Comments on: The First Five Minutes

By: ChristianPF

ChristianPF — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:47:27 +0000

Nice post trent – well put and very true. There is never a better time to start that now…

By: DEBT FREE JOURNEY

DEBT FREE JOURNEY — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:19:34 +0000

This was a GREAT post! I did..actually AM DOING the same thing…I got very excited in the beginning, posting daily, and then I seemed to let “life” get in the way, and I haven’t blogged in weeks! I LOVE blogging about getting out of debt and the inspiration of Scripture. I need to MAKE THE TIME to do it because it is such an describable GREAT feeling to be on a debt journey, helping others, and spreading God’s Word all at the same time. I am glad to hear that you had those days where you almost “let it go” also. Thanks for the inspiration!

God Bless!

DEBT FREE JOURNEY

debtfreethroughchristwhostrengthensme.blogspot.com

By: vdavisson

vdavisson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:38:02 +0000

I’ve sent this to my brother. He needs focus at this time. Thanks for all you do, your blog is great.

By: arshad

arshad — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:50:16 +0000

Your article is very good.Struggle and changes are part of life.It realy motivates me and inspires me.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:48:14 +0000

Great post! It really illustrates the power of making a decision. We can all learn from this post.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:02:40 +0000

What a great tip – to have the browser automatically go to your blog/create post page. Genius! I’m a personal blogger – capturing the stories of my daily life and stories of being a mom/wife/scrapbooker/working mom – and I often don’t blog for days or longer – and I can do this as a great reminder to blog even a little bit everyday…

By: Ell

Ell — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:52:14 +0000

Hi Trent.

I am pretty new to reading your blog but I just wanted to tell you to keep up the great work with your writing. I recently have started to turn over a new leaf (two more years and I’ll be 30 I wish I had started sooner!) with my husband and get on the right track with our finances and you have been a huge inspiration.

Your story was inspirational and I thought it was kinda funny how you said you use to work for a research lab and lived in a tiny apartment. That is my exact situation right now! I am not kidding. I am currently working at a lab and we are in a tiny apartment with our four year old son. Having even just a little bit in common reminds me that perhaps I can be where I want to be as well. Thanks Trent!

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:10:32 +0000

Thanks for sharing this post. I’ve been inspired by your whole story. I’d like to be a professional writer one day too, and I get ideas and inspirations on how to go about it by reading about your process.

By: MoneyGranola

MoneyGranola — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:42:31 +0000

I can relate. About a month ago, I started my own personal finance blog too—www.moneygranola.com. It’s hard to start a blog, knowing what to write about. But as Woody Allen said, 80% of success is just showing up.

I started blogging. I now write nearly every day, and slowly but surely, I’m finding my voice and my blogging niche. (And my audience is growing too– which, of course, is gratifying.)

Trent, keep up the good work!

By: tammy

tammy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:14:56 +0000

I slaved over writing a music business tome for years. Literally, 10 years. Thinking at some point I may have it finished and then I would seek a publisher.
Through a completely bizarre set of what I can only explain as divine coincidences, I realized I could break apart my tome into small, concise booklets. I wrote the first one in a month, created the cover art myself, figured out how to run a 20 page booklet on my computer printer and learned how to post the booklets for sale on my website.
Since then I’ve created 3 more booklets and am writing another one. Each one takes between a month and two months to write.
Breaking my work into bites helped me so much.
Now I blog about life as a Frugal Musician and also have a music advice blog as well as writing booklets. And I still have my day job of being a music publicist.
Trent, I love your work. I admire all of you who write about personal finance. It is indeed refreshing and soothing to know we are not alone on our path to contentment via sustainable and responsible behavior with money!

By: mike

mike — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:27:06 +0000

I enjoy each of your posts. This one is very inspirational and applicable in many areas. keep up the good work. I especially like sharing your goals with others…that will definitely keep you on track.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:28:04 +0000

@Kevin (comment #5),

I just recently found TSD and have been perusing the archives. Trent made a series of posts back in 2006 on the subject: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/11/30/building-a-better-blog-for-2007/

Jerry

By: Clair Schwan of Frugal Living Freedom

Clair Schwan of Frugal Living Freedom — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:23:35 +0000

Great inspirational post. Thanks for sharing. It means a lot to those of us that are on a similar path. Encouragement is always welcome. I have a similar story.

I let my consulting business wind down to a point where I could start my writing career as I have always enjoyed writing. My sweetheart Ellen got interested in websites, and it clicked with me that my writing future was on the web.

Using the Internet allows me to write “living books” a page or chapter at a time that I can update at any time. It also obviates the publishers which puts me in the driver’s seat, just where I like to be.

I’ve been a writing fool for the past year, building momentum on four websites that allow me to share my passions, knowledge and skill set to help others.

Clair

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:00:41 +0000

I’ve been a writer for many years. My problem has been trying to find my niche. I’m working on a food blog now to see if food writing is the thing for me! We’ll see! Thanks for your blog, Trent.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:32:13 +0000

@Kristen – Thanks for the tip!! I’m glad to have your perspective because I’m not sure I’d be able to get everything to work on my own! Thanks again.

By: Zip

Zip — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:22:23 +0000

Excellent post. What separates you from the million other financial bloggers out there, other than your writing style, is that you have actually experienced the mistakes that you’re writing about. Others just talk about what you should do, but you write about ways to fix them.

Keep it up, Trent. I’m cheering for you.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:30:57 +0000

I don’t usually comment on blogs but had to say thanks for the inspiration!

I signed up for an online college course but have been lacking motivation and keep getting too distracted to read the course materials.

I have deleted my other Hotmail and Facebook homepages and made the college page the homepage. I’m not going to allow them to be a barrier/distraction any more!

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:15:27 +0000

Very inspiring. Just do it!
I’m always amazed that you have something interesting to say each and every day. Thanks for working so hard and sharing your bits of wisdom.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:17:23 +0000

I also like the tip about the new-post homepage. I have more than one, so I set multiples in Chrome. No goofing off until those tabs are CLOSED. :)

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:10:57 +0000

A friend of mine often says that there are tons of great ideas, but they fail because of lack of action. Thanks for reminding me that just doing is much better than sitting around planning what you should do.