Finally it’s my turn to share my story. I’ve had plenty of time to write this, too bad I like to wait to the last minute :) Here’s the lowdown on me in list form:
The Present
· I’m 25
· I live in Orlando, Florida (Yes if you live near Disney it’s not as fun)
· When I fill out my education I always pick “Some College”
· I’m getting engaged next week to my GF (I’m going on a cruise Saturday so hopefully she won’t see this)
· I’m a Bankruptcy Counselor
That’s me now. Now here’s the rest.
The Past
I was never money conscious growing up. I would spend like there was no tomorrow because…well…I didn’t know money didn’t grow on trees. I didn’t ever realize that until I started living on my own and HAD to pay bills. It’s not a good thing when you tell your roommate “yo dawg, can I give you the money for rent next week?” Yea, that’s no good.
The Debt
I never really got into credit cards until I turned 20 and started to try and impress the ladies….and partied with too much money. I never got a lot of debt (just a few thousand) but it was more than I could handle at that time and eventually went to those great people I like to call Debt Collectors. Once I realized I hated being broke I went to where all of the information is located….The Internet.
Mind Expansion
I searched high and low to find information to get me better with money. And I stumbled upon a plethora of personal finance sites. I would scour their archives and learn as much as I could…and boy did I learn. 3 or 4 years ago I even decided that I wanted to start my own site, so I created a community based personal finance site where people could come and share their stories. Well apparently you need a community to do that and so that failed.
I Hate My Life
During this time I worked at a local paint store and absolutely hated going to work every day. I just felt like that’s not how I should view a job. So I went looking and found a company that worked in financial education and I viewed it as a place where I could start on my way to helping people with financial problems (A goal of mine ever since I learned to control my finances). So I applied for the job of bankruptcy counselor and got it. That was by far the best decision I have ever made because my life is so much more….Well let’s just say I look forward to waking up every day.
The Recent Past
About a year ago I started dating a wonderful woman who makes my world brighter. I also finally realized I was growing up and needed to get serious about my future. About 7 months ago I created Financially Poor and learned all that I could about creating a successful blog. I really wanted to put the work in so it wouldn’t go down in flames like my last project. I came upon the Yakezie and realized that this could be something that can help me to help other people. I can grow with it and we can all help each other succeed. It sounded like a great support group so I joined. The rest is history.
The Future
I really don’t like a company to control my job security, so I’m really hoping to grow this blogging business I got going on. I hope to support me and my future wife, and of course my future children with this venture. I’m learning a lot of skills by making my own blog and experimenting a lot. Hopefully I’ll be able to market them in the future. I’m really looking forward to what’s to come and where this adventure is taking me in life.
That would have been a great spot to stop….oh well…Here are some of my favorite posts that I’ve written:
Why There is No Need to Ever Have Financial Stress
Break The Cycle Of Being Financially Poor
The Path To Financial Freedom: Get Your Mind In The Game
Join us for further discussion in the Yakezie Forums.
Kevin, first off, that is so cool you’re getting engaged soon and I wish you the best of luck. As mushy as it sounds, I want to hear about the proposal! I feel special I might be one of the first to know, haha. Anyways, it sounds like you two are an awesome fit so that’s great to hear. Your story and background is really neat. I think it’s cool you’re trying to build a blogging business using your finance background…a great way to combine your skills and passion. Your content over on Financially Poor is awesome and really unique, and it’s a huge reason why your blog is doing amazing. Keep up the great work Kevin!
Congrats on the engagement!! I enjoy your blog and hope you knock it out of the park with getting it to a sustainable level. Sounds like you’re pretty motivated, so I don’t think you’ll have any trouble! Best of luck!
Hey Kevin,
Congratulations on your upcoming engagement!
I love that the primary motivation for you being a bankruptcy counselor was born out of helping people. The intensity that you bring to blogging and microblogging is inspiring.
Kevin,
First, congrats on the engagement! I love that you love going to work now that you are doing something to help others. Wouldn’t it be neat if everyone could learn that lesson? Your blog site is doing great … I can’t believe Financially Poor has only been going seven months! I wish you the best at continuing to grow your blog where it will become your primary income source. The way you have grown so far, I have every reason to believe you will make it!
It’s great that you’ve got work now that you enjoy, and that you’ve done the proverbial turning lemons into lemonade. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as a bankruptcy counselor.
That’s the great thing about titles, they make you seem more than you actually are :)
Kevin, I love the rent overdue story, dawg!
Now that you know what a good thing looks like, with a job you enjoy, working for yourself will be all the sweeter!
Good Luck with your dreams, and congrats!
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Cool story Kevin. I feel the same about the job INsecurity you have when you work for someone else so I wish you luck in your endeavors.
And congrats on the engagement!
Congratulations on the Engagement, Kevin!
I find it interesting that so many of us here are people who are/were in debt and had to learn the hard way how to control it and now are attempting to help people who are in the same shoes we were. Just goes to show why the Yakezie works so well!
Very true. Learning from other peoples experience is very helpful, and we have a bunch of that.
Congrats on the upcoming engagement! I hope it is as romantic as you’re planning! I love cruises and think she’ll be blown away!
We seemed to have started our pf blogs at the same time, lol. Good luck with your future goals with it – I completely understand your drive since I’m trying to turn it into my full time venture as well. :-)
Good to have you aboard and to hear your story…and congrats on the engagement. Marriage is another story and chance to learn and grow, but i will save that one. Been married now for 9 years.
Glad to hear that you are learning a lot being a bankruptcy counselor. That has to be a great vocation to start a personal finance blog because you hear the real life stories and wrong doings everyday. This is valuable when blogging and you can share that with others to help them not make the same mistakes
Best of luck and looking forward to networking you in the Yakezie Blogosphere!
Yea, I get a lot of post ideas from other peoples stories and what they should have done, or should do from now on.
Congrats on the engagement! It’s great that out of your experiences, you found your passion and found something that you enjoy. Hope you guys have a blast on the cruise!
That is awesome that you left your other job to find a job that you were passionate about. That makes you life so much better, especially when your job deals with the subject you are passionate about. Does being a bankruptcy counselor provide you with a ton of stories to tell on your blog?
yea I get a lot of ideas. Especially from people that don’t sound like they really learned their lesson.
Welcome to the gang. Being engaged is super fun, but kinda stressful. Hopefully the GF doesn’t see this post! Work hard and you’ll be able to support yourself via blogging income one day.
Congratulation on your engagement!
Money has always been a little tight for me growing up so spending was never a huge problem for me. It’s good that you figured out how to deal with debt early.
Good luck with the website and your goal.
Best of luck with the proposal! Nice that you’ve been able to turn your experiences into helping others.
Great post on the importance of being persistent. Your second site has already exceeded the success of the first one.
Yea by a long shot. It’s definitely thanks to everyone in the Yakezie
Kevin
Congrats on the impending engagement! I remember when we challenged each other to do well on the original Yakezie challenged but you have far surpassed me (I fell waaaaaaay off). But don’t worry, I’ll fight my way back up to you. I love seeing you do so well.
I’ll be looking forward to future battles
What an exciting time in your life- congratulations!
I love that you are working with people in bankruptcy. I bet you are great at it as you seem to truly have a passion for both finances and helping people.
Love your site- keep up the great work!
Kevin, really great story! I love hearing about turning past mistakes into a career of helping others!
Also, congrats on the potential engagment!! (if you haven’t asked yet it’s still potential, but we’ll cross our fingers :)). Good luck and have a great time on your cruise!
Interesting story. Good luck with the secret engagement plans!
Holy cow, good luck with the proposal!!! Ah, good ol’ partying, that’s the fun way to get into debt for sure. Great to be working with you, look forward to reading more.
Thank you all for the good wishes. I’ll be sure to let everyone know what happens.
Wow..what an exciting time in your life. Congrats on your blog and your engagement. Look forward to checking out your blog.
Congrats on getting engaged!
I’ve watched your site for more than a few months, and your site is always evolving! It’s actually very exciting! Everytime I stop by it seems like you have inproved and have something new going on!
I wish you get best of luck! I think you made a wise choice joining the Yakezie group! :)
Congrats on your engagement! Best of luck on your blogging adventures. I wish you much success. I too live by Disney, and you are right, it is not that much fun when you live here. :)
@Kevin-Congratulations on your strength to see when things aren’t going in the right direction and then take steps to move forward. I know you will continue with your success. And best of luck in your upcoming marriage. Being married is awesome!
Congratulations!! How exciting! You have to tell us all the details when you get back. =)
Congratulations – not only on your upcoming engagement, but also on turning your early financial struggles into a teaching opportunity for so many!
I figured you were blogging much longer than 7 months! I guess that’s what happens when you really take your work seriously!
Great job!
Hi Kevin, nice work on getting your finances in order man! Hope you two have a splendid marriage.
Thanks for all your great wraps!
Bankruptcy Counselor? That has to be extremely frustrating/rewarding. I hope the soon to be wife doesn’t see this post!
That’s really cool that you started working debt to help others. I have enjoyed your blog and interacting with you. Yakezie is awesome, such a range of people.
Good luck making the blog your J.O.B.
Great stuff Kevin – It’s cool that you get paid to help others get back on track, although I’m sure it can be plenty frustrating at times! (sounds a lot like teaching school) Enjoy your cruise, and I hope this didnt blow your cover!
Thanks Kevin for being so honest and admitting where you went wrong. You have shared so many valuable tips on how to avoid those mistakes that I am sure many are grateful. Congrats on your engagement. Best of luck with the continued success of your blog too.
Congrats on the engagement man! Marriage will change your life, it’s awesome. I’m right there with you in that no company should control how you live your life; break the chains and start living the way you want! Woohoo! :)
Congratulations on the recent engagement. My wife and I recently celebrated our 13th anniversary, and it seems like just yesterday, we were getting married. It sounds like you are really moving forward in several positive directions (does that make sense?) and it’s always cool to see folks succeeding with their blogging efforts. Rock on!
Your site has done quite well for a 7 month-old site. Nice work!
And congrats on the engagement. It takes a lot of guts to publish a secret on the internet a week before it goes down.
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A big congrats on your upcoming engagement! I really like your jumpstart your financial freedom course, great job.
Best of luck with the continued success of your blog! 7 months, and you have grown it quite well!
Hello Kevin!
Early congratulations:). I got engaged last summer, and married this past April. It’s been great!
That is really neat that you are a bankruptcy counselor–you must hear a lot of stories and be able to sympathize well. I know some people must get into really gut-wrenching situations, and I am sure it is great to be able to turn to you for help.
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Congrats on your upcoming engagement, Kevin. To ensure a long and happy marriage, always remember what’s hers is hers and what’s yours is hers. It’s kept me and the Honeybee happy for almost 15 years now. (Okay, it’s kept one of us happy.) ;-)
Best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
Kevin, congratulations on the engagement. You have to give us all a recap when you get back. I’m so impressed that you’ve found a job you enjoy and have a plan for financial freedom. Most of us weren’t that together at age 25.
I want to thank you for all your support of me via the Yakezie. It’s greatly appreciated.
Congrats on your engagement! I recently got engaged and preparing for them is more fun that I originally thought. Looking at expenses, however, is NOT fun at all!!
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