The Simple Dollar

Read The Simple Dollar Online

Authors: Trent Hamm

The Simple Dollar
Trent Hamm
FT Press (2010)

The Simple Dollar

How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams

Trent Hamm

Vice President, Publisher: Tim Moore
Associate Publisher and Director of Marketing: Amy Neidlinger
Executive Editor: Jim Boyd
Editorial Assistant: Pamela Boland
Development Editor: Russ Hall
Operations Manager: Gina Kanouse
Senior Marketing Manager: Julie Phifer
Publicity Manager: Laura Czaja
Assistant Marketing Manager: Megan Colvin
Cover Designer: Alan Clements
Managing Editor: Kristy Hart
Project Editor: Andy Beaster
Copy Editor: Water Crest Publishing, Inc.
Proofreader: Jennifer Gallant
Indexer: Publishing Works, Inc.
Senior Compositor: Gloria Schurick
Manufacturing Buyer: Dan Uhrig

© 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Publishing as FT Press
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

This book is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services or advice by publishing this book. Each individual situation is unique. Thus, if legal or financial advice or other expert assistance is required in a specific situation, the services of a competent professional should be sought to ensure that the situation has been evaluated carefully and appropriately. The author and the publisher disclaim any liability, loss, or risk resulting directly or indirectly, from the use or application of any of the contents of this book.

FT Press offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales, 1-800-382-3419,
[email protected]
. For sales outside the U.S., please contact International Sales at
[email protected]
.

Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing June 2010

ISBN-10: 0-13-705425-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-705425-1
Pearson Education LTD.
Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited.
Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education North Asia, Ltd.
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd.
Pearson Educación de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
Pearson Education—Japan
Pearson Education Malaysia, Pte. Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hamm, Trent.
The simple dollar : how one man wiped out his debts and achieved the life of his dreams
> Trent Hamm.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-13-705425-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Consumer credit. 2. Debtor and creditor. 3.
Finance, Personal. I. Title.
HG3755.H237 2010
332.024’02—dc22
2010005204

 

To Randy Byrn, who not only taught me how to write but made me believe I could

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Prison Made of Plastic

Get Everyone on Board

Reduce Your Interest Rates

A Plan for Debt Repayment

Get a Rope

Snowflaking

Five Steps for Today

Chapter 2. What’s Missing?

What Do We Really Need?

Five Steps Toward Happiness

Chapter 3. A Visit from the Black Swan

Our Lives Are More Random Than We Think

Unprepared for the Good

Unprepared for the Bad

Sources of Personal Risk

Maximizing Luck

The Need for Reliability

Preparing Yourself

Chapter 4. The Power of Goals in a Random World

The Changing Value of Long-Term Goals

The Power of Self-Reliance

The Key: Short-Term Goals

Five Steps Toward Your Dreams

Chapter 5. Running to Stand Still

The Changing Nature of Income

Your True Hourly Wage

The Things We Sacrifice

Your Future Self Isn’t Reliable

The Power of Today

Five Steps for Breaking Out

Chapter 6. With or Without You

The Broadening of Community

The “Tragedy of the Commons”

The Value of a Relationship

Social Intelligence

Getting Started

Chapter 7. Minding the Gap

Spending Less Than You Earn

Mind the Gap

Wants and Needs

The Frugalist and the Capitalist

Budgeting

Five Steps Toward Minding the Gap

Chapter 8. Frugality as Framework

The Difference Between Frugal and Cheap

Frugality as a Framework for Freedom

What’s Essential?

The Peak-End Rule and Life Experiences

Overvaluing Routine Experiences

Frugality and Food

Trimming Your Utility Bills

Housing and Transportation

Get Clever with Your Entertainment

The Five Fundamental Rules of Frugality

Chapter 9. Cultivating People and Opportunities

Negative Relationships

Positive Relationships

From a Negative to a Positive: Cultivating Opportunities

Five Ways to Maximize Your Positive Relationships

Chapter 10. The New Career Rules

Where Is Your Loyalty?

A Community of Peers

The Power Shift

Learning, Growing, and Synthesizing

Passion

Deliberate Practice

Transferable Skills

Finding (and Being) a Mentor

Five Steps on a Journey of a Thousand Miles

Chapter 11. Life Design—Building Something New

Building a Solid Foundation

The Rules of Your Life

Rules Are Made to Be Broken

Shoot the Moon

Five Steps to Designing a New Life

Chapter 12. Managing the Gap

Avoiding Lifestyle Inflation

The Crossover Point

Protecting What You Have

Five Methods for Maintaining the Gap

Chapter 13. The Personal-Financial Boundary

Communication

Honesty

Time

Friends, Family, and Lending Money

Five Steps to Getting Your Relationships on Track

Chapter 14. Recasting Retirement

Retirement Rarely Equates to Idleness

What’s Your Next Act?

Recasting Retirement Savings

Retirement Savings Versus College Savings

Revisiting the Crossover Point

Five New Steps Toward “Retirement”

Chapter 15. The New Path to Adulthood

Setting Your Child Apart—Money Lessons

Setting Your Child Apart—A Growth Mindset

Setting Your Child Apart—Self-Reliance

Setting Your Child Apart—Self-Learning

Setting Your Child Apart—Unique Experiences

Setting Your Child Apart—Educational Priorities

Five Little Steps

Chapter 16. The Power of Giving

Giving Is Part of Participating in a Community

Doing It Different

Five Ways to Get Started

Chapter 17. Holding You Back

What We Say Versus What We Do

Passive Barriers

Clutter

Focus

Choosing to Be Happy

Five Ways to Overcome Your Barriers

Chapter 18. Original of the Species

Experiences Trump Things

Insanity: Doing the Same Thing and Expecting Different Results

Success Is About Differentiation

Other books

WakingMaggie by Cindy Jacks
The Henry Sessions by June Gray
Soul Catcher by Herbert, Frank
1 Dicey Grenor by Grenor, Dicey
Jealousy by Lili St. Crow
The Art of Love by Gayla Twist
Upright Piano Player by David Abbott
Killing Halfbreed by Mason, Zack