Yakezie.com - Topic: Blogging about my personal finances

Khaleef @ KNS Financial on Blogging about my personal finances

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:35:45 +0000

I honestly didn't even think about the criticism that can come from people thinking that I'm not paying off my debt fast enough. I figured that if I didn't talk about my income, I'd be clear from it.

I can't believe someone got upset because you purchased a toothbrush! Hahaha...

sooverthis on Blogging about my personal finances

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 15:22:50 +0000

I used to do a monthly income/spending report with details, but I got tired of the criticism that came along with it. I still keep an income progress meter in my sidebar, but I don't go into details about what I spent anymore. There are always people who want to nitpick - my favorite was, "How dare you buy your son a battery operated toothbrush! YOU HAVE DEBT!" Hahahahaha!

TightFistedMiser on Blogging about my personal finances

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:54:08 +0000

Just be prepared for criticism that comes with sharing your personal finances. One blogger/commenter is quite upset that I'm not making more money to pay off my student loans.

everydaytips on Blogging about my personal finances

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:41:53 +0000

Jason@LiveRealNow said:

I've been open about my debt and savings. To the penny.

I don't discuss my income because some coworkers read my site and that never works out well.

I've been struggling with how transparent to be with a recent windfall, though. How does a blog about debt keep running when all of the debt is magically wiped out? What happens to the flavor, the topics, and the community?

I think you should err on the side of too transparent. While you can't unring a bell, your community will appreciate the openness.

In the case of the windfall situation, you just change your focus. Instead of focusing on debt, you can focus on investing/saving instead.

Jackie on Blogging about my personal finances

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 15:08:37 +0000

I don't follow any type of structure, although I suspect it would be beneficial if I did. I post about debt and goals, whenever I feel like it. I used to aim for quarterly but it's pretty random now. I give a total for my debt, but that's the same as listing out every debt since we only have the house. (Which will be paid off really soon!) I'd probably just focus on the one I was working on at the time if we had more than one left, and give details for that one and then the total of all.

I think videos would be valuable for those who prefer getting content in that format, and for SEO purposes. I imagine the content could be the same as a blog post.

Khaleef @ KNS Financial on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:07:26 +0000

Thanks for all of the tips, suggestions, and examples. I am definitely motivated to do this, and I plan to start on Monday.

Can you recommend any widgets or plugins that can make the presentation a little better than just listing things?

I am thinking about trackers so I can show my progress. Since I use Excel, I will probably stick with that as far as inserting the info into each post.

What do you think?

Melissa (Mom's Plans) on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:22:27 +0000

Jason@LiveRealNow said:

I've been open about my debt and savings. To the penny.

I don't discuss my income because some coworkers read my site and that never works out well.

I've been struggling with how transparent to be with a recent windfall, though. How does a blog about debt keep running when all of the debt is magically wiped out? What happens to the flavor, the topics, and the community?

I think you should err on the side of too transparent. While you can't unring a bell, your community will appreciate the openness.

I think it is good that you are still being honest with the reader about what has happened to change your situation. A blog does change when someone wipes out there debt, but that doesn't mean readers will stop reading. I read your blog because of the personality, humor and great insight, not because of your struggle with debt.

Melissa (Mom's Plans) on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:20:42 +0000

I share everything about our debt and I used to share income reports, but I stopped that in part due to Yakezie and in part because my husband finished his Ph.D. and as he moves into professional positions, he didn't want our income to be out there for anyone to see.

Eric - PersonalProfitability.com on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:06:23 +0000

I do a net worth update. I don't discuss my income outside of some side projects, but I do share income from blogging, flash mobs, and DJing.

BeatingBroke on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:50:47 +0000

I think a networth update can be a good way to talk about the finances and the steps you're taking to improve them without getting into income specifics. Two that immediately come up are J$ at Budgets are Sexy and Eric at Narrow Bridge who both do networth updates without talking much about specific income levels.

Khaleef @ KNS Financial on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:20:22 +0000

Jason@LiveRealNow said:

I've been open about my debt and savings. To the penny.

I don't discuss my income because some coworkers read my site and that never works out well.

I've been struggling with how transparent to be with a recent windfall, though. How does a blog about debt keep running when all of the debt is magically wiped out? What happens to the flavor, the topics, and the community?

I think you should err on the side of too transparent. While you can't unring a bell, your community will appreciate the openness.

I have the same fears about sharing my income. Do you follow any special format, or just put everything out there for the readers?

Khaleef @ KNS Financial on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:27:33 +0000

TightFistedMiser said:

I use real numbers for both my income and expenses and those posts seem to be the readers' favorites. Although lately there haven't been many other posts. I did stop posting my online income separately since that may have contributed to my sites being penalized.

I am not brave enough to post my income, but that is more because of having friends, family, and even coworkers looking at the blog. I hope that people will gravatate to our debt repayment stories. I have to talk about the whole "skinny wallet" part of the site now.

Edward Antrobus on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:06:25 +0000

I do a monthly net worth update. At first, I included WAY to much information. Individual balances of each account. I've streamlined it a bit. Checking and savings. I'm thinking of rolling even that into one line item labeled "cash"

I don't generally share income, but if people are really interested, my wife makes $540/week after taxes and my paychecks are anywhere from $300 to $600. Quarterly, however, I have been sharing my online income.

Jason@LiveRealNow on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:47:17 +0000

I've been open about my debt and savings. To the penny.

I don't discuss my income because some coworkers read my site and that never works out well.

I've been struggling with how transparent to be with a recent windfall, though. How does a blog about debt keep running when all of the debt is magically wiped out? What happens to the flavor, the topics, and the community?

I think you should err on the side of too transparent. While you can't unring a bell, your community will appreciate the openness.

TightFistedMiser on Blogging about my personal finances

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:14:22 +0000

I use real numbers for both my income and expenses and those posts seem to be the readers' favorites. Although lately there haven't been many other posts. I did stop posting my online income separately since that may have contributed to my sites being penalized.