Free Money Finance March Madness, Round 3, Posts 17-24

We're continuing with the third 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 9

• 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.

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 10

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

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 11

• 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.

VERSUS

• 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.

GAME 12

• 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.

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

[Suze]

In the comments section of the Punny Money coupon post, are my eyes deceiving me or is there someone there claiming to feed a family of five on $20.00 a week by using coupons?

Then the blogger is claiming that he and his wife live on $15.00 allocated for groceries.

I will need to see a breakdown of expenses on that one because I flat-out don't believe it.

[Suze]

Here's the comment...

Heather says…

By all means, feel free to spend $100 a week on groceries. I’ll keep my coupons, thank you, and feed my family of 5 for less than $20 a week.

I’ve done all this talking about how much I saved using coupons and I never once mentioned how much I spend without them. A quick look through Quicken indicates that we average about $15 a week on all grocery items (food and non-food) for the two of us. That’s not quite up to par with 5 people for $20, but I should probably mention that I’ve been told I eat like three people.

[raising4boys.com]

9: The Science (Fiction) of Coupons
10: -draw-
11: Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out
12: Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math

[LivingAlmostLarge]

9. Science fiction of coupons - I can't believe someone feeds a family for $15/week. They are eating a lot of junk food, I posted my shopping list and I know I could eat more with less money but it'd be junk food.

10. 401k Kid
11. Don't let RE clean you out
12. Dave Ramsey is bad at math

[Nick]

9. The Science (Fiction) of Coupons
10. Introducing the 401(kid)
11. Get Rich!! Play the Lottery!! Somebody has to win
12. Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math

Regarding that $15 a week grocery budget I claimed, I believe in a later post (which I couldn't find; I have too many posts on coupons now) I stated that I should have said the $15 a week was for food only since we usually get non-food stuff at places that credit card companies do not classify as "Groceries." It also doesn't include eating out and the leftovers that follow. And in the time since I wrote that, we've moved to a much more expensive area of the state, and grocery prices have jumped a bit in just the last six months. I'd have to dig through Quicken some more, but I'd say our recent grocery spendings have been closer in the neighborhood of $22-25/week.

If you stay away from junk food, go with generic/store brand, buy certain items in bulk, cook from ingredients instead of boxes, and never buy the garbage for which they make coupons, you can come away with the same food budget as us.

Also, since you pointed out my article, I think that counts as a vote! ;)

[Coupons]

10.401(kid)
11.Real estate
12.Dave Ramsey

[Pete]

Reduce money stress
Teach kids the value of dollar
Get rich play lottery
Teach your kids how to save

[The Digerati Life]

Since the competition is getting tight, I need to vote!

Reduce Money Stress
Teach Kids Value of a Dollar
Don't Let Real Estate
Teach Your Kids How To Save (the other post: Dave Ramsey, could not load!)

[y0mbo]

9 - coupons
10 - value of a dollar.
11 - lottery
12 - kids saving.

[FMR]

9 - science fiction
10 - teaching kids
11 - Get Rich! Play Lotto!
12 - Dave Ramsey

[Super Saver]

Coupons
Value of Dollar
Real Estate
Kids saving

[ispf]

9. Draw
10. Teaching Kids the Value of a Dollar
11. Don't Let Real Estate Clean You Out
12. Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math

[FMF]

Voting on this competition is now closed.