Disqus - Latest Comments for Trent Hamm

Re: Where Did You Come From, Where Did You Go (April 2008)

Trent Hamm — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:39:46 -0000

Just curious: do you use Google Analytics to generate that second list?

Re: Question for Tax Day: How Would YOU Reform the Tax Code?

Trent Hamm — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:35:49 -0000

Flat tax. I'd make all income taxable at the same rate with a larger standard deduction and a very tiny handful of additional deductions for specific situations. You should be able to fill out your tax return on a postcard.

Re: Taxes Complete and SEP IRA Funded: Next Time With a Professional

Trent Hamm — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:51:06 -0000

I don't include my tax savings in my net worth, since I know it's something I'm going to be paying out very soon. Whenever I do a net worth calculation, I just act as if the tax savings don't exist.

Re: The Frugal Lifestyle: Are We Missing Out on Life?

Trent Hamm — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:50:57 -0000

For me, frugality means maximizing the value of every dollar. That does *not* necessarily mean always buying the cheapest thing and denying myself stuff that I enjoy.

For example, I cook a *lot*. I love to prepare my own food and create a great meal that my whole family can sit down and enjoy. There is value in that for me far beyond the mere cost of the ingredients, so I don't skimp on them. I get fresh ingredients that I know are the best available to me, even though I could get "cheaper" stuff quite often. Why? The difference in quality in the ingredients adds enough value for me that the better stuff is a bargain.

On the other hand, I make my own laundry detergent out of borax and washing soda. It's as dirt cheap as I can possibly make it. Why? Because I don't see enough value added in buying Tide with Bleach Alternative, which is what Consumer Reports recommends.

A truly frugal person will ask themselves what total value they're getting for their dollar and buy the thing that gives the most value. It requires a lot of personal honesty to do that.

Re: Weekly Blog Roundup, Housewarming Edition

Trent Hamm — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:06:24 -0000

My point was not that emotions should rule your investment practices, but that if an investment's volatility makes you uncomfortable to the point that you're not sleeping at night, etc., you should be in a more conservative investment permanently.

Re: Bad Implementation: High Speed Mortgage Payoffs

Trent Hamm — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:17:50 -0000

These are also known as money merge accounts.

Re: ING Direct Threatened to Close My Account

Trent Hamm — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:32:14 -0000

Why not just do most of your transactions out of an Electric Orange account? Sure, you "only" earn 4%, but you get unlimited transfers.

Re: Wesabe, Web 2.0 Tool for Tracking Finances: Useful or Useless?

Trent Hamm — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:27:51 -0000

I wrote about Wesabe extensively this morning. In short, I like it, but their privacy policy is a bit disconcerting considering they're dealing with personal finance data.

Re: 10 Misconceptions the Self-Employed Deal With Daily

Trent Hamm — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:36 -0000

Breaks are an absolute necessity for creative work. I can go crazy creatively for a half an hour, then go dry for an hour. If I know I'm going dry, why not go do something else completely unrelated?

Re: How To Snag a Souvenir Baseball

Trent Hamm — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:37:49 -0000

I got socked in the face by a foul ball when I was a kid at a minor league game. Afterwards, the pitcher and the catcher both signed the ball for me - and they both wound up making the big leagues, albeit in minor roles (Larry Luebbers and Brian Hunter).

Re: The Public Domain Trend

Trent Hamm — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:49:23 -0000

Interesting take, and I agree with you for many types of content. However, both Leo and I write content specifically to help people above all else. Every restriction that I put on sharing my material, I reduce the number of people I can help. At the same time, this move does ~not~ restrict me from placing copyrights on material not on The Simple Dollar.

Re: 15 reasons why you might not want to be a consultant

Trent Hamm — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:32:20 -0000

#5 can sometimes be a positive if you're self-directed - you no longer have to spend your time pushing people. Instead, you can get tasks done.

Re: are American kids stupid about personal finance?

Trent Hamm — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:46:40 -0000

I don't think "getting it" is the problem - it's actually DOING it. Most Americans know that credit card debt is a dangerous thing - the challenge comes in when you're actually faced with the item that you want. Do you truly have the willpower to say no?

Re: the charity customer

Trent Hamm — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:25:28 -0000

I tend to donate only to local charities, or charities I have a direct tie to. I donate to my local food pantry, to my local goodwill store, and to the charity that my sister-in-law works for - my giving is heavy to all of these places.

Re: how I managed to spend almost $9000 on lunch this year

Trent Hamm — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:19:42 -0000

Keeping really careful (almost neurotic) track of your spending is a great way to psychologically keep yourself focused on saving. It really works well, for me at least.

Re: how to be a good partner to a stay-at-home spouse

Trent Hamm — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:50:49 -0000

My wife and I have trouble with number two. If one of us does most of the chores one day, there's almost an expectation that the other will catch up the next day. If the partner doesn't notice the imbalance because they were, say, busy with the kids, then that can result in something unpleasant for all.

Re: best financial move in college, part 1

Trent Hamm — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:18:54 -0000

I think the number one best financial move you can make in college is to make sure you're studying the right thing/figuring out who you are. It took me about two and a half years in college to figure out that I wasn't majoring in the right thing for me - if I had spent some time sampling more areas early on and thinking about my moves more carefully, I would have seen this much sooner and saved myself about $15K in student loans.

Re: 10 things to tell a graduating high school senior

Trent Hamm — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:30:40 -0000

7 hits on something important. Sure, you're in college to get a degree, but the real goal is to figure out what you want to do with your life. Try a lot of stuff - see what gets your motor running. And DON'T ignore it - I did and it was a big mistake.

Re: wealthstreaming, or snowflaking for income

Trent Hamm — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:29:03 -0000

Since a lot of career improvements are actually knowledge improvements, why not call it "knowflaking"?

Re: You Think ‘Free’ is Only About the Price? It’s not.

Trent Hamm — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:19:07 -0000

So why doesn't Amazon get into the "one click" business?

Re: Wow, that was weird…

Trent Hamm — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 10:32:36 -0000

That sounds like a multitude of things. My best guess is that your memory on your laptop might be faulty... I hope it's not.