Hey guys! Gotta really REALLY cool book to give away today :) Actually, THREE of them!
The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams
I’m a bit late here w/ the release of this, but nonetheless I’m happy to pimp it out and give some love to our fellow blogger Trent Hamm (from, of course, the famous The Simple Dollar.com). Gotta love the PF Bloggers doing it big! Maybe one day I’ll be on that publishing list too? ;) Would def. take a looooooot of copy editing! Haha…
Here’s a clip from the back of the book:
Trent Hamm found himself drowning in consumer debt, working in a job he couldn’t stand… and figured out how to escape that debt and build the fulfilling career he’d always dreamt about, all at the same time…
This isn’t just “another” personal finance book: it’s profoundly motivating, empowering, practical, and 100% grounded in today’s American realities. Trent Hamm will show you how to rewrite the rules, creating healthier relationships with money… and with your loved ones, too. With his help, you can get out of debt, start moving forward, and build the strong personal community that offers true happiness-no matter what happens to the economy.
– Escape the plastic prison, and stop running to stand still. (5 simple steps to eliminate credit card debt… and 5 more to start moving forward)
– Shift your life’s balance towards more positive, stronger relationships (Learn how to put the golden rule to work for you)
– Discover the power of goals in a random world (Then, learn how to overcome inertia, and transform goals into reality)
– Navigate the treacherous boundaries between love and money (Move towards deeper communication, greater honesty, and more courage)
As always I haven’t been able to check it out completely (there’s never enough time!) but the parts I skimmed I enjoyed. If you like his site, you’ll pretty much like the book. And maybe even if you don’t like the site, I don’t know ;)
Want your very own free copy? Do one of the following:
- Drop a comment. Tell us a simple piece of financial advice that’s helped you over the years!
- And/or Tweet, “J$ is giving away a killer book today! “The Simple Dollar” by @trenttsd – Enter to win 1 of 3 copies here: http://tinyurl.com/2dyyqvv“
That’s it! You’ll automatically be entered to win, and I’ll pick the winner this up and coming Sunday night, October 17th, via Random.org. Good luck! 3 of you will win :)
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PS: I almost forgot! If you have a Kindle, you can actually get the entire book for FREE right now! But you gotta hurry up cuz it’s only happening for a week. More info here: http://amzn.to/drKRa1
PPS: And if you don’t want to wait and see if you win this, you can pick up a copy pretty cheap on Amazon right now ($13 and some change): The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams
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*GIVEAWAY OVER*
Is your name uncle el, Crystal C, or Tara? If so, YOU WON! Keep your eyes open for an email coming your way :)
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If I really, really, really need it (whatever ‘it’ is) today it can wait. Why? Because when I get home and think about it I know longer ‘need’ it. It works about 70% of the time!
Financial advice… wealth isn’t about savings, but about net. What’s coming in needs to be more than what’s going out.
1. Pay yourself first, right off your paycheque into savings
2. Look at every single expediture for a three month period to see where the money goes, and make a budget from there.
Track your spending! When I began doing that, I finally saw where my money had been going all this time – fast food joints, DVD shops and book stores! Now I’m much more critical of my purchases because I know I’ll have to report them on the blog, and I don’t want to get yelled at. ;)
1. Live below your means.
My dad has always said that. It’s probably the only thing I really need to know. Everything else is just gravy and details.
Pay cash. It has made a huge difference for me and hubby. We’re paying off the debt and canceling the credit cards!
Oh, and also, Get free books whenever you can. (:
You can buy whatever you want, as long as it is within your budget!
Taken a little less literally, this basically means prioritizing what you want, which is best done by keeping a budget.
1. Live on less than you make
2. Save as much as possible
3. Put a budget down on paper and try your hardest to stick to it
4. Work hard
5. Enjoy relationships and experiences more than material things
My grandmother grew up in the depression and taught me these life lessons which have always stuck with me!
I’ll agree with Red on this one – tracking my spending has completely changed our household over the last few months, as we are just in the beginning stages of our debt snowball!
I’d love a copy!
If you don’t have the cash to pay for it right now, don’t buy it! Boy did I learn my lesson the hard way. Almost have those credit cards paid off though :)
My favorite advice is to stick to a budget but be flexible.
Use the envelope system – but digitize it. Set up an account for Groceries, one for eating out and so on. Online banking accounts (such as ING Direct, for example) make this a piece of cake.
At the start of each month, budget off a preset amount into each and stick to that limit.
Then sit back and watch your savings sapling blossom into a large savings tree!!
I’ll have to say the best advice I received was to not go into credit card debt! :)
Matching coupons to sales ads = free or close to free stuff.
I’ve been wanting to read this book! The 2 words that turned around our attitude about finances—“pay attention.” Seriously, we just looked the other way for so long it was overwhelming, and now we are debt free (except the mortgage), and feel more confident about our dollars than ever before.
Do a budget and live by it! Then have an emergency fund. My two rules that I live by for financial peace.
Prioritizing my spending has been the best thing I could do for my mental state — cutting back on the things I don’t really want/need, but allowing myself to allocate more money to the things I DO really want. I think twice before spending on clothes or media, so I can spend on my travels or dining out without feeling guilty/ruining my budget.
Do a budget and live by it! Then have an emergency fund. My two rules that I live by for financial peace.
Would love to read this book!!
The best advise we’ve gotten is to pay cash and not to buy it unless you’ve got the money for it! I’ve been wanting to read his book – thanks for the opportunity!
My Advice: When buying an item and was offered a payment plan, don’t just look at how much money you’d be paying for it each month, but rather the total cost of the item as a whole. Would you be able to afford it? There’s a chance that you would get discouraged and just walk away.
Sounds like a good one – sign me up!
Wait a day on the purchase. I tend to not go back for that shirt i HAVE to have which means the $$ stays in the account and is used to pay down debt instead of getting more into debt.
Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to financial knowledge. Always have a budget but then also always true up your budget to make sure you know if your following it!
Best advice……save early & often, which is equal to pay yourself first. With this advice I have been saving (even in VERY small increments= $25) for retirement since my first job at the GAP, and even when I walked away from that 13 year part-time job I took 5,000+ in a 401K rollover with me. Not alot, but more than I had in my bank account in the time.
“BUY USED!” was/is the best advice ever, and has saved me thousands of $$$ through the years. I would love to win this book & gently force my husband to read it. :)
Dont go into credit card debt and to save.
Best advice: hide your savings! I automatically deposit some savings into another “hidden” account each payday. I cannot use a debit card on that account or see it on my computer so I forget it!
I think that the financial advice that has helped me the most over the years is to create (and stick to) a budget. Tracking my finances helped me to see what I owe and how best to allocate my spending so that I could reduce the amount I owed….and December of this year will mark me being DEBT FREE..
Now enter to me win that book!!!!!!!
Contribute to you company’s retirement from day 1! If you never see it, you won’t miss it!
Trina
j-money: I picked up the book Millionaire Next Door. So far so good. Thanks for the recommendation!
I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that keeping a budget will help us stay on track with our savings. Oh — and to have an emergency savings account.
Budgeting isn’t tracking where every dollar went, budgeting is telling every dollar where to go! I.e., give every dollar a job and make them perform.
Oh, and Trent’s laundry soap recipe has saved me $200 in TIDE expense over the past year. He Rocks!
J,
I would love to have a copy of Trent’s book! Advice: Don’t let creepy old ladies try to scam you at grocery stores. Have an emergency fund. Between 401K, stocks, and an emergency fund, I have saved $6,000 since 11/09. Not bad for someone who had about $200 to his name 10 months ago. I owe it to Dave Ramsey who has taught me the fundamentals of financial literacy.
No impluse shopping! If you fine something you “need,” wait a few days and see if you still need it. Can you get it cheaper or used somewhere else?
Track your spending. Understand where your money is going.
I’m a big Simple Dollar Fan and would love a copy of Trent’s book! I have learned a lot about financial things by reading several Blogs (J- Money is great, and what a fresh perspective he has!) as well as others. Suze Orman’s book ” Women and Money “is also very helpfull. After my divorce I figured it was time I learned about finance for myself. Emergency funds and paying yourself first are important. I also try to not go shopping unless I NEED something. Shopping is no longer a hobby, and I stick to the list. of things I NEED and not purchase things I WANT as often.
It’s not a bargain if you don’t need it or you can’t afford it!
The best financial advice I ever got is to have an emergency fund. 8 months ago, I had only 300 dollars in savings, and now I have 3800. Sawweet! And this is totally coming in handy, since I just got laid off from my job last week.
My dad always told me (and my friends who came to our house, and my brothers’ friends who were always at our house) – always pay off your credit card! Don’t carry a balance!
Another one of my dad’s gems: If you want to have a beer or drink alcohol, that’s ok (when you’re slightly underage) – but drink at home because it’s better to throw up in your own toilet than in someone else’s.
Track, Track, Track! your budget and expenses!
Never sell yourself short!
I figured this one after losing my current position. After doing some research I found out people tend to sell themselves short. They are afraid to ask for more money than they made at their last job and tend to go with a safe amount in order to land a job. I for one used to do that all the time and made considerably less money then other people around me. It may not save you money, but should make you more money.
My grandmother’s advice was always “if you have no money, you don’t have to look that way”. Take care of yourself and your stuff! It’s never too hard to polish your shoes, trim your hair, fix a hem, sew a button, ride a bike or walk to work instead of drive, and put a dollar or two aside for a rainy day. She raised 4 kids through WWII in Europe. Her weekly rations included ONE egg for the five of them. She used the yolk for baking a cake each week and whipped the egg whites into meringue candies. As a single parent for many years, I used her “methods” to get by when my income was minimal. I never felt as if I was lacking in anything. Even though my income is better now, I still use her money tactics to save for my retirement, which will be in 4 years at the age of 46!
the most helpful financial tip for me has been to pay myself first it helps me with saving, and with paying down debt b/c I don’t feel like I’m giving my whole check to bills.
I loved your 365 ways to live cheap, so I’ll definitely be picking this up!
Financial Advice – Live at home after college, save money, by a house!
Write all your spending down. Can’t cut back if you don’t know where it’s going!
Your finances are your own, and no one else’s. (Courtesy of JD Roth)
Budgets are sexy!
Create an emergency fund!
I paid off credit card debt once, only to have an emergency come up and put me back into credit card debt. This time I am paying down the credit card and saving up an emergency fund at the same time.
tracking my spending really opened my eyes – now i know where to watch for leaking money. and of course: saving. feels really good..
claudia
Love seeing all those Budgeting/tracking comments! Y’all are turning me on!!!!
@Claudia – haha…. I’d share a beer with your dad any day :)
@BruceBucks – Great!! I think you’ll really enjoy The Millionaire Next Door :) It’s put everything into perspective for me.
@Michelle – Haha nice. I’m too lazy for Trent’s TIDE stuff, but glad you’re workin’ it!
@Dan – “Live below your means.” – If everyone just followed that they’d be so financially happy!
I think most of it has been said here, but then again, it may bear repeating (until I can actually do it!):
1. Live beneath your means. Always. Every day.
2. Pay off the credit card every month.
3. Reduce your exposure to advertising. Less TV, fewer magazines, etc. Although I think I’m immune to those silly ads, it turns out that if I see fewer ads I want less stuff. Go figure.
The best advice I ever got was to prioritize what you need. Before I make any purchases, I think about whether I want it or need it. Always prioritize the needs and write down the wants. If you give yourself time to look back at your “wants,” you will be able to make less impulsive decisions.
Always walk away from a large purchase and then sleep on it, the next day you will know if it was meant to be.-my own quote.
my favorite (and smartest) personal finance advice that I hear over and over again is, pay yourself first.
So here’s my tip, which I’ve finally gotten my wife on board with: not all debt is bad. For instance, if you can make a return of 8% on an investment, but you’re paying 3% on a debt, then you’re still better off by a whole 5%.
Take care of yourself. When we don’t make time to take care of ourselves it costs us. Simple things like staying active, eating right and taking care of our teeth can save a boat load of cash by helping avoid future cost like bp medication, medical bills and root canals! I truly believe health and wealth go hand in hand.
Be determined and dedicated to your goal. Be like Pacman: never stop and just keep on going and going and going. Convince yourself that surrender is not an option. :) Eventually, you should gain enough momentum (the so-called “snowball effect”) to become virtually unstoppable…
My mom had told me to always look at your statements. Consistently go online and check out your bank and how your funds/accounts are doing. That way you will always know how well or how badly you are doing. You have to be honest with yourself. :)
**GIVEAWAY OVER**
Congrats goes out to….. are you ready? here goes!!!
1) uncle el
2) Crystal C
3) Tara
If this is your name, look out for an email from me! If not, look out for another giveaway REALLY soon :) Thx for participating everyone!