Personal Finance Journey Interview

In order to produce the podcast and keep content up free for you, I work with partners so this post may contain affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure for more info.

The first interview in the relaunch of the Sunday Blogger Series is Lakita from Personal Finance Journey. Besides being a wonderful member of the personal finance community, she is also a member of the Yakezie Challenge. She's also active on Twitter and Facebook, so please stop by and say ‘hi' if you have a moment.

Personal Finance Journey Interview

Why did you start Personal Finance Journey?

I started Personal Finance Journey for a number a reasons.  The main reasons are accountability and service. 

When I made the conscious decision to do something about my debt and get on the road to financial liberty I was pretty clueless as to what the first step was.

Personal finance blogs like Get Rich Slowly and Debt Free Adventure where some of the first PF blogs I started reading and helped me get on track. 

I soon realized there was a large community of PF bloggers and I wanted to be able to help someone else like they and countless others have helped me.

Congrats on your engagement!  Have you guys discussed your financial personalities? Are you more of a saver or spender?

Thank you!!!  Yes, we have discussed our financial personalities and I'm elated that it is part of our pre-marital counseling so we'll go into more detail.  We are both more savers than spenders. 

I am more “active” in terms of financial goals, but that goes with my personality.  I used to be an (careless) active spender, so it makes sense that “activity” would transfer over to saving.

How did you come about with Manners and Money for a series?

Like most topics on PFJ, this came from a real life encounter. 

I don't remember which encounter prompted the series, but I remember last summer it seemed within the course of 2 weeks I found myself at 3 showers, 2 trips to the airport, and facing “awkward silence” when the wait staff asks if the bill is “together or separate” more times than I can count.

Since it seems like talking about money is “taboo” ~ it was time to confront some of those awkward money issues.

You must have some favorite posts that you’ve written on Personal Finance Journey, which are they and why?

I sure do!

• Comparing Crown Ministries & Financial Peace is not only one of my favorites, but one of the more popular posts.  As a Christian PF blogger, Dave Ramsey and Crown Ministries stay on my radar.  They are solid courses for obtaining financial freedom and are Biblically sound.  While the core teaching for both courses is similar, depending on your goals, you may choose one course over another.  I wanted to provide a side by side comparison so people could make an informed decision.
• My Conversation with a Car Salesman was fun!  It was transposed as a dialogue so it gave me a chance to change up my writing style and allow readers to see inside my head…just a little bit!
• I shared a Letter to Myself that was supposed to be from 10 years in the future.  This was first done at Punch Debt in the Face.  Not only was the exercise very thought provoking, but I'm still encouraged everytime I read it!  Side note:  I would encourage EVERYONE to do this….even if you don't share it with the world.
• Are You Investing Your Talents is a devotional I shared based on the Parable of the Talents.  Studying the Bible and sharing my conclusions always brings me joy!

What’s your routine with creating all the useful content on Personal Finance Journey?

Because the things I write about on PFJ are based on my experiences, I need to document an idea as soon as it pops into my head. 

My cell phone is with me 90% of the time, so I have it sync'ed with Google Calendars.  When a topic comes to me, I'll mark it on the editorial calendar.

Guest posters balance the site out with their experience and expertise in areas I have yet to cover on my journey.

Are there any bloggers who have a writing style that you admire?

Yes!  I'm particularly fond of ChristianPF and Bible Money Matters because they manage to cover a variety of topics with a qualified staff of writers. 

What is notable is that even though each writer may have his/her own style, it does not detract from the cohesiveness of the sites.

I also enjoy reading Punch Debt in the Face.  That has got to be the FUNNIEST PF blog I've ever come across! 

His writing style is bold, witty and sometimes random.  Nevertheless, he deals with real-life financial issues.

What are your goals this year with Personal Finance Journey?

Simply to continue to produce consistent, quality, relevant content.

 Quantitatively, this means I want to maintain an average of at least 3 articles per week, published in at least 4 carnivals a month and have at least 2 articles published elsewhere per month.

===

Thanks again to Lakita for taking the time to do the interview. I hope you guys have a chance to check out her site and chat with her on Twitter.

Joining the Sunday Blogger Series

If you’re interesting in being interviewed as part of the Sunday Blogger series, I have a few requirements.

• You’ve been blogging for 3 months on personal finance.
• You’ve published genuine content. I want to connect to genuine bloggers, not linking to a spam site. I review all the sites before sending out interview questions.
• You’re willing to promote other bloggers in the series. I don’t expect you to tweet every interview, but I would like interviewees to spread the word on their favorite bloggers. By the way, I don’t want others to just promote the posts, please share posts from your favorite interviews. They are some wonderful bloggers out there.