Welcome back to another edition of How My Blog Changed My Life, my latest series showcasing awesome bloggers whose lives have changed because of their blogs. My hope is to inspire others and myself, while learning from these fantastic bloggers.
I know my life has changed from my blog, so I love hearing about how other people’s lives have changed as well.
Today I’m excited to feature Erin, from Broke Millennial. Erin is the founder of BrokeMillennial.com, where she uses sarcasm and humor to explain basic financial concepts to her fellow millennials. Erin lives in New York City and works for MagnifyMoney.com.
1. What was the inspiration for starting your blog?
It came to me over drinks with a friend of mine. She was complaining about her job and how she’d moved to New York to be an actress. I asked her why she wasn’t pursuing the acting dream for at least a little while? It’s easy to get side jobs in New York to sustain on for a year or two if trying to be a performer is your dream. She responded how she just was too stressed about money (even though she didn’t have any debt). I kept pushing a bit asking her questions and she admitted that she just would stick her head in the sand when it came to her finances and would hope she had enough to pay her bills month-to-month.
This conversation made it click in my head how many of my millennial peers behave this way when it comes to money. I decided I wanted to do something to change people’s relationships with money by talking about my own and sharing the funny stories about my own journey to financial literacy.
2. What has been the most challenging part of having a blog?
Continuing to come up with fresh, creative content. There are so many personal finance blogs out there that it sometimes seems like the same ideas just keep getting recycled over-and-over again. I try to put some different ideas out there and on occasion just like to write some opinionated pieces to get some conversation going.
3. In what ways, direct or indirect, has your life changed because of your blog?
I’ve had the opportunity to do media appearances and be quoted by major media outlets that certainly never would’ve happened without my blog.
I’ve also leveraged my blog into not just freelance gigs, but a full-time job with a startup company called MagnifyMoney.com. I work as their brand and content manager, so I handle their social media presence and do a lot of writing on the blog as well as some basic public relations outreach.
If someone had told me two years ago that my life would change this much just because I decided to start writing a blog, I probably would’ve laughed right in his or her face.
4. What have you learned from blogging?
Just how many opinions there are out there about how to handle your finances and how to create a hybrid of some of these ideas to find what works best for you. As someone who has gone through life without any debt, I’ve really grown to respect the debt-bloggers (like yourself) who are working so tirelessly to crawl out of the red. It’s really impressive the lengths people have gone to generate more income, cut spending and change their lifestyles to prepare for their futures.
5. What advice would you give to new bloggers who are thinking of starting a blog?
Find a topic that genuinely interests you because it will be really time consuming so you don’t want to waste time on something less than thrilling. Plus, it’s easy to spot when someone is writing just to try to generate a profit on their site.
Thank you, Erin! Check out her stuff at BrokeMillennial.com and @BrokeMillennial
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24 comments
I love these interviews! What an awesome idea. It’s so wonderful hearing other blogger stories. Personally, I love hearing reading how much people have changed and their lives are different since blogging (it gets me excited about the future)!
I love this series too 🙂
Erin’s blog was one of the first I found when we started our journey to debt free. Erin, I love your upbeat and witty writing style!! Fun to learn more about the whys and hows behind Broke Millennial. Thanks for sharing, and thanks so much for being an inspiration to all of us. 🙂
Awww, thanks Laurie! You’re too kind.
Isn’t it crazy how the second-life on the internet can turn into such a big part of your “real” life?! I am frequently surprised.
Also, I hear you when it comes to coming up with new topics and content. Sometimes, it’s so easy and other times it seems absolutely impossible!
I try to keep a running list on my phone of topic ideas when I get inspired. Even something I wrote down months ago might suddenly be a great topic for a post.
That last one for sure Erin! You really do need to be passionate about it! It’s great you are representing “your generation” so well!
Awww, thanks Tonya. I love how you’ve created a spin off blog to embrace your love of healthy living. That is such a great inspiration.
I LOVE this series Melanie! Thank you so much for sharing all of these stories. For me, I am happy that Erin found blogging because our blogs led us to meet in person and become friends IRL as well as online.
Well you are one of my favorite bloggers and a mentor! The IRL connections from blogging have become so valuable.
Thanks for sharing Erin’s perspective. I recently discovered her blog and it’s great to hear what inspired her to start and continue Broke Millennial!
Thanks, Kassandra!
Very inspiring. Sharing your experience, you knowledge and part of your life in a blog is no easy task. I am also very glad I get into blogging and use it as a medium to help others find their financial freedom.
Thanks, Mike. I think it’s also great to have a chronicle of your thoughts over the years and to watch your personal growth in finance. 🙂
Great interview Erin. Thanks Melanie for sharing it with us. I love those aha moments when things click and that itch won’t go away until one starts writing and writing. Blogging has definitely changed mine and one thing I didn’t expect was how awesome and helpful the community of personal finance bloggers really were.
It’s crazy how tight-knit and helpful the community can be! I’ve heard other blogging communities are more competitive with each other, so I’m happy I stumbled into one that legitimately cares for each other.
The bit about finding new/creative content is true. I have re-used some content/ideas and done spin-offs or added my own “two cents” to some of the old ideas, but I try to write mostly about my life and how it’s affecting my finances or other “new” ideas.
I think we’ve all re-purposed content at some point. It’s simply too hard to come up with fresh content when writing for multiple platforms — or you just need an easy week! No shame in that.
I totally agree with the bit about making sure you’re passionate about a subject before try to develop a blog. What a sucky feeling it would be if you finally got an audience going and then realized you aren’t happy writing on the subject.
It can bleed through too when someone just bought a site to churn a profit and writes dreary content. Glad you aren’t one of those!
I love the interview! I never thought that I would start loving reading blogs, especially PF blogs. I really adore how some bloggers cope up with their debts and how they strive hard just to achieve a debt-free life.
It seems to hook you when you least expect it!
Great interview! Thanks Melanie for conducting this one and sharing this to us!
Thanks for reading!