Ramit’s 2007 Guide to Kicking Ass

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58 comments — written on December 5th, 2006

Here’s what I’ve been hinting about for the last few days: my first ebook!

It’s called Ramit’s 2007 Guide to Kicking Ass. It includes 5 all-new essays I wrote, plus new essays by some other great personal-finance bloggers. I’m publishing this now because I couldn’t wait until 2007.

The guide includes new essays on personal finance, personal entrepreneurship, making mistakes, and more. All of them are completely new, and there’s one ridiculous story about who has the most frugal family in the world (read it and weep). Plus lots of ranting, mocking, and tactical tips. I packaged it all up in a PDF designed by Scott Hurff and included a bunch of gorgeous illustrations by Ryan McCulloch.

The Guest Bloggers
J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly
Jeffrey Pritchard (JLP) of AllFinancialMatters
Casey Serin of I Am Facing Foreclosure
K of K’s blog

The Table of Contents

Who Has the Most Frugal Family? An Investigation…Page 3
The Key to Running a Great Project (hint: it starts with an “M”) by Ramit…Page 5
Producers, Consumers, and the Information Diet by Ramit (large PDF; right-click to download)…Page 7
Why Do People Get So Nutty Around Christmas? (large PDF; right-click to download) by Ramit…Page 8
101 Words on Running More Than One Project at Once by Ramit…Page 11
How to Send an Introductory Email by Ramit…Page 12
Money Day (PDF) by J.D. Roth…Page 14
Take Advantage of Your Youth by JLP…Page 18
Handling Failure: Dealing with a $2.2 Million Mistake at Age 24 by Casey Serin…Page 22
Building the Team You Already Have by K…Page 26

Get it now
I’m selling this 30-page guide for $4.95. If you like what I’ve written for the last 2+ years, I think you’ll love this. (Maybe a gift for someone else, too?)

Should you buy it? I thought long and hard about charging for this, and I referred back to my old posts on paying for things you value. And if you don’t love it, just let me know–I’ll refund 100% of your money back.

If you want to distribute this to friends, please buy 2 copies–on your honor.

Update 2: Here’s what people who bought the ebook had to say about it.

58 comments

Leave your own

1

December 5, 2006
K

R,
Looks good!
I know that the article I submitted is worth the $4.95 if folks implement it so it’ll be like getting the rest of the eBook for free!
2

December 5, 2006
Paul Irish

Excellent pricing. Beautiful graphic design. Well done.
3

December 5, 2006
Binary Dollar

Can you give us a chapter? Preferably the most kick-ass chapter.
4

December 5, 2006
Ramit Sethi

Yep, I just put up a chapter from the ebook (see above).
5

December 5, 2006
dimes

Congratulations, Ramit!
6

December 5, 2006
me

Where the heck did you get $4.95 from? why not just an even 5 bucks? Just curious
7

December 5, 2006
NikR.

Congrats Ramit! Would love to get your eBook but I fired PayPal 2 weeks ago [not kidding]–are any other electronic payment gateways (BidPay etc) available? I know Cash and Money Orders are so 20th Century, but any plans to accept them? Thx. Congrats again.

Nik
Atlanta
8

December 5, 2006
moom

Yeah, I don’t use PayPal either. Just seems like scam central…
9

December 5, 2006
Joseph

I just bought the eBook and read the 1st few pages, looks very good and entertaining. Congrats! And continue with the great work!
10

December 5, 2006
E Heck

Where do I send the money order? Congrats on the book!
11

December 5, 2006
Jonathan

Awesome.
12

December 5, 2006
Dylan

Looks good Ramit but no PayPal! Any chance of an alternative payment method?
13

December 5, 2006
rob burkins

yea curious as to why $4.95. No biggie, i’ve loved what i read thus far and value the info.
14

December 5, 2006
Jeremy

No sample chapters for us to gawk at? c’mon at least tempt us…
15

December 5, 2006
tz

I think the $4.95 is a sort of psychological thing. I mean, there aren’t too many new small retail items out there selling for *exactly* $5 (I can picture items at a garage sale or used…). Somehow, saying $4.95 is not quite $5, and yet it is almost $5.

I have been doing Ramit’s financial advice for about 10 years now, and glad to see that someone is putting it into words like he is.

BTW, got the ebook today. Well done, Ramit!
16

December 5, 2006
Dustin

I figure at the very least, I’m obligated to buy this for the free advice I’ve gotten over the past year. Good luck with the ebook Ramit.
17

December 5, 2006
Dale

Love your blog, and draw my kids’ attention to it…but I (and I hope I’ve scared the kids off too) don’t “do” PayPal. Am interested in alternate payment avenues, like several others here.
18

December 5, 2006
RZ

Casey says he’s not being paid for his chapter. I thought you believed in “paying for things you value.” Does this say something about Casey’s contribution?
19

December 5, 2006
Aaron

Just finished. Well done, and congrats Ramit. The book alone was worth the money, but that coupled with your awesome content archive on the blog, well damn. One of the best $5 a guy could spend.
20

December 5, 2006
Ada

I bought the book and I’m waiting for it to be delivered to my inbox. I’ve been reading your stuff since, well, since I told you about the sacred fitted sheet philosophy. For the info I’ve recieved in that short period I feel like $4.95 is perfectly in order, in fact, a more than fair offer. I know by what you give away for free that anything you would charge for would be top notch!
21

December 5, 2006
sfmoneymusings

I bought the book and I’m still downloading it. DSL is slooow and I’m anxious to get started.

Thanks again for writing and reminding us not to be cheap.
22

December 5, 2006
Bigfoot

$5 is a ton. Haven’t you people learned to be frugal yet?
23

December 6, 2006
lifter

Argh, I almost immediately went on buying it, but PayPal obviously doesn’t accept payments from my country. Bad PayPal, bad. I buy stuff from amazon regularly without any problem.

Could you provide other means for buying?
24

December 6, 2006
hypatia

Isn’t it more of an e-magazine than an e-book? It’s a little more than I would pay for a newsstand mag, but without the ads and content I know I’ll value.

And why aren’t you using Google checkout? Fuck PayPal, I quit using them two years ago because they are scams and cheats.
25

December 6, 2006
Sputnik the Cat

So please explain: Why did you ask that flipper dipshit Casey Serin to write a chapter for this book? To serve as an example of what NOT to do??

He plagiarised most of what he wrote, anyway…

S_t_C
26

December 6, 2006
J.D.

What’s the problem everone has with PayPal? I’ve used them for thousands of dollars in transactions since 1999 and never had an issue, either on the receiving end or the paying end. I’m not saying there aren’t problems — I just don’t know about them.
27

December 6, 2006
Kevin

Wow, I’ve never been to Casey Serin of I Am Facing Foreclosure’s blog but I just visited it and it makes me feel as if his whole site is some sort of elaborate scam and Ramit is playing some sort of role. If Casey is facing such a horrible fate, why would he write an article for Ramit’s eBook when he hasn’t even learned from his own mistakes? How can you be a teacher who doesn’t use what they preach?
28

December 6, 2006
Jase

Publishing anything contributed by Casey Serin is a mistake. Readers of his own blog have noticed startling similarities between things he wrote for your e-book and things one of his “gurus” wrote. Casey’s excuse?

“I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why.”

If you can remove his chapter from the book, you would be wise to do so. Even without his “creative borrowing” from other writers, his inclusion in the book is a joke. He cannot speak about failure with any moral authority when he has yet to acknowledge the depths of his own failure.
29

December 6, 2006
Andy

J.D. check out http://www.paypalsucks.com/
30

December 6, 2006
rohita

Interesting. You got a scam letter from Casey Serin promising a 24% return on a bogus scheme. You deplored the tactic, and the practice, on this site.

You recently wrote a long post detailing how much you despise pyramid, ponzi, MSM schemes such as Amway, and the like. (Curiously, you omitted reference to Mr. Serin’s letter – perhaps that was too old news to rehash.)

And yet you choose Mr. Serin as one of your selected co-authors.

One presumes you intend to tap Mr. Serin’s readership (such as it is). Expedient, I suppose. But what does that say about your willingness to stand up for what you purportedly value (or, more importantly, disapprove)?

Why on earth would I want to read about (and to pay for!) a real estate failure’s “lessons”? Why would I, or anyone, shell out money to read a hypocrite’s “insights”?

At least reading your blog (and Mr. Serin’s highly amusing one) is free!
31

December 6, 2006
Ramit Sethi

Hey all, some answers to the above questions:

If you can’t use Paypal or credit cards, unfortunately I don’t have another way to easily do it.

Lots of people (mostly Casey’s vitriolic readers) have asked why I included Casey Serin in the ebook. I’ve answered this on another post, so here’s the question and my answer:

The question:
SO, let me get this straight.

Casey Serin tries to CON you out of money by lying and commting fraud, then you have him as a “guest “contributor”?

You are no better than he is.

If some asshole tried to scam me out of money, I sure as hell would not talk to him much less collaberate with him.

Trying to cash in on this LOOSER?

You suck.

My response:
Uh, people aren’t one-dimensional, as I made clear in my writeup about the Casey affair. No matter what he’s done, he has a lot of lessons to share.

And if you really think I’m trying to “cash in” by asking him to volunteer an essay on mistakes he’s made, I really don’t know what to say. iwillteachyoutoberich is about learning, not blaming and shunning.
32

December 6, 2006
Dale

Ramit, I use credit cards online all the time…just not through PayPal, which has lost my trust, which, as you undoubtedly know is everything when transacting business online. Feel free to contact me about alternative solutions, as I’d like to get a copy of this ebook for my daughter. BTW, how long does it typically take for you to vett comments?
33

December 6, 2006
spectrum

Good going, Ramit. I was inclined toward your eBook yesterday when I linked to it from Wesabe’s blog. It looked very interesting and I have to admit feeling clever (well, fortunate. . . well, OK, clever) at finding it on its very first day of release. Then, when I saw today that you are one of the powers behind PBWiki, I decided to shell out the $4.95 then and there.

Keep up the good work.
34

December 6, 2006
Ada

I think the real lesson here is that there is money to be made in both “Free Casey Serin” and “I hate Casey Serin” teeshirts.

I, for one, am totally unafraid of reading or hearing the opinion of anyone, because I trust my own decision making processes. I’m capable of recognizing b.s. and also, I research things pretty thoroughly if I take anyone’s advice no matter WHO they are.

However, If the chapter that Casey Serin wrote is so malignant that it crawls out of my computer and eats my brain in the night, I’ll be wanting my $4.95 back.
35

December 6, 2006
mikey mouse

Can you just send me your address and I’ll mail you five bucks in cash? hate using paypal.
36

December 6, 2006
Dave

R,

You know, I bet if you never mentioned the whole, “I thought about not charging for this…” point, no one would ever mention it. It’s your work. Be proud of it and charge for it. Good advice isn’t free, that’s why most of us work in the service industry.

There’s a time to be modest and there’s a time to make money.
37

December 6, 2006
Dave

Btw, I want to buy your book and I have many credit cards but no paypal. Why don’t you put this up on http://www.changethis.com ?

Rather then getting money out of it you increase your reputation which is worth more than anything you will make off of this.
38

December 7, 2006
alex

Ramit, I enjoy your blog tremendously. But I have to recommend that you carefully proofread anything you are going to charge even $4.95 for. Irrespective of the content of Casey’s article, his grammar and punctuation are a joke, and this reflects poorly on you. You are ultimately responsible for the finished product, so be a strong editor and make it look polished. You are a talented writer, and you should demand higher quality from your contributors.
39

December 7, 2006
Jennifer

Ramit,

Put a few copies on ebay so people CAN pay you with alternative methods.

If for any reason you can’t do this, shoot me an email.

Also, you’ve made a couple references to non-one dimentional characters who’ve made mistakes. The sheer vastness of their character is all well and good, but what are the chances that a significant percentage of your readers will make the same or similiar mistakes? I, personally, don’t feel vulnerable . . . but you probably know your readers better than I do.
40

December 7, 2006
Carlin

You may not want to share this information, but I would be curious to see how many e-books you sell. I’m kind of curious to see if people will pay for premium content on a well written, free blog.

It’s up to you, but it’d be interesting to know.
41

December 7, 2006
Enrique

Ramit:

It seems all the whiners about Pay pal came out. They don’t tell why not to use Pay Pal.
I am getting the book. Thanks for all the insights.
I don’t know how all these whiners will become millionaries on the first things that goes wrong.

Enrique
em99_9@yahoo.com
42

December 7, 2006
JB

what, may I ask is everyone’s problem with Paypal? I’ve yet to have a problem with them and would like to know what I should be on the lookout for.
43

December 7, 2006
Flexo

The e-book is a neat idea. Thanks for assembling it! I downloaded it and skimmed through… definitely worth the $4.95.
44

December 7, 2006
wen -wen

ramit. i love this and keep showing it to everyone. i would buy it, except i hate pdfs and don’t own a printer. password protect!
45

December 8, 2006
Ryan Mickle

Only Wen would be so difficult as to say that she hates PDFs. That is like saying that you hate the smell of air.
46

December 9, 2006
Ramit Sethi

I used to accept check payments, but unfortunately I don’t any more. Sorry!
47

December 12, 2006
teresa

Ramit, I have to agree with Alex (comment #38). The many typos and bad grammar are distracting.
48

December 12, 2006
Kripal Singh

why don’t you publish and sell your ebook on Amazon Shorts . Really nice place to list it .
49

December 16, 2006
Pete Williams

Congrats Mate.. Welcome to the worl of “offical authors”
50

December 20, 2006
Phil

Ramit

I won’t be purchasing.

I decided it wasn’t worth the $4.95 on the basis of your Christmas essay. Looking at the contents page, I can predict what you are going to write and can’t see much value in it.

Keep up the good work – the sheeple love you.

Phil
51

December 22, 2006
nikr

“What’s the problem everone has with PayPal? I’ve used them for thousands of dollars in transactions since 1999 and never had an issue, either on the receiving end or the paying end. I’m not saying there aren’t problems — I just don’t know about them.
Posted by J.D. at December 6, 2006 07:16 AM”

==

Ahhh the voice of naieveity. Sell your computer on eBay/ get paid via PayPal/ wait 5 days then ship it– then the day it gets delivered [too late to call it back] get the email from PayPal stating “you have been the recipient of fraudulent funds” [B.S. for PayPal didn't properly screen a payment made with a STOLEN credit card] and then see PayPal has REVERSED the funds out of your account [even if you were smart and sucked the money out you now have a negative balance on your PayPal account so you can't use it!]. So now you have NO computer and NO payment! And that’s not the worst part–PayPal didn’t do their job AND they look to the Seller to cover the fraudulent charge AND ACTS LIKE THEY’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG.

Now you see why some of us will NOT/can’t take PayPal….
52

December 22, 2006
NikR.

Hi Ramit,

Thank you for including a non-PayPal method of payment for your ebook! My money order is on the way!

Merry Christmas!
53

December 26, 2006
Franko

Well. $4.95 eh.

Id say it was a good investment on my part.

I like the pictures and am about 1/3 the way through.

Keep up the good work!
54

January 8, 2007
Bhavash Joshi

Im new to the site….but i love what i’ve rea so far. I bought the book and can’t wait to read it. If it’s as good as the website…i know im in good a treat!

Thanks again! and congrats!
55

January 20, 2007
Nikhil Bhat

Excellent work! I love your site, it has proven a fantastic resource to me. Thanks for all your help and congratulations on your success!

Keep up the great work

-Nikhil Bhat
56

April 10, 2007
joewatch

Do you know why stores charge $4.95 instead of $5? It’s to prevent the cashier clerk from pocketing the $5 for a $5 item.
57

August 5, 2008
ed brooks

ramseys,
Thank God for Nutty people at Christmas, its nutty so it doesnt turn into Easter. can you imagine two bluttoned up ,pastel wearing ,egg eating, holidays—dreadful- add country club brunch and giant easter blunnys , -
THIS IS AMERICA , my trick is to always spend what little I have , then I dont have to waist money on things like blogs or blooks.
58

August 24, 2008
Joy Jani

Hey Ramit,

Have been an avid reader of your blog, but the eBook was a disappointment. Didn’t get the worth for my money- the overall quality was below par. Are you engaged in too many projects at the same time? Just wondering… Waiting for some more interesting stuff later on. Hoping to hear from you.
JJ