Want to be featured in a guest post? I want to hear from you!
The most fun part of blogging for me is learning from others. The more I blog, the more I discover all kinds of great people writing great stuff. I’ve already learned a ton in my short career as a blogger.
I’d love to hear your story. Instead of the standard guest post, I’m going to go with a little different format. Answer some questions so that the world can learn a little more about you and your blog. All you have to do is answer at least 10 of the questions below and send them to me. Either use the Contact Page or send me an email (mr1500 at 1500days dot com). To get you thinking, I’ve answered them all below.
- Tell me about your blog and why it’s great.
- What is the worst financial mistake you made?
- What would you do if you inherited $1,000,000 (after taxes) today?
- What kind of car do you drive?
- Who inspires you?
- What is the best financial move you have made?
- What is your favorite place to vacation?
- What’s your favorite tip for saving money?
- What is your favorite pizza place (I am a pizza nut)?
- What is your fondest memory?
- What are your biggest goals in life?
- If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be (don’t say ‘buy Microsoft,’ everyone says that)?
- What is your favorite movie?
- What advice would you give to a 24 year old, just out of college?
- Mac or PC?
- What are your favorite personal finance websites?
- What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
- Dogs or cats?
- Prosper or Lending Club? Please explain.
- If you have children, how do you raise them to be financially responsible and frugal?
- What is the worst personal finance mistake you see people making?
- What product or service epitomizes consumerism?
- What is your favorite recipe (looking at you Herb on Herbs!)?
- What was your favorite job (or worst job)?
- <Write your own question and answer>
Answers from Mr. 1500
Tell me about your blog (or product) and why it’s great.
I get a pass on this one.
What is the worst financial mistake you made?
I bought a company called CMGI way back in the Internet craze. It went from $50 to $0 when that party abruptly ended.
What would you do if you inherited $1,000,000 (after taxes) today?
Ooooh, a couple different things:
- $100,000 into Lending Club and Prosper
- $100,00o into Berkshire Hathaway
- $100,000 into VFINX
- $695,000 into rental properties
- $5,000 to buy a used, Honda 919 motorcycle (A guy can have some fun, right?)
Also, how much would it cost to have Van Halen play in my backyard (you’re all invited)?
What kind of car do you drive?
2003, orange Honda Element. It has 130,000 miles on it and runs like the day I bought it. I love this car because I can easily take out the back seats and put a ton of construction material in it. I can even fit 4’x8′ sheets of drywall.
I have been obsessed with cars my whole life. I would love to have some ridiculous sports car, but not at the expense of early retirement.
Who inspires you?
Warren Buffett, Elon Musk and some of the physical freaks at the gym who can run on the treadmill at a high rate of speed for hours or do endless burpees.
What is the best financial move you have made?
I bought Google at IPO ($85/share). It’s now priced at over $800 and climbing like a rocket lately. At the time, one of my friends told me I was nuts. A couple years later, his company got bought by Google and he became a Googler.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Yosemite National Park in California. Go sometime in May or June. The waterfalls from the snowmelt are incredible.
What’s your favorite tip for saving money?
Skip the expensive car. Even cheap cars now are incredibly well built and can easily last you 200K miles if properly maintained.
What is your favorite pizza place (I am a pizza nut)?
In Chicago, Pequod’s, Gino’s and Giordano’s all make completely awesome deep dish. Pequod’s, which has the best crust in the world, is my all time favorite. Piece (also a microbrewery!) has delicious New York style thin crust and their Full Frontal Pale Ale is one of the best beers I’ve ever had.
In Denver, Beaujo’s makes a very good pizza (order the Mountain Pie). There is also this little microbrewery near my house called Dad and Dude’s Breweria that is great. We avoided it for a while because the name was ridiculous, but they have great pizza and beer.
What is your fondest memory?
Wow, lots good ones, but can’t pick a favorite.
- One was graduating magna cum laude in Biology and Chemisty. I started off as a decent student, but not really focused. I turned it around sophomore year and did great from that point on.
- Another was going to the grocery store after I got my first paycheck from my first real job. I bought meat for the first time after subsiding on pasta and whatever was in the bargain bin for 5 years.
What are your biggest goals in life?
Retire in my early 40s and raise good, decent children who want to influence the world in some positive way. Maintain my physical fitness (I hiked a 14er in 2012 and was feeling all good about myself. On the way down, there was a guy who was at least 70 sprinting up. I don’t know what that dude was on, but I want some of it.).
If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be (don’t say ‘buy Microsoft,’ everyone says that)?
Surround yourself with good people who challenge you. You’ll become a better person as a result.
What is your favorite movie?
Can’t pick a favorite, so I’ll throw out a bunch: Braveheart, Spinal Tap, Mulholland Drive, Dumb and Dumber, Fight Club (great anti-consumer theme), Goodfellas, Raiders of the Lost Ark, A Christmas Story, 2001 (so far ahead of it’s time), Donnie Darko, District 9 (who knew a movie could be violent, brilliant and touching all at the same time?), The Wrath of Khan…
What advice would you give to a 24 year old, just out of college?
Save/invest money until it hurts. Don’t buy an expensive car. You may do that after your retirement is totally taken care of. Work your ass now. It’s much harder to do after you have a family.
Mac or PC?
Mac.
What are you favorite personal finance websites?
Mr Money Mustache is the best. I enjoy his writing style and he backs up what he says with substance. His post on the 4% rule is one of my all time favorites and provided me with the confidence to know I could retire early and the information about exactly what I had to save to get there.
He doesn’t post often, but I enjoy Brave New Life. I also enjoy Free in Ten Years, Solving the Money Puzzle, and Net Worth Snowball. Financial Freedom UK is a very new one, but the author (Perry) is doing fine work. EarnVerse is another good one that I’ve just started to follow. Frugal Rules. Planting our Pennies and You Only Do This Once are very good too. Nickel Steamroller and Lend Academy are must reads if you’re into P2P lending. Herb on Herbs will teach you how to make fantastic food at home, saving lots of money on restaurants. A word of warning though, the awesome food photography will make you hungry.
There are a ton of other good ones and I’ll be posting on this topic shortly along with a Blog Roll.
What is the best piece of investment advice you have ever received?
I was at an investment seminar in college. It was a non-profit class that taught the basics of mutual funds, stocks, dividends and a whole bunch of other stuff. My girlfriend and I seemed like the only young people there. Almost everyone else was at least 50. At one point, the lecturer looked right at me and said something like, “You’re young and therefore, have a huge advantage. Start as soon as you can.” I was off to the races.
Dogs or cats?
No time for complicated pets. We’re sticking with African dwarf frogs for now.
Prosper or Lending Club? Please explain.
I have been doing both for over 2 years and still can’t pick a favorite. More on this in a future post.
If you have children, how do you raise them to be financially responsible and frugal?
I’m still trying to figure this one out. When we let them watch TV, its all Netflix streaming or PBS (no commercials). They also have to earn everything; no handouts.
What is the worst personal finance mistake you see people making?
Selling low and buying high. A friend told me in late 2008 that he had just ‘moved all his stuff to bonds.’ So, he bought when the markets were at crazy highs and then sold after the markets crashed. Ummm, this is not how it’s supposed to work.
What products or services epitomize consumerism?
$500 purses and luxury cars.
What is your favorite recipe (looking at you Herb on Herbs!)?
Pretty much anything my wife makes.
What was your favorite job (or worst job)?
Worst: I had a job working at a computer return facility during my college years. It was 12 hours/day, 6 days a week. My job was to open the boxes with a razor knife as they flew down a conveyor belt. It was repetitive and mind numbing. I would start the day tired from having to wake up at 5am and would cut my hands constantly.
However, I’m super thankful I worked at this horrific place. It made me appreciate my real job after college that much more. I still think about this place often.
<Write your own question and answer> Who farted?
Probably my younger child. Holy cow, she can blow the doors off the place.
I look forward to hearing from you!
-Mr. 1500
African Dwarf Frogs? I had two of those briefly in a fish tank I built out of a dead mac cube. They didn’t last long. RIP little Delta and Epsilon.
I don’t now which is cooler; that you made the tank our of a dead Mac cube or that you named then Delta and Epsilon.
In any case, I’m sorry to hear about their premature demise. We are between frogs now, but our first 2 lasted years. One thing I found is that their environment has to be ultra-clean. For example, cleaning their enclosure with soap will deep 6 your frogs very quickly.
Alpha the Betta was the first occupant of the tank, but he didn’t last long, either. Hence, Delta and Epsilon seemed appropriate to continue with the theme of the tank. =)
Luckily for Kitty PoP, I’m apparently better at keeping cats alive than water creatures.
LOL!!!
I think that the “tank” is cursed. Use it to store pencils or hard candy, but no living things from here on out. Don’t feed the Kitty out of it either!
Dumb and Dumber? Really? The rest of this post was good but that just made me shake my head. I am embarrased to say that Jim Carrey was born in Canada. I am happy to say that he traded Canadian citizenship for American several years back.
Thank you for mentioning my blog. Anyone who is a fan of This Is Spinal Tap and District 9 is very welcome there.
Now Jane, I do believe that “Dumb and Dumber” won for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Jim Carrey got shafted), so The Academy clearly agrees with my assessment…
1500 : Some great questions. I am going to HAVE to email you my answers! Very flattered you are enjoying reading my space; the feeling is mutual!
Great, can’t wait and thank you!
Thanks for the shout out! Glad you’re enjoying the recipes 🙂
Oooh we have Yosemite on our bucket list! We love hiking/ the outdoors.
That’s incredible that you bought ole’ GOOG at $85!!!!
Oh man, go to Yosemite in late May through early July. If you’re a good hiker, plan way ahead and get the a permit to hike Half Dome. It terrifies me (done it twice) because I hate heights, but you should see the view from on top of that thing.
Google was shear luck. I’m a computer programmer and being able to do good searches helped me in my job. Based on that, I bought the stock. I believe in the company more than ever now though. They are changing the world and won’t be looked at as a “search company” in 5 years.
The Honda 919 is a great bike. I have noticed the “stand” bikes are making a bit of a comeback in the US, which is great because I have a bike to sell before possibly upgrading to something a little bigger.
Never heard the term “stand” bike before, but look forward to 919 at some point down the road…
hah, meant standard and forgot to finish typing it out. This is exactly why I don’t blog, my fingers don’t always type what I tell them to, and spell check doesn’t catch everything!
Ahhh,that makes a lot more sense.
I dig the idea of a 919 or similar bike; sportbike performance with a more reasonable riding position. Luckily, my wife doesn’t equate motorcycles with the plague like some spouses do…
Great idea Mr. 1500! You had me until your Mac/PC question. 🙂 To be fair, it’s an ongoing debate in our iHome. Though, Braveheart is easily in my top five movies of all time. Thanks so much for the mention!
Ha, Apple stuff costs more, but it never dies. The Macbook I’m typing this on now is from 2008 and still works like the days I bought it. Actually, everything I’ve ever purchased from Apple going back to 2002 still works.
I am in Denver and love pizza… but have never tried Dad & Dude’s! Thanks for the recommendation, I will have to try it… another good one in the area is a thin crust, meat pizza from Marco’s Pizza! Now that is tasty!!
Oh man, Dad and Dude’s is great. They take the spent grains from the beer making process and put them in the pizza crust; really excellent. Their beer is surprisingly good too. Highly recommended.
I’ll give Matco’s a try next time I’m in Denver; thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for mentioning my blog among your list of personal finance favorites Mr. 1500!
Great questionnaire also; I will send my responses to you shortly.
Thanks and I look forward to seeing your answers!