I’m pleased to host this week’s Money Hacks carnival.  I hope you enjoy the quality posts that are in this carnival.  This is a carnival hosted every week at a different blog.  I encourage you to follow it each week!
I couldn’t resist a shout out to my boy Tim Tebow.  Sorry Cincinnati fans.  Without further ado, let’s get to the carnival.
Editor’s Picks
D4L presents 7 Low-Debt High-Rated Dividend Stocks posted at Dividends Value.
J.D. Roth presents It’s More Important to Be Happy Than to Be Rich posted at Get Rich Slowly.
Wealth Pilgrim …

Airline stocks have hit new highs recently.  The optimism surrounding the economy has spread to the airline sector, hoping for an increase in business travel as well as tourism.  While the trend is powerful and it can be dangerous to short, it might be worth checking out.
For example, the Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline  (FAA) is up significantly.  This ETF gives you a broader airline sector instrument versus buying/selling individual airline stocks.

My problem with the airlines is that when they had record numbers of travelers during a booming economy, they were still …

I ran across a great post at SurvivalBlog regarding depression proof jobs and wanted to comment about it.  This blog is all about surviving “the end of the world as we know it” which typically involves readers who desire to live in a rural area with supplies, weapons, etc.  The question that comes up for so many of these people is how can one move to a rural area / retreat and still maintain an income?
Since I have a strong desire to move towards financial independence and income independence (not …

I would venture to say that gym memberships are easily one of the biggest wastes of money for most people.  If people were to calculate the cost per visit to the gym, it would be outrageous and they would likely cancel their membership.  I’ve recently come to the conclusion and cancelled my Y membership, saving approximately $75 per month.  Let’s look at some alternatives to this spending.
A Regular, Healthy Lifestyle
Americans typically live in extremes.  We’re either slobs who get zero exercise and eat like crap or we go on a …

Stocks soared today.  So much for the sell off during the last hour of 2009.  Those losses are gone.
Commodities including gold and oil jumped today.  Stocks, being driven mostly be liquidity as opposed to a sound economy, will continue to rise in tandem with commodities.  Since commodities offer more inflation protection typically than stocks, I will continue to stick with commodities.  I remain only long sound companies that I believe will hold up over prolonged economic weakness.
I will not touch financials, REITs, home builders, etc. no matter how much money …

If you follow this blog, you know that turning this blog into a sustainable, growing income stream is a huge priority for me. I document my progress each month with a monthly blog update. The blog updates typically include traffic growth as well as income for the month.
Google Updates
I’m happy to say that 20smoney.com just had its Google Pagerank increased from 3 to 4.  This happened just last week.  Also, Google has now added sitelinks for my site on the search results.  If you search for “20smoney” or …

Real estate isn’t a topic that I discuss much on this blog since real estate as an investment is practically dead in this country.  When it comes to real estate, “hanging on” for dear life is a more apt description.
Many people, including myself, have found it necessary to change the expectations with regards to real estate holdings as we look to the future.  No longer do we look at our current home as our temporary home for a few years until we upgrade to something better.  We’re starting to view …

73% think stocks are going up.  I’m not going to comment about what I think, but I’m going to comment that this is a risky place for stocks with such a “bullish consensus”.  If you want to remain in stocks and even are continuing to buy stocks, I would recommend having one eye on the exit.  Or, perhaps transition towards more defensive stocks with dividends to protect on a potential correction.  Or, buy some covered calls on your positions.  Or, maybe sell off some of your most profitable positions.
If you …