Back in 2006, when I hit financial bottom and realized I had to do something, one of the first things I did was clean out my closets and shelves and sell off a large portion of my media collection. Piles of CDs and DVDs and video games went flying out the door in an effort to simultaneously de-clutter (and make our tiny apartment more livable) and bring in some money to quickly beat back the debts facing us down.

At that time, I really didn’t have a good grasp as to how to optimally sell the items. I simply sold most of the individually valuable items on eBay (like DVD sets and CD box sets and the like) and the rest of the bulk went to a pair of used media shops.

Over the ensuing years, I’ve sold off more items myself and helped others sell off portions of their media collections. Here’s what I’ve found: there is no best way to get rid of these items. It all depends on your goals, how much return you want, and how much time and effort you’re willing to invest for those sales.

Here are six avenues I would happily follow to eliminate a media colleciton. The difference between them is more a matter of how much time you wish to invest in the sale, because the more time you invest, the greater your return will likely be.

If you just want it gone as fast as possible and don’t care about any return…
… take it to Goodwill.
The fastest way to get rid of a media collection is simply to box it up and drop it off at a Goodwill store. Get a receipt from them for the donation and use it for your taxes – it really won’t give you much money back at all per item, but it’ll give you at least a few pennies per item. Considering this will only take you a few minutes, it’s the fastest approach.

If you want a small return and have other stuff to sell…
… have a yard sale.
You’ll get more return per item at a yard sale than you will at Goodwill. Plus, you can sell other items. If you work with your friends, you can turn it into something of a social event as well. The drawback? It’ll eat a good portion of a weekend and you likely won’t sell all of the items you have available there.

If you don’t mind burning an hour to get at least some return…
… stop at a used media store.
Most cities have stores that will buy used DVDs and books and video games (and sometimes CDs as well). Selling them is often as easy as stopping in and getting the entire collection appraised, which can take thirty minutes to an hour. The offer will be more than you’d make at Goodwill but less than you’d make with the bottom two options on this list, but it won’t take too long.

If you want it done fairly quickly but don’t want to leave the house…
… list items on Craigslist.
The advantage here is that you can essentially sell all of the items without leaving the house. Just make a detailed list, post them on Craigslist, and see what you get. You’ll likely have to sell them in bulk as a collection and you’ll get yard sale level returns, but you’ve got a good possibility of finding a buyer who will come to your house, take the stuff off of your hands, and leave cash.

If you want a pretty good return, don’t mind spending some time now, but want the hassle over with in a few weeks…
… sell items on eBay.
I used Ebay to sell many of my individual items in 2006, earning a very solid return. There was a very significant time investment in doing this, as I had to create auctions for each item I wanted to sell, deal with questions from buyers on many of the items, deal with getting the payments for everything, then packaging up all of the items and shipping them out, then dealing with feedback. It was a big time suck, but it was all finished within about three weeks of listing the first item on eBay and I got a solid return on the items, much better than I would have received for the above items.

If you want the best return and don’t mind some significant time investment and some serious waiting…
… sell items on Amazon.
If time isn’t a constraint at all and you don’t mind selling tomorrow or six months from now, Amazon will get results that top even eBay on many items. Again, it takes a lot of work up front in listing all the items you’re trying to sell, dealing with buyers, and so on, but the return is the nicest. The only disadvantage over eBay is that with eBay, the item is gone in a week. With Amazon, the item can sit there for months, but you’ll have to deal with it, pack it up, ship it, and leave feedback for it whenever it sells. If you have a lot of items, you’re spreading out the hassle over a long period of time for another 20% or so more than you’ll likely get from eBay.

What’s the right answer? It’s all about the time you want to commit. The more time you’re willing to commit to it, the more you’ll get out of your items (how much more depends entirely on your items, of course).

Memorial Day is pretty much just confusing to me. It’s theoretically a day to honor fallen soldiers, but most people just go on vacation or play in the yard.

What happened to Decoration Day, which is May 30 of each year? That’s the original date created to honor those soldiers that have served our country in times of war, started after the Civil War. As the Civil War veterans began to pass away, it gradually turned into our modern day Memorial Day, which mixed some notions of American exceptionalism together with a convenient three day weekend at the beach. To me, that really waters down the point.

Charles Ives’ poem Decoration Day captures what I wish this day was – and what it could be. But it’s lost amid the jet skis and the barbecue grills.

I love Computers and couldn’t survive with out the internet. I wouldnt say im a geek, as i dont play video games at all, and love sports. Im 17 years old, and live in the west coast, California. I currently work at Starbucks with minimum wage (the job sucks!). So im contacting you today because ive spent the past couple of months stressing about careers, as im graduating high school soon. Ive been looking for things i could do online as a career, or even a entrepreneur like you.

Anyways, So ive been looking to start making a career online, and have tried some programs such as “richjanitor.com” which didnt work out at all. So im emailing you today, hoping that you could help get me jump started like you. Im wishing to not have to pay for any program, but to get some 1 on 1 support from you to help me get started. I would love to be your testimonial of success. I would preach of your work to everyone, and promote you on my youtube channel, which gets over 215,000 views a month. You sound like a great guy from the things ive read about you online, I really hope you can help me out, it would be un imaginable.
- Mike

Most online programs that promise to help you earn a great living online don’t work. Ignore all of them. You do not earn $100,000 a year online within three months of starting in your spare time on your own or with any program. It just doesn’t happen.

The key to making money online is traffic. Nothing more, nothing less. The more traffic you have, the more you earn. (Not all traffic is created the same, but that’s a different subject.)

The way to get traffic is to make content people want to read and that they want to return to. It sounds like you have a good start at that with your technology channel on YouTube. You need to be patient and keep adding good content.

What you’ll find over time is that every piece you put up will get a slow “long tail” of traffic each month. So, let’s say each of your videos gets just 50 views each month. Well, if you have 20 videos up, that’s 1,000 views a month. If you have 200 videos up, that’s 10,000 views a month. If you can get 2,000 videos made, that’s 100,000 views a month.

If they’re high quality, though, traffic will begin to drive itself. People will see one of your videos and watch some more. If you just have a few videos, there aren’t many to watch and they’ll leave quickly and probably forget about them. If you have tons of videos, they’re not likely to get through them all and they’ll probably bookmark the site. You’ll eventually stick in their minds and they’re more likely to share your stuff, driving more traffic.

Your best bet, honestly, is to just pump out those good videos as fast as you can while still maintaining the quality. You already have the snowball rolling there – keep it up.

I’ve told myself it will be fine, that we have our rental agreement and my son is responsible, but deciding to rent our home to him and his family is a concern still. I’m not sure what his wife will do when paying the rent gets too “hard”. We believe the risk is worth it to see them enjoying our home, but is it too risky?
- Abigail

These types of arrangements always make me uncomfortable, and it has nothing to do with the risk.

Whenever you enter into an arrangement like this, you’re transforming a parent-child relationship into a landlord-renter arrangement. The “rules” of these two arrangements are very different from each other – most people don’t have loving feelings for their landlords and view it as a merely financial arrangement.

What you’re doing is multiplying the chances that the relationship between you is damaged. If the parent-child relationship is soured or the landlord-renter relationship is soured, then you’re going to have a strong negative impact on the overall relationship.

For me, the parent-child relationship is one that, if it’s healthy, can be incredibly valuable for both of you. I wouldn’t rent to my child unless it was under the assumption that it didn’t matter if they didn’t pay me, thus eliminating the landlord-renter arrangement from the equation.

It’s not the financial risk that would worry me, it’s the relationship risk.

If I were you, I’d try really hard to move on from this, even if it means stepping in as a parent to help them buy a house elsewhere or something like that.

One topic that I don’t think that I’ve seen you cover and would like to see what you have to say about it is the finances of adoption. My husband and I adopted a domestic newborn boy about 10 months ago (our first child). We are now planning on adopting internationally for our next 2 children, most likely through a lawyer from the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have noticed that one of the main things we mention when we talk about adoption is the money. Domestic adoptions can cost anywhere from $10k-$40k depending on the method of adoption, birthmother considerations, and, shockingly, the race of the child. International adoptions tend to run from 18k-30k, depending on the country.

I would love to see what you have to say about this topic! With infertility on the rise across the country, I bet other couples would benefit from your advice on the matter.
- Monica

This is the truth of adoption and it’s one of the reasons my wife and I have been hesitant to do it. That’s a lot of money, an amount that, for many families, is destabilizing, and the entire point of adoption is to provide love and stability for the adopted child. So you essentially have two factors working in opposition to each other.

You already know the only real antidote for this – cash in the bank. Make sure you have a cash emergency fund (a few months’ worth of take-home pay) sitting in an account to deal with your current family’s crises, then start a second savings account and sock it away.

If you’re adopting domestically again, you may want to consider a private adoption, which can be a bit cheaper but has a different set of concerns and risks.

Whenever adoption is mentioned, people often mention foster homes. The problem with foster homes is that the law is bent against foster familes. The law essentially discourages building a long-term loving and trusting relationship between the foster child and the foster family because the foster child can be removed essentially at any time. This type of relationship takes a very special type of person or family to make it work – successful foster parenting isn’t something that many people can do. I consider the foster system to be just as broken as the adoption system.

I am a United States citizen and currently live in California, but I will be living in France during the next two to three years and am thinking about some financial questions, mainly about my tax situation, and thought you might be able to help. I will work as a freelance editor and as an editor for my university, but also may do some teaching, partly for people (or institutions) in the United States and partly for people in France, and so I probably will have to file two forms at least for 2011.

I want to make sure I follow the law but also am thinking that some good planning could land me in a lower tax bracket or have other benefits. Can you offer any advice or recommend any other sources?
- Tom

As a U.S. citizen, your worldwide income is subject to the U.S. income tax regardless of where you’re living. The FEIE you mention above applys when you are not living in the U.S. and your employer is not based in the U.S.

I do not know how French income tax law works, but if you are a resident there, you’re likely going to have to pay some form of income tax in France as well. My understanding (which is admittedly poor on this subject) is that if you are not a French citizen but living in France for a short period, you would only have to pay French income taxes on money earned from French businesses while living in France. You would have to pay U.S. income taxes on all money earned.

Yes, it’s a double whammy, but governments want their tax dollars.

I never watch infomercials; never! But the other day, I paused to watch one when I saw that the product they were advertising was the Magic Jack. In short, it seemed like for $3.33 a month (or a one time fee per year actually), you can carry a jack which plugs into your computer…plug a regular land line into the jack and call out anywhere in the US and Canada. If anyone has a M. Jack anywhere in the world, they can call you and talk unlimited for the same price. But I think that it is the same as Skype in that you can only call out.
- James

MagicJack is great if it works. I have one friend who swears by it.

I have another friend who used MagicJack for several months and was incredibly happy at first. Eventually, though, he began to complain that many of his calls were suffering from him being able to hear the caller but the caller not being able to hear him, so he dropped the service after seven months.

My impression from their stories and from reading a lot of reviews is that it works best if you have a very, very high speed connection that doesn’t suffer many slowdowns during peak traffic periods. If that describes your connection, then MagicJack will probably work well. If you have a lower-end high speed package, then you’re likely to see problems.

One note: MagicJack (and Skype) both give you your own number so people can call you up. You just have to have your computer on to receive the calls.

So here’s where I stand now:

So back to my questions:
How much credit is too much credit?
Do you think I should close one of these accounts?
Which account should I close?
- Julie

I wouldn’t close any of the accounts. I don’t think you have excessive credits. I have one card with more credit than all of yours combined.

The problem seems to be that you worry about your own ability to control your spending habits. If that’s the case, hide some of the cards from yourself. Freeze them in a block of ice (fill a pan half full with water, freeze it, lay your cards on the ice, fill it up the rest of the way with water, freeze it again). Cut them up, even.

If you feel you must cancel a card, cancel your most recent card. Always keep your oldest credit card because it’s the one that establishes the length of your credit history, and the longer it is, the better it helps your credit score.

I am American and live overseas with my foreign husband. I am almost finished with my Masters degree which focuses on the European Union. My husband and I are planning a move/to start a family over the course of the next 1.5 years and as it is difficult for me to find work that interests me in this country, I am looking into different jobs I can do online/from home. I have experience teaching English and a little experience editing. I would like to get more involved with the editing but am unsure as to how to go about finding more work. I recently secured 2 freelance editing jobs but need a few more in order for us to be able to save the amount of money we need to move and start a family. There are many websites (guru.com, elance.com, gofreelance.com, etc) where editing jobs are posted and you can post your resume as well. The thing is that most of these websites charge for membership (seems like $10 and up a month). In addition, some of them also take a percentage of what you earn. Would you recommend using these websites to get started? If not, what are other ways I can find editing work online or other online/work at home jobs.
- Meagan

Those websites are a good place to start. They will help you get starting jobs and contacts.

Ideally, though, that’s exactly what they are – a starting point. Eventually, you’ll be able to actually build relationships with people who need your services and, over time, the jobs will come directly from them, not through the websites.

This will not happen overnight, though. The competition on such sites is fierce because a lot of people want to do what you’re doing. You have to be doing quality work to stand out – if you’re not doing good work, they can easily just cast a line right back into that job pool.

My husband and I are having our first child in September. Last night I finally sat down and crunched the budget numbers and it was quite a wake up call — babies are expensive! Of course I knew that one level, but to see it on the spreadsheets was a bit of a shock.

This is such a major decision! I worry that my child won’t be properly socialized if he’s not in some sort of daycare, and I worry about isolation — I have been a driven career-woman all of my adult life, and I do enjoy the duties of my work, just not the pay and lack of really any benefits. However, I went through a job loss a few years back and it really helped me learn there’s more to life, and me, than my job identity.
- Sarah

There are support circles in most communities for stay-at-home parents where they meet together in parks and other public places for the purpose of socializing their kids (and socializing with each other about shared experiences). If you’re interested in doing this, seek out people already doing it in your community and ask how they make it work. Ask around. You don’t have to be isolated.

As for the financial part of the equation, it really, really depends on where you live. If you live in a rural area, a family of three can make it on $28K. If you live in a higher-cost urban area, it won’t work – there won’t be enough to make ends meet.

Given the amount of debt you’re carrying, I’m not sure you’re making ends meet now, let alone with another family member and a halving of your income. Even with the savings from doing that, it’s not going to make up for the huge loss in income without some very radical life changes (like moving to a lower-cost area and dropping your standard of living a fair amount). I can’t answer for you whether you’re up to that.

Have you ever tried making your own windshield washer fluid? I’ve heard that a solution of vinegar and water in equal parts works well. How much of a cost savings do you think it would be?
- Tanya

If you live in a climate where the temperature never goes below freezing, this should be fine. However, a water-vinegar mixture will freeze at about 30 degrees F, making it impossible to use at that temperature. Most windshield washing solution freezes at a much lower point (often around -20 F), which makes a huge difference here in Iowa.

So, if you live anywhere north of the southern tier of states, I wouldn’t try it. If you live in southern Texas or something where the temperature never drops to freezing, give it a shot – a water-vinegar mix can be a great cleaner.

After all, you don’t want it freezing up on you if you go outside to drive when it’s 25 F out. When you’re below freezing but not so cold that the salt doesn’t work and the roads are covered in wet, grimy sooty water that splashes up on your windshield, the last thing you want is for your windshield cleaner to be frozen.

So finally I think we have our financial house in order. All our debts except the house are paid off. For past 3-years we have been maxing out our 401K’s and Roth’s. Bought a house with 20% down, good emergency fund, term-life insurance, following frugality tips, buying index-fund ETF’s. Basically been doing everything that PF gurus have been recommending. While I was aggressively paying off debt, saving money for home, etc I had something to look forward to. Now everything is on auto-pilot. It definitely saves me time. But it seems that I was so focused on the financial aspect for the past 3-years, that I have lost interest in everything else. I don’t like spending money on anything. I tried setting aside some fun-money and I do spend it, but I don’t derive any fun out of it. It’s not that I have turned asocial or anything but I just feel bored all the time. By the way, we are not rich or have very high paying jobs but are super-aggressive savers. Oh I forgot, we have a 2-yr old and I do love spending time with him. I’m not depressed
- Sam

Your answer is in your next to last sentence: “we have a 2-yr old and I do love spending time with him.”

The exact same thing happened to me. We had a child and I discovered, especially as he reached his toddler years, I often enjoyed playing in the yard with him more than I enjoyed spending time and money on other endeavors. I also began to feel that it was more important to keep him financially safe and secure than to spend money on other things.

The key for me was finding fun free stuff to do. I got involved in the parks and recreation service in my town, which has tons of free activities. I’m going to coach both my four year old and my two year old in soccer in the fall (the two year old will be three by then). I got involved in volunteer activities and committees. Most of my time is now filled with stuff that doesn’t cost money to participate in, and that itself has a very positive impact on our finances.

Got any questions? Email them to me or leave them in the comments and I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag. However, I do receive hundreds of questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance book or other book of interest.

48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller keeps getting recommended to me over and over again by readers. Initially, I had filed it right next to Margin in my mind as a “great career advice book with heavy Christian overtones,” but so many readers clamored for me to read and review 48 Days that I had to give it a reading.

I’m glad I did. 48 Days to the Work You Love does a great job of laying out the full case for seeking a job that you’re passionate about as opposed to one that merely pays the bills.

48 Days to the Work You Love has some significant Christian themes running through it, often using Biblical quotes and stories as part of the motivation and reasoning behind some of the principles. I believe that most of the ideas in this book can stand completely on their own without any faith-based backing, but for some Christians, the religious material will be a boon and for some non-Christians it will be a hindrance. It doesn’t overwhelm the book, but it is certainly a theme throughout.

If that’s not an issue for you, then 48 Days to the Work You Love is an extremely worthwhile read. Let’s dig in.

1 | What Is Work?
Why do we work? Most people answer with reasons related to paying the bills. They’re either working at or seeking jobs that are secure or are in demand because these things create or secure a healthy income. Yet such jobs are often the source of deep unhappiness because it ignores the natural gifts and drives each of us has. We all love doing certain things (though it’s different for each person) and we all have things that we’re very good at (again, different for each person). Yet in that chase for money, we shoehorn ourselves into jobs that don’t utilize the things we love to do or the things we’re good at, and that (unsurprisingly) leaves us unhappy or at least less fulfilled than we might otherwise be.

2 | The Challenge of Change: React, Respond, or Get Trampled
The world is always changing. In order to succeed, you have to be strongly on board with that change. Seek out areas of change that fascinate and enthrall you. Focus on them, learn about them, and bring every transferable skill (yes, my old hobby horse) to the table with you. The more you toss yourself into areas of change that match your skills and passions, the more valuable you become very quickly.

3 | Creating a Life Plan
Your work is not your life. It is simply part of a well-rounded and successful life. What elements do you want in your ideal life? Most of those elements probably won’t involve work – they’ll involve leisure, play, community, relationships with others, and so on. Work you love fills in the gaps between “work” and those other areas so seamlessly that it all flows together and makes you whole.

4 | Wheels, Goals, and Clear Action
What is your overall mission in life? Do you have one? Spending the time to figure one out really helps put everything else in context. Me? I’m a writer who simply wants to help others grow. That’s my mission. Within that mission, Miller identifies seven areas of achievement: financial, physical, personal development, family, spiritual, social, and career. These should roughly be in balance and they should all help you achieve your overall mission in life.

5 | Am I an Eagle or an Owl?
What are your gifts? Quite often, for expediency or convenience, people are stuck in roles that do not match their gifts at all. They’re uncomfortable in those roles and their required skills are far from their strengths. I was once in this position; I had to travel and meet with lots of different groups. Not only was I uncomfortable with the meetings, I often felt that the topic area was outside of my expertise.

6 | 6 Job Offers in 10 Days
How do you get this job? This chapter covers resumes, cover letters, and “elevator pitches” – but mostly resumes. There’s a ton of great advice on here, but the key to all of it is that you need to be assertive. People don’t owe you a job. Don’t believe that a great resume will win you the job alone – it’s just the first step. You have to follow up. Call them. Chase the job you want or else someone else will be the one who chases it down.

7 | Finding Your Unique Path
So, self-promotion is one key to finding the job of your dreams. What other keys are there? One big key is finding out where the jobs are in the field that you’re interested in. What basic things are required to get your foot in the door in those fields? Another big element is deciding when the right time to switch career paths is, and that requires some significant introspection.

8 | Do They Like Me? Do I Like Them?
Here, Miller talks about interviews – and again, the key to getting the job you’ve dreamed of is selling yourself. Can you describe your strongest area of expertise? Another interesting part: it’s often useful to ask about the company during the interview – in effect, you’re interviewing each other to make sure the match is right. This not only helps you figure out if this is right for you, but also puts more confidence in your pocket.

9 | Show Me the Money
Almost every salary is negotiable. Miller spends this chapter talking about salary negotiation – and also the value of sometimes jumping ship to a similar job at another firm for a lot more pay than you’re getting now. The key (as before) is self-confidence and communication skills – you have to be willing to stand up for what you want.

10 | Do You Have What It Takes?
Another avenue many people take (and I’m in this group) is entrepreneurship – in effect, creating your own dream job. This is obviously a harder path starting out because there’s no guarantees, but once you get it going, you really do get to define your job however you like. This usually requires a ton of self-motivation.

11 | Skunks, Rags, and Candy Bars
Here, Miller collects several thoughts together under one umbrella. The big one (for me) was an emphasis on taking the time to think about what you’re doing, because almost every task can be done far more efficiently with some careful thought. Also, don’t get trapped in your past. Everyone fails – a failure in your past doesn’t mean a thing about whether you can succeed now.

Is 48 Days to the Work You Love Worth Reading?
This is the best all around book I’ve read on job hunting, bar none. I genuinely believe it eclipses What Color Is Your Paracute? (my previous pick for “best career book”) unless you’re completely alienated by a small amount of Christian theme to the book.

So, read this if you’re thinking at all about the next professional step in your life. If that statement doesn’t apply to you, then you’re probably not going to get much value from 48 Days to the Work You Love.

Aaron writes in:

I love your cost breakdowns when you calculate the real truth behind some financial choice. I’ve got one for you. Is it really cheaper to ride public transportation to work? I have a bus stop about a block from my house. For about $2 each way, I can use public transportation to get to work, which is about fifteen miles away. But I have a car that gets about 28 miles per gallon and gas is about $3, so I’m breaking even to make the commute and I have a lot more flexibility. I just don’t see how the numbers add up.

In the numbers you give above, you’re neglecting a whole bunch of factors.

First of all, your car costs a lot more than you think. Gas is just the start. You also have maintenance, tires, insurance, license, registration, taxes, depreciation, and finance charges (if you have a car loan). According to AAA’s estimates on driving costs, if you drive a medium sedan 10,000 miles per year, the cost per mile figuring in all of those factors is 70.2 cents per mile.

So, your commute is 30 miles long, round trip. Your cost for that commute in a medium sedan that you drive 10,000 miles in a year (a guess based on the info you provided) is $21.

This, of course, doesn’t include things like parking costs, traffic tickets, and so on.

Of course, if you’re going to own a car anyway, the cost per mile for a medium sedan goes down to $0.39 (according to those AAA statistics, adding together maintenance and depreciation per mile). Your round trip in this case is about $12 in depreciation and fuel costs, with the other $9 coming in as costs related to the fact that you own a car, regardless of how much you drive it.

Another factor to consider is the savings of buying a public transportation pass. I’ll use San Francisco’s BART as an example. If you commute every day for a month (let’s assume 24 days), you’ll spend $2 each way on a commute if you don’t buy a pass, totaling $96. Alternately, you can get a monthly pass costing only $60, saving you $36 a month.

If you commute each day in your car, one that you would own anyway, your depreciation and maintenance costs would be roughly $288 ($12 per day over 24 days). If you only have a car for commuting, the total cost over that month is $504 ($21 per day over 24 days).

The case for saving money on public transportation is pretty clear, in my book. The big argument against it, of course, is speed and convenience, which is what you’re really paying for if you own a car in a large city with good public transportation.

If I lived in a large city, my family would own one car at most (and possibly no cars at all). We would use public transportation as much as possible and, if it worked out, we would simply rent a car for the rare occasions we needed one. If you only actually need a car a couple times a year and can use public transportation the rest of the time, it is far cheaper to go that route.

Remember, that extra cost per month for driving yourself to work is all about the flexibility and a bit of time-saving. How valuable is that to you? A few hundred dollars a month?

One of the best articles on self-improvement I’ve ever read popped up recently on the Deadspin blog. Titled The Public Humiliation Diet (note: some language NSFW), it describes how Drew Magary, the author of the post, lost sixty pounds in five months without doing anything too incredibly radical. He just implemented twelve simple rules in his life, and here they are, in summary (the whole article is worth a read, though):

1. I bought a scale.
2. I weighed myself daily.
3. I posted that weight daily on Twitter.
4. I never ate after dinner.
5. I didn’t snack except for fruit.
5. I didn’t have seconds.
6. I didn’t eat sweets.
7. I avoided carbs, but didn’t go nuts about it.
8. I drank a [lot] of unsweetened green tea.
9. I drastically cut down on boozing.
10. I made sure everything I ate was [very] AWESOME.
11. I exercised, but that hardly mattered.
12. I took a fiber supplement.

All of these specific tips really boil down to five principles.

You shouldn’t be ashamed of where you start. Guess what? No one is perfect in life. An awful lot of us are overweight. An awful lot of us are in deep debt. An awful lot of us can’t play the piano. An awful lot of us can’t write computer code. An awful lot of us don’t read as much as we ought to. Do not be ashamed of where you’re at right now. The big thing is to be proud that you’ve decided to accept a major goal for yourself and that you’re actively working to improve your current state. The past is water under the bridge – we all start from where we’re at now, not from where we were at ten years ago when things were “better.”

No individual step you take while making a change in your life should be radical. Major changes to how we behave are almost impossible to perfectly implement. Going from spending thousands a month on unnecessary stuff to spending nothing at all will rarely work for more than a week or two. Why? Because whenever you make a major change like that, you’re derailing a lot of tiny routines and habits, not just one. Humans are creatures of habit, and derailing even the simplest routine can be hard. Derailing lots of simple routines all at once can be incredibly hard. Make small changes, observe small victories, and be patient. It’s far better than yo-yoing, where you make a radical change, see some great success immediately, then fall off the horse and find yourself back where you started.

You should keep careful track of the change you’re making in your life. If you can, find a specific number that you can calculate by which to judge your progress. Your net worth. Your total debt. Your weight. Your 5k time. Your morning blood sugar. Find a way to track your progress so you can see the steady improvement over time.

If this is impossible for your big goal, start keeping a journal and write a daily entry describing your progress towards your goal. The key is to be mindful of the changes you’re experiencing over time.

You should make yourself directly accountable to others, preferably daily. You’re already tracking the changes. Now share the tracking of those changes with others.

The internet makes this really easy. If you’re just tracking a number, open a Twitter account (I have one where I post all kinds of stuff) and post that number each day (along with the change since yesterday and the change since the start). If you’re doing a journal, start a blog about it and put your journal entries there.

Next, share those postings with others. This takes courage, but it’s well worth it. Just share the URL where you’re posting this stuff with the people you care most about. They’ll cheer you on and hold you accountable. When you’re about to make a bad choice, you’ll be forced to reflect on the people that are watching – and that will become a very powerful motivator.

You should substitute the worst stuff for something approximately the same but less costly. If you eat a lot of sugary or carb-dense snacks, just substitute your favorite kind of fruit. Replace a candy bar with a banana or a piece of watermelon. They’re both sweet and tasty and one is substantially better than the other.

The same holds true for spending. Replace buying a new book with a trip to the library – you get a book either way. Replace clothes shopping at a high end store with a trip to the thrift shop – you’ll get clothes either way. The more such substitutions you make, the easier it is to spend less.

Many newer readers of The Simple Dollar haven’t been exposed to the hundreds of great articles in the archives of the site, so this is a weekly series that highlights the five best posts from one year ago this week, two years ago this week, and three years ago this week. I call it … the Time Machine.

One Year Ago (May 23 – May 29, 2009)
The Paradox of Thrift: Is Saving Money Bad for the Economy? Saving money, in the end, means you’re loaning it to other people, using a bank as a middleman. The money still flows through the economy.

Grocery Shopping 101: Quantity Surcharges and 10 Products to Watch Out For Sometimes, bulk purchases aren’t a bargain. You really need to be able to figure out the cost per unit to get the maximum bang for the buck at the store.

Six Great Healthy, Inexpensive, and Quick Summer Meals I love doing these type of meal writeups. Part of it, of course, is that I enjoy cooking, but I also like inspiring others to actually go into the kitchen and make a meal for themselves.

Preparing Your Information for Disaster The more prepared you are for a disaster (with really easy steps), the easier your transition through a disaster will be.

The Barter Economy: 14 Great Places to Trade Stuff Online I really like swap meets, whether online or in real life. The idea that I’m giving something of mine to someone who will actually use it and they’re giving me something I’ll actually use in exchange is just empowering.

Two Years Ago (May 23 – May 29, 2008)
The Big Sell-Off At the start of my financial turnaround, I sold off a lot of accumulated stuff. Here’s how I did it, including my choices on how and where to sell many of the items.

Baking Soda: My Favorite Frugal Substance I can go through baking soda like James Bond goes through martinis. There are just so many uses for the stuff.

Personal Finance 101: What Exactly Does It Mean to Own a Stock? A share of stock means you own a tiny sliver of a company. That may mean that you collect profits from the company or that you own some portion of the company’s assets if it fails and liquidates.

Do I Need Long Term Disability Insurance? Here’s a definitive answer: maybe.

On Saving to Splurge There’s nothing at all wrong with an occasional splurge. You just need to account for it a bit in advance so that when the opportunity comes, you can do it worry-free without dropping a bomb on your budget.

Three Years Ago (May 23 – May 29, 2007)
The “White Sheep” Syndrome: What To Do If You’re The Only Financially Sound Person In Your Family My best advice is to not be Superman. No matter how much you want to help, handing money to someone who is financially irresponsible hurts you and doesn’t help them.

20 Essential Tools For Getting Started With A Home, Garage, and Garden Consider this a “getting started” list, particularly for homewarming gifts.

Six Points of Advice If You’re considering Loaning Money to a Friend I’ll make it as simple as possible for you. Don’t.

Cheap Food, Expensive Consequences: How To Keep Your Family Healthy And Safe Without Spending A Mint My approach is to simply stick with raw ingredients. Yes, it adds time to your cooking, but it guarantees healthy and delicious meals.

Managing Regular Financial, Personal, and Social Tasks I’ve come to use Google Calendar for this. It really makes scheduling regular events incredibly easy.

If you’d like to browse through more of the archives, visit the chronology, where all posts are listed in chronological order.

Nine Ways to Get More out of The Simple Dollar
This is kind of a FAQ for new readers and is posted each week along with the Time Machine. Here are nine great ways for new readers to dig deeper into The Simple Dollar.

1. Subscribe by email or RSS. Visiting The Simple Dollar’s website is great, but for many people, it’s more convenient to receive the articles in another form. It’s easy to join 60,000 other subscribers and get The Simple Dollar’s content by email or in your RSS feeder (if you’re unfamiliar with RSS, check out Google Reader.

2. Comment. Each article on The Simple Dollar has lively discussion. Just click on the green square in the upper right of each article on the website and join in!

3. Read my story of financial meltdown and recovery. The Simple Dollar isn’t based on what I’ve read in books or learned in school. I’ve made a lifetime of financial mistakes – The Simple Dollar is a record of what works for me during the process of getting my life on a better track.

4. Download my free 49 page e-book. Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page is completely free. It summarizes all of the key lessons I’ve learned along the way about personal finance in one tidy package – in fact, all of the main principles can be found right on the cover.

5. Follow me on Twitter – or other social networks. I post tons of interesting articles, quotes, follow-up material, commentary, and other material on Twitter. Follow me! If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, it’s essentially an open discussion forum for people to share ideas and thoughts with other like-minded folks – you just choose the people you want to listen to and their ideas and thoughts are all delivered to you on a single page.

I also participate on several other social networks. Feel free to check me out on del.icio.us (it’s where I collect links, from which I select the ones that appear in my weekly roundups), wakoopa (what software I use), GoodReads (what books I’m reading), Facebook, and FriendFeed (which aggregates everything). I also have an irregularly-updated personal site, TrentHamm.com.

6. Dig through “31 Days to Fix Your Finances.” 31 Days to Fix Your Finances is an article series that outlines how you can get a grip on your finances over the course of a month.

7. Send me your questions and suggestions. Send me an email and let me know what you’re thinking, what you’d like to see, and any questions you might have. I try to respond to as many emails as possible and I read them all. I may even use your question in a future article!

8. Become a “Friend of The Simple Dollar.” If you find the stuff on The Simple Dollar valuable and are willing to spend five minutes or so a month to help me out with small things, please consider signing up to be a “Friend of The Simple Dollar”.

9. Email a great article you find to a friend. Find an article that you think your friend would love? At the bottom of each article, you’ll find a link that says “Email this” – just click on that, type in your friend’s address, and send it right along to them!

A few days ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop (my once-every-two-months-or-so visit) reading some of the comments on The Simple Dollar with my laptop. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that someone was looking over my shoulder at the screen, so I glanced over at this fortysomething lady. She smiled at me and said, “I love that website.”

I couldn’t resist. I said, “Well, watch this,” clicked on the “about me” link at the top of the page, and wheeled the screen around to face her. I pointed to the picture and said, “I’m a bit older now, but that’s me.”

She put her hand over her mouth and then said, “Trent! Really?”

I wound up moving over to her table and chatting with her for a little while. During the conversation, she said three things that I thought were worth sharing with all of you.

First, my life seems “smooth” and I make the challenge of financially responsible living seem “easy.”

Part of this is that I have the freedom to choose what I write about. In order to make an article seem straightforward and clear, I boil things down to their bare essentials.

I’ll write an article about making my homemade laundry detergent, but I’ll leave out the part where my son Joe (who was three then) dumped two gallons of water on the floor, which ran clear across the floor of the kitchen and dripped onto the carpet on the stairs.

I’ll write articles about making delicious homemade dinners from scratch, but I’ll not write as much about the days when my two year old Katie has a complete epic crying meltdown as I’m attempting to prepare a picnic lunch until I finally say, “Enough! Turkey and mustard sandwiches for all!” as I toss stuff into a backpack while Joe stands on a chair firing a Nerf gun into the air.

I’ll mention a great deal I found on some wine, but I’ll neglect to mention that when I popped the cork off of a bottle of bubbly, it ricocheted off the ceiling, hit the counter, and whacked me in the eye, causing me to drop the bottle and have it both hit my big toe and shatter on the floor.

I’ll relate some of my great time management techniques that work most of the time, but the wheels fall off when Matthew starts crying and I wind up rocking him for two hours while singing songs that were popular circa 1995 to him, only to happily discover that he quickly dozes off to his father’s awful attempt at singing “Champagne Supernova.”

My life is a train wreck at times and it’s often impossible to do things perfectly. Although such stories might be fun to write about (and maybe fun to read), they don’t really help anyone for much of anything beyond a quick entertainment. I also worry about preserving the privacy of others in my life; I have a pretty open policy with me personally, but that policy is much tighter with Sarah and the kids and almost impenetrable beyond those immediate folks. I feel no need to embarrass and insult people as a method to give myself an extra leg up.

So I try to choose things that people can actually use in their lives. Sometimes I can still talk about the disasters (for some reason, the best example I can think of is my burnt macaroni and cheese), but they’re usually not helpful. Just embarrassing. And sometimes funny to others. But not helpful.

So, be aware: I fail. A lot. Sometimes I mention them. But most of the time, they’re just funny … and sometimes kind of sad and pathetic (like my recent revelation that the Count on Sesame Street was supposed to be a vampire).

So, what else did she say? She told me that she’s trying to be more financially responsible because she is “afraid of the future.” I asked her what she meant by that and she said that she simply didn’t know where things were going and that being more in control of her money made her less afraid of it.

I think there is unquestionably something to that. In fact, I’ll go even farther. Over the last few years, the media has been selling fear – hard. I’m not just talking about right wing talk radio or about left wing print media – both are involved in this. Almost every media source is painting a horrible picture of what’s going on out there politically, environmentally, socially, and so on. Why? Because we tune in when we’re afraid.

Here’s the truth, though. I look out my window and I see a sunny day. Every single day, I meet a lot of people who are out there doing their job and being productive and, best of all, heping others with their spare time.

Yes, there are bad things going on. But there are a lot of good things going on, too. We hear every night about every last terror and disaster and economic calamity, but we don’t hear about the guy down the block who mows the lawn of the elderly lady across the street for free because she’s not getting around too well after her hip replacement surgery. We don’t see the neighbors who kept an eye on our house for us while we were traveling recently. We don’t get reports on the youth group that collected 100,000 canned goods for the food pantry.

Why? It’s a lot easier to sell the negative than it is to sell the positive.

Look around you at what you have in your life. Almost all of you have a roof over your heads. You have an active, thinking mind. You have steady meals on the table in front of you. Those three factors alone put you at the cream of the crop of humankind. Life. Is. Good.

People who want to tell you life is bad have something to sell, whether it be advertising space or a product that will make it all better for you. Trust your eyes and ears, not theirs.

One final thing she said that made me think was that I should talk more about the political issues that are going on right now.

That’s a statement I disagree with. The most profound change you can make on the world as a whole is to get your own house in order.

Railing about politics can be fun and it can also be cathartic. But, in the morning, you’re going to wake up to the same life you had yesterday, except possibly worse because you spent all your energy raging about a law or a corrupt official.

Don’t spend your energy there. Spend your energy making your own life financially secure, productive, and enjoyable. Then, when you can, spend your energy and money on helping out others. Adopt a child that has no chance and give that child one. Raise a big garden and give that food to the local food pantry. The opportunities you have to directly help someone else are endless.

The best way to create a better world isn’t to rail against the government. It’s to make your own life stable (so others don’t have to prop you up) and then help the people around you when you can, and then when it comes time, do your civic duty and vote. If you feel strongly about some issue, contact your congressperson with a calm, thoughtful handwritten letter (believe me, they pay attention to things like this, but they ignore rage-filled diatribes) and then direct your energy to improving yourself.

Think about how much better the world would be if every single person did that. Why don’t you be one of those who do? That’s what I’m doing – I won’t be wasting my energy here on political rants.

Five minutes of maintenance can save hundreds of dollars, lots of time, and tons of heartache.

For me, maintenance of the things I rely on in life has become a complete no-brainer. Spending a bit of time here and a bit of time there on the valuable things and the important things in my life extends their lifespan. It helps them to keep running great. It makes sure those important things are there when I need them. It extends the time between serious repairs and replacements. And, in the end, those little bits of maintenance save me tons of money and make my life better.

Health Maintenance
The first thing to maintain is you. If you’re lacking energy or feel poorly, it’s pretty difficult to be as productive and active as you might wish to be. Spending even a little bit of time each day maintaining your personal health goes a long way toward extending both the length and the quality of your life, from the great span of the years to the simple enjoyment of getting out of bed with a healthy amount of energy.

Ten Simple Steps to Get Started
1. Take a walk each evening and listen to music or podcasts or the radio while you stroll.
2. Eat smaller portions of what you already eat.
3. Toss out preprocessed food and replace it with raw foods like fruits and vegetables.
4. Eat less meat.
5. Drink moderately and give up smoking.
6. Eat a healthy breakfast – say, a banana or an apple.
7. Address the stresses in your life head-on.
8. Reduce your responsibility load.
9. Use less salt to season your food.
10. Stretch fully each morning.

Skill Maintenance
Your skills are your ticket to earning income and building new professional relationships. The more skills (and the better skills) you bring to the table, the more money you’re going to make over the long run. I’m not just talking about the specific aspects of whatever your job is. I’m also talking about communication skills, planning skills, information management skills, presentation skills, and so on. The more you shine these skills, the better off you’ll be in every professional context.

Ten Simple Steps to Get Started
1. Practice your skills regularly.
2. Volunteer the use of your skills.
3. Do things yourself.
4. Use your skills and talents to help your friends.
5. Push your skills by taking on challenging projects.
6. Take classes.
7. Read about the changes in your fields of interest.
8. Adopt the skills that match the changes in your fields of interest.
9. Master transferable skills.
10. Use your skills as a source of personal amusement or entertainment.

Home Maintenance
Your home is likely the biggest investment you’ll make. Maintenance protects that investment from countless disasters and malfunctions, things that eat money like mad, eat up time, and cause countless headaches. With just a little bit of effort, you can make such disasters occur quite rarely. What’s better: a bit of leisurely time around your property or panic while your basement floods and you calculate the bills?

Ten Simple Steps to Get Started
1. Check and replace furnace and air conditioning filters.
2. Examine the foundation for any cracks.
3. Examine exposed wood (attic, etc.) for insect damage and do any insect preventative maintenance that is needed.
4. Drain off a pan full of water from the clean-out valve at the bottom of your hot water tank.
5. Test all fire/smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in the house.
6. Check all visible pipes for leaks (don’t forget under sinks, etc.).
7. Check the gauge on all fire extinguishers and replace if needed.
8. Check all faucets for dripping water and change washers if needed.
9. Check all gutters for blockage and clean as needed (bird’s nests, leaves, etc.).
10. Remove screens, clean window wells, and dry them.

Auto Maintenance
For most of us, our car is our key to much of our life. It takes us to and from work. It takes us to and from our sources for food. It helps us run countless errands. It keeps us safe while we’re doing this. Unsurprisingly, we want it to be reliable. We don’t want it to break down on us when we least need it. A bit of maintenance can help insure just that.

Ten Simple Steps to Get Started
1. Check the tire pressure and air them up to the recommended maximum.
2. Check, clean, and perhaps replace the air filter on all automobiles regularly.
3. Monitor the fluid levels in your car (and know how to do this yourself).
4. Replace the oil in your car yourself.
5. Wash your car regularly to prevent rusting and exterior damage.
6. Rotate your tires regularly.
7. Listen carefully as your automobile runs, both inside and outside.
8. Replace spark plugs regularly.
9. Keep jumper cables in your vehicle and know how to use them.
10. Follow your cars’ maintenance schedules to the letter.

Relationship Maintenance
Our connections with people need maintenance, too. A friendship unnourished is a friendship that withers on the vine, and the same holds true with marriages and other relationships. The end of a relationship can be very painful, personally, professionally, and financially. Investing a bit of time regularly into the relationships that matter can make all the difference.

Ten Simple Steps to Get Started
1. Have regular conversation that goes beyond small talk.
2. Regularly tell the people you love that you love them.
3. Don’t get angry when you’re criticized.
4. Explain calmly how you’re feeling when you’re perturbed.
5. Go the extra mile to show someone you care about them.
6. Write handwritten notes for every occasion.
7. Touch base regularly with the people that are important to you.
8. When you make a mistake, confess it instead of trying to hide it.
9. When someone you care about makes a mistake, listen and support instead of criticizing.
10. Give the best in you to others.

How Can I Get All This Done? Maintenance Monday
When do I do most of my maintenance? Well, much of it is done on a roughly quarterly basis and in big batches. I’ll go on a big maintenance tear, tackling all of these categories as intensely as possible. (I also simply find ways to replace normal routines, too, particularly for health maintenance.)

Where do I find the time? Mondays. About once every two to three months, there’s a national holiday that’s celebrated on a Monday. One of them happens to be this coming Monday – Memorial Day. Labor Day. Martin Luther King Day. Washington’s Birthday. Columbus Day.

Utilize those extra days to maintain all of the things that are important in your life. Maintain your relationships, your home, your skills. It’ll make all the difference for having a life that’s happy and stable and without the kind of disastrous emergencies that drain our energy and money and time.