For the observant ones, you may have noticed the Money Blog Network logo appear on Get Rich Slowly’s sidebar on Saturday and that’s because both JD and NCN at No Credit Needed have joined the the Money Blog Network this past week. I was really happy when both of them accepted our invitation to join because both have excellent writing styles, a very loyal following, and seem to bring fresh ideas out into the forefront. Plus, in my own personal email, forum, and other conversational contact with them, I think they’re pretty cool guys who I’d probably be friends with if they we weren’t so geographically spaced out.

I’ve mentioned both NCN on numerous occasions because I have the utmost respect for him because he pulled himself out of significant credit card debt (hence the name No Credit Needed) through hard work. He didn’t call up some debt consolidation company or seek some other way of shirking by, he faced his responsibilities and took care of them. In fact, not only has he done that, but through the No Credit Needed Network that he’s started, he’s helping tons of people work through their credit debt and problems. Oh, and as if all that wasn’t enough, he has a podcast too.

As for JD, he’s the brilliant mind behind Get Rich Slowly, which has a very unassuming tag-line of “personal finance that makes cents.” While he hasn’t pulled himself out of “massive” credit card debt, he’s certainly written about some great topics that I wish I had thought of first. If you don’t read his blog, you certainly should; while it doesn’t contain as much close personal information as many others, you will definitely learn something new every week, if not every day, if you put him in your blog reader.

So, in the interests of not using up my entire dictionary of superlatives in one post, I’ll just end it by saying I’m extremely happy they decided to join and we’ll see if we can do something interesting collaborative projects going forward.

With the arrival of the new $1 Presidential coins comes the arrival of new collectors itching to get a full set of them, are you joining the speculators? MBH gives some tips for those of you looking to capitalize on the $1 presidential coin craze. Flexo scored two rolls of the coins early, maybe he’ll hit the lottery!

Changing gears from quick money to sloooooow money, FMF writes about the value of an advanced degree. And from the department of terrible ideas, Dave Ramsey recommends skipping the 401k match and that you should pay off debt, something JLP doesn’t particularly agree with. As an aside, I was going to write a Devil’s Advocate post about how the match isn’t worth it… but I couldn’t come up with any reasons not to do it!

Last but probably not least, Nickel writes about applying for a business card.

Nickel, by doing nothing, joined in a class action suit against Zurich Direct which settled recently. His take? $2.52. Drinks on Nickel!

FMF reviewed The Real Guide to Making Millions Through Real Estate, giving it 6 out of a possible 10 if you’re interested in real estate. He only gave it 3 stars if you were just looking for another personal finance book to educate yourself on (I’d argue that you probably shouldn’t read a book so fantastically bullish on real estate for that).

JLP goes through how to calculate the expected return on a portfolio.

MBH shares his thoughts on dollar cost averaging.

ING Direct has your 1099-INTs available online, Flexo has instructions on how to get them.

Jose Anes draws an analogy between the work dynamics of today and those of medieval times. If you read nothing else from this list, read this post.

Lastly, a lot of bloggers have recently spent a lot more time on the finance part of personal finance and less on the personal side (myself included), so I think that this post by Donna on putting the personal back in personal finance is quite timely and accurate.

It’s the weekend and it’s time to catch up on the pfblogosphere!

• Cynicism should have a place in your portfolio, says MBH (I agree).
• JLP gives suggestions on how to help a friend with finances when they aren’t asking for it. Personally, I say you shouldn’t unless it’s family because no one likes to be told that they’re screwing up (from your perspective) and you’re not responsible for your friend’s life. If they’re asking for help, definitely help. If they’re not, let them live their lives the way they want to.
• Win the lotto? Declare that income! Flexo takes a humorous look at some income declaration rules.
• Read about how Nickel’s estate plan is structured.
• FMF gives some hard numbers on the classic investing disclaimer: “Past Performance Does Not Predict Future Performance.”
• Miller takes a deeper look at the concept of portfolio rebalancing.
• LAMoneyGuy wasn’t paid to attend a New Years Eve part, neither was I, but someone dropped a cool mil to get Paris Hilton to judge a Bikini Babe contest at the Bondi Icebergs Club. Man, save the mil, I’d do that for free.
• No spend day? Trish writes about a group that did a no spend year!
• Mapgirl writes about free coin counting at Chevy Chase banks, the outlets can’t do it, only the main branches; and you don’t even need an account. Avoid those Coinstar machines!

One of the great success stories about personal finance blogging was when NCN got himself out of around $11,000 in debt (two car notes and some credit card debt) within a year (April 05 to Feb 06) and he posted a list of all his own personal debt-related posts during the time period. If you’re in debt and you enjoy reading pfblogs for either ideas or inspiration, this set of posts is definitely a good place to start. Another blog I’d recommend is Tricia’s Blogging Away Debt who has cleared away $12k and only has $25k in debt left.

Nickel wants to know whether your frequent flyer airline miles are expiring… well, are they? You have no idea? Well they might so you better find out!

FMF has a list of ten things you shouldn’t skimp on and his personal thoughts on each.

JLP has a list of some outrageous fees taken from Money magazine.

The game of Monopoly has some very important lessons, MBH says you can learn them if you play by the rules. I think house rules are fun and that MBH is a wet blanket, if you have a moment, go over to his blog and tell him I think so.

Should you contribute to a Roth IRA in one lump sum? If you feel particularly passionate one way or the other, please share your thoughts with Flexo over at Consumerism Commentary.

Lastly, I think that show Identity is stupid but I’ve only watched one episode… if you ever find yourself down to three people and you still have some of your lifelines, read Lazy Man’s tip on how to walk away a millionaire (or at least a half-millionaire… which is like a quarter millionaire after taxes).

Enjoy the holidays!

I wanted to throw a special shout out to Jeremy at GenX Finance, who has been linking to me frequently in his Friday Five posts (every single one except the first one) even though some of the stuff I write may be utter crap. Jeremy writes a lot of commentary type stuff and one article I found most interesting was the one about what you should know about the Pension Protection Act.

Part of the joys of blogging about personal finance and reading personal finance blogs is that a lot of other people’s experiences mirror you own and so you can learn a lot of immediately applicable information. When I read Flexo’s post about saving for a wedding, it immediately resonated. How many personal finance bloggers have recently gotten married or engaged?

FMF loves that rebates are going the way of the dinosaurs. I think rebates are a scam too, they should just give you the discount, but I think their value is still there. It allows the diligent to get a better deal on something… I think I’ll write a bigger post about this sometime next week.

Nickel writes about establishing credit with a new taxpayer identification number, specifically his new business’s EIN.

The end of the year means the end of Flexible Spending Accounts for many folks, including myself, and MBH has a few tips to make sure you spend what you have.

Looks like JLP bought some crap!

LAMoneyGuy has an interesting post about philanthropy and how disproportionate the giving is. Please read it all the way to the end where someone making $35k donates $500 a year and says it’s “not that much when you think about it.” LAMoneyGuy, in typical personal finance blogger honesty, admits to making more and donating less… until recently, I was in his camp too (I’m still donating less, as a percentage of income, than the 35k guy though). If you’ve never donated anything to any cause, give it a try with something small like $20, and see how it feels. $20 isn’t much, it’s a mere five cents a day, but it’ll help someone.

Have a pleasant weekend!

Nickel writes about the reward credit cards in his wallet. Since I have no originality of my own, I blogged about the reward credit cards in my wallet.

FMF goes over the first key in investing success: making investing a habit.

Inflation sucks. (well, on an individual level, it’s good on a macro level)

According to Flexo, Sharebuilder is going to start offering options trading.

MBH sure has a lot on his plate…

NCN has a VIP Seat to an upcoming Total Money Makeover Live Event courtesy of a friend, how sweet is that? I don’t really know who Dave Ramsey is but I’ve never been to a television show taping (though if I had my choice, I don’t know if a personal finance show would be first on my list, it’d probably be Conan O’Brien). Cool anyway!

GenX Finance has a good post about the pitfalls of Lifestyle/Lifecycle/Target Retirement mutual funds, especially for the folks who like to put their funds on autopilot.

Need a Wii?