The Carnival of Personal Finance (336th Edition)

Welcome to compounding returns' first hosting of The Carnival of Personal Finance, a weekly summary of some of the best research and commentary on personal finance and investing from around the web. Please visit some of the great blogs and sites featured in this post, and be sure to leave a comment for the authors!

Editor's Picks:

Without further adieu, here are our editor's picks from this week's submissions:

Accumulating Money presents a great history lesson, as well as a poignant perspective piece on the ongoing occupy protests with Occupy the Past: How Past Financial Uprisings have Affected the United States.

Dividend Growth Stocks gives some great potential long term stocks by analyzing 11 Dividend Stocks with 50+ Years of Dividend Increases.

Free Money Finance offers a great article on how savings is serious business in The Need to Save Money is Life or Death.

Money Q&A asks a tongue and cheek question with the article How to Tell Your Children Santa is Broke.

Your Life, Their Life analyzes the plight of those who are not so happy with their current employer in The Golden Handcuffs- Why Can't I Leave My Job?

More of Our Favorite Articles from Around the Web:

There were so many great submissions this week, it's a shame we couldn't feature them all, but here are just a few of our favorites. 

20's Finance wonders about the folks who make up that 9% unemployment statistic we hear bandied about so often in the article Who are the Unemployed?

Afford Anything gives us a strategy to See the World for the Price of a Honda. 

Boomer and Echo presents an answer to the age old question of what to do with unexpected income in the post You Received a Windfall, Now What?

Bible Money Matters analyzes the type of aid that students will receive based on the provisions of Obama's Student Loan Relief Program in What Does the Obama Student Loan Relief Program Offer?

Budgeting the Fun Stuff offers some tips and strategies that teach credit card users How to Get the Most Frequent Traveler Points Out of a Credit Card.

Control Your Cash gives us a great education in Peeling Back the Onion of the Durbin Announcement.

Christian PF attempts to answer the age old question of How Long Should You Keep Financial Records?

Chief Family Officer wonders Should You Buy Long Term Care Insurance and When? The answer might surprise you.

Darwin's Money cuts through the mystery behind when and why corporations slash employees is 6 Shocking Reasons Companies Announce Huge Layoffs Years in Advance

Deliver Away Debt asks whether it makes sense to take advantage of layaway in the article Layaway is Back, Is it Worth the Hassle?

Dollarversity questions anyone calling anybody else's spending a waste in 20 Ways to Waste Your Money... According to Who?

Don't Quit Your Day Job offers a post All About Credit Cards and the Perfect Credit Card Spending Strategy.

Free From Broke teaches us How to Make Unemployment an Opportunity. An extremely important article in this job market.

Generation X Finance presents an article that is sure to help the job hunters among us in Resume Writing Tips that Help You Stand Out from the Crowd.

Green Panda Treehouse writes Do You Want to Work Abroad? A great article for those of us who may dream of getting paid to travel.

Hope to Prosper presents a final component of the Money Fail Series (A Great Series By-The-Way) with Money Fail: Lenders of Last Resort.

Humble Savers tells us something that anyone who has ever faced a mountain of debt may already know: Debt- Easy Come, Not so Easy Go.

I Personal Finances reminds us how important it is to save early and often in Retirement- The Effect of Waiting.

My Dollar Plan gives us some ideas for free stuff in Black Friday 2011 Free Stuff. Check it out for some great free stuff from some of your favorite retailers.

Money Beagle reminds you that if you are a consumer of Groupon, to Make Sure Your Groupon Doesn't Expire.

Money Talks offers an interesting commentary on the Economy of Force and Paying Off Debt.

My Broken Coin asks a question that all pet owners have no doubt asked once or twice in Is Pet Insurance Worth It? The answer may not be what you expect.

My Personal Finance Journey admonishes the too frugal to Stop Being Cheap and Invest in Yourself.

My University Money asks Where to Look for Your Next Job. This article is especially useful for the college age students among us.

Nerd Wallet offers us 4 Ways to Apply for a Credit Card So You'll Get Approved. Hopefully not a concern for most of us, but if it is a major concern for you, this article may help.

Net Worth Journey wonders Budget, Budget, Who's Got the Budget?

One Cent at a Time answers some burning questions and dispels 10 Financial Myths About Timeshares.

Prarie Eco Thrifter offers a personal analysis on Alternative and Sustainable Energy Sources- Wind Power.

Squirrelers offers a great article for those of us who use credit wisely in the article Benefits of Using Credit Cards.

Studenomics gives you a format for your website or blog in How to Start an Online Business Right Now.

Stumble Forward gives us 10 Tips on How to Lower and Save Money on Your Energy Bill. With winter almost here, this article is both timely and helpful.

Sustainable Personal Finance offers some great dividend investing tools and resources in Quick and Easy Dividend Calculators.

The Canadian Personal Finance Site offers a tongue and cheek article entitled Free Advice is Worth the Money.

Totally Money advises us all to Act Now to Avoid a Christmas Spending Time Bomb.

Thousandaire offers some lighter reading with his Whatever Wednesday: Golddiggers and Stupid Committees.

The Dividend Guy Blog offers a great article about dividend investing in The Ultimate Bulletproof Investing Technique When the Market Goes Bust.

Watson Inc asks the age old question Are You Your Portfolio's Biggest Enemy?

Wallet Blog gives us a great analysis of how the unions impact our economy as a whole in What's the Connection Between Unions and Your Wallet?

Wealth Management offers a great article on the Greek financial crisis in Greece Burns- Emotional Investing 

We hope you enjoyed these great articles from our friends and colleagues around the personal finance community. Be sure to stop by compounding returns frequently for more of the same. If this is your first visit, be sure to subscribe to our RSS Feed or Email Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Photo By: Bradipo