Rockstar Rumble, Round 2, Posts 1-8

Here are the latest games in the second round of the 2018 Rockstar Rumble. We've listed each "game" (one post versus another) along with wording provided by the author when the post was submitted. Also listed is a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote. Be sure to vote for your favorites since you will help determine the winner! Criteria for the best article is what makes Rockstar content which includes these factors:

  • Starts with an interesting title
  • Includes unique content — we like posts that are edgy, feisty, funny, failure-focused, and super helpful
  • Easy to read
  • Positive/uplifting (vs. negative)

The voting will run for 48 hours. At that point, a winner will be named and will advance. You can follow the results in the brackets here. Please note, there is ONE VOTE PER PERSON. To be sure you see all games, click on the Rumble category link and scroll down. If you like great posts like these featured, you can subscribe to the Rockstar Finance weekday email and get the best personal finance articles delivered to your inbox. Today's games are brought to you by Mediavine, a full-service ad management solution for digital content creators. Here are today's games: GAME 1

  • How We Increased Our Annual Income From $0 to $160K to $400K+ (Income) - Poor new immigrants, who put ourselves through school, worked 2-3 jobs at the same time, barely had food to eat, lived in not so safe neighborhood surrounded by alcoholics, gang members, gamblers, phone sex operators, drug dealers/users,…But we were able to overcome the challenges, graduate college, get good jobs, start successful side gigs; and have been able to increase our income from $0 to $160K to $400,000+ and this post tells you how we did it.

VERSUS

  • Tax Cuts? Why Not Raise Your "Taxes" Instead? (Raise) - Everyone is feverishly reading news summaries and blog posts of the recently-passed tax bill. Most Americans will receive a tax cut, but perhaps they should impose a "tax increase" on themselves instead. This "personal Social Security system" is something both Republicans and Democrats can get behind.

[poll id="69"]   GAME 2

  • Know Thyself - Why I Am Scared to Travel Hack (Scared) - We have all heard about how great and easy travel hacking is. Alas for some of us what sounds good in theory causes major anxiety. I chronicle almost 20 years of trying to master credit cards and the lessons I've learned. A very personal take on a topic we've heard so much about.

VERSUS

  • Frugal Fun With Not A Box (And Other Fun Objects) (Box) - Kids are expensive-right? Well, they don’t always need to be. My three boys love playing with boxes, old pretzel containers, and other fun frugal things. Kids just don’t need expensive “stuff” to be happy.

[poll id="70"]   GAME 3

VERSUS

  • Less Stress and More Happiness (Stress) - An employee living paycheck to paycheck relies on their job for their livelihood. That job is at risk of being lost due to poor company performance or at the whim of one decision maker. This is my story of how being laid off has motivated me to achieve financial independence. When your financial needs are under your control, you will have less stress and more happiness!

[poll id="71"]   GAME 4

  • The Math Is the Easy Part (Math) - This insecure kid made terrible financial decisions in the pursuit of being cool. I had to make different choices to clean up that mess. Being different allowed me to create an amazing life free from money worries. I have plenty for the things that feed my soul since my soul has a reasonable appetite.

VERSUS

  • The Epic Battle Against the Ball Gag 401k (Gag) - One man's battle to bring peace and harmony to the retirement plans of a former company. With a little moxy, a lot of research and a little bit of luck, he changes the financial future of all the employees from here until eternity.

[poll id="72"]