What Do You Think of MMM Blog Over Last Year or so?

[tooqk4u22]

The post What Ever Happened to Dr. Doom? had me thinking about FIRE blogs a bit and I started thinking about the MMM blog lately.  First, I will say that MMM openly has said he will do as much or as little as he likes and will write about whatever he wants and whenever he wants, I don't have a problem with that whatsoever and all the power to him.

FIRE blogs seem to fall into different traps as they cycle through their existence. 

-There are those that sell out and sites go to crap due to generic regurgitation and clickbait - like GRS.

-There are those that accomplish their goal and pretty much stop - Livingafi, BNL

-There are those that are more day to day lifestyle blogs than pure FIRE - Frugalwoods, GCC

-Then there is MMM - FIREs first, writes a lot of good, crazy-to-some, content and then basically runs out of stuff to write or possibly loses interest.  I personally have felt the blog content has fallen off a lot and has become somewhat uninteresting and boring, its like he was going through the motions with most, but not all, recent posts to simply for the sake of posting something somewhat periodically.  As an example, in the last year he has had 22 posts and most were either reviews of goods/service (tesla, work shed, electric bike/car, betterment) or case studies/interviews with the balance falling into the Proselytising category with an air or arrogance.

People like to read about the journey not the endgame - it just seems to me like there is no more journey. 

What say you?

[erutio]

There's a blog?

[WildJager]

I haven't bothered to read the new content beyond a casual glance.  He set out with a project idea, accomplished it for the most part, and then moved on.  There's only so much you can say about personal finance.  It's frankly pretty simple once you water it down to the basics, and I'd argue he's done that better than most. 

At this point the only thing left would be to continue the discussion on philosophy and environmental concerns.  I assume he's more interested in other hobbies, hence the lack of content.  There are only so many ways you can say "save your money and invest, stupid."

I didn't vote.  I don't go to Wikipedia for "new" content.  I go there for reference.  So even if the references here have already been referenced by me, to others this is a whole new world.

[neo von retorch]

I say you stole my analysis ;) But I hope this thread opens my eyes to one or more blogs I don't currently read!

[MrGville]

Which blog is GRS?

Nevermind, figured it out...Get Rich Slowly.

[With This Herring]

What is BNL?  I can only think of the band name...

[I'm a red panda]

I haven't read the blog in a long time. But I greatly appreciate that he hosts this forum and found many of the early posts interesting.

[tj]

What is BNL?  I can only think of the band name...

Brave New Life

[Kl285528]

My guess is that most folks, once they get to the forum, have devoured the blog itself, or at least have hit the more impactful posts to get it. After that, as you say, there isn't that much more to it. Now that I'm a convert, I just come to the forum to hang with like minded people. However, upon first discovering the blog and Early Retirement Extreme, it was like the scales fell from my eyes and I could finally see clearly. So, much more exciting and valued early on for me.

[Goldielocks]

I am waiting to see the past year's annual spend for the MMM family!

[Miss Piggy]

Haven't looked at the blog since I joined the forum.

[tooqk4u22]

Wow, 650 views but only 70 votes at this time - its not like you have to type anything. Starting to think that people are afraid of retaliation from the Iron Fists of MMM and its moderators ;) 

[AZDude]

If you have ever tried to keep up a blog, posting regularly, then you know how much work it is to come up with ideas and then edit them into coherent stories. Doing this even once a week is very time consuming.

So for a guy who probably has somewhere in the range of $5 million, why would he bother. His blog is his hobby, and one of many.

[BlueHouse]

Wow, 650 views but only 70 votes at this time - its not like you have to type anything. Starting to think that people are afraid of retaliation from the Iron Fists of MMM and its moderators ;)

I'm in the boat with the others in that I find much more value in the forums than I do in the blog (haven't even looked at in one or two years). 

I love the forums and even when my favorite posters make their own blogs, I am not interested in reading their blogs.  I love the topics that come from newbies and from old-timers and I like all the different perspectives that so many knowledgeable people give. 

For THAT, I am eternally grateful to MMM for providing this free service to us all.

Also, I NEVER commented in any form of social media prior to MMM.  I have never felt comfortable in any other environment to do so. 

MMM might have said all he needs to say, but his forum members are the best and the smartest and the most civilized group of financial do-gooders anywhere. 

[CmFtns]

I am waiting to see the past year's annual spend for the MMM family!

I suspect he spent a whole lot more in 2016 than his last 3-4 years so this post may not come around.

[Pigeon]

I never found the blog to be all that interesting, TBH.  I'm not a big fan of blogs in general, and his didn't provide me with very much that I found useful.

[I'm a red panda]

I am waiting to see the past year's annual spend for the MMM family!

I suspect he spent a whole lot more in 2016 than his last 3-4 years so this post may not come around.

I'm sure it was all a 'business' expense though.

[ysette9]

I love the classic blog posts and got a ton out of them. I agree with others that the content has mostly run its course, but I like the occasional post to feel like the great MMM is still thinking about us. :)

I love the forums and the community we have formed here. I get a tremendous amount out of the collective wisdom and am honored to pass it on to others whenever I can, online and in real life.

[swick]

Wow, 650 views but only 70 votes at this time - its not like you have to type anything. Starting to think that people are afraid of retaliation from the Iron Fists of MMM and its moderators ;)

Or...Much like reading long blog posts, taking the time to answer a poll takes to much time/energy/requires the interest ;)

It's a tough one, because, like many posters have said there is only so much you can write about before it's head down and do the work. 

You see the drop-off in the forums as well, as people get more dialed in and automate their FI track they don't post as much, unless the forum provides a specific "other" need such as community, friendship, distraction...whatever.

MMM might have said all he needs to say, but his forum members are the best and the smartest and the most civilized group of financial do-gooders anywhere. 

This pretty much sums it up for me as well.

[farmecologist]

To be honest, i rarely even check the main page these days...In fact, my shortcut goes directly to the Forums.

[sol]

The blog only exists as a recruiting tool for the forum.

It's not a very good recruiting tool, anymore.  I would rather see MMM spend his time screening/editing new submissions from other people, or even reposting the greatest hits, than to continue on his current path.

But it's his business and not mine, and I'm assuming he is executing his business plan in pursuit of his business goals, regardless of what I think.  Maybe he's focusing on self reliance issues to attract preppers and anti-government agitators.  Maybe he's focusing on product reviews because they are more profitable than forum ads.  We have to remember that a blog is a personal playground that need not bear any resemblance to reality.  He could be spending 100k/yr on consumer electronics and junk food, and the blog world not need to change.  He could claim financial impartiality while banking corporate endorsement deals for reviewing products and services.  We don't know, we can't know, we don't deserve to know.  It's his business to run as he sees fit, and every forum post puts money in his pocket regardless of any potential disconnect between our intentions and his actions.

With that said, I think there is real value in the forum.  Specific tax strategies, like the roth IRA pipeline for extracting tax and penalty free 401k dollars at any age, are worth thousands to an average forum member and that information isn't freely available in a personalized format anywhere else.  It's like having your own really great accountant.

[englishteacheralex]

The blog is kinda done--I agree with the other posts. That said, man his blog is awesome! It's like a free online book. I LOVED reading the whole thing this summer. Some things the blog did for me:

1. Made me scorn Dave Ramsey, who I was obsessed with before. I always knew I wasn't quite a Ramsey accolyte, but couldn't put my finger on why. MMM made me see that it's because I'm more hard core than Ramsey-ites. I would NEVER have debt, so a lot of Ramsey didn't apply to me. Also, I LOVE credit card rewards programs and consider them a reward for having a rigorously organized financial life and no problem with consumer spending. So Ramsey used to make me feel needlessly guilty about keeping my credit cards.

2. My travel hacking game is way stronger now (MMM clued me into the fact that travel hacking is a thing and not just for crazy people).

3. We bought a 2003 Matrix to replace our 1999 Corolla instead of a Sienna when we were car shopping to accommodate a second kid.

4. We purposely walk everywhere now and try to break out the car much less.

5. I bought a bread machine off craigslist and no longer pay for any bread products. We now have several food storage buckets for Costco-sized staples like bread flour, rice, and oatmeal. Big savings, especially since we live in Hawaii and a loaf of bread here costs $4 on sale.

6. We got a few books that he recommended and worked out a more sophisticated asset allocation plan. Also bumped up our retirement savings quite a bit, realizing that we could cut several of our budget line-items.

7. Cut our monthly restaurant spending from $200/month to $100/month

8. Cut our monthly grocery bill from $700 to $600

9. Cut our monthly clothes budget from $100 to $40

10. Cut my monthly haircut/girly stuff allowance from $35 to $15

11. Got rid of HBO Now subscription

12. Decided to be ok with a slightly messy house and did not succumb to the temptation to get a house-cleaning service

13. Husband now ALWAYS checks youtube to DIY any kind of repair before we shell out to hire someone. 

14. Just generally found it a lot easier to say no to discretionary spending, since now we have affirmation that it isn't necessary to be happy and the money is more valuable to us sitting in appreciating assets or given away to charities/causes/people we care about.

MMM doesn't owe me anything! Lots of well-written content, laughs, and good ideas.

[CmFtns]

I am waiting to see the past year's annual spend for the MMM family!

I suspect he spent a whole lot more in 2016 than his last 3-4 years so this post may not come around.

I'm sure it was all a 'business' expense though.

yea... "business expenses" like his car because he wrote about it once and his outdoor work space because he wrote about it and also might write blog posts inside of it. No disrespect or anything to him. I owe a lot of my lifestyle to his blog, but I kinda find it humorous... he just needs to own up and be like look I made the sacrifices... here are the rewards when you have millions of dollars.

[Hargrove]

The blog can't fascinate more than, or much longer after, its core message, and that message is finite. Betterment's change in fees is just a nitpicky irrelevant detail if you compare it to general principles of living frugally and saving in index funds, but the posts still take a similar amount of work. You can read about a cereal hack adding rolled oats to save $100 a year, but only someone who is just getting excited about the quick-retirement journey is going to be eating that up. Pun intended. Totally just had some.

And... good. The forums are here because community sustains people way more than that thing they read one time. MMM already made it. He's probably on a cliff or boating or taking his kid home in a bike trailer in a blizzard. Once we're too busy doing that, most of us will wander away too, hopefully. Newcomers will be sustained by people a little closer to them on that ladder.

I think we would still read the update posts and new projects and cost savings strategies he posted, but I wouldn't be shocked if that weren't particularly interesting to him at some point.

"The purpose of a snare is to catch rabbits - once the rabbit is caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. Once the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Show me someone who has forgotten words. It is he I would like to talk to."

[tallen]

I devoured the blog when I found it, but as others have said you can only repeat the same message in so many ways and he's already said it very well.

[I'm a red panda]

I am waiting to see the past year's annual spend for the MMM family!

I suspect he spent a whole lot more in 2016 than his last 3-4 years so this post may not come around.

I'm sure it was all a 'business' expense though.

yea... "business expenses" like his car because he wrote about it once and his outdoor work space because he wrote about it and also might write blog posts inside of it. No disrespect or anything to him. I owe a lot of my lifestyle to his blog, but I kinda find it humorous... he just needs to own up and be like look I made the sacrifices... here are the rewards when you have millions of dollars.

Yeah- I'm happy he is living the way he wants to, and he made sacrifices to get there. But it's silly when he tries to pass it off as a near nothing level of spending.

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

I am totally over the blog (I never entirely drank the Koolaid anyway), but I don't begrudge MMM his success. He had some great ideas and is a good writer and I hope he's having fun these days with his well-earned cash.

[Zikoris]

Over the last year, there have been very few posts that were relevant to me - that would be anything to do with cars, diy, or US-specific investment stuff like Betterment or tax stuff. As far as my "personal Mustachian journey", I feel like the forums and my real life Mustache friends are the biggest influences at this point.

[skeptic]

I skipped the poll because I don't think I share the spirit of it.

If I wanted I guess I could turn a detached and critical eye to the 2016 posts.

But my personal summary is: there is good content there, the net effect is positive, so why look at the glass half empty and bemoan what better posts there could have been.

One topic I would love to see more on is healthcare. The experience MMM had that led to his healthcare post has not been mine or most I know, even for high deductible plans. It seems a lot more expensive in all the places I have looked, unless it is being subsidized, which of course is uncertain going forward.

Anyway, I feel grateful for what is here as a whole.

[tonysemail]

I liked several posts from the last year:
The eulogy to his dad was very touching.
The post on charitable giving was good too.

prior to seeing this poll, I had assumed that my own interests were changing rather than the blog content itself.
I'm surprised to see the number of people who don't find much value in the blog.

[Hargrove]

There's plenty of value in the blog.

If one insists on a revolutionary, life-changing post every time, I don't think there's a blog that will do that. The Betterment post is not as important as the "How to Retire in 9 Years" type stuff, but it's still useful, and I still read it.

The charitable giving post was a great "Ok so you have infinite cash, now what?" exploration.

I'm shocked at the "he acts like he's so frugal." Like, seriously? He posts his budget every year. I've seen a more detailed breakdown of his finances than mine, and he's doing it on a relatively steady 20k.

Not finding the blog useful is baffling to me. Almost anything posted on the forum beyond chatting was mentioned to one extent or another in the blog.

Got some complainypants in here.

[Yo-Joe]

The blog changed my life, and I'm eternally grateful.  Recent posts have been lackluster, but the man is living his life, and I applaud him.

[Pigeon]

Got some complainypants in here.

The OP asked a question and people answered him.  Does that mean we are obligated to think otherwise least we be complainypants?

[JAYSLOL]

There's plenty of value in the blog.

If one insists on a revolutionary, life-changing post every time, I don't think there's a blog that will do that. The Betterment post is not as important as the "How to Retire in 9 Years" type stuff, but it's still useful, and I still read it.

The charitable giving post was a great "Ok so you have infinite cash, now what?" exploration.

I'm shocked at the "he acts like he's so frugal." Like, seriously? He posts his budget every year. I've seen a more detailed breakdown of his finances than mine, and he's doing it on a relatively steady 20k.

Not finding the blog useful is baffling to me. Almost anything posted on the forum beyond chatting was mentioned to one extent or another in the blog.

Got some complainypants in here.

Pretty much sums up how I feel, although I'm not surprised that most people here in the forum would feel the blog has run its course.  I mean, it's like asking a bunch of married couples if they still find dating sites useful (the answer is, hopefully, not very).  I still read the new blog posts, and some of them are interesting, but the classics are, well classic and I can't see them being outdone.

[MonkeyJenga]

I'm shocked at the "he acts like he's so frugal." Like, seriously? He posts his budget every year. I've seen a more detailed breakdown of his finances than mine, and he's doing it on a relatively steady 20k.

He also has emphasized that he ISN'T so frugal. That their lifestyle doesn't require any sacrifice. That they're happier this way. He had a whole post about this not being about "extreme frugality."

Extreme frugality is ERE. (I'm not knocking it, I'm closer to ERE than MMM.) MMM is for comfortably wealthy people to realize they can still be happy with a 3-year-old iPhone, 1 fewer living rooms, and a bike ride every once in a while.

[Indio]

Wow, 650 views but only 70 votes at this time - its not like you have to type anything. Starting to think that people are afraid of retaliation from the Iron Fists of MMM and its moderators ;)

I'm in the boat with the others in that I find much more value in the forums than I do in the blog (haven't even looked at in one or two years). 

I love the forums and even when my favorite posters make their own blogs, I am not interested in reading their blogs.  I love the topics that come from newbies and from old-timers and I like all the different perspectives that so many knowledgeable people give. 

For THAT, I am eternally grateful to MMM for providing this free service to us all.

Also, I NEVER commented in any form of social media prior to MMM.  I have never felt comfortable in any other environment to do so. 

MMM might have said all he needs to say, but his forum members are the best and the smartest and the most civilized group of financial do-gooders anywhere.

This is the only forum that I can stand reading and really enjoy it. I can't believe how much hatred and vitriol are spilled daily in the anonymous comment section of the media by people that seem so angry about everything. I come here for level headed discourse.

[pbkmaine]

I met Pete for the first time at Camp Mustache SE in Gainesville in January. For those of you who listen to the Freakonomics podcast or have read the books, Pete reminds me a LOT of Steve Levitt, the University of Chicago economist. Same way of talking, same endless curiosity about the world. He has a fine, unconventional intellect. He's rather delightfully unassuming. I think he's quite surprised by the success he's had. He attends the gatherings because he finds Mustachians to be interesting people, learns a lot from them, and enjoys hanging with them. He doesn't participate in the Forums much because there are any number of people disparaging him, as evidenced by some of the posts above. Anyway, if you want to experience him the way I did, the Radical Personal Finance podcast just put up a talk with him that was recorded in Gainesville.

As far as the blog goes, he's writing about what interests him at the time. I think he's doing it more for himself than an audience.

[FIRE me]

My story is that I found the blog before I found the forum. I was already living below my means and saving for early retirement. But I learned a lot on his blog, and arguably even more here on the forum.

My two favorite blog posts are The Shockingly Simple Math of Early Retirement, and that one post where he tells about getting stuck with the, shall we say, sub-optimal business partner for several years.

I owe a lot to Pete. And this forum.

[Dee18]

I still thoroughly enjoy the blog.  On many frugal living blogs the authors basically keep posting multiple times a week despite not having anything new to say.  When MMM has an idea to share, he writes a post.  Most of his posts make me think about something in a slightly different way, and I like his writing style.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Once you read the Shockingly Simple Math, what more do you need?

[farmecologist]

As far as the blog goes, he's writing about what interests him at the time. I think he's doing it more for himself than an audience.

Exactly...I'm not sure he cares what folks on the forum think either...nor should he.

Frankly, I'm kind of surprised by some of the negativity by some folks here.   Kind of odd....

[tooqk4u22]

I am totally over the blog (I never entirely drank the Koolaid anyway), but I don't begrudge MMM his success. He had some great ideas and is a good writer and I hope he's having fun these days with his well-earned cash.

I agree with this and said as much but that is not what the poll is about. 

I liked several posts from the last year:
The eulogy to his dad was very touching.
The post on charitable giving was good too.

prior to seeing this poll, I had assumed that my own interests were changing rather than the blog content itself.
I'm surprised to see the number of people who don't find much value in the blog.

This is really why I put the poll up...is it me or the content.  I think its the content. 

[tooqk4u22]

As far as the blog goes, he's writing about what interests him at the time. I think he's doing it more for himself than an audience.

Exactly...I'm not sure he cares what folks on the forum think either...nor should he.

Frankly, I'm kind of surprised by some of the negativity by some folks here.   Kind of odd....

That's the thing....to me it seems that the posts feel more about simply getting something posted for sake of posting something relatively periodically.  The interest, intellectual curiosity, passion or whatever you want to call it doesn't come through like it did in the posts pre2016/2015.

I guess I somewhat expected that a person with that intellectual curiosity and way with words would have really enjoyed having a larger "voice" through the blog and would have been able to transition better to other topics of interest.  It could simply be that he is not that interested, or the stuff he is interested in isn't that interesting, or probably more likely that writing about stuff has become too much like work and he has better things to do...that's ok.

As for the negativity, I don't see a lot of that in the comments unless you think that anyone who says their past it is negative. 

[I'm a red panda]

This post made me check out the blog today.  The article about building his shed reminded me of why I started reading it in the first place: the way he describes getting and using the excavator is just really well written. It made me smile.

[CmFtns]

As far as the blog goes, he's writing about what interests him at the time. I think he's doing it more for himself than an audience.

Exactly...I'm not sure he cares what folks on the forum think either...nor should he.

Frankly, I'm kind of surprised by some of the negativity by some folks here.   Kind of odd....

That's the thing....to me it seems that the posts feel more about simply getting something posted for sake of posting something relatively periodically.  The interest, intellectual curiosity, passion or whatever you want to call it doesn't come through like it did in the posts pre2016/2015.

I guess I somewhat expected that a person with that intellectual curiosity and way with words would have really enjoyed having a larger "voice" through the blog and would have been able to transition better to other topics of interest.  It could simply be that he is not that interested, or the stuff he is interested in isn't that interesting, or probably more likely that writing about stuff has become too much like work and he has better things to do...that's ok.

As for the negativity, I don't see a lot of that in the comments unless you think that anyone who says their past it is negative.

I agree, I haven't seen one post that I consider negative here... just people commenting on the question. There are only so many topics to write about and people are just commenting that after a few hundred posts there is just not too much more for a reader to gain and also not many more breakthrough topics for him to write about.

That doesn't mean there's still not dozens of incredible articles for a first time reader though.

[FIFoFum]

I have always been more about reading (or lurking) the forums than the blog.

For me, the big A-ha moment was not that one person could be frugal or retire or downshift income early once they reached FI. It was that there are MANY people who can do this, and they can do this in different ways - at different ages, from different career paths, and with different levels of saving & spending. That was when I asked myself, "Why not me?"

The forums have been great for me because they are a crowdsourced approach to FI or FIRE (or SWAMI). Even if one person is not being fully honest about their circumstances or another person's approach is just not remotely plausible for me, the collective has tremendous truth and knowledge. There is no blog that could have achieved the same value, and I am grateful for what this forum offers us.

[mm1970]

If you have ever tried to keep up a blog, posting regularly, then you know how much work it is to come up with ideas and then edit them into coherent stories. Doing this even once a week is very time consuming.

So for a guy who probably has somewhere in the range of $5 million, why would he bother. His blog is his hobby, and one of many.

Yep.  I have a 9-year old food blog, that has waxed and waned over the years of babies and such. It's work, and sometimes it's fun.  But once you've given a list of bullet points of how to decrease your grocery bill, what else is there?  I post recipes occasionally, but these days I either am winging it or following someone else's recipes.

[tooqk4u22]

If you have ever tried to keep up a blog, posting regularly, then you know how much work it is to come up with ideas and then edit them into coherent stories. Doing this even once a week is very time consuming.

So for a guy who probably has somewhere in the range of $5 million, why would he bother. His blog is his hobby, and one of many.

Yep.  I have a 9-year old food blog, that has waxed and waned over the years of babies and such. It's work, and sometimes it's fun.  But once you've given a list of bullet points of how to decrease your grocery bill, what else is there?  I post recipes occasionally, but these days I either am winging it or following someone else's recipes.

So the work/effort to create may be an issue for you as I suspect that's the issue for MMM.  But writing about food can probably go in a thousand directions - there are magazines and networks dedicated solely to that fact.  Food is great.

Without knowing your blog, I assume that the primary focus was decreasing your grocery bill....ok maybe that in itself is limiting just like MMM's initial message.   But if you wanted to you could certainly take it in a different direction but maintaining your primary mission.

For instance:
- Go to a restaurant, review said restaurant, order something unique or not typically considered easy to make.  Then try to recreate the meal at home while sourcing ingredients on cost effective basis or take it one step further and compare the cost of the meal at the restaurant with the cost of the meal at home with affordable ingredients and with the cost of buying everything at say whole foods. 

Right there are 2-3 blog posts for you per meal.  Compare cultural dishes or substitution products (tofu for chicken) in the meal.

Nothing you or MMM can do about it if the "work" factor is undesirable...the answer is simple in that case "Don't Do It Because You Don't Have To" but if you enjoy all those steps then no reason it can't be something good.

[Rufus.T.Firefly]

I think all blogs inevitably run their course after several years. At that point, they either burn out or become full-blown websites with steady supply of content.

Most blogs that transition into full-blown websites bring on other writers, with the original writer acting more as an editor/manager. They occasionally still write articles, but probably are only responsible for about 10-20% of the total content.

...but that sounds dangerously close to "work."

[BlueMR2]

I'll go along with everything having been blogged that's truly important. MMM has given us a wonderful resource and covered pretty much every angle now.  Other than updates and quirky things that come up, there's not a lot more left to be said.  I appreciate seeing those, but am not expecting more content that's hugely life altering.

The forums are interesting, but have lost their edge.  Kind of typical for this type of thing.  The hardcore people are all set as what they need is readily found via search.  The new people coming in will tend to be less committed (or they would have found it earlier).  So, facepunches are no longer given as needed.  It's now "well, that's OK, you'll probably make it anyways" type comments.  Still useful, but not as honest.