It’s Not Your 9 to 5 – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

It’s Not Your 9 to 5

Having lived through 3 financial downturns in my career, the most recent one being the 2020 pandemic. Each time coming close to seeing my 15 years of giving my heart and soul to the company being turned into a simple statistic, another number showed the door. It finally drove home the lesson that I need to take control of my finances, diversify my income, and save money for the rainy days. This is when I started my personal journey to really figure out how to save money and earn extra income outside of the 9 to 5. A year into it, I started to see success and that’s when I created the blog It’s Not Your 9 to 5, so I could share my experience and help moms like myself to take control of their finances, diversify income and be more than just a 9 to 5.
Check out our Q&A with It’s Not Your 9 to 5 here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, Have Your Dollars Make Sense.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, It’s Not Your 9 to 5.

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 It’s Not Your 9 to 5, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from It’s Not Your 9 to 5 to help you improve your financial situation.

A big thanks for It’s Not Your 9 to 5 for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about It’s Not Your 9 to 5

A few years ago, I was laser-focused on climbing the corporate ladder hoping my next promotion would ease my growing financial anxiety that comes with life responsibilities.

This is when I started my personal journey to really figure out how to save money and earn extra income outside of the 9 to 5. A year into it, I started to see success and that’s when I created the blog It’s Not Your 9 to 5, so I could share my experience and help moms like myself to take control of their finances, diversify income and be more than just a 9 to 5.

What makes you and your blog unique?

Although my blog is all about money, I share my tips and tricks in very simple terms so anyone can easily understand. I write the way I speak with my best friend, straight to the point, and sprinkled with some wittiness. Reading my blog is like chatting with your girlfriends, while learning about money.

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

To me, “being good with your personal finances” is always having your finger on the pulse, knowing how much you got coming in and going out.

I like to always do monthly and yearly budget planning, so I can anticipate if there are any big upcoming expenses, and plan my longer saving goals around them.

Having this bird’s eye view of my money always helps me make smart financial decisions long term and short term.

In addition to budgeting and saving where possible, it’s also important to diversify your income. There are so many ways of earning income, the key is to find something that fits your lifestyle and interests.

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

I do a monthly and yearly budget forecast to keep things on track.

The key to success is consistency.

To be a good runner, you need to run every day; to build muscle, you have to work out at the gym; and if you want your finances in order, then you need to put systems in place that will help keep them there.

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

Here are three you should check out:

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

“Money managed is money multiplied”

First and foremost, start to know your numbers. Use a simple budgeting tool to know what you have coming in and going out.

Then make plans to pay off debts, if you have any.

“Money saved is money earned”

Start finding opportunities on your spending list, where can you spend less, or eliminate them entirely.
Once you get a handle on budgeting and saving, you can start looking for ways to make extra income.

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

I always like this question, because there are few different perspectives people can have and nobody is really wrong. On the one hand, debt is absolutely the worst part of anyone’s finances. Any interest paid is wasted money that you can’t get back. Telling anyone to crush their debt before anything else is never bad advice.

However, the caveat here is that the longer you are invested in the market, the sooner you’ll see the power of compounding gains. Starting even a year or two later can make a big difference down the road. Investing really is the best way to create wealth and you don’t want to delay that. Plus you can argue that if the gains on your investment are higher than the interest you pay on any debt you have, you’re up money in the long run.

So which is it? If I really had to pick one, I’d say get rid of that debt first. Yes, investing is great, and the sooner you start the better, but to really get someone out of financial trouble, debt has to be the first thing to go. Investing, in the end, is optional, but debt collectors will keep knocking at your door. Plus the mental relief of paying off debt can’t be understated for most people.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

Finding ways to increase your income can be fun but potentially more challenging. Depending on the countries you live in, you will also need to consider paying income tax.

On the flip side, it might be much easier to find opportunities to cut down on your expense and save. You will be surprised once you have a list of expenses written down. Look for opportunities in those “nice to have” expenses.

Remember, money saved is money earned (minus the income tax!)

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 in my earlier days was avoiding my finances altogether.

I had a stable corporate 9 to 5 job and wasn’t a big spender, but for years I had no confidence in what things I can or can’t afford which made me constantly stressed out about money.

My money anxiety got much worse when my children came on the scene, and my responsibilities increased. Then, life just expands with college funds, retirement, larger houses, bigger cars, vacations for four, etc.

I finally stopped putting my head in the sand and faced my fear of money.

This is part of how I started my journey to take control of my finances. A few years on, I am no longer stressed out about money. Instead, by knowing my finances and having a long term plan to work towards, I am much happier.

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

I’ve always been very interested in health and nutrition. I found it fascinating how foods can impact us differently. There’s no one size fits all. I’m constantly optimizing what works for me.

I also love trying out new recipes and cooking healthy meals for my family. It’s a great way to save money and eat healthy at the same time!

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

There are a few reasons why I believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important.

First, if you don’t know where your money is going, it is very easy to overspend and get into debt.
Second, by understanding personal finance, you can make better decisions on how to use your money to achieve your financial goals.

Lastly, caring about personal finance can help you become more financially secure and independent. And who doesn’t want that? 🙂

How You Can Contact It’s Not Your 9 to 5 for More Information

You can learn more about It’s Not Your 9 to 5 at https://www.itsnotyour9to5.com/.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, It’s Not Your 9 to 5, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Have Your Dollars Make Sense – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Have Your Dollars Make Sense

I started blogging in January 2021. I’ve long been into personal finance, but with a seemingly abundant amount of time at home, I wanted to take on a new project and blogging seemed like an interesting way to get my knowledge out there. My goal is to help anyone out there who may be confused or just need some motivation when it comes to finances. Even if only a few people come away with a new idea or two, then I’m happy. The name Have Your Dollars Make Sense I think speaks for itself. It’s basically what I wanted to help do, make sense of their money.
Check out our Q&A with Have Your Dollars Make Sense here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, Have Your Dollars Make Sense.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Have Your Dollars Make Sense.

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 Have Your Dollars Make Sense, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Have Your Dollars Make Sense to help you improve your financial situation.

A big thanks for Have Your Dollars Make Sense for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Have Your Dollars Make Sense

What makes you and your blog unique?

Although the PF blogging space is quite crowded, we’re all unique in our own ways. All of us come from different backgrounds, whether that be our upbringing, our job, current or past financial situations, etc. That all comes through in our perspectives and our writing. Each blogger out there has a unique perspective all their own, and I’m just bringing mine to the table now.

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

If I had to pick one major aspect of it, it’s this:

Live within your means.

Too often people are more occupied with impressing others and giving the illusion of wealth, than actually doing the work to accumulate it. Luxury cars, big houses, fancy vacations are not worth working for the rest of your life to me.

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

Yikes, they are probably more like obsessions than habits at this point. I must log into my bank account, credit card, investment accounts and other money related accounts on almost a daily basis. Tracking where my money is going and finding ways I can improve. Reading and learning anything I can, not just about finance, but different aspects of life too. You’d be surprised how often you can connect other things to finance.

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

Here are three you should check out:

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

Really it all comes down to hard work. No amount of reading blogs or searching for money saving tips online is going to change anything unless you are ready to really change what you are doing, which is hard. You’re not going to change overnight and nobody does the 100% right money move all the time, but if you put in the effort and really start applying what’s out there, the possibilities are endless.

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

Decreasing your expenses for sure for a few reasons. One, it’s something you can work on right away and almost immediately see results with. I’m sure most people would be able to find hundreds of dollars they could spend better on a monthly basis if they really started looking at where they were spending their money.

Next off, it’s something that is well within your control. In order to make more money, you either need a raise or find a new job, both of which can be difficult to do. Companies are out there to make a profit too and aren’t often in the habit of handing out money. You can very much control how much you spend and learn to live within your means.

If you aren’t good with money already, more money isn’t going to change that. If anything it will make it worse. The real key is forming good money habits. Once that is taken care of any future gains in income can be used to crush debt more or up your investment contributions

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

I think I’ve had two major financial mistakes in my life. The first is a pretty common one and that’s not investing early enough. Most teenagers or young adults just don’t think about it or think it’s for old rich people only. The fact of the matter is that if I had started investing just a few years earlier, I’d be that much closer to my financial goals.

The other is my master’s degree. I was stuck in a job I didn’t like and there was what seemed like an exciting new field I could break into with the degree. I wish I had not only done more research on the university, but also the field.

Neither turned out to be what I expected. The program itself was okay at best. Teaching me some useful skills, but not nearly enough. The actual field itself, although still new and exciting, really didn’t lend itself to someone looking to start a family. You either had to have a position where you traveled 75-90% percent of the time or could literally be on call 24/7. Neither of which interested me. All in all, it cost me about 27k to have a useless degree.

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

Oh wow, every person’s dream right? I’d absolutely crush it for sure. The first thing I would do is pay off the rest of my mortgage. Anyone who tells you not to because the interest is a tax write-off is just flat out wrong. Getting rid of this giant piece of debt would be a big difference maker.

Next up I’d put at least 50k into each of my kid’s college funds. They already have a substantial amount in each for their age and this would allow me to basically just let it ride until they went off to college. They would be able to pick anywhere they wanted to go without me having to worry about how to pay for it and them worrying about needing to go into debt before they even have a job.

Most of the rest would be invested. I spread it around dividend-paying mutual funds and probably buy up a bunch of real estate near me. Basically, any investment the generates a monthly cash flow would be on the table, but those would likely be my top two choices.

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

Fitness in general, but more specifically running. I’ve been a runner since high school and it’s something that has always stuck with me. I think the best part about running is that it’s mostly about improving yourself. I’m never going to be the faster or best one out there, but I still surprise myself with what I’m capable of doing. I’ve run in multiple marathons and at the age of 37 am running faster times than I did at 27.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

It’s something that affects every aspect of our lives. Without understanding your own finances your really just not going to be able to be the best version of yourself. I don’t think people realize the full value of it.

For one, just getting over the mindset of “Keeping up with the Jones”, is a life changer. When you no longer worry or care about having other people think you’re rich or have a ton of money, you’re just a happier person in general. Learning to live within your means and be happy with what you have is worth its weight in gold.

After that, you’ll find that the things you once spent your money on just aren’t worth it and you can find a lot more fulfilling things to do with your money and your time. Being able to pursue a passion or interest because you didn’t waste your money on luxury or other wasteful things will open up so many opportunities you wouldn’t have had before.

How You Can Contact Have Your Dollars Make Sense for More Information

You can learn more about Have Your Dollars Make Sense at https://haveyourdollarsmakesense.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @HYDMS21.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Have Your Dollars Make Sense, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Financial Freedom Countown – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Financial Freedom Countdown

My blog is titled Financial Freedom Countdown and focusses on individuals living in high cost of living areas. Even with high incomes; I noticed many of my coworkers and friends stressed out about work, finances and emergencies. Earning money is one aspect; but effectively deploying capital so it works for you is the tricky part. I started Financial Freedom Countdown in 2019 with the goal to encourage others to be mindful when trading time for money.
Check out our Q&A with Financial Freedom Countdown here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, Financial Freedom Countdown.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Financial Freedom Countdown.
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 Financial Freedom Countdown, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Financial Freedom Countdown to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Financial Freedom Countdown for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Financial Freedom Countdown

My blog was inspired by a distinct memory in my working career. I remember my VP who is in her 70s mentioning that her sister was not keeping well. I naturally assumed she would visit and asked about her travel plans. However, she did not want to take time off given that we had a huge product launch coming up.

Two weeks later, when we were in a meeting; she received a phone call. Her sister had passed away:(. The fact that although she was a VP, earning at least 3X more than me; and yet was a “wage slave” hit me like a tidal wave.

It was at this point I was also reading a book on five regrets of the dying. Although it is not technically a retirement book, I believe it defines the essence of why we should strive for financial freedom and have included it in my ten early retirement books.

What makes you and your blog unique?

Very few personal finance blog writers have esoteric investments like Bitcoin, SPACs, real estate syndication, lawsuit financing, commodities futures, pre-ipo investments, art paintings, etc. and talk about them.

I came from a third world country to the US with only $1,000 not knowing anyone; guided only by an immigrant dream. Achieved Financial Freedom in 12 years living in the most expensive part of the country (San Francisco Bay Area).

The immigrant, late start and absence of family support aspects of my story demonstrate that you can still achieve Financial Freedom:

Even if your family knew nothing about money
Even if you have a late start
Even if you live in an expensive part of the country

I was born in a different country and had no knowledge of anything like credit scores, renting an apartment, opening a bank account, investing, etc. My family was not in this country to hand hold; and I had to figure out everything on my own.

In my early days I learnt a lot by reading other blogs. Starting my blog is my attempt to give back to the community. I write my blog posts with as much detail as needed; to help my audience along the journey. Many of my blog posts are based on audience requests and the readership has a close-knit community feel v/s the larger blogs. I strive for a mix of philosophy (why), process (how-to), and tactical (comparison reviews)

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

The most important part in Personal Finance is the word “personal”, Everyone has different priorities in life.

For me “being good with personal finances” means defining your priorities and having a plan to achieve them. I firmly believe while each of our paths would be unique based on our own financial situation; we all share the same goal of living our best lives along this journey.

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

I know a lot of people focus on budgeting or hacks like skipping coffee. Personally, I find these tactics to be mentally draining. There is no point in spending a lot of time and energy on the aspects that do not move the needle.

The 2 habits I focus on are:

1) Automate the core of my investing.

Investing is hard due to a myriad of factors ranging from behavioral to psychological.

Getting started with investing and continuing with investing should ideally be automated so we do not second guess ourselves; trying to time the market or chase the next hot sector. Despite all the technological advances and myriad of brokerages competing for our investment dollars, there are not many perfect investment platforms.

I looked at several platforms and compared them to find my perfect investment platform. I was looking for a platform which permits you to automate investment. Pre-set rules to bring your asset allocation back on track with automatic rebalancing, It should also have pre-built asset allocation to get started. And have zero fees and very low minimums.

2) Track your net worth.

I am a huge fan of the Peter Drucker quote “what gets measured gets managed”. This is true for all aspects of life and not just financial.

Tracking your net worth helps you examine what is going wrong if it does not increase annually. Are you picking the wrong investments? Are you spending more without realizing it? Is your income not increasing as expected? Should you switch jobs or add a side hustle to increase your income? Several such questions can be answered by tracking just one number.

And it is always best to compare your today with your yesterday.

Don’t fall in the trap of comparing yourself with others. Since everyone has different preferences with investment opportunities or increasing income, net worth is the best way to measure your own progress.

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

My article on how to improve human capital details the steps I took to grow my income and consequently my net worth. Given a choice between increasing income and cutting expenses, I would always focus on increasing income. There is a limit to cutting your expenses but your potential to increase income is unlimited.

I started investing in crypto currencies early on due to my personal experience dealing with sectarian violence. The censorship nature of money was a more attractive feature compared to the asymmetric price advantage of Bitcoin.

Real estate has always been a fascinating investment for me as an immigrant since the fixed rate mortgage for 30 years in not available in most countries. I do own a rental property but due to the changed laws, I don’t believe it is a great investment. In fact, I switched to real estate syndication to maintain the asset allocation and reduce risks.

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

In the short term I would advise defining your “why”. Improving your financial situation will involve tough choices. Having your why clearly defined will help you make the necessary trade-offs.

Define your ideal life and what is holding you back currently from living it. If it purely financial then have an approximate idea of the number. If you don’t have an emergency fund then start one. Also make sure you get high returns on your emergency fund.

In the medium term I would figure out the gap between your income and expenses. Work on growing the gap. Focus on increasing your income by either improving your human capital or by converting your hobby into an income generating business.

Examine your biggest expenses and see what one time changes you make to eliminate the fixed cost. It could be downsizing your house or getting rid of the expensive second car.

In the long term, define your investment plan and write it down. Learn about what you want to invest, could be index funds or real estate or something else. Stick to your investment plan. As your nest egg grows larger learn about diversification among asset classes and look at how your investments can be diversified.

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

Unless you have access to a rent control place, I would advise buying a house to live. Owning a house with a fixed rate mortgage is the best hedge against inflation.

In the long run, you will come out ahead by buying a house with the same monthly payment as your rent. If you rent an apartment but buy a house then obviously it is not the right comparison.

Owning a house not only provides stability in terms of your personal life but also financially you can project your living expenses decades in the future. Of course, this involves buying a house and living in it for at least 10 years. Buying houses have a lot of transaction costs associated with it and your goal is to minimize it.

At a later point if you decide to move then converting your primary home into a rental is an easy way to get introduced to real estate investing.

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

Depends on the interest rates and terms of the loan.

Is the debt above 15% real interest rate. If yes, pay it down. If no, max out your 401(k). Employer match and lower AGI are great benefits.

Any debt below 15% rate becomes a tricky choice. Mathematically investing might yield higher return but paying down debt is a guaranteed return on investment compared to investing.

Also, since student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy always pay them down.

I am partial towards having home debt since you do get the benefit of leverage with a home loan especially if you buy a house in a location which appreciates in value. The other benefit of home debt is asset protection.

What is your favorite investment class and why?

I invest in index funds, bitcoin, commodities, rental property, real estate syndications, individual moonshot companies, SPACs, art and legal financing.

With so many active investments it is hard to pick a favorite. The best assets to buy depends on your risk profile, time, knowledge, and unique circumstances. I evaluated every asset depending on the anticipated risk and volatility, expected return, liquidity (how easy is it to sell and get our money back), passive nature and availability (can anyone buy it).

I ranked and scored each asset to determine the best income producing asset.

I had some interesting reader confessions on expensive car and RV purchases. In the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, I updated that post with some ideas to turn liabilities into assets.

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

I have made tons of mistakes financially.

I never contributed to my 401(k) for the first 2 years since I was not sure if I would continue to live in the US or go back home. And this was with a 50% match.

As I mentioned I try different investment strategies and fail sometimes. In fact, one of my most popular posts documented my four worst investments. And each of these resulted in over $100K loss. My cliff notes version of my mistakes post is as follows:

1) Buying stocks like Sears Holdings based on TV guru recommendations.

Lesson Learned: Don’t take stock tips from TV personalities. It is wrong to assume success in one field translates into expertise in another. Lampert’s hedge fund success was extrapolated to his expertise as the CEO and Chairman of Sears. Also, the backstop was the real estate on which the stores were located. The Great Financial Crisis decimated the real estate market and retailers.

2) Investing in UNG without realizing that it was a poor proxy for the actual price of Natural Gas.

Lesson Learned: When investing, make sure you anticipate any technological changes that may result in your thesis not being valid in the future. Also, make sure you understand the instrument used to invest/speculate. The usage of futures contracts turned out to be my undoing.

3) Investing in ICOs.

Lesson Learned: In hindsight, most of these tokens did not have a strong business case. Since Bitcoin is already decentralized money, you could use Bitcoin to pay for all these services. I could see a point with respect to decentralized and anonymous internet being a fair use case since Bitcoin does not offer anonymity yet. The lack of adoption should have been a major red flag.

4) Investing in Lithium stocks.

Lesson Learned: Not anticipating the new supply was my biggest mistake. I have limited knowledge of the commodities market and need to do more research before investing in the future. Also, we need to consider jurisdiction risks and the fact that assets outside of the developed world do not have much protection.

I also lost money on real estate crowdfunding deals before I developed a checklist to evaluate them.

I am sure I will make many more in the future. As long as you make enough money, none of the mistakes will be catastrophic. You will survive and live for the next battle. When you are working, be aggressive and take as many risks as you can handle. Position sizing is critical, so you do not lose it all.

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

My favorite hobbies are travel and weight lifting. Lifting weights helps me focus my attention in a zen like meditation phase. Besides I am hoping that staying fit improves the quality of my life as I grow older.

I typically spend 6-8 weeks/year on international travel. Besides the usual tourist attractions, I do enjoy meeting folks in different parts of the world and it helps ground me with respect to realizing how lucky we all are. I was in Cambodia before all travel was shutdown.

A lot of locals were selling trinkets at Angkor Wat. The person who had the most business was a young teenager who actually spoke 4 different languages – Mandarin, Spanish, French and English. I spoke to him and he mentioned using Youtube to learn simple phrases which helps him connect with the foreigners in their local language. Talk about hustle and developing an advantage over your competition!

Now that life is returning back to normal, I am excited to travel again.

How You Can Contact Financial Freedom Countdown for More Information

You can learn more about Financial Freedom Countdown at https://financialfreedomcountdown.com/, like them on Facebook at Financial Freedom Countdown and follow them on Twitter at @ffcsocial.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Financial Freedom Countdown, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

A Chat with Kat – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

A Chat with Kat

A Chat With Kat is designed to combine two key aspects of life: finance and fitness. The two are very much related. To fully enjoy your wealth, you need to be in good health – and vice versa. With my background as a Pilates instructor and strong interest in the FIRE movement, it seemed the natural choice to focus my blog on these two areas.
Check out our Q&A with A Chat with Kat here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, A Chat with Kat.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, A Chat with Kat.
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 A Chat with Kat, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from A Chat with Kat to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for A Chat with Kat for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about A Chat with Kat

I started posting in March 2020 during the first UK-wide lockdown. The timing was coincidence, as I had been planning to set up my website for months, but in hindsight, the extra time spent at home really gave me a head-start.

What makes you and your blog unique?

My blog is unique not only because of the dual health-wealth focus, but also because I am an atypical follower of the FIRE movement. Unlike most people striving for financial independence in the UK, I do not have a salaried job, but am self-employed. Although work satisfaction is often higher in freelancers, they are lagging behind employees both in terms of salary and savings (I wrote a post about this recently). There’s no built-in safety net, no automatic pension enrolment, and no guarantee that we will earn the same amount next month or even next week. Because of these challenges, I think it’s important to have self-employed voices in the personal finance space.

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

The mechanism of being good with personal finances is very easy. You only have to do two things: spend less than you earn, and invest the difference. If you spend more money than you make, you are going backwards; if you spend all your earnings, you are staying in place; but if you save a part of your income, you are moving forwards towards financial freedom. It doesn’t matter if it’s just small amounts at the beginning – every little bit of savings helps to create a safety net you can fall back on.

Once you have amassed some savings, you must start to invest to create a new income stream. Many people opt for a simple all-world index tracker, but you could also build wealth through real estate. The key is not to let your money sit in cash, because inflation will erode its value over time.

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

At the end of every month, I hold a personal finance meeting with myself and complete the following tasks:

Pay my bills: rent, council tax, gas and electricity.
Send out client invoices.
Calculate total money earned in the past month.
Calculate how much tax I need to set aside for the month.
Calculate how much I can invest and my savings rate.
Make a record of my donations.
Check my net worth and log it in the spreadsheet.

These steps are specific to my situation, but I believe that everyone would benefit from having a monthly finance ‘check-up’. Seeing the net worth graph moving upwards is very rewarding and keeps me motivated.

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

My financial journey: The Long Road To Financial Independence: Kat’s Journey
Helping you to understand your muscles and how to take care of them: The Body Project
The importance of effective giving: On Signing The Pledge To End World Hunger

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

In the short term: If you are just starting out, you need to spend a few hours figuring out your income and expenses. Add up everything you earn and everything you spend. Which number is bigger? If you already earn more than you spend, congratulations. You’re doing great and can skip to the ‘medium term’ step. If not, this needs to change. Where could you cut expenses so that you have money left over at the end of the month? Some examples might be:

Big ticket items: could you live in a smaller place or drive a less expensive car?
Check that your bills are optimised. Can you switch to cheaper providers?
Food bill: change grocery shops, buy in bulk, find discounted items, eat out less, etc.
Entertainment: find a free or cheap hobby, sell things you no longer use, reduce the frequency of shopping trips.

Remember, if you are spending more than you earn every month, it is an emergency and you must change the situation ASAP.

In the medium term: Now that you’ve got your spending under control, you can start to build up some wealth. First, pay off any high-interest debt. Then, save up an emergency fund. You can decide how much you need, but a good starting point is three months of your living expenses, six if your job is quite unstable. Once you have achieved all this, you are in a very stable financial position and can now start to think about investing.

In the long term: With high-interest debt paid off and an emergency fund in place, it’s time to think about investing. Keep in mind that you need a long time horizon for this, so only invest funds that you don’t need in the next 5-10 years.

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

Every area has benefitted from improving my personal finances. When I first started out as a freelancer, I was constantly worried about earning enough at the end of the month. I worked seven days a week, accepting every opportunity, even if it meant a 24-mile round trip. But as I earned more and spent less, I became more confident. Now, I can accept only reasonable assignments and take two full days off, which has improved the quality of my life drastically.

This also allows me to be a better teacher. For example, if a student has a genuine emergency and needs to cancel a few hours before a session, I can let it go and not insist on charging the fee. Because I have more free time, I am more relaxed and happy during my sessions.

Finally, my personal life has benefitted as well. I was able to spend 9 weeks with my family in Switzerland last year, and I can attend regular zoom meetings with friends – hopefully, once the pandemic is over, this will translate to in-person meetups. I try hard to be frugal, but not cheap, so that my relationships are not affected by my spending habits.

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

Mr. Money Mustache is the blog that got me started. I was always good with finances, but his posts gave me a goal to work towards and some practical advice on how to cut expenses further.
A great UK blog is Monevator. There’s lots of advice on there, and the weekly newsletter is full of interesting articles from various bloggers and news outlets.
Another favourite is Banker on FIRE. I read his posts every week because they are insightful and entertaining. He writes not just for other high-income professionals, but for everyone who wants to learn to improve their finances.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

It’s not so much a question of better-worse, but first-second. There is no point in increasing your income if you’re going to inflate your lifestyle at the same rate. First, you have to get a grip on your spending and devise some financial goals. Once your expenses are optimised, it’s time to focus on increasing income to widen the gap between income and expenses. Personally, I’m a fan of decreasing expenses because any savings you make are 100% yours, whereas your income will be taxed. So, the impact of £100 saved is bigger than the income of an extra £100 made, especially if you are in a higher tax band.

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

I am really interested in writing. Ever since I was very little, I wanted to be an author. Stories are central to our experience – they are the way we learn about the world and make sense of our surroundings. I think creating your own stories can be a very powerful thing, and I’ve been spending at least 10-15 minutes every day honing my writing craft.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

A 2017 article in The Guardian starts with: “Half of the UK population are financially vulnerable with one in six people unable to cope with a £50 increase in monthly bills”. With a pandemic ravaging UK businesses and causing a rise in unemployment, things are only getting worse.

If everybody learned about money early on, they might be able to avoid mistakes such as accumulating consumer debt. Although some people are more frugal than others, financial illiteracy is often just a case of misinformation. People follow the bad examples they see and don’t reflect on what they could do differently. A better system for teaching about personal finance could have a massive impact on the nation’s financial stability.

How You Can Contact A Chat with Kat for More Information

You can learn more about A Chat with Kat at https://achatwithkat.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @chatwithkatblog.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, A Chat with Kat, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

FI for the People – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

FI for the People

My mission and purpose generally are to have fun scribbling down my musings. Also to hopefully persuade others to make changes that improve their personal finances, thereby enabling them to lead immeasurably better (or *gasp!* maybe their best) lives.
Check out our Q&A with FI for the People here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, FI for the People.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, FI for the People.
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 FI for the People, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from FI for the People to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for FI for the People for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about FI for the People

I started my blog in December 2018. As for the name, the “FI” part is supposed to be read as “fy,” not “F I.” If you read it that way, it sounds like “Fight for the People,” which conjured up an image in my mind of me as a fighter. That made me chuckle as I . . . ummm . . . do not look much like a fighter. This was good enough for me. I didn’t want to overthink things.

What makes you and your blog unique?

Hoo, boy. That’s a good question. Maybe that my blog has more puns per post than any other blog in the personal finance space? No? Not exactly what you were looking for?

Perhaps, instead, that I thought that what the world needed above all else was a purportedly personal finance-focused blog written by a nebbishy, middle-aged white American male with no academic or professional background in (personal) finance. No need to thank me, world. It’s been my pleasure. That’s not striking a nerve either?

How about that I write from my own necessarily unique perspective about a few things that I think can help everyone immensely:

the value and importance of increasing the spread (in the right direction, of course) between earnings and expenses—no matter the amount—to in turn expand the number of options available to you
the vast benefits of contrarian thinking, and questioning everything
practicing constant gratitude
lessons I’ve learned the hard way, as to renting v. buying, simply saving v. actively investing, and paying off lotsa debt, among many other things
any number of other similarly trashy tabloid-worthy topics.

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

Well, at the risk of sounding glib, I think that, in part, it means not “being bad with your personal finances.” In soccer, there’s a term used called an “own goal,” which happens when a player accidentally scores against his or her own team. Many times, those own goals could have been pretty easily avoided. Just as in soccer I’d rather be tied 0–0 than down 0–1 because of some avoidable mistake, so, too, in personal finance would I like to be in a neutral position than a negative one because of my own mistakes.

Beyond that, there’s the invaluable advice to spend less than you bring in and be mindful about all of your purchases. And what should be, but isn’t, just-as-common knowledge: learn and practice sound, simple saving and investing tactics.

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

We’ve always lived below our means. But once I discovered FIRE, I started questioning almost everything affecting our income and expenditures, which led me make a lot of changes. In some instances, I ended up standing pat on budget items expensive enough to likely make some in the FIRE community clutch their pearls a little. Or finger wag. Or both. But as they say, personal finance is personal.

And while I appreciate the usefulness of writing down every income or expense event, that’s way too much work for me. I have a pretty good feel for our financial situation at any given moment, and use and frequently reference a dynamic net worth tracker to help me, too. Would I likely find and optimize unnecessary expenses if I wrote down every income or expense event? Probably. Would the expenses amount to a lot of money? Doubtful. So, would taking the time to write down every income or expense event be worth it? No, not for me. Are you getting tired of reading this hypothetical conversation in the author’s mind? No doubt yes.

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

Before I answer that question directly, my first recommendation for anyone considering reading my blog is to first visit a salt mine. Once there, find the biggest grain of salt that you can find and take it with you. Large grain of salt in tow, you are now equipped to read my blog.

Now, in answer to the question, here are three blog posts that you (and your anthropomorphized grain of salt) might want to check out:

Law School Broke Me – A brief history of how law school wrecked me financially, but also led me to taking invaluable courses at the School of Life
The Pursuit of Happiness – Thoughts on what sorts of bright, shiny “things” are worth chasing after
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Part One) and (Part Two) – OK, I’m cheating here. These are two blog posts, which the math-whizzes amongst you will note, puts me over the “three” in the question. But they’re of a piece, and list several ways to do well in your job without being any sort of superhero or making much effort.

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

First, increase the spread (again, in the right direction) between your earnings and expenses—no matter the amount. Even if you’re able to shave off only $5 in monthly expenses, that’s $60/year doing more benefit (or less harm) to you. Once you start trying to do this, you’ll likely find more opportunities to spend less and/or earn more.

Second, if you are able to save money into investment accounts, automate the deposits, whether from your paycheck or bank account. As something like a gazillion people have said before, you likely won’t notice or feel the reduction in your paycheck or bank account balance. And once you set it and forget it, you need do nothing else, unless you want to.

Third, there are so, so many fantastic FIRE/personal finance blogs, books, podcasts, YouTubers, and books. Explore them and definitely dive deep into the archives. Once having found those you like, follow them. You’ll learn so many great tips that’ll help you in your own life. The Personal Finance Blogs directory is a perfect place to start.

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

Discovering FIRE was transformational for me and my family in so many ways. First, it introduced me to the concept of FIRE, which was huge. FIRE is something I’m sure I never in a million years could have thought up. Much less achieved absent the knowledge I’ve gained. Second, it led me to make changes that brought my FIRE date up by many years. And third, it all but immediately opened up new options to me and my family.

But my pursuit of FIRE hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns. As so many others have done, I went pretty hardcore into pursuing FIRE after discovering it. Along the way, I’ve from time to time made some changes/decisions that it turned out weren’t the best for some of my family members. Nothing major, but still regrets that I have.

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

There are so, so many great personal finance blogs out there. The second post on by blog was devoted to thanking many of the bloggers behind them. They literally changed the trajectory of my life. Others that I’ve since discovered, started following, and very much love include: Financial Chain Breakers, Accidental FIRE, and rich & REGULAR. Take a look and, please, explore, explore, explore.

Oh, and if anyone knows why Bayalis Is the Answer (one of my all-time favorite blogs) went dark, I’d love to know.

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

There are sound cases to make for both. And there are blog posts—like this one on Afford Anything and this one on Millennial Revolution—and the New York Times’ Rent vs. Own calculator to help you with the cold, hard, unsentimental math. But it’s also a personal decision.

For us, we’re happy renters. In part that’s because we had less-than-ideal owning experiences. But, also, because by renting, we don’t tie up a lot of money that could be working for us in other productive investments. Along those lines, we were able to take the post-sale equity in our last owned property, shovel it into investments, and realize positive growth that has played an admirable role in allowing me to hurtle toward my FIRE date, which hopefully will come at the end of 2021.

Notwithstanding my earlier statement that renting vs. buying is a personal decision, I will say that it’s my sense that far too few people even consider renting. And far too many put owning a home as their top priority for when they have some (even if nowhere near enough) means to buy. That’s a terrible shame. I think everyone should do a hard, objective rent vs. buy cost-benefit analysis when they’re looking to move. It’d surely result in way more smart decisions being made.

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

I love learning new things, with a focus on history, politics, and current events. Sometimes my newfound knowledge comes from the many magazines, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and news programs that I consume daily. Other times it comes from engaging in deep discussions with people, whether I agree with them or not. And sometimes it comes from putting myself in positions where I’m all but certain to learn something new or just doing my own independent research on a subject that’s piqued my interest.

There’s no shortage of helpful information in my flea-addled head that I’ve gained this way. But the number of silly, if not wholly useless, facts in my brain is equally vast. In short, I’d be a formidable player on Jeopardy! I’d not have it any other way.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

This might sound dramatic, but I’m convinced that proper understanding about, and care for, money and personal finance could go a long way toward addressing some of the root causes of people’s frustration, cynicism, anger, and lack of trust in people and institutions. Make no mistake, lack of understanding and care isn’t the only cause of these feelings. Not by a long shot for many people. But I think that it is one. And a big one at that. Thinking that it’s impossible for you to get ahead and that others have secret knowledge and/or legs up, and experiencing getting scammed/ripped off can do that to people. I’m not excusing this thinking and any resulting lashing out. Just rationalizing it.

So, I think that many benefits could come from a basic knowledge of, and care for, money and personal finance that equips people to make better decisions for themselves. Maybe that’s by helping them to cut any number of expenses, or to generate income, or both. Or to understand and take advantage of ways to lower their tax bill. Or being able to spot and avoid a scam or rip-off. If my blog persuades and/or helps even one person make positive changes, I’ll be over the moon.

How You Can Contact FI for the People for More Information

You can learn more about FI for the People at https://fiforthepeople.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @FIForThePeople
.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, FI for the People, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Money Saved is Money Earned – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Money Saved is Money Earned

We started our blog in March of 2018. The primary reason for starting our blog was to share our knowledge and experiences in personal finance. We both believe in protecting the average consumer from the exploitation of today’s marketing techniques. Our mission is to teach people of all ages how financial systems work, and how to take advantage of these systems to save big money.Check out our Q&A with Money Saved is Money Earned here.

Come read about the great personal finance blog, Money Saved is Money Earned.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Money Saved is Money Earned.
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 Money Saved is Money Earned, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Money Saved is Money Earned to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Money Saved is Money Earned for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Money Saved is Money Earned

Although we didn’t officially launch until March of 2018, we’d been contemplating the idea of a blog for a few years and we’d prepared for the launch for a few months. Finally, we did it.

The name “Money Saved is Money Earned” was inspired from our own life experience. It is a play on the Benjamin Franklin saying, “a penny saved is a penny earned,” and is something that Sebastian used to say regularly. The more money you make the more you can save is not true unless you spent less and know how to manage your income and expenses. Any little bit you can save goes straight back into your pocket, becoming like money earned.

What makes you and your blog unique?

What makes us unique is that we are co-bloggers at different stages in our life, from different backgrounds, and with different life experiences coming together. We see that most personal finance blogs are geared towards people with more money. The more money you have the easier it is to make more. On the other hand, our blog’s is primary focus is to educate our readers how they can save money by make smart choices in their everyday life. Our goal is to teach personal finance topics so our readers can save more, earn more, and ultimately, live more.

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

It means being conscious and vigilant about your own financial situation. It also means understanding the basics, living within your means, and being willing to learn and grow. No one knows everything about personal finance, but you must be basically financially literate, and most importantly, your behavior must reflect that literacy. We encourage our readers to spend within their means, whatever that is for each person.

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

Among many, here are a few important ones:

Have a budget and stick with it.
Understand the difference between your necessities, needs, and wants.
Beware of miscellaneous expenses, especially the ones that are not in your budget.
If you make only a dollar, save a penny and give a penny. Build character.
Do not fall for a sales pitch unless you are in the market for that item. More importantly, understand how they slice the pie.

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

How to Shift Your Mindset From Consumerism to Frugalism
The Two Ways to Get More Money
Why a Budget is a Must for Fiscal Responsibility

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

First of all, read the three articles above. Second, educate yourself. There are tons of free resources out there including blogs, books, and podcasts, and others where you can learn about almost any financial topic. Once you know more about finance you can begin to set some goals for yourself. Make sure you go easy on yourself and try not to get discouraged if you don’t progress as quickly as you’d like. Whatever progress you make will mean better finances for yourself, your family, and your future.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

We encourage beginners to focus on decreasing expenses. While it is true that you can only cut so much, and that ultimately you will need to switch to increasing your income, it won’t do you any good to make more if your basics aren’t sound. A large portion of those making over $100k a year live paycheck to paycheck, so more money won’t necessarily help unless you have sound financial practices.

What is your favorite investment class and why?

My (Sebastian) favorite investment is stocks, especially mutual fund. I would recommend reducing the risk factor as you get older where you need redeem some of your investments. If you have the funds, real estate is a solid investment.

My (Tawnya) favorite investment is index funds. I like to index and chill and not have to worry about managing my portfolio or trading.

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

I (Seb) would invest a major part of the 5 million in a real estate in a state where more and more people are moving in. I would definitely invest part of it in the digital market.

I (Tawnya) would first pay off my house and pay some bills for family members. Then, I would put a large chunk into index funds. Finally, I would use some of the money to buy rental properties or invest in real estate in some other fashion.

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

We believe in having a balance in life. We love playing sports, connecting with the nature, and watching basketball. We also strongly believe in paying it forward. I (Seb) do spend a good amount of time for non-profit organizations. I (Tawnya) also really love reading and travel.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

Unfortunately, no one owns everything they need in their everyday life. We all are dependent on specialized entities for food, housing, utilities, and pretty much everything we need in our life. Without having real money we cannot acquire any of these life’s necessities. So, it is quite clear that everything does revolve around money. Therefore, learning about money and caring about personal finance is not just important, it is essential.

How You Can Contact Money Saved is Money Earned for More Information

You can learn more about Money Saved is Money Earned at https://moneysavedmoneyearned.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @moneysavedblog
.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Money Saved is Money Earned, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Tic Toc Life – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Tic Toc Life

As a nod to the fleeting nature of time, TicTocLife also serves as a way for us to give to charitable causes, effectively. As we don’t run ads, sell anything, or ever intend to-part of our mission is to leverage what we’ve learned with FIRE to build long term giving with participation from our readership (who direct monthly grants). We feel privileged to be in a position to have more than we need and want to help others-either through giving knowledge or money-achieve what we have. We want to be an example of lowering the ladder behind us rather than pulling it up, like so many do.
Check out our Q&A with Tic Toc Life here.

Stop letting life tic away, and get inspired from the blog, Tic Toc Life.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Tic Toc Life.
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 Tic Toc Life, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Tic Toc Life to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Tic Toc Life for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Tic Toc Life

Think of your best friends that are a couple. Imagine you all got together one evening over drinks. They sat sheepishly, fiddling with their glasses, and said “there’s something we need to tell you.”

It’s May of 2020 and your friends are breaking the news that they’re retiring early in their 30s. You’re flabbergasted, confused with what they’re talking about. Retiring? Now? But they just started their prime earning years! And they bought that house and went on vacations around the world! Why?! And better yet, how!?

Life slips by, we get preoccupied with the latest fads and popular media. Time keeps ticking on, we get into a cycle of work-entertainment-sleep…repeat. TicTocLife came about as a reminder of this draw to routine—to normal.

What makes you and your blog unique?

We started our retire early blog as a way to be the best friend couple in the example above and to answer those questions about “how” and “why” when it comes to FIRE. We’re just sitting down for drinks and weaving the tale of what our method was. The challenges we face. And the wisdom we’ve gained from stepping away from successful careers and business in our 30s to pursue a very different path in life.

As a nod to the fleeting nature of time, TicTocLife also serves as a way for us to give to charitable causes, effectively. As we don’t run ads, sell anything, or ever intend to—part of our mission is to leverage what we’ve learned with FIRE to build long term giving with participation from our readership (who direct monthly grants). We feel privileged to be in a position to have more than we need and want to help others—either through giving knowledge or money—achieve what we have. We want to be an example of lowering the ladder behind us rather than pulling it up, like so many do.

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

Awareness: understand what money can unlock in life and how you’ve employed it to your advantage
Planning: create evolving goals that reflect the purpose of your wealth
Intentionality: spend money to solve a problem, save money for a reason

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

We focus on value instead of price. This is a privilege of having money: when a particular set of running shoes went on a closeout sale that Chris loves, he purchased 3 sets to use over time.
Finding healthy, fun, challenging ways to fill your normal day-to-day life when you’ve got more free time (retired early, semi retired, part-time, etc) is important. Sure, we could afford to drive to pickup groceries, but we’d rather take a 10 minute walk, get fresh air, and build up our shoulder muscles on the trek back. If you remove all challenges, chores, and tasks from your life through money—you’re going to have a lot of time to fill on your hands that might lure you into too much sedentary entertainment.
Whether something (a tool, clothes, stuff) is cheap or expensive has little bearing on how we treat it. We want our things to last, partly out of an attempt to reduce waste, but also because we don’t want to constantly feel the need to upgrade and replace them. It’s a lot of effort and mental weight to research, review, and buy new stuff that we’d rather spend on activities that bring more value to our lives.

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

How to Become a Millionaire in 10 Years (Debt to $1.2M at 33)
(By both of us)
Our thirteen-year saga from student loan debt, to graduate school, shifting careers, and starting two businesses. At the lowest point, we went from a negative $107K net worth to $1.2M in nine years. This is how we became millionaires and reached financial independence.
3 Steps to Conquer Your Fears of DIY Mistakes (And More!)
(By Jenni)
After 7 years of holding back, I conquered my fears and finished my DIY project. Start now with my 3 steps to get past your fear of making mistakes!
This Is the Power of FU Money (and How I Was Escorted Out)
(By Chris)

FU money gives you control over your own destiny. It lets you take risks and act with confidence & patience to become even wealthier while protecting yourself.

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

Our best advice is to find an accountability partner and set relevant goals. Your accountability partner can be a spouse, significant other, or a friend. They should be someone who wants you to succeed. Your accountability partner should be knowledgeable about personal finance and willing to keep you on the right track.

In order to set your goals, you need to understand personal finance. Your first goal may need to be gathering this knowledge. Once you have determined your goals, set up regularly scheduled check-ins with your accountability partner to evaluate your progress. Once your goals are met, make new ones and continue to repeat the process for both short and long term goals.

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life that have suffered?

Improving our personal finances has greatly improved our relationship with each other. We are able to have difficult conversations about money without it leading to fights. We discuss what we want our future to look like and how to bring it to fruition, together. Having a healthy relationship allows us to be each other’s accountability partner and progress towards achieving our goals.

We believe that good communication is key to a successful relationship.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

Your first priority needs to be to decrease your expenses when trying to get a handle on your finances. You can make immediate changes to your spending, today. You could use any of the tactics to reduce your spending we talk about on our blog. Increasing your income is an important component, but it’s a slower process that has a stronger dependency on others.

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

Jenni:

When I was 18 years old and looking at going to college, I didn’t have a strong grasp on debt and how student loans would affect my future. By the time I finished my doctor of pharmacy, I was over $100,000 in debt. Similar to taking the maximum pre-approved amount for a mortgage, I took the path of least resistance and maxed out my student loans. I now appreciate the powers of compound interest and know not to accept a loan I don’t fully comprehend.

Chris:

Mistakes?! I have too many to count! Here’s some that I’ve shared:

I blew half my net worth gambling on the stock market (nowadays we stick to index funds instead of individual stocks)
When I moved to the big city for a corporate job, I bought the life to go with it—and $52K worth of lifestyle inflation through my apartment choice
I turned a lifelong hobby into a business that earned $1.3M over a few years—a passionate hobby that turned into a job and sucked the fun out of it

These days, we stick to investments that merely attempt to match the average through broad, diversified index funds. We’ve kept our lifestyle inflation in check by building the life we wanted, then saving for it. And when it comes to hobbies, we’re defensive of them—we keep our business and personal lives separate. It’s the reason that TicTocLife runs no ads and has no sponsorships. It’s a passionate hobby we intend to defend.

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

We both love traveling and exploring the outdoors. Sometimes it’s as simple as running to the river and exploring a trail we have never been on. Other times it’s booking a flight and a boat ride to a remote 2-mile island in the middle of the Bahamas. These outdoor adventures make us feel alive. We spend time outside daily. Disconnecting and being in nature gives us time to be with each other, in the moment, and to simply have a conversation.

We are adventurous. We don’t get frazzled if our plans don’t go quite as planned. It’s part of the adventure of life and makes the moment that much more remarkable. In fact, most of our travel memories are brightest when something didn’t go quite right, yet we made the most of it and are still here to tell the story.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

It’s generally not taught in school yet can quickly become a boat anchor to drag with you for your entire life. It could be the evil power of compound interest used against you. Money influences our well-being and is pervasive in society. Learning about what you can do to control money is a way to direct your life the way you want. Understanding personal finances will help you define your life goals, the first step to reach them. Then, developing a plan will give your life structure and offer you control.

It’s also part of your emotional intelligence. If you have no idea why your finances are a mess, and are constantly stressing about getting yourself out of the cycle of debt, it will affect your health, mentality, and the opportunities you earn. Over time, your increased knowledge and your actions on your personal finances lend you the patience required to achieve a future of financial independence.

How You Can Contact Tic Toc Life for More Information

You can learn more about Tic Toc Life at https://tictoclife.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @TicTocLifeStory.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Tic Toc Life, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Financial Chain Breakers – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Financial Chain Breakers

Financial Chain Breakers is a reaction to this suffocating life that everyone tells us to aspire to. Too much is defined by soul-sucking jobs, massive taxes, and societal expectations about how I “should” spend my hard-earned money. Apparently, I’m supposed to live in the best school district, pay for my kids’ college, happily go to fancy restaurants with friends, and fly across the country for freaking weddings. It’s like everyone has their hands in my pockets. It’s no wonder people are in debt up to their eyeballs.
So, Financial Chain Breakers is about overcoming all of that BS, reclaiming our money, and reclaiming our lives.
Check out our Q&A with Financial Chain Breakers here.

Break out from your financial struggles and read this awesome interview of the Financial Chain Breakers.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Financial Chain Breakers.
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 Financial Chain Breakers, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Financial Chain Breakers to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Financial Chain Breakers for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Financial Chain Breakers

So, Financial Chain Breakers is about overcoming all of that BS, reclaiming our money, and reclaiming our lives. I chronicle the ways we’ve gotten smart with our spending so that we have more money left over for the things that really matter to us, like having epic adventures with the people we love! We’re saving up so we can quit our jobs as soon as possible, so we can have even more epic adventures, and I want to help other people do the same.

What makes you and your blog unique?

I try to challenge everything. It’s the lawyer in me. I’ve looked at why military and civilian pensions are often a ripoff, why kids don’t have to be as expensive as everybody says they are, why student loans can be awesome, why there’s nothing wrong with owning designer shoes, and so on.

As a finance major who used to be a personal finance train-wreck, I am allergic to boring financial analyses. Everything I write is aimed at making life as freaking awesome as possible and keeping the money stuff as basic and interesting as possible.

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

You’re good with your finances if you’re deliberate and disciplined toward reaching a financial goal. Beyond that, I don’t believe in any strict rules, aside from not taking on obscene auto or credit card debt or living beyond your means.

What this looks like in practice totally depends on your on income, interests, and other responsibilities. There’s nothing inherently wrong with student loans, mortgages, going on expensive vacations, or having nice things. What matters is that before doing any of those things you’ve thought long and hard about how they fit in with your larger plan.

Even somebody who lives within their means and has no debt isn’t “good with their personal finances” if they’re mindlessly buying new cars, fancy houses, or the latest Apple products just because it’s “normal.”

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

Hands down, my favorite financial habit is giving myself a personal allowance of “fun money.” It’s like a pressure-release valve for all of the completely unjustifiable things I want. I just used it to buy a $225 sweater that I looooooove, and my husband used his to buy some Bose speaker or something that I have zero appreciation for. We have a strict limit, owe no explanations, and don’t feel guilty. Then, we get on with our super-old car that doesn’t have air conditioning and our old bathroom that we’re too cheap to remodel yet.

Also, we really try—like try hard—to fill our lives up with free and cheap adventures that keep life super exciting without breaking the bank. We hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back up, duh) and to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite—making priceless memories for a few hundred bucks. I’ve learned to make amazing pizza, bread, ravioli, and even sushi at home, which all beats restaurant food for a fraction of the cost. It’s so much more rewarding that way too. When life is so full of inexpensive adventures, there’s no time left for expensive ones.

And of course we do the pretty-standard FIRE stuff. Our “newest” car is a 2006 model, our house is modest, we rock older-model iPhones with Straight Talk $35 plans, we don’t have cable, and we maximize credit card reward incentives.

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

When Family and Friends See Money Differently – Some thoughts on handling friends and family members who rope us into expensive dinners, vacations, and other arrangements.

Your Kids Might Actually Be a Financial Bargain – I’m no parenting expert, but I have successfully raised one to adulthood without spending a fortune. So I’ve written a few posts that challenge the prevailing wisdom about kids and money.

The Food Hike: Exercise and Food? Um, Yes – One of our favorite ways to get some unrushed, undistracted, and inexpensive family bonding time.

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

Just get started! It’s super easy to get discouraged when you only have $10 left at the end of the month to pay down debt or invest. And it’s super easy to get intimidated by all the money gurus who are throwing around numbers in the hundreds of thousands or millions. But we all started there too.

Financial improvements are really just about persistence and patience. I know, it’s not as sexy as a get-rich-quick infomercial. But it’s also not rocket science. Absorb information from books, blogs, and podcasts. Figure out how to cut expenses, make more money, and invest regularly.

And then just keep at it. What starts as little trickles of investments eventually become streams and rivers. As Bill Gates has said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

The benefit to my marriage and relationship with our kids has been priceless. Having clear parameters for our spending has helped us all be on the same page, without any concerns about who is getting the biggest piece of the pie. And having better control of our money has actually helped us have more fun. Our hikes and camping trips have been far more memorable than the pricey amusement park days that used to be our go-to.

I wouldn’t say our relationships with friends and extended family have suffered, but there has been some realignment. We seek out our likeminded friends without reservation. But the ones who prefer $50-per-person Fourth of July fireworks shows? We proceed with caution and lots of behind-the-scenes strategizing.

What are your favorite personal finance books?

The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley. The data about how real rich people got that way blew my mind. It ran completely counter to everything I had learned about money from my parents and society.

Honestly, every book and blog I read after that just helped fill in the finer points, but none reordered my thinking like The Millionaire Next Door did. For anyone who grew up with new cars and going shopping every weekend (or anyone who aspired to), it’s the best place to start.

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

First of all, I wouldn’t tell a soul aside from my husband. Nobody.

Then, I would quit my job and strategically outsource some parts of my life—household chores, managing rental properties, and all those random annoying things like making doctor’s appointments—so that I could focus my energy on causes I’m actually passionate about.

Finally, I’m sure I would give a chunk of it away before investing the rest in real estate or index funds. I sure don’t need $5,000,000, and there’s no way in hell I’m leaving that much money to my kids!

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

I looooove cooking! I struggled to really embrace it, because I used to have an irrational fear of turning into a stereotypical 1950’s housewife. But my stint in the military shooting guns helped me prove to myself that I could do any number of other things if I wanted to. I just didn’t want to.

What starts as a random assortment of vegetables, grains, and herbs on a grocery store conveyor belt turns into a mouth-watering meal. It’s an amazing transformation, and I’m the magician who did it! And, bonus, it brings us together to actually look at each other and have a conversation, rather than texting each other from separate corners of the house. There’s something about the act of creating something, and creating something so satisfying, that has me completely hooked.

It’s also a challenge and an adventure! I had many from-scratch tamale and gnocchi failures, but both felt like such an achievement when I pulled them off!

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

If we don’t control our money, it will control us. Eating, putting a roof over our heads, and going anywhere all cost money; that’s a fact that holds true whether we’re young and healthy or old and sick. If we never have enough of it, life is going to be extremely stressful and inwardly focused, especially as we get older.

If we have control of our money, we can look outward. We have more freedom to pursue activities and causes we actually care about and that make a difference to more people than just us.

Who wants to spend the best years of their lives beholden to a soul-sucking job? To me, it’s a no-brainer.

How You Can Contact Financial Chain Breakers for More Information

You can learn more about Financial Chain Breakers at https://financialchainbreakers.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @financialchain1
.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Financial Chain Breakers, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Bella Wanana – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Bella Wanana

I have been interested in personal finance for a long time, probably since I left my parents’ home to attend university and had to start managing my own finances. Over the years, I have learned about personal finance via many blogs and YouTube channels. Reading about other people’s stories inspired me to want to share my best tips and tricks with others. I also love writing, so what’s a better platform than a blog!
My mission is to share the best tips and tricks on personal finance, wellness and how to live a balanced but fulfilling life, one blog post at a time.
Check out our Q&A with Bella Wanana here.

Follow the financial journey of Bella Wanana.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Bella Wanana.
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 Bella Wanana, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Bella Wanana to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Bella Wanana for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Bella Wanana

My mission is to share the best tips and tricks on personal finance, wellness and how to live a balanced but fulfilling life, one blog post at a time.

What makes you and your blog unique?

I take a two-pronged approach when it comes to writing about personal finance on my blog: I talk about “finance”, and I share a “personal” side as well. This is why on my blog, not only will you see educational pieces, but you will also see more personal and lifestyle pieces. I am a strong believer in balance, and I want to create a balanced atmosphere on my blog as well.

I am passionate about my blog, and I have set for myself a list of Values that serve as guiding principles for my actions. My values are:

Quality: I only produce high-quality contents for my readers to enjoy
Originality: I only produce original contents that add value to my readers’ life. Even if the topics have been covered in other blogs, I make sure to add my personal interpretation and understanding.
Authenticity: I say what I do and remain true to myself at all times. This value also applies to recommendations. I will only recommend products/services if I genuinely believe they can have a positive impact on your life
Freshness of content: I update this blog regularly, at least once a week.

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

“Being good with your personal finances” means that you have developed good habits and are disciplined in managing your money, and that you are able to live a happy and fulfilling life without financial stress.

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

I track my expenses religiously. Tracking expenses not only gives me an understanding of my spending behaviours, but also lets me recall the happy memories associated with the money spent.

In addition to tracking my expenses, I also have a personal “month end” routine, in which I check actual spending vs. my budget and update my net worth.

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

Here are three articles which I think people should read to know more about my blog and message:

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

My best advice is to set up SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals for yourself. Because you have something specific in mind, you will be motivated to get there.

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

Depends on what stage of life you are in. Renting is a good option if you don’t know whether you are going to be living in a particular city long-term, whereas buying a house is more suitable when you have a stable career and ready to start or already have a family.

Of course, if you have the money and are knowledgeable about real estate, you may consider buying a house as an investment, even if you may move in the future.

What are your favorite personal finance books?

I have so many that I even have a Ultimate Personal Finance Book List on my blog!

If I have to pick though, I’d recommend The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. This is a personal finance classic that has withstood the test of time. It is fairly short and easy to digest, suitable for anyone looking to improve their personal finance knowledge.

Another book I’d recommend is Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. I find this book refreshing because it acknowledges the impact of our sub-consciousness and environment on our view of money. This really helps lessen my guilt about some of my bad money habits, and sets me up to face the problems with courage and a positive mind. However, the book doesn’t stop there. I also learned from the book how to adjust my not-so-perfect innermost blueprint to be more in control of my financial well-being.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

I believe both of them are necessary; however, I recommend that people focus on decreasing expenses first.

The reason is twofold:

It is easier because you have full control over your expenses
You can see immediate positive effect on your personal finance, which creates momentum

Of course, you can only decrease expenses so much. After all, I advocate for a balanced life, and I believe that you still need room in your budget for little luxuries. Therefore, after you trim your expenses to the lowest acceptable level, you should redirect your focus to increasing your income.

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

What a dream!

For me personally, I would:

Help my parents pay down their mortgage
Buy a house
Share my winnings with some family members who are less well-off
Devoting more time into blogging now that I have a nice cushion
Donate to charities that I believe it

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

I love writing (hence I freelance in my spare time). Other than writing about personal finance, I also write about careers, wellness, etc., both on my blog and on other platforms. My journal is my best friend, and I have been writing in my journal on a daily basis for almost twenty years.

Writing is my creative outlet. I love it because it is a way to express myself freely, and it gives me the ability to create anything in my wildest imagination.

How You Can Contact Bella Wanana for More Information

You can learn more about Bella Wanana at https://bellawanana.com/, like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Bella-Wanana-105142627902403/, and follow them on Twitter at @BellaWanana.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Bella Wanana, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

Budget Life List – Know Your Blogger Series

Know Your Blogger Series

Budget Life List

When the country went into a pandemic induced lockdown, I decided that was a good time to create a blog. The irony was that I didn’t particularly enjoy writing and I wasn’t particularly good at it. The fact that I started something that I didn’t enjoy and wasn’t very good at, says something about my mental state!
My blog is now what my subscribers want to read about, stories that dive into my financial journey and my various life list excursions.
Check out our Q&A with Budget Life List here.

Follow the financial journey of Budget Life List.

Each week at Personal Finance Blogs, we publish interviews from amazing bloggers from the personal finance space. This week, we are featuring the blog, Budget Life List.
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 Budget Life List, learn about the author, and learn personal finance tips from Budget Life List to help you improve your financial situation.
A big thanks for Budget Life List for this interview! Now, we will turn it over to the author for this interview.

Tell us about Budget Life List

The mission for my blog has changed a lot. It began with trying to help people with their finances. However, after doing some training and surveying my subscribers, turns out they don’t care about that! Awkward!

My blog is now what my subscribers want to read about, stories that dive into my financial journey and my various life list excursions.

What makes you and your blog unique?

I may be rich in experiences but I have made poor financial decisions.

It turns out, I am good at making smart life choices like joining the military, completing a Bachelor of Science degree, and becoming a Park Ranger.

But, I am equally good at making poor financial decisions like cashing out my retirement account, waiting until unemployment to start a budget, and believing that I would never be able to understand the stock market.

Budget Life List has become a way to share this journey. The good, bad, and (at times) really ugly.

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

Getting an A+ in personal finances means having a plan for my money and moving it towards that goal.

For years, I was a fiscal failure. The lowest point was using my retirement account as a savings account. At the time, I knew this was not a good look but it was years before I realized just how big a mistake it was.

Since those dark days, my financial plans have included a fully-funded emergency account, retirement contributions at 15%, and setting aggressive goals for my travel and investment accounts.

There is a chance I may not achieve my goals. However, I will be much closer to success, just by having a plan and working towards it.

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

For the longest time, my budget was how I tracked my financial success.

I use percentages to dictate everything from gas to retirement contributions. I continue to fine-tune my budget system as I read and learn more about personal finances. This little color-coded spreadsheet has helped me to stay on track with saving and spending.

Recently, I started tracking my net worth. It was a pain to get it started but I am sure glad I did! I love tracking my numbers and seeing how my wealth grows every month. Rarely does my growth look like leaps and bounds but it feels like I am winning the adulting game.

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

I wrote a love letter to my budget but I didn’t always feel that way about it. There are a few awkward moments, like how I have been in a relationship with my budget longer than some friendships. But awkwardness aside, my budget is the reason for my financial success even with a low government wage.

I quit my job during the pandemic and it was the best decision I made in 2020. I have quit plenty of jobs before but this time it was made extra interesting because of Coronavirus. Luckily, financially, and personally, it was the best decision I have made in a long time.

I have a net-worth obsession that has been giving me all sorts of new insight into my finances. Like seeing my net-worth increase $6,000 in a month, I had no idea my finances were doing this kind of dance until I started tracking it!

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances?

My financial confidence has reached level: Wonder Woman.

This super-powered confidence has come from years of researching, training, and winning financial battles. Along with moving my financial journey forward, I have been able to help friends and family through my hard-won experience. This makes the whole process seem worth the fiscal scars.

Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

I don’t enjoy conflict, so the fact that I have had to justify my frugal lifestyle to my family, friends, and husband, has been less than ideal. However, in some instances, those hard conversations have led to positive changes in their finances too.

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

It depends on your goals.

My husband and I are in our 30s and the only debt we have is our mortgage. Our goal is to pay it off early but we also want to build wealth for an early retirement.

For a while, we were using any extra money to pay down our principal. However, some of our investments have been doing well, much better than our refinanced mortgage at 2.25%.

Lately, we have been focusing more of our extra money on these investments instead of our debt. We still make our bi-monthly payments and occasionally throw extra money at our principal but not as aggressively.

If we had credit card debt that was at a double digit interest rate, we would tackle that first. Any debt that has a higher interest rate than what we are making in the stock market, is not going to set us up for financial success.

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

I focus my efforts on decreasing expenses.

If all the stars aligned and I was suddenly able to retire tomorrow, do you know what I would do? I would be a Park Ranger.

Fun story: I am currently a Park Ranger. Being a Park Ranger is my dream job because I get paid to geek out about nature. People enjoy my “geek out about nature” show. It makes me feel like I am making a difference in all the right ways: that I am helping people to discover (or encourage) their passion for nature.

As with any position, there are drawbacks and for a Park Ranger, it’s the pay. I could retire faster if I found a higher-paying job but I would have to give up being a Park Ranger too. Instead of dumping my dream job, I focus on decreasing my expenses because that feels like the only real option I have.

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 was that I cashed out my retirement account.

I used my retirement account like a savings account. It was a poor life choice on many levels. Even after cashing it out, it would be another 5 years before I started working with a budget and trying to figure out my finances.

My budget was the one who introduced me to the fabulous world of finances. I was trying to figure out ways to create a leaner budget which forced me to read more about personal finances. Initially, it was unpleasant.

After a while, I began to enjoy reading this nonfiction genre and somewhere along the way, I began devouring everything related to personal finances. When I began enjoying the learning process is when I experienced a major shift in my mindset.

I don’t feel fiscally insecure or ashamed anymore, I feel powerful because of my knowledge and what I have been able to overcome.

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

When I had very little knowledge about personal finances, I made foolish mistakes with my money. I didn’t know any better but more likely, I didn’t care. I didn’t have goals. I’m sure my thoughts swirled around, “Why care about financial failure when I don’t care where I am going?”

It wasn’t until I was at a very low point in my personal life, that I realized that my success is tied to money. Learning more about money and using those skills has changed every aspect of my life, from how I spend my free time up to the legacy I want to leave.

It has been a wild journey but I can honestly credit all my financial success to learning and caring for my finances. Perhaps that is what my story interesting; smooth seas didn’t make me a financially skilled sailor.

How You Can Contact Budget Life List for More Information

You can learn more about Budget Life List at https://budgetlifelist.com/.

Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you, Budget Life List, for providing us with some great personal finance tips!

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PFB Original Content

Know Your Blogger Series

Tell us about It’s Not Your 9 to 5

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

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

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

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

How You Can Contact It’s Not Your 9 to 5 for More Information

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Tell us about Have Your Dollars Make Sense

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

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

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

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

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

How You Can Contact Have Your Dollars Make Sense for More Information

Know Your Blogger Series

Tell us about Financial Freedom Countdown

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

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

What is your favorite investment class and why?

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

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

How You Can Contact Financial Freedom Countdown for More Information

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Tell us about A Chat with Kat

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

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

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

How You Can Contact A Chat with Kat for More Information

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Tell us about FI for the People

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

What’s an area of your life which has benefited from improving your personal finances? Have there been any areas of your life which have suffered?

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Renting a place or buying a house to live?

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

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

How You Can Contact FI for the People for More Information

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Tell us about Money Saved is Money Earned

What makes you and your blog unique?

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

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

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

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

In your opinion, what’s better? Focusing on increasing your income, or focusing on decreasing your expenses?

What is your favorite investment class and why?

If you received a $5,000,000 windfall tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

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

Why do you believe learning about money and caring about personal finance is important?

How You Can Contact Money Saved is Money Earned for More Information