The Personal Finance Olympics is in full swing! As of today, check below to find out which writers are competing in the final heat this week. The gold medalist in the final competition wins a $1,000 American Express gift card and the ultimate bragging rights among peers.
Posts are listed under their respective categories in order of most votes to least. Remember, the top three articles in each category move on to the finals! Check back today to find out the final topic.
Is your article in the finals?
UPDATED: Monday, 7/30/12
Approaches to Building and Using Credit
Top 3 Finalists
1. Building a Strong Credit Report from the Beginning (Equifax)
2. The Effect of Student Loans on Your Credit Score (One Smart Dollar)
3. 3 Reasons Why American Credit Scores Dropping (Randy Mitchelson)
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- 2 Critical Requirements To Make Credit Card Use OK (Nathan W Morris)
- How to Build, and Use, Rockstar Credit (Beating Broke)
- Ladies Love Men With Nice Credit Scores (Financial Samurai)
- If You’re Drowning Under Bills, Who Should You Pay First? (Objective Wealth)
- Writing a Goodwill Letter to Improve Your Credit (Femme Frugality)
- Credit For a Cup of Coffee? (DINKS Finance)
- Five Lies About Your Credit Report (Canadian Finance Blog)
- Zero Percent Balance Transfer Cards Save You Money (Yes, I am Cheap)
- When Choosing a Credit Card With a Higher APR Makes Sense (My Bank Tracker)
- The True Cost of Credit Card Purchases (Thirty Six Months)
- Credit Building Credit Cards (Chief Family Officer)
- Finding the Best Credit Card Application for You (Card Wisdom)
- Nice Try, Credit Card Scammers! (Budgets Are Sexy)
- Blaming Your Credit Card Debt On Your Spouse (Money Reasons)
- 5 Tips on How to Improve Your Credit Score (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)
- The 7 Deadly Credit Sins You Don’t Want to Commit (LearnVest)
- My Student Line of Credit Disaster (GMBMFB)
- How to Improve Your Credit Score (Faith and Finance)
- Why Are Credit Cards So Bad? (Zero Passive Income)
- Don’t Close These Credit Cards (Rich Credit Debt Loan)
- Should You Pay Off Your Credit Card In Full? (The Truth About Credit Cards)
- Do’s and Don’t When Calling Creditors (MaryandMoney)
- 10 Ways to Fix Your Credit (Young Adult Finances)
- How to Build and Maintain a Strong Credit Score (Matt About Money)
- I Raised My Credit Score From 513 to 800 (20s Money)
- Rejected For a Card? Understanding a Credit Card Denial Letter and Your Options (Credit Shout)
- What Is a Good Credit Score – Understanding Credit Ratings & Ranges (Money Crashers)
- I Love Credit Cards (Krant Cents)
- Credit Cards – The Constant Balancing Act (Sustainable Life Blog)
- The Effect of FICO Credit Scores on Wealth Creation (Frugal Toad)
- Make Sure to Review Your Credit Card Statement (Squirrelers)
- How to Build a Better Credit Profile (MoneyHacker)
- Credit Cards – Close ‘em Shred ‘em & Forget ‘em! (Debt Free Adventure)
- Do I Need A Store Credit Card? (oXYGen Financial)
Cutting-Edge Banking Technology
Top 3 Finalists
1. Changing Your Life Now for the Future (Planwise)
2. Where to Find Help with Household Budgeting (Planting Money Seeds)
3. Great Mobile Apps to Help You Manage Your Finances (Equifax)
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- Keep Your Finances On Track with the Help of Technology (One Frugal Girl)
- Introducing Budgetable Deals – Deals Linked To Your Bank (Budgetable)
- Brilliant Money Transfer Services Getting Cheaper And Easier (Randy Mitchelson)
- Crowdfunding, Crowdinvesting and P2P Lending (Social Lending Network)
- Online Tools to Help You Manage Your Money (DINKS Finance)
- SaveUp Review – Enter to Win Prizes + 100 Credits for Signing Up (Three Thrifty Guys)
- Could Easier Payment Methods Lead to More Spending and Debt? (Stupid Cents)
- ableBanking: Calling All Those Who Are Saving to Give (PT Money)
- 6 Free Financial Resources & Tools to Improve Your Finances (Master the Art of Saving)
- 10 Top Personal Finance Apps (We Are Living on a Budget)
- SpringCoin.com Review (Credit Card Chaser)
- Sports Gambling and Live Markets (Don’t Quit Your Day Job)
- Ally Bank Review – Online Bank With No Minimum Balance Required (Money Crashers)
- Turn Your Compulsions into Savings with SaveUp (My Bank Tracker)
- SaveUp Brings the Fun While Rewarding You for Saving (Lazy Man and Money)
- Use ING Sub Accounts to Focus Your Savings Goals (Faith and Finance)
- Reviews and Thoughts on Account Aggregation: Mint vs Hello Wallet vs Yodlee et al (Girls Just Wanna Have Funds)
- Did You Know? (The Jenny Pincher)
- Mint.com iPhone App: My Most Important Mobile App (Buck Inspire)
- How Has the Internet Impacted Bank Accounts (Invest With Passion)
- Mint.com: An Easier Way to Track Household Expenses (Pocket Your Dollars)
- How to Use Twitter to Improve Your Finances (Money Cactus)
Best Ways to Earn and Save Money
Top 3 Finalists
1. Stealth Savings: Sneaky Ways to Fatten Your Account (Donna Freedman)
2. Does Working from Home Help You Save on Car Insurance? (CoverHound)
3. Extreme Couponing: How to Extreme Coupon in the Real World (Penny Pinchin Mom)
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- A Disciplined Spending Plan (Retire Happy)
- How to Get a Red Carpet Look That Rivals Adele’s for Under $50 (Audrey Kitching)
- Top 10 Uncovered Expenses in a PCS (Got HarMoney?)
- How to Get the Best Deals at Garage Sales (What Mommy Does)
- How To Increase Sales For Your Small Business By Potty Training Your Child (My Wife Quit Her Job)
- Saving a Down Payment for a House (Work Save Live)
- Money Management: Ways to Diversify Your Income (Equifax)
- 50 Ways To Make Money: Maximizing, Creating And Increasing Your Income (Bible Money Matters)
- 4 Smart And Free Work At Home Online Tools (Randy Mitchelson)
- How to Use Your Smartphone to Save Money When Traveling (Careful Cents)
- What’s a Dell? It’s a Vacation Destination! (Our Journey to Zero)
- Start Every Day with a $100 Bill In Your Pocket — and the $100 Bill Challenge (Nathan W. Morris)
- Monthly Grocery Sale Cycle & When to Stockpile! (Living In Financial Excellence)
- How to Avoid These Easily Avoidable Fees (Bargaineering)
- 7 Simple Ways to Save Money Now (Cheapism)
- Even Small Amounts Have a Big Impact When Prepaying the Mortgage (Sense to Save)
- 7 Financial Hacks to Avoid (The Free Financial Advisor)
- Want to Earn More Money? Develop a Marketable Skill (Planting Money Seeds)
- Eating on a Budget 101: College Crash Course (One Smart Dollar)
- How to Start Your Own Business with Little Money (Narrowbridge Finance)
- 5 Dumb Ways to Spend Money on Your Kids (Bankrate)
- How to Find More Money Without Cutting Expenses (Kylie Ofiu)
- Could You Survive Another Recession? (DINKS Finance)
- How would you invest $10K? (Vix Money)
- How to Save Money with Social Media (The Centsible Life)
- 101 Ways to Earn Extra Money from Side Hustle (One Cent at a Time)
- Making Money Ain’t Glamorous (Afford Anything)
- Lucrative Ways to Make Money Online Without Owning a Website or Blog (The Extra Money Blog)
- I’ve Won the Lottery! Yet I Can’t Claim My Winnings Until 2042 (Objective Wealth)
- Should You Let Your Kids Buy Stupid Things? (Stupid Cents)
- Go Broke to Earn Big and Save Big! (Financial Samurai)
- ETF Investing – Low Maintenance and Stellar Returns (My University Money)
- How to Earn Extra Cash With Ordinary Stuff (You Have More Than You Think)
- Yo Sucka! You Wanna Buy Stuff? (Wealth Artisan)
- 7 Creative Ways to Save Money Every Month (Moneyning)
- Warren Buffett’s Top 5 Tips For Investing (College Investor)
- Tips for Living on One Income (Coupons and Freebie Mom)
- How To Save When You Were Born To Spend (Money Under 30)
- Frugal Options for Renting a Truck (Free by 50)
- Slash Your Monthly Food Bill With These Six Simple Tips (Bargain Moose)
- Tips for Savings Up and Paying For Vacation (MoneyPlanSOS.com)
- Battling Shopping Addiction: Making Behavioral Changes (My Broken Coin)
- Long Term Savings is Not Cool (Bruce Bucks)
- 6 Cheap Places To Retire Abroad (50 Plus Finance)
- Ways to Take Advantage of Back to School Sales — Even if You Don’t Have Kids (Frugal Confessions)
- Simple Steps for Stocking Up (Monroe on a Budget)
- 43 Ideas for Making Money Over the Summer (We Are Living on a Budget)
- 5 Reasons Why Every Student Should Attend Community College First (Study Mode)
- Ask 1099 Mom: How Do I Work From Home With No Skills? (1099 Mom)
- Mindless Ways to Save a Million (Julie Rains)
- Is a Costco Membership Worth It? (GroceryAlerts.ca)
- Selling Your Stuff Without a Garage Sale (Northern Cheapskate)
- How Car Owners Can Save Money and Stick to a Budget (American Debt Project)
- Cut Your Own Hair and Save $240 a Year (Thousandaire)
- How to Look Good This Summer on a Budget (Frugal Beautiful)
- Using Cash for Lunch is Paying Off (Couple Money)
- 31 Days to Better Finances — Day 16: Create a Found Money Account (Where’s My Trust Fund?)
- Why You Should Be Careful When You Sell Things on Craigslist (Debt and the Girl)
- What The Hell is Wrong With Some People? Emergency Funds vs. The Smart Phone (My Journey to Millions)
- Frugal Fast Food (Tight Fisted Miser)
- Lottery Winnings (Don’t Quit Your Day Job)
- How To Compare Online Brokers (Novel Investor)
- How $7 a Day Can Change Your Whole Summer (Wellness On Less)
- Building My Portfolio for Retirement, with Dividends and Bonds (Dividend Ninja)
- Top 4 Ways to Slash Your Auto Insurance Premium Payments (Saving to Invest)
- How to Make Extra Money Fast (Faith and Finance)
- 3 Reasons why Everyone Needs to Save at Least 10 Percent of their Income (Hope to Prosper)
- My 100x Day Push Up Failure (Budgets Are Sexy)
- Free Mobile Broadband for Watching Ads (Help Me to Save)
- Frugality or Decluttering, or Both (brip blap)
- Benefits of Slow and Steady Investing — A Tortoise and Hare Fable (Jumbo CD)
- The Case Against Frugality (Sound Mind Investing)
- Easy Investing With Computershare (The Passive Income Earner)
- The Money Hiding in Your House: Textbooks (The Family CEO)
- Pros and Cons for Full-Time Blogging (Passive Income to Retire)
- How to Save Money on Health Care (Frugal Toad)
- The Ultimate Guide to Writing, Promoting, and Selling an eBook (Grad Money Matters)
- What My Parents Taught Me About Finance (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)
- Save Gas – The Financial and Health Benefits of Walking or Biking to Work (Sustainable Personal Finance)
- The End of Retirement as We Know It? (The Writers Coin)
- A Ridiculously Simple Way to Build Wealth (Financial Mentor)
- 5 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Graduated (Christian Personal Finance)
- How-to Stop Spending All of Your Money on Food (Studenomics)
- Every Single Way I Use to Make Money Online is Listed Here (The Financial Blogger)
- Get Others to Pay Your Fees (Young and Thrifty)
- How to Save Money on the Cost of Banking (Invest Internals)
- Quick Tip: Fixing Sneakers (Frugal Upstate)
- 9 Ways for Slackers to Make Money Playing Games (The Penny Hoarder)
- Save Money Cycling (My Money Counselor)
- Make Some Money: 25+ Easy Ways to Earn Extra Income (Good Financial Cents)
- Is It Too Late To Begin Saving For Retirement? (oXYGen Financial)
- Fix It or Trash It? When to Toss or Keep Your Appliances, Electronics, and More (The New Home Ec)
- Save Early And Save Often For College Expenses (Cheap Scholar)
- How to Save & Invest Money for College (Money Crashers)
- 20 Ways To Break Your TV Habit and Save A Fortune (Saving Advice)
- How to Fix Your Finances without More Money (Len Penzo)
- Pushing the Frugality Limit — What Do You Do to Save? (Money Help For Christians)
- Introducing The Remora Method: Earn a Side Income of $500/Week (or More) (Passive Panda)
- What To Do When You Can’t Afford The Bills (How I Save Money)
- Delayed Gratification: A Strategy to Curb Over-Spending and Secure a Sound Financial Future (Prairie Eco-Thrifter)
Strategies for Getting out of Debt
Top 3 Finalists
1. Don’t Throw it Out Until You’ve Smelled It (Donna Freedman)
2. How Getting out of Debt is Like Training for the Olympics: Strategies to Crush Debt Once and For All (The Jenny Pincher)
3. Are You Really Reducing Your Debt? (Canadian Finance Blog)
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- SOS Debt Management: Is Debt Consolidation Worth It? (The Money Principle)
- Create a Spending Plan for Your Family (Equifax)
- 6 Ways to Easily Reduce Debt (Kylie Ofiu)
- Getting Out Of Debt: Top Strategies, Programs And Ideas To Help You Get Back In The Black (Bible Money Matters)
- Are You Rationalizing Your Way Into Debt? (Beating Broke)
- How To Stay Poor In However Many Easy Steps (Control Your Cash)
- Digging Up: A 7-Step Path to Debt Freedom (The Finance Geek)
- Show Me the Money — to Pay Down Debt (Financial Finesse)
- 51 Ways to Get Out of Debt (One Cent at a Time)
- What I’ve Gained from Paying off Debt (Daily Money Shot)
- How YouTube Helped Me Pay Off $9,360 in Student Loans (Empowered Dollar)
- Pay Off Your Credit Cards Sooner (DINKS Finance)
- The Fastest Way to Get Out of Debt (The Debt Myth)
- 7 Ways To Pay Off Your Student Loans Quickly (20s Finances)
- The 3 Types of Debt, and How to Get Out (So Over Debt)
- Financial Products That Keep the Middle Class Middle Class (MoneyPlanSOS.com)
- How I Paid Off $17,000 of Debt in 1 Year (Blonde on a Budget)
- 6 Steps To Debt Freedom (Figueroa Financial)
- 10 Reasons You’re in Debt — And What to Do to Get Out of It (American Debt Project)
- 4 Reasons Why I Will Not File For Bankruptcy (KNS Financial)
- Kicking Butt and Taking Names: Finding $ to Apply Towards Debt (Thrifty And Fit)
- How to Get Out of Debt: The Best and Worst Strategies (Faith and Finance)
- 5 Things I Learned About Student Debt in College (Frugal Beautiful)
- How Less Debt Equals Cheaper Insurance (Mrs. Nespy’s World)
- 31 Days to Better Finances — Day 16: Create a Found Money Account (Where’s My Trust Fund?)
- Use Debt Wisely (Family Money Values)
- Simplest Ways to Become Debt Free (MoneyHacker)
- Debt Elimination: The Pros and Cons of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps (Len Penzo)
- Get Out of Debt While You’re Young (One Frugal Girl)
- How to Avoid the Credit Card Balance Transfer Trap (Credit Card Balance Transfer Offers)
- President Obama Only Paid Off His Student Debt 8 Years Ago (One Money Design)
- Now Is the Time To Prepare (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)
- Employ Practical Spending To Avoid Debt (Invest it Wisely)
- The Main Reason People Can’t Get Out of Debt (Life and My Finances)
- Practical Steps for Getting Out of Debt (Matt About Money)
- 10 Tips to Help Parents Stay Out of Debt (Live Real Now)
- Should I Pay Off Debt or Save Money First? (Money Crashers)
- Finding More Money to Pay Down Loans (Couple Money)
- Get Out of Debt Now! The Complete Guide (Financial Mentor)
- Savings Tip: Make Time Your Bitch (Budgets Are Sexy)
- Snowflaking: 30 Ways to Snowflake Your Debt Away (Saving Advice)
- What Debt Really Does to You (Rate Catcher)
Did you make it to the finals? We’re announcing finalists today, July 30! Check back shortly to find out what the Finals topic will be.
Thanks to everyone who competed and good luck to the finalists!
