Know Your Blogger Series

My Quiet FI

I tend to write with an edge and biting sarcasm that comes from an addict’s point of view – that’s just how I see the world. Curiosity drives me. Plus, I enjoy gallows’ humor and try not to take my writing too serious and sprinkle in a comedic persona whenever I can. Since drug addiction and alcoholism are a big part of my story, you’ll find a lot of themes centering on second chances, redemption, gratitude and working through struggle. I’m big on growth, learning and world building – whether that be your mind, philosophy, spirituality, career or finances, it doesn’t matter. Let’s share, embolden and enlighten our perspectives together.
Check out our Q&A with My Quiet FI here.

Follow the experiences and FI Journey of My Quiet FI.

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

Tell us about My Quiet FI

I began writing this blog a little over a year ago back in September 2019, so I’m still a newb in all things blogging. Why I began writing in the first place is tough to pinpoint, but I think it was a combination of having an outlet to discuss FI, connect with people and hold myself accountable – I do this 100% for fun. The blog also began as a FI journey but has more evolved into an online journal chronicling what I’m thinking about and experiencing in life. So in a nutshell, I think the mission has become self-exploration. Plus, I’m usually a very private person, so writing about deep and troubling issues has put me outside of my comfort zone and been extremely rewarding.

The name is a funny thing – I tend to be more of a quiet observer and practice watchfulness, so that’s where the name Quiet Financial Independence came from (Q-FI). It encapsulates the person who is quietly going about their business with stealth wealth and is so resolute in their values that they don’t have to voice their opinions.

I originally wanted the site to be named quietfi.com – thinking I was crafty that there weren’t that many blogs that began with the letter “Q”. Of course, the domain was already taken so the host site spit out “My Quiet FI” as another option. At first, I was like cool, that even kind of rhymes – I can totally use this. Then after a few months of writing I realized that everyone did the same thing and there were a bazillion other blogs starting with the word “my”. Hahaha. So, if you’re an aspiring blogger out there that hasn’t picked a name yet, don’t make the same mistake I did!

What makes you and your blog unique?

I think for me, I tend to write with an edge and biting sarcasm that comes from an addict’s point of view – that’s just how I see the world. Curiosity drives me. Plus, I enjoy gallows’ humor and try not to take my writing too serious and sprinkle in a comedic persona whenever I can. Since drug addiction and alcoholism are a big part of my story, you’ll find a lot of themes centering on second chances, redemption, gratitude and working through struggle. I’m big on growth, learning and world building – whether that be your mind, philosophy, spirituality, career or finances, it doesn’t matter. Let’s share, embolden and enlighten our perspectives together.

I also try to create a relationship with the reader. My goal is to give an authentic experience in which the reader can climb into my head and feel what I’m feeling. My style is usually a one sitting, no outline, free hand form. I write for an hour or two, scan it once and then send out. So what you’re getting is how I’m feeling and thinking in real time. Whether that leads to inconsistencies, change or hypocrisy, who knows and all the more fun. I also crave substance and authenticity over the numbers, which usually leads me to exploring the deeper questions in life.

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

For me personally, its simple: Live within your means. That’s it. Find out what that means to you and live it.

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

I actually wrote a post that explains what I am doing: “My Financial System – How I Manage the Q-FI Kingdom.”

But for brevity, I track my monthly expenses and budget passively. What I mean by “budget passively” is I take my annual expenses in each category and average them over the entire year by month. Then at the end of each month I compare the actual spent to the average budget to see if there are any outliers. So, the budget is more to give me a baseline rather than to stick with it.

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

This is a tough one, because a lot of my most popular posts aren’t my favorite… haha. Shows what I know, right?

But I’m going to go with this mind-blowing trifecta that just might leave you weak in the knees:

A Change of Plans – this is one of my top five most viewed posts (so I guess people were interested in it) and will give you a sense of who I am and what I am doing in my current life.

Duality Will Be the Death of FI – this is one of my earliest satirical posts that seemed to get people riled up, so why not sprinkle in a little spice and give my fans what they want: entertainment and controversy!

A Starless Black Heaven – this is a taste of my addiction writing and a post I enjoyed chronicling from a memory in detox (heads up it is unrelated to personal finance).

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

This is a good question that I get a lot in real life: “Hey Q-FI, I want to learn how to invest. How do I buy stocks?”

My answer is probably redundant to finance people, but I say this a lot:

Step One – do you have a 401K match?
Step Two – do you track your expenses and have debt?
Step Three – do you have a Roth IRA?
Step Four – After steps 1-3 are handled, now we can have some fun and buy stocks/ETFs or whatever stuff you want to get into.

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

The early blogs I read are all the boring answers like MMM and JL Collins so let’s get into what I’m currently consuming. I’ll preface that I still work 60+ hours a week in the corporate world so I don’t get that much time to follow other bloggers as much as I’d like and I tend to focus on the ones I can relate to their story.

Fates on Fire: Fate is my homie and someone I look up to in the FI community. He’s an incredible writer that consistently showcases a unique creativity and outlook on life that I love to follow. We also share our roots in LA and both have a fondness for the Pacific Northwest.
Along The Camel Ride: Katie is more new to me, but I love her story telling ability and the amount of content she pumps out is pretty amazing. We’re close in both age and our FIRE timelines and I share a lot of her views, so it’s been fun watching her journey.
Other blogs I try to keep up to date on that I enjoy: Full Time Finance, Freddy Smidlap, Your Money Blueprint, and Indeedably.

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

Hahaha… I crack up at this question, because people get so crazy with it. I mean, I’ve literally seen people as fired up as if they’re talking politics or religion. Wild. And the easy answer is it depends, simply because rarely do you have such a large decision that intertwines both finances and emotions/psychology to this extent. But the rent vs buy question is also location dependent, literally neighborhood dependent. So I don’t understand how people paint it with a broad brush.

That being said, my personal story is just as inconsistent. I’ve grown up my entire life believing in buying a house. I’ve always favored the security and stability in owning and controlling an asset. However, the irony is that I have never owned a home in my entire life. And the main reason I’m going to reach FI early is that I have rented a small house for 10 years in the HCOL city of LA at a smoking deal. Tons of luck played into this, I have a great landlord, we didn’t need to move for a job or more space for kids during that time period, but it just goes to show you how unique and personal this question can be.

The other hilarious part is that I’m literally in the process of buying my first house as I type this. So, I’ll probably be writing a lot on this subject in the near future. Stay tuned mi amigos and wish me luck.

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 actually have an entire financial mistakes section on my blog that you can peruse at your leisure (and still growing).

But my personal biggest financial mistake, that you won’t find in that section of my blog, was not taking care of my mental health. Addiction ended up costing me a lot in medical bills (Want To Know How Much Rehab Costs?) as well as losing an entire year’s worth of salary, medical and retirement benefits.

However, I will say that the growth and life lessons learned from surviving that experience have been priceless. It has also played a major role in kick starting my FI journey and reconnecting me to what really matters in life. Nothing like a close death trip to jumpstart those senses and get the juices flowing… haha.

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

This question only asks for one, but we love more in America, right? So, let’s slap on our consumption pants and get busy. I’m usually doing one of four things in my free time:

Music – I’ve been a drummer my entire life but also enjoy playing guitar, bass and piano. Any time I can sit with an instrument is time well spent.
Playing in the outdoors – anything to do with nature and I’m in. That includes hiking, camping, backpacking and I was very into running Spartan races pre-COVID.
Reading – I have a voracious appetite for books, especially epic grimdark fantasy. The series Malazan Book of the Fallen, by Steven Erikson is by far my favorite.
Gardening – I am obsessed with succulents and my addictive personality has led to a copious collection of these beautiful plants. Where I live, we don’t have that mysterious, white sticky stuff that falls from the sky, so there are no weather constraints on enjoying this hobby year-round.

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

This is a topic that I have strong views on and have already written about: “Have We Failed At Financially Educating a Nation?”

But in a nutshell, America has to be better about financial education and literacy. Period. There’s no excuse and we have failed up until this point. I think some form of basic personal finance needs to be mandatory in high schools and college. How we do that, I don’t have the answers. But until we can give more people the fundamental knowledge on understanding how credit card debt works, investing and compound interest, I only see the inequality and wealth gaps increasing.

Plus, I’ll be a foster parent soon, and going through that process has given me a whole new level of understanding on privilege and just how tragic this financial literacy problem is. The more we can help, the better. The sooner we can help, maybe it’s lives we save?

How You Can Contact My Quiet FI for More Information

You can learn more about My Quiet FI at https://myquietfi.com/ and follow them on Twitter at @MyQuietFI.

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