Financial Carnival for Young Adults ' 26th Edition

Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of the Financial Carnival for Young Adults. My purpose with this carnival is to create an easy-to-find place for information about finances for young adults. The carnival is hosted here at 20's Finances almost week and features the most recent articles from around the web. While last week we talked about productivity and financing, this week's topics include couple/family finances, poverty, and buying a home . If you want to learn more about these topics from some of the best personal finance bloggers, continue on.

Couple/Family Finances:

It should be no secret to my readers that I am happily married. My wife and I created a joint account before we were even married (technically only a month or two before the wedding, but still). We think it's the easiest to just assume all of the money that we each earn is OURS. But, I know others disagree' Regardless of your position, talk about what works for you. Managing finances as a couple or family is much more complicated than that. This week there were several posts that I wanted to feature.

TTMK @ Tie the Money Knot writes Being Genuine With Money When Dating ' Most people try to put their best foot forward when dating, even if that means spending more than they would like to. Who wants to be seen as cheap? However, is that really a wise approach long-term?

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes How Should Couples Merge Their Accounts? ' Money is a touchy subject. A lot of people prefer not to talk about it. Why? Because most people don't have as much of it as they lead on. If they are open about their finances then they will incidentally reveal their mistakes.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes How I Spend Money #1 ' Lunch At Panera With The Family - The first in the series How I spend money. This is about how I spent my time and money with my family at Panera.

Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes Family of 5 with a $200-300/month grocery budget. How can it be done? - Here is how we managed having a grocery budget of $300/month or less each month for a family of 5. I wanted to share 10 ways how we did this and sharing how you can to!

JP @ My Family Finances writes Why Stores May Be Charging You a Fee to Use Your Credit Card and What It Could Mean for Your Family - Why stores are charging credit card fees and what it means for you and your families finances.

Poverty:

Poverty is never a fun topic, but should be addressed. No one wants to be poor, but due to society's structure, it happens. Here's some articles to help give voice to that which is rarely discussed.

Ashley @ Money Talks Coaching writes Poor People Don't Retire - A few years ago I had a lightbulb moment when I realized something about aging.

MMD @ My Money Design writes Why Do Poor People Have Two or More Flat Screen TV's? - Poor people in the U.S. own just as many flat screen TV's as the middle and wealthy classes. This begs the question of whether social inequality is really as bad as it seems.

Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Three Basic Rules of Paying Off Debt ' Follow these three basic rules to help yourself get out of debt and live a better life.

Buying a Home:

It seems like everyone is buying a home these days except me. Those of you who know me well, know that I love the idea of home ownership. It's one of my goals. Yet, because of where we live and how much we make, there's no way we can buy one now. I hope to make the leap in a couple of years. In the meantime, for those wanting to learn more about buying a home, here are some great posts that you can learn a thing or two from.

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Buying Our First House-Price & Other Costs ' It's time to dish about the financial side of buying our first house: asking price, offered price earnest money, home inspection, appraisal, flood plain survey.

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes New Motivation for a House: I Want a Dog ' I haven't lost focus of what I want: a house. Now I seem to have even more motivation to reach that goal sooner than later; I want a dog!

PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes One Step Closer to Real Estate Investing ' I have always wanted to get started in the real estate business. Okay ' when I say always, I really mean for years. I have long understood it as a great long-term investment. Unfortunately for me, I live in an area where it is very difficult to make a profit anytime soon.

Echo @ Boomer & Echo writes How Much House Can I Afford? ' There's an important difference between how much house can I get approved for, and how much house can I afford? Here's why:

Steve @ Canadian Personal Finance writes 40 question checklist you need to ask before you buy a house ' Here is a checklist of questions to ask your realtor before making an offer to buy a house.