My name is Justin and I’m the creator of Money Is The Root. You may have noticed that my tagline is “money is the root of all things good”, a play on the old adage that it’s the root of all evil. As I’ve said many times I don’t believe that money is necessarily the path to happiness, it’s just a means to a happy ending, and the root of everything in between.
I was raised by divorced parents that were polar opposites when it came to personal finance. Neither of my parents never had much money. However, my mom was very keen on saving and living well within our means, and I never went without. In fact, she paid for a large portion of my undergrad degree, and taught me many valuable lessons about spending and saving. We still had our worries about financial and job stability, but over the years we made it work.
My father was on the other end of the spectrum when it came to finance. He was a loving father who also paid a good portion of my undergrad degree, and spent as much time with me as he could. Regardless, he would tend to live beyond his means, flirting with bankruptcy more than once and eventually succumbing to it.
I tell you the story about my parents to show you the roots of my interest in finance. I love both of my parents very much, but obviously each one showed me a very different perspective of financial responsibility. Both ingrained in me the importance of a college education, owning my own home, and now in later years they have showed me how important it is to save for retirement. I always have and always will worry about their prospect for retiring at a healthy age, and if I can help in any way then I will. I know that retiring at a healthy and relatively young age is personally important to me.
DIDN’T LISTEN
Despite what I’ve learned about financial responsibility I spent many years in my 20’s doing just the exact opposite. It took credit card debt, student loans, little savings, all in despite of a well paying salary to teach me the error of my ways. This led me to spend a lot of spare time perusing one personal finance blog after another. I found a ton of useful information that genuinely helped me reverse my poor financial position, and gave me many of the qualities that I carry with me now. Though after a few years of reading the blogs I found myself having conflicting opinions, and I wanted an opportunity to share what I learned and my own thoughts on personal finance. Thus I launched Money Is The Root back in February. I am anything but a technical person, so learning how to begin my own site took quite a bit of time, but I couldn’t be happier that I began and have since stuck with my blog. It has since become a rather enjoyable hobby, and surprisingly another source of income.
STARTING OFF AND CONTINUING
When you begin blogging it can be quite frustrating in the beginning. You can write a couple dozen articles and never get noticed, receive no comments, and have very few visitors. It takes research, dedication, the ability to produce consistent and quality blog content, and a ton of hard work. Finding a selfless and helpful group like the Yakezie may be the only reason that I have had the successes that I have. Our network is a successful niche of over achieving bloggers that are more than welcoming. I will admit that prior to joining the Yakezie I didn’t honestly see myself sticking with my blog, and now I can’t imagine not continuing on indefinitely. As a member I am going to work hard towards lending a hand to new bloggers while giving back to those who so generously helped me.
Congrats on becoming a Yakezie member. You have a very interesting story and I love reading your blog. You’re doing great!
Thanks Derek! I enjoy reading yours as well. I love the relationships we have all built here.
Derek, you are almost always the first to comment. Tell me your secret on how you do it?! :)
Congrats Justin! I too have just recently joined Yakezie and I’m reaping the benefits already. :)
Congrats and welcome to the family!!! Thanks for sharing your story. I too learned the hard way. The good thing is, we have turned ourselves around. Best of luck with everything going forward.
Thank you! Ive worked very hard to get here, and the reward is everything I thought it would be
I remember the first time I saw the title to your blog…I thought it was possibly the best name out there!
Thanks I really appreciate that!
Welcome Justin! I always enjoy reading your blog. While I do believe it’s true that “the love of money is the root of all evil” I also agree that the lack can cause trouble as well. Unfortunately I also learned from my parents what not to do. Good to see that you are providing a new perspective on it.
I always enjoy reading yours as well, you have been a huge help to me since I became a challenger
Nice member post. And congratulations scoring that hot babe in the picture!
Thanks Kevin, she will appreciate that comment lol
I like this member post a lot, you shared quite a bit about what shaped your views on personal finance. Well done!
Nice post! I enjoyed learning more about you. It’s so interesting how our childhood experiences with money can carry over into adulthood.
Congratulation! Thanks for sharing and hope your dad is doing better financially now.
He is at least more responsible for himself now, which is nice, and a step forward, thank you!
Congratulations on becoming a member! The benefits will just continue from here.
I also worry about my parents’ retirement (both sets–from divorced as well). My parents are fairly young, so hopefully they’re saving as a type this….:).
It’s sad to have to worry about them, and I feel I always will. I hope your parents are saving as well! I am determined now so that my children won’t have the same worries
Justin, it’s been fun getting to know you through your blog and watching you make serious progress in such a short time. Looking forward to lots more from you!
Thanks Sandy, you are one of the yakezie that has always been more than willing to provide help.
Hi, Justin. Congratulations. I have enjoyed reading your blog and watching your progress in your weekly reports.
Thanks for stopping by as often as you have Melissa!
Congrats on reaching your alexa goal – great to have you in the yakezie.
Your family sounds very similar to my own. My mother was very frugal and remarried a financially savvy fireman, my fun dad lived a glamorous lifestyle always on the verge of going broke. I ended up in some financial messes in my 20’s that took me a while to dig out of. Thankfully, found my way!
Congrats on becoming a member and welcome to the Yakezie!
Live and learn, always glad to chat with someone who can relate to my story!
Congrats! Great to hear your personal story with your finances. I’ve enjoyed reading about your blog’s progress and your blogging goals on MITR.
We started around the same time, glad to see us both become members!!
Beautiful picture of you two, the beach, and the sunset. Would make a great early retirement picture! Your story sounds a little like Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Looks like you learned some valuable lessons. Congrats, welcome aboard, and continued success!
Thanks, that was in Laguna Beach…we would both like to live there now lol. The blog may have to be a bit more successful before that happens haha
Congratulations on becoming a member. It is always interesting to learn more about other members.
Wishing you continuing success. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your site and background. Sounds like you are on the right path.
Great story. Thanks for sharing it with us. I am new to Yakezie and look forward to reading more of your work. :)
Welcome Justin! Thanks for sharing your story!
Congrats! My parents are completely opposite with money habits too and money was always a struggle in my family, and still is for my parents. They both work hard though and I’m thankful for everything they did to get us through the rough patches. -Sydney
Justin, congratulations on the turnaround and a successful blog. Good to hear your story – didn’t know you were a fellow Alum of Ross. Are you still in MI? GO BLUE! We have a lot to look forward to this fall buddy!
I assume you are referring to football, and I certainly hope so!!!
Yes I am still in Michigan, I live in Novi
UM indeed. I’ll ping you next time I’m in the Novi/Nville area
congratulations on reaching your goal :) i think many in the personal finance field start with similar stories, it’s what you do after you get in the hole that’s interesting.
Hey Justin, thanks for sharing your story and great you stuck around long enough to make it through! If you can speak forever, you can certainly blog forever!
I can’t wait for football season myself. I donno about UM though! I think the Pac 10 is still gonna dominate!
Is that your gf or wife in the picture? Nice one of you two!
BTW, I added a link back to your site, as it didnt have one. Still need to figure out your RSS feed too.
Good to have you on board!
Thanks Sam! Actually she is my fiance, I proposed on the vacation we took, that’s where our pic is. Very happy to be on board.
Congratulations on your Yakezie membership. Thanks for sharing your story and wishing you continued blogging success!
Congratulations on getting things turned around and now helping out others!
Good to see your blog doing so well! Thanks for sharing a little about yourself.
Congratulations on the engagement and thanks for sharing your story!
I think it sounds like you had a very beneficial childhood as you got to see both sides of the extreme in terms of spending and living within ones means. Life and money are tough to balance, but it sounds like you’re doing a great job now.
Justin, thanks for sharing how you were formed financially with us. I enjoy your blog and look forward to seeing your continued success!
Interesting play on the old saying… It’s not money, or even love of money that’s the root of all evil, but rather the feelings of envy and jealously that can accompany thoughts about money!
I agree with you that it is the root of all things, or perhaps, at least most things. It is so important to manage it properly to lead to good outcomes in many facets of our lives. Thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks for being willing to share your personal details. I followed a similar path – not listening to the advice and learning the hard way. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s what it takes.