goes by these days without someone predicting what is going to happen to real estate prices. Here’s my prediction . . .”

Money Thinker from Money Thinking presents Prices are Rising on these 5 Food Staples, and says, “Money Thinker shares 5 food staples that are getting a littler pricier this summer. ”

ElizabethG from Modern Gal presents Mid-Year Financial Checkup.

Gen Y Capitalist from Gen Y Capitalist presents Cutting Expenses Without Sacrificing Quality of Life, and says, “In this article, I discuss why saving doesn’t necessarily result in lifestyle sacrifices.”

Philip Taylor from PT Money Personal Finance presents Pay Cash or Finance a Car?, and says, “Discusses the mathematical and emotional aspects to consider when paying cash or financing a car.”

Philip from Outlaw Finance presents How to Pay for College Without Loans, and says, “Some ideas for avoiding the monster of student debt.”

That’s it for this week’s carnival. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the Harry Potter movies. Next week’s carnival host is my blog conference buddy, Danielle Liss, from Kitten A Go-Go. You know it’ll be fun!