Many newer readers of The Simple Dollar haven’t been exposed to the hundreds of great articles in the archives of the site, so this is a weekly series that highlights the five best posts from one year ago this week, two years ago this week, and three years ago this week. I call it … the Time Machine.
One Year Ago (September 26 – October 2, 2009)
Do You Want to Appear Rich? Or Do You Want to Be Rich? I think different sides of this coin appeal to different people. I also think the desire to appear rich hijacks the ability to be rich, causing people to go deep into debt.
Some Thoughts on a Cultural Shift Towards Frugality In short, I don’t think it’s sustainable, because people will rebound their spending when the economy eventually rebounds.
How the Traditional “Rules” of Frugal Living Often Vastly Undervalue Time There are a lot of frugality tips that seem to assume that you have a mountain of time with which to apply them. That’s simply not a reality for many of us.
How Does The Simple Dollar Earn Money? Some Notes on Do-It-Yourself Self-Employment Mostly, this article provides insight as to how I got the ball rolling on The Simple Dollar.
Modular Meals We make a lot of our meals with an eye towards our ability to remix the leftovers into some sort of completely new dish.
Two Years Ago (September 26 – October 2, 2008)
Looking at Your Career as an Investment Your career isn’t just an exchange of time for money. It’s an exchange of your effort for future opportunities as well. Simply put, it’s an investment.
Personal Energy and Frugality As with the time factor mentioned above, many frugality tips seem to assume that the person carrying out the tip has an infinite amount of energy. The solution? Don’t be afraid to filter a big pile of tips for the ones that are actually doable.
A Visual Guide to Saving Money with a Baby I took these pictures to describe how we saved money with our daughter. We’re now doing the exact same things with our son.
How to Find and Utilize a Mentor, No Matter What You’re Doing I think a mentor is the most valuable thing you can get during your career. A mentor can help your career develop in countless ways.
The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself This was my response to the complete doom and gloom being shouted from the rooftops at the start of the economic downturn.
Three Years Ago (September 26 – October 2, 2007)
The City Versus Rural Debate: Which Is The Better Place To Live? I think it depends on the person more than anything. What do they value? What’s more important to you: a small forest behind your house or easy access to cultural events? There’s no black-and-white answer there.
The Backlash Against Frugality Why do people sometimes treat frugal tactics in a negative fashion, as though it’s an affront to their personal sensibilities?
Five Personal Finance Lessons That Rocked Me Like A Hurricane When I Figured Them Out The things I’ve learned about personal finance since I started The Simple Dollar have completely changed how I view the world, from day-to-day life to global perspectives.
Should You Give Yourself Material Rewards For Meeting Certain Milestones? I think it works if you keep those rewards reasonable and decide on them in advance.
Thirteen Ways To Reduce The Effect Of “Bad Luck” In Your Financial Life The essential core of these tips boils down to simply making sure you’re removing burdens from your future self, because the more burdens you’re carrying then, the more likely it is that bad luck will find you.
If you’d like to browse through more of the archives, visit the chronology, where all posts are listed in chronological order.
Ten Ways to Get More out of The Simple DollarUpdated!
This is kind of a FAQ for new readers and is posted each week along with the Time Machine. Here are ten great ways for new readers to dig deeper into The Simple Dollar.
1. Subscribe by email or RSS. Visiting The Simple Dollar’s website is great, but for many people, it’s more convenient to receive the articles in another form. It’s easy to join 60,000 other subscribers and get The Simple Dollar’s content by email or in your RSS feeder (if you’re unfamiliar with RSS, check out Google Reader.
2. Comment. Each article on The Simple Dollar has lively discussion. Just click on the green square in the upper right of each article on the website and join in!
3. Become a fan of The Simple Dollar on Facebook. I put up questions and other materials about once every week or two on Facebook (so you won’t be flooded with Simple Dollar updates). Join in the conversation with other Simple Dollar fans and occasionally get some interesting freebies, too.
4. Follow me on Twitter. I post interesting articles, quotes, follow-up material, commentary, and other material on Twitter. Follow me! If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, it’s essentially an open discussion forum for people to share ideas and thoughts with other like-minded folks – you just choose the people you want to listen to and their ideas and thoughts are all delivered to you on a single page.
5. Read my story of financial meltdown and recovery. The Simple Dollar isn’t based on what I’ve read in books or learned in school. I’ve made a lifetime of financial mistakes – The Simple Dollar is a record of what works for me during the process of getting my life on a better track.
6. Download my free 49 page e-book. Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page is completely free. It summarizes all of the key lessons I’ve learned along the way about personal finance in one tidy package – in fact, all of the main principles can be found right on the cover.
7. Dig through “31 Days to Fix Your Finances.” 31 Days to Fix Your Finances is an article series that outlines how you can get a grip on your finances over the course of a month.
8. Send me your questions and suggestions. Send me an email and let me know what you’re thinking, what you’d like to see, and any questions you might have. I try to respond to as many emails as possible and I read them all. I may even use your question in a future article!
9. Become a “Friend of The Simple Dollar.” If you find the stuff on The Simple Dollar valuable and are willing to spend five minutes or so a month to help me out with small things, please consider signing up to be a “Friend of The Simple Dollar”.
10. Email a great article you find to a friend. Find an article that you think your friend would love? At the bottom of each article, you’ll find a link that says “Email this” – just click on that, type in your friend’s address, and send it right along to them!
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Daily Dividend Report: LMT, XOM, WFC, COST, SE, AB 
Weekly Market Wrap: October 21, 2011 
Weekly Market Wrap: October 14, 2011 
