The Ultimate Personal Finance Blog Rankings from MoneyCrashers!

Do you have a blog about personal finance blog and want to know how your competing?

Moneycrashers.com, a very popular personal finance blog, has launched the ultimate tool for ranking your blog and comparing it to others in your particular niche. The top personal finance blogs can be found here. As a blogger, you probably have a ton of ways to notch the competitiveness of your site, so what makes this tool the best?  Read more...

5 Great Money Making Investments for Everyone

In this volatile economy, is there such a thing as a good investment?

Every morning, I read the Wall Street Journal for a glimmer of hope for the US economy. On some days, today being one of them, the paper is filled with good news followed by a positive forecast and a upbeat market. Just when I think we have what it takes to get out of this economic stagnation, my hopes are dashed with one bad news after another. For myself and others following finance, this has been the common theme for the entire past year. We all face the same question: When will there be any certainty in forecasts?  Read more...

7 Great Qualities Shared by the Rich and Successful

This is a guest post from Galina Vardanyan. Galina has lots of experience investing in stocks and financial blogging and volunteered to write this motivational piece for SmarterSpend readers.

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Most Rich People Share a Few Common Traits

There are several qualities that are shared by almost everyone who has “succeeded” in their career or hobby. Most of these skills can be acquired by everyone and must be closely followed. If you have ever wondered about the answer to the following questions, this article is for you:

What makes rich people “rich”?  Read more...

Free Excel Spreadsheets for Budgeting your Finances

Excel Spreadsheets Organize Your Finances

Personal finances can be very hard to manage without the use of spreadsheets for simplification, organization, and error reduction. However, designing a spreadsheet takes a lot of time and often requires the expert hand of an accountant. This is true especially for business spreadsheets, which take into account lots of expenses and income.

I have selected the finest spreadsheets from around the Internet for your use. Enjoy!

1) 401K Planner

Take into account all the variables of your 401k saving to see your retirement amount. Change the amount saved per check or the age of retirement and even the expected annual return. Comes with a cool graph to visualize your earnings.  Read more...

The Best and Worst Housing Markets of 2010

What’s really going on with the real estate market? Does anyone really know?

Last year, I gave you the best and worst housing markets for the 2009 year, with the average percent fall (and very rarely, gain) in selling prices.

This year, real estate prices seem to follow no pattern. In some areas, they are recovering from their 2008 price lows and in other areas, foreclosures keep piling up. Investors have it tough… speculators are everywhere, pointing to positive signs in the economy one day and then predicting doomsday the next.  Read more...

What is the criteria for a personal loan?

I have received numerous e-mails from readers asking about the eligibility criteria for a personal loan. There is no straight answer to this question as all financial institutions have different screening processes.  There are no two people alike, and the same thing happens to financial situations. The market offers an incredible variety of financial products and thousands of applicants apply for them every day, thousands of incredibly varied applicants. Is there any particular factor which might trigger a lender’s desire to fund a person’s project? You might be thinking that this question can easily be answered in two words: “good credit”. But that is not all, the percentage of loan applicants with good credit is lower than you might think. Before the credit bust, having a high credit score virtually guaranteed the applicant a loan. Nowadays, numerous other aspects, such as assets, employment, salary, and age are taken into account.  Read more...

2009 Best & Worst Housing Real Estate Markets

Let’s start with the good news: Historically, housing prices don’t drop consecutively for more than a few years. In cases where they do drop more than a few years, the reduction rate is very little. With the current credit crisis and a record 19 million vacant homes in the country, there is no shortage of houses to buy if you have the money, although I recommend waiting out until mid- July. Experts predict another 25% drop in prices by the end of 2009. If you’re looking for a house, these upcoming months could be the best time. Here is a graph of the change in average US home prices:

As with all good news, there is always some bad news. In this scenario, the bad news heavily outweighs the good news. Several of the once booming housing markets, such as the Inland Empire in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, have seen the worst drops in prices.  Detroit, home of the automobile Big Three, is probably going to never recover from the losses this decade as thousands of jobs have been lost and houses are selling for next to nothing (a 0-16 football team probably didn’t help either). Prices are plummeting nationwide, there is no money to fill in the vacancies, and more homes are being foreclosed every day. We could be in for a hellish two years. This list attempts to quantify the specifics of the housing market in larger metropolitan areas in the US by ranking the biggest drops in house prices (worst areas) and the best areas (least drops/ increases)  Read more...