Motivating Mum UK

I’m taking a short break from Mummy Mentoring Month to host the Totally Money.com blog carnival for this week.

Anybody who is visiting my site for the first time, please do check out the Mummy Mentoring Month page, as we have a huge charity auction of coaching and mentoring services, with a few other lots thrown in for good measure (holiday in the Cotswolds anyone?).  Bids welcome until 31st March and all money to charity. On this blog I have also had guest posts from different businessmums all throughout March so please do take a look around and have a good read.

This blog carnival is absolutely enormous – it’s probably the longest blog post I ever wrote.  I’m completely overwhelmed with the number and variety of posts – fantastic work by all concerned!

Motivating Mum is aimed at mums who are combining family with starting a small business from home.  For both of these activities it is a good idea to keep a tight handle on the family finances.   The blogs below have a huge number of different approaches – from the fun to the totally serious.   I have really enjoyed reading through these posts and have picked up a few hints and tips along the way – I hope you will too!

For my Editor’s picks I have concentrated on those that will appeal to my core readership. So they are fun , lighthearted, with a family theme, and if possible, applicable to the UK.  Here they are:

1.  Teaching Your Kids about Money:  by Pam Whitlock  at The MoneyTrail Blog.  My kids really need to learn how to delay gratification – this is a great reinder for me.
2.  The Art of DIY by Michelle at See Debt Run. I love this image of a family trip to a DIY shop.  I have been this family – have you?
3.   My Infamous Cereal Aisle Meltdown by Dave HIlton at Debt Black Hole What can happen when the money dries up completely. Self employerd people take note…
4.  5 Business Lessons Learned from Monopoly by Tim at Faith and Finance. We love board games in our house? Do they teach us about life?  Maybe, but they certainly teach us about being a family…
5.  I Just Won The Foreign Lottery by Paul Weaver at Make Money Make Cents.  Most of these email scams are obvious, but I will confess to being nearly caught out by a few of the better ones…

Fancy submitting a post into the TotallyMoney Blog Carnival? Check out the submission page for information on what posts will be allowed. You can submit your posts here Next weeks carnival will be hosted by   Thirty Six Months

 Economy

• Darwin presents The REAL Inflation Rate posted at Darwin’s Money . Most Americans feel the government inflation numbers aren’t representative of the real inflation they see year to year. Here’s your solution.

Spending

• Jeremy of Modest Money laments the Folly of Paying Someone to Cook for You.  As I start preparing my income tax documents for last year, I have been struggling to come to terms with how I managed to waste so much money. Not only did I manage to spend a lot of money, I also have very little to show for it. One major expense was a vacation I took last year, but that doesn’t come close to accounting for all the wasted money. A bigger expense that I need to accept is dining out and take out food.
• Liana presents Currency Exchange Guide posted at Card Hub.  Saved up for a trip overseas for vacation this summer? Great! Make sure your planning is complete. These are some important tools to have and things to know to save you time, money, and frustration before and during your travels

• Pam Whitlock presents Teaching Your Kids about Money: March Edition posted at The MoneyTrail Blog.Kids who can learn to delay gratification have a better chance of becoming financially successful adults. We can use short term and long term savings projects to develop delayed gratification skills in our kids.
• Emily presents Why You Should Save for Retirement While In Graduate School Part 2 posted at Evolving Personal Finance. Three non-mathematical arguments for saving for retirement while in graduate school, including “treat it like the rest of your life” and “don’t bank on your best hope of what the future will entail.
• Barbara Friedberg presents Do Billionaires Need an Emergency Fund? posted at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance.Not only are there wealthy folks without savings, there are high income earners plagued with debt and a negative net worth. Without getting into the psychological reasons for this, what does this mean for those of us without a $1,000,000,000 net worth?

Frugality

• Lina Zussino presents Top 10 baby items we’ve decided not to purchase for the new baby posted at Baby Alerts. Here is a list of the top ten items we have decided not to purchase for our new baby. Our decisions have been based on ideas and advice provided by parents, friends and family whom have been there and done it.
• Crystal presents In Praise of Hand Me Down Toys posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. I’ll admit it. Im a cheap but proud! Aunt. One of the older nieces hands down her toys to the youngest via me.
• Steve Zussino presents 1 Whole Pork Leg, 45 meals, Under $23 bucks posted at Grocery Alerts. Meat is one of the most expensive items we buy at the grocery store. I bought a whole pork leg and I managed to create 45 servings approx., with $22 and 30 minutes of work.
• James Petzke presents Cable Alternatives that Save Cash posted at Critical Financial. Cable can be one of the biggest monthly household expenses. Using these alternatives can save you big money.
• Paul Vachon presents A Guide: Peer-to-Peer Car Share posted at The Frugal Toad. The average automobile sits idle 92% of the day and costs an average of $7319 to own, operate, and maintain each year according to the AAA. Peer-to-peer car share allows people to rent their own vehicles to others when they are not being used.
• Michelle presents The Art of DIY posted at See Debt Run. Being someone who takes a DIY approach to home improvement can save you a ton of money.

Finance

• Pat Huddleston presents Accused Oregon Con Woman Charged posted at Investor’s Watchblog. People often wonder how others fall for investment scams. Anyone could fall for an investment scam…
• Control Your Cash presents IPOs for Beginners posted at Control Your Cash.You have no idea what an IPO is, do you? Read this and learn how to avoid squandering your money while thinking you’re being smart.
• Dividend Ninja presents Dividend Fund Managers Are Buying Apple? posted at The Dividend Ninja.Mutual fund managers are getting confused. It seems like more fund managers are deviating from their fund’s stated focus and suffering from style drift in order to own one of the hottest stocks of the past decade. More than 40 dividend funds have recently bought shares of Apple even though the company does not yet issue a dividend.
• FMF presents Index funds win by a landslide posted at Free Money Finance. Index mutual funds trounced actively managed mutual funds last year by the widest margin in 15 years, once again raising the confounding question: Why do so many individuals gravitate to actively managed funds when they are a proven loser?
• J.P. presents Financial Emergency Kit: Are You Prepared? posted at Novel Investor. Emergencies happen every day. But when the impossible happens, will you be ready? Having a financial emergency kit will make a big difference if the worst should ever happens
• Dan presents BuyBack Achievers ETF Reviewed posted at ETFBase. We all know stock buybacks are a positive, but this ETF focusing on buybacks is crushing the market! Here’s a review of the share buyback ETF.

Debt 

• Shawanda Greene presents The Biggest Hurdle to Living Debt Free posted at You Have More Than You Think.  Getting out of debt and staying out of debt is hard. Here’s the biggest reason we find the task so challenging.
• Azra Panjwani presents Can the Special Direct Consolidation Loan Program Help You? posted at ReadyForZero Blog. The Obama Administration just initiated the new Special Direct Consolidation Loan program for recent grads. In this post, we describe how the program works – including how you can figure out if you are eligible and how it might help you.

 Credit

• Odysseas presents Occupy Wall Street & Credit Score Reform posted at Wallet Blog In an economy where so much depends on credit score, maybe it’s time for the credit scoring system to be improved. But, is the Occupy Wall Street movement on target with their proposal? Maybe not.
• Suba presents Five Things You Must Know About Freelancing posted at Broke Professionals.Freelancing can be a path to professional freedom, but if you’re not careful, life as a freelancer can complicate your finances.
• Hank presents Five Creative Ways To Fund Your New Small Business posted at Money Q&A.So, what does a small business owner have to do to find funding for his or her business? Get creative to fund your new small business. It takes a lot of guts to run a small business these days.
• Jeremy Waller presents Credit Cards Are Dangerous: The Psychology Of Paying With Cash posted at Personal Finance Whiz.Over the years I’ve discovered that knowing how to manage your money is only 20 percent of the picture. The biggest part, by far, is the mental battle. If I could sit down with you for 1 hour I could teach you everything you need to know to budget your money, pay off debt, invest and retire well…
• Daniel presents What is a Square Credit Card reader and why should I avoid them? posted at Sweating the Big Stuff.  The Square card reader is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter. The technology is a departure from the traditional mode of credit card processing, opening the acceptance of cards to individuals.
• Sandy presents Get Out Of Debt in 2012: Fix Your Credit Report posted at Yes, I Am Cheap. Your credit score can have a huge impact on your debt, because it ultimately determines the cost of borrowing money and your interest rates on your credit cards. The lower your score, the higher your interest rate, the more it will take to pay off your debts.

Taxes

• Ashley presents Why the Roth is Better Than a Traditional IRA posted at Money Talks Coaching.  The difference between Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are taxes.
• Glen Craig presents Did You Get a 1099-K Tax Form This Year? posted at Free From Broke . You might be asking yourself – What is the 1099-K tax form I received and what am I supposed to do with it? See what the 1099K is and why some people receive it.

• Amanda L Grossman presents Keeping All Your Eggs in One Basket is Risky posted at Frugal Confessions. My sister and I used to gather eggs from our henhouse for breakfast.
• Shaun presents Should Families Buy a House or Rent an Apartment: The Risks of Homeownership Compared to Renting posted at Smart Family Finance. Understanding the risks of homeownership can also help you implement strategies to reduce those risks.
• Philip Taylor presents Forecast for 2012: An Analysis of the Current Real Estate Market Trends posted at PT Money Personal Finance.An interview with a top real estate agent who has weathered 3 decades of market fluctuations which gives her a special understanding of the current housing slump.

Careers

•  LaTisha presents I Graduated, but Don’t Have a Job posted at Financial Success for Young Adults.Are you a recent grad without a job? This post has tips on how to land a job after college graduation. Smart networking tips for recent graduates.
• Karl presents The only 3 ways to get a sweet-ass government job posted at CultOfMoney.A sweet-ass government job can be yours if: 1. you already have a government job, 2. you know someone in government, or 3. you intelligently position yourself with the correct skills for your sweet-ass government job.
• Jester presents How to Get a Second Job posted at The Ultimate Juggle.Find out what you should consider when selecting your second job. Don’t jump in without considering these options.
• Kathryn @ Financial Highway presents Interview Questions & Answers posted at Financial Highway. This guide not only tells you what the interview questions are but also provides insight into what the interviewer is really asking and what types of answers will help you get the job.
• Tim presents 5 Business Lessons Learned from Monopoly posted at Faith and Finance. Monopoly is good family fun and all, but it’s also a crash course in business. Here are 5 business takeaways you can learn from the old game Monopoly.
• Jeffrey presents Life After Quitting Questions Answered: Saving, Business-Building and More posted at Money Spruce.Planning to quit your job means there’s a lot of things to think about first. Here some of those things you need to consider.
• Corey presents My College Mistakes Everyone Should Avoid posted at 20s Finances. My college experience was a blast and I learned a lot of financial lessons the hard way. I believe college students grow and mature faster as college students then most other times in their life. Students arrive on campus pumped up for all the good times to come, so oblivious to their responsibilities.
• SB presents 20 Tips To Be Productive And Happy At Work posted at One Cent at a Time. There are few adjustments which can make you a high achiever at work, they don’t cost any money or any significant time. Learn 20 such tips here and become a high achiever today.
• Money Beagle presents When Getting A 20% Raise Kind Of Sucks posted at Money Beagle.There’s an upside to getting a 20% raise, but there’s also a downside…
• Linsey presents 5 LinkedIn Tips You Should Be Using Already posted at 1099 Mom. I’m sure you already have a LinkedIn profile. If you don’t, stop everything and put one up now. Then follow these simple and ridiculously-effective tips you may have overlooked in marketing your business on LinkedIn:

Other

• Roshawn Watson presents 3 Myths Regarding The Great Idea posted at Watson Inc.  Everyone has had an idea that could have dramatically changed the course of his or her life. It’s not the idea that makes the difference though; it’s what one does with the idea that counts.
• Diva presents Learn From This Entrepreneurial Mistake – Starting a Business with a Friend posted at Diva in Debt.  So you want to start a business with a friend? Learn from Diva in Debt what you should consider when doing so.
• Karen Bryan presents Write on Finance Blog Up Leeds posted at Help Me To Save. The Write on Finance Blog Up Leeds is a get-together in the UK for personal finance bloggers/writers and those working in or for the finance industry.
• Luke presents 10 Year Treasury Going to 1 percent ? posted at Learn Bonds.Bond fund manager Robert Kessler making the case that the end of the bull run in treasuries is not over, and in fact could have a lot farther to go.
• Kevin presents How To Turn Your House into Income posted at Thousandaire.   If you want to make some money off your house, consider renting out a room. That way you keep your place to live and make some money of it at the same time.
• John presents Stress at Work? Take an Office Vacation posted at Married with Debt. Experiencing stress at work? Find out how to reclaim part of your day and take a vacation in your office. It’s not hard.
• Daisy presents Six Annoying Work Personalities We Could All Do Without posted at Add Vodka.Since being thrust into the office work world in March 2011, I’ve noticed some pretty annoying office behaviours that I think are both mind-blowingly aggravating as well as comical.
• Don presents Using Your HSA as A Retirement Account posted at MoneySmartGuides.As the price of insurance continues to increase, Health Savings Accounts or HSAs are becoming more and more popular.
• Jason presents Athletes That Went Broke & Wondering Why We Enjoy Their Downfall posted at Work Save Live.  The idea for this post came from an article I read online about Allen Iverson being the next big name athlete to go broke.
• SFB presents Choosing The Right Life Insurance posted at Simple Finance Blog.Buying Life insurance is an important choice that many people delay because of the overwhelming amount of options and lack of facts.
• A Blinkin presents Friends Don’t Let Friends Ignore Inflation posted at Funancials. Lets say you have two friends. One of your friends keeps stealing money from the other. Wouldnt you feel an obligation to warn your one friend about the other? Of course you would! Its the same obligation I feel when I think about your money and inflation.
• FG presents How Kickstarter and the Point Are Great Ways to Give to Others, and Sponsor Some Really Cool Projects posted at Financial God.Have you ever used Kickstarter or The Point before? These are a couple of pretty cool websites that are changing the face of charitable giving, and encouraging entrepreneurship by making it easier to support projects and sponsor creative works of art. The way that these sites work is that you ‘pledge’ your support for certain projects.
• 101 Centavos presents Prospect Generators in Mining – The Global Outsourcing Trend Continues posted at 101 Centavos.American Airlines is looking for partner airlines to manage flight route out of the U.S. Oil and Gas refining companies outsource their engineering,…
• Tushar presents Why Do Companies Have IPOs? posted at Start Investing Money.Read about the reasons why companies have IPOs. If you were every curious, here are the reasons.
• Aloysa presents My Mother Was a Mail-Order Bride posted at My Broken Coin.People often ask me how I came to the United States. Sometimes they give me an unpleasant smirk, wink at Beaker, my American husband, and say nothing but imply a lot. Sometimes they go as far as measure me up and down, and blatantly ask me if I was a mail-order bride.
• Steve presents Getting Back on Track After a Financial Train Wreck posted at Money Infant.It took ruining my marriage and the destruction of my credit to get me to realize how I was managing my finances was unsustainable.
• Jon the Saver presents Buy Disability Insurance or Go Broke! posted at Free Money Wisdom.Summary: Disability insurance is a topic that most people don’t know much about. It can protect your income in times of crisis during your life!
• krantcents presents The 3 J’s of Success posted at KrantCents. The 3 J’s of Success is the tenth in a series of articles to help you reach your goal.
• Kyle presents How to Get Paid $200 a Month Testing Websites posted at The Penny Hoarder.Website testers are paid $10 to record their opinions of a website’s appearance and ease of use. It’s a pretty easy job and there a number of firms currently hiring…
• Wayne presents Eating Healthy Can Save You Money posted at Young Family Finance. Believe it or not, eating healthy can save you money. Find out how by reading this article.
• Eddie presents 8 Tips to Save Money on Gas posted at Finance Fox. If you’re looking for some ways to shave a few dollars off your household spend, one possibility is to spend less on gas, by following some of these fuel economizing tips.
• KT presents Money Saving Tips when Hiring Movers posted at Personal Finance Journey. If you are like me, you detest moving. I stayed in an apartment two years longer than I should have because I so dislike the moving process. Still, most Americans average 11 moves in a lifetime. If you are planning to move soon, take advantage of these tips to save money hiring movers
• YFS presents How Friends Can Ruin Your Finances posted at Your Finances Simplified. Have you ever had the kind of roommate that eats everything in the fridge even though he didnt buy the groceries, or come up short on rent and ask you to cover for him?
• Paul Weaver presents I Just Won The Foreign Lottery posted at Make Money Make Cents.The world will always be full of fraudsters. The lottery scam is one of the most common schemes used.
• FamilyMoneyValues presents Women Investors posted at Family Money Values. Why Bother With Investing? If all you do is save the money you earn (especially at today’s near zero savings interest rates) you will never grow your money.
• Madison presents Unveiling The Retirement Myth: Book Review posted at My Dollar Plan. There are so many books about saving, investing, and building your portfolio, that it is rare to find a good book about spending down your portfolio, or the distribution stage.
• Roger the Amateur Financier presents Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door posted at The Amateur Financier. A review of the book ‘The Millionaire Next Door’, a book that seeks to dispel many of the stereotypes of how millionaires actually behave, as well as providing advice on how the typical moderate earner can become a millionaire.