Fiscal Geek Interview

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It's another edition of Sunday Blogger where I share some of my personal favorite bloggers.

Getting to Know Fiscal Geek

This week Paul from Fiscal Geek has been kind enough to participate!

Paul, could you tell us a little about yourself?

By day I'm a network engineer at a very large corporation. I've been in the tech field going on 15 years and have the desire to move into more entrepreneurial pursuits. I'm married to a wonderful wife and have two boys in elementary school. I'm a geek at heart. I love technology and numbers, that's where the name FiscalGeek came from.

Oh and lastly I used to be the world's worst money manager. I'm reformed. While not quite as miraculous as my namesake from the Bible I have been transformed.

What motivated you to begin blogging about personal finance?

My wife and I went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and at about the 2nd session something clicked and I was hooked.

Something in my geek brain loved consuming new information regarding personal finance. I read everything I could get my hands on and had this strange desire to do something with it, but I didn't know what.

I originally thought I would write some budgeting software or make a product and then one night I just decided to start a blog. That was in May of 2009.

I also wanted a place to be accountable and share my financial journey out of debt. It turned out to be the perfect vehicle for me, because I could combine what I had learned, work with some technology and occasionally insert my sarcastic sense of humor.

What are your favorite personal finance books?

Hands down the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. If you are looking for a sound blueprint for clawing your way out of financial ruin this will get you going. If you are looking for some tips for investing and where to direct your money The Boglehead's Guide to Investing is fantastic.

Finally I just read and reviewed “Your Money Ratios: 8 simple tools for Financial Security.” This is a great book for giving you some easy to use ratios for analyzing your financial situation.

What are some of your favorite posts on the site and why?

My very favorite so far was where I got to proclaim We’re Debt Free!, it's a personal narrative between my wife and I how we paid off $63,000 in 11 months. I have some very eclectic topics that I cover at times very loosely related to Personal Finance and some of those have been my favorites.

For the best reader interaction I like Why My Kids will Drive a Piece of Crap. I thought my post was good but the comments were gold. A post I wrote out of sheer heat frustration was How to Make your Own Homemade Air Conditioner that was very popular.

Finally I had a blast writing The A-Team talks about the Roth 401k vs. Traditional 401k's. As part of my research I watched several episodes on Hulu to get inspired.

What do you hope to accomplish in the next year with FiscalGeek?

I have a stretch goal to have 1000 subscribers by the end of the year, a lofty goal to be sure but I think achievable. Hopefully your readers will head over and subscribe or become a fan on Facebook

. I'm also hoping to launch on ebook project sometime this year. I'm working on my exit strategy from the corporate world and in doing so, I'm compiling a lot of research both from a financial and a small business standpoint to do just that and thought it would be a great reference for others contemplating their own escape.

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Thanks Paul for being a part of my series. Paul blogs over at Fiscal Geek and on Twitter. I hope you can help Paul meet his goal!