Free Money Finance March Madness, Round 2, Posts 41-48

We're continuing with the second 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 21

• 25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog - A popular one with the ladies was this one post in which I outlined some steps a personal finance blogger should take if they want a "wildly successful" blog. Not everyone who follows ever step will reach wild success but many have said they've found this list very helpful and I'm very glad that I wrote it well enough to be of some assistance. The list itself is actually 29 items, the extra four coming as ideas after I hit publish!

VERSUS

• Get Rich!! Play the Lottery!! Somebody has to win - I like this post because it shows how absolutely impossible it is to win the lottery. Yes people win the lottery, but they also get struck by lightening, drown in their own bath tub, and get killed by errant fireworks, and unfortunately you have thousands times better luck having the former happen to you that win the lottery.

GAME 22

• Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out - This article was well received, especially in the real estate blogging community.  It took in a lot of comments and turned out to be one of my most popular posts.  I think this is both a funny as well as an informative post -- and a warm tribute to my dry cleaning guy.

VERSUS

• Do You Judge Your Financial Situation? - When an event happens, it is in the past.  However, when we judge the event we carry it along like a weight on our back slowing us down (keeping us struggling) from reaching our financial goals.  We need to learn to let go and forgive the past to have the energy to attain our financial prosperity. Take a look to see if your judgments are keeping you from your financial abundance.

GAME 23

• Missed Fortune 101 -- horrible advice! - This post has close to 150 comments on it.  This Douglas Andrew book really got my ire up, and it sparked a debate that has continued on the blog for a year and a half.

VERSUS

• Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math - This is probably the most controversial post I've ever written. Love it or hate it, it has certainly gotten people fired up over repaying their debts. Nearly two years and well over 100 comments later and it's still going strong.

GAME 24

• Pets Take a Bite Out of Your Wallet - Pets are expensive, and the costs associated with caring for them are often sorely underestimated.  This post urges readers to understand the financial and time commitment required for a pets well-being before taking the plunge into pet ownership.

VERSUS

• Teaching Your Children How To Save - When you have children, one common question that parents seem to discuss is the concept of an allowance and the desire for their children to be responsible with money.  This post details how we established our allowance system and have started our children on the path to saving money.

Comments

[Pete]

21 - Get Rich Play Lottery
22 - Do you judge
23 - Dave Ramsey
24 - Teaching your children to save

[raising4boys.com]

21 - 25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog
22 - (draw)
23 - Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
24 - Teaching Your Children How To Save

[Dan Melson]

My only vote in this bracket is:
23: Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math

[Nick]

21. Get Rich!! Play the Lottery!! Somebody has to win
22. Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out
23. Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
24. Pets Take a Bite Out of Your Wallet

[Super Saver]

21. Lottery
22. Real estate
23. Missed Fortune
24. Children

[jim]

Dang no love for my post...

My votes are for:
Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out
Dave Ramsey
And Pets...

[MFJ]

My votes are....

21. The opposite of jim's vote ;-)
22. Don't let Real Estate Clean you out
23. Dave Ramsey
24. Children

[jim]

Opposite of jim's vote... booo, jim didn't vote on that game because he thoughts it wouldn't count. if it does... well i gues sit doesn't count anyway.

[theWizard]

My votes are....

21 - 25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog
22 - Don't let Real Estate Clean you Out
23 - Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
24 - Teaching Your Children How To Save

[Ben]

21 - 25 Steps
22 - Real Estate Clean You Out
23 - Dave Ramsey
24 - Teach Children to Save

[LivingAlmostLarge]

21. Get rich play lotto
22. do you judget your financial situation
23. dave ramsey is bad at math
24. Pets take a bite out of wallet

[y0mbo]

21 - Get Rich!! Play the Lottery!! Somebody has to win
22 - draw
23 - Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
24 - Teaching Your Children How To Save

[FMF]

FYI -- You CAN vote for your own posts.

[The Digerati Life]

21. draw
22. Real Estate Clean You Out
23. Dave Ramsey
24. Teach Children To Save

[FMR]

21 - Play the lotto. Win money!
22 - Do you judge?
23 - Dave Ramsey
24 - Pets

[Flexo]

21: 25 Steps
22: Don't Let Real Estate
23: Dave Ramsey
24: Children

[Tight Fisted Miser]

21. 25 steps
22. real estate
23. Dave Ramsey
24. Pets

[Jan]

21. Get Rich!! Play the Lottery!! Somebody has to win
22. Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out
23. Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
24. Teaching Your Children How To Save

[booger]

25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog

[Hamlet]

21. Lottery
22. Real estate
23. Dave ramsey
24. Teach children to save

[Cap]

21. 25 Steps To A Wildly Successful Personal Finance Blog

[FMF]

Just for reference, voting ends 48 hours after the post went live (which was 5:30 pm on March 5) -- so the last two posts here don't count (though they didn't have any impact on the outcome of these games.)