Carnival of Personal Finance - Week 29

Welcome to the 29th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, also the very first edition of the year 2006.

Let's get right to it.

Financially Independent: The Equation - A blogger provides first tip (out of a series of posts) on staying or becoming financially independent.

Free 411 Rocks on Roadtrips - Nickel tells how free 411 calls came handy on his trip to Orlando recently.

Phil Town & INVESTools - In depth article about speaker, author and blogger Phil Town and his highly recommended sidekick, INVESTools Investor Toolbox.

How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life? - People are willing to spend a lot to save a pet. If you own an animal, consider the impact to your finances.

Reduction in Auto Insurance Premiums - If you vehicle is paid off and you don't minddriving with just the state minimum for autoinsurance, you might want to consider looking into it.It could possibly you 50% and when combined with a fewother possibly cost cutting areas, you could save$1000 over the year.

Best Value Home Renovations Revisited - Jim revisits the list of the best home renovations by value after reading a study by the NRA and Remodeling magazine.

Consolidate Student Loans Now To Save Money - Congress has passed a new law that will increase the interest rate on your safford college loans. Consolidate now or spend a few thousand more dollars in interest.

Comparing cash back credit cards - Analyze the rebates from eight popular cash back credit cards.The post includes a tool to calculate the rebate based on your spending.

Car rental tips - A few tips from justanotherblogger about renting a car.

Death of a Salesman (and his business) - A true story of a business owner's death illustrateswhy business owners should have a buy-sell agreement.

Cleaning House - The cleaning lady as a topic of discussion.

Naked Shorts - Although not widely publicized, naked shorts are becoming an increasingly abusive illegal instrument used by hedge funds on Wall Street to take money from the average investor and line their own pockets for personal profit.

Do you need to refinance to eliminate PMI? - Early Riser examines PMI expenses and how you can eliminate them.

ING Direct Savings vrs HSBC Direct Savings - Jane Dough of Boston Gal's Open Wallet weighs recommending ING Direct or HSBC Direct for her 69 year old Mother who is finally ready to "dip her toe" into the world of online banking.

Market Wrap 2005 - All the comparisons of US to international markets should consider the strong performance put in by the dollar this year p 11% versus the euro, 7.7% against the pound, and 14.5% against the yen (based on average prices for December vs. January).

What Type of Real Estate Listing Agent to Choose - Dan Melson provides tips for choosing the real estate listing agent.

Financial Emergency Kit - Some tips on preparing an emergency money kit in case of a huge disaster.

What Do You Have In Your Hand - Keep your money at your own disposal rather than putting it in somebody else's pocket by asking yourself what you already have and how you can use it.

Max out your 401(k) or not? - Are there better places to put your money once you have full matching for your 401(k)?

Making Financial Resolutions for 2006 - JLP has enlisted with the help of fellow bloggers financial resolutions for 2006.

Battlefield: Tax Court - A father wanted to deduct payments to a Jewish school; why shouldn't he get the same deal as the Scientologists? But Moses had only 10 plagues; the Scientologists probably have dozens of attorneys.

The Carnival host schedule is at Consumerism Commentary, and next week's carnival will be hosted at AllThingsFinancial.

I wish you a happy, healthy, and wealthy new year.