Dude are you going to buy smash bros. brawl?

Here’s the sitch:

1. 30K debt on a line of credit
2. 110K principal owing on a mortgage for a $400K house
3. one steady income, one not so much

What would you do — refinance mortgage to roll credit line debt or leave it as is?

I’m looking to open an ING Electric Orange Account and would like the free $25 from a referral. Could you provide one?

Ok, you have kids, a full time job, hobbies like blogging and cooking, you play video games, and you manage your home and finances. How do you find time to do it all??

I am single with no children and cannot seem to be able to carve out time for blogging and other more productive hobbies.

Trent,
I’m a new reader, and might have missed this in one of your early posts, but when you realized that you needed to turn around your own personal fiscal Titanic, what did you do to persevere when the going got tough? (You had to experience some tough moments, right?)

How’s the cooking blog coming along?

Makeup: necessary expense of both time and money for ladies who want a decent job?

In other words, can I be taken seriously by prospective employers for a job above the service industry if I don’t wear makeup?

How is the decision to leave your full-time job affecting the idea of having a baby #3?

I also think your wife should write a guest post about being the partner of someone obsessed with personal finance and how that affects her day to day life. My spouse wants company. :)

To what Christian denomination do you belong? Is it one in which you were raised? Are you closely aligned with its “personal finance” doctrines?

This might be a divisive one, but which presidential candidate/nominee do you support and why?

If you don’t feel comfortable sharing that, then in general, what qualities are most important to you in deciding who gets your vote?

I have encountered people who get financially locked in to less-than-frugal contracts, like for cable TV, or cell phones. They’re already living paycheck to paycheck, and then when they’re forced to cut things back, they’re unable to cancel those things because of the huge fees if they break the contract. What could these folks do differently? (I’m still wondering when cable and cellphones became “necessities”, but that’s another question for another day!)

How much did you and your wife spend on your wedding? Where did you honeymoon?

Who is your cooking blog going to be geared for? Do you know of a website that has recipes that explains things in detail for those of us who don’t know anything about cooking? Example would be a recipe that says to saute something. What does that mean? I want the recipe to explain saute!

This is fun! I might think of more…. :)

Can I have 20,000 of your subscribers?

Real Question: what has been your game plan for growing your blog as far as marketing, etc.?

I write a personal finance blog as well, and have over the past year. I’ve been reading The Simple Dollar since before I began Sabrina’s Money Matters and wanted to ask you…do you feel a responsibility to your readers, a protective nature even? I find that when I see a scam on a commercial or hear one on the radio, I immediately want to bust it on SMM - do you have the same protective nature regarding your readers’ money?

Why are so many people aiming their retirement to ensure they leave behind money for their heirs?

Funnily enough my qn is about a gaming system. I want to purchase a Nintendo Wii system but I have heard they are out of stock. What comes with the Wii pack and where should I start my research?
ps: we are not crazy spenders and this is my first attempt at a game system though I play free online puzzle games.

Awesome idea, paidtwice. I’d love to read a guest post from Mrs. Trent!

What are some tips to resist peer pressure to spend when in college?

Most of my friends go out often, shop a lot, have lovely new furniture, etc. We do do free activities once in a while, but most of the time I end up staying home because I cannot afford to follow them. This can get quite depressing even if I know I’m doing the right thing staying within my budget while they will end up with huge student loans.

Do you ever feel like quitting the whole blog thing for good?

I second Sara.

I asked you this question once before Trent - how many of you are there? I would LOVE to see a blog post that walks through your activities on a normal weekday/weekend.

now that you left your job, can you tell us what you did for a living? What was your title? Also where did you go to college?

I am 36 years old and am quite a risk taker (but not foolishly). What should the percentage of my investments pie should be for risky, middle of the road, low risk?

Is Ben one of the Oceanic 6? What about Aaron? :)

I am in great financial shape and looking to buy a home in NV, one of the worst areas for foreclosures and short sales in the country. We are practically begging to buy a home, and the banks have an infinite amount of inertia to looking at offers on short sales, which are 95% of the homes. Any advice?

What I’d like to know is why won’t Jack look at Kate’s baby!!

I have a question that has been nagging at me for a little while. I understand how compounding interest works, but I don’t understand how compounding in 401k’s work. I have around $45,000 in my 401K in stocks, but how does that compound? If the value of the stocks goes up, the value of my 401K goes up, but I don’t see how it compounds? Or doesn’t a 100% allocation to stocks compound? Thanks.

Why are you not publishing my comments? I think they are harmless & modest…just curious to know the reason.

A guest post from your wife would be great to see!!

Anyone who is married knows that support from the spouse is crucial to success in the decisions we make. In what ways does your wife support your new full-time career as a writer? Day to day what does she do to help make this blog a success?

How much was your monthly income cut when you decided to temporarily get rid of the ads?

How much is enough — at what amount of savings/net worth will you effectively retire, even if you continue to pursue activities that provide residual income after that?

And, how long before you expect to accumulate that amount?

Okay, you asked for questions. This isn’t really a personal one, but I actually want your advice! My husband has a 401K from a company he worked for 10 years ago. When he left we didn’t roll it over because we moved out of state and were just trying to keep head above water while we got situated. We then went overseas for a few years. All along he has not worked for a company that he could roll it over to. Now, I am thinking that maybe that wasn’t necessary. But now he is working for a company with a 401K plan that he could roll it over to, should we do that? Or do we roll it over to something else? Or do we just leave it where it is? I have too many questions and don’t know where to start so it just sits. Help!

What resources or advice do you have for those attempting to achieve early retirement?

What’s your favorite money maxim from an older relative?

What is your favorite Wii game?
How do you read so fast?

If money was not an issue, where would you live?

Where do you think the best country for retirement would be?

Do you think there will be Social Security in 30 years?

Do you consider yourself happy? Did you when you were in debt?

What do you think is the best thing you did to increase your subscribers?

Now that we can make diamonds (better than mother nature), do you think once we speed up the process that it could impact the world economy? If so, would this be good or bad?

So how are the book revisions? BTW, is it a personal finance book, or do you have a creative writing side? I’m looking forward to seeing “Trent On Money” or “Bimbos of the Death Sun” or whatever it is! :-)

Hi, Trent.

What is your health insurance plan now that you are self-employed?

So here’s what I’d like to know.. What do you do when you know you’re about to go into debt and have a fear of it? My husband and I have no debt, good savings accounts established, a nice emergency fund, we’re well underway in our retirement planning, and he’s about to start dental school (200K). How do you conquer a fear of debt?

1. Are you now also going to try writing fiction, like you mentioned wanting to do ideally? If not yet, why not or when?

2. Do you ever imagine your life if you’d been somewhat better about money (so you never had your meltdown), but then didn’t have this rebound effect to become so pointedly frugal?

3. Does this high productivity stem from your financial meltdown (as with your frugality), or were you already this productive before then?

When are you taking the family to Walt Disney World?

150,000 combined salary
150,000 in IRA/401K
250,000 mortgage (20 year, just refi’d) on a 350,000 house
No car payment, CC debt
20% contribution into 401k every year (with 6% match in each)
300/mo per kid into 529
2200/mo for daycare, will contribute this amoount for each child for they year they are in kindergarden
Both 30 years old

See any reason why we couldn’t retire at 50, if all things continue?

Hey Trent,

My wife and I have about $14,000 in credit card debt. She doesn’t know about it either. It is my secret and I am trying to get it to go away. Most of it is from my college years and early in our marriage when things were a little tight.

How do I bring the topic up softly?
I want her to know so we can really snowball it down, but I am freaked out about telling her.

Our marriage is awesome! No problems at all, I can see this becoming a problem if I don’t tell her, or a problem when I do tell her.

Tips, advice, comments, concerns, thoughts?…etc

I love the Lost posts! (My theory, somewhat cryptic to try to avoid spoiling for the holdouts: J won’t look at the baby because he’s Aaron, as in Claire, and there’s some trauma related to why A is with K and not C.)

Question: when I’m paying ahead on debt do I have to specify that the overage be applied to principal? I don’t think so, because it must be lowering the amount owed, therefore the next time interest is calculated it’ll reflect the lower balance. But I’d hate to be wrong and can’t figure out the answer.

regarding working from home: how do you get things done with constant interruption from kids / babies? My 4mo baby does not allow me to free up my time for more than 15-30 minutes, and for me it is difficult to work efficiently since I have to warm up my work every time there is interruption, and I have to interrupt my work once i become really hot at work. Help!

I would like to see advice geared toward people just starting out of college/grad school. What did you do right? What should you have done that would have made a big difference? My husband and I want to work a lot at first and then cut back. What’s the best way to make that happen?

Do you have advice for the first job? If you have many prospects, what’s the best job to take from a personal finance point of view? Nobody ever seems to advise taking the job that pays the most…

I am an engineer and just switched jobs. My previous employer asked me if I would be willing to work on a consultant basis for them and I would like to do so.

What is involved in this from a financial or legal standpoint? Of course, I know you are not a lawyer but you do have your own business so you probably have some ideas.

what is a typical weekly menu in your house?

I’d like to know some suggestions for what to do when your employer doesn’t offer a 401(k) plan (I’m working on them) but you and your spouse make too much combined to contribute to a Roth IRA. Thanks!

What are the “must play” PC games of the last year? The last 5 years? Of all time?

What would you do if your kids turn out not to be as financially responsible as you are? Would you help bail them out of debt? Give them a loan when they are broke and have no rent money? Give in to one of their expensive wants?

How do you convince your siblings that they need turn their financial situations around without coming accross as a self-righteous jerk?

Ok, you asked:

1. What’s your net worth?

2. Who did you support in the recent Iowa caucusses?

3. Who are you supporting for president?

4. What’s your monthly income from this blog?

5. Someone already asked about religion, but I’ll go deeper — do you have a statement of faith or something you believe in (in detail)?

;-)

1. Will there be coupons for TSD subscribers to buy your book…so we can live frugally :-D haha

2. What did you major in and what was your previous job before you left it?

3. How much was your student loan debt and what is your advice for those looking at ~60 thousand after undergrad alone?

I’ve recently (couple weeks) started reading your blog, and find it very ‘hands on’. Thank you!

I have 2 questions:-
1. You advise to pay down mortgage before investing in Index-funds. However, elsewhere, the consensus seems to be to maintain some mortgage for it’s tax benefits. Have you done research to arrive at a break-even point when paying down mortgage is equal to investing in Index funds? Eg. I just got my tax refund; my mortgage is the only debt I have; should I put it towards mortgage (currently paying 6% interest on it) or should I buy Index funds (historically 10% return over the long term)?

2. I would like to start a side-business or have a ‘paying hobby’. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but haven’t found enough information. Can you suggest resources for brainstorming for ideas?

Cheers

I think from your posts about college you started down one major and did like it and switch half way through to one that you like better. My question is what where you two degrees you study for in college?

Also, what does you wife do. I know she works but doing what?

thanks,
m-

My Question:

What in the world were you thinking opening Pandora’s Box!?

I realize there are a lot of duplicates above, but WHOA! Good luck man!

Trent,
Where do you stand on the issue of tax returns and what to claim? I claim 0, because I’m more likely to be responsible financially with a lump sum than a little bit extra each pay check. I know some people hate the idea of giving Uncle Sam a tax free loan.

What’s your take?

1. Do you think investing in stocks is equivalent to gambling ? Yes/No/Why/Why not ?

2. While investing in mutual/managed funds, Do you believe in the dictum “Do not try to time the market, but spend time in the market (meaning, stay on investing in the long term)”. ?

3. What do the terms “long term”, “short term”, “medium term” mean in the context of investing in stocks ? I mean, how many years is long/short/medium ?

4. Do you agree with this view : Nobody has actually figured out how the markets work, everyone is still studying heavily but has not actually figured how the machine works and much of the talk about the predictions about markets is just vain talk, and what turns out to be true is only by fluke or chance ?

5. In terms of smartness in money matters, what would you think is one important difference between you and Warren Buffett ?

6. Do you agree with the view presented in the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, about how owning a house can be more of a liability than of an asset ?

7. This is on the article of making your own bread. Where do you think is the line between self-reliance and outsourcing, making and buying ? Washing your own clothes and pressing them .vs. giving it out to laundry? LoL. Why didn’t you grow your own wheat/maize to make your bread ? It would have been simple, sweet, self-reliant and of course, I am sure, you would have found an argument to show how it can be cost-effective (like owning a small wheat farm and co-operatively distributing the wheat to all like-minded breadmakers in the community). :) :)

8. Do you think America is losing its family values fabric (I mean, family life, marital life, care for elders, togetherness getting thoroughly messed up) because of too much focus on moneymaking ? If yes, what are the primary reasons for such a degradation in family happiness ?

9. Can you name 5 countries that are not as rich as America but you think are happier than America and 5 reasons you think it is so ?

10. Your views on frugality and self-reliance have commonalities with Gandhi. Were you influenced by his writings ?

11. Don’t you think to review one book a week is a little too much ? I mean, I am sure, often you have to read “some” book because you have to review “something” because your bloggers will expect and you have set the compulsion for yourself ? The flip side being, you might have had to choose a book, which you actually didn’t feel like reading, probably you thought of reading philosophy or sports this week but you had to skip that because of the compulsion Or you fast-tracked a book, without deeply thinking about its contents. Would you be better off to set the standard as “one month a book” and therefore read books better and review them better and probably able to read other books apart from personal finance ?

12. Do you think too much money might be a hindrance to true love, between life partners, between friends, between brothers, between parents and wards ? What might be the pitfalls we need to avoid for this not to happen ? What’s your advice to people getting rich but losing out their loved ones on money issues ?

13. Do you think, as an absolute rule, for individuals, “Zero Debt” and “Strictly live within your means” is a better philosophy to live by than by availing credit ? Or would you moderate this by saying “Avail credit that you can afford” ?

14. You must have heard in your history lessons about “Reasons for the decline of Roman empire” and so on. If you were to write a futuristic piece, say in a history book 1000 years from now, on “Reasons for the decline of the American civilization”, what would the top 5 reasons be ?

15. The current wave for ideal economics school seems to be capitalism and more capitalism. What would you think the next wave might be, I mean, just in case people give up capitalism after suffering its demerits if any, what would they take up next ?

One credit card from 8 years ago, original line of credit less than $500. Card was closed 6 years ago and the fees from the collection agency have pushed the total to over $1500 dollars. I want this card either paid off or removed from my record somehow, but am not sure how to go about it. Do not want to pay over $1000 in collection fees, and do not want to reactivate the negative impact on my credit report by talking to the collection company without researching this first. Is there a way to have them remove the fees to a more reasonable amount, or forget the debt since it’s so old at this point? Also if I pay it off, can I ask them to remove the black mark on my credit? WA state if that helps.

What motivates you everyday ?

I’m 28 and just finally opening my eyes to my bad debt situation. I have about $1,000 on credit cards and about $4,000 that has been charged off by the companies because I stopped paying - should I contact them to begin repayment or wait two or three years until it drops off my credit report?

I’m 26, graduating with a JD/MBA in May. Starting a job in June. Company match on 401k is 6%, should I max it out or put my money somewhere else?

Have you done any research on the financial and time cost/benefits of cloth diapers? Especially along the lines of getting quality products that can be used through 2 or 3 kids?

I am going to be getting married soon.

We will start out with roughly $70K in debt. 50K in my student loans, 20K in her CC debt.

My salary is going to be $52K, but with obligations I’m going to have very little left over to apply to debt.

This is with cutting out frivolous stuff.

Blogs are not an easy way to make extra money, as I’m sure you know. You work very much at getting what you do.

How would you recommend making extra money, with a job that has a very demanding workload?

I can fix computers, but if I went back into doing that, I’d have no life. No good way to start a marriage.

I desperately want to get out of debt, but I see no way how.

I have about $3K in savings, for the emergency fund… so I’ve got a start…

What are your thoughts on http://www.Mint.com to track multiple credit cards?

Do I really *need* to use coupons in order to frugal?

What are the some of the other personal finance blogs you would recommend from around the world (ex-USA)? I live in the states, but having come from Australia and travelled Europe, I feel there are tons of great sites/blogs out there (I’d like to think mine would make the list from Australia). I think Get Rich Slowly did a post on this but it would be interesting to get your opinion in a post down the line.

cheers,
Andy

Americans are confronting the plummeting dollar, monumental levels of national and personal debt, foreclosures, bankruptcy, unemployment, skyrocketing gas and food prices, and the list goes on. Do you think we will experience a short-term recession or something inconceivably worse like another Great Depression? I know this is a “sky is falling” worst-case scenario but what do you think? Depressions usually occur in 60 year cycles so by that standard we’re overdue for one…

Hey Trent, awesome blog!

I saw a few posts back you commented on financial planning for self-employment. I hope you can help me out with this, because ive never been able to find a good answer. I work for the man during the day and run my own business at night. I have maxed out my Roth IRA and 401(k) for my day job.

Is there any pre-tax retirement vehicle I can use to invest money from my night job and lower my business (and therefore my AGI)? Can I start a solo 401k even tho I have a funded 401k thru work? What about a SEP IRA? Can I invest in a SEP IRA even tho my Roth is maxed?

Thanks for your help! Great blog…

Do you believe that parents should pay their kids way through college?

It seems to me that most parents set up college funds for their children but personally I feel that kids need to shoulder at least part of the expense themselves through scholarships or loans.

Ditto the requests for a post from your wife.

My biggest financial woes are family-related (My husband’s side seems to believe that money = love. They pout if we don’t spend massive amounts of money on them at every holiday. We always remember birthdays, but don’t spend much; a sibling who forgets but makes it up with lavish gifts is deemed the “better” child.) I’d love a post on working around these issues without damaging relationships for my kids.

Do you and your wife have arguments about money? Ever? What about?

Trent,
I might be an older version of yourself. I am in my late forties and like you had a lot to learn about money and investing when I was young. Long story short, met my wife 11 years ago and together we have accomplished the following:
1. Mortgage paid off.
2. No credit card debt.
3. 500,000 in Roth IRAs,401K,SEP IRA,Mutual Funds Money market Fund.
4. Both vehicles paid off.
5. No kids. (Moved out. Thank Goodness)
6. Income-Wife 40k Me 60k.
7. Net worth 900K
My wife is a nurse and loves her job. I work in the wholesale field and want to move on to something that makes me happy.

What would you do??

P.S. Love reading your blog and all the posts.

Hi Trent! Congrats about quitting your job. I’m so excited to hear about what happens. I have a lot of faith in you!

Here’s my question. I am in my late twenties and would like to buy a house in the next 3-5 years. I’ve been contributing to my IRA regularly and maxing out my contribution. I know that I could use IRA funds for a 1st time home purchase five years from my deposit. Is this the best choice for savings? Is there another path you would recommend?

How do you keep coming with such great posts? Do you ever feel scared as to what will happen when there isn’t anything more to write about personal finance, especially given the slew of PF blogs out there?

What is your absolute favorite frugal recipe?

would you discourage your children from choosing fields of study that traditionally have been lower paying if that is what they loved? art, music, theater, writing(!), etc

@ susan. I can tell you that in the previews for next week’s episode on thursday you’ll most likely realize who the oceanic 6 are.

Here is a question you will probably NOT ever see in this forum.

I am a religious Sister, have been for 30 years, and I am considering leaving the convent. (I still love God, still love my Church, but I think God is calling me to something else and I’ll still use my gifts and talents for others.)I want to know if I can live a modest, but decent life on what I will have if I leave. I hope to live modestly and be able to retire by 70 or younger and travel a bit. I already know how to live frugally and on a budget! But, I would want some money to help others, being free enough to be generous, and do some things with my friends.

Here is the data:

age 54, hope to retire by 70 or younger
current salary = $65K (which I currently do not keep or spent; I give it to my Order. If I leave, I keep it, of course. I get about a 4% raise every year.)
TIAA: about 74K in the traditional plan
Inheritance from my family that I can use:
house: about 250K
stock: about 4K if sold
matured treasury bonds to be transferred to me soon: about 20K cashed
cash: about 15K
one CD: 22K, getting a very stupid low interest.
no debts of any kind yet
great credit rating - have had credit cards
Social security is a mess because the Sisters only put in the bare minimum so, as of TODAY, I will get $680/mo. Of course, I have NO idea how they determine what your social security is. I heard it is based on the last ten years of your working life.

I hope you can help with this question.

Thanks for writing this column; I have been reading it for a year now and it is helping me become less clueless.

I’m about to sell my first house (settlement is next week). I’ll come away with about $180,000 free and clear from that sale. I have a home equity line of credit balance of $147,000 on my new house (part of the down payment) that I was planning on paying off with the proceeds from the sale of my old house. The interest rate on the LOC is pretty low: prime minus 0.25 (currently 5.75% and possibly going lower). Is there any reasonably safe investment where I can return more than I would be paying in interest on the LOC?

Another question involving this house sale: Assuming I pay off the line of credit, I’ll have about $30k left over. I was thinking of splitting this pretty much equally in 5 parts between:
1) an emergency fund
2) a home improvement fund (new roof, etc.)
3) an exotic vacation (my girlfriend and I deserve it after working on the old house for 4 months)
4) a car fund (for next car in year 2010 or so)
5) long term investment

The first 3 would be money market accounts. The car fund (since I hopefully won’t need it for at least two years) would probably be CDs. The long term investment might be something more interesting like an environmental ETF or maybe just an index fund. Do you have any comments on or ideas about these plans? Where would you go on vacation if you could go anywhere in the world for 2 weeks?

Another question completely unrelated to this: Do you have an exercise regimen that you stick to? What does it consist of?

Thanks.

How about also delivering your blog as a podcast? I have a reasonable (30 minute) commute and would enjoy hearing the blog when I don’t have time to read it.

Ok, here it goes
$31,000/year salary
$3500 in 401(k) (I save 15%)
$4000 in Roth IRA (will try to max out 2008
$25,000 and growing savings all in CDs
no cc debt
$5500 car loan at 9%
25 years old
Am I doing ok? I feel like i have some kind of illness where i have to save money to feel good..is this normal?
on average i’m saving about $650/month cash.
Do you have any recommendations on how to relax on the savings spree?
I guess i’m always worried that i won’t have enough if some disaster strikes.
any advice would be appreciated!

my wife and I are going to move from Washington state to Knoxville, TN this summer to go back to school. What advice do you have for a cross country move? Also we are looking to by a house but are not really sure how to do this from across the country so any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

I’m planning a road trip to the U.S. sometime next year (I’m from Canada). Can I stop by and bring you home made desert?

I come from a family who had poor spending habits and subsequently learned them myself. I have recently been seriously thinking about becoming a financial planner so I could help people like myself and my family learn to use their money better. I have noticed that you don’t tell people to use financial planners (at least in the posts I have read). Is there something about their help that you don’t agree with? It seems like the average person just doesn’t have the time to learn everything about investing and putting their money to work for them in the most effective way possible. Blogs like yours help people get a lot of the good basic things fixed, but going beyond that seems like it would be very difficult on your own with the investment world becoming more and more complex. I am just wondering because I don’t want to work to become a financial planner just to find out I can’t really help people like I thought.
This really is a good site. I read it every day. Thanks for all of the work you put into it!

I understand your reasons for choosing cheap index funds rather than managed mutual funds or individual stocks, and I don’t disagree that this is financially prudent. However, I don’t think of stocks as merely representing “money”, I think of them as part-ownership in (big) companies that have the power to change our world, for better or for worse. For that reason, I have so far avoided index funds and bought only mutual funds that specialise in socially responsible investing (I don’t have the time to investigate individual companies, nor the money to make it worthwile).

You have written about your favourite charities, you allow your readers to report “unethical ads”, you reflect on consumerism. Can you write about socially responsible investing and why you think it should or should not be a consideration in planning a personal financial strategy.

Trent,

Thanks for the opportunity. You have an amazing following on your blog. What are some things that you did early on to recieve this kind of traffic?
Thanks again,

Matt Sullivan,
http://creditdusters.wordpress.com

Thanks for doing this; I have been waiting for a chance like this. I’ve been a busy grad student, but now I am trying to get my finances organized. Normally, I only looked over my account statements. I have not balanced my checking account. How can I start doing this? I have looked on the internet for “how to balance a checkbook”, but nothing tells me how to start balancing after the account has been in use for a while. The current balance is always changing due to funds not being available right away, etc. I can look at my accounts online, I have MS Money 06, and I save all receipts and statments. Thanks for any advice you can give.

How can I create the most value for the world and its people?

You seem kinda arrogant. Are you really happy with your life? Like, really? What area of your life are you disappointed with? Come clean.

Since you are considering attending the Iowa MFA program, can you please write about the specifics of choosing among MFA programs? How would you choose a program for an older adult who already has a vocation and grown children but is now ready to pursue an avocation?
How will you pay for the MFA? Would you consider going into debt to finance it?
btw, your blog is great, I even enjoyed the hygiene post. For the readers who felt talked down to, don’t read it.

Have you ever considered investing in real estate? If not, how come? I think I have read about how hard it is to be a landlord in some comment on your site, but I don’t think I have ever seen a post / guest post on the pros and cons of investing in real estate.

I would love to see a post about commercials and money. What is your reaction to commercials like the debit card one. Wife is watching TV when it goes out. She says “yes, we need a new TV.” Man rejoices and “wisely” plans how much to spend on TV by looking at his bank balance on his handy-dandy debit card. I could see a whole post what is right/wrong with this commercial alone.

Since you are in the process of leaving the 9-5 world, what non-financial fears did you face and how did you overcome them?

I am wanting to take a couple years off from work for traveling and international volunteer work. My main hesitations are the impact it would have on my career/finances and dealing with the non-approval/lack of support from family and friends. Are these similar issues you faced? Any advice is appreciated.

(Additional info: I am single, in my mid-twenties with well-paying job, decent savings, and no debt.)

What are the best parenting/baby books? I plan to be a new parent within the next few years, and I’m looking for a list of books that will help me w/ the whole experience. And I know you read like a madman. ;) Thanks.

Like another poster, I am interested in your take on the cost effectiveness of cloth diapers vs. disposables.

My boyfriend and I are both over 45. He has only his Social Security contributions for retirement. He has a mortgage, is pretty frugal, has no CC debt, and has a good emergency fund. BUT, I cannot convince him he really needs to get a Roth IRA or some other additional retirement investment going.
I’m trying to be a good example; I have a pension plan at work, plus a 403b plan, and I have my own Roth IRA I am funding to the max each year.
I don’t want to see him working til he’s 75, but without anything other than SS, I worry.
Is there any way to ease him into the idea? or does he need a good dope-slap?
:-)

Have you ever in hindsight regretted blogging something, maybe because it was too controversial, too personal, or something of that nature?

We’ve just decided that we’d like to send our *gulp* three children to Catholic school (my husband spent 12 years there and we agree that it’s a priority for our family). Our oldest will start in the fall, our second in ‘11, and our youngest in ‘13. My husband brings home the bacon (around $105,000) and I clean it and cook it up (meaning I don’t contribute financially to the picture).
We’ve read a bit about the Coverdell account, but I’m wondering if there are any other options out there to help fund this expense (a bit more than $4000/year/kid) or reduce our tax burden. Any input would be so appreciated!

What kind of problems/issues/pros/cons have you faced from blogging with your real name and identity?

I’d love to see a post from Mrs. Trent too!

How much time per day do you devote to this blog and how is it broken out (all at once, in parts, etc.). If I can get in another question, how do you handle your email - do you have a system of only reviewing and answering, say, twice per day for 30 minutes each, or some other plan?
Just curious how you manage your time. Thanks!

I am 14 and want to start saving for retirement as soon as I get a job. What is my best investment option?

Hey Trent,
I just received a full tuition scholarship to a small university around my home and I wanted to know if the name value of a school really matters (Northwestern vs. Oklahoma State). Does it matter on where you go or what you took away from the college and how you maximized your experience? (parting vs. studying)

Hi Trent, here is my question: what job would you suggest a PhD in the Humanities (e.g. history, philosophy, etc.) could do in the non-academic world?

Hi Trent!
What are your thoughts on outsourcing your life?

http://www.43folders.com/2007/09/25/enlightened-outsourcing-1

Do you do any outsourcing yourself? How do you feel it helps or could help highly busy and productive people? I do this about halfway and am incredibly productive… I was just wondering your thoughts :)

Pros and cons of taking Social Security at 62 vs. later.

What is your opinion on affirmative action? Also, what is your opinion on reparations for native americans?

boxers or briefs?

Two questions:

Is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian almost all new material or has he just cut out the meat part of How to Cook Everything?

Have you ever considered tailoring some posts towards your Canadian readers? I can understand why you wouldn’t but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on financial situations where you can not claim your mortgage interest (for example).

Great idea btw having a question session!

Trent,

First off this is my first post. I’ve been reading your blog every day for the past few months, however, and I love it! Keep up the good work! Anyway. . .

I’m nineteen years old, living at home. I’ve got $140 worth of bills a month (not including gasoline or anything like that). It’s finally sank in that I need to start saving, so I started: I’ve got $700 in the bank. I work two jobs (taking a semester off to save some money) and I make roughly $350 every two weeks from one job, and 130-200 from my other job every week. How much should I be setting aside every week? Or should I pay my bills out of the 130-200 check and bank the other? Also, I have no credit, and would like to establish some. Is there any other way to establish credit (keep in mind my age) besides getting a credit card?

Thanks for reading!

How about showing a balance sheet and income statement. I would like to know:

1) What is your net worth (with MTM and YTY changes)?
2) What is your income, broken out by income source?

Completely understandable if you don’t want to share, but would be very interesting!

If you were standing in front of a grocery store, had a five dollar bill in your hand, and had to spend it on one meal for yourself (not your family)…what would you walk out of the grocery store with?

If you had to move away from Iowa, and didnt have a family, where would you move to in the US?

Conversley, where would you go in the US if you had to suddenly find a new home with your family?

What is your opinion of the “Can I afford it?” segment on the Suze Orman show? All of the callers seem to have $60,000 to $140,000 in savings and yet are not smart enough to know if they should take a $4,000 vacation. Do you think the callers are real?

Boxers or Briefs?

Ooops..forgot one. Dare I say…Commando?

I live in a 1 bedroom condo that is owned by a family trust set up by my parents (they are the grantors, and my brothers and I are the trustees). There’s no mortgage for my unit, but I still pay “rent” to my parents every month.

I would like to renovate my place, and I know you’re not a real estate or legal guy, but in your opinion, who should pay for the upgrades? I suggested going 50/50 with my parents. What do you think?

ISO stock options vs. non-qualified Stock Options. When is one choice better than the other? How can you keep from messing up with one or the other? What’s the best approach to maximize your potential returns from either?

Here’s something I’d like to see you do, a regonal take on an area and potential suggestions for people that live there. Some areas have unique blessings when it comes to living simply, some areas are a little more challenging. I really feel for someone who buys a house where I live right now (San Francisco Bay Area). I just reviewed an average property tax statement for a new home buyer here… YIKES!!! Anyway, consider this a big vote for hoping to see you do a colum geared towards a specific region :).

I second the podcast suggestion!

I haven’t read the other questions (101? not right now) so I hope this isn’t a duplicate.

I have a gift card (American Express) for $100.00 that I’m thinking about how to spend it. It’s quite a bit a money for me - DH and I are on a low fixed income. I “need” so many things. Do I get personal (new sandals for summer, I don’t have any), household linens (my bottom sheet is torn, my bathroom rugs are really old), small kitchen electrics (could use a slow cooker, and/or a rice cooker). Is there some way I can turn it into cash and put it in our (again small) savings account? So many choices. Right now I’m leaning toward either 1) new shoes or 2) convert to cash if I can and put in savings.

What’s your take on this unexpected gift?

Trent,

Let’s get controversial! :)

1. What’s your stance on gay marriage?
2. What’s your stance on abortion?
2. Are you a Republican or Democrat and who are you supporting in the upcoming elections?
3. Would you give up your right to vote for a million dollars?

-Raymond

I am a 27-year-old who recently got married. One of the first things I want to do is to pool our resources, combine our accounts, draw up a budget, and save for our main goals (a house and kids). However, I have found that my wife is just not all that interested in moving as quickly as I would like - what with the name change, a lack of availability of her payroll dept, and a host of other reasons that I find a little too excuse-ish. The root of the problem really seems to be that she is not as enthusiastic about planning for, and executing for, a stable financial future. Is there anything you might recommend (a book, a line of conversation, etc.) that might get her interested in our financial future?

One of my exam questions for philosophy…

If somehow you were able to know the exact time of your own death, what projects would you undertake now and what goals would you set for yourself, time permitting, so as to faciliate closure to your earthly existence?

what kind of music do you listen to?

How many roads must a man walk down?

Did you tell coworkers about The Simple Dollar (prior to your announcing your resignation). Feel free to expand your answer with thoughts on blogging with anonymity or being an open book. Thanks for providing this forum.

Every month I update my yahoo portfolio (taxable, deffered and roth accounts) with 401k additions, drip purchases etc. When my broker calculates my loss or gain those drip purchases are “free shares” and lower my purchase price of my share bundle. However I count those as purchased shares in my yahoo portfolio.
Which way is the right way to figure losses or gains?

Not a specific question, but I’d be interested in some discussion on how to handle college expenses for kids.

Is college worth it? Who should pay? The costs are so much higher than when we went to school so that it’s almost impossible for ordinary kids to pay for it themselves, and so kids are racking up huge student loans that can cripple them at the beginning of their life. (And it’s possible to spend all that and still not make any money when you graduate.)

I’m struggling with paying for college our children. We are currently paying for our son’s college at a small private school because we really believe that he needed that environment in order to succeed. Total cost per year is about $40000; he’s borrowing about $6000, and gets about $16,000 in scholarships and grants, makes enough for books in a summer job. We’re paying the rest — ~$17,000 a year–and it’s really hard. At first we borrowed (PLUS loans) but now I’m squeezing it out of income…but we NEVER eat out, don’t buy any clothes, and I don’t have enough money to fix the leaky roof. And most serious of all, we’re not putting enough away for our retirement (we’re in our early 50s). Did we make a mistake? What do we do now?

And more importantly, what do I tell my daughter, who’s hoping to start college in 2009? I’m not sure I can keep this up for another round, so do I tell her she’s “on her own” or do we say that she has to go to cheaper school? Do we make her borrow $20,000 like her brother…just to be fair?

How much is enough? Too much? to contribute to your child’s education? How do you decide? (Have you taken a look at the governments “Expected Family Contribution” calculations?…it’s way more than WE expected.) How do you save? How do you pay for this if you didn’t save?

Why are you copying posts like this from zenhabits ? ;-P

The LOST questions are hilarious- but I really like the idea of a guest post from your wife.

The LOST questions are hilarious! But I really like the idea of a guest post from your wife.

Do you think financial bloggers post their honest and unbiased opinion on personal finance ? Are they following the same advise that they post for readers ?

Or could you suggest the best way for a six year old to start saving for retirement?

For example, can my six year old start an IRA? She makes about $300 annually from work for neighbors.

how about investing in gold?

Trent,

My wife and I purchased our first home last May. We had planned to be here at least five years. Over the last six months we have decided to move out of state to pursue PhD studies next July (2009).

Assuming housing prices continue to fall, what should be out cutoff point for losing money on the house? That is, at what potential loss should we decide to try and rent from out of state?

Love the Blog. I have currently bought a new house and am debating whether to sell the old house or rent. I can afford both even though it is tight. I would like your thoughts on renting houses. I am currently engaged and she has a townhome that we may rent as well. I have an emergency fund as well as contributing to my 401k and a Roth. Haven’t seen much on these situations. Also as a side to this should I start an LLC for the rental properties? Good luck with your future and thanks for sharing

I am 25 (almost 26) years old and work full time making $52,000 per year and somehow have nothing to show for it. After rent, utilities, truck, insurance, gas, and food there is not much left to dent my credit card debt that I incurred during college and the years just after college. At current, I have around $15K in credit card debt (4 accounts) ranging from 21 to 33%.

My employer is very generous with retirement and they contribute 12%/year automatically without me contributing anything. I have been there for just over 3 years and have just over $16K split between two different (Fidelity and TIAA CREF) accounts. I have heard some about 403B loans and think that this might be a decent option to get out of my credit card debt. Starting over on my retirement sounds like a bad idea but this credit card debt is really killing me.

Is this a good idea?

What is the number one thing you’ve enjoyed with the success of The Simple Dollar?

Have you organized you blog and/or consulting business or other ventures as an LLC, sole proprietorship, or some other type of official business entity? If so did you do this from the start, or did you wait to see some success before filing all the legal paperwork? Also, is each venture its own separate business, or does it all fall under something like Trent inc, with each venture officially named something like Trent Inc doing business as the simple dollar, the frugal gourmet, trent consulting, etc?

Have you read the FairTax book?

Isn’t being a dad & husband the best thing ever?

For a a college student graduating and moving into an apartment with some friends this year, do you have any financial advice you can give us? I have heard of people saying not paying more than one wee’s salary for rent & utilities (which I am looking not to do…it will be hard living near New York City). Besides investing in my retirement and such at the age of 20 (which I already do), is there anything else I should plan for?

1. When is the last time you saw a movie in the theaters? What was it?

2. What’s your biggest fear about being self-employed?

3. How much money does a blog with 27,000 subscribers make (before/after cutting ads)?

A few questions @ your writing:
How do you manage your writing process? Do you sit down and write the whole post, or do you have a bunch of in-progress articles which you start with outlines, etc. and finish up later? With your post frequency and the fact that you have said you write well in advance, it seems like it would get complicated. What do write your posts with-Word, text editor, etc. Do you keep them all in separate files or write them in wordpress?
Also, do you post @ a certain number of topics weekly? Such as 3 on frugality, 3 on investing, etc? So you try to map out your topic selection well in advance as well?

I too have wondered about your wife. Does she just let you make all the financial decisions? Is she goal oriented like you? Does she even read your blog?

For the food blog, I would like to recommend to you the book “Magic Foods” (isbn 0762108959). It has a silly title, but I found it amazing. Americans eat such complete garbage in terms of health.

How, exactly, does re-aging work for debts (revolving debts, I suppose)? What are the advantages and disadvantages (if there are any)?

What are you views on dating in high school? More specifically, what age difference do you feel is acceptable, and are your views different based on which gender is elder?

Great blog!
Can you recommend a resource for financial planning for low-income families? Not help with credit card debt (we don’t have any of that,) just good, solid, ethical financial planning counseling. Our local credit union charges $1000, and while I’m sure it’s worth it, we don’t have 1K.
I’ve called around and googled a fair bit, and there seems to be just 3 options: pay a CFP a huge sum (for us), consumer credit services for those w CC debt, and self-help books and blogs. ;^) Surely there’s a more affordable option for those who want to meet with a financial planning person but are in the low-middle income brackets…
thanks!

I know that, in the past, you’ve written about blogging, but that seems to be more on the general level. What advice do you have for somebody wanting to have a successful financial blog?

I have another question, but it relates to the first one. Overwhelming, I notice that you have a big gap between pf blogs and frugality blogs, with very few blogs combining them. I’ve noticed that you do a bit of both. I’ve also noticed that, overwhelmingly, it seems to be the women with the “frugal” blogs and men with the PF blogs (although, of course, there are a few noticeable exceptions). Why do you think this is and how can a blog combine both without driving away either audience?

Put up a picture, Trent! I can’t take an author seriously unless I can imagine what he looks like, how he might speak the information, etc.

Hi, 2 people living on SSI, We are always playing catchup, no cable, cell or home phone. We have internet, its our only contact with the outside, we live in the country. Drive once a month to town to shop, pay bills, etc.. go to the local store about once a month. Gas is about $3.15gal currently, takes $20 to just do that little bit of driving. We dont eat out, I shop sales, discounts, coupons, etc… I dont know what else to do! I would love any and all suggestions! Thank you!

I’m employed by a University and have an auto retirement of 6% (unmatched). I’ve also got a Roth IRA (currently funding about $1200 a year). I also have a 403b available to me - I’m having a tough time finding information on 403b’s that’s accessible to the fiscally challenged newbie. Can you tell me a little about this option, along with your thoughts on funding priorities and tax repercussions?

I just recently bought a BlendTec Total Blender (the one in those Will It Blend? ads). It’s terrific, so far. What are some of your favorite blender recipes? Smoothies, soups, anything. I’m really looking forward to your cooking blog!

PS - I’ve been enjoying TSD since the start… you do an incredible job, Trent!

PPS - I think the Ask Me Anything! idea is a great one. Should give you plenty of material to write on for some time to come.

What was your college major?

Question:

What are the most likely outcomes for a poor assetless person when they get old and can no longer work?

I’ve done the math, and there is no way without help I could keep a roof over my head, food on the table, and myself insured (Medicare B and D, plus Medicare Supplemental) on even a full Social Security retirement benefit (i.e. without any cuts to the program). I see a very ugly future for a lot of Americans.

Did you always enjoy the art of writing, as in during grade school and college? Did you write in your free time?

Hi,

I had couple of questions I make close to 90K $. I am 28 years old. My wife does not work and I current rent at 1200. I am planning to buy a house , how much worth house can I afford. I have close to 60K in my savings and my 401k is close to 10k.

I bought a new toyota corolla, I have read a number of places where people say I should never buy a new car since it gets depreciated in the first year. When i started hunting around the second hand cars were as expensive as the new one. Did i make a mistake?

I financed it at 8% and even though I can pay off my car loan (since my bank balance has the requisite money in my bank). But I have kept the money in etrade , I understand the math says that I should pay off but I wanted to get your opinion about it.

Third I read some finance books and have just started to get into investing, which should be the best place to start investing (Is buying index funds through zecco a good place to start)

Thanks,
Kal

trent! so excited for this :)

my question is more on the range of advice for young couples. my boyfriend and i are planning on moving in together after 6 years of dating (4 of which was long distance). he is relocating to where i live to be with me. we are both frugal in different ways however i have some $ saved while he doesn’t since he’s just graduated.

what advice can you give people moving in together to start their lives? i am more of a spender than he is, but i see to be more open about long term goals (which i save for). i worry that our thoughts and habits about $ will be the only thing we ever fight about.

book suggestions? planning ideas? should we combine our incomes or pool our $ in any particular way? do we keep separate or joint emergency funds??

thanks!! looking forward to your responses to all these great questions - and i agree, bring you wife on for a guest post!!!

When am I going to receive my “economic stimulus”? I have filed my taxes and received my return, but have not heard anything in the news about when my check will arrive? Do you have any idea?
Thanks and love your blog!

Wow. A zillion comments.

With your busy schedule, do you ever have stress or anxiety? If so, how do you deal with it? If not, how do you avoid it.

Fairly new reader, but keep up the great work!

Do you have any financial goals you keep in mind according to your age or family size for your retirement?
By goals, I mean, how much you should have in savings or investments by the time you are in your mid-20’s, 30’s etc? How would one go about calculating this or what tools do you recommend? To make things more complicated, how do you adjust for high/low cost of living areas and your earning potential? (With no plans to retire early)
Along those same lines but for fun: When you retire, what are your plans/goals? (For example, I just met a couple that sold everything and now just travel around to national parks in an RV)

Financial Armageddon?

First, let me say that I’ve enjoyed reading your blog off and on for the last few months; however, one question has nagged at me - that is if the “financial armageddon” you claimed to have faced was ever really as dire as you portrayed. It seems to me you turned around your situation with minimal effort and, as often and excessively noted through your posts, now have a huge emergency fund, plenty of money for debt payments, a diversified portfolio, additional savings, and the financial freedom or flexibility to quit your job. Thus, you’ve never really had to manage and cope with debt and finances as many of your readers may have, because your debt (in relation to your income) has never very great to begin with (which I applaud, btw). Another commenter phrased it another way, and asked if finance bloggers actually follow their own advice. I guess my question is more specific - have you ever really needed -truthfully- to follow the advice on debt management and frugality you’ve espoused?

Don’t you ever feel like Ecclesiastes and ask what is new under the sun?

Why do we devote so much time working, or saving money or spending money? What is the point? What is there to show for everything?

The way I see it we can either be hedonistic and spend our time trying to get the most for ourselves during our short life, or sacrifice our lives in order to help other people be hedonistic.

Any comments?

Essentially I guess the question is: What is the meaning of life? :)

Do you think it makes sense to sacrifice the early years of ones life to work hard in order to save enough money to retire and then enjoy life, or is it better to take life steady, work 9-5 and retire very late in life?

In line with last post, would you be willing to work 15 hour days when you were 24 and single making $200k a year?

Would you rather be broke but happy, or rich and contented?

Or to put it in more detailed terms, imagine yourself at age 70 with two possible scenarios:

The first scenario is that you do not have a single cent in the bank, yet are filled with the warm happy glow of family and friends around you everyday, you doing the exact thing you love, but broke and dependent on relatives for support.

The second scenario is that you have five million dollars in the bank with comprehensive health insurance coverage and a successful business that runs itself that will provide a healthy income for the remainder of your years. Yet you feel there is something missing - that warm happy glow is not there. All your needs are taken care of, and you are content. Not unhappy, but content.

Which scenario would you choose and why?

I want to train as an organizational psychologist. Before I can do my Masters degree, I need a LOT of work experience in the HR/Psychological consulting business. In order to get this, I’ve had hold down several internship positions. I’m completing one in Macau, and am hopefully going into a new one in Bombay.

The consequence of all these intern positions is that I haven’t had a real salary after graduation. Is this normal? Am I going about this the wrong way?

Question: My husband has a Simple IRA at work with a matching employer contribution. The problem: The mutual fund is a dog with high maintenance fees. Are we allowed to move the money to a different mutual fund at any time during the year without penalty? We want to take advantage of the matching employer contribution, but we think our money could be managed better. HELP!

Trent, this is not your particular area of expertise, but anyway—-there is a growing population of single women over 40 who plan on staying single. Many of us are educated but underemployed and have frugality running through our veins. I’d love to see some creative financial advice for this group (of which I am one!)
Also wondered about your take on angelfoodministries.com.

What is the beast age for children to start studying for the ACT college admission test? What is a good program to get them started as soon as the 7th grade?

Here’s one we’ve been mulling over . . .

We own a beautiful, charming old dream house in a highly desirable suburb of NYC . . .lots of room for 4 kids, good schools, etc. Unfortunately, we are classic “house” poor and our 2 (!) mortgages combined come to 700,000! The house itself is worth about 1.2 mil, though (we bought for 880,000 4 years ago). Every month we struggle to make ends meet, and have wracked up credit card debt on top of the mortgages (which we are paying off - should be gone by next year). We are maxing out dh’s 401K and saving a bit for college - but mostly we are working on debt eradication right now. We love our house almost like another member of the family, but we definitely over-bought and we are constantly debating about whether or not we should downsize. My dh feels we should just continue our newly found frugal ways so we can hang on to this old beauty and do what we need to keep her - that a beautiful old home in a solid, affluent suburb is always a good investment. I’m not so sure - do you think that struggling to hang on to such a a home is ever a good thing in the end?

Thanks, Trent.

Kate in NY

I have one for you! Could you give us some ideas on how you’ve built up your subscriber list? This is my current challenge. It’s growing, but not fast enough!

Thanks. This is a great idea.

Lia

My oldest of 4 is in the 9th grade. Each child was given money by their grandparents when they passed away; not a fortune, but it will certainly help as we are in no position to pay the high cost of college. I am told this money shouldn’t be in their names when they are applying for college financial aid, but I am unsure what to do with it. Suggestions?

1) When you calculate the amount you spend on groceries do you include only food items or other household items like soap, toilet paper etc.?

2) how much are you willing to spend on concert tix to see your fav orite band, if you have one? ( this is an ongoing debate in my life! )

Vanguard Mutual Funds.

Often financial books recommend investing in VFINX, The Vanguard 500 Index….but at $123.23, it seems very pricy as compared with, say, Vanguard’s Star Fund @ $19.95. The Vanguard Star Fund (VGSTX)is a Fund of Funds. Is it better to buy a cheaper, newer fund that is diversified than a more established fund to allow room for greater growth of the fund? It seems to me that the FINX fund is really expensive and offers less value than, say, the Star Fund. Both are diversified, the Star Fund seems even more so….

How does all that work when you are choosing between two good fund, where does the cost of each factor in? Obviously, I would have many more shares of the Star (VGSTX) over the VINX as well….

I haven’t read a book or blog that addresses this specifically and I am just not at that experience level yet on my own.

Thank you so much….
I have enjoyed your blog for some time now, although I am more of a lurker than a poster. I do alot of gardening myself and start most of my veggies indoors under grow lights in late winter.

Best Wishes to you and your family!

Great Blog idea, btw!

I am a college student, and I am an avvid planner. I need to plan my plans. I am always giving myself a headache though, because I don’t know what I want to do with my life. Do you have any advice on finding your calling? I think I read you had changed your major - was there anything that helped you realize what you wanted to do?

Wonderful idea! I love all these wonderful questions!! Ditto on wanting to see what Mrs. Trent has to say.

Is there a tentative launch date for your Food/Cooking blog? What is it?

FMF, you’re such a hack. Please don’t soil this blog with your presence. Keep trolling, where you belong.

Trent, will you promise to never talk about religion? (or personal faith statement, or whatever pansy new-age title people want to place on it)

You’re doing such a good job so far staying off the issues, so will you please keep it up?

Also, would you like help with your graphics?

My Questions:

1. I have bad credit. What are the easiest and quickest things I can do to improve my score?

2. When it comes to renting apartments — is it a good idea to spend a little more to have a higher standard of living or save money by living in a cheaper (and somewhat rundown) place? When comparing prices how much should the various amentities be worth? (Ex: Apartment #1 has heat + water included in rent and costs $600; Apartment #2 has dishwasher; no utilities paid costs $500 — Which apartment is cheaper overall?)

Dear Trent,
As a parent of four kids one who is severly disabled, went from 4 healthy to one severly disabled and uninsurable in 24 hours. I was wondering what you are doing for health insurance for your family since you are no longer working. Full coverage, castrophic,does your wife carry the insurance or chancing it without. I am tied to the job till I can retire at 65 to keep the insurance. Thanks Julie

Here is an important one for you….

Catchup, Glass bottle or Plastic?

Thank you for this opportunity. I’m finding conflicting responses to this question on the IRS and social security sites.

I am two years widowed. I’m told that when I turn 60 (in 4 years)I can start collecting my husband’s social security. So far so good. But I’ll still be working and by the time I actually want to start collecting my OWN soc. sec. (probably at 66 or later) it’s more than likely my payout will be larger than his. If I take his UNTIL I take mine — will my own amount be reduced or will I get my full amount?

Thanks,
Helen

Trent,

Which really was the better video game system? The NES or the Sega Master System?

Eric - try Prosper.com. Depending on your credit history/score, you could easily cut the interest rate on your loans in half and just have one consolidated payment to make.

My husband got in a bind with the IRS while self employed. His $20,000 debt to them has become a $200,000 debt with the interest on the penalties and penalties on the interest and interest on the penalties and interest in a never ending spiral. Our wages are garnisheed, our IRA’s and bank accounts have been levied and our home has a lien on it for more than it’s worth, so we can’t even sell it to help pay the debt. We have no mortgage, no car payments, no credit card debt, and about $50,000 in medical bills. I managed to protect what was left of my IRA in a 401k I became eligible for just in time. We have “hired” an accountant/attorney at a high powered firm who apprears to be sitting on our account. Any advice?

Do you think married couples with financial problems should have seperate checking accounts and each be responsible for certain bills, and not know who has how much money?

Howdy!

Just one question. Given the fact the our currency is falling faster than a penny off the Empire State Bldg., our national debt is growing faster than weeds in my yard and the foreclosure rate along with it, why is it the American public are not scared out of their recliners enough to go out and vote to correct this horrible problem. I appreciate all your sound ideas about managing personal finances. But, without taking a careful look at the national economic factors that are affecting our personal finances, we fall short of solving personal financial crisis’ when they occur. I’d like to throw out to all your readers the importance of voting and showing support for an American running for the highest ranking office in our country who supports and completely abides by our U.S. Constitution. And while I know this is not strictly a political forum, I’d like folks to take a look at Ron Paul, an American who has been reelected by his constituency for over a decade now. What is it they know that our media sources don’t? How can a man be reelected over and over again as a Congressman, have one of the most consistent voting records in Washington and be ignored as a possible viable candidate as our President? I know all Americans want to believe that our representatives in Washington that we put there are looking out for our best interests, one of those being our financial security. But, how many Americans can still believe, after our currency has plummeted, our banks are being bailed out by foreign investors and our children have less chance of buying a home and not losing it to foreclosure, that they’re doing a good job for us. Please, before it’s too late to turn things around for us, could you relay to our hard-working folks here in what can still be called the United States of America, that there is a man who would be proud to call himself the leader of a waning nation and help pull us all up with our bootstraps to fight a war of freedom for America right here at home. Please tell them about Ron Paul, a man who’s brought American babies INTO the world for a living, a man who has faithfully served our country as a Navy pilot and now as a consistently reelected Congressman for his people in Texas…what do Texans know that we don’t…RON PAUL is a man that can be trusted to represent us in Washington and hold up the United States Constitution as a breastplate against anyone who would threaten our livlihoods. He can bring fiscal stability and security back to America and WE ARE AMERICA. Please spread this word, a vote for Ron Paul is a vote for everything that is the United States of America.

If you were 25 again, but completely single, done with your college and master’s degrees, debt-free (except a small, very low interest student loan), have a small retirement savings and an emergency fund, are just renting a place, live in an area with a low cost of living, and are very happy with your field…what would you do?

And, in the above scenario, would you consider it foolish to relocate to a much more expensive area where you’ve always dreamed of living to follow passions and dreams?

Trent,
Thanks for opening it up! You’re brave!

1. What are the most effective sources of income for bloggers and at what cost? I know your stance on ads matching your values, but what else?

2. Would you advise against starting a business if personal debt is already a major issue?

We have no debt (besides $116K mortgage on a $190K house) and have $7K in emergency fund and want to build a house in a much better school district. How does one juggle building a new home with selling the current home financially? Daughter will start kindergarten a year from August so we have until then to move. (Can you tell we’re Dave Ramsey fans?) ;)

P.S. What do you think of Dave Ramsey?

I am interested in how much you make in revenue off of this blog and how much time you invest in it each day/week to make that happen? I am a SAHM and am looking for an additional income source for our family. I enjoy writing and working on the computer, but there are other things I enjoy too, so I’m weighing my options in terms to investing my time (what little there is of it!) into something that will increase our family income stream. Thanks.

Been following your blog for a while now and enjoy majority of the articles.

My questions:
- What factors or events that made you decide to become self-employed?
- What additional cost did you have to pay when you became self-employed? (Example: Private health insurance, full fee of social security, etc…)

Wish list:
- Would like to read guest post from Mrs. Trent.

I,too, would love to see a guest post from your wife. If she doesn’t want to write a post, maybe she would consent to having you interview her for The Simple Dollar.

Should I move back to my parents’ house?

I’m going back to school for a Master’s, and don’t want to work while I try to get the best grades I can. I have some money saved to support myself. I won’t need loans, but I’ll be broke when I’m done. If I lived with my parents I’d have saved between $7,000 and $10,000 in a year.

Oh boy, so much reply!
I’ll go with the family:
What is your monthly income from this website? and how stable is it?

What was your monthly income and what will you prospect it to be without the job?
How do you allocate/plan to allocate your income (necessities (food, mortgage, other), pleasure, savings…)?

How do you allocate your time, before and after you left your job

That’s about it for today

Ciao

I’ve heard that you can pay a collection agency the amount of the original transaction (minus fees etc) and they have to take it and remove you from “the system”. Now, they may try and harass you a little bit to recoup some of the fees but you don’t actually have to pay them. Any truth to this?

Ok, so I live with my boyfriend and have watched him struggle to recover from a divorce that happened about two years ago for some time. Here’s the breakdown:

1) 10K on Credit Cards
2) 12K left to pay off care
3) Already works 2 jobs
4) Little to no savings account
5) Currently living what we consider to be a “frugle” lifestyle

Is there anything besides living as frugally as possible and just keep on paying things off that we’re missing to get him out of this hole quicker?

Thanks!

I started to read through the comments so I wouldn’t put in a duplicate, but got tired after the first 30 or so. Hopefully my question hasn’t been asked too many times:

I have about $20000 in credit card and student loans, a well-paying job, a good strategy for getting out of debt, a modest retirement fund, and some savings. But I would like to buy a house, and I’m wondering if I should clear up some more debt first, or start looking for a place now? And part two of the question is how do I turn my modest retirement fund into an extraordinary one while still saving up for a down payment at the same time?

Just wanted to say that I love the blog, and I hope you keep up the good work. Good luck with the move to full-time blogger, I have to admit I envy you.

Trent,

This has being one of your best ideas yet. You should do this once a year, just a thought.

Covering all aspects of life, usefulness towards webportal (thesimpledollar)- book writing, cooking etc…

Ditto the requests for a post from your wife…

Question… You’ve inspired me to consider “multiple streams of income” and I’m thinking about a blog…How can I tell if I have a topic for a blog that would actually be able to pull in advertisers/etc? I can’t find any of the things that are out there but I don’t know if it is just because people are not curious about/would read about the topic?