My Personal Finance Journey

Category Archives for Blogging

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 10 – Debt Group – Posts 17-24

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 10th Stage (the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Debt” group category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 8th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early? (Mortgage): If you own a home, a significant portion of your income each month goes towards paying down your mortgage. Although most Americans would rather have no debt and interest payments, with interest rates at record lows, the traditional thinking and logic behind accelerating your mortgage payments may not apply anymore. From the benefits of liquidity and emergency funds to higher yield investments and retirement funding, there are much better ways to use your free cash flow. Stop seeing all debt as bad, and realize that a healthy amount can actually help further your financial goals.

VERSUS

  • Credit Card Debt and Drug Addiction: Are They Related? (Addiction): While Dave Ramsey advocates the Debt Snowball method for paying down credit card debt and brain scan studies confirm the notion because of the limbic system’s joy at closing down accounts, nobody really tracks what happens after you close down an account. Specifically, nobody has studied the causes and incidences of relapse, where people who were on the road to becoming debt free suddenly veer off the path and rack up debt again. This article examines the neurological and behavioral similarities between credit card debt and drug addiction and suggests ways in which we can apply lessons learned from helping people with drug addiction to the process of getting out of credit card debt.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • Which Is Harder: Paying off Debt or Saving Money? (Harder): Every week, I get asked whether someone should pay off their debt first or save instead, and every week I pretty much say the same thing: Go with whichever one makes you feel better. I often wonder afterwards, though, which side – indeed –  IS the easiest to accomplish? Is it debt cuz you hate it so much and there’s an absolute number attached to it? Or is it savings cuz having tons of money in the bank is sexy as hell??

VERSUS

  • Dealing With Debt: Seven Steps to Debt Busting (Busting): This article is awesome and should win because in it I share the seven ‘easy’ debt management steps that helped us pay off $157,000 worth of debt in three years. These are a combination between changing habits, learning new competencies, and changing our attitudes.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 7, a flat stage taking the riders 128 miles from Montpellier to Albi. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight. Thanks!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/WPC_2012f_Andr%C3%A9_Greipel_3.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 9 – College Finances and Career Groups – Posts 9-16

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 9th Stage (the first Stage of the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “College Finances” and “Career” groups category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 7th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • You Know What Really Sucks? Cubicles.  (Cubicles): I used to drive a $400 car, live in a cramped apartment and wear only thrift-store clothes. When people hear me tell stories from those days, they say: “Wow, your life must have sucked.” You know what really sucks? Cubicles. Consumer debt. Getting shackled due to overspending. THAT sucks much more than an ugly car.

VERSUS

  • How Coming Health Insurance Exchanges Will Drastically Impact Career And Retirement Decisions (Insurance): In the coming months, the first Health Insurance Exchanges will open, and along with them will begin a new era of personal finance decisions. For the first time, having a job to get onto an employer’s health insurance plan will no longer be a necessary requirement to have access to health insurance. Instead, anyone will be able to get health insurance from a state exchange, guaranteed, without any limitations for pre-existing conditions or the risk of cancellation due to health changes. While figuring out how to afford coverage will still be a challenge for many – though there are new premium assistance tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies to help – at the most basic level, the question simply becomes: “If you were assured of having access to health insurance and you (or your spouse) didn’t have to work where you do in order to get access to it, would you still be working and doing what you are doing now?” If your answer is “no” – welcome to the new world of health insurance!

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • My Husband is Now WORKING FROM HOME WITH ME!!! (Husband): It’s important to work out a plan before leaping into self-employment.  It’s even more important when that entrepreneurial spirit hits both of the income earners of the household.  But after running the numbers, looking at worst case scenarios, and mulling the idea over…it was time for us to put on our big girl panties and jump in.  tour de personal finance stage 2 round 1    Here’s the post about the excitement and fear when we officially put all of our financial eggs in one basket and happily skipped away into the unknown…

VERSUS

  • FAFSA.com Scam – 2.1 Million Students Potentially Ripped Off! (Scam): In January 2012, we exposed FAFSA.com as a For Profit Company misleading millions of students and charging them to complete the free FAFSA.gov application. The immoral marketing tactics including a very misleading domain name were exposed by this article. The article drew anger from the company and stories of students being ripped off by this company.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continued today with Stage 6, a flat stage taking the riders 110 miles from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. Despite some very strong cross-winds in today’s Stage, the race finished with a bunch sprint. The big sprinter from Germany, Andre Greipel, took the win ahead of Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, and Peter Sagan.

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 9 – Side Hustle and Career Groups – Posts 1-8

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 9th Stage (the first Stage of the 2nd Round of the event, featuring posts from the “Side Hustle” and “Career” groups category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 7th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

VERSUS

  • Think Like An Entrepreneur (Think): Having the mindset and thinking like an entrepreneur is the #1 key to success in life.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

VERSUS

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 6, a flat stage taking the riders 110 miles from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. I’ll be sure to bring an update on the race results once it finishes in the Sprints later tonight. Thanks!

***Photo courtesy of http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8127/8756035817_8df9a09690_o.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 8 – Lifestyle Group – Posts 61-64

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 8th Stage (featuring posts from the “Lifestyle” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 6th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Is Money the Only Measure of Success? (Success): An all time favorite, this article reminds readers of what’s really important. Money offers freedom and the ability to buy things and experiences. Learn the secret to true wealth and grasp how to define what success is for you.

VERSUS

  • 10 Wealth Creation Habits (Habits): Saving is great, and so is making money.  But the bottom line is creating WEALTH, and this post shares 10 tips on how to increase wealth.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • 10 Things I Don’t Get (Things): Do you ever wonder why people do things that, to you, are the same as flushing money down the toilet? Here’s my list of ten time and money wasters.

VERSUS

  •  Key to Saving Money is Controlling Impulse Spending (Impulse): Impulse spending can wreck your finances and prevent you from saving money for other things like retirement. By learning how to identify the triggers for impulse purchases you can limit their impact on your ability to save money!

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continued today with Stage 5, a flat stage taking the riders 142 miles from Cagnes-sur-Mer – Marseille. As expected, the Stage ended in a bunch sprint, with the number one sprinter in the world, Mark Cavendish, taking the win! Way to go Mark!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Mark_Cavendish_2011.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 8 – Frugal Living and Lifestyle Groups – Posts 57-60

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 8th Stage (featuring posts from the “Frugal Living” and “Lifestyle” categories of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 6th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • 5 Ways to Save Money and Energy without Even Trying (Ways): This article is a grass-roots message reminder to all those who want to save energy AND money but who do not understand how fundamentally simple this can be. Some of these recommendations are so simple many do not realize the level of their efficacy. Key secrets to saving both energy and money include implementing the simple steps first and this is where most people fail. The importance of this article shines among many that confuse with verbose technicality. Our energy industry has made several advances that many folks simply have not had the time to catch up on.It is important when trying to relay strategies like these, not to bore at length, and give the people what they want and need, short concise actionable effective tips. We feel this article does precisely that!

VERSUS

  • Wine Retail Price Dispersions: A Closer Look into Wine Economics in the United States (Wine): Have you ever gone to a store to purchase wine one day and it’s a certain price, then go to buy the same wine in a different store later and you notice it is a few dollars more expensive?  Why is it that wine prices are so variable from shop to shop in the United States? This post dissects recent research into what creates these differences and how price dispersion is able to persist in the US market.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • Make Life Better For Yourself: Change Your Attitude (Attitude): Your life is pretty much a reflection of your attitude to it, so if your life isn’t going as well as you would like, it’s possibly time to check your attitude. Attitude determines how we view the world; so a bad attitude will make you see the problems in any situation, including ones that don’t exist. Have you noticed than when you feel good, the world around you seems good too? Conversely, when you feel low or in a bad mood, everything seems to go wrong with your day. This shows you how important your attitude is, in making your life better for yourself.

VERSUS

  • 10 Simple Ways to Suck at Life (Life): Ever wanted to know exactly what you need to do to make sure you fail at everything? Ever wanted to know what do to the exact opposite of to succeed? It’s all right here, in these handy, easy to follow, steps.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 5, a flat stage taking the riders 142 miles from Cagnes-sur-Mer – Marseille. I expect it to end up with a bunch sprint at the finish line. The Stage is going on right now, so I’ll be sure to bring everyone an update when the last of the 1st Round posts go live later tonight. Thanks!

***Photo courtesy of http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8503/8407195687_c54d338a8d_b.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 7 – Frugal Living Group – Posts 53-56

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 7th Stage (featuring posts from the “Frugal Living” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 5th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  •  Financial Lessons Learned from The Bachelor (Bachelor): I’m a fan of the TV show, The Bachelor, on ABC. After a few episodes, I realized that  not only is the show about finding love, it can teach us about investing, debt and general personal finance as well. So what financial lessons has The Bachelor taught you?

VERSUS

  • Five Sneaky Ways To Save Hundreds When Selling Your Car (Car): We all typically understand negotiating tactics needed to sell your car for the most money possible. But, there are also other more sneaky ways to save money when selling your car such as delaying maintenance, delaying your next loan payment, or even showing up with an empty gas tank. How far will you go to get the most out of your old car when it is time to sell it?

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • I Make $100,000 And Live Paycheck To Paycheck (Paycheck): It’s hard to make $100,000.   What’s even harder is figuring out how to manage it so you keep more of what you make.   More and more, the lifestyles of American families tend to expand to match their incomes.  This is why although we have highest average wage earners in the history of our country, we have more and more people who make six figures and sadly spend it all.   How has it become so difficult to live on what used to be considered a wealthy income family.  Find out more . . . .

VERSUS

  • Why It May Cost You More When It’s Free (Free): We’re all dazzled by the word “free,” but have you ever stopped to think about the costs tied to getting something for free? Free shipping or free items when your purchase reaches a certain dollar amount is great–if you’re already planning to spend that amount of money, but when you’re not? And what about all of the extra “free” stuff you’re collecting that you really don’t need? There’s psychology behind our strong urge to get something for free–even if we don’t need it–and there are ways we can combat our irrational thinking.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continued today with Stage 4, the team time trial. It was a very short event at only 15 miles, and due to a strong head-wind, there weren’t any real dramatic gaps or surprises. The Orica Greenedge Team pulled out a 1 second gap in the end over the Quick Step team to win the stage. Because the time gaps were so close going in to the Stage, the winner of yesterday’s Stage, Austrailian Simmon Gerrans of Orica Greenedge, got to pull on the Yellow Jersey!

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 7 – Frugal Living Group – Posts 49-52

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 7th Stage (featuring posts from the “Frugal Living” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 5th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  •  It Pays to Have Your Small Claims Case on a Court Television Show (Television): Court reality television shows love to arbitrate stereotypical cases to get their paid audience members in an uproar (like the snot-nosed teenager who takes his friend’s car for a joyride and crashes or the girlfriend who cheated on her boyfriend and his credit card). It turns out that these people we love to giggle at might just be smarter than the rest of us. If you are willing to have your case tried in front of a national audience (not to mention people like Judge Judy), then read on to find out the rewards that await you.

VERSUS

  • 8 Ways to Save Money While Saving the Earth (Earth): There are few things more important to the future than saving money, except for saving the planet.  Luckily for all of us, it’s not always a choice between spending more money or doing more damage to Earth.  Sometimes, it’s possible to save money and the planet at the same time, without even adding any further stress to your life.  This blog entry provides several techniques to do just that, getting a start on living a frugal, eco-friendly lifestyle with just eight easy methods.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • Americans Think You Need How Much Money To Get By?!? (Think): Apparently, Americans think a family of four NEEDS $58,000 to get by in today’s world, and I think that is outrageous. Why? Americans have lost sight of what is a need versus what is a want. Granted, everyone will strive for nicer versions of needs, but those nicer versions are wants. The base model is the need. People are out of touch.

VERSUS

  • Could You Live on Minimum Wage? (Wage): 4.4 Americans live on minimum wage. SPENT is a game designed to show the tough choices made everyday by the working poor.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 4, the team time trial! It should be the first big challenge for the contenders for overall victory.

I’ve really been enjoying my “all access” subscription to viewing the Tour de France on NBC Sports. It was only $29.99, and has already provided me with HOURS of entertainment! haha You can watch the Stages live as they happen, or go back and view completed Stages if you missed something!

***Photo courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/1984_Olympics_-_100k_Team_Time_Trial_(USA_team).jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 6 – Saving and Psychology Groups – Posts 45-48

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 6th Stage (featuring posts from the “Saving/Investing” and “Psychology of Money” categories of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 3: Mutual; Sprint 4: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 4th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #3

  •  Build Your Own Berkshire with Dividend Paying Stocks (Dividend): Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all times. Few realize that he is a closet dividend investor, because he buys assets that produce excess cash flows. These excess cash flows provide him with the capital to invest in more income generating assets, thus snowballing his net worth exponentially. Dividend stocks deliver a rising stream of rising passive income, which makes them ideal for investors who need to live off their portfolios and for those who want to emulate Buffett’s success in investing.

VERSUS

  • My Life Insurance Mistake (Mistake): Get an inside look at my encounter with the seedy underbelly of the life insurance sales world. Learn from my mistakes so that when the time comes you can avoid getting suckered into a bad deal.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 4

  • 7 Habits of Wealthy People (Habits): Have you ever wondered what it takes to be wealthy? If you want to be rich then you need to imitate successful people. Here are 7 habits of wealthy people that will help you start building wealth today!

VERSUS

  • Why Your Mind Wants To Make Bad Financial Decisions (Decisions): There is actually a psychological trigger that motivates you to make bad financial decisions, and everyone is affected. In this post, we brought in psychological expert Sophia Dembling to get a better idea of the trigger that actually suppresses logic and reason, and pushes you in the wrong direction.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continued today with Stage 3, taking the riders 146 km from Ajaccio to Calvi on the island of Corsica.  It was another medium-mountains stage, with a 60-rider peleton coming to the finish line together. Sprinter Simon Gerrans took the Stage’s sprint only a half-wheel ahead of famous sprinter Peter Sagan to win the Stage. Since the whole peleton came in together, the winner of yesterday’s Stage, Jan Bakelants, holds on the Yellow Jersey in to the team time trial tomorrow around Nice. Should be fun!

I’ve really been enjoying my “all access” subscription to viewing the Tour de France on NBC Sports. It was only $29.99, and has already provided me with HOURS of entertainment! haha You can watch the Stages live as they happen, or go back and view completed Stages if you missed something!

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 6 – Saving-Investing Group – Posts 41-44

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 6th Stage (featuring posts from the “Saving/Investing” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 4th for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • Why an Early Start Makes All the Difference  (Early): I started to work, save and invest early, and it has allowed me to retire from the corporate world at age 29. This post shows how important it is to get an early start in your finances, and how much it would cost you to get to the same point if you start 5 or 10 years later. If you are off to a late start and should have started yesterday, it is not too late to get on track, but today is the best day to take control of your finances.

VERSUS

  • What I Learned From a Lost Purse (Purse): Have you ever lost anything important? Recently my wife lost her purse and it was a brief nightmare for us! I believe that you can learn useful things from basically anything, so these are the lessons I learned from that lost purse.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • My Best Financial Tip (Tip): The best financial tip I received was given to me by my father.  In his teens, my father worked long hours after school and on weekends to help support his parents and family.  Without any formal financial training my father learned the value of a dollar very early on because funds were so scarce.  When you grow up with more brothers and sisters than digits on both hands you learn how to be frugal faster than most.  Read on to learn about the greatest financial tip I ever got and how it can be essential for your financial future.

VERSUS

  • Are We Headed For Another Great Depression? (Depression): America’s economy has been struggling for nearly five years now, and there’s a division among experts and laypeople alike as to whether this is a crisis that we’re on our way out of, or if the worst is yet to come.  Are we headed for the 21st century version of the Great Depression?  How would we know if we were?  What are the warning signs?  And what would happen to America if another large scale depression hit our shores?

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with Stage 3, taking the riders 146 km from Ajaccio to Calvi on the island of Corsica.  It’s another medium-mountains stage today, so it should be exciting! I’ll be sure to bring an update on the completed action when the other Stage 6 sprints go live later tonight.

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 5 – Saving-Investing Group – Posts 37-40

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 5th Stage (featuring posts from the “Saving/Investing” category of articles submitted) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

 

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

  • Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
  • In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

 

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post.Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 3rd for this Stage!

 

Intermediate Sprint #1

  • The Dow at 15,000 – Now What? (Dow): This post gives my perspective on the stock market and shares a story of mine that my broker advised me to hold off on putting my transferred 401k money back in the market when it was around 14,100.

VERSUS

  • How to Handle a Windfall (Windfall): It seems that just about every finance site in existence has at least one post about handling windfalls. But how many of these authors have firsthand experience in dealing with a significant windfall? Very few. That’s where this piece differs. I didn’t dream up a hypothetical list of things that you should do if/when you receive a windfall. Instead, I laid out the things that my wife and I did do when it happened to us.

 

Intermediate Sprint # 2

  • How to Pay Yourself First (First): Personal finance folks often throw around the term “pay yourself first.” It is a bit big-headed of us to assume you know how to do that. Here are some steps you can take to put the most popular finance advice to work.

VERSUS

  • Bond Market Forecast: The Interest Rate Paradox (Paradox): Everyone wants higher interest rates, but without the side effects. So if your investment search led you to higher yields the past few years, it might be riskier than you think.

 

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continued today with Stage 2, taking the riders 156 km from Bastia to Ajaccio on the island of Corsica.  It was a more hilly stage today and was quite exciting. The pack stayed together a lot of the time, with a breakaway of 5 riders getting off the front during the last few kilometers.

Jan Bakelants from Team Radioshack Leopard got off the front of the breakaway and held off the pack by only a single second at the very end of the day. That single second was also enough to secure him the leader’s Yellow Jersey as well! Nice!

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