In our fourth interview series, I conducted a Personal Finance Interview with Money Journey Today. We will hit on a number of topics including debt reduction, passive income, personal finance influences and more. You can find the link to the others at the end of the interview. Let’s get into our financial freedom plan interview.
Financial Freedom Plan: An Interview with Money Journey Today
I love learning from all different types of money bloggers. In order to gain financial freedom, you need to hear from other opinions and experts surrounding you. This is why I created my money blogger interview series, which seeks out interviews with other money bloggers that are seeking financial freedom.
I created an investing book that will help you achieve financial freedom in five easy steps. The book is called Dividend Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom. Achieving financial freedom takes time if you are doing it the right way. Don’t try to shoot for the moon at the get go. Work on the small things that can make your saving and investing habitual.
List of Interview Financial Freedom Plan Questions
Enough talking from me, let’s dive into our interview questions on how Money Journey Today achieves financial freedom.
What inspired you to create your site? What’s one thing that you didn’t know that you know now?
The person who inspired me to start blogging about personal finance is Ramona from pftoday.com. She has gone through a very rough patch a few years ago and shares everything on her blog: from bouncing back after losing her main source of income to becoming a successful entrepreneur, while also being an awesome wife and mother.
I follow many other personal finance blogs as well. And if there is one thing I’ve learned since I’ve started blogging about money, it’s that together, PF bloggers can really make a difference. As a community, we can inspire others to better handle their money and, who knows, reach financial goals they never thought possible. And that is downright amazing!
What is the one piece of advice that you’d give to people just realizing that they need to get their ‘financial fitness’ in order?
I’d say every little step is important, so start today! What really worked for me, personally, was setting a few financial goals and trying to stick with the plan. If the goal is getting rid of debt, then by all means focus on it. If you want to save more money for a rainy day or retirement or for a down payment, then make a plan and work towards your goal.
Why Money Journey Today? What do you hope to accomplish in the near-term and the long-term to gain financial independence?
Money comes and goes and that’s a hard fact. But how you earn it and how you spend it, is really up to you. I was never a fan of spending money recklessly, but I’m a big fan of blogging so I decided to start moneyjourneytoday.com and just share some of the things I’ve learned over the years with anyone looking to spend less and save more.
What are your favorite forms of passive income?
I’d say blogging is a great example. You can do so much with a blog nowadays, including earning passive income from it. Of course, having one or more blogs is hard work, so the income you make isn’t 100% passive. But if you love blogging and are doing it anyway, why not turn a passion into something profitable?
See Related: How to Use Geoarbitrage to Achieve Financial Freedom
What have you learned from creating passive income streams? Do you like to take your side income and recycle it into new opportunities?
I actually try to save most of my passive income. I do re-invest part of it, mainly back into my blogs, but save whatever’s left.
Over the course of the last few years, the passive income set aside has either paid for the bills when money was tight or paid for the trips I couldn’t afford otherwise.
Do you have any mentors or people that you follow that have influenced you to be financially independent?
Growing up, I learned all about frugality and saving money from my parents. They taught me how to use money to my advantage, rather than splurge on “stuff” I don’t really need.
What is your favorite way to attack personal debt?
I don’t have a favorite way to tackle it, because I don’t plan on getting into debt again anytime soon! Although it was years ago, I distinctly remember how difficult it was to pay it off. My boyfriend and I would first pay our rent, bills and debt and then use whatever money was left to “survive” ’till the end of the month.
It wasn’t easy, but at the time we thought prioritizing it was the only way to get rid of it.
What are some things that you wish you would have done as a young professional if you knew what you know now?
I wish I would have started my small business a long, long time ago. Nothing good comes out of being afraid to try something new.
But the most important thing I’ve learned is you should never give up. I know saying “follow your dreams” sounds cheesy, so let me rephrase that. Never allow others to tell you your goals are unreasonable. If you want to change careers, save money for a house or even retire young, just ignore people who put you down and focus on what’s important to you (but really focus, don’t just pretend).
Conclusion on Your Financial Freedom Plan
“Follow your dreams” to obtain your financial goals. Stay focused on the important aspects of personal finance and debt reduction. You will find success. Take the first step in personal finance right now. There is no I’ll do it later. You can achieve financial freedom by sticking with the things that worked best for you. In order to develop a financial freedom plan, you need to start early and stick with your plan. Make your plan achievable and realistic.
How will you create your financial freedom plan? Please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
Other Related Personal Finance Guest Interviews:
- Personal Finance Guest Interview with Well Kept Wallet
- Guest Interview with The White Coat Investor
- Guest Interview with Gwen of Fiery Millennials
- Interview with Vital Dollar: Building Websites as a Side Hustle
- Build Wealth Slowly: An Interview with Spills Spot
Related Personal Finance Resources:
- Top Investing Myths to Avoid Before Investing
- How to Make Money Flipping Phones for Profit
- 27+ Apps that Pay You Real Money
Other Money Related Resources:
- 23+ Online Jobs to Increase Your Income
- How to Build a Dividend Portfolio
- Living Off Dividends Calculator
- Financial Freedom Quotes
- Financial Planning Quotes
- Personal Financial Ratios You Need to Know
Subscribe to the Millionaire Mob early retirement blog newsletter to find the best travel hacking tips, dividend growth investing, passive income ideas and more. Achieve the financially free lifestyle you’ve always wanted.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Join our community of over 3,000 mobsters seeking financial freedom. What are you waiting for?
No Comment