Welcome to the fourteenth edition of the money mail carnival. Thank you for all those who submitted to the carnival. Please remember to link back to the Carnival.

Philip @ PT Money Personal Finance writes How Long Will It Take to Get My Tax Refund? - If you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to pay taxes, then the question of the hour is “How long will my refund take?” We break it down for you.

Jason @ WorkSaveLive writes, to take the guesswork out of which online tax software is right for you, we ve taken a tremendous amount of time to examine the best and most popular online tax preparation companies to determine which has the best software for your particular tax situation See the differences between TurboTax, H R Block, TaxACT, and FreeTaxUSA . See post Best Online Tax Preparation Software

Emily @ Evolving Personal Finance writes, is your blog or self-employment venture on your resume? Under what circustances would you include it and how do you think potential employers would respond? See post Is Your Blog on Your Resume?

Mary Rhodes @ Fine Tune Finances writes Are you Saving Money Just to Save? Or are You saving With Purpose? – Human nature dictates much time and money is wasted when we don’t have a goal. This also applies to our financial life, in short your goal your reason for saving, or purpose. If you are saving money just to build up a bank balance you are not likely to be successful at it.

Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes Winter Storm Nemo and the Importance of an Emergency Fund – What does the massive Winter Storm Nemo have to do with the need to have an emergency fund? In short, everything. Nemo is symbolic of any un-foreseen event that may disrupt one’s income or cause a financial hardship. From a simple power outage to a long-term illness, being prepared to handle an emergency can mean the difference between peace of mind and having your family’s world turned upside down.

Harry Campbell @ Your Personal Finance Pro writes My First Default With Lending Club – With today’s pitiful interest rates, it’s hard to sit there and invest your money in CD’s that are returning 1 or 2 percent. So if you’ve been searching for alternative investments you may already know about Lending Club. But if you’re new to the peer to peer lending scene, you can read my first review of Lending Club here.

Bryan @ Gajizmo.com writes Top Short Term Investments – Even multi-billion dollar corporations are always trying to maximize the returns of their short term cash and investments, so why shouldn’t you? Here is a comprehensive list of all your short term investment options, from money market market accounts and Treasuries to “I-Bonds” and property tax certificates. Find where you feel comfortable parking your cash for the short-term.

Tushar @ Earn More and Save writes Getting Engaged? Be Sure that Ring Is Covered– Getting or giving an engagement ring is a special moment. It symbolizes a promise of two people to make a life together.

MMD @ My Money Design writes Believing In Yourself After Finding Out That You Suck – Despite what other people think of you, believing in yourself will have to come from your own hunger and ambition. Only you know what you’re capable of accomplishing.

Pauline @ Reach Financial Independence writes Big city life, is it worth it? – With an average salary, does it make sense to live in the big city?

Edgar @ Degrees and Debt writes Side Jobs: Snag A Job Review – Review of website SnagAJob to obtain a side job for diversifying income streams.

Miss T. @ Prairie Eco Thrifter writes Money and Marriage: How to Get and Stay on the Same Track – Here are some of my tips on how to get and stay on the same money track as your spouse.

Little House @ Little House in the Valley writes Recognizing Financial Patterns – The other day I had a moment of clarity; I was speaking to someone as interested about personal finance as myself, and realized I keep repeating a bad pattern. Until that moment, I hadn’t been able to see the pattern or even acknowledge that I had a repeating financial pattern.

Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes Pound Foolish Review – Exposing a Very One Sided Book – I just finished reading “Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry” by Helaine Olen. It’s supposed to be an exposé about the follies in the personal finance industry. Perhaps the real exposé is the author’s bias.

Tony @ We Only Do This Once writes We Are All Experts – Many people have spent a ton of life energy in a quest to discover their passion. And for many of them, once they found it, that was enough. Finding the thing that lights them up inside satisfies the quest. But some people want more than that—they want to live their passion.

Grayson @ Debt Roundup writes The First Step to Recovery is to Admit You Don’t Have a Budget – When you have any problem, the first step to recovering is to admit the problem. The same goes with money. The first step to getting your finances in order is to admit that you don’t have a budget.

Girl Meets Debt @ Girl Meets Debt writes Getting Personal: Dating with Debt – I am getting personal in this post. Dating with debt from the point of view of someone who is in debt.

William @ Quote Me A Price writes Annuities and Structured Settlements: What�s the Difference? – Annuities and structured settlements have many similarities, and you might even make the mistake of thinking they are the same thing. Sure, they both pay regular payments to the people they are owed to over a specified time period, but the way state and federal laws see these two types of payments confirms that they are indeed different things.

Charles @ Wallet Hub writes Your Guide to FHA Loans – Home ownership can be difficult to achieve in today’s market, but it remains an “American Dream” not an “Impossible Dream.” Though requirements have been tightened in the wake of the home mortgage crisis, FHA loans continue to offer a way for persons of modest means to purchase a home.

Jules Wilson @ Fat Guy,Skinny Wallet writes Lessons Learned from a Stolen Wallet– My wallet was stolen, and I learned many lessons from the ordeal. Find out what to do when your wallet is stolen and also how to prevent the theft in the first place

John S @ Frugal Rules writes Why You Should Say No to Refund Anticipation Loans – Refund Anticipation Loans are marketed as a way to get your tax refund quicker and just in a few days. The main problem is that they’re full of fees as well as the desire to spend the money once received.

Darwin @ Darwin’s Money writes These Mutual Funds Actually Beat The Index. And “The Market” – Mutual funds rarely beat their index, but in this niche, managers returned over 20% in 2012 while besting their index as well – is it worth switching back from ETFs to mutual funds?

Dividend Growth Investor @ Dividend Growth Investor writes The World’s Best Dividend Portfolio – For my retirement strategy I am relying on dividend growth stocks, which will provide dependable income, which increases over time and protects its purchasing power from inflation. I have a quantitative and qualitative process, which allows me to screen the hundreds of dividend growth stocks and narrow the list of candidates to 30 -40 individual companies.

Mr.CBB @ Canadian Budget Binder writes Becoming a Single Homeowner- The Plan– Becoming a single homeowner has been a trend lately with the ladies leading the way. Learn about the unique requirements of how the single person approaches buying a home.

Glen Craig @ Free From Broke writes Why You Won’t Get Rich Quick – Wouldn’t it be great to find some way to get rich quick? Let me tell you something – you won’t get rich quick! See why getting rich quick doesn’t work.

FMF @ Free Money Finance writes Real Estate 101: Summary – Throughout the Real Estate 101 Series my goal has been to introduce prospective and beginning investors to the world of real estate investing. Specifically I have tried to answer some basic questions, dispel some myths and misconceptions, and give actionable advice that can be used to move towards becoming a successful investor. As I finish the series I hope that the information provided here has mostly met that goal.

Jason Hull @ Hull Financial Planning writes What Should You Think About if You’re Planning on Buying a House Next Year – This article provides a checklist of things for a potential home buyer to consider if buying a house is in the offing in the next twelve months.