Forbes and Planting Your Seeds TODAY!

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forbes interview j money

Happy Friday y’all! Hope you had a good week of multiplying that money – preferably as you slept ;)

It’s been a wild ride over here this week to say the least, and to be honest I’m still pinching myself in disbelief. For those who haven’t seen it, an entire article was written about me over at Forbes (!!!) on how I grew my net worth over the years and blog for a living full-time.

These write ups are what us bloggers dream about, not only because of the incredible amount of traffic they send (we hit an all-time high on Monday!) but because it re-affirms that we’re on the right track and to keep on pouring our hearts out. There was a time bloggers weren’t given a second thought* by journalists and more serious folk, but fortunately that isn’t the case anymore :) It’s a wonderful world we now live in, baby – woo!

Here’s the article if you want to check it out, and big thanks to Laura for featuring me:

forbes interview j moneyHow Blogger J. Money Socked Away $400,000 In 7 Years

Seriously – how crazy is that?? All from starting a little blog on a whim one day… Just goes to show how powerful following your passions can be. For any of you wavering on your own ideas and projects out there, no better time to start than today! Get those seeds planted over the weekend and start sharing it with the world!! There’s never a “perfect” day to begin!

And this goes for all your money-related goals too. Imagine what a few dollars towards debt or savings, or better yet – investments – will look like 7 years from now? Have you ever heard of the doubling penny? There’s a reason Einstein called compound interest the 8th wonder of the world.

Check out what happens if 1 penny doubles every day for only 31 days:

doubling penny millionsI couldn’t believe it when someone first told me about this, so I literally plugged in the equation in Excel and plopped out the above spreadsheet. INSANE!! $10 Million dollars after only day #31 – what the what??

Now of course our money we put away or throw at debt won’t come close to doubling every day, but the point is that interest plays a major factor in our finances, and the only way to take advantage of it is through *TIME*. The earlier you start, the longer it has to compound.

[And that’s for the better or the worse too, btw. Ever wonder why your debt keeps going up or staying flat, even though you keep chipping away at it?? Interest can have the opposite effect and continue killing you until you wipe it away too! That $hit is no joke.]

So, your takeaways today are: 1) Take one action item towards your dreams or goals this weekend, whether financial or otherwise. 2) Tell us what they are in the comments below! And 3) Read my article over at Forbes and let me know what you think ;)

They asked me to provide a handful of tips to include with the interview, so you’ll see those expounded upon in the slideshow about mid-way through… For any of you long-time readers here, I doubt they’ll look that surprising to you, haha… Hell, we’ve hit over half of them on the blog this week alone!

  1. Start tracking your net worth
  2. Challenge your “normal” bills
  3. Take on a side hustle
  4. Sell one thing a week on Craigslist
  5. The “Stranger” and “Urgency” Tests
  6. Create a separate savings account for all “extra” money
  7. Round up your debt payments
  8. Budget in blow money
  9. Remember that it’s not about the money

Keep on fighting the good fight, friends… It all pays off in the end, I promise :)

——-
*Sometimes for good measure, like when bloggers such as *ahem*, Anton, give us a bad rap.

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77 Comments

  1. jestjack January 16, 2015 at 6:06 AM

    Congrats….and now your famous!

    Reply ↓
    1. Taylor Lee January 16, 2015 at 6:54 AM

      Internet famous! The best kind of famous.

      Reply ↓
      1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:00 PM

        Agreed – no one outside of the money blogging world would ever recognize (or care) about me, haha… and I can always just turn my mohawk into a mullet anyways and go under cover!

        Reply ↓
  2. Mr zombie January 16, 2015 at 6:42 AM

    1 & 2 – pay for a Web domain and make my blog REAL

    3 – good work on getting an interview on Forbes. That’s mega! LEGEND. I always thought the picture of you on the blog was a cartoon silloute. Massive respect for rocking the mohawk. Wonder if they would let me at MegaCorp

    4 – Einstein was a dude.

    Have a good weekend all and work on escaping the Horde :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:01 PM

      Agreed on getting your own domain for your blog – def. looks better :)

      Reply ↓
  3. Shannon @ Financially Blonde January 16, 2015 at 7:13 AM

    SO awesome J!!!! Especially because they rarely profile “anonymous” people on a site like Forbes. Your story is inspiring, though, and I am glad that they highlighted you and your on-point advice, especially because you didn’t mention Digit. :-)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:02 PM

      You didn’t look close enough then – cuz I DID mention Digit in one of the slideshows! Hahahahaha…. ZING!!!!

      Also yeah – super cool they still went with the story even though I’m anonymous. Never thought about it that way?

      Reply ↓
  4. Emma Healey | Money Can Buy Me Happiness January 16, 2015 at 7:38 AM

    Wow – that’s inspirational. You deserve a huge pat on the back (and a nice beer). Following your passions is absolutely the best way to succeed and be happy in your work. Congratulations.

    Reply ↓
  5. Money Beagle January 16, 2015 at 8:07 AM

    Good work, getting mentioned by Forbes has to be a dream come true. Have a great weekend!

    Reply ↓
  6. Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life January 16, 2015 at 8:12 AM

    Wow, that penny stat is powerful- gonna have to share that one.

    My goal this year is to triple my income. I was terrified because my last show ended December 28th and I was going to lose my biggest stream of income, but surprisingly I’ve made more this month than I have EVER made before. I just hope something surprising and unexpectedly awesome continues to come up every month so that this trend continues :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:03 PM

      It’s amazing how much luckier you get the more you hustle ;)

      And yeah – steal the image/spreadsheet! Everyone in the world should see it so it sinks in!!

      Reply ↓
      1. Mark @ BareBudgetGuy January 17, 2015 at 7:24 AM

        “The more you hustle, the luckier you get.” -J. Money. Can I quote you on that? I like the sound of it.

        Reply ↓
        1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:26 PM

          I wouldn’t object ;)

          Reply ↓
  7. Mortgage Free Mike January 16, 2015 at 8:20 AM

    The FORBES article was very well done.

    I’m actually following one of the things you mentioned in the article by contributing the max allowed to my 401k per paycheck, 40%. Also, since it’s a 3-paycheck month, today’s check (what’s left of it after that 401k contribution) will go straight to the mortgage company to pay down the principal.

    Congrats on your success and thanks for inspiring the rest of us along the way!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:05 PM

      Nice! You now fall into one of the sexiest investors out there ;)

      And if you ever want to talk about that TV dealio we chatted about a while back, happy to do so again if you want to go all silhouette like Forbes! Hah!

      Reply ↓
  8. Laurie @wellkeptwallet January 16, 2015 at 9:00 AM

    AWESOME interview, J$, and SO cool that you got on Forbes!!! Thanks, my friend, for doing all that you do to help others. You truly are an inspiration.

    Reply ↓
  9. Jon @ Money Smart Guides January 16, 2015 at 9:05 AM

    Congrats man!! Everything you say is so true. I’ve seen that doubling of a penny chart/stat before and when I saw it, it blew my mind. So much so, that I ended up turning it into a picture. Now it motivates me to keep pushing forward. As you said, my money won’t be doubling every day, but every dollar I can add to the pot will grow the pot and help the compounding accelerate.

    Reply ↓
  10. Mrs. Maroon January 16, 2015 at 9:18 AM

    Awesome job on the FORBES interview… truly inspiring for other loggers.

    The 8th wonder of the world!! Not sure if I’ve been hiding under a rock or something, but I’ve never heard that before. I agree whole-heartedly though. We’ve been making great strides over the last year to work towards financial independence. I sat down a couple weeks ago to project our investment balances for the roughly 50 years we intend to use them (retire at 40 – looking at good genes for a long life!) I had to double check my Excel formulas, and then get Mr. Maroon to confirm that I had in fact done it correctly because I was BLOWN AWAY by the totals!! Even after we start withdrawing for living expenses. We were looking at 8 digits worth of value at the end, with just a 7% return!

    Reply ↓
    1. Mrs. Maroon January 16, 2015 at 9:21 AM

      I do not actually “log” as a side hobby… I do however get over-anxious in hitting SUBMIT while failing to check for major typos!

      Reply ↓
      1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:08 PM

        Hahaha… dang. Was hoping to get a side hustle post out of you on logging! :)

        (And congrats on the early retirement formulas!! I’d take that over a forbes mention any day of the week!!! :))

        Reply ↓
  11. tracy January 16, 2015 at 9:27 AM

    For any parents who want to introduce children to the “eighth wonder of the world” find a copy of the book One Grain of Rice by Demi at your local library. A wonderfully illustrated folktale from India, this tale clearly shows the benefit of compound interest. It has been my go-to recommendation since it was published in the 90s. I can’t wait until my son is old enough for me to read it to him…

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:08 PM

      awesome!!! I’ll get it for my sons too!

      Reply ↓
  12. John @ Frugal Rules January 16, 2015 at 9:37 AM

    Very nice & congrats J – it’s very much deserved! Keep fightin’ the fight my friend, you’re killing it!

    Reply ↓
  13. C@thesingledollar January 16, 2015 at 9:38 AM

    I loved the Forbes piece. Congratulations!

    This weekend I’m going to delve a little deeper into wordpress design. It’s a skill that will be useful to me as a blogger but also potentially useful in my day job and I’ve put off learning how to do it long enough :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:13 PM

      It’s never bad to learn more about *anything*! Way to go!

      Reply ↓
  14. C. Fruity January 16, 2015 at 9:39 AM

    This weekend I am opening my eyes to the online vegan community, in my new recent attempt to eat more fruits and vegetables and start a vegan journey. I am doing this by blogging and instagraming anonymously. So far I have found a lot of inspiration already! (I attribute my name style to you, :) thanks for the idea!)

    Great article at Forbes. I have been motivated by your posts for years, but I am currently taking out loans for school so until school ends I wont be working on any financial awesomeness – except for trying to take out less and study more. Regardless – I still love your blog! :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:15 PM

      Love it, C. Fruity! I’m all for education even if you have to take out loans for it – so you work it over there :) And good luck w/ the vegan stuff too – you have more willpower than I!

      Reply ↓
  15. Tonya@Budget and the Beach January 16, 2015 at 9:41 AM

    Congrats once again J! That’s awesome!! My “step” is working on editing another BATB TV episode (although I’m not as happy with this one so far), and working on creating a crowdfunding campaign, because it takes a village. :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:20 PM

      I’ll have my checkbook ready :) Errr…. paypal book?

      Reply ↓
  16. Emily @ Simple Cheap Mom January 16, 2015 at 9:45 AM

    Congratulations! You derserve all the attention!

    This weekend I’ll figure out our investment plan, we need an update from our high MER mutual funds!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:21 PM

      That’s a big one! Good luck!

      Reply ↓
  17. GE Miller January 16, 2015 at 9:45 AM

    Dang, man. Only $40k saved before the leap of faith? That takes massive pelotas.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:22 PM

      Well, my projects were already making money every month so it’s not like I started from scratch making $0/mo :) I don’t have the pelotas for that!

      Reply ↓
  18. Andrew@LivingRichCheaply January 16, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    Saw the article on Yahoo…pretty cool! Inspiring story. Glad they’re willing to feature anonymous bloggers as well.

    Reply ↓
  19. Timias Woods January 16, 2015 at 11:24 AM

    J Money! Congrats on the Forbes article my man. That is a great accomplishment. Thank you for all that you do.

    Timias

    Reply ↓
  20. Kim January 16, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    I saw the Forbes article when I was at work and wanted to tell all my patients about it! That’s a great reward for blazing the way for so many others who don’t want the traditional lifestyle. Congrats!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:23 PM

      Hah! You’d have to tell them *after* you fix their eyes though so they can actually read it.

      *Bah dum-ching*

      Reply ↓
  21. Cassandra January 16, 2015 at 12:42 PM

    Congratulations!

    This weekend I’m going to work on submitting some writing to anthologies and external sites. Time to move beyond my blog.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 16, 2015 at 1:24 PM

      Do it! That’s a wonderful goal! And easy to check it off since it’s a cut and dry action item :)

      Reply ↓
  22. Brooklyn Money January 16, 2015 at 12:46 PM

    Much respect J! Congrats!

    Reply ↓
  23. Joyce@My Stay At Home Adventures January 16, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    Read the article a few days ago, I felt so proud of you (like a proud mama haha) when I read it. All the hard work you done you deserve it. Congratulations!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:27 PM

      Awww, haha… thanks Joyce. That’s nice of you to say/think :)

      Reply ↓
  24. Even Steven January 16, 2015 at 2:23 PM

    Yeah seeing the article felt like one of those I know that guy, well sorda kinda, ah screw it that’s awesome either way. Leather bound books my friend, leather bound books!

    Reply ↓
  25. Michelle January 16, 2015 at 2:23 PM

    Congrats. That is awesome!

    Reply ↓
  26. Kayla @ Femme Frugality January 16, 2015 at 2:27 PM

    I put an extra $50 on my debt this week. I wasn’t perfect with my spending, but I did made a little extra progress, so that’s good. This week was insanely busy too!

    Reply ↓
  27. Ginna January 16, 2015 at 3:32 PM

    Aww, I’m so proud!! Great article! And I agree with Cait, you’re one of the nicest bloggers around. :)

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:28 PM

      Thanks Ginna. I just love y’all! :)

      Reply ↓
  28. James@StartingNegative January 17, 2015 at 12:57 AM

    Aww yiss! Congrats!

    That was actually a pretty lengthy write-up. Good view of your journey thus far.

    Hope you don’t let your new found fame cause you to stray from the financially responsible path!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:29 PM

      Yeah, it’s actually pretty crazy that in one hour someone can get your entire back story and write it up as if they were right along with you. Guess that’s why she’s a professional journalist!

      Reply ↓
  29. Jacob January 17, 2015 at 10:26 AM

    Hopefully I will have the same net worth improvement as you. I began focusing my attention on this number in September 2012 when I began using Mint.com. Here is how I how I have fared so far.

    9/12 – $106,000
    9/13 – $137,279
    9/14 – $238,513

    Most of my improvement was selling my old condo that I was renting at a loss and the new house that I bought increased in value by $80k.
    Additional help was taking advantage of free money such as 0% financing, focusing on never paying interest on credit cards, and maximizing my 401k contributions.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:30 PM

      Nicely played! that last year is killer – imagine if you pulled that off every year?? :)

      Reply ↓
  30. Larry D January 17, 2015 at 4:17 PM

    Whoa he is famous!
    I’ve just started my blog and learn how to write good article. Also just started planning my financial and save more for the future.

    Reply ↓
  31. No Nonsense Landlord January 17, 2015 at 7:40 PM

    Great job!! Save only $1 a day for a million days and you have a $1,000,000 too.

    The power of compounding is impressive, especially after several years. Getting started late could put someone on a path to a long working life.

    Reply ↓
  32. Anthony Dominguez January 17, 2015 at 10:56 PM

    Honestly, this is my favorite website and I just recently discovered it. Im glad there are other sexy ass budgeters in the world.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:32 PM

      I love to hear that! Thanks man!

      Reply ↓
  33. Jason @ Islands of Investing January 18, 2015 at 3:35 AM

    Awesome stuff J Money, and was a great write up. Really interesting to hear more about your path to where you are now, and the decision to cut back on the many other blogs you were running. It’s especially great to see such an experienced blogger taking more great strides and get so excited about an achievement like this!

    My goal this weekend has been to to try to find a lower investment loan rate. Our mortgage rate is absolutely rock bottom, but would be nice to save a few extra dollars on the much smaller stock investment loan.

    Reply ↓
  34. Michelle January 18, 2015 at 3:01 PM

    Freaking AWESOME!! Congratulations on the write up.

    Reply ↓
  35. Dividend Mantra January 18, 2015 at 6:12 PM

    J$,

    Congrats, brother. Well-deserved kudos! :)

    I tweeted out the article when I came across it a few days ago. Keep up the great work.

    Best regards.

    Reply ↓
  36. Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way January 18, 2015 at 7:10 PM

    Congratulations J! $400,000 in just 7 years, that’s really awesome!

    Reply ↓
  37. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank January 19, 2015 at 3:10 AM

    J. Money. I also saw the article on Yahoo. While I was reading, I knew you’re familiar. That’s when I realized when I read further. So proud of you! Keep it up.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:34 PM

      Rock on! I heard it may get picked up by Yahoo so glad that ended up happening :) thanks for letting me know.

      Reply ↓
  38. Jeremy January 19, 2015 at 12:29 PM

    Great roundup as usual, really enjoyed your article. Thanks for sharing your post. Looking forward for your best articles this year.

    Reply ↓
  40. Sarah January 19, 2015 at 2:48 PM

    I read that post last week and I completely forgot to congratulate you for the feature! I clicked onto it, saw your name and thought “HEY! That’s J$!”

    Because of the skepticism around bloggers these days (thanks to a few bad apples) it’s even MORE of an honor to be featured in a site like Forbes. So GOOD JOB and I loved the article.

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:35 PM

      Thanks! I hadn’t ever thought of that until others mentioned it, and now I like the article even more :) Lots of psychos out there but at least lots of normal people like us too!

      Reply ↓
  41. Adam January 19, 2015 at 11:37 PM

    Congrats on the mainstream coverage! The more articles we get in places like that, the better all the writers (and readers) will be.

    Reply ↓
  42. Mr Ikonz @ Project Ikonz January 20, 2015 at 12:48 AM

    Congratulations on the article J Money!
    Not only are you getting credit from your readers and fellow PF bloggers, but also the wider finance/business community.

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:36 PM

      Yeah! It’s been a wild ride seeing tons of new faces come over so far… my inbox has exploded and finally able to hit everyone back now… good problem to have I suppose :)

      Reply ↓
  43. Cindy January 20, 2015 at 11:28 AM

    Congratulations JMoney !!! So inspiring!!!

    Reply ↓
  44. Jeremy January 21, 2015 at 6:25 AM

    Now I know why you collect pennies! ;)

    The Forbes article was really well done. I felt like I was going along for the ride buying a townhouse

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 21, 2015 at 4:37 PM

      I wish you had been! You would have told us we were idiots! :)

      Reply ↓
  45. connie kolita January 28, 2015 at 1:05 PM

    HOLY CRAP, J$… learned just today about your article in FORBES! OMG! (I read the article, plus clicked through your nine FANTASTIC Tips!) You are da MAN! The whole thing is so impressive… everything you do… the way you live your life… your blog is so freekin’ awesome.! Couldn’t have happened to a more coolio guy :) … I love reading BudgetsAreSexy!!! Rock on~

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money January 28, 2015 at 3:15 PM

      Thanks Connie!!! What a testimonial, haha… might have to steal that to use later ;)

      So so glad you’re enjoying the site, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know!!

      Reply ↓
  46. Chris Martin February 8, 2015 at 3:02 AM

    Wow! Just proves that a little bit can go a log way. My dream is to be out from under my student loan debt and running my own company. Last year my family started our journey to debt freedom. The journey is tough but It articles and help that we have found around the internet that make it possible. Check out our story at http://www.ourdebt.net/fighting-debt-family-punches-back-poverty/

    Reply ↓
    1. J. Money February 9, 2015 at 12:08 PM

      Congrats on starting your on blog :) We need as much help as we can getting the good word out! Esp on debt stuff!

      Reply ↓

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