Comments on: The 3 Questions you MUST Ask Yourself Before Reading Another Personal Finance Post

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:56:22 +0000

I’d ask myself “Have I read this type of article before?”

By: Finance Answers

Finance Answers — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:06:42 +0000

I think you hit it right on the head with 1. What is the End Goal?

Everyone has goals and dreams that they’d like to accomplish. Things they would do if they knew they had no financial worries. It’s not the money or the amount of money that people are tied to, it’s the dreams. Many times, however, these dreams require a certain amount of financial security in order to reach them. The bottom line is, I think what most people want is freedom, freedom to choose what they want to do, whenever they want to do it, it whoever they want to do it with. Great post!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:31:55 +0000

I don’t know about the others, but what I meant by “save more than you spend” was not “save at least half your income”. I usually mean “have money left over at the end of the month”. I actually do save more than half my income, but that’s easy to do when you live at home, and have a boyfriend who pays for at least half our outings.

By: Price

Price — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:28:10 +0000

I totally agree that the end goal is quite important to keep in mind. I also totally agree that I do not save more than I spend. Right now, on a teacher’s salary, I bring in about 2,600 a month. I am very judicious about smart grocery shopping, almost never eating out, and very few extraneous expenditures. I have managed to save each month, but it is a far under what I spend. Saving more than you spend is an option when you move up the salary scale, but not for recent college grads like me. And of course, if I ate rice each nice and lived under a bridge it would be possible.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:15:58 +0000

Personally I have gained some knowledge from reading Finance blogs. Although some have been poorly written there are the jewels in the crown. My view is that you can read as much as you like but you don’t have to believe everything you read.

Pick out the information that is appropriate to you and your life and disregard the rest. Soon you will find that there are common themes that run throughtout any blogs.

Quite simply, if you find many people saying the same or similar things, you would say that there is a good chance the information is true.

By: Ryan @ Planting Dollars

Ryan @ Planting Dollars — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 07:32:58 +0000

Hey G.E.,

From you title I totally thought this post was going to be about asking who the author was of a blog before taking their advice, similar to what Samurai mentioned above.

Either way, I think you bring up a really good point with #3, which was also a Stephen covey concept of “begin with the end in mind.” A lot of people work really hard for financial freedom then don’t know what to do with it when they get there. It’s boring not having something to work towards and the fun is in the journey. I think also a lot of people regret not doing the things they wanted to when they were younger because they wouldn’t be on the “right track.”

Personally, I’m trying to be financially responsible while following my passions, such as shark diving and travel. Time value of money is too big of a concept to ignore.

By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:41:51 +0000

@ Daniel, Julie, Samurai – Don’t get me wrong – I agree that there has to be some entertainment value or something interesting to read on blogs. Otherwise, we’d all go read the dictionary. I do think that there has to be at least a little take-home value in the content that provides hope, inspiration, or knowledge to achieve financial goals. If I read a blog that just spits out the same old crap, I’m neither entertained or informed. The BEST blogs, in my opinion, have a good balance between the two. We all have a goal or two in mind that we are striving towards. Hopefully I’m able to share an idea or two that has some redeeming value in addition to keeping you entertained.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:31 +0000

Samurai, I completely agree with you. Just like I don’t read diet blogs to for knowledge (burn more calories than you consume=weight loss), I already know everything I’ve read on finance blogs recently, but I read it for the entertainment value.

I think very few people who read them don’t understand the concept of savings. The problem is the people that are being preached to in finance blogs are rarely those enlightened enough to take interest (i.e. the ignorant masses).

Personally, I like to read them to reaffirm my financial beliefs. This occurs regardless of whether I agree with author’s message.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:32:59 +0000

I agree with Financial Samurai. Just because people aren’t doing it doesn’t mean it’s hard. You don’t need to read every blog out there to learn every tip and finally break the threshhold. You need to use some self control to save more, and the rest is just gravy. Some blogs teach you about everything from credit to negotiating, and those are useful for people who want to learn and understand more about personal finance. Many of the more established blogs are focused on commentary, and my guess is that most people who read are doing so for entertainment purposes. Rarely is there anything groundbreaking going on there.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:05:44 +0000

Ah Miranda, but the US savings rate is now 4% and rising.

I don’t look at statistics, I look at myself. I’m sure you are saving more than you are spending too!

Cheers, Sam