Free Money Finance March Madness, Round 1, Posts 9-16

Here we go 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. I've also listed a keyword(s) after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Game 1 - Saving; Game 2 - Investing, etc.) Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two. Here we go:

GAME 5

• Earn An Extra Few Hundred This Year By Saving For And Paying Your Own Property Taxes (Taxes) - Surprisingly, most people either don't know or don't bother with this easy money saving method!  This post details how you can make more than $100 this year by saving for and paying your own property taxes.

VERSUS

• Why and how I budget (Budget) - Our budget is less of a spending plan than a savings plan. Using it, we've paid down thousands in debt and increased our net worth by thousands more.

GAME 6

• How Do I Organize 181 Accounts? (181) - How exactly do I stay organized with 89 credit accounts, 31 bank accounts, 29 investment accounts and 32 other accounts (not including 14 accounts for the kids and numerous accounts for family members)? Here's how I pay the bills and keep up with the paperwork!

VERSUS

• I want to be rich like you (Rich) - My teenage cousin thought that because of the things I had – house, car, electronic gadgets – that I had to be rich. I had to explain to him what debt was and how appearances from the outside can be deceiving.

GAME 7

• My First Investing Lesson (Lesson) - This a truly great article because it can help beginner investors avoid a free common problem. By doing their due diligence and research investors should be able to get a higher ROI, and what investor doesn't want that?

VERSUS

• You CAN Get Out of Debt! (Debt) - I've been described as "insistent" that not only will I get out of debt, but that anyone can get out of debt also.  This is the battle cry to rally anyone and everyone: You CAN get out of debt!  Get mad at the debt, get motivated to get out of the debt, and leave your comment declaring to the world (or at least the blogosphere) that you also WILL get out of debt.

GAME 8

• It hit me like a ton of bricks (Bricks) - I've always been a spender by nature.  One sentence I read on The Simple Dollar hit me over the head with reality, though.  By picking apart that one sentence, I realized that keeping my long-term goals in mind while making short-term spending decisions would make for a more secure future.  Increasing your net worth begins with your attitude about spending.

VERSUS

• Personal Finance Is Like Learning to Ride a Bike (Bike) - There are a lot of extended analogies in personal finance writing - budgeting is like dieting, money management is like football, debt reduction is like a snowball rolling down the hill - but I haven't seen one comparing personal finance to learning to ride a bike.  Both personal finance and bike-riding are intimidating to newbies, but everyone can learn how by starting with the basics.  This article draws parallels between basic biking skills and basic personal finance principles, hopefully making personal finance more accessible to everyone.

Comments

[Super Saver]

FMF,

Thanks for doing March Madness again this year. I'm seeing a number of new, very good PF bloggers that I had not read yet.

My votes:

5 - Budget
6 - Rich
7 - Lesson
8 - Bricks

[Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bricks ;)

[Michael Jao]

Lesson
Taxes

[LJ]

My Votes:

Game 5 Taxes

Game 6 Rich

Game 7 Debt

Game 8 Bricks

[paidtwice]

Game 5: Budget
Game 6: 181
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bricks

[My Dollar Plan]

Taxes
181
Debt
Bricks

[Debt Free Revolution]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt ;)
Game 8: Oooooh, that's a toughie!! Can I split my vote and give each one half?

[Tim]

5 - Taxes
6 - Rich
7 - Debt
8 - Bike

[Susannah]

5: budget
6: 181
7: debt
8: bike

[Jeffrey]

Game 5: Budget
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Lesson
Game 8: Bricks
I don't remember the first round last year being as tough to pick. The bloggers are getting better!

[LC]

taxes

rich

debt

bike

[Melissa]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bricks

[Peter]

5) Taxes
6) Rich
7) Lesson
8) Bricks

[Beth]

Game 5 - Taxes
Game 6 - Rich
Game 7 - Debt
Game 8 - Bricks

[Jessica]

Budget
Rich
Debt
Bricks

[PT]

Taxes :)
181
Debt
Bricks

[Elizabeth]

Budget
Rich
Lesson
Bricks

[Lin]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bricks

[SingleGuyMoney]

Game 5: Budget
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bricks

[Diane]

Budget
181
Debt
Bricks

[Lily]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Lesson
Game 8: Bike ;)

[moneychallenge]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Debt
Game 8: Bike

[TT]

5-Taxes
6-181
7-Debt
8-Bike

[Ron@TheWisdomJournal]

Budget
181
Debt
Bricks

[No Debt Plan]

Game 5 - Taxes
Game 6 - 181 (and holy crap, 181 accounts?!)
Game 7 - Debt
Game 8 - Bike

[Rebecca]

Game 5 Taxes
Game 6 Rich
Game 7 Debt
Game 8 Bricks

[Genia]

taxes, rich, debt, bricks

[Cinderella]

5 - Taxes
6 - 181
7 - Lesson
8 - Bike

[CBaker]

Game 5: Taxes
Game 6: Rich
Game 7: Lesson
Game 8: Bike

[bethh]

game 5: budget
game 6: rich
game 7: debt
game 8: bike

[Matt]

1. Taxes
2. Rich
3. Lesson
4. Bricks

[Andy]

1: Budget
2: 181
3: Debt
4: Bike

[Ken]

5. Budget
6. Rich
7. Lesson
8. Bricks

[Eric]

5: Taxes
6: Rich
7: Debt
8: Bike

[FMF]

Voting for this group is now over. The winners are:

5 - Taxes
6 - Rich
7 - Debt
8 - Bricks

[Margo]

game 5: budget