Know Your Blogger Series

Partners in Fire

I started Partners in Fire back in 2017. My mission is to help others reach financial independence, along with us (we aren’t there yet!), with finance tips and by promoting the type of lifestyle that being financially free can buy (RV life, travel, security, etc.).
Partners in Fire isn’t just about the upper middle class who has the same options that we do. It’s about all of society – and I want even the poorest among us to be able to achieve financial independence.
Check out our Q&A with Partners in Fire here.

Read about how the blog Partners in Fire is helping you reach financial independence so that you can live the life you want.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Partners in Fire.
During these weekly features, we are hoping to provide a way for you to interact and learn more about different blogs in the personal finance space.
Below, you can read more about the story behind Partners in Fire, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Partners in Fire to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Partners in Fire for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Partners in Fire

I chose the name Partners in Fire because, in my opinion, we are all on this journey together, and I want readers to know that they have a partner and some support on their own quest for financial independence.

What makes you and your blog unique?

There are two things that makes Partners in Fire unique among finance blogs. First, and most importantly, is that I don’t shy away from discussing big picture societal problems. I’ve written about poverty traps, the unfair banking system, our healthcare system, wage stagnation, and a host of other issues that, in my opinion, prevent so many other people from even being able to consider financial independence.

Partners in Fire isn’t just about the upper middle class who has the same options that we do. It’s about all of society – and I want even the poorest among us to be able to achieve financial independence. That’s nearly impossible in our current economic system, and I use my platform to call it out.

The other thing that makes the blog unique is that I talk about so much more than finance.

Financial Independence isn’t just about the money. It’s about the lifestyle that having money can afford. It’s about being able to follow your dreams and do whatever you want, whether that be stream video games, travel, or adopt a ton of cats. While I don’t shy away from financial topics like investing, real estate, taxes, etc., it’s not the blog’s main focus.

What does “being good with your personal finances” mean to you?

Being good with your money means that you know where it is going – and it’s going where you want it to go.

I don’t think life and finance is all about building wealth. It’s about living the lifestyle that you want. If you’re spending all of your money on travel, but your life goal is traveling the world, are you doing it wrong? I don’t think so. I think you’re putting your money where your priority is.

That being said, I do think it’s smart to have a financial cushion and a back-up plan. Those who are really good with finances will have both.

What are some habits you practice to keep your personal finances in order?

I’m really good at not buying stuff. I make budget every two weeks, and I write down exactly where all my money is going to go for that period.

Bills, savings, and investments all get taken into consideration first, but then I also decide whether I need anything from Amazon, I think about what my grocery and gas budget for the period will be, and I decide if I’m going to do anything like go out to dinner or have a special event. I decide all of this before anything happens – and I stick to it!

Obviously sometimes things come up last minute, but having a plan in place to guide most of your spending on a weekly basis is extremely helpful.

What are your three articles people should read to get to know you and your message better on your site?

The about me page is a great place to start!

If you want to know more about me and what I think of the FIRE movement, check out: Passion Fire

If you want to know more about the societal issues that I like to write about, check out my post on what family values should mean. This post gets a little political, but it’s the first time I ever wrote about policy and structural issues that prevent people from achieving freedom. I have more posts of this nature on my blog now.

For someone looking to improve their financial situation, what’s your best advice?

In the short term, you should really start tracking your spending and budgeting. Stop letting your money decide where it goes, and start making it a conscious decision of where you want it to go.

The medium term is all about improving yourself. Find ways to increase your income, whether that means going for a promotion, changing jobs, or picking up a side hustle. Most of these things take time and investment into yourself.

And for the long term – you need to be investing. I don’t care if you have debt or no emergency fund, you need to put something – anything – into an investment account. Time in the market beats everything, every time (historically), and if you aren’t investing for your future self now, you are losing out.

What are your favorite personal blogs and bloggers you have been inspired by?

I have so many favorites! But I’m going to try to narrow it down.

Angela @ Tread Lightly, Retire Early is an inspiration. She spearheaded the movement to show how many women actually are involved in personal finance, and her weekly roundups celebrating the women in finance are spectacular. I love the spirit of her blog (making environmentally friendly choices while on the path to financial independence) and her commitment to lifting up fellow lady bloggers.

Ryan @ Arrest your Debt is one of my best blogger friends. We started around the same time (though I think he started a few months after me) and it’s been amazing to see his growth. He takes blogging seriously, and it shows in all of the content he puts out.

Andrea @ Saving Joyfully is probably the nicest blogger I’ve ever come into contact with. She always seems to have a positive attitude and is always there to help someone else out. I love her positivity.

Purple @ A Purple Life is just all around fantastic. She has such great energy and won’t fail to remind you to do whatever it is that you need to do. Her blog is awesome, and she seems like just an overall great person.

In your opinion, what should you do first? Pay down debt, or invest?

I’m probably an outlier on this – but my answer is both! If you wait to invest until all your debt is paid, you may never get started – or you won’t start until your mid-to-late thirties. Study after study has shown that time in the market is the most important thing, and the sooner you start the better off you will be.

So you can’t wait until your debt is gone to invest.

But you also can’t ignore your debt for the sake of investing. Debt keeps us trapped, and the only way to achieve true freedom is to dig out of it. Having an enormous amount of debt also impacts our credit scores and our abilities to do normal life things – even renting a home requires a credit score!

So you need to do both. How much you should put to each is dependent on your priorities and how much debt/extra money you have, but you should absolutely put something into both pots.

What is your favorite investment class and why? (stocks, private business, bonds, real estate, crypto, precious metals, etc.)

I love stocks, but not individual stocks. Index funds are the best. You get to buy a variety of stocks in one bundle and most of them reinvest dividends for even more growth. Also, index funds tend to have lower expense ratios than other funds, so it’s not costing you much to manage it.

Real estate is okay – it can be incredibly valuable, but it generally has higher start-up costs and definitely isn’t as passive as you’d like (unless you chose an REIT – which in my open is basically an index fund for real estate).

I don’t have a lot of experience with the other classes – I have a small portfolio of precious metals as a hedge against a recession and I don’t like the volatility of crypto, so I stay away from it.

Do you have any financial mistakes you’d like to share, and how have you grown from these mistakes to improve your personal finances?

My biggest financial mistake is taking care of other people. I’ve gotten myself into so much debt and have had so much hardship because I can’t tell people no.

I cosigned a mortgage for my brother which continues to negatively affect my credit. I’ve been stolen from and lied to by ex-boyfriends, who have promised to pay me back and never have. I’ve cosigned cars for exes who can’t pay for them.

I learned these lessons the hard way. Never cosign for anyone. Choose your partner wisely, and cut them loose at the first sign that they might be taking advantage of you. I spent too much time, money, and emotional energy on people who were only out to use me, and that has pushed my plans back by a few years.

Don’t ignore red flags folks!

What’s a non-money related interest you have and what do you love about it?

My favorite thing is travel.

I love travel because I love history, culture, food, and people, and I’d much rather experience those things for myself than read about them. Reading about the Coliseum and the Temple of Delphi isn’t nearly as exhilarating as seeing it in person. It gives you such an amazing feel for the history of these places and the cultures that built them.

Seeing the world is my number one passion – one that I indulge in as often as possible. I’ve already visited over 20 countries on 4 continents, and have no plans to stop. In fact, my first attempt at blogging was with a travel blog!

Unfortunately, with my full time job, 4 cats and 2 dogs, I don’t have as much time to travel as I’d like, so that’s been put on the back burner for now. But it’s one of my top passion fire goals! 🙂

How You Can

How You Can Contact Partners in Fire for More Information

You can learn more about Partners in Fire at https://partnersinfire.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @partnersinfire.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Partners in Fire, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!