Blog Review: The Simple Dollar

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The Simple Dollar is a personal finance blog written by Trent Hamm. It’s one of my favorite blogs to read.

When I originally wrote blogging is beautiful I talked about ‘being blown away’ by different blogs. Well I was specifically referring to The Simple Dollar.

After blogging for nearly five months now, I have an even greater appreciation for what he has accomplished. His blog came online in October of 2006 and since that time I don’t think he has missed a single day of posting. Double check his archive page for yourself.

Keys to success

In fact, most days he puts up multiple posts and from what I’ve read they are very high quality pieces. I guess that’s a big reason why he has acquired such a loyal following in a relatively short period of time. But there’s no secret formula to his success.

I remember him saying in a post that he works very hard to keep things operating at such a high level. He said, ‘it doesn’t come without sacrifice, having to get up in the middle of the night to write extra posts in order to make time for his kids during the day.’

I was struck by that statement because he makes it look so easy. But like all successful people, he has a vision of what he wants to accomplish and the work ethic to back it up.

I think everyone can relate, at least a little bit

Trent was a self professed “spending maniac” that was living way beyond his means. He used his credit cards to create a lifestyle he couldn’t afford. In April 2006 he went through a complete financial meltdown and actually details his whole story in The Road To Financial Armageddon.

I think everybody can relate to different parts of that story. For me, when he talks about the first taste of real money I related to much of what he went through. Having grown up in a middle class family I never had a sense of having a lot of money.

I can remember my mom giving me an allowance of $3 a day during high school. It wasn’t until I worked at Citigroup, in my mid to late 20’s, that all of a sudden I was making 5x what I made 2 years earlier. I had no experience dealing with this windfall of money.

I ended up buying luxury items I had little use for and ran up quite a bit of credit card debt. Like Trent, I felt the need to let everyone know I was doing well. I dined in the best restaurants, leased a BMW 330xi, and took lots of high priced trips.

Having money at an early age is certainly a recipe for disaster for most people. The question often becomes, after you’ve squandered it, what did you learn from the experience?

Lessons learned: Cents and Sense

Well, if you read the Simple Dollar, you’ll find out a whole lot about what Trent learned. And he has learned a lot. He delivers unique content that strikes a chord with many of his readers. Here’s a sampling of some of his stuff, articles that I enjoyed reading that I think will be very useful for my audience as well:

(Some of these posts were written in the last few weeks and some pieces are my favorite posts from his Best of tab over the past year.)

• Lying to Yourself About Money (and Anything Else) - this is a great article about keeping it real when it comes to your finances, as well as, your weight. It’s easy to draw a parallel between how people treat both of these situations.
• Nine Ways To Maximize Your Personal Hygiene Dollars - I like this piece because its so simple. I think people tend to overlook the simple things. They attempt to cut costs by removing more extravagant items and often bite off more than they can chew. Personal hygiene is a great place to start cutting your costs.
• How to Create A Nifty Visual Savings Goal Reminder - by creating a visual reminder it makes it easier to see the progress you’ve made toward a specific goal. When I was studying for the CFP exam I created a calendar and detailed my progress towards getting through each of the 89 sections. It helped to keep me motivated and build a head of steam.
• The Ten Most Important Things I’ve Learned About Money and Life In The Last Year - a fantastic list of very practical ideas that everyone can relate to. I especially like the section about preparing your own food. At first glance it seems like a stretch, but I have to admit I’m thinking of trying to bake my own bread some day soon.
• What Can I Do Today To Make Me Rich In The Future - again some great ideas that are very simple to follow. The great thing about many of his ideas, for me, is how easy they are to accomplish. Some of my favorite points are #5, #9 and #18. I like #5 where he recommends putting more air in your tires… priceless.
• The Art of the Thank You Note - My mother always wrote unique Christmas cards to each of my dad’s clients around Christmas time. I can remember her sitting in our kitchen with a heaping pile of holiday cards. Needless to say, it’s something I send each year to all my clients. I agree it has a very beneficial effect for all involved.
• Trimming the Fat: Forty Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Required Spending - another great list that you can apply to your everyday life. Pick and choose the ideas that make the most sense for your situation.
• One Thing You Can Do Today That Will Put You In Better Financial Shape Tomorrow - again a simple idea that’s right under your nose. Something I have been doing quite successfully as of late.

Well there’s enough to get you started.

As you can tell, I often point out the simplicity behind a lot of these pieces. I think that’s what makes this blog so effective. Trent communicates a lot of great ideas in plain English which I believe motivates a lot of folks to take action.

The Simple Dollar is a great resource that re-teaches you the importance of a dollar. If you read it regularly you can’t help but become a better saver or cost reducer (hope that’s a word- you get the point).

An Ideal Scenario

Much of what you can learn at the Simple Dollar can be directly applied to investing in your future. In a perfect world you can figure out the monthly savings needed to pay Roth conversion taxes, and then create those savings using a lot of the ideas from The Simple Dollar…

Tags: blogroll review, Personal finance