Since mid-2006 MoneyUnder30 has been a hobby of mine combining two things I enjoy (writing and web publishing), and one area of my life in which I need desperate improvement (personal finance).
Have you ever seen the “de-motivational” poster of the sinking ship? It reads: “Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” (If not, here you go).
Still in a bundle in debt from my post-college years and unable to fend off a Starbucks craving by pondering how much compound interest my $3.95 latte could earn over 40 years – I often think that my sole purpose as a personal finance blogger is to serve as a warning to others. But I hope not.
I Do, Actually, Know Some Stuff
You see, ironically, many of my friends – some of whom have saved more money by 27 than I will probably have by 37 – come to me with questions about credit and budgets and investments.
Me?
OK, credit I can understand. I have been a pawn in the credit system for long enough to know exactly how to minimize the amount of money creditors swindle from you each month, not to mention what credit cards to use and how to keep your credit score afloat even when you are sinking.
But budgeting? Investing? Really guys, you might not want to ask the guy who got a credit card my first day of college and ran around screaming: “They’re giving away money! Free money!”
I have matured though, and I have also had experience working and writing for SmartMoney Magazine – a personal finance monthly published by the Wall Street Journal.
Even while working at SmartMoney, I was still as dumb about my own money as could be. Each day, however, I interviewed somebody who was, in fact, smart with money, and lessons I learned about 401ks and bonds and insurance and mutual funds I filed away for a rainy afternoon.
Lo and behold, a few years later it all clicked. I realized I couldn’t be some ignorant college kid living hundreds of dollars above his monthly budget forever. The real world arrived and it isn’t going away.
As I started to reduce my expenses and chip away at my debt, I had the brilliant idea of starting to blog about the experience. I figured that a blog could help others my age dealing with similar debts, that it would be therapeutic for me, and that I might even be able to make a little side income to boot.
On Blogging
Naively, I also thought my idea, in mid-2006 was original.
Come to find out – only after starting my blog – that there were already hundreds of personal finance bloggers, including a dozen or so writing specifically for twentysomethings. Doh! Today there are thousands of personal finance blogs and probably hundreds written by and for Gen X-ers and Y-ers, which is awesome.
I think blogging is one of the most significant technical and cultural advances in the last fifty, maybe 100 years. The Internet changed the way we work, and Google revolutionized how we find and store information. But blogging has given power to the people.
News and opinions are no longer controlled solely by major media outlets owned by billion-dollar corporations. We, the people, are writing the news, and in some cases, making it.
I believe the blogging age is just dawning, too. While there are already hundreds of thousands of great blogs, I think readers are just catching on. So many blog readers are bloggers themselves, but slowly the secret is getting out!
My Life Now
After leaving SmartMoney and New York City in 2004, I returned to my native Massachusetts where I have worked for an academic publishing company ever since. Between working, writing, and sleeping I enjoy the mountains, painting, and playing the guitar. I hope someday to own my own business, my own airplane, and to live in the Southwestern United States.
