Talking personal finance with neighbors/strangers.
I was out on my deck last night talking with our deck neighbor (we live in townhouses), and he asked me something i don't often hear a lot. He asked me "what i like to do for fun". Simple question, but i always get caught off guard with that one. I think it's because i can never actually REMEMBER what i do for fun ;)
Last night, however, i was able to get out how much i enjoy reading personal finance blogs. And it's funny doing this because 3 things always happen without fail:
As you may have noticed, i teeter on whether to tell friends and family i do this, or to keep blogging away in secret.
There are pros and cons to both, but it WOULD give them a better understanding as to why i think personal finance is important. And hopefully they'd be willing to educate themselves more, or at least poke around a bit and ask questions.)
I ended up sticking with the Anon. route, as hard as it was, and giving my neighbor few of my favorite blogs to get started (mymoneyblog.com, cleverdude.com, and krystalatwork.blogspot.com). Those are a mix between super informative, a mix of everything, and diary-type writing styles (respectively). Everyone has their own preference, so i'm hoping he'll get something from at least one of them.
I really didn't know how to answer the "secrets" part. It's always hard when you don't know that person's situation, nor finance expertise, you know? I don't wanna go into something they already know, only to have them lose interest and think they "know everything" already and thus not wanting to learn more.
So I started by speaking generally to get a feel for things. Our convo. worked itself to credit cards and credit scores, so i chimed in with a few "secrets" regarding those like:
Last night, however, i was able to get out how much i enjoy reading personal finance blogs. And it's funny doing this because 3 things always happen without fail:
- No matter how you bring it up, it always comes out dorky! haha... i don't have a problem with that personally, i just wonder if anyone has pulled it off in a cool way? I can see older people discussing it just fine, but never have i heard it shared by anyone in their 20's...as sad as that is.
- People are usually shocked to hear it. I don't blame them, really. Have YOU ever been told that reading up on finances were on someone's "Fun List"? And being told on blogs, or comments, doesn't count ;)
- They want to know "secrets". This, ofcourse, after their shock fades way. It's not every day peers can talk openly about finances, so i can only imagine how far pieces of information could help them.
As you may have noticed, i teeter on whether to tell friends and family i do this, or to keep blogging away in secret.
There are pros and cons to both, but it WOULD give them a better understanding as to why i think personal finance is important. And hopefully they'd be willing to educate themselves more, or at least poke around a bit and ask questions.)
I ended up sticking with the Anon. route, as hard as it was, and giving my neighbor few of my favorite blogs to get started (mymoneyblog.com, cleverdude.com, and krystalatwork.blogspot.com). Those are a mix between super informative, a mix of everything, and diary-type writing styles (respectively). Everyone has their own preference, so i'm hoping he'll get something from at least one of them.
I really didn't know how to answer the "secrets" part. It's always hard when you don't know that person's situation, nor finance expertise, you know? I don't wanna go into something they already know, only to have them lose interest and think they "know everything" already and thus not wanting to learn more.
So I started by speaking generally to get a feel for things. Our convo. worked itself to credit cards and credit scores, so i chimed in with a few "secrets" regarding those like:
- The average household has around $8k in credit card debt. At least that's what everyone says, but whether it's true or not, at least you know you're not alone.
- Raise your credit limit, and lower your interest rate. This will help lower your debt to ratio, AND increase your credit score - especially if you don't have much credit at all. All of this can usually be done by making a simple phone call to your c/c company.
- Make a budget - My favorite! (I wonder why?) Try tracking your expenses for 3 months to get an overall picture of everything, and then create a budget out of it. That was one of the best things i have ever done. You just need to do it once, and you're set for the rest of your life (because you'll adjust it as time goes on).
Labels: advice, budgets, credit cards, personal finance
posted by J. Money at
11:16 AM
10 Comments:
I have to say that your blog is one of my favorites. I laughed out loud at this post because I tend to be asked this same question and the first thoughts that run through my mind are (a) what DO I do for fun? and (b) oh no, I can't let the secret blogging life out, they'll think I'm nuts!! HaHa! Always great to read your posts. Thanks!
It sounds like a great conversation. I find myself getting into those more and more often these days, too. Sometimes I mention that I write this blog, sometimes not. I don’t want to seem like *too* shameless of a self-promoter!
I definitely thought a lot about whether to start my blog anonymously or not. I decided on ‘not’ because I think I’m just too full of myself NOT to tell my friends and family! I WANT them to read what I’m writing. So I admire your restraint, J :) I do think about it from time to time but I don’t seem to hold much back because of who I know may be reading it. It’s kind of liberating to just put it all out there.
I wonder if it’ll be harder for me to keep being so transparent when I have actual assets/money to talk about. Like do I want the people who know me in real life to know how much I have in savings? That could get awkward… But I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I’ll just keep being myself on my blog and in real life.
Well I am in my twenties and I DO tell people I love PF blogs. I say I write one but that it is anonymous. When people ask why I simply say its an amazing outlet for my writing paired with its own support group for people who are just like me (fellow bloggers).
As for wondering whether to tell people I would not. When I first started blogging I wanted people to read so I would give close friends the link. Now when I want to bitch about them I can't.
The reason I gave out the link was because a lot of people wanted help from me and since I know you can only do it if you truly want to I decided to see if they would take ownership and start taking steps themselves.
Besides my BF I wish I had never told anyone about my blog. Sometimes I want to rant about people close in my life but I am worried at some point they made read it. Even if the facts are true I don't want to offend people. In life I am a direct person and would say most things to their face but they may find it insulting to read it on my blog, lol.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INPUT! I got a lot out of them.
Lepkugen - i'm SO GLAD you enjoy it! every now and then i can put all my thoughts down the way i want - this post was one of them. I'll be checking yours out soon :)
healthy amelia - Oh man, yeah it was an awesome convo. I'm hoping we can continue it later on our beer-deck evenings.
And you're right about the money stuff too - people would start asking you for loans and special treatment if they knew you could "afford it". i might tell my brother soon, but only so i can help him get more on track and see our community out here :)
dolly iris - DAMN good idea! that way you could still tell people about it all, yet not reveal your own particular one... i like that :)
And you're SO right about the whole telling your friends issue. it's the friends/co-workers i'm afraid of!
Actually i'm so afraid i don't mention much NOW anyways ;) If 1 of them saw it, they'd know it was me in a heartbeat...or at least call me up to say how someone is "just like me!" haha. so far only 1 of my posts slightly mentioned them.
I recently posted about this. I blog semi-anonymously; my friends and family know about this blog and I use my real first name, but on the other hand I don't use my last name or disclose my location. I spend too much time on it not to talk about it!
I struggle all the time with the decision of whether to discuss my blog with friends and family. I'm not sure why, but I think I like it better when they don't know about it.
I know exactly how you feel about sounding dorky. I absolutely love reading and studying finance, but not many of my 19-20 year old peers share in my excitement. LOL
Hee! I often struggle with whether or not to tell people that I enjoy reading frugal/personal finance blogs. Most of my friends know I'm a big dork anyway, but I always wonder if they're silently gawking and whispering "Nerd!" to themselves.
Hah I had the same sort of experience. I ended up trying to be vague though, by initially saying that "I like to write". Of course that was followed up with "about what?". Money sounded like a sort of strange answer, but I went with it.
Thanks for posting this! I was on the fence deciding whether or not to start blogging anonymously or not, but reading this made me realize it's pretty doable. As you can see, I ended up starting it! Thanks for sharing! =]
Wonderful! Who knew after a year of posting this it could still come in handy :) Going over to your site and checking it out - congrats!
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