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With all of the personal finance blogs out there, it can be hard to find top quality personal finance blogs. If you were to search for personal finance blogs in Google, you will get numerous pages of results. Are you looking for a top quality personal finance blog? Wisebread has made it easy to find your next favorite blog(s).

They have compiled the master list of over 175+ personal finance blogs...and this is no ordinary list.

You can view the websites based on the following criteria:

• Alexa Rank
• Technorati Rank
• Feedburner Subscribers
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• Last Post
  

I'm proud to say that as of this post, SingleGuyMoney is #24 of the 175+ blogs listed. You can help me boost my subscriber numbers by subscribing to my blog. I'm so close to 1000!!!!

By the way, for all of their hard work, I'm sure Wisebread would appreciate a Stumble, Digg, Buzz, etc.

Check out the Top 100+ Personal Finance Blogs here.

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President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 this week. One of the provisions of the ARRA is the Making Work Pay tax credit.

For 2009 and 2010, the credit will provide a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for individuals and up to $800 for married couples filing joint tax returns. The tax credit is calculated at 6.2% of earned income and will phase out for taxpayers who earn over $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married couples who file a joint return.

What do you have to do?
Absolutely nothing. Your employer will make the changes automatically based on the new withholding tables sent out by the Internal Revenue Service.

When will the increase happen?
The IRS is asking that employers use the new withholding tables no later than April 1, 2009. The increase in your paycheck should come shortly after.

What should you do with the increase?
No matter the amount of the increase, it should be put to good use.
Two good uses that immediately come to mind are:

• Paying off debt
  
• Boost your savings account

Click here for more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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I received an interesting call from my tenant yesterday. Usually, I hardly ever hear from her unless there is some major repair needed at my rental property. In the last six months, I can count on one hand, the number of times she has called me. If there are any minor repairs needed, she will take care of them on her own.

If you don't remember, this tenant has been renting from me for almost three years. The house she is living in was the first house I bought. I lived in it for two years and then bought another house. My first house I decided to keep as a rental.

I took a huge chance when I rented my house to her. She was very upfront and honest with me. She told me her credit sucked but she knows she has to have a place to live and will always pay her rent on time. I took her at her word and I am proud to say that in almost three years of having her as a tenant, she has never been late and she has never had a bounced check. For someone just starting out as a landlord and not taking all of the necessary precautions before renting the property, I've been very fortunate.

I called her a few weeks ago just to check and see how things were going since I had not talked to her in awhile. In the conversation, I happened to mention that I was looking for additional properties to purchase.

Apparently, she's mentioned to her friends about how happy she is having me as a landlord. She called me today to let me know that two of her friends wanted to know if I had bought any additional properties because they would be very interested in renting from me. They are both having problems with their current landlord not taking care of needed repairs in a timely matter. One of them also told her to tell me that if my current tenant decided to move at the end of her lease (July 2009), she will gladly take her place.

This call made me feel really good. I always said that I would treat my tenants the way I would want to be treated if I were renting a property from somone. I always try to be responsive to my tenant and make sure all repairs are done quickly and the property is kept in good condition. If I show my tenants the proper respect, hopefully they will respect my property and want to be a good tenant.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If my current tenant decides to move out, I hope I can find another tenant just like her!

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Success! I've made it one month without smoking. Unfortunately, I can't say that I've been completely smoke free. Over the past month, I've had a total of 2 cigarettes. Both times, I was out having some drinks with my friends. Once I had that one cigarette I was done and the cravings went away. I know I need to get better at avoid triggers that cause me to smoke and drinking is certainly a major trigger. Usually, a night of hanging out and drinking would result in me smoking at least half a pack.

Considering that I used to smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day, I must say that my quest to quit smoking is still on the right track. I was a little disappointed in myself after I slipped up the last time but thanks to some great inspirational comments on that post, I felt a lot better.

I can already tell the positive changes in my body since I quit smoking. My sense of smell is a lot better now. One of my coworkers that sits next to me smokes and every time he comes back in from smoking, the smell is overwhelming. When I get in the elevator, I can tell if someone has been smoking. I wasn't able to smell this before and I must admit, the smell is really bad. I wish some of my coworkers had told me had bad I smelled every time I came back from smoking.

Not only can I smell better, I can also breathe better. I am not longer winded after going up a couple of flights of stairs. I can take a deep breath without my chest hurting. I can hold my breath for longer periods of time.

Even though I've slipped up a couple of times, I am still saving the $14.70 I determined I would be saving each week by not smoking. Right now, my NSSA (no smoking savings account) balance stands at $59.80. Technically, I'm still in the red because I am buying nicotine patches instead of cigarettes.

Using nicotine patches to quit smoking is a 3 step process. Each step consists of 14 patches per box. Each day, you put on one patch and wear it for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you apply a new patch in a different area of the upper body after 24 hours. Each box of patches cost around $28. I'm currently wrapping up step 2 and will moving on to the step 3 which is the final step. After that, I should be completely smoke free and there will no longer be any nicotine entering my body.

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Related Posts:
Confession is good for the soul
Ready to Quit Smoking and Save Money

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Unfortunately, I didn't get the property I was interested in. There was an investor out there whose pockets were a little (or a lot) deeper than mine. I was a little bummed about it for a little while but then I remembered that all things happen (or don't happen) for a reason.

I don't know how much the winning investor offered but I apparently, the bank preferred that offer over mine. Once my Realtor told me that there were multiple offers on the table, I offered full asking price with no concessions. I was hoping this would be the magic number. Nope.

I won't know what the winning bid was until a few months down the line. Once all the paperwork is done and the sale is closed, the sales price will be a matter of public record.

I think I'm going to put my property search on hold for now. I'm confident that the housing market in my area, or for most of the country, will not be improving anytime soon. There will be other great deals out there. I just have to be patient and wait for the right one to come around again.

In the mean time, I will continue building up my savings account. Had I purchased this property, I would only have a couple thousand dollars left in my account. Not smart considering the economy or that my current rental property needs repairs. I will need to replace the carpet and have the exterior painted this year.

Who knows, maybe the sale will fall through and the property will come back on the market? Or maybe, there will be another home in the same neighborhood that will be an even better deal?

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I know you guys may be wondering what is going on with my potential investment property purchase. Guess what? So am I. If you have a lack of patience like me, this is very frustrating.

Here's what has happened so far:

• Offer submitted on Thursday 2/6/09. Was advised would hear back within 24-48 hours.
  
• Heard from my real estate agent on Monday 2/10/2009. Multiple offer situation. Need to submit my best (highest) offer.
  
• Countered with a full price offer; no closing costs or carpet allowance.
  
• Heard from my real estate agent on Tuesday advising all of the offers should have been in by noon. Bank will review offers and I should know something by later today.

There were couple of questions in the comments section of the original post. Instead of replying to each of them, I'd thought I'd answer them in this post.

Do you finance your investments or pay cash? How many investment properties do you have and are you making money on them?
I only have one investment property at the moment and my primary residence. My current investment property and my primary residence are financed. I plan to pay cash for this property. I am making a small profit from my current rental property.

What's your emergency fund goal with all these properties?
I am still working towards my $50,000 savings challenge.

Do you still pay the standard commission?
With a purchase, the commissions are usually paid by the buyer. Regardless of the price of the property, I will still pay the same commission.

I'll keep you updated on what happens. If I get it, I will be pretty happy. If I don't get it, I'll know it wasn't meant to be and I'll move on to the next one. I already have a potential backup in case I don't get it. It's a little more expensive and not as good of a deal as this property.

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One of my financial goals for 2009 was to purchase an additional investment property. After yesterday, I may just be one step closer.

I've been searching for additional properties for months. Due to the poor housing market, there are thousands of properties available for deep, deep discounts. There are numerous properties in the Atlanta area that can be purchased for less than $10,000. Most of them require a lot of work. The one's that don't require a lot of work are getting snapped up quickly. I finally found one close to home for a great price and it does not need a lot of work.

Here's what it looks like: Here are the details:

• Listed for $24,500. Bank Owned.
  
• 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Built in 1988. Brick front.
  
• Originally sold for $112,000 back in September 2005.
  
• I would estimate it needs roughly $2000 in repairs.
  
• Estimated market value - $89,000
• Next door to a YMCA, close to shopping, close to the interstate and on the bus line.
  
• Rents in the area are $650-850.
  

My real estate agent faxed the offer to the bank's listing broker yesterday. I should hear something within 24-48 hours. Since it is a bank owned property, it may take a little longer depending on the workload of the asset manager.

My agent put in an offer to the bank of $22,000 plus closing costs, a $3500 carpet allowance (I plan to have it cleaned before I replace it) and a home warranty.

Wish me luck and I'll keep you updated!!

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If you want to follow my savings progress, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed.

January was a pretty good month for the savings challenge. I was able to beef up the savings account balance without any major changes to my regular monthly budget.

My goal is to get to $50,000 by December 2010.

January 1, 2009
Beginning Balance...........$23,249.44
Deposit..............$ 20 (Allstate Insurance - Safe Driving Bonus)
Deposit..............$ 6 (Pinecone Research)
Deposit..............$ 28.52 (misc deposit)
Deposit..............$ 700.00 (monthly savings contribution)
Deposit..............$ 1000.68 (2nd half of bonus from my employer)
Deposit..............$ 40.29 (interest payment)
Deposit..............$ 86.39 (misc deposit)

January 31, 2009
Ending Balance.............$25,131.32

Balance Change Amount........$1889.88
Change Percentage.................... 8.1%

Amount Remaining towards $50,000 Goal = $24,868.68/23 months = $1081.25 saved each month in order to reach my goal.

So far, so good. I probably won't be able to continue to save over $1800 a month but I should be able to save at least close to a thousand by monitoring my spending.

If you want to start your own savings goal, consider using WT Direct. They are currently paying 2.81%. It's easy to open the account and there are no fees and no minimum balance.

Related Posts:
December Savings Challenge
Savings Challenge

Thanks to everyone for entering the contest. There was an awesome response to the contest with 448 comments!!!!

Without further ado, the winner of the contest is:

Plowlady

The winner of the contest was determined by a random number generator. Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest.

If you are new to the blog and subscribed for the contest, I hope you enjoyed the blog and will continue to subscribe.