Comments on: Make Your Own Dishwashing Detergent (24/365)

By: Kai

Kai — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:16:12 +0000

If the comments were censored, he’d lose a good number of readers who come just for the comments – plus those who return to a comment page. Since add revenue is all about pageviews, the more contentious the post, and the more comments made, the better.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:28:38 +0000

#25 Izabelle
“Being “passionate” about something and excelling at it are two very, very different things.”

THIS is a Great Truth of Life.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:01:52 +0000

Lilly #26 and #38. Regarding comment #38 LOL – I do the same thing these days. I also see at least one other commenter with the same name. Sometimes her comments are the opposite of mine, so I guess we cancel each other out.
The good news is that there are a lot of similar PF blogs with many other clear voices. I used to check in every day. Now I pop over once a week or so.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:51:59 +0000

@jim #36: Trent has credibility?

By: Lilly

Lilly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:34:49 +0000

I guess I need to start posting under a different name LOL, too many Lillys!

*I* posted comment #26 but not #35, and for the record I barely read the articles anymore, I skim them then read the comments. I learned a lot of good ideas from this blog when I first started reading, but after you have been reading a while the subject matter (as well as Trent’s writing style) gets very repetitive.

By: Telephus44

Telephus44 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:58:05 +0000

@32 – trying cleaning your dishwasher. I actually found a video on Youtube that did a good job explaining how to remove most of the arms, remove scaling deposits, etc. I tried this with our dishwasher that we got when we bought this house – it’s about 10 years old – and it started getting the dishes a lot cleaner.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:36:27 +0000

Lilly, Whether you like all the comments or not, I don’t think that censorship of criticism in the comments is Trents best option. He would lose a lot of credibility if he started deleting comments just because they were critical or nit-picky.

By: Lilly

Lilly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:01:31 +0000

Weirdly, Johanna, Tracy and kc have downgraded this blog’s comments section with their nit-picking criticism. It’s very distracting to those of who are actually looking for useful comments. Trent, you don’t have to allow people like this to continue to post, you know.

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:50:22 +0000

@32. KerryD, many dishwashers have food traps or overflow traps that need to be cleaned out once in a while. The dishwasher won’t clean well if those devices are clogged. Also, many people refuse to read or follow the instructions that come with appliances, and thus use them incorrectly. Some people load the dishwasher so as to block the soap dispenser. Others need to run the water until it heats up before starting the dishwasher. Others are allowing utensils to block the rotating arms. Some people might have water that is too hard.

So, first, read your owner’s manual and check that you are loading, maintaining and running your appliance correctly. Check if it has a filter, trap or overflow outlet that could be clogged, and clear it. If that doesn’t work, run a Google search on your make/model and the problem you’re having and do some research. It might give you some other ideas of what could be wrong.

By: Kai

Kai — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:53:59 +0000

Have you tried using various amounts of detergent and found no change?

Have you tried arranging your dishes differently? Perhaps the water is not able to hit them properly in the orientation you usually load?

Or perhaps it is just a crappy machine..

By: Kerry D.

Kerry D. — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:55:33 +0000

ok, I actually have a question about using an automatic dishwasher–I usually use a smallish amount of name brand detergent, and my 5 year old Kenmore dishwasher does a horrible job of washing. It’s basically just a sanitizing machine. We have to thoroughly rinse dishes before they go in.

Any thoughts?

By: Annie

Annie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:42:52 +0000

I often find deals at supermarkets where they have dish detergent for sale nearly 1/2 the price. I got a very large size Pamolive Antibacterial bottle for 1.99 vs 3.99 which will last me a very long time for 2 dollars. I think for my personal finance that is supercheap for cleaning dishes. I find good deals on laundry detergent also and you can bundle it with coupons. I notice lately that the simple dollar newsletter seem redundant and discussed already. Are you running out of ideas to talk about?

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:50:49 +0000

“Hopefully, these images will visually illustrate the beauty of frugality in everyday life.” If they are images, then “visually” is redundant. These posts, taken from the book, are no brainers for finding a topic a day. Pity the extra time involved in not having to invent a topic a day isn’t invested in more time devoted to improving quality of writing. Evidently having a “passion” for writing doesn’t mean you’re interested enough to write well. Didn’t the author switch his major from English to something else? Now we know why! Can you imagine the red pen marks from an English / Creative writing instructor for the above column?

By: Adam P

Adam P — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:12:00 +0000

Oh I’m not concerned. The comments are comedy GOLD.

By: Mister E

Mister E — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:14:13 +0000

I’m deeply concerned over how much more of this series there is yet to be posted.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:07:34 +0000

I love the comments on TSD; the regular people who comment are TRULY and EXTREMELY the best!!!

By: Lilly

Lilly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:49:55 +0000

I did a little facebook stalking, and it does look like Trent and Brittany are relatives (most likely cousins, but my research is inconclusive).

By: Izabelle

Izabelle — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:45:51 +0000

Being “passionate” about something and excelling at it are two very, very different things. Generally, when a(n aspiring) professional makes his/her pitch all about how passionate they are, it’s going to be all about them – not about the client’s need (e.g. RUN).

Don’t get me wrong, passion usually necessary to succeed, but it should be the catalyst, not the object, if one looks to make a living out of it.

By: kevin

kevin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:34:02 +0000

“Passionate” is over-used on most personal finance blogs, although TSD is especially bad. Does anybody actually talk like this? For example, I like to read, I like to travel etc. It would never occur to me to say I’m “passionate” about reading.

By: kc

kc — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:24:26 +0000

@ Johanna: From the post announcing the series:

“Several years ago, I started to mentor a young woman named Brittany who’s passionate about photography.”