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The $76K Project blog (which I started in summer 2017) is now off the air. I didn’t delete it, but it’s currently set to private. The decision to wrap it up came down to a few things: /1
1. It was a debt blog, but then life happened and the debt journey slowed wayyyyy down. Which is totally okay, but not that aspirational. /2
2. I suppose I could spin it a bit and focus on more general money things (saving, investing, etc.), but there are other people who can do and are doing that very, very well. /3
3. After a while, I got a little tired of the criticism that sometimes comes from being transparent. Also, I started to feel like some assholes didn’t deserve to know every detail of my financial life. /4
4. But mostly the problem is that 2020 happened, and now I just don’t have many super-positive messages related to personal finance. “Save! Invest! Unless you’re making six figures, have a super stable job, and/or are already retired, you could get completely fucked over anyway!”
I mean, don’t get me wrong. YES, save. YES, invest. YES, try to negotiate for a higher salary. Do what you can to help yourself bc nobody else* sure as hell will. (That’s my lesson from 2020.)
*People want to & will help, but as individuals we can’t solve each other’s probs. /6
*People want to & will help, but as individuals we can’t solve each other’s probs. /6
There’s just such an emphasis in personal responsibility when in reality the vast majority of us are completely vulnerable because THERE IS NO NET. It’s like most of us are free soloing through life not bc we want to but bc nobody will give us a safety harness. /7
I love the PF community but a lot of PF messaging now just seems like another excuse to give corporations, government, and the people in power free rein to do whatever the hell they want, and we’re just supposed to deal with it, no matter how shitty it is. /8
The FIRE movement kind of stems from that: if you can gather enough money, you can escape from the clutches of power and do what YOU want to do. If you can do that, great, you should. It’s beneficial for the people doing it & often for their communities. /9
But not everyone can. It would be more effective for us to create a world in which we are paid fairly, are treated well by our employers, don’t have to worry about unexpected medical bills, & are guaranteed basic necessities like food and shelter. /10
And then *within* that system, we save, invest, pay off debt, etc. /11
So I guess my point is that after 2.5 years of the blog, my interests have veered away from personal finance and towards broader systemic stuff. /12
Like, give people the necessary equipment (guaranteed healthcare, access to basic necessities, etc.), and then teach them how to scale the wall. /13
Oh! And I do have a project in the works. I was planning to roll it out on Monday but I start my new job then. + I’m keeping my pt job. So in an effort to not screw myself over, project is on hold for 1-2 months until I get into a new routine.
