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 -- you will help determine the winner! Criteria for the best article is somewhat subjective, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) practicality of the post 2) how interesting/provocative/unique it is, 3) the "personal-ness" of it and 4) its impact on net worth.
Here are today's games:
GAME 9
- 20 Questions with J.D. Roth, author of Get Rich Slowly (Roth) - J.D. Roth is the author of Get Rich Slowly, one of the most popular and successful finance blogs on the web. He was nice enough to answer 20 questions for me on a variety of topics such as starting a website/business, goals and passions, the economy, and lessons that he has learned over the years. You can learn a lot from the success of others, and J.D. has some great lessons to teach. Read this and prepare to be inspired!
VERSUS
- Ten Can't Miss Ways To Kickstart Snowflaking (Kickstart) - A followup to last year's primer on snowflaking. Snowflaking is the practice of taking little amounts of money you save or earn and applying them in aggregate to accomplish your financial goals quicker than you ever imagined by turning a lot of "little" into a "big" (ie a lot of snowflakes make a big blizzard!). This is a list of ten practical and immediately actionable ways you can start doing that in your own life - places to find financial snowflakes in your finances as well as practices that, once habits, will create snowflakes.
GAME 10
- How to Buy and Sell Shares on the Stock Market (Shares) - An article that explains the very basics on how to buy and sell shares with a discount brokerage. The article discusses details such as how to read a stock quote along with explaining the terminology before hitting the "trade" button.
VERSUS
- 29 Steps I Took to Leave the Workforce at Age 29 (29) - I quit my corporate job in 2008 to spend more time with my kids and do some writing on the side. It was the best decision of my life! Here's the financial road map that made it possible without scaling back on our spending.




Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: David | January 28, 2009 at 07:47 AM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: ObliviousInvestor | January 28, 2009 at 08:12 AM
game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
go team! :)
Posted by: paidtwice | January 28, 2009 at 09:26 AM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Ted | January 28, 2009 at 09:35 AM
Game 9: Roth
Posted by: Jeff@StretchyDollar | January 28, 2009 at 09:59 AM
9: Kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: Jill | January 28, 2009 at 10:04 AM
9: Kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: lauren | January 28, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Crystal | January 28, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Game 1: Roth
Game 2: 29
Posted by: Aron | January 28, 2009 at 11:11 AM
game 9: kickstart
game 10: 29
Posted by: ldub | January 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM
9: kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: Madison | January 28, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Roth and 29.
Posted by: bob | January 28, 2009 at 12:38 PM
9-ROTH
10-29
Posted by: Neal Frankle | January 28, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Game 9:Kickstart
Game 10:29
Posted by: Green Panda | January 28, 2009 at 12:46 PM
9: kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: Sarah | January 28, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Matt SF | January 28, 2009 at 01:31 PM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Christy | January 28, 2009 at 01:57 PM
Game 9 - JD Roth
Game 10 - 29
Posted by: suomalainen | January 28, 2009 at 03:50 PM
9-Kickstart
10-29
Posted by: thisisbeth | January 28, 2009 at 06:55 PM
G9 - Roth
G10 - 29
Posted by: miramaxa | January 28, 2009 at 07:41 PM
kickstart
29
Posted by: thomas | January 29, 2009 at 01:28 AM
Game 9 - Roth
Game 10 - 29
Posted by: Eric N. | January 29, 2009 at 02:39 AM
9: Roth
10: 29
Posted by: Jessica | January 29, 2009 at 06:21 AM
kickstart
29
Posted by: Peter | January 29, 2009 at 08:07 AM
Kickstart snowflaking
Posted by: Amy | January 29, 2009 at 08:25 AM
Kickstart
29
Posted by: jim | January 29, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Rachel | January 29, 2009 at 09:36 AM
Game 9: Kick Start
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Sarah | January 29, 2009 at 09:59 AM
Kickstart
29
Posted by: ctreit | January 29, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Ann | January 29, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Laura | January 29, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Annie | January 29, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Sally | January 29, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Game - 9 Kickstart
Game - 10 29
Posted by: FFB | January 29, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Game 9: Kickstart
Posted by: Suzanne | January 29, 2009 at 02:29 PM
Kickstart
29
Posted by: Christine | January 29, 2009 at 03:03 PM
Kickstart
29
Posted by: industry insider | January 29, 2009 at 09:23 PM
Kickstart!
Posted by: debbie | January 29, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Game 9 - Kickstart
Game 10 - Shares
Posted by: Empty Cabin Media | January 30, 2009 at 06:26 AM
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Posted by: Eric | January 30, 2009 at 12:45 PM
9: Kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: Mrs. Micah | January 30, 2009 at 01:20 PM
game 9 - Roth
game 10 - 29
Posted by: F | January 30, 2009 at 06:48 PM
9: Kickstart
10: 29
Posted by: Catherine | January 30, 2009 at 09:12 PM
These games are now over. The winners are:
Game 9: Kickstart
Game 10: 29
Thanks to everyone for voting. Another set of games is out tomorrow morning -- be sure to vote!
Posted by: FMF | February 01, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Game 9: Roth
Game 10: 29
Posted by: BG | February 02, 2009 at 08:51 PM
Roth
29
Posted by: Ben | February 11, 2009 at 01:04 PM