Scrooge for the win!

In my opinion, both you and Trent are misconstruing the other’s approach to personal finance.

Trent wasn’t being fair when he called the Scrooge strategy “short-sighted.” You espouse big, “fire-and-forget” type frugal moves, which work very well. There’s nothing short-sighted about that at all. It’s quite simply the best effort-to-return ratio one can find.

Trent is correct as well — his CFL example is actually very similar to calling for lower credit rates in that the return is definitely worth the effort. And this is where the differing audiences and blogs factor in.

You misconstrue Trent: his blog is old, and his post count is an order of magnitude larger than yours. What that means is, _he has already covered the big wins!_ If you go through the old posts, he advocates the same things you do: credit rate renegotiations, shopping around for services, automating the money system. But when you’re churning out two posts a day for multiple years, after all you’re left to discuss is more esoteric, lower-level frugality tips.

Additionally, your blogs each reflect your lifestyles. You are single and seem to have the goal of becoming a very famous finance personality a la Suzy Whatever-her-name-is. You don’t have the time or desire to hang around the house implementing toothpaste-saving tips. Trent, by contrast, has two children, and lives in a rural area. The simple dollar allows him to be at home with his children while exploring frugality, which is a strong interest of his.

In summary: he started it, you responded, but you’re both nitpicking. 80% of your advice is exactly the same.

I currently live on about 10K a year.

I like your blog, but… does any of it apply to me? I don’t have any debt (no mortgage, student loans, credit card balance, etc.), pay for virtually everything except rent in cash, and am in excellent health.

Not sure how to save extra money at this point, apart from counting kleenexes, which is counter-productive.

Any ideas?