From an early age, I learned and took pride in saving. I tried to squeeze everything I could out of every penny, sometimes to a fault. When we were teenagers, I was left in charge of some spending money between my brother and me while my parents went away for vacation for a few weeks. To my brother’s disgust, I documented every item and made us use half of what we were allotted. I was quite proud of my accomplishment, but I do remember my parents being slightly freaked out at my ultra-miserly ways.
I have to say I’ve eased up a bit and enjoy myself more. But having gone through the worst recession in our lifetime, I re-evaluated my spending habits. I felt like a kid again. Pinching pennies, clipping coupons, searching the internet high and low for deals and when I found them, wow, it was ecstasy.
Got Movies?
Buck Inspire. Who is he? What is he? Where did he come from? No, no I am not Robocop! But besides my passion for personal finance, I love movies. In fact, I love comparing things and merging things together. Why just have fun in one arena, when you can have fun in two, or three? Greedy, efficient, insane? The answer is all of the above!
In the same vein, I love saving money and getting a good deal. I also love living life to its fullest and continually improving myself, learning new things, and pushing my envelope. If my family, friends, and readers come along for the ride, all the better. If not, no sweat, but I hope I made their lives better than it was before.
Guru Or Gladiator
I have to admit, there are tons of talented personal finance bloggers and I have learned a great deal. However, I honestly don’t think I can research or teach concepts like saving, investing, controlling debt, and retirement better than all these passionate personal finance wizards. What I can do is make the process fun. Help look for patterns in other niches that no one has thought of before. Delve into the psychology, emotions, and feelings of personal finance, investing, and blogging while lightening things up with pop culture, dining, entertainment, and travel. I guess I want to be a Guru Gladiator! For those of you who don’t know, ask yourself if you are a Guru Or Gladiator?
Comfortable Late Bloomer
Ironically, when I was younger I was extremely shy. I had no voice and no opinions. I felt I could communicate better by writing than by talking. Strangely enough, I actually enjoy public speaking. This is probably because I craved attention and just wanted to be heard. I related to performers who were naturally quite shy, but when they were on stage, they became captivating entertainers. I consider myself a late bloomer and am finally comfortable in my own skin. As Buck Inspire, I have a voice, opinions, and slowly becoming an entertainer as well. Finally my passion, dreams, and reality are all lining up at the same time. Thanks to all the great people in the Yakezie network. I couldn’t have gotten this far without each and every one of you. Special thanks to my friends, family, and my beautiful wife for pushing me to be the best I can be. Life can’t get better than this. Thank you for sharing my dream. May yours come true as well!
Buck Inspire is living a fulfilled life within his means while delving into personal finance sprinkled with dining, entertainment, pop culture, technology, and travel.
Buck, Count me as a fan. Funny, well written, and engaging article. I’ll be over more for personal finance fun!!!
Great to hear more about you Buck. Look forward to working with you!
Thanks Barb. Big fan of yours, too. Come on over, the water’s fine!
Is there a doctor in the house? Thanks Dr. Dean. Look forward to working with you as well!
Learnt a little about one of my favorite bloggers today! Thanks for sharing Buck!
I’m so used to seeing your avatar and associating that face with you that when I saw that poster, for an instant I thought, ‘Buck has photoshopped his picture on a movie poster!’ :)
Thanks MC! You’re one of my favs, too. Hopefully NBC doesn’t get too upset with me. Hmmm, photoshopping my pic on a movie poster? Don’t give me any bright ideas!
Glad to get to know you a bit better. Welcome and I look forward to collaborating with you in the future.
Thanks Miss T. Look forward to working with you, too. This is so fun!
It has been great getting to know you in the forums Buck. Keep it up and stay in touch. I am a movie buff as well. I was at an 80s party on Saturday and someone told me that I was not dressed very 80s. I told them I was dressed like Bud Fox in Wall Street. They didn’t get it, but I am sure this crowd could appreciate it.
Same here! Perhaps they were confused with all his WINNING, goddesses, and Tigers Blood talk. :)
Congratulation! Young Buck sound just like Mrs. RB40 when she was younger (a bit of a miser.) ;) If you like public speaking, you should join Toastmasters. The Mrs. is an active member and she loves the public speaking and supportive atmosphere.
Thanks RB40! Wow, you and Mrs. RB40 make quite a team. Thanks for the tip on Toastmasters, have to look into it.
Congrats Buck. I feel like we made it here together!
Thanks SPF! Seriously, we started around the same time, hit our marks a few days apart, and finished about the same time as well. Nice running with ya!
Great to hear your story, Buck. I am used to reading your posts in the forum, but it is nice to hear your back story. I too was very shy, and I can relate to what you say about being on stage. It is like becoming a different person. Good luck on your continued journey!
Thanks for telling us more about yourself and your journey to this point, Buck! I like your blog, it has a fun feel to it. Welcome!
Congratulations, and an interesting back story you have to share. I don’t know too many people who can use the expression ‘feel like a kid again’ and refer to penny pinching, but it’s good you have that sort of background to fall back on.
Thanks Melissa! Glad you can relate. Funny blogging is kinda empowering. Should have done this earlier, but better late than never. Thanks and good luck on your journey as well!
Thanks Squirrelers! I like your fun blog, too. Birds of a feather or should I say Squirrels? :)
Thanks Roger! Hmm, never caught that. Guess I was a frugal kid from the get go. Like everything else, I think a happy medium is the best. I sometimes took it to the extreme.
Wow, I like the story about the frugalness as a child. It makes me feel better about turning off lights and eating leftovers! I enjoy reading your varied posts. Congrats on becoming a member!
Thanks for reminding me. Didn’t do much with leftovers, but my parents always got ticked at me for turning off all the lights. Hey, I was saving electricity! Thanks again, you’ll get there soon!
Hey Buck! Thanks for allowing us to peak into your life. We sound somewhat similar. I was always pinching pennies as a kid, and wasn’t all that voicetress. It’s good to hear that I’m not alone. I love the photo by the way. It’s pretty sweet.
Thanks Derek! Hope you’re settling in nicely after your big move. I’m having so much fun at Yakezie because many of us have similar stories. Glad you liked the photo!
Welcome officially to the network! Love the backstory with your brother. Was really hoping you were going to end it by saying, “then I took the other half and put it in the bank…” That would have really freaked them out!
Great to hear your story buck and welcome to the network – if you need anything, feel free to drop me a line!
Great background Buck! I look forward to visiting more often! :)
Yes, I’m sure you’ll find that you are in good company all around…
Thanks TCI! Never thought about the other half. You are a true personal finance blogger!
Thanks Jeff! Look forward to working with you in the future!
Thanks MR! Good company all around indeed. Will be visiting you more often as well!
Very nice article. I enjoyed learning more about you!
Your guest post on my site still gets comments and link backs! You are a fantastic asset to the group, welcome
Thanks Denise!
Thanks MJTM! That blog swap we did was totally awesome. Your guest post is still one of my most popular posts!
Hey Buck! It’s been great being able to interact with you so much in the forums. So, does your brother ever let you live it down?
Buck, just added you as a bookmark! Looking forward to connecting with you more in the future.
Hey Khaleef. Great working with you on the forums, too! He’s gotten over it. I try not to remind him. Haha.
Thanks Jon! Looking forward to working with you as well.
Hehehehe–I am envisioning your parents’ surprise at receiving half of their money back!
It’s a little blurry now. You would think they would have been thrilled at the 50% return! I think they were concerned if we had enough to eat. After that trip, they knew their son was, let’s just say, unique. :)
Buck you crack me up. I am always smiling when I read your stuff. I saw you recently on my blog. That was refreshing – welcome!
Glad you enjoy my writing! You have some interesting and informative articles, too. Will be stopping by more often. So many great blogs, so little time!
Hola Buck! Welcome to the Yakezie! Glad the blogging has changed that shyness in you! Look forward to seeing you interact in the private forums and help support the Yakezie Writing Contest! Best, Sam
Thanks Sam! Will do. Keep up your amazing work. Incredible how the Yakezie Network and Writing Contest has grown!
Buck, I can’t relate to being a natural saver, but my husband has been since his childhood (which is why we keep our money separate as I’m a spender).
I never thought of your avatar as Buck Rogers either, but it sure makes sense. I’m looking forward to meeting you IRL eventually.
Odd, I would assume since you run a personal finance blog, you would be the natural saver. The Mrs. is the spender on our side. :) Thanks for your support from the beginning. We’ll catch up IRL one of these days!
It’s great to learn more about you as a person Buck Inspire. Now you do have a voice!
Thanks for helping me use that voice, Mark!
Love that you were a big saver growing up. That’s a great story about you and your brother. I remember how exciting it was getting allowance and money for souvenirs as a kid. I was pretty good about saving up for whatever toy I was drooling over in tv commercials and asking for extra chores to try to make more money. Nice post!
Thanks Untemplater! Allowance, times were simplier then. Good times, but at least we both learned how to save. Look forward to working with you in the future!
Nice to “meet” you!
Sorry for the delay, nice to “meet” you, too!
Great story about you and your brother when you were kids. :) I had fun reading your post, made me feel like a kid again, too! :)
Thanks Nunzio! Can’t forget to feel like a kid again even though our adult lives are so hectic!