Free Money Finance March Madness, Round 1, Posts 1-4

Here we go with the first round of Free Money Finance March Money Madness (if you wonder what's going on in these posts, see my article announcing March Money Madness and/or click on my March Money 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 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 1

• 11 Dumb Ways to get in Debt (Dumb) -- There are many reasons why people fall in debt, such as medical issues, school, starting a business and purchasing a home. Some situations you do not have much of choice and the debt is for a good reason, for example if you get in debt due to school it’s fine because in the long run you will be able to make up for it. However there are some bad reasons why many fall in debt. This post illustrates the top 11…well not so good reasons to fall in debt.

VERSUS

• 55 Best Ways To Save Money: Frugal Ideas From Our Readers (Frugal) - 55 responses readers had to the question, “what is your favorite money saving tip”?

GAME 2

• Goals Are the Gateway to Financial Success (Goals) - The journey to financial success is not a sprint — you are not going to get rich quickly — but a marathon. It doesn’t matter how swiftly you pay off your debt or save for retirement. The important thing is to actually make the effort. If you don’t start, you can never finish. To know where you’re going, you need to set goals.

VERSUS

• Median vs. Mean: Know the Difference or Risk Being Manipulated (Mean) - The definition of median and mean and the difference between the two terms is poorly understood by many people and while in many data sets, there is only a marginal difference between the two from a practical standpoint, there is sometimes a stark difference between the two.  As I’ll outline in this article, people toss around terms like “average”, mean, median and other statistical nomenclature without either understanding what they’re talking about themselves, or with the intent to silence critics with ‘fact’. Understand that various entities routinely manipulate how a piece of data is presented in order to beguile you, the recipient, in order to advance their agenda.

Comments

[Crystal]

Game 1 - Frugal
Game 2 - Goals

[Daniel]

Dumb and Goals

[LeanLifeCoach]

Game 1 - Dumb
Game 2 - Goals

[Financial Samurai]

Nice! I like how there are only the title's of the posts listed, and not the author's name to prevent bias from the big sites.

Makes post titles all the more important!

I'll go:
Dumb
Debt

[Financial Samurai]

Whoops, I meant dumb and GOALS (cuz there's no debt) :)

[Jim]

game 1 : Frugal
game 2 : Goals

[texashaze]

texashaze says

Frugal
Goals

Can we comment why?

[guinness416]

Dumb!
Mean!

[J. Money]

Dumb
Goals

[FMF]

texashaze --

Sure, if you'd like.

[Simon Zhen]

Dumb
Goals

[Peter]

Dumb
Mean

[Jason@LiveRealNow]

Game 1 - Frugal
Game 2 - Mean

[finco86]

Get an error when I select the link to Dumb so my first round goes to:

Game 1 - Frugal
Game 2 - Mean

[Ryan@Fincycle]

Dumb
Goals

[Patricia]

Dumb
Goals

[Darwin's Finance]

Dumb
Mean

*yes, I'm voting for myself; I'm up against GRS which is an incredible site so I'll take any help I can get!

Thanks for including me in this awesome contest; I look forward to it each year!

[Megan Sapp Nelson]

Game 1 Frugal
Game 2 Mean

[Roger]

Game 1: Frugal
Game 2: Mean

Nice group of articles to lead off the competition; I can't wait to see the next set.

[Lesley]

Dumb

[Eric]

Game 1 - Frugal
Game 2 - Goals

[Len]

Frugal and Goals

[FMF]

These games are now over. The winners are:

Game 1: Dumb
Game 2: Goals

Thanks to everyone for voting. Another set of games is out today -- be sure to vote!

[FFB]

Dumb
Goals

[Danny]

best article ever 11 Dumb Ways to get in Debt

[twitter.com/centsiblelife]

Dumb
Mean

[Paul]

Game 1 - Frugal
Game 2 - Goals

[Patrick]

Dumb
Goals

[Sustainable PF]

Game 1: Dumb
Game 2: Goals