Free Money News March 2019

March! Did it “come in like a lion” where you live? There are so many places in the U.S. being hit by heavy storms. Let’s hope things calm down and we can enjoy the onset of spring… but we’re definitely happy there is so much snow this year!

March isn’t a huge month for holidays but several are noteworthy: St. Patricks Day on the 17th, the Jewish celebration of Purim on March 21, and the Christian observance of Ash Wednesday on March 6.

March is a big month for sports! March Madness is upon us so get those brackets ready. “Selection Sunday” falls on the 17th and the “First Four” will be Tuesday, March 19 in Dayton, Ohio. Then the tournament is off and running on the 21rst. It all ends up with the Final Four in Minneapolis…

On a less exciting note, it’s time to start preparing your 2018 tax return. Lots of people may be in for a bumpy road as the 2017 tax law changes will be felt in this year’s return. What to do? Don’t put off getting started, seek tax help early, and see the updates noted in our March Free Money Highlights Grants for Personal Needs section:

If you live in or near Silicon Valley — or would like to — there are lots of new developments popping up that are focused on providing affordable housing for low income, disabled, seniors, and those who have been homeless. There’s also lots of promising activity in Seattle, financed by Microsoft to the tune of $500 million to alleviate the lack of affordable housing there. See the latest updates to Assistance for Rent for more details.

Downpayment Assistance: Ever wonder who actually gets it? Find out, and see what it could mean to you in the latest update about who gets Downpayment Assistance.

Hey, check out some real grants for small business. Grab your chance to win as much as $50,000 plus some in kind services. But don't wait — deadline to enter is March 25! Discover more in Grants for Business.

There are new resources for funding your business showing up all the time. New lenders are taking advantage of the internet and quick ways to determine your credit worthiness so they can move faster and more easily than banks. we report on one that can get you a small to big loan quickly and easily — all on an app! Discover more in the recently updated Small Business Financing Opportunities.

Did you know that families are leaving billions (yes, billions!) of dollars of financial aid on the table just because they (mistakenly) think they can’t qualify. Though it may seem like a bother to fill out the FAFSA , it really, really, really is worth it! Be sure to take a look at Federal Aid and get the facts — it’s worth your time!

OK folks, we think this one is amazing. A number of great schools are actually paying some incoming students to take a year off. Seriously! Grants are available to finance the program, and you can spend the year traveling, working on a project that is important to you or some other endeavor. And at at least one university “venture philanthropists” are putting in big money so that the program(s) can continue. This sounds like an awesome opportunitiy. Go right now and look at the February 2019 update to Grants for College.

Are you interested in finding scholarships? FastWeb and Finaid can be great places to start … and they can also be a bit overwhelming. If you’d like to find some scholarships that have less competition than others see our report in Scholarship InformationScholarship Information.

Remember Obama’s MyRA, an effort to increase the number of people who are saving for their retirement? It had some good aspects to it but never really caught on, for a variety of reasons. If you started one of those accounts, don’t despair. You can still roll it over to a standard Roth IRA. And you can get good recommendations about that in Obama’s MyRA: What It Means To You.

Hey, have you gotten your new Medicare card yet? You should have, and if you haven’t then you need to know what to do about it. It’s also important to know how to handle your card(s). Be sure to see some great advice in our review of healthcare.gov.

Need a car to get around, get to your job, take care of your family? There’s a new resource that could make a big difference in your life! It’s an alternative to owning a car and like so many new upstarts they’re taking advantage of technology and the internet to make things fast, easy and affordable. Discover more in Money for a Car.

If you’re procrastinating about seeing a dentist for you or your family, please take a look at Free Dental Care. The health of your teeth and gums is critical to the rest of your body — and brain!

Rather than spending a lot of time looking for grants that are right for you, you can actually get grant information to come directly to you — and it doest cost anything! Find out how to do this easily in our important update to Types of Grants andWhere to Find Them!

Are you tempted by Americas Got Funding? You might want to know a little more before you pay for something that might not actually help you much (if any). See our latest review of AmericasGotFunding.

Grants for Children? Does the idea sound crazy to you? There are actually some surprising sources for young people with particular interests or schools. See Grants for Kids and you might learn something new and very useful.

Important: Sunday, March 3 ushers in Daylight Savings Time. Yes, that means you have to “spring ahead” one hour on the clock —- and do it late the night before so your clocks are right when you wake up. And let’s not forget that March 20 marks the beginning of the 2019 Major League Baseball season — and the 150th anniversary of professional baseball, which started with the founding of the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds are the lucky team that now has Yasiel Puig — a Dodger for his whole career, ’til now. Play Ball!