Ask Lynnae from BeingFrugal a question (Women of Personal Finance Spotlight)

[Lynn]

For this entire week (9/30- 10/5), Lynnae from Being Frugal will be answering questions in this thread about frugal living, blogging, and personal finance!

Lynnae is one of the most beloved personal finance and frugal living bloggers. Her honest and warm writing connects with readers right away. I love her blog because her posts read like long helpful letters from a favorite aunt or a helpful neighbor.


Please join Lynnae in our forums as she shares her insights on how to stay frugal in this dreadful economy.

[Lynnae]

Lynn,

Thanks for your kind words about me! I'm glad to be here this week!

[marci357]

Just popping over from your blog to visit you on this one!

Question: Now that you've moved, what's one frugal thing you learned about moving or house buying that you wished you'd known sooner? Or how would you do something differently to make the move or house buying less expensive?

[Mydailydollars]

Glad that you're a featured blogger this week! My question is how have you evolved the blog over time? Do you find you've done anything to attract more readers?

[AlmostFrugal]

Hi Lynnae,

I'm glad you're a featured blogger; I'm a huge fan of yours! Here's a question: do you consider yourself more of a personal finance blogger or a frugality blogger (or both or neither or it depends...).

Kelly

[Jason White]

Hi Lynnae--it's your frugal "brother from another mother," Frugal Dad. Nice to see you featured here at the boards.

Question: What was the "ah-ha!" moment in the growth of your blog where you knew this could actually be a successful venture? Was it is a particular article's popularity, the CNN mention, or something else?

[Lynnae]

Originally Posted by marci357

Just popping over from your blog to visit you on this one!

Question: Now that you've moved, what's one frugal thing you learned about moving or house buying that you wished you'd known sooner? Or how would you do something differently to make the move or house buying less expensive?

That's a tough one, because we managed a really frugal move. We stayed at my dad's house rent free while we were waiting for our house to be completed. We used friend's trailers, rather than a U-haul to move our stuff.

I think one thing I would have done differently is make a list of things I would need for the new house well before moving day. Stuff like things for a second bathroom, curtain rods to fit the new windows, curtains. There are always little expenses that add up. I underestimated them.

[Lynnae]

Originally Posted by Mydailydollars

Glad that you're a featured blogger this week! My question is how have you evolved the blog over time? Do you find you've done anything to attract more readers?

Lately I feel like my blog has gone backwards, even though my subscriber numbers don't reflect that. I haven't been blogging much, due to my move, though I'm slowly getting back into the groove.

I think my blog has evolved with my life. As I learn more about personal finance, I share that knowledge with my readers. I think my writing has definitely gotten better, though I'll probably never have perfect grammar.

I haven't don't anything specific lately to attract more readers. I do think (and you readers can correct me if I'm wrong) that if a blogger is telling a story, readers tend to stay to see how the story turns out. In my case, the goal is to pay off debt. That's the story. And there have been several sub-stories, like my fight with Citibank and now my new house saga. I think writing about things people can relate to in a personal way makes readers want to stick around.

[Lynnae]

Originally Posted by AlmostFrugal

Hi Lynnae,

I'm glad you're a featured blogger; I'm a huge fan of yours! Here's a question: do you consider yourself more of a personal finance blogger or a frugality blogger (or both or neither or it depends...).

Kelly

I always say I'm a hybrid between a personal finance, frugality, and mom blogger. I don't know that I really fit into any one category. I write about my life and personal experiences most of the time, so I really hit all three categories.

[Lynnae]

Originally Posted by Jason White

Hi Lynnae--it's your frugal "brother from another mother," Frugal Dad. Nice to see you featured here at the boards.

Question: What was the "ah-ha!" moment in the growth of your blog where you knew this could actually be a successful venture? Was it is a particular article's popularity, the CNN mention, or something else?

I don't know that I really had one ah-ha moment. I think encouragement from my readers and from other successful bloggers has been key. Seeing other bloggers do well has been inspirational. More than anything, I think it's receiving emails from readers and knowing I'm connecting with them.

As a Christian, I feel I've been blessed with this gift of writing (though I never knew it before starting my blog), and it seems to be helping and encouraging people. So at one point I just made the decision to just keep using this gift until I felt God was leading me otherwise. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but that's where I'm at.