I am the guiding voice of Get Rich Slowly. Over the past six years (and one month), I’ve been the one who has written the bulk of the articles here, the one who has edited 95% of the material on the site, and the one who has decided which topics we cover and which topics we ignore.
That said, I like to think I’m responsive to the needs of the readers. As the audience has changed, so too has the material I’ve covered. (And, of course, my own financial life has changed too, which influences the direction of the site.)
From time to time, though, I feel out of sync with the readership. I feel like your needs and my needs have diverged. When that happens, I make a post like this one, a post that asks explicitly: What topics would you like to see Get Rich Slowly cover?
Rather than simply guess at this stuff, I’m asking you to give us feedback about what you need and want from a personal finance blog.
- Do you want to see more articles about the psychological side of money? Or would you prefer to see fewer of these?
- Is it useful for you to hear about the lateest bank and credit card deals? Or should we keep these sorts of articles to just a couple of times per year?
- Would you like more reader-contributed material or less of it?
- What about non-financial stories, stories about success and achievement?
Basically, anything you can tell us about what you like about Get Rich Slowly — and what you don’t like — will help us build a better blog for the future. So, please leave a comment below to tell us how we can better help you. (And, if possible, point to some recent articles you love and/or some recent articles you hate.)
While we’re talking about administrative stuff, let me note that we’ll soon be doing another round of hiring for staff writers. As we bring new people on board, what’s important to you about their content and writing style? Do you like personal stories? More academic pieces? Do you a younger writer who reflects your experience? An older writer? Somebody who’s struggling with debt? A millionaire? How important is the writer’s voice? Their writing skill? Basically, tell us what sort of staff writer you think would appeal to you
I know many of you would prefer that I wrote every post here, and that’s flattering. But, as several astute readers have noted lately, I’ve burned out. It’s time to inject some fresh blood into this site, and your voice will help us determine how we do that.
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The things that keep me coming back to GRS are the connection I feel I have to individual writers and their evolving financial and life stories (originally JD, then Donna), the “big picture” and psychologically oriented/systemic articles, and the feeling of community here. I think the site is currently suffering from the lack of trackable narratives. JD is burned out, and probably wanting to keep a lot to himself as he figures out next steps. I can understand and sympathize with that, and he should do what is best for him, but at the same time I’d really like to have an ongoing journey/narrative to follow along here. The site isn’t as compelling without that. So maybe you could find some staff writers who are on a personal/financial journey and who see themselves that way and whose main job/objective on the site is to write about that journey. Maybe a college student trying to stay out of or minimize debt and get started on a career. Maybe someone who is in the middle of trying to change careers or start a businesss. Maybe a young couple about to have their first child who are wrestling with the decisions that come with that (buy or upgrade house or stay put? one parent go part time or stay at home? how to evaluate childcare options? how much is this kid really going to cost, etc). Maybe some of the current staff writers are in the middle of such journeys, but I don’t get that sense from their writing — I don’t really feel any personal connection to them. But the all seem nice and are ok writers,
Another possibility would be more regular scheduled segments centered around reader input/questions/feedback. Something like a “budget bootcamp” where a reader sends in their basic budget along with a summary of their core personal values showing what is most important to them, and then readers get to offer comments on where it might be feasible/best to cut. A “how do I make this profitable” segment where people post budding business ideas and get feedback on how to make it financially viable? A “plan my path to get rich slowly” segment where people can lay out current debt/savings status, income/expenses, and short or long term goals, and readers can offer suggestions on the best path to reach those goals. there are other possible models, too — all can be summarized in a kind of template format, so this could become something that doesn’t require a lot of editing, but provides new and interesting content regularly that encourages reader engagement and communication in the context of the site. I know some of this may happen on the forums as well, but I think you may reach a wider audience if you put it in the regular blog context.
Just a few ideas. I hope GRS continues to grow and develop, and remains a place I enjoy coming. I have also found TSD to be less compelling lately, and this site is also not drawing me back as religously as it used to.
I am personally not interested in “tips” type articles, but if they can be packages in an Amy Dycyzn kind of “here is a system you can used to analyze your spending on xyz or put together a project out of abc items you may have on hand). Things that encourage you to break down your financial choices/options, and then build them back up in a way that works better for you.
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Love this idea of a narrative. I think for many regular readers of GRS, they got hooked on it because they watched JD go through struggles and ups and downs and think through them in a public way. Maybe some writers who are going through the transitions lhamo mentions would be interesting adjuncts to the blog.
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I love reader stories. How I achieved ‘X’ or how I managed to struggle through ‘Y’.
I also love articles by you, JD. As a reader of this blog almost from it’s first days, I’m not so much interested in the staff writers. I’d say a staff writer should have some humor in it’s blog.
As I am a European, I don’t much care for the best bank- or credit card deal in the US.
I love personal articles, where people deal with an ad hoc situation, even make a mistake and then learn. The more personal an article, the more fun to read actually. I love the personal articles MUCH more than the more ‘generic’ ones.
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Hi,
I’m a reader in Australia, so details of credit card deals and IRA’s have me tuning out. For the stage of life we’re in now, I’d like to read more wealth building stories.
Cheers
Shann
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I’d love more articles from younger people just starting out, i.e. recent college graduates, trying to build wealth. I’d love more stories about how to have a successful career, or how to build a successful business. For me, these things are less important than the best credit card deals or the best savings accounts.
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I like most of what you offer now and just skip what doesn’t interest me. I enjoy the personal stories, but sometimes they’re a bit too long. I like the stories of frugality (makes me feel like I’m not alone), don’t care about the investing tips, and enjoy reading comments. I wish you would add polls to “reader survey” type things so we could get the info — answers to questions like “how many readers earn x-xx?” or “what do you spend on food” would be easier to process if they were in a chart/poll type thing.
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I agree about the polls, and had come back to this post to add it to my previous replies. While comments give you so much more detail than a survey, it is time consuming to follow them all, and you never know when there will be a follow up post summarizing them.
In most cases, it may make sense to have a poll or two for the macro view, with the comments for any detail people want to add. Not only do you get the instant feedback from the survey, but reading the comments will be more rewarding, as the posts that simply provide the survey data (I pay $1000 for rent) will likely be missing.
In addition, it would be great to have a section of the site that contains all the polls, with links back to the original articles. Some of these polls might be updated yearly, with the long-term results graphed over time.
Armed with this data, it may be easier to determine an appropriate mix of articles. If, for example, 95% of the readers were in the third stage of their financial lives, a heavy focus on coupon clipping may not be wise.
One potential problem with this is that polls are even more anonymous than the anonymous comment system, and there is a higher chance of multiple votes (perhaps unintentionally, such as when revisiting the polls page to participate in yearly polls).
Another potential improvement to the site is user registration. The user accounts could be just as anonymous as they are now, except that an admin would have access to the information needed to individually identify people. The polls could require login to vote, which would help prevent multiple votes. You could search for and perhaps subscribe to the comments of individual readers (for El Nerdo’s fans, for example). Heck, you could even have a rating system that might help identify your more useful reader contributors or individual contributions.
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I would love to see a story on how to pick the right mutual funds in my husband’s and my 401K. How do I compare fees and returns to determine which funds are good and which funds are dogs. Should we put more funds in my husband international stock fund in his 401K and ignore my international fund as my fees are higher. Not so much asset allocation, more like picking specific funds that beat their peers on performance and costs.
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Trying to follow the discussion for a popular topic such as this is quite painful. On the one hand, you can limit your view to just the new posts by subscribing to the email updates – in which case you are flooded with emails that are themselves hard to relate back to the discussion, since they have no local context and are not even linked back to themselves. Or you can scroll through the entire list of comments, over and over, to attempt to find the new comments. It would be much more useful to have the comments that had already been viewed be collapsed when you come back to the site, with only the new comments expanded.
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Personal stories resonate the most but I don’t like the idea of staff writers as you don’t get enough of a variety. Regular guest posts from people at all stages of their financial journey are welcome. Also be good to feature posts with two differing points of view on the same topic.
I’d like to see the philosophical aspects of success discussed as some of these have nothing to do with money. Getting rich has everything to do with feeling rich….slowly!
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Yeah, I get the “familiarity appeal” of staff writers but I’m not convinced this blog needs more, as I find the types of articles from each staff writer tends to have similar focus. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and they will resonate with readers who are in similar lifestyle situations to those particular staff writers, but more diversity would be nice.
Therefore, I, too, put forward a vote for a resourceful mixture of guest posts. Not just the ones from other personal finance bloggers. More like reader stories, but ones that offer more than a vague sense of admiration and/or inspiration (though I’m happy to read those from time to time, too). Those that really make you think about what you can do to improve your life and finances, and offer suggestions on taking that first step and beyond. And I think offering some kind of remuneration would help you source a greater variety of such articles, too.
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A commenter on my blog suggested I checked out this thread as they thought I would make a nice guest blogger here based on some of the responses.
Looking over all the comments here You have a wonderful list of suggestions from your readers.
I must admit, I do read posts here but the title has to grab me from my site for me to read it. Many just are either out of my league or things I don’t use or never will like credit cards.
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Some first time home buyer stories. Horror stories would be nice to teach us what to look out for.
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Hah, my first-time home-buyer experience was a breeze. The second home purchase was the one full of horror! Anything that could go wrong did. The night before closing, I told my real estate attorney I had a bad feeling something else was going to happen, and she forbade me to conjecture further. Thirty minutes after the call, I found out about what was probably the most stressful roadblock, which led to even more issues…
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This is a story I would like to hear!
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J.D., the big reason I visit this site is to see what you have to say. I really connect with the way that you write. It’s not always the topic that’s important, but how it’s presented. I think the most important thing when selecting new writers is to look for that similar spark to their writing.
As far as topics, I always enjoy reading about people that have been successful in achieving a goal they have set forth for themselves. I enjoy personal stories. I also love reading about the psychological aspect of money. I think seeing the perspective of someone that is in the process of getting out of debt and the perspective of someone that has achieved a lot of wealth would be very helpful. Good luck!
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I’m trying to improve in the areas of solving problems and making decisions, both financial and otherwise, and personalized stories of how other people do this, their successes and failures, would be helpful to the learning process. Thank you for an informative and interesting blog.
JD, you say you’re out of sync with your readers. You’ve made a major life change and I’ve found when that happens being out of sync is part of rebuilding a life. Be kind to yourself.
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I’d like a story about what to do when you’ve paid off all your debt, you’re maxing out your retirement funds, and you’re ready to start making your excess cash work. What outside of mutual funds would be some good investments?
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I’d love to see some discussion about what kind of education is “worth it” beyond the undergraduate level. A discussion of student loan debt vs. potential gain. I have friends graduating from law school with six figure debt and no employment prospects. My husband went to community college (after graduating from swanky-pants liberal arts university) and ended up getting a high paying job because he majored in a technical field.
This would be a great topic to cover as part of a “boost your income” conversation.
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Yeah, I had a guy from the National Park Service tell a group of us recent grads to get a master’s degree, ANY master’s degree because it would make you rank higher for a federal job in their ranking system. Um, there’s no way I’m going into more student loan debt to MAYBE get a boosted chance at a job.
The recent story about the woman who went into allied health without having student loan debt makes me think more stories about career paths that will pay for all or a chunk of your schooling (undergrad and/or grad) would be interesting.
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It would be great to see more psychology of money posts. And I loved the idea someone had about a getting rich slowly column, or breaking the site into net worth so that people just starting out can read more targeted material than those who are more established in their finances.
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Once or twice a year for credit card and bank deals. I like personal stories that deal with facts and real life situations. Many senior citizens are faced with increasing financial, medical problems and not enough food to eat and are woefully uninformed on where they can get help.
Articles that address those situations would be appreciated.
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How about some fun pieces? Pose a question to readers and see their response. “If you won a million dollars, what is the last thing you’d do with it”? “What was the hardest financial decision you ever made?” “List 13 things you regret financially”.
And since there seem to be a lot of single readers, how about a dating service?
Well, you asked…….
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While I appreciate your humor and part of the concept, I’d be bored stiff reading about one person who had thirteen different financial regrets.
Perhaps if it was thirteen different people, overcoming thirteen different regrets, in thirteen different articles, published over, say, thirteen months
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I would like to see some more articles on retirement. Especially the Roth 401(k) vs. traditional 401(k).
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I’d like to read some articles about people who made it through situations similar to mine: in their mid 20′s, high student loan debt (like $50,000), working a job where you only make $20,000/yr and the lowest rent where you live is $750/mo for an efficiency or $600 a month rooming with someone or renting one room in a house (!) while your student loan payments are $500/mo, and also driving an old car that has issues (and no public transpo to help). I still read the articles about how to invest and what to do with your extra money, but I really just mentally bookmark that for later since I have no extra money at the moment.
I’m also interested in stories about how people paid for health care (and also dental care without insurance), since next year I’m going to have to buy my own health insurance and dread possibly being denied coverage :/
I guess if anyone has stories about being homeless or just anything to do with dealing with what others called the “nitty gritty”.
Also, maybe stories about what someone majored in in college versus what they are doing now and how they got to that point. I always find those interesting.
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I would like to see more articles of an academic or personal nature on the subject of money and middle age. Many of the writers, and more power to them, have achieved financial sanity, success, stability in their youth, which is great. Some folks, however, are cultivating healthy financial habits much later in life and would enjoy hearing about this side of getting rich slowly.
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I like stories on the psychological side of money. Credit card/bank deals, less so, a couple a year is great. Thanks for a great blog!
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I know this is pretty lame as far as personal finance goes, but I would love a series of posts on how to shop for and buy different kinds of insurance: health, life, disability, long-term, umbrella, auto, etc. Definitions of insurance terms and step-by-step instructions would be so helpful.
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Enjoy the majority of the posts. Just don’t drop the food/grocery articles. Sure have learned a lot about money from this site and expect to keep learning. Wish I knew about the site long before I found it and had sense enough to read and follow. Even with what little I have, am making headway, slowly. At 82 don’t have enough time to learn things I should have know years ago. Enjoy the garden articles too.
Thanks JD for Get Rich Slowly.
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I like some psychology of money. Max one a week. I don’t want to hear about credit card deals or bank offers. I like the amount of contributed stories we have now–is it about 3 a week? I do not want to read about non-financial success stories.
I do not want to hear from a struggling staff writer. Some of the new ones don’t seem to have good authority or knowledge. I want to feel I’m learning something from an “expert” not someone on a “mom-blog”. At least from someone who’s been there. I think it’s helpful if they’ve been in a bad spot financially and overcome it. Then they have the ability to share you can do this… as well as share their struggle to maintain. It could be a millionaire. I don’t want someone young. Maybe someone that’s 35-45. Writing skill doesn’t have to be perfect as long as they have a strong voice. They will still get creamed in the comments if they’re not strong writers though.
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I’ve read thru all the comments and the single most repetitive theme seems to be – give us more readers stories. Real life experiences with a lot less theory and a lot more real details. What’s your income, how do you spend/save/invest it, what’s your family situation, what are your goals, how do you intend to achieve them, how’d you get to where you’re at, what struggles did you overcome and how did you do that, etc.
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It’s probably not appropriate here, but I have yet to find a blog that really helps with this. Our situation is that we are in our 30′s with teaching jobs and face large medical bills (over $10,000 a year) and significant commutes. We are never behind on our bills, but everything keeps getting worse. We live in an area of Florida where we commute over 30 miles in opposite directions and have no alternative forms of transportation other than our cars. Our house is severely underwater, as our community was the hardest hit in the nation with the foreclosure crisis. Our son attends a Title I public school and is one of the very few who brings a packed lunch and does not get free or reduced lunch. We want out of this, but the advice never helps. Emergency fund? How can we build such a thing when our commuting expenses are $600 a month, not including the $6,000 we recently had to put into repairing vehicles, one of which isn’t paid for. (We buy new, but then end up with over 200,000 miles on vehicles before getting a replacement. Our replacements have been a truck when someone ran a STOP sign and made me flip and then a small SUV after our son’s birth. Hubby is extremely tall and does not fit in small cars.) What is some serious financial advice for people like us? We are not behind on bills, so there is no help from the government or other sources. We are going deeper into debt, though. Trimming here and there or selling knick-knacks does not put a dent into our yearly, unavoidable costs. Our goods in our house are so old and broken down that people won’t even take them out of the garbage. I take on all kinds of extra duties so that I get paid more, but I am constantly ill and exhausted. (I was recently pulled over because an officer thought I was drunk. I was tired and had no idea that I was driving erratically.) We make too much for government help but not enough to afford our unavoidable costs. I am trying to avoid quitting the teaching job and going on welfare, but I really don’t know what else to do.
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A previous commenter mentioned the forum section (which I had been unaware of until then) – you might want to try posting your story with specifics (e.g., breakdown of your costs vs. salary) and overall situation and see if readers have feedback that might be helpful.
If you haven’t picked up a copy, I highly recommend Jerrold Mundis’ book “How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously.” IMHO this is the best personal finance book to read when you’re at the very beginning (carrying debt, trying to get current on the bills).
Also, Donna Freedman’s articles are excellent for how to survive and even thrive when you don’t have much (or any) discretionary money. One good post she made is http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/10/04/unemployed-underemployed-heres-how-to-get-help/ . Good luck!
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What I hear you saying is “We keep doing the same things, and keep getting the same results,” and realize that you have to change what your doing, to get different results.
Read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” and “CASHFLOW Quadrant.”
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A late suggestion:
Recruit from amongst your readers some kind of a panel– perhaps 7-10 people representing different social, geographical, financial, and age groups. Toss out a question (financial or otherwise ) to the panel, get a real back-and-forth discussion going via a private email group, and publish the discussion a few days later. At that point the general readership could comment, as usual.
This could be a monthly feature, perhaps with different panels.
It could make for interesting reading–Slate does this with entertainment coverage and it works really well. (albeit without GRS’ commenters.)
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Great site and many great suggestions above. I’d just like to chime in with one more request that could apply to many of the suggestions: Real numbers, real locations, and real time frames as often as possible. So, in other words, when reader stories or financial advice appear, I’d like to know how much debt they paid off, in how much time, from how much income, and living in what kind of economic climate (big city with high housing costs, small community with low housing costs but limited jobs, etc). Those are the stories I read most carefully and from which I gain most.
Awesome site–I learn so much here!
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I’d like to be able to read the website on a mobile browser (blackberry). Currently the load is too big for the memory. Please create a mobile version of the site.
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I’d be interested in some articles/stories about managing a career, moving up, not just deciding to jump out and “follow your passion” by starting up a business, but showing people who are successful in a traditional business career.
Agreed as to keeping info about credit cards low, or if including, remembering that a bunch of us are non-USers.
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I’d like to read more from someone who makes decent money – over $100k/year would be a good threshold (Tyler K. would be good). There’s a lot of SLOOOOWWWWLY here but not a lot of rich. El Nerdo would be good – I’d like to hear more about his back story.
I’m afraid I don’t feel inspired by glorified poverty and penny pinching or anyone saying that they really enjoy not being able to spend $50 on a hotel room or decorating with phone books and pretending it’s a choice. Also funny like Brokamp and Freedman or thoughtful like J.D., just a lot more financially flush than Freedman and more personally transparent than Brokamp. But at least with both of them you could cover up the name and know who was writing the post.
Can’t you go get Pop Economics out of blog retirement to write for you on the psych topics every couple of weeks? I really miss him.
Or you J.D. – you could just own your accomplishments and yell from the rooftops “YEAH BABY I HIT THE JACKPOT!” and write about that instead of doing this faux frugal thing to fit in with your readers.
Put up a casting call on early-retirement.org. There’s lots of well off people on there that are pretty sensible and have lots of spare time on their hands. Plus they don’t really need the $50-$200 (guesstimating) that comes from writing blog posts as a staff writer. “Nords” on there has written a book and is a good writer and (I think) wants to help people achieve financial freedom.
Go after who you want instead of doing the passive approach and waiting for them to come to you.
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I went back to college 2 years ago, I’m going to be a junior this fall and even I hate the penny pinching articles. I’m not inspired by glorified poverty either.
I’m not interested in being a minimalist or living in a tiny house. I also don’t think that lifestyle inflation is bad either. Sometimes people should want lifestyle inflation, like paying for good health insurance or living in a good neighborhood.
I don’t think its evil to have a flat screen tv, a tablet, or an ipod. I don’t think its evil to shop at nice grocery stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts.
I grew up with parents who made a good living and so growing up I was used to having nice things. That’s the kind of life I expect when I graduate college. I know that it won’t be given to me and I must earn it, but I have big plans for myself and no one should apologize for living well.
Especially if you’ve earned it. People who earn their success each and every day should have nothing to apologize for.
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Or you J.D. – you could just own your accomplishments and yell from the rooftops “YEAH BABY I HIT THE JACKPOT!” and write about that instead of doing this faux frugal thing to fit in with your readers.
^^^^^
this!
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Yes, I hit the jackpot. But the frugal thing isn’t fake. For the most part, I am frugal. Or, more precisely, I practice the conscious spending I’m always preaching about. I was just talking about this on a date the other night (yes, I’m dating, as you all have probably guessed by now). The woman I was with also practices conscious spending, though she’d never call it that. It’s just part of who she is. Anyhow, we were in an expensive restaurant, but neither one of us cared because we knew that we were getting value from the experience. But my clothes? Still mostly thrift store and Costco? My car was purchased used, and my next one probably will be too. I don’t pay for cable or magazine subscriptions or many other recurring costs. I walk or bike whenever I can. I do these things not because they’re “faux frugal” but because by doing them, I’m able to afford the things I want. And because this means I can go longer without tapping my “jackpot”. It’d be awesome if I never touched it, you know?
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Not sure I agree with you there, J.D! As the saying goes, ‘you can’t take it with you’. I have experienced poverty and live frugally, but feel an absolute delight when I dip into my savings for something I really, really want. Don’t you?
Thanks for the great blog.
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Hmm. I think I put that the wrong way – I guess I want to hear more about the splurges. I really hope there are some beyond travel?
And why would you never want to touch the jackpot / savings? If nothing else, it’s great to spend money maybe not on stuff or more experiences but what about making life a bit easier? The best use of money (to me) is to pay someone else to do the things you don’t like doing or procrastinate on (usually because you don’t like doing them).
Glad to hear you’re dating – now that’s a good use of money that can push up the burn rate pretty quick! Or so my son tells me…
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Being on disability, “only” working part-time, having spent my life savings and then some on healthcare costs and being young and single (no safety net) I still loathe a lot of the frugal, penny pinching, crock-pot posts. They are useful at times, but I feel they are overkill. The web already have blogs and websites dedicated to frugality.
I may be taking it way too personally, but frankly, I find them outright depressing. Is this what my life has come to? I look forward to posts by people who have made it despite how unrealistic it may be for me.
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hanks for asking! I really enjoy this blog, and value both the contributions of J.D. and the staff writers, and the pieces from readers. I think the ratio of reader-contributed to staff-contributed material is about right. Happy to read more non-financial stories and psychological insights into why people behave as they do. I don’t need or want the stories about bank and credit card deals as I live in Australia so they’re irrelevant to me. It would be fun to see more contributions from the writer of this story: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/04/29/reader-story-escaping-poverty – though I am somewhat biased
Keep up the good work.
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Thanks for asking! I really enjoy this blog, and value both the contributions of J.D. and the staff writers, and the pieces from readers. I think the ratio of reader-contributed to staff-contributed material is about right. Happy to read more non-financial stories and psychological insights into why people behave as they do. I don’t need or want the stories about bank and credit card deals as I live in Australia so they’re irrelevant to me. It would be fun to see more contributions from the writer of this story: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/04/29/reader-story-escaping-poverty – though I am somewhat biased
Keep up the good work.
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I get tired of reading about staycations. Too many PF websites have pounded the staycation or “tour your own city” articles since 2008.
How about some affordable travel articles but without the staycation angles? I travel affordably from time to time. It can be done especially in the digital age where you can compare hotel, airline, and car prices online.
Here’s a real example from my life. I went on a weekend vacation from Omaha, NE to St. Louis, MO. I saw the Gateway arch and went to a cave called onondaga cave and then to a historic small town called hermantown.
I took Southwest airlines which cost about $300 round trip but that’s considered cheap, I took the morning flights which was cheaper. I didn’t have to pay for a hotel nor a car because my parents picked me up since they live in MO.
If I had to have booked a hotel and had to rent a car it would have been possible to get something affordable because I would have been there for just 2 days.
I once went to Durango, Colorado in the early 2000s and stayed there for 2 weeks and the total cost for my trip there was about $1,000. That included hotel and taxi. That’s much better than a staycation. I did fun stuff like go to the Mesa Verde national park, hiking, and hit the art scene though I didn’t buy any art there.
I realize not all vacations can be that cheap. The point is that there can be affordable vacations without taking a staycation which too many PF websites have been pounding since 2008. How about recommending affordable packaged tours?
I know this great company called Go Ahead Tours that provides affordable tours. I don’t work for them but I’ve traveled quite a bit and taken several tours and they’re one of the best I’ve found. They have a Tuscany, Italy packaged tour for about $2,719. That’s something that most professionals can afford. Whether you make $30,000 or a $100,000.
http://www.goaheadtours.com/tours/TOT/a-taste-of-tuscany-umbria.aspx
That’s the kind of stuff I wish I could read here. I know that you guys aren’t Conde Nast Traveler and you don’t have to be. But it seems that GRS has been too frugal lately. Yes living within your means is important, but its also important to enjoy your life with your loved ones.
Its possible to go on a nice affordable vacation and have a good time. How about recommeding some books on affordable travel? They are out there and full of tips for budget travel. Also there are coupon books for tourists out there that many travelers don’t know about.
A lot of hotels and tourist hot spots have seen a huge drop because of these economic times and many have offered discounts since the 2008 recession. Although it seems things are picking up lately. Sometimes people think that traveling has to be expensive and they have to spend 10 grand and that’s just not the case.
Traveling to Europe has gotten quite affordable, there’s a lot of outdated information out there that many people think is still true. Anyway, maybe GRS is scared that a lot of readers will be turned off by good travel articles, but I wish you would keep this in mind, maybe when the economy picks up in full swing, then you guys won’t be afraid to publish articles on travel.
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I like the inspirational stories about money and goals. They keep me motivated! Reading about money can be incredibly boring, and it’s the personal stories from JD (and others) about what works for them (and what doesn’t) that keeps me coming back.
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I like when you share ideas that deal with things that people with families can do. I enjoy messages that tell how to live rich lifestyles without spending too much. I like actual ideas – not just suggestions. I like it when you share ways to save and to also find fun things to do.
maybe a list of fun things to do for people with families.
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I’d like a 50 free things to do with a toddler article to apply as I take my niece once a week to do something fun.
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I like the guest writers. I would like one geared towards the 30 something crowd and some more stories about how to deal with finances while starting a family. I would also like a guest writer who has already made their million(s) and how they deal with lifestyle inflation, knowing when to have fun with their money, how they got their millions, how much time it took, etc. I also like more reader questions, where you respond and everyone else responds. If that were a once or twice a week event (in addition to a “real” story for that day) that would be really interesting.
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I’d like to see some stories on second careers. People who are dramatically switching paths later in their lives. It’s one thing to “start out” in your twenties, another thing to “start over” a decade or two down the road. I’ve been searching for articles about this kind of thing everywhere and can’t find many.
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I’d like to see more about how to stick to my budget when the time counts. More about the psychology behind spending, especially when poor mental health is a factor. More about health expenses and how to determine if they are wants or needs. And also more about divorcing and starting life over, especially when used to a good lifestyle, and now needed to restart my career and income will be much lower
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I’m sure this has already been mentioned, but: PLEASE more articles on caring for aging parents, especially parents who are unprepared for retirement. I really enjoy the ones that are personal stories, rather than general advice.
And as others have said, more articles on paying for health care would be great.
Lastly, I really enjoy Sarah Gilbert’s articles! They add a good meta perspective and are really educational.
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The two most recent posts were very good and not written by JD – “How to change your spending habits” and the reader story on using superfrugality. I dont want to see anything that screams “AD”, and personally I dont really care about credit cards unless someone is telling me a cool story about how they use them.
Add a like/dislike button to each article and that should tell you everything you need to know about what the readers do and dont like.
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I’m definitely interested in the psychology of money and spending. I’d also like more about budgeting strategies.
Thanks – this is a great blog!
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I have not read the many responses to your question, so I may be repeating an earlier suggestion, but how about engaging a writer who is retired, or nearing retirement. I am nearly retired, very interested in personal finance, and always interested in articles about financial issues relating to this age bracket. I read your blog daily and enjoy it, but feel that is a niche that is missing from your group of writers.
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I love the staff and reader stories that are posted. I would love to hear more about the psychological side of spending, especially since I’m someone who falls into the trap of “shopping therapy.” Additionally, I would love to see more about managing and paying off debt. I’m in a situation right now where I owe close to $200,000 in student loans for my professional degree, but my husband and I are also eager to start a family and save for a house. How to balance debt when it’s not as simple as paying one debt off before moving on to the next would be very useful… if I were to wait until my loans were paid off before thinking of a house, I would be half way to retirement and too old for having babies. Help!
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I enjoy the book reviews. Not just about money, but about deliberate life styles. A good example is “Living More with Less”.
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As a Canadian reader I don’t find the articles on loans or credit cards relevant. But that’s just me. Many people today, who are in their late 40′s and 50′s, are finding themselves unemployed and having to get back on their feet. I would like to see more articles with suggestions about getting back on track for retirement with what is really happening to people of this age. It is helpful to learn how to come back from financial set-backs and know that retirement is still an option before we turn 80.
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I like your posts, JD, especially the psychology of money and your recent stuff about your mom and health insurance. These are useful.
I also like Donna’s frugality posts and Robert Brokamp’s investing posts. These two are both hilarious, and they know what they’re talking about. I always look forward to reading their stuff.
I think it would be cool to have a regular feature from someone with a regular job. We hear a lot from the self-employed and multiple-income-stream people, but those of us with jobs would love to hear about making the most of life with a job.
Thanks for asking!
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Glad you asked.
I like specifics: what to consider when buying a condo, how to invest in bonds, where to invest your money for tolerable returns and tolerable safety, how can middle aged and plus people buy health insurance on the open market, and even though I’m past the need – how to send your child to college for something short of a mini-fortune. How to decide if it is safe to retire. What to do when your plan doesn’t work….
I like real world people’s stories with some specific info on their situation, their goals and how they are reaching them… Even if their situation doesn’t exactly match mine.
A little psychology of money goes a long way.
Real people’s stories help to make the dry stuff that I want more interesting.
A touch of frugality articles is nice. Too much and I feel deprived and tired.
Thanks for all you do and hope to see some great articles in the future.
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I love the psychology of money stories, but it would be better if they were written by, you know, people who know what they’re talking about – there have been a few on here lately that are so full of logical fallacies and disproven theories that they’re at best infuriating and at worst very misleading for those who are new to psychology/finance theory.
The credit card deals posts don’t matter to me, as a Canadian – but more Canadian content would be fabulous! I think there are several of us around here.
Reader stories are great – I may not agree with everyone’s choices but they’re fascinating to read and I’ve gleaned several great ideas from them.
All in all, of course, great site!
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I’d like to see more about saving and spending for those without debt. My husband and I are debt-averse, but aren’t saving as much as we’d like to. I like the pay-yourself-first method of saving, and he prefers to bank away money when we have a surplus in the bank.
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