Carnival Of Twenty Something’s Finances: Backpacker’s Edition

I’m honored to be hosting the Carnival of Twenty Something’s Finances today.  For those of you who might be unfamiliar with a blog carnival, this is a great opportunity for you find some great new financial blogs written by people in their twenties.  On the other hand, if you are new to Man Vs. Debt I hope you will take the time to subscribe to daily updates through RSS or by e-mail.  I’m glad to have you here and you can get to know my family and our upcoming adventure a little better on the About Us page.

In less than 4 weeks, my wife and I will be fitting our possessions into two backpacks and setting off to Australia.  Researching and planning this has been on my mind so much that I’ve decided it would make a great theme for today’s carnival.  Be sure to check out all the great articles from your favorite categories.  When you are done feel free to let me know your favorite posts and any backpacking experiences (positive and negative) you’ve had in your life!

Here we go…

Editor’s Picks!

• The Dough Roller posted a very thorough article entitled Is Budgeting Keeping You Poor? He does a fantastic job of outlining the 7 areas which most often derail budgeting efforts.  I really appreciated that he took the time to add a “the fix” section after each common pitfall.  This is an essential resource for anyone struggling with budgeting!

• Little People Wealth discusses Stealing and Lying in the Name of Frugality – Thirteen Horrible Tips.  Where do you draw the moral line between frugality and stealing?  This is a light-hearted, but nonetheless thought-provoking read.  I have to admit that I’ve done several of the things listed before.  Have you?  Where do you draw the line?

• Wren Caulfield presents How to Commute By Bike posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.  This article is absolutely chocked full of information.  It contains 30+ links to specific items, bikes, theories, and other resources.  This is a topic that is near and dear, as Courtney and I will be testing this out in less than a month.  If you’ve ever considered biking even for a second, I strongly suggest you read this!

Basic Rules Of The Road!

Before you pack up your things and hit the road, it’s best to get some basic information.  Backpacker’s need to plan where they are going to start their adventure, what tools they are going to take with them, and have a least some idea how to survive while on the road.

In personal finance, it’s also important we get our bearings straight before setting off.  We need to learn to manage credit, gain awareness on topics like real estate, and become informed on different product options we have available.

Furthermore, backpackers must equip themselves with the proper financial knowledge to prepare for the worst and the best. For instance, you can be eligible for a tax refund if you visited Australia between 2017 to 2020 as a holidaymaker, according to a working holiday tax return advice. Just imagine the amount of money you can save from this information, enough to cover your expenses for your next backpacking trip.

As backpackers, personal finance matters. While we enjoy the backpacking experience, we must also ensure that our finances are doing okay to avoid dealing with dire consequences after the exciting and fun part. We must strike a perfect balance between work and play.

Here are some helpful, information-packed posts:

Managing Credit

• Ask Mr Credit Card presents Credit Card Car Rental Rewards.

• Pinyo presents College Students Should Take Responsibility For Their Financial Situation posted at Moolanomy Personal Finance.

• ChristianPF presents Should college students be issued credit cards? posted at Christian Personal Finance Blog.

• Jim presents What Is A Good Credit Score? posted at Bargaineering.

Real Estate

• Kyle presents PAR Rates, Mortgage Points, and PMI posted at Suburban Dollar.

• Kevin presents Refinancing With Your Current Mortgage Company posted at No Debt Plan.

• Mark presents How often should you remortgage? posted at Money Saving Expert.

• Madison presents Making Home Affordable Second Lien Program posted at My Dollar Plan.

Misc. Information

• Kathryn presents Stimulus Plan Leads to Stimulus Scams posted at Out of Debt – Christian Finances and Debt Help.

• Raag Vamdatt presents Highlights of the New Pension System / Scheme (NPS) for non-government employees posted at RaagVamdatt.com.

Reviews

• Silicon Valley Blogger presents WTDirect Sign Up Bonus: $250 For New High Yield Savings Accounts posted at The Digerati Life.

• Matthew presents Money Merge Accounts: Are they Real and do they Work? posted at Fine Tuned Finances.

• Bank Savings Review presents HSBC Direct Online Savings Account Review.

• MB presents TradeKing Review posted at Money Blue Book.

• Money Ning presents TradeKing Review.

Managing Money With A Pack On Your Back!

Some people believe that the backpacking lifestyle would be perfect to avoid to headaches of having to manage money.  This simply isn’t true.  In fact, backpackers in general need to be much more aware of how the manage their money in order to maintain the lifestyle.  Setting a budget, practicing frugality, and finding flexible income solutions all enable you to see and do that much more.  Here are some articles that’ll help you do just that:

Budgeting!

• Leave Debt Behind presents How to Make a Budget You’ll Use Consistently.

• Alex presents Wedding Budget Planner and Calculator Spread Sheet posted at Home Life Weekly.

Making Your Money Stretch!

• Patrick presents How to get free food posted at Military Finance Network.

• Billeater presents Dining Out Cheap posted at Billeater.com.

• Nickel presents How to Negotiate and Lower Your Bills posted at fivecentnickel.com.

• Jeff presents Buying When You Don’t Need – A Money Saving Tip posted at StretchyDollar.

• Patrick presents How to Save Money on Flowers posted at Cash Money Life.

All About The Income!

• Megan presents A Little More Content posted at Counting My Pennies.

• Roshawn presents Hobby Lobby Raising Minimum Wage to $10 Hourly posted at Watson Inc.

Investing!

In investing, the majority have the ultimate goal to build wealth.  They trade stocks, bonds, and other investments in order to maximize their return.  They sacrifice as much as they can in the short-term in order to be able to retire comfortably in the future.

Although investing is important to backpackers, they often times use a different currency.  Most backpackers trade stories back and forth in order to build a wealth of life experiences.  They too make many sacrifices in order to achieve their goals, but most would agree that it was well worth it in the end.  Here are some articles for the investor in all of us:

• The Smarter Wallet presents Fibonacci Retracement: A Technical Stock Tool To Predict Market Direction.

• Aussie presents Buying International Shares posted at Australian Stock Market Blog.

• Fitz presents Reader Mail #7: I Don?t Know What To Do With My Money posted at Ready To Be Rich.

• Michael presents Man, Is This A Real Bull Market? posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator.

• The Investor presents Crisis investing as swine flu panic spreads posted at Monevator.

• Darwin presents Start Investing Today: An Amazing Comparison of 25 vs 35 Year Old Starters posted at Darwin’s Finance.

Relaxing From The Hustle & Bustle Of Travel

Lastly, it’s important to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of a mobile lifestyle.  Backpackers often have the best experiences when they take a break and simply enjoy where they are.  What’s the point of traveling the world if you can’t enjoy the process?

Many backpackers with modern work setups, like remote and hybrid work, tend to forget the true meaning of relaxing. From time to time, they would check their emails and phones for work-related matters. If you’re one of them, separating work and relaxation is crucial. Otherwise, you’ll feel burnout and can’t appreciate the beautiful things around you.

Enjoy your backpacking experience. Travel far and experience the different places’ food, culture, and traditions. Take photos of the magnificent landmarks you pass by on your backpacking journey. Breathe and live life to the fullest, leaving your worries behind.

This is a hard thing for us to do in everyday life, as well.  We get so caught up in the minor details of our financial lives, sometimes we forget to simply enjoy the process today!  Here are some articles that will help inspire you to pause and consider the big picture:

• Jeff Rose presents Encouragement For Getting Out of Debt posted at Good Financial Cents.

• J. Money presents I Grant You One Free Luxury – Which Shall You Pick? posted at Budgets are Sexy.

• Ralph presents Perform Under Pressure posted at Potential 2 Success.

• Asgreen presents Step Back, Take a Breather posted at Always the Planner.

Which were your favorite articles?  Have you ever considered the backpacking lifestyle?  Be sure to leave your opinions below!