I like to believe that I’m pretty good with money. I know exactly what I want to do and how I’m going to execute them. But if you look my past financial history, you’d think otherwise. I became involved in trading stocks as soon as I started making money out of college and soon became obsessed with trading penny stocks. After losing tens of thousands of dollars, I decided to call it quits and limit my losses. Soon after, I received a certified letter indicating that I’m being sued for $50,000 for trading fraudulent shares. I was one of hundreds of investors that were involved. Fortunately, all charges were eventually dropped and I let go a huge sigh of relief.
Then I got involved in online gambling. My dreams of becoming a professional poker player never came into fruition and I was left with even more money lost. In 2006, I decided to venture out of my parents house and buy my own. Of course, 2006-2007 was the last year we saw home prices rise. I bought my house in September 2006 and it didn’t take long before the price started to come down. Currently, I’m sitting at 26.5% decline from my original purchase price, according to Zillow.com. Despite these bad decisions, I was never in debt. I never borrowed money from friends or family, or from any bank. All of the money I used or lost were of my own. Since then, I feel I have learned a great deal in money management.
Blogging For A Living?
A few years ago, this one guy came to visit my church. When I got to talk to him, I simply asked what he did for a living. He replied by saying, “I’m a blogger.” I was very confused and “Xanga” immediately came to my mind. Of course, he wasn’t referring to Xanga at all. I was way off and after he expounded on what he really did, I was immediately interested in hearing more. I became even more interested when he told me how much money he made every month.
I was running my own personal blog using xanga platform for several years prior to meeting him. I updated it practically everyday. Whether people read it or not, it really didn’t matter. I enjoyed rambling on about dumb things such as how I liked seeing blue water in the men’s room toilet of my office building, implying that the housekeeping/janitor had just cleaned up in there. So, combining blogging and money in the same sentence was something I wanted to try and the idea of making money blogging became an instant goal to pursue.
Yakezie
I started Money Green Life back in November 2009 and saw little or no progress. I quickly realized how hard it was to maintain a running blog. It was nothing like writing a few short sentences on Xanga. However, I was able to find motivation and encouragement from other fellow bloggers who testified that hard work will eventually pay off. Eventually, I came across Yakezie and quickly joined in the fun. My Alexa ranking at the time was over 2 million and currently after 3 months, it’s sitting pretty at just under 300,000.
Future
I currently work as a full-time engineer in the suburbs of Maryland and I have no plans to quit my job to become a professional blogger any time soon. But if I can build Money Green Life to a point where it can bring a decent supplemental income, that would be pretty terrific. Either way, I have learned a great deal just writing about money and interacting with other bloggers. If I thought I was a pretty good money manager 10 years ago, I’m sure I’ll be just that much better 10 years from now.
Join us for further discussion in the Yakezie Forums.
Charles,
It is always good to meet another fellow engineer/blogger (there are several of us). I appreciate your candor in sharing your mistakes. Our own messes are our best teachers…and those very experiences will make your blog all that more rich and real.
I just read your Jim Joyce post…well done. Being forgiven is a good thing!
Thanks Joe. I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes and I believe they will only make me stronger and wiser for the future! Nobody likes making mistakes but I think they are necessary for us to grow.
I wonder, Joe, if there isn’t something to the analytical mindset of an engineer that lends towards blogging, and personal finance blogging in particular. I’m more of a computer engineer, but it is interesting to see that trend.
Penny stocks and online gambling…oh man! Glad to see you have gotten on track and moving in the right direction. Welcome to the Yakezie!
Mike, yeah penny stocks provided me with the adrenaline I was looking for back then. I was young and single back then and felt I could afford to be a little risky with my money. I definitely learned the hard way.
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What an honest post. You learned many lessons the hard way, and I appreciate your candor.
If it makes you feel any better, my house is down too, and we didn’t buy at the peak! Welcome to the group, and I am going to go check out your site now!
Yeah, I hate my house. Mostly because it has come down so much in value. My mortgage payments would be a lot less than it is now had I waited couple years to move out of my folks place. I was saving so much money by living with them.
So did you cut out poker entirely? Don’t think I could ever do that (its just too fun), but I have slowed considerably, mainly due to lack of time.
I hope you are able to build MGL into a powerhouse and start making some good money from it.
I still play poker online, but for pennies instead of dollars. I used to play about 25-30 hours a week on top of my day job as an engineer, but now if i try not to play for more than 2-3 hours a week. It’s a lot more fun when the goal is to have fun instead of trying to make big bucks!
Great story. Im impressed that you never had to take on any debt to trade the penny stocks or the poker. Also, congrats on building a very successful blog in a year!
Jeff, thanks for the encouragement. I wouldn’t say my blog is very successful just yet. When I started back in Nov 2009, I had no idea how much hard work it involved. I actually almost gave up on it only after 2 months, but found motivation from reading other blogs out there. Hopefully, my blog will bring encouragement to other bloggers who are just starting out as well.
I like that you aren’t obsessed with trying to be a full time blogger, but just looking to supplement the income a little bit. I’m right there with you. Sounds like things started a little rocky for ya, but seem to be getting better! Keep up the hard work and intense focus!
Thanks for your kind words. I’m getting married in March and will have to live on single income for first couple years until she finishes school. Even just a small supplemental income would definitely help.
Tell me what guy between the ages of 18 and 50 who has seen the WSOP doesn’t want to be a professional poker player! I don’t think there is anything wrong with risk but you love the riskest of adventures huh
yeah I know! Tell me about it! Every time I watch that show on TV, I get such a strong itch to play!
Wow, it is impressive that you do not have any debt with all the mistakes along the way. I traded penny stocks when I first started too and got out of it pretty quick after losing a bunch of money. Now I only have one penny stock that I invested in pre IPO. I am also an engineer and my goal is to retire from the corporate world by the time I’m 40. That’s only a few years away. I like your blog, very easy to read. subscribed. :)
Thanks. If I could retire by 40, it would be because I won the lottery or something crazy like that. I don’t think I can do it the old fashioned way at this point, although I still have 7 years to go….
Glad to hear your financial mistakes are behind you, best of luck with the marriage and blog!
Thanks! Hopefully no more costly mistakes from here on out, but I’m sure I’ll run into a few of them sooner or later.
What an honest post, I appreciate it! It is impressive that you didn’t accrue major debt with penny trades, online gambling… Glad you hear you learned from your mistakes and things are getting better !
Off to check out your blog now…
Yeah, i was able to save a bunch of money by living with my folks. I know it’s looked down upon and your parents are probably eager to kick you out, but if you can help it, I recommend it to every young people out there. If you start early saving money, you’ll be on your way to financial freedom just that much quicker!
I have almost the same experience as you, but only with a few thousand instead of tens of thousands. I’ve since learned to stay away from all gambling – online poker and penny stocks or “sure things”. Thanks for sharing your story!
I think my biggest single day fluctuation was being up $12,000 in one day. I was so overwhelmed that I went home from work to take a breather. By the time I got home (15 minutes), I had lost all my gains and by the end of the day, I was down $2000. I wanted to have a heart-attack.
Hello fellow Marylander! Good intro. You are a major risk taker (penny stocks, online gambling) in your financial pursuits.. Do you still take a lot of risk or have you become a little more conservative?
Hey There! Don’t you LOVE today’s weather? [note sarcasm] Nowadays, I take less risk mostly because I’m getting married soon. I have to learn to be just a little more conservative with my money. I always believed that higher risk brought higher rewards, but I failed to recognize the other end of the spectrum.
After so many nice days, today just had to be a dreary one. Congratulations on the impending nuptials!
Thanks for sharing your interesting story, and being open about past risk-taking. Seems like you’ve learned, and are on the right track! Congrats on the growth of your blog, that’s an impressive accomplishment. I’ll check out your blog this afternoon.
thanks for your encouraging words
Charles, I too have been one to take a lot risks. Some worked, some didn’t but I learned from all of them.
Today, I am “risking” all the time I spend on my online second job. Maybe not the same as cold cash, but my time is pretty valuable all the same.
Good luck with the future, and if the fed keeps printing money, home prices will rebound quicker than everybody thinks… Good luck!
I sure do hope the home pricing will rebound. I realized that the school system in my neighborhood isn’t all that great. Once we have children, we’ll defnitely have to consider moving out to a better school community.
Wow, Mr. Risky Business over here. :) Cool story though, and some valuable lessons learned. I hope your blog can provide you with that supplemental income you desire!!
Yes, I definitely learned some lessons along the way. Hopefully I won’t be making those same mistakes again!
While I don’t do penny stocks I’ve had my money dip on some speculative ones… Actually I posted about one such stock today! Perfect timing :)
At least you knew your limits! It’s quite amazing that you didn’t dip into debt for a bit. Good job on that!
I’m thankful that I didn’t go into debt. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t lose much money. The money I lost made a huge dent in my savings. But what’s done is done and I can only look forward from here on out.
Charles, you are quite a guy and have lived an interesting life. Talk about making all the mistakes. Thankfully you survived and I am sure you can pull a lot of references for your material from those experiences. So this wasn’t a total lost.
Anyway, glad to hear your story. Sounds like you are on the right track. I am only in my second week with Yakezie, but it has been wonderful. Should have joined months ago.
Cheeers!
Thanks for your kind words. Hopefully I can contribute to Yakezie the lessons I’ve learned in my short journey thus far.
It is great to read about people transitioning to blogging success from all different careers and experience levels. Reading about an engineer moving to finance blogging from Xanga because of a chance meeting with a Problogger shows what a little elbow greese can do.
The power blogger I met sold his site for millions of dollars. I will never even come close to that, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Besides, i’m learning so much just interacting with everyone here and reading their posts!
Wow you are lucky to have come out of that in tact, good for you for not sliding into the borrowing game and finally straightening yourself out!
Gotta get that 300k down a bit more :)….. I don’t swing by and visit anywhere near enough so will try and remember to put you on my rounds.
Thanks Forest. I finally came to my senses. I think if we all continue supporting each other, we’ll all reach our own personal goals in no time.
Hello Charles!
I do not know what Xanga is…but I am assuming it was some old blog format?
Nice introduction, and I am glad you have stopped losing so much money (although it was great that you did not go into debt because of it, so props for that!)
Xanga was popular right around when Friendster and Myspace was popular, maybe around 5-6 years ago. I used to be obsessed with it. Now, i don’t see anyone using it. I guess that’s how it goes with some of these fads.
Yes, to lose tens of thousands via gambling is quite a story; kudos to you for not going into debt amid those challenges and for enjoying your job (that seems kind of rare nowadays).
Thanks. I hate debt and I hope I never have to be in one, unless if you count mortgage and car payments debt. But secured debt isn’t really debt, is it?
Charles, I appreciate how you shared your background. It sounds as if you are moving forward and learning from your money misteps. Life is a long road, and if you can work as an engineer and keep up a blog, you’re destined for success!! Keep it up!
Thanks. I still have a long way to go and lots to learn. I’ve learned so much just the past couple months from this group and reading other posts!
The thing that stuck out to me the most, is that you took these risks, but never went into debt!
I’m with forest, I need to stop by more often and help get that 300k down.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks Khaleef.
Charles you live on the edge! Trading penny stocks AND trying to become a professional poker player with you own money? Cojones grande my friend.
Sandy, yeah I used to live on the edge and was more of a risk-taker back then. Now that I’ll have a wife to support in a few months, I need to be wiser with my (our) money :)
Thanks everyone for all the encouraging comments! It’s a pretty awesome community we are building here!
Crazy stories about the penny stocks! Interesting to read about someone from a more fiery background. Good thing that you quit gambling with those pennies…
thanks. I quit gambling with penny stocks as soon as I was sued for it. The entire process was a pain in the butt but it was such a relief when everything ended on a good note. I’m never touching pennies again!
I can’t say that I ever got into penny stocks, but did give day trading a shot once. And I was a full fledged gambler for a time. I was a blackjack dealer, and that gets into your blood after a while. Still get the itch when I’m around a table, but usually am able to avoid it. ;)
Day trading is crazy. There is a dude in my church who is a professional day trader and he has one crazy set up in his basement. 10 monitors all running different charts and graphs…crazy!
Wow. Dare I call you the Schleprock of personal finance? No – mainly because you’d have to be at least 40 years old to understand what I’m talking about. LOL
Your money setbacks may have left you a bit lighter in the pocketbook, but richer in life experience, so it can’t be considered a total loss.
Keep on plugging along – you’re going to be just fine!
All the best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com (and fellow engineer)
Len, haha, honestly I have no idea what you’re referring to. LOL. thanks for you encouraging words. I just hope you’re right about them.
I like that you’re willing to share your mistakes and help others learn from them. You’ve made great progress so far; glad you stuck with it and joined the Yakezie.
Thank you Kay Lynn. My mistakes would be for nothing if I couldn’t learn from them or tell others about them. So in a way, they’re a blessing in disguise.
Charles, that’s a really interesting story. I was shocked to read that you were never in debt despite some of the struggles you mentioned. I think that’s definitely a testament to the fact that even though you were being risky with your money, you were still being smart by not taking on debt to finance poker or trading penny stocks. That definitely adds a ton of credibility. Really interesting to also hear how you got into blogging and it’s fun to have you in the community. You’ve got a great blog going!
Congrats on finding a more lucrative hobby! Mr. BFS lost a few hundred on online poker in college while he was thinking of poker as a career…not exactly a money maker. We’ve all made money mistakes I’m sure. I’m glad you never went into debt for yours. :-)
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