Free Money Finance March Madness, Round 1, Posts 65-80

We're continuing with the first round of Free Money Finance March Madness (if you wonder what's going on in these posts, see my article announcing March Madness and/or click on my March Madness category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject.) I've listed each "game" (one post versus another) in segments along with the wording provided by the author when the post was submitted. Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two as commenters have the chance to win a free book. Here we go:

GAME 33

• How Discounting the Value of Your Home Could Keep You Out of Financial Trouble - The housing craze has led to overvalued home prices. This article will help keep you out of financial trouble by showing you a conservative approach to valuing your home.

VERSUS

• Ten Low Cost Ways to Reduce Money Stress - Money can be stressful; don't let it rule your thoughts. When you're overwhelmed with money issues turn to this list and your troubles will melt away.

GAME 34

• LBYM Tip: DIY Repairs - This post is a sleeper that might surprise a few people.  As someone with limited skills in the DIY arena, I share my experience of saving money by tackling an appliance repair with the help of an online community and the Internet.  As the story unfolds, you will find yourself with the confidence to try and tackle your own DIY repairs and save yourself some money in the process.

VERSUS

• The Case for Passive (Equity) Investing - This post succinctly makes the case for what most personal finance bloggers espouse - actively managed funds avaiable to the masses are typically not good investments.  I use a lot of concrete data and articles to back up this claim, with some points on why the way the financial industry is set up creates this environment of lackluster performance.

GAME 35

• Get Out of Debt with an Emergency Fund - This is a post about how important a role an emergency fund plays in getting out of debt. The emergency fund will act as a cushion to protect you against the emergencies in life so that you won't have to swipe your credit card for emergencies. Included is the "debt snowball" plan by Dave Ramsey to get out of debt and feel good about it!

VERSUS

• The High Cost of Waiting To Buy A Home - This post breaks out time as a control variable in home purchase.  It shows how buying as soon as you are ready puts hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pocket, and also contrasts with not buying at all.

GAME 36

• Bye

VERSUS

• The Science (Fiction) of Coupons - This is my most controversial article ever. Coupons might look like a great deal, but they're really not worth the trouble for most people. I received a lot of heat from coupon fans, but I stand by my philosophy that coupons are a waste of time.

GAME 37

• Introducing the 401(kid) - Teach your kids the benefits of saving for the future by providing a parental match.

VERSUS

• The Only Saving Strategy You'll Ever Need - If one can only do one thing to build one's wealth, then do this.  This strategy is the foundation of my wealth building strategy.

GAME 38

• Free $15 Paypal Rebate! - This post has been the most popular on my blog since starting in February. It was actually the number one search result for the keywords "$15 Paypal" for a few days on Google in February despite being a relatively new blog. And free money is always good!

VERSUS

• It Is Amazing What Some People Will Insure While Ignoring Their Most Important Asset - This post brings to light the insignificant things people will insure while completely ignoring some of the more important things in their life. Hopefully it makes people stop and think before dropping a few hundred dollars to protect their electronic gadgets. Too many people are concerned with living in the short-term frame of mind that long-term issues are usually ignored.

GAME 39

• The Carnival of Personal Finance ‘68 Hits the Oregon Trail - Arguably the greatest blog carnival ever made. Fans of the classic Apple computer game will especially appreciate this edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance told using scenes from the game The Oregon Trail.

VERSUS

• Teaching Kids the Value of a Dollar - I like this one because it's a perfect example of how easy it is to use everyday occurrences to teach kids about money. And guess what? It works!

GAME 40

• Why don't we learn about money in school? - My friends and I are graduating college with coursework in accounting & finance, corporate finance, international finance, world-domination finance (maybe I made that one up), so why aren't we learning about personal finance? It's not an "academic" subject, but several seminars here and there will be a good start.

VERSUS

• What the Heck is Beta? - Many of us flip through our mutual fund and investment prospectus' and see this mystical number called beta.  What the heck does it mean?  How can I use beta to make smart investment decisions?  This post also highlights important shortcomings and caveats about using beta.  Often, blog posts will discuss positives without negatives.  Don't fall prey, hear both sides of the debate.

Comments

[Nick]

33. Ten Low Cost Ways to Reduce Money Stress
34. LBYM Tip: DIY Repairs
35. The High Cost of Waiting To Buy A Home
36. The Science (Fiction) of Coupons
37. Introducing the 401(kid)
38. It Is Amazing What Some People Will Insure While Ignoring Their Most Important Asset
39. The Carnival of Personal Finance ‘68 Hits the Oregon Trail
40. What the Heck is Beta?

[jim]

Money Smart Life is playing himself!?

[FMF]

Yes, Money Smart Life is guaranteed to get to the next round. ;-)

That's the "luck" of the draw.

[Dan Melson]

33: How Discounting the Value of Your Home Could Keep You Out of Financial Trouble
35: The High Cost of Waiting To Buy A Home (I'm not too proud to vote for myself)
37: Introducing the 401(kid)
38: It Is Amazing What Some People Will Insure While Ignoring Their Most Important Asset
39: Teaching Kids the Value of a Dollar (the other post took a lot more work and thought, but this one focuses on something more important)

[Pete]

33 10 ways to lower stress
34 DYI Repairs
35 Emergency fund
36 Bye
37 401(k) kid
38 its amazing
39 kids the value of dollar

[Christian Finance]

I'm biased here. I voted for my own posts.

33. Ten Low Cost Ways to Reduce Money Stress
34. LBYM Tip: DIY Repairs
35. Get Out of Debt with an Emergency Fund
36. The Science (Fiction) of Coupons
37. The Only Saving Strategy You'll Ever Need
38. Free $15 Paypal Rebate!
39. Teaching Kids the Value of a Dollar
40. Why don't we learn about money in school?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

33. Discounting the value of your home
34. Case for passive investing
35. high cost of waiting to buy a home
36. The Science Fiction of Coupons (bye)
37. Introducing the 401k kid
38. it's amazing what people will pay
39. Oregon trail
40. Why don't we learn about money in school

[Ben]

Alright, a guaranteed win!

33. How can a parent pick their favorite kid :)
34. Case for Passive Investing
35. High Cost Waiting To Buy A Home
36. Obvious
37. The Only Saving Strategy You'll Ever Need
38. It's Amazing What People Will Pay
39. Teaching Kids Value of Dollar
40. What the Heck is Beta?

[Ray]

33. Ten Low Cost Ways to Reduce Money Stress
35. The High Cost of Waiting To Buy A Home
36. The Science (Fiction) of Coupons
37. Introducing the 401(kid)
40. What the Heck is Beta?