Comments on: The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Two Reader Mailbags Per Week (?) Edition

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:29:10 +0000

Sorry, but I think your blurb on the Paradox of Thrift is just plain wrong. It’s simple economics. If demand goes down, suppliers sell less goods, prices go down, suppliers make less money, unemployment increases, demand goes down further, the cycle continues. It creates a deflationary spiral. Just look at what happened in Japan. (check out the article currently featured on the International Herald Tribune website). Sure banks will have more money to lend but there will be less demand from suppliers for loans because there is less demand for products. We all need to realize that our spending decisions, in the aggregate, do have a real and significant impact on the economy.

By: Kyle P.

Kyle P. — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:45:34 +0000

My vote goes for the additional Reader Mailbag.

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:39:05 +0000

I really like the book club. And while I also like the reader mailbag, I don’t want to lose the book club.

By: Carrick

Carrick — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:00:39 +0000

I guess I’m one of the few who don’t like the Reader Mailbag. It’s one of the only types of entries I regularly skip over. I don’t really care about people’s particular circumstances, but rather more about general principles and application.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:24:58 +0000

Neither. Is that an option? I’m not a fan of the book reviews and find the Reader Mailbags of less relevance as time goes on too. So I’d prefer more articles.:)

By: Suzie

Suzie — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:28:33 +0000

Yes to the second reader mailbag!

By: J Brown

J Brown — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:20:29 +0000

If you do another MB, make it a theme of the month. Do not redo another general MB. I very much like the book reviews and suggestions. I have never visited my library as much as I do since reading your blog. The down side is that I think many other of your readers live in my area, since most books are checked out!

In the end, some change is a good idea. Worse case, try it for a few weeks and take another vote. However, as a compsci major, you need to more scientific about this voting process.

By: Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife

Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:31:25 +0000

I’ve got a question or two. Among your predictions for the year was your feeling that the stock market had found its bottom and that the Dow would not fall below 8000 this year. As of this writing it’s below 7500, and if it weren’t for bad news, there wouldn’t be much news at all as far as the economy goes. Has your outlook changed? Are you rethinking any of your other predictions?

By: friend

friend — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:07:42 +0000

Remember when you posted your homemade bread recipe, with pictures? That was so practical, so useful. Maybe combining recipes, how-tos and photos in some way once a week. It would involve a little more planning and not just be off-the-cuff.

FWIW, I think the weakest part of the blog is when you do a roundup of links. That’s just lazy.

By: Veer

Veer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:17:35 +0000

I don’t like another mailbag idea.

I would vote for the bookclub.

By: mtn girl

mtn girl — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:37:27 +0000

Rather than another mailbag how about a posting that combines several of the suggestions other readers have made. You could call it “Frugal Friday” and it could include a recipe, a question for readers along the lines of “How do you save money on (topic of the week)”and perhaps, since we will soon be moving into spring include tips on frugal gardening. It is not too early to be thinking about gardening, because if someone wants to plant tomatoes and peppers this year that they started from seed they will need to start those seeds in March in order for the plants to be ready to plant in May.

Personally, I have learned a great deal not only from Trent’s postings but from many of the comments that are left on this site and would welcome reading ideas from other readers guided by whatever topic/angle Trent chooses.

By: dariaclone

dariaclone — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:05:03 +0000

What about doing an “ask the reader” or addressing a reader question at length? I don’t think I’d do a second identical column.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:03:19 +0000

Maybe a wild card Friday is the best option? So many great ideas have been thrown out here, why limit yourself to one option for Fridays. One week frugal recipes, another week a book review, after that a friday of extra links, or maybe something entirely unrelated. For instance, what’s the best way for a person who lives alone to shop for fruit/veggies & keep them fresh? Is buying small quantities best, or is bulk best? There’s a need for the single person’s guide to cheap living! :)

By: reulte

reulte — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:53:35 +0000

I like mailbag — it’s a good combination of ideas, opinions and advice. I really don’t like the reviews spread over that much time — I do like my reviews all at once. I can barely lay a book down once I’ve started reading it so waiting for next chapter is pure torture! Of course, once you finish the long review, I do dig right in and read it.

I also like the idea of recipes (with photos!), or an in-depth view of a single frugal tip and how to tweak it or how it does/doesn’t work for you but might for someone in different circumstances and elucidate those circumstances, or maybe an in-depth calculation (such as 9% vs 18% on credit card, or cost of making vs buying laundry soap – which you’ve already done).

Oh – last night I made chicken stock in the crock-pot! Second time I’ve used the slow cooker in 6 years – can you believe I was scared to use the thing? With your unknowning encouragement (I looked through some of your past blogs) I’ve decided to use it a lot more.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:45:19 +0000

I like the idea of a second mailbag, but I want to chime in with the comment of one being general and one being PF. I find that I read the mailbag with more anticipation when I’ve submitted a question but I get disappointed when it take (what feels like) many weeks to get to it.

I also like the idea of a recipe of the week.

By: Beth @ Smart Family Tips

Beth @ Smart Family Tips — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:12:19 +0000

I’d love another mailbag.

But, as someone else mentioned, a cooking thing, like Friday’s Frugal Recipe, would be great, too.

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:26:13 +0000

Oh shoot, sorry for the double posting!

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:19:11 +0000

I thoroughly enjoy your reader mailbags and don’t think they’ve been watered down. They’re pretty interesting. However, I do understand the concern that they will become watered down if you do them 2x per week. If you do decide to do another – which I support! – perhaps you could reduce the number of questions in each mailbag. Also, and while a lot of people might not agree with this, you might include some more controversial subjects, as long as they’re not too controversial (that is up to you, though). Those seem to generate some good discussion, inspite of a few people telling you to not do that.

Whatever you do, I agree with dropping the book club. I was extremely interested in the club for YMOYL, but that’s because I really liked the book. I don’t read most of the book club posts, but I do at least skim the reviews.

Good luck with what you decide.

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:18:53 +0000

Whatever you do do, I agree with dropping the book club. I was extremely interested in the club for YMOYL, but that’s because I really liked the book. I don’t read most of the book club posts, but I do at least skim the reviews.

Good luck with what you decide.

By: j-squared

j-squared — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:06:21 +0000

Please, please don’t do another mailbag. I think the idea was worthwhile at first, but they’ve become so watered down and inane that I’ve just stopped visiting the site for most of Monday.

Frankly, I’m more interested in another “roundup” of links than I am in hearing about whether you think the volcano in Yellowstone is going to erupt. No offense, it’s just not the right arena if you want to keep your blog robust.