What’s the biggest steak you’ve ever eaten? I just ate a huge steak earlier tonight. Leaving the restaurant I began wondering what the biggest steak in the world was. I’ve heard of the Big Texan from Amarillo, TX, the 72 ounce steak that you get for free if you can eat it in a certain amount of time. But I wondered if there is something bigger out there. There is. You can actually get a 76 ounce steak from J and R’s Steak House in New York State. This thing is a beast. Then there is this unbelievably ridiculous 205 ounce monster from AJ’s steakhouse in Grinnell, IA. I can’t imagine trying to take that down. If this made you hungry for steak you should try out my steak in the oven recipe. Surprisingly good.

That's not a steak. This is a steak!

Here’s some interesting blog posts from last week for you to “chew” on:

Leveraging Your 401K and Roth IRA for Retirement Savings – I love this approach and advocate it strongly for anyone with access to a 401K. If you don’t have a 401K, then use a Traditional IRA and Roth IRA to achieve similar results. Just make sure you stay within the annual limits (currently $5,000).

Will You Pay for Your Kids to Go to College? – I have a small 529 Plan started for little Miss PT. But we don’t yet contribute to it automatically. Something I’m hoping to be able to do in the future, even if it’s just a small amount. But overall, I think kids should take on the responsibility of college expenses. Not the parent.

How the Expiring Bush Tax Cuts Could Affect You – If the Bush era tax cuts are allowed to expire, then most everyone, in every tax bracket will be affected. This post breaks down what the possible scenarios will be for you.

What it’s Like in the Third Stage of Personal Finance – This is a great post from J.D. at Get Rich Slowly who recently graduated to the 3rd stage of personal finance: no debt and earnings that exceed his retirement maximums. Click over to see what he’s doing with all his extra time and cash.

Why Should I Invest in Bonds? – Bonds aren’t as sexy a financial product as stocks and truthfully I don’t know much about them. But I do know that they should likely play a part in your retirement portfolio. So it’s key to understand them and know why you should use them.

Think You Could Live on a House Boat? – I think I’d enjoy the experience for a while. Maybe own one on the side. But I need a yard, don’t you?

Carnivals: Personal Finance.

Big Steak Roundup is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. How to Cook a Better Steak for Less
2. PerkStreet Perks Roundup
3. Prime Time Money – Homemade Beer Roundup

Frustrated at the lack of quality reading material? The Best of Money Carnival is here to help!

Welcome to the 63rd Best of Money Carnival: a weekly ranking of the best the personal finance blog-o-sphere has to offer.

As usual, with any carnival, it’s hard narrowing it down to the posts to be included. But with the Best of Money Carnival I’m required to only select 10 posts. So, a lot of good posts have to be left out. But that’s what makes this carnival great. You’re guaranteed to read some of the best, and there’s only 10 for you to sort through.

10 Best Money-Related Post of the Week

#10 – Peter presents Wealthy Heiress’s Empty Mansions Attest To How Material Things Can’t Buy Happiness. “Just because you’re wealthy doesn’t mean that you’ll be content with life. Here’s one story of a wealthy heiress who had a hard time finding happiness.”

#9 – 2 Cents presents Why the Market Could Be Lower … But Isn’t. “Here’s a look at both the bullish and the bearish case for investing in the stock market right now.”

#8 – MoneyNing presents Three Reasons Stay at Home Parents Should Consider Working Part Time. “Working part time is not as bad as it seems, even for stay at home parents!”

#7 – Joe Plemon presents Should You File That Insurance Claim?. “My daughter filed and got canceled. Lesson: there are times when filing your claim can earn you a penalty from your insurance company.”

#6 – freefrombroke presents In Defense of the Traditional IRA. “You hear experts talk about how great a Roth IRA is all the time. But you don’t hear these people explain that there are times when a traditional IRA can be better for you. Here is a defense of the traditional IRA.”

#5 – Antoinette Patterson presents Stop Your Money Problems From Being Self-Induced. “Having money problems? Most people don’t know that they can be self-induced. Read on to find out how to plan your money wisely and stop the problems now.”

#4 – Adam presents Why Being Bad can be Good. “A positive mental attitude to saving is only part of the route to financial success. Add salary increase and cost decrease to the mix and you can open up ways to increase your net worth to a brighter financial future. Get rid of ideas of loyalty, practice your scary phone voice, step out of your comfort zone, learn that you can do the wrong thing for the right reasons and ultimately… Be a bit bad for goodness sake.”

#3 – Silicon Valley Blogger presents Is A Liberal Arts Education Worth It?. “Here’s an interesting take on education — which courses and majors are worth taking? How do we gauge the value of a liberal arts education?”

#2 – Madison DuPaix presents 5 Ways the Recession has Changed Consumerism in America. “Interesting take on ways the recession has changed the mentality of Americans.”

Numero Uno (#1)

Jason presents How Do You Find Objective Financial Advisers? posted at One Money Design. “People tend to think all financial advisers are objective and have our best interests in mind, but unfortunately, it’s not always the case. Some advisers operate with the intent of selling you products versus focusing on helping you with your plan.”

To participate in this carnival next week, be sure to submit your best post and follow the guidelines. Next week’s carny host will be Consumer Boomer.

photo by Zach Klein

Best of Money Carnival #63 is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Carnival of Money Stories: May Two-Four Edition
2. Carnival of Money Stories: Halloween Candy Edition
3. The 89th Carnival of Debt Reduction

PerkStreet Financial Cash Back Rewards

Look what just came in the mail. $50 in cash back perks from PerkStreet Financial. I’ve earned over $80 in perks so far, and recently decided to cash out $50 worth using the Visa gift card option. If you’re not familiar with PerkStreet Financial’s Debit Card Rewards Checking Account, then I recommend you check out my review, and learn how you can start earning rewards for debit card spending. That means no credit cards and remembering to make payments. These rewards are earned on your regular spending. As high as 5% cash back in some categories.

Here’s some interesting links for your weekend reading:

Retire at 70? Avoid That With These Early Retirement Tips – If you want to avoid retiring late, here are some tips from @Studenomics that might interest you.

So You Think You Can Landlord? A Tenant From Hell Story – Remember last week when I wrote about investment properties? Well, a story like this from @Money Smarts Blog might have you thinking otherwise.

Guaranteed Annuity Income: Is it Really Safe? – With the stock market ups and downs, more people are turning to a guaranteed source in retirement. Luckily for you, @Oblivious Investor is here to share the full story. Not just the hype you’ll hear from annuity salesmen.

New 1099 Reporting Requirements In Obama Health Care Plan – A Small Business Paperwork Nightmare? Yeah, Pete from @Bible Money Matters and I hope they do away with this rule. Wouldn’t mean much work for me. But I know it will put an extra burden on most small businesses.

How to Create Barriers to Your Savings – In this guest post over @WiseBread, I discuss my secret to keeping more of your money by keeping it away from you. It’s worked for me. Hopefully it’s a technique that you find useful.

Renting or Buying? When Does It Make Sense to RentIf you’re thinking about buying a house, here are some tips to know when renting makes more sense.

A Roth IRA Isn’t Always Better Than A Traditional IRA A Roth isn’t always the go-to IRA in every case. And @Free From Broke is here to explain why. I personally like the Traditional IRA for how it help you avoid taxes now, guaranteed.

5 Reasons You Won’t Retire Early – In my latest post over @US News’ On Retirement Blog I talk about common barriers to retiring early.

Does Settling Credit Card Debt Hurt Your Credit Score? – @Bargaineering shares some good advice for those looking to micro-manage your score, when faced with the decision to settle or not.

You Need An Emergency Fund: Expect the Unexpected – In this back to basics post, @Moolanomy shares some solid advice about the typical starting point for any financial plan.

How To Choose A 529 College Savings Plan – My rule of thumb is usually to just get started. Who cares where you put the savings. But there are a few things that @Cash Money Life points out that will help you be confident about your plan.

2010 Sales Tax Holiday Schedule – Going shopping soon for back to school, or just for fun? @Dough Roller helps you find out when the best time to shop is based on your State’s tax holiday schedule.

The Pros and Cons of Online Savings Accounts -When it comes to online savings, there are positives and negatives. @Rainy Day Saver, I asked “should you overlook the negatives to use one of these accounts?” And how will they improve over time?

Stock Trading For Dummies: How To Profit From Trading – Some key tips to remember for the budding stock trader, brought to you by @The Digerati Life. Does this come in a book format, I wonder?

Carnivals: Money Stories, Financial Planning, Festival of Frugality, Festival of Frugality, Personal Finance, Personal Finance

PerkStreet Perks Roundup is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Get 5% Cash Back from the PerkStreet Financial(SM) Visa® Debit Card
2. PerkStreet Account Opening Process – Part 1
3. PerkStreet Account Opening Process – Part 2

…web hosts, that is. I’d been with BlueHost on shared server space for over 2 years. Great service overall, but it was long time I stepped up to some dedicated space for ptmoney.com. I went with Media Temple’s (dv) Dedicated-Virtual plan. Media Temple uses Plesk instead of cPanel. So there were a few things to figure out.

Even the contractor from oDesk I hired to help me make the move had a bit of trouble navigating Plesk. But, with the help of MT support we were able to get it done. I still need your help though. If you see any weird things happening with the site please let me know (other than the post I ran through the feed twice this weekend).

After you’re done browsing the site, check out these other posts from last week:

Real Estate Related

• Oblivious Investor discusses calculating real estate investment return. Is your home an investment?
• Bargaineering breaks down the differences between the mae’s and macs.
• Money Smart Life asks how much house you can afford.
• Software Advice puts together some interesting research on the most tenant friendly US cities.

Just Fun

• Coupon Sherpa lists 13 semi-secret ballpark deals, and was wise enough to include my division leading Rangers.
• Moneyed Up profiles a millionaire: Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins.
• Dough Roller shares a guide to Google’s search engine.

More Links

• Credit Karma shares some highlights from the financial reform bill that recently passed.
• Financially Poor begins a series on financial freedom: get your mind in the game.
• Bible Money Matters wonder what’s going to happen with the Bush tax cuts that are expiring.

Carnivals: Frugality, Debt Reduction, Personal Finance, Best of Money, and Financial Planning.

I Just Moved… is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. The Millionaire in the Making Series – Stats!
2. Where Are They Now? Podcast Interview with a Millionaire in the Making: Todd French
3. 100th Edition – Carnival of Personal Finance

A recent CNN Money article claims that complaints to the FTC regarding FDCPA violations were up 50% in 2009, and are looking to jump another 13% this year. It seems a lot of people aren’t paying their bills, and collections agencies are struggling to collect the debts in a legal way. They are resorting to these thug-like tactics. And you may not even have to owe any money to feel the brunt of their abusive methods.

I recently shared that I’d been confronted by a couple of repo thugs regarding my neighbors car repossession. They claimed to think that I was hiding my neighbor’s car in my garage. They were knocking on my door after 9pm, told me about my neighbors debt, accused me of a criminal act, and didn’t identify themselves. If car repossession companies fall within the restraints of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), then these chumps were major violators, as the 4 actions above are all illegal according to the Act.

Do you know your rights under the FDCPA? A quick visit to the FTC’s Debt Collection FAQ page and I learned the following:

Pretty much all types of debts except business debt are covered by the Act. This means that your credit card debt, car loan, and mortgage are all covered.

• A debt collector may not contact you before 8am or after 9pm. And they may not contact you at your work.
• A debt collector is generally not allowed to contact anyone else regarding your debt.
• A debt collector cannot harass you. This means no threats, bad language, or repeatedly using the phone to annoy you.
• A debt collector cannot make false statements like pretending to be a cop or claiming you’ve committed a crime.

If you think you’ve be victim to a FDCPA violation, you can fight back. File a complaint with your State’s Attorney General and with the FTC. You can also contact a FDCPA lawyer, sue the collection company, and if found to be in violation, they could be forced to pay you $1,000. Then you’d have to sick your own debt collection company on them.

Personal Finance Roundup

jim from Bargaineering has a nice, articulate piece on why market timing works, but can’t work for you. Well, unless you have millions to trade that is.

Mike from Oblivious Investor shares his advice for sole proprietor’s preparing for tax time. If you bring in side income I suggest you check it out.

SVB from The Digerati Life shares some new budgeting software options for wesabe.com users since they’re closing shop.

MD from Studenomics seems embarrassed to have to say it, but he lets you know how to live within your means.

Len Penzo shares the 6 most valuable grocery items known to man.

I shared a guest post over at PerkStreet about fixing up your rental. As someone who rented for 10 years before I bought a home, I’d say I’m an expert on this.

Finally, I shared a guest post at One Money Design about why your 401K may not be that great and I gave some tips to fix things.

From the carnivals… Festival of Frugality, Carnival of Personal Finance, Tax Carnival, Festival of Stocks, Carnival of Financial Planning
photo by Tweek

Do You Know Your Rights Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Carnival of Debt Reduction – Mother’s Day Edition
2. The 89th Carnival of Debt Reduction
3. Prime Time Money is Hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction

It seems the theme last week was everything new. I guess it’s just that time of year. Many people are looking for a new job, considering a new home, and a lot of my friends and family are having new babies. Ironically, those are all things I plan to hopefully be doing within the year. So let’s catch up on some reading and prepare for all this newness.

Can You Roll Your Old 401k Into Your New One? When you change jobs, you’ll have a decision to make with your old 401k. Recently, I helped some clients with the decision which eventually led them to rolling it into their new 401k.

How to Find Seasonal Jobs and Work: A Beginner’s Guide. If you’re looking to earn some extra cash or simply having trouble finding work, consider seasonal jobs. Here’s how to find the seasonal jobs that are always in need.

What Expenses Should I Expect When Having A Child?. Having a child can be expensive, and as such, you need to plan ahead. Here’s a look at some of the expenses you should expect when having a baby.

Should The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Be Extended?. The deadline for the first time home buyer tax credit looms. Should it be extended for those who signed contracts but are having trouble closing?

5 Tips for Soon to Be Retirees for a Successful Retirement. If retirement is looming, investors are faced with many obstacles that can throw a wrench in your plans. Here’s 5 tips to help you along the way.

IRA Beneficiary Rules: The “Stretch IRA”. The article takes a look at the rules for choosing a beneficiary for your IRA and provides some tips for maximizing your IRA’s value to your heirs.

How To Watch TV For Free On Your Xbox 360, Playstation 3 Or Wii Using PlayOn Media Server. Canceling your cable bill is so much easier when you have a free TV watching option like PlayOn.

Paying For College? How To Reduce Student Debt. Ways to pay for college when you’ve got gaps in your savings plan.

Credit Union vs Bank: Why Credit Unions Are A Top Banking Choice. A look at why people prefer credit unions to banks.

Fast Online Payday Loans No Credit Check: A Better Mousetrap!. As the payday loan industry makes it easier for you to get a loan, you should learn why it’s best to stay away from them no matter how convenient.

What Do You Truly Value Most? We all say that we value certain things. When you do an analysis on your spending, do you find that where you spend lines up with what you value?

How Financial Mistakes Can Hurt Your Credit Score. See how 5 financial mistakes will affect your FICO credit score.

What Financial Paperwork Should You Keep and for How Long?

How to Find and Hire Local Reliable Contractors

Carnivals I was in last week: personal finance, festival of stocks, money stories, debt reduction, road to financial freedom, and financial planning.

New Job, New Home, New Baby is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. One Week Till We Meet Our Baby Girl. Plus, the QuickHits!
2. Find The Cheapest Gas In Your Zip Code
3. Can You Afford a Baby?

I spend most of my investing energy focused on long-term, tax-advantaged investment options. But I can’t help but be curious about potential quick money makers like this one…

BP stock has lost about 50% of it’s value over the last 3 months. The Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill have sent the stock on a downward spiral. However, with the recent discussions and agreements with the US Government, the stock seems to have stabilized around $30, with some people saying that BP is now a buy.

What’s your take? Are their any active traders out there that are taking a calculated risk with BP stock? If so, I’d love to hear your analysis in the comments below.

Links from Last Week…

5 Ways to Calm Your Fears when Investing
Celebrity Net Worth Roundup
5 Retirement Moves for New Graduates
Different Ways of Investing Your Money
Are EFTs Bad for Investors?
Is it Better to Buy or Rent? [Infographic]

Carnivals from last week: Financial Planning, Frugality, Best of Money, Taxes, Money Stories, and Personal Finance

Is BP Stock a Good Investment? is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Creating an Investment Policy Statement
2. Should You Buy a Real Estate Investment Property?
3. All About Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP)

CollegeAdvantage will give you $25 to start saving for your child’s college education. Free money for college! CollegeAdvantage is the 529 Savings Plan offered by the State of Ohio. Don’t worry, you don’t need to use your funds on an Ohio school. You can use them at anywhere for college expenses and for anyone (i.e. you, your child, a grandchild). To get the $25, sign up for a new account with CollegeAdvantage and use the referral code: 2506962

Here’s more from CollegeAdvantage:

Referred friends and family will earn $25 for their new account! New account must be opened by June 30, 2010 in order to receive the referral bonus.

This is one of the sweetest deals in college savings today. Not convinced? Read my post on how I got over $100 in bonus money for signing up with CollegeAdvantage.

Personal Finance Links

• PerkStreet Blog shares Smart Home Improvements that Yield Big Returns.
• The Dough Roller presents the 10 Most Expensive Homes in the World.
• Cash Money Life discusses How Much House Do You Need?
• Good Financial Cents presents how to Save Money by Not Eating Out for a Month.
• Bible Money Matters shares How to Choose a Mutual Fund.
• Money Smart Life presents How to Save Your Marriage from Money Problems.
• The Digerati Life tells us How to Escape an Upside Down Car Loan.
• ChristianPF is doing a Free Apple iPad Giveaway.

Best in Money and Finance, Best of Money Carnival, Festival of Frugality, Tax Carnival, Money Stories

$25 to Help You Start a 529 College Savings Plan is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Win a $5,000 College Scholarsip and Get a $25 Bonus to Start Saving
2. Is the 529 Plan the Most Effective College Savings Plan?
3. Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan: $100 Plus in Bonuses

I booked a couple of hotels over the last week or so, using a couple of different methods. Both yielded pretty good results. I’ll share them below as a suggestion for ways you might want to try to book your own hotel in the future.

My number one suggestion for finding the right hotel is to use TripAdvisor.com. I love this site. It’s filled with honest reviews from other travelers. The reviews help to rank the hotels. You can view this ranked list and make sure you’re staying at a nice place. It’s not about ranking the fancy hotels at the top either. It’s based on overall value. So a modest 3 star hotel could be at the top of the list.

For my first reservation, I used TripAdvisor.com’s rate search. It searched the major online booking sites (hotels.com, expedia.com, orbitz.com, and a site new to me called bookit.com. Bookit.com had the best deal on the top ranked hotel where I was staying. They were running a special and gave me 25% off the room price, plus half off parking.

For my second reservation, I called up the hotel company directly. I asked for any current specials they had running. I was able to secure a last minute “72 hour special” for around 70% of the normal price.

My best tip for getting a nice hotel for less is to shop around using different methods: online direct, online travel site, phone direct, etc. And always ask if a better deal is available or if any discounts are up for grabs. Be prepared to pay up front for the better deals.

What are your tricks for booking a hotel for less?

Here are some of the better reads from last week…

Term Life Insurance vs Whole Life Insurance
Another Way Dave Ramsey Gets it Wrong
Don’t Go Anywhere and Still Have a Fun Vacation
How to Get Social Security Benefits
What is Your Relationship with Money?
How to Become a Millionaire
How to Sell Your Car on Craigslist
Investing 101 Common Myths
Risks Involved with Single Stock Investing
Conscious Spending: the 2 Bucket Approach
How to Stop the Leaks in Your Own Finances

Carnivals…Rich Money Habits, Best of Money, Money Stories, Personal Finance, Debt Reduction, Festival of Frugality, Financial Planning.

How to Book a Hotel for Less is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

Related posts:

1. Find The Cheapest Gas In Your Zip Code
2. Frugal Vacations: Weekend Getaways That Don’t Break the Budget
3. Fantasy Football Draft Weekend & The PrimeTime QuickHits

Well, the epic series Lost is finally over. I committed 5 hours of my life yesterday evening to watch all the lead-up commentary and the finale. It was satisfying to watch it all come to an end and to see my favorite characters say their goodbyes. My mind is still stirring about all that went down in the final show, and I’m experiencing all sorts of feelings about how it ended.

I admit I was a bit confused by the ending, but I did a bit of research this A.M., and this is the best lost explanation I’ve found. Basically, it says that the Island and the events there were all real. Only the season 6 flash sideways were some sort of purgatory. Once the characters became aware of their deaths, they were able to move on to the next plane, so to speak.

This theory resonates the clearest with my mind. Although, I admit I still have more questions. And I know I’ll be saying, “we have to go back” for a few days. I would highly recommend the series. Start from the beginning at watch all the episodes of Lost for free.

Now here’s some more good reading for you in the personal finance world. Here’s a great explanation of the efficient market hypothesis, a concept critical to understand for any investor.

Have you ever considered a scooter to save money on gas? I have, but I’d get run over here in Texas. If I lived in a more dense urban environment, where having a car is difficult, I would definitely consider it.

Do you have a teen heading off to college? Here’s 4 types of insurance for college students. The case is even made for a small life policy.

Looking for a good budget tool for your iPhone? The YNAB iPhone App was just released and costs around $10.

I participated in the following last week: economy and finances, rich money habits, money saving ideas, money hackers, festival of frugality, personal finance, money stories, best of money, debt reduction.

Final Episode of Lost Explained and the Quick Hits is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

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1. 5 Ways to Catch Up on ABC’s Lost for Free
2. Prime Time Quick Hits
3. $1 Movie Edition: PrimeTime Quick Hits