Chasing Dollars

Hi! Welcome to Chasing Dollars. I’m your host, and I’m glad you’re here.

t seems that starting personal finance blogs is a new fad. Maybe it’s part of this Web 2.0 thing; I don’t know. But why did I start this blog? For a couple of reasons:

• I enjoy reading other personal finance blogs. To see others making smart decisions with their money inspires me to do the same with my own. When I first started making appreciable amounts of cash, I made some pretty stupid decisions, some of which I’m still paying for. I don’t mind sharing those mistakes with the world–anonymously, of course; everyone needs their protective blanker–in hopes that it might prevent someone from making a similarly poor decision.
• Posting my financial information and decisions publicly makes me accountable for my own goals and statements. It’s too easy to commit myself to something in my head and then break that promise to myself–after all, who knows but me? I can rationalize anything to myself given enough time. But if I say that I want to increase my own net worth by 25% this year by saving not less than $2,500 each month, I know the blogging community will kick my ass if I do something contrary to that course. The collective body of readers shames me into sticking with my decisions. And that’s a good thing in my book.
• Reflecting on finances regularly helps me see things I might otherwise miss. You might look at something I’m doing with my money and have a good idea about how to do it more efficiently or cheaply. You might say, “Yo! You’re an idiot for investing in x while you still haven’t done y.” Or, just by re-reading my own entires, I might catch something I do could better.

So I’m hoping we all have fun here, have great discussions, help each other along the way, and generally enjoy ourselves. Let’s begin! Thanks again for visiting.