About Me, About MyMoneyBlog
About
I started this blog because I graduated college and found myself working a 9-6 job, making some decent money but not knowing what to do with it. I had opened a Roth IRA and bought some random mutual fund chosen from a magazine, but it really bugged me that I didn’t know anything about investments at all. What should I buy? How much is enough? How long do I have to work in this cubicle?
I tried asking some friends, but they didn’t know either. And it’s hard to talk money in public - incomes seem to be really private, nobody knows who has more money saved. Money is just taboo. So here I am, spilling my beans and writing about it online and anonymously instead.
Just like the name, this site is about my money - how I make more of it, how I try to spend less of it, and how I invest it. I have been publicly tracking our progress towards financial freedom since 2004. See for yourself by taking a peek at our net worth and our investment portfolio. To clarify, the net worth listed above is for both my wife and I, as we treat my money = her money = our money. However, I’m the only author of this blog.
I am now 30 years old and live in an expensive place in the Western US. Married, no kids, 2 dogs. Currently my wife and I both work full-time jobs, but a major career goal is to be able to both work half-time when we do get around to having kids. I also do freelance consulting and make money off of websites including this one. We enjoy skiing, hiking, and eating at hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
I am not a financial guru. I don’t speak at get-rich-quick seminars and I don’t write books. What I will do is be very open about my financial life. I don’t claim to know it all, and in fact I am learning new things every day. If I mess up, you’ll know. If I come across a neat way to make or save money, you’ll read about it here. I just love this stuff and tinkering with different financial products or money-making ideas. With any luck, perhaps we’ll meet up in the Caymans some day. 
Agree with me? Disagree? Leave a comment! Comments are an integral part of this site. My finances have been affected by readers and fellow bloggers, I believe significantly for the better. We have managed to save over 30% of our income since starting this blog.
Want To Be E-mailed Updates? If this sounds vaguely interesting, I encourage you to bookmark this site or get regular updates via RSS or e-mail.
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Some Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you have so much cash?
We were saving up for a house down payment in a very expensive area of the country. While other investments like stocks and bonds may offer better long-term returns, they also carry more volatility. Given our time horizon of less than 2 years, we want to keep it safe while maximizing returns. Thus the focus on things like online savings accounts. Also part of it is from credit cards. Read on…
Update: We bought the house. Not the best timing, but not the worst either.
Why don’t you use your cash to pay down your credit card debt?
Newer readers may be alarmed by my high levels of credit card debt. In short, I’m borrowing money for free and keeping it in safe investments while earning me 5-6% interest. Along with other things, this helps me earn extra side income of thousands of dollars a year. Recently I wrote up a series of step-by-step posts on how I do this. Please check it out if you are curious.
Why don’t you blog about the same topics as in other personal finance media outlets?
That is one important thing on about this website. The time I spent talking about a subject is not directly proportional to how important I think it is. I split my time between the big things that help guarantee I’ll reach my goals, and also the small things that will make those goals arrive earlier. I simply blog more about the latter since that involves more current and changing news.
