Ask The Digerati Life a question! (Women of Personal Finance Spotlight)

[Dawniepoo]

Originally Posted by svb

Thank you Dawnie! I know what you mean by frenzy.... Thanks for your support, it keeps all of us bloggers going!

Reading stories from Digerati life, Get Rich Slowly and Wise Bread keeps me focused on my finances. It is a good relationship we've got here.

[Shanghai 08]

I enjoyed reading the answers SVB.

Looks like the balcony is closed. But in case you stuck around, I was wondering what kind of advice you have regarding teaching personal finance responsibility to children. It seems like everything on TV is teaching our kids to buy buy buy.

Thanks in advance.

[Perchance Frugal]

Originally Posted by svb

In the past, I absolutely loved Twin Peaks (by David Lynch) and X-Files.

I love X-Files! I haven't seen the new movie yet but I'm really looking forward to it. It seems like a much quieter film with more focus on the relationship between Mulder and Scully than vast alien conspiracies.

Finally, I'd love to know what your high profile job is -- I am sure I'll be *very* impressed!

You are too kind.

I am the spokesperson for the mayor's office for a mid-sized city. When there is good news to announce the mayor will announce it. I get stuck with all the bad news.

You made an excellent point about anonymity. While I enjoy learning more about bloggers and their background, I also understand that finance is a tough issue to share with the public at large.

[Frugal Duchess]

Hi!
Your answers are so thoughtful, especially about the nuts-and-bolts of blogging.

You mentioned your kids in an earlier response. How do you schedule your blogging around family life? What kind of personal-professional balance do you try to strike? Do you hit that target?

You're one of my favorite bloggers and I enjoy your work.

[svb]

Originally Posted by Shanghai 08

I enjoyed reading the answers SVB.

Looks like the balcony is closed. But in case you stuck around, I was wondering what kind of advice you have regarding teaching personal finance responsibility to children. It seems like everything on TV is teaching our kids to buy buy buy.

Thanks in advance.

Still here, checking on things! I have a couple of young kids and actually, I've been recently teaching the concept of "money" to my older child, who's just about able to grasp the idea. I believe that the best way to teach is (as they say) by example. If we are prudent in the way we spend and are vocal to our kids about how we save and invest, then I'd expect that these lessons will take root for them starting at a young age. I just recently touched on the subject of teaching kids about finance in this post about how we grade our money management skills.

Given these parameters I've just mentioned, then I actually learned about personal finance pretty late in my years. I started handling checks only when I started to live on my own, while in college (if you can believe it), and even then I wasn't that interested in the topic. It was only when I started to make enough money that I felt inclined to study the subject further, which was after I secured my first "real" job.

Also, now that I am attempting to run a small business , I am hoping that I will be in a good position to teach my kids the value of hard work and how to manage their money. I plan to "hire" them when they are of age. Given that my business is mainly of the online variety, there are a lot of things that kids can do to help, especially now that I'm seeing that my kids at their young age display an affinity for computer activities. It's definitely a great idea to hire your children to do work you would otherwise outsource, if it's possible for them to do it.

[svb]

Originally Posted by Perchance Frugal

I love X-Files! I haven't seen the new movie yet but I'm really looking forward to it. It seems like a much quieter film with more focus on the relationship between Mulder and Scully than vast alien conspiracies.



You are too kind.

I am the spokesperson for the mayor's office for a mid-sized city. When there is good news to announce the mayor will announce it. I get stuck with all the bad news.

You made an excellent point about anonymity. While I enjoy learning more about bloggers and their background, I also understand that finance is a tough issue to share with the public at large.

I'm highly anticipating the X-Files movie as well. It might be just the thing to draw me to the theater (I haven't seen a movie in a theater in years, as a frugal rule ). Your job sounds highly interesting -- very high profile! I'm just the opposite, all my jobs have had me hiding in office cubes ala Dilbert, but I'm not complaining. Coding software applications can have its exciting moments .

About anonymity (or why so many pf bloggers are anonymous): Discussing one's personal finances is a sensitive matter, and I find myself able to keep my guard down better when my identity is hidden. I wouldn't feel as comfortable about providing as much detail about my finances, life, friends and family if I gave my identity away. So it's either I stay anonymous and be open about my experiences online, or reveal who I am and maybe lose a little of the openness when I write. To keep my blog personal, I've chosen the former.

[Lynn]

Thank you for joining us SVB. It was a pleasure hosting this conversation between you, your fans, and our Wise Bread readers.

This thread is officially closed. If anyone wants to leave SVB a comment here they are welcome to do so, but keep in mind that there's no guarantee she will be checking back here.

As for the contest, it was won by SVB. Congratulations! (Though you only beat out one other person.... )

[svb]

Originally Posted by Frugal Duchess

Hi!
Your answers are so thoughtful, especially about the nuts-and-bolts of blogging.

You mentioned your kids in an earlier response. How do you schedule your blogging around family life? What kind of personal-professional balance do you try to strike? Do you hit that target?

You're one of my favorite bloggers and I enjoy your work.

Great question Frugal Duchess! I had been a full-time employee commuting to a faraway location for my job for some time. When my kids came into the picture, it definitely got more challenging to juggle everything: work, kids, home life, small business. I once more reflected on this topic in this post about the "supermom myth".

As time went on, it became very clear that my family desperately needed a more flexible schedule. It got to the point that the juggling act took a toll on me and I began to develop some health issues related to stress, which would be difficult to diagnose until I gave up the one thing that I was enjoying the least (the nine-to-five).

When the health dilemmas struck (from the pressures of being a working mom), I knew things had to change, and this is where alternative income streams came to the rescue. I took the risk of leaving my job to "get better" and to see if I could trade my job successfully for self-employment. And so far, the results have been dramatic. I no longer have the symptoms of stress that were plaguing me for the last 2 and a half years. I have to credit the improvement to lifestyle and work changes! I'm truly happy I can be at home with kids while I run my online tasks.

It took me a while to develop a routine that worked for the family. I usually work in the mornings and in the evenings. Afternoons are mostly reserved for the kids, but there are times I'm able to capture a sliver of time in the afternoon as well, to do some work. I've eliminated the long commute so that helps buy me additional time.

There is some downside with blogging that I've discovered though. With time and more experience in this area, I'm noticing that the work load I've set for myself is increasing. My goals are getting loftier, and my targets are getting stretched further. So my challenge now is to try to temper some of my expectations and ambitions and pace myself better. So far, I feel my old targets have been reached, but I'm constantly generating new targets as well..... so I'll have to work on striking that balance continuously.

At any rate though, blogging as a new preoccupation has been truly fruitful. I've met so many wonderful people through this avenue. And I absolutely love how the online world can help us all be so portable and flexible.

[svb]

Originally Posted by Lynn

Thank you for joining us SVB. It was a pleasure hosting this conversation between you, your fans, and our Wise Bread readers.

This thread is officially closed. If anyone wants to leave SVB a comment here they are welcome to do so, but keep in mind that there's no guarantee she will be checking back here.

As for the contest, it was won by SVB. Congratulations! (Though you only beat out one other person.... )

THANK YOU ever so much for the SYTYCD tickets! I am very excited about this, especially since this last season was my favorite of all seasons for this show. Again, I am grateful for the gift!