I Am So Money

How do you like that confidence?!

It’s true though – I am (thrilled to be on the) So Money podcast again!

And I was a little nervous, not gonna lie… it’s been a hot minute since I was last on a show, but that quickly faded as Farnoosh and I got going because it’s like reuniting with family. I was one of her first guests when her podcast first launched, and now here we are over 10 years later just picking up the convo where we left it!

It’s fun to read the summary of that first episode too compared to this new one:

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“I’m very excited to introduce today’s guest. He is one of the most influential financial bloggers of our time and the founder of 2 personal finance websites BudgetsareSexy.com and RockstarFinance.com. He also coaches people interested in blogging and launching an online business. His name is J. Money.

Like many of us, J. struggled with money and made some poor choices early on. So what did he do? He decided to blog about. In 2008 he started his personal finance blog, BudgetsareSexy.com, to track his spending and keep himself accountable. And that worked! Since then, he’s built his net worth to over half a million dollars… by doing what he loves!

Three takeaways from our interview:

1. Why home ownership is not for everyone (J$ <– Still believe this!)
2. How Craigslist helps J. develop better money habits…and MAKE money WEEKLY.
3. Awesome tips on reducing your phone bill … (Farnoosh: and I just got mine and due to data overages, my bill was an extra $100 this month. I’m seriously considering switching plans. This is absurd.)

Our favorite quote from today’s interview: “I’m challenging myself every week to get rid of more stuff.””

You can check out the show here: So Money, Ep. 43: J. Money, Financial Blogger

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And then here is the write-up on the show that just went live!

“For as long as I’ve known him — which is now more than fifteen years — he’s had the same signature look: a sharp mohawk and an even sharper perspective on money.

Today on So Money, we welcome back one of the original voices of the personal finance internet: J. Money, the longtime blogger behind Budgets Are Sexy and the founder of Rockstar Finance, a platform that helped shape the early personal finance blogging community. When this podcast first launched more than a decade ago, J. Money was one of my earliest guests – back when sharing your net worth online was considered radical and the idea of building a career from a blog about money was still pretty new.

In this conversation, we catch up on what’s changed – and what hasn’t. The mohawk is still there, thankfully. But J.’s life looks very different these days. He’s stepped away from blogging full-time, sold his site to The Motley Fool and later bought it back, and now spends much of his time running something called a “Free Closet,” giving away thousands of clothing items every week to people in need in his community.

We talk about the early days of the money-blogging world – when transparency about debt, savings, and net worth helped motivate an entire generation to take control of their finances. We also talk about what happens when you actually reach financial independence. Does money stop mattering? What motivates you next?

J. shares why the blogging magic eventually faded for him, how social media changed the tone of personal finance conversations, the surprising lessons he’s learned from working closely with unhoused communities, and why he believes the real power of money is simply the freedom not to think about it anymore.

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So fun to reflect and take in all that’s changed in this time… You do a lot of things in 10 years! New jobs, projects, moves, births, deaths, more gray hairs, NEEDING READING GLASSES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE! (I swear – I did nothing different and then one day BAM – everything’s blurry in front of me. How??!)

If there was a quote to be tacked onto this episode like the first one, it would have been this:

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale

A good reminder to get going on something that’s important to you

Thanks for having me on again Farnoosh, and I will see you in another 10 years, God willing!

You can listen to this latest episode here:

So Money, Episode 1,957: J. Money, Founder: Budgets Are Sexy

[This post, I Am So Money, was first published by J. Money on Budgets Are Sexy]