So all that to say that I think both blogs are fabulous, when I see a post I feel like I have seen a hundred times in various places on the web, I just smile and remind myself I have come a long way!

Trent, I hope you do start participating in the comments again. Frankly, I’d stopped commenting at all, as it seemed to be that you couldn’t be fussed to converse with us anymore. Glad to know that wasn’t your motivation.

Most of the criticism of The Simple Dollar above is quite good and seems to revolve around two points that I think are fair to address.

One, that I don’t respond to readers. I used to participate quite a bit in comment threads on The Simple Dollar, but I reduced this quite a bit because I constantly felt that I was decimating the conversation whenever I would write anything. I often felt that conversations would wind up centered around ME – and I didn’t like that. As someone mentioned above, the commenters at The Simple Dollar are TREMENDOUS, and I personally came to find that the comment threads were much more entertaining if I didn’t respond at all and just let them grow on their own, with give and take between the commenters. Given the comments here, I’ll rethink that philosophy.

As for the “stagnation” of The Simple Dollar, I think that’s partially because I constantly experiment with the direction of the site, and the flavor of it changes pretty regularly. It started out pretty anecdotal, then it went into something of a “fact-based” period with lots of tip posts, then I got fairly philosophical and anecdotal. These “phases” seemed to attract different readers – and repel others. I’ve heard from a lot of people that The Simple Dollar moved away from what attracted them in the first place, but I also think that if I kept writing the same kinds of posts over and over again, it would be very stagnant. There’s a balance to be achieved here, of course.

Thanks for the feedback.

I also found that Trent needs to re-connect with his readers. For instance, readers are always calling JD out on his mistakes, but JD doesn’t get defensive; instead he learns from the readers and actually THANKS us for calling him out. I find the opposite with Trent; before he would get defensive, now he just ignores his readers. Little things like that…

I was hoping Trent’s new book would be more about his bio and his path to financial security, so I was a bit disappointed with the tips. I think though that it’s good for what it is and probably offers lots of useful tips for people who are just starting out.

I’m very wary of book writers nowadays because it seems like anyone is just writing them, whereas before it was people who spent years studying and writing their topics that were writing books, who had to earn PhDs and do countless experiments and stats to back them up. Basically, I don’t think Trent’s materials needed to be a book and could have been online instead. I would have been happier if he had just taken his BEST articles, edited them to be even better, and published that.

Lastly, I do want to add, that while I don’t know Trent personally, I do find him to a genuinely good guy with a great heart and smart head on his shoulders. So I’m rooting for his success.

Unless you have a very distinctive voice — and few PF bloggers do — it’s not easy to maintain anything like freshness. How many ways can you say “pay off debt; stay out of debt; live within your means; and save, save, save”?

To my mind, those blogs that manage to stay interesting do so by offering some insight into the proprietor’s humanity. It’s getting to know a human being — albeit several steps removed — that makes a good site worth reading.

I think the “staleness” thing affects people who both run out of steam and just don’t write very well. Either way you can certainly tell when the focus is elsewhere. Our friend JD here won’t have that problem because he’s head and shoulders above the rest of the money blogosphere in terms of writing ability. I agree with the wish above that TSD would respond to comments like he used to, as there’s a lot of substance in them. He is lucky enought to probably have the best commenters of any money blog I’ve seen – with any of the issues he posts about you could just read the comments over there and learn a ton.

I’ve ordered this book (you’re right, it is remarkably cheap for a new book these days) and look forward to getting it!

I think that the transformation from “normal” spending to living a frugal lifestyle is a very profound realization. It’s so eye-opening in fact, that people start blogs and write books about it. Heck, there’s even TV and radio shows, too. You can call it simplicity, or frugality, or whatever it is… when people discover it, they want to share it and connect with people that also get it. Although I never started a blog myself, I truly remember that a-ha! moment and it really changed my life for the better.

Also, it could totally be *ME* that has changed. I’ve learned along side pfblogs and don’t really need the the daily advice that I once did. I’ve learned to live this new life right alongside Trent and if *I* were writing a daily blog, I wouldn’t have much new to say at this point either, ya know? I applaud anyone who takes the steps to commit to a daily blog. I think it takes guts and a lot of persistence.

I’ve been trying over the last few minutes to find something that comparable, but I haven’t found the right analogy yet. Maybe like a high school student: You can be the greatest High School student ever in the history of High School students, but eventually you have to graduate. You can’t be the best forever. Or, or, or better yet!!!, like my childhood hero Ricky Henderson the baseball player…before he retired, he was still Rickey Henderson, but he wasn’t the great player that he once was. Ahhh, that doesn’t work either…help me with a better one, please! Maybe a band that was once great, but doesn’t put out the hits anymore.

Trent’s posts over the last year have become a bit generic…or I have become less of the audience to them. I hope he can continue to make a living off of writing, in whatever form it’s in. I also hope that people continue to discover his blog. He has a great story that gets told over the course of a year or so, and it’s really inspiring.

Like I said in my previous post, I hope he can parlay his blogging success into full time book writing. There is lot’s of competition out there. Maybe the site just needs a re-fresh, or maybe he has earned a nice long vacation now. Just stare at the ocean for a few days, I don’t know.

I think he’s a great guy with a great story, it’s just not for me anymore.(The classic “It’s not you, it’s me!”)

Thanks for the review of the book, J.D. I will be requesting it on paperbackswap and from my local library.

(BTW J.D., I have not noticed this same thing with your blog and I continue to read it daily. It’s always a pleasure to read, but I’ll be sure to let you know if it starts to slide…)

I do agree that it (and all blogs, not just pfblogs) can become stale. GRS has wrestled with its own bouts of staleness before. I try to mitigate this with guest posts and reader feedback, but it’s tough. (This site is about to exhibit a little stretching over the next few months, so I’m hoping that staleness won’t actually be an issue for a while.)

But Trent is a good guy with a good heart and good information. I’m proud to have him as a colleague.

Sounds like a good book to have on a coffee table to read from time to time. I certainly liked the style of the excerpt and found it useful.

Unfortunately, his blog has gone a bit downhill in the last year or so. Very vague, kind of generic posts. Not a critism of him though, I just think that PF blogs all start to sound the same after a while. It’s hard for the author to sound fresh after a year or two of posts.

I found it’s best to find a blogger who is just starting out and discovering frugality. Watching the transformation and discovery is the best part.

I hope he can parlay his blogging success into full time book writing though. Lot’s of competition out there.

When I read, “My colleague Trent Hamm from The Simple Dollar has just released his first book, and it’s very similar to Everyday Cheapskate’s Greatest Tips,” I thought J.D. was basically saying that Trent has published a copycat book. But the review is positive, so that’s probably not the intention. Either way you have to tread carefully with that type of comment.

This confused me:
“Unlike Hunt’s book (which is divided into 20 broad categories), Hamm also includes two chapters of general tips for flexing your frugal muscles. Of the two, I prefer the newer volume. Hunt’s tips are much more detailed.”

At first it seems that “of the two” refers to the “two chapters,” which is confusing. Also, J.D. prefers the newer book, which is Hamm’s (right?) but follows that with “Hunt’s tips are much more detailed,” which, to me, seems preferable. What?

I am a big fan of the blog and J.D.’s writing style, but this entry seems to miss the mark a bit. Maybe it’s just me?