Friday Finance Findings for March 6th – Newsletter Edition

I want to start off by thanking everyone for the enthusiastic response on the guest post request from last week. There have been a number of great submissions already, and there are still a few spots open. If you think you might have something that would work as a guest post, feel free to contact me. We’re still planning for sometime towards the middle and second half of March for those.

Also, I wanted to use this opportunity to announce a new feature coming to the site. If you haven’t noticed already, there are forms to sign up for a newsletter at the end of most articles and on the home page. I wanted to put something together that adds a little more value for regular readers, so I’m planning on running an email newsletter every couple of weeks. In the newsletter you’ll find some additional content, updates from this site and beyond, advanced notice of upcoming contests and eBooks, and money-saving deals from around the web. Signing up is incredibly simple and it only takes a few seconds. You’ll see the sign up form at the bottom of this post. Or if you want, you can sign up via the form at my NURU personal finance card contest and receive an entry for a chance to win your own deck of these cards.

But enough about that, let’s get to this week’s links.

Frugal Tip: Sleep on it – Faced with an important buying decision? Try sleeping on it. Impulse can get the best of us, so taking the time to sleep on an important decision can potentially save you money. If something is really worth it, you’ll probably still come to the same conclusion, but you’ll feel better about not rushing into it.

Bank Fees & Credit Card Fees – Not the Only Fees You Can Cut – Nobody likes to pay fees, but you have to look beyond the obvious if you want to see the biggest savings. Bank and credit card fees may be common sense, but you’re paying a lot of other fees that you may have control over and not even realize it.

15 Budget Trimming Tips – Who isn’t trying to streamline their budget these days? Even if you’re still employed and are making ends meet, it can still pay to trim your budget. The leaner your budget now, the easier it will be if you find yourself in a difficult financial situation in the future.

The Dow Jones Closed At 6,700. How Do You Feel? – How does it make me feel? I have mixed reactions. When the market is down like this, it makes my job very difficult. At the same time, being so far from retirement I stay optimistic and view it as a good time to have disposable income to keep investing right now since it will pay off in the long run.

SmartMoney: 10 Things Your Credit Card Companies Won’t Tell You – If you thought credit card companies were evil already, wait until you see some of the things they aren’t going to tell you. This is an interesting list that will make you think.

Intuit Quicken Premier 2009 & TurboTax Packs Giveaway – If you’re looking for another contest, Jim is giving away copies of Quicken Premier and TurboTax. Free stuff is always good, and having used both of these programs before, I’d recommend them.

CNBC Smackdown – Comedy gold. Take a look at The Daily Show’s  Jon Stewart making a mockery of CNBC and has a ton of clips over the past year or so. If you want to take a break for a few mintues and have a laugh, this is for you.

Peer To Peer Lending At Lending Club – I recently got started with Lending Club myself and plan on doing my own review and share my experiences, but Frugal Dad does a good job in highlighting some of the benefits of peer to peer lending.

Why Don’t Young People Care About Finances? – We were all young once, and if you think back, you probably weren’t too crazy about finance either. So, what is it that makes young people so uninterested in their finances?

Lending Club’s Interesting Definition of Risk – Continuing on with the Lending Club theme, Lazy Man points out an interesting aspect of the risk measurement. This could be important to take into consideration if you’re just getting started and may be using a small portfolio with just a couple notes.

Selling Your Home Tax Free – How would you like to sell your home and not be taxed on the profit from the sale? You may have heard that you can sell your home tax-free, but what are the limitations, and would you qualify?

Why Do We Keep Bailing Out AIG? – Why is the government, and subsequently the taxpayers still throwing money at AIG? What does it mean to be too big to fail? Will any of this actually pay off? Here’s some additional information to chew on.

Related posts:

1. Friday Finance Findings for March 27th
2. Friday Finance Findings For March 28th
3. Friday Finance Findings For April 11th – SmartyPig Winners Edition
4. Friday Finance Findings for March 13th
5. Friday Finance Findings for September 4th – $2,500 Lending Club Contest Edition