Best Money Posts of the Year

As part of the “best of” series I asked personal finance bloggers to submit their best post and share why they felt it was their best one.  Here’s the list of articles; each one tells the site it’s from, the article name, the author, and why they think it’s worth your time to read it, Enjoy!

Mighty Bargain Hunter – Seven pairs of easily-confused money terms, mbhunter says

“People said in the comments that they actually learned something!”

Moolanomy – Extra Income Guide, Pinyo says

“This is my most comprehensive article on earning extra money via alternative income. It draws upon and reference several articles I\’ve written through out the year.”

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity – 100 Money Saving Tips for the Holiday Gifting Bonanza, jim says

“It’s the best post I have because it took forever to write. :)”

Financial Reflections – How to Set SMART Financial Goals, Chris says

“I often post about the news or my own experiences with personal finance. For this article I created something that could help my readers along their own path to financial success.”

Generation X Finance – Award-Winning Steak Chili Recipe to Feed a Crowd for Under $25, Jeremy says

“When money is tight people are looking for ways to cut back”

Cash Money Life – 10 Personal Finance Essentials, Patrick says

“This article is my best because it outlines the essential personal finance items everyone needs in their life.”

Military Finance Network – What is the Thrift Savings Plan, Patrick says

“This article is my best because it outlines the basic information about the military Thrift Savings Plan and why it is a good investment vehicle for military members.”

Tough Money Love – The College Student Debt Machine: A National Disgrace, Mr. ToughMoneyLove says

“Not enough focus and blame is directed at the role of colleges and universities in promoting oppressive borrowing by students. This post does it.”

Go To Retirement – Striving for a Mortage Free Life, Mr. GoTo says

“Times have changed and this provides a fresh look at the benefits of a paid-off mortgage.”

Prime Time Money – How to Save Money Like a Madman, PT Money says

“It’s my best because it takes the topic of saving money (a pretty boring topic) and kicks it up a notch with some humor and passion thrown in to make it stick. Plus helping people save more is at the heart of what I\’m doing with my blog.”

Four Pillars – Why You Can\’t Trust Real Estate Agents When Buying A House, Mike says

“It’s on a topic that I feel very strongly about (real estate agents)and I think it probably helped a few people think about their relationship with real estate agents.”

Budgets are Sexy – Guess What? We did it! We finally got our wedding pictures!, J. Money says

“Because it was one helluva good ending to one hellish of an experience! It also wraps up the 7 previous posts on this war with the wedding photographer.”

Green Panda Treehouse – Joint Accounts: How We Budget Deposits and Withdrawls, Green Panda says

“This was a really good post because many couples are trying to have their finances work for them. Readers shared their ideas on how they budgeted too. It was a fun discussion and I’ll probably do another one in 2009 to see anything has changed.”

Studenomics – When Should You Not Save Money?, Studenomist says

“This was not my most popular article nor my most commented. However the reason I personally enjoyed it is because it deviates from the usual theme of pf blogs of save save save! I feel that we all (pf bloggers) get caught up in the act of frugality and saving so much that we forget there are times when saving money should not be the number one goal.”

Master Your Card – 42 Ways I’m Going to Make My 2009 Awesome!, Jonathan says

“Well apart from the fact that I put a lot of thought into it I really think there are a lot of successful ingredients for improving quality of life significantly.”

Think Your Way To Wealth – 35 Ways to Kick Start Your Debt Snowball, RC says

“It is my best because it is useful-it offers a lot of ways for people to take action on eliminating debt using the debt snowball method.”

Pragmatic Sage Weekly – Social Security; When to Collect, industry insider says

“I like it because of the topic. Most people rush into collecting Social Security and many financial advisors try to get seniors to collect early just to put the proceeds into a commissioned product.”

Our Personal Finances – Household Budgeting – vilkri says

“…because it represents our blog the best. Our blog describes how we make a connection between our financial decisions and our overall well-being. Money is only a means to an end for us. We think that our overall happiness is the ultimate purpose of handling personal finances in a responsible way.”

The Financial Blogger – How to Find a Good Financial Advisor Part 5, The Financial Blogger says

“This is a 5 part series on how to find a good financial advisor. In these hard financial times you need a great financial advisor in order to help you out making the right decision.”

Intelligent Speculator – Corporate bonds are safer investments, Intelligent Speculator says

“Since everybody loves to think that bonds are safe investment”

Here are a few more useful posts that didn’t come with a description of why the author thought they were the best of the year:

• Finance Your Life – Saving Money Cold Turkey Style
• Wide Open Wallet – 10 tips to get your house sold
• Fiscal Zen – 12 Free and Fantastic Windows Applications
• No Credit Needed – 10 Steps To Escaping The Paycheck To Paycheck Cycle

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards