Triple M Review: Misleading Title leads to an interesting article that is not as dire or tragic as it sounds - Matthew George

Enter Mr. Money Mustache, a writer whose blogs range from how to retire early all the way to tips to cut out the fat that is excess spending. In this specific blog post: "Reader Case Study: Young Man Saved from Jeep-Suicide" Triple M analyses a post sent by a reader of his blog looking for advice, Triple M details the exchange between him and his reader "Justin" in addition to sharing with the world his advice for this person's life circumstances.

Triple M begins his blog post with a modified version of the letter sent to him and his analysis of Justin's life choices-with an emphasis on focusing on the positives of Justin's life. Only a single line into his response and already we can see that Triple M has a significant grasp on how to critique people. By utilizing this method Triple M delivers positive reinforcement to Justin as a reader and the choices he has made through the advice previously given by Triple M. Given the toxicity of the internet and how interaction to critique can often be cold and lifeless it is compelling to see and individual who still understands how to motivate someone efficiently.

Following his positive reinforcement Triple M proceeds to step by step detail and describe the actions his reader should take while providing insight to his readers who may also fall into a similar circumstance. The attention to detail here is to be noted as Triple M explains his reasoning for each and every choice. Detail to choices made and explaining them is important, an example is if someone says "Jump off this bridge, it's only 2 feet above the water and there is a fire consuming the bridge" instead of "Jump off this bridge". The added detail changes so much about whats being talked about. Speaking about death-metaphors now would perhaps be an accurate time to talk about the title: "Young Man Saved from Jeep-Suicide", no an individual did not attempt to commit suicide, rather a more accurate title would be "Young Man gets rid of a Jeep that is inefficient and not worthwhile", yet the simple act of calling it Jeep-Suicide sounds more interesting and is more likely to get clicks, click-baiting, if you will.

going back to the topic before that, Analyzing Justin's living condition, location, transportation of choice, and job, Triple M focuses on the primary issue of Justin's woes: in inefficient vehicle and how to correct the issue. From how he goes about analyzing and responding it is clear that he understands as a writer how to critique others. By focusing of the positives and what small tweaks need to be made, instead of focusing solely on the negatives, Triple M avoids the hassle of instigating aggression in his reader, keeping the dialogue very peaceful and respectable.

Arguably the best written segment in this post comes after the analysis-where Mr. Money Mustache acts as a makeshift financial adviser. All throughout this second half the reason of why people listen-and trust-this person is made clear: he knows what he's talking about.

As I see it there are two segments that weren't written as greatly as they could of been. The first is the title itself-despite being unique I feel more people are going to assume the term Jeep-Suicide is more associated with trying to kill yourself while in a jeep (driving off a cliff, going full speed into a pole, etc.) Rather than harming your finances by owning a jeep. The misleading title devalues-in my opinion-the rest of the piece as click bait, despite the fact that the article itself is very well written and enjoyable to read. The second is that despite looking into housing, I can't help but feel he's missing one very crucial aspect of housebuying/renting: Knowing what the house itself looks like and where it's located. It's entirely possible he also did research on this aspect as well but if he did he unfortunately left it out of his piece. After all a cheaper house may not be the best option if it's in the bad part of town, putting him in greater risk.

Overall I am amazed by Triple M's talent as a writer, how he formed his response to his reader and the level of advice he gave out and can safely say that so long as he is here to stay there will be a crowd of people happy to read what he puts out.

Review Writing Exercise: Mr. Money By Pauleina May

"The Man Who Gets His Cars for Free"

"You can be the Master, and thoughtfully use cars as a tool as needed to reach your goals. Or you can be a Slave to the auto – worshiping it, allowing it to steal your money, your physical fitness, and your sense of control over your life."  This was said by Mr. Money, he believes that a car is something that is a luxury to have. He feels that way about his because today in the automotive world people take advantage and spend most of there income on a new car. Mr. Money talks about how much he saves through the year with his car. For Mr. Money Mustache he spends a "hundred or two bucks of fuel, $400 of insurance and registration, and under $1000 of combined depreciation and maintenance per year." The way Mr. Money uses his money on his car through out the years he would save 104K every 10 years. 

Mr. Money thought he was using the automotive sales right but this was changed when he met Ben. Ben is not the person who limits his losses, he makes money off of buying cars. He has owned and sold over 50+ cars and has made a profit off of each one. Ben works on cars and fixes them up, and this helps him with his process. He talks about how he does it with great detail, but he gives 5 main topics on how to do it. 1. Buy low, 2. Look for neglected cars, 3. research as much as you can, 4. Do as much work as you can yourself, 5. Sell quickly and set a modest price. Ben makes a point that anyone can do this, your outcome could be high or it could be low, just trying it might surprise you in the long run. 

This article was an eye opener for me. I've only had one car and I have drove it for about 5 years now. I've had to fix a lot of  breaks since my car is very old but just reading this and knowing how much you can save with buying used cars is crazy! I think Mr. Money and Ben created a writing that is very informational and it is easy to understand the issues with owning and buying a car. They give a lot of detail on how driving is a right and to own a car is a privilege because some people can not afford a car. I enjoy this reading and if anyone struggles with deciding on what kind of car or how to do buy a car, read this article. 

Review Writing Exercise: Mr. Money Mustache by Paige Riebel

Get Rich With: Your Own Urban Tribe

This article explains what exactly Mr. Money Mustache means when he refers to "your own urban tribe." His definition of this term is explained as simply establishing your own group of people dedicated to saving and living extravagant frugality like yourself. Through your tribe, you can seek encouragement and support as you live life as the "odd-ball" of society. your tribe becomes your heart family. You work hard with your tribe, have cookouts with your tribe, make music and play games with your tribe, but most of all, your tribe always has your back. Your tribe is your community and Mr. Money Mustache states that through your tribe community you begin to see that  "leisure and work tend to blur together." 

I think this article does a really good job at relating to the emotion aspects of having a tribe. The author ties in many personal stories of his experiences with his close-knit tribe. The author also does a fine job of encouraging the reader to establish a tribe in unexpected places. The fifth section of this article is titled, Great Friends are Hiding Among Your Neighbors. I think this is one of the sections where the article was most strong. The author makes an excellent and rational point of writing, "Why focus your energy on traveling to meet friends who live several cities away, while ignoring those right next door who you haven’t even met yet?" He explains that, yea, your tribe can be made up of people from different cities and states, but their very nature of a tribal community is locality, so by finding a tribe in your area, the community aspect will be stronger.

I think the weakest section of this article is the third section named Lessons in Tribalism from my Summer Vacation. I think this section made the article have a nice personal feel to it, but it was more of just a story-telling section and not so much an applicable advice/ interaction section - like the rest of the article was posed to be. The purpose of Mr. Money Mustache and his blog is to educate and convince others to follow his living of purpose driven frugality and I did not feel like this section was very effective in relating this to his readers. I am not saying that personal experiences and stories should not be involved in convincing someone to turn their ways, but I am saying that I think an overwhelming emphasis of personal story-telling can seem feeble when used in the way Mr. Money Mustache has used it in this section. I also feel as though the specific stories he shared, were not very relevant or compelling compared to the rest of the information he shared in this article. 

Having grown up in a big family that practices frugality and simple, holistic living, I personally do find the emphasis on a tribe to be very crucial. Over the years, my family has developed a strong community of those who have the same values and mindsets as we do. I find this community to be just as Mr. Money Mustache has explained it to be - encouraging and reassuring. I feel like as a society everyone just does what everyone else is doing and I before my like-minded community or "tribe", it was hard to stick with my different approach to living. So, in conclusion, I do strongly agree with this article and all it has presented. I believe everyone should find their tribe. I believe everyone should surround themselves with people who are going to continue lighting their passions, boosting their positivity, and igniting their dreams and aspirations! 

Brainstorming Topics from small groups for Essay Three

Students, post the essay ideas you created in the small groups here, so we can see all the possible ideas for Prompt Choice #1 for Essay Three.  Use the Comments feature to post your ideas.

All best,

Mike

Financial Literacy Review Exercise Choices. From Mike.

You'll find Mr. Money Mustache link to list of all posts, so you can pick one, here.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/all-the-posts-since-the-beginning-of-time/

Mr. Money Mustache.  Really.

Skim, surf, browse through some titles and find one you really want to read and review.  They are all short so, if you are feeling lazy, don't spend too much time trying to find the shortest.  Ha ha.  Once you find one, claim it by telling us you want it and writing the full title of that post in the Comments section here.

Here also are links to the other sites I showed you, just in case you are interested in them and find them helpful.

Have fun, and really use your writing to explore ideas.  We''ll all learn more!

Mike 

Scotty Kilmer channel
https://youtu.be/tbhHcxscu4Q

Houston mechanic Scotty Kilmer

Veritasium and Derek Muller
https://youtu.be/2KZb2_vcNTg

Derek Muller, founder of this channel and someone who is thinking about how to make science engaging, on YouTube.

Groups and Slots for Presentations. From Mike

Tuesday, Nov. 15

John and Josh: Al Capone

JD and Vic: Jesse Owens

Austin and Dathan: The Manhatten Project

Pauleina and Kirsten: Black Friday


Thursday, Nov. 17

Desiree and Tia: L.A. Riots

Hunter and Naomi: Marilyn Monroe

Grant and Joe: Twin Towers in NYC

Gabby and Matt: The Miracle on Ice


Tuesday, Nov. 22

Nick and Lauren: D-Day

Phillip and Travis: Flag Raised at Iwo Jima

Paige and Matt: Jimi Hendrix

Amanda and Regan: Andy Warhohl

Exploration 5 by Travis Baum

 The movie "Fresh" is a film revolved around farmers and activists who are involved in the re-inventing of the food system. This film shows the good, the bad, and the ugly but leaves you with a sense of hopefulness that things can get better. Some of the most important issues discussed in the film include food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity.


As the touching film shows, there are a lot of pesticides in our food which are not healthy or beneficial for anyone. Farmers have gone organic in order to fix this issue. However, people think farming organically is expensive but in order to stay healthy it is needed. “Cheap food is an illusion; you always end up paying for it whether it be your health or the land you farm”. This quote means that you either pay for a healthier life style or pay to be unhealthy. The USDA requires organic farmers and food handlers to meet a uniform organic standard.  What really makes me believe that America is on the right track to correct these problems is Diana Edicott. Diana Edicott is the founder of The Good Nature Family Farms which is an all natural alliance of 75 combined farms selling organic products to stores. This is important because most of America is not too educated on what they are actually eating. Will Allen said "We as citizens don't pay attention as how we get our food. just as long as we do" Will is trying to say that we are not looking into what is going on behind the scenes of industrial food system. Good Nature Family Farmers can allow us Americans to not study the ins and outs of how our food's upbringing.


http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/natural-resources-environment/organic-agriculture/organic-certification/