Welcome to the Carnival of Financial Goals #9 hosted here at Credit Withdrawal

Most people only make progress by setting themselves goals to achieve. That’s what this carnival celebrates, the setting and achieving of financial goals.

As people reach their goals, they become more financially secure, knowledgeable, and are able to improve their lives and the lives of others.

Goals are a way of measuring your progress and maintaining a continuing rate of improvement.

So, set those goals! Yell out when you reach one, and let everyone know!.

On with the carnival!

Editor’s Choice

These articles are the pick of the litter this carnival. Each has interesting stories related to financial goals, and the different ways that people reach those goals.

Ralph Jean-Paul at Potential 2 Succeed presents Doing the Impossible  – Setting a goal, and achieving that goal is good, but most stop there. Ralph suggests setting an unattainable goal, but continue to work as if it were attainable. Unique view on goal-setting. 

Connie Brooks at Money Smart Life presents What the Kung Fu Panda Can Teach You about Becoming a Millionaire – Inspiration can come from the most unusual places, but it’s still valid inspiration. Definitely a READ!

Todd at HarvestingDollars presents Stewardship Versus Hoarding, Part 2 – Todd tries to reconcile between saving for a future, and saving too much for a future. A very interesting philosophical view on goals.

Personal Goals

These articles recount their authors’ personal goals and the progress towards completion.

Laura at Green Panda Treehouse presents July 2008: Progress Update – Laura updates us on her progress towards her 2008 financial goals. Keep up the progress Laura.

Brip Blap at Brip Blap presents Updating My Financial Goals, July 2008 – Brip updates us on his financial goals, and the progress he’s made.  He’s definitely attracting success.

Passive Income Investor at Living Off Dividends presents Monthly Passive Income Finally Breaks The $3,000 Barrier! – Seems his passive income investments are working! 

MITBeta at Don’t Feed the Alligators presents Financial Independence Day – MITBeta begins his thousand-mile journey by telling us about his first step towards his financial independence. Step it out man!

Nadege at Fabulous Finance presents The Actions I Took That Created my Financial Peak – Nadege re-dedicates himself to achieving his goals, after getting in a slump. Keep swinging Nadege.

BlogDebt at Blogging Down Debt presents First Short Term Goal: $10,000 in Cash Savings – His goal is hitting a $10,000 savings fund by Oct. Why? Read the post and learn. 

LAL at Living Almost Large presents Single Step Personal Finance Challenge – A personal view on the first step to financial independence. 

All the Rest

A variety of interesting articles on subjects from insurance needs to step-by-step get-rich non-schemes.

Peter at BibleMoneyMatters presents Save Like You’re Paying Off a High Interest Debt – Peter has an important, if somewhat disturbing self-discussion with his future self about sending money. At least they aren’t arguing.

Jay Lotz at Personal Finance Hacks presents Comparing the Roth 401(k) and Traditional 401(k) – Good article on planning whether to go the Roth or Traditional route, especially important now that Roth 401(k)s are becoming more available at work. 

MoneyNing at MoneyNing presents Did You Adjust Your Automatic Contribution to Investments This Year – Automatic investing is best for those that don’t want to take an active hand, but even automatic investing needs periodic course re-adjustments. 

Larry Russell at Pasadena Financial Planner presents Living Expense Tracking Methods  – Do you know where all your money is going? You can’t reach any of your goals without knowing the whole picture. Larry gives us multiple ways to ‘get ahold’ of our finances. 

MoneyNing at MoneyNing presents 7 Reasons Why We Need to Start Budget Tracking Now – Know where you’re at before trying to get where you’re going!

Tammy Powell at Enlightened Wealth Institute presents Things You Have To Know in Real Estate Investment – If you’re goal is to invest in real estate, here’s some things to keep in mind. 

Heather Johnson at The Nursing Site Blog presents How to Prepare Your Nursing Resume – Heather gives some good advice while you prepare for your career/goal in nursing. 

Peter at BibleMoneyMatters presents Buying insurance for your family – step by step – An on-going series discussing Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University teachings, this post focuses on the necessity (or not) of insurance

Heather Johnson at McArthur’s Rant presents The Perfect Exit – How to leave your job with no repercussions – When moving towards a new goal, it doesn’t hurt to make a gracious exit from a previous position.

Patrick at Cash Money Life presents How to Become A Millionaire – An on-going series of posts about achieving the high-end lifestyle.

Hanna Kassis at College Finance 101 presents Budget Series, pt. 3: Savings – Hanna illustrates how budgeting and saving can quick-start us towards your goals.

David B. Bohl at Slow Down Fast presents Get Out of Debt to Find Greater Happiness – One goal EVERYONE should have is to get completely out of debt (at least once in their adult life).

Phil at Phil for Humanity presents Stop Using Credit Cards – Credit cards detract from financial independence if used incorrectly, Phil argues that they shouldn’t be used at all

Coupon Artist at ArtOfTheCoupon presents Why I Want to Be Debt Free – A personal recount of the benefits of having no debt. 

Eric Holmlund at Eric’s Tips presents Setting Goals for Your Business – Businesses need goals set for them too.

Plonkee at Plonkee Money presents Financial Goals, and Living Your Life Anyway – Plonkee writes about not letting your goals prevent you from living your life. Important thing to remember!

Larry Russell at Pasadena Financial Planner presents Financial Planning Reading List – Larry lines up a list of good financial planning resources for you. Go take a look!

FMF at Free Money Finance presents When to Hire a Tax Professional – On your path to your goals, don’t forget to get expert advice when you need it.

Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life presents Want Some Extra Income? Try Odd Jobs!  – Odd jobs are stepping-stones to a bigger goal. 

Amy Fontinelle Two Pennies Earned presents Book Review: A Million Bucks By Thirty – Amy reviews the life story of a super-frugal spendthrift, comparing her willingness to do what he has put himself through. Quite an eye-opener. 

Dorian Wales at The Personal Fiancier presents More than a Third of British Citizens are Only 11 Days Away from Financial Ruin: On The Importance of Good Financial Planning – Scary (good) article on the importance of having a good financial plan (with contingencies for bad times). 

That’s it folks, Hope you enjoyed the articles this month!