Today is the 22nd edition of our periodic guest post series called 10 Questions. We have a list of 17 questions we pose to fellow financial bloggers, and they are free to pick and choose 10 or answer all of them. Let us know if you would like to be featured in a future edition of 10 Questions.
The answers today come from Kate over at Cashville Skyline. I first met Kate at a FinCon14 party. We were chatting when I decided to go crazy and whip it out; my plastic dinosaur of course. What full grown man doesn’t carry around childhood toys? To her credit, Kate didn’t run away from the crazy guy with the plastic sauropod.
One thing I appreciate about Kate is her incredible openness. She’s written about bad financial decisions and personal struggles. No one is perfect, not even your favorite bloggers. I feel a lot better reading someone who tells you about their successes and their failures.
Kate, I hope to see you again in 2016 sometime. San Diego? I’ll bring the dinosaurs.
Tell us about your blog and why it’s great
I’m a 31-year-old digital marketer, blogger, and freelance personal finance writer hustling toward financial freedom from Nashville.
What does financial freedom mean to me? Pursuing the amount of work I choose, when I want, from where I want, without ever feeling the need to sacrifice quality of life for compensation.
Oh, and no topic is off limits! I regularly update my net worth, track my monthly budget, talk about my struggles with weight, and more.
I also tackle social issues from time to time. A few popular posts:
Is Our Definition of Overtime Absurdly Low?
Is Socially Responsible Investing Possible?
The Gender Gap in Investing Needs To Go
Most importantly, I want to show people it’s possible to reach financial freedom on an average salary. I’m passionate about spreading financial literacy, especially among lower-income individuals, creatives, and young professionals.
1500 Days is about early retirement. Do you have early retirement dreams? At what age do you think you’ll retire?
To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever stop working, but I definitely want more control over my income. That’s why I continue saving, investing, and working to generate additional streams of revenue. My next investment? Real estate.
I’m looking forward to working for myself and being able to work from anywhere, for longer periods of time. My family lives on opposite coasts, so it’s critical if I’m going to spend more time with them.
If blogging isn’t your full-time gig, what is?
I was a talent buyer and concert promoter for several years before recently transitioning into tech. For the past seven months, I’ve been managing the social media for a SaaS tech company. I’ve learned a ton about digital marketing and I love experimenting with my blog!
When you are 90 and look back at your life, what do you hope to have accomplished?
All I’ve ever wanted to do is make other people’s lives better. Whether it’s producing concerts, sharing tips on social media, or trying to inspire people through my adventures with money — I simply hope to connect, inspire, and make someone’s journey a little bit easier.
How do you handle people with different views on money?
Despite living together for over six years, my boyfriend and I still keep our money completely separate. That’s partly because he earns more and likes to spend more.
We split the bills down the middle and generally don’t question each other’s financial choices. I don’t harass him for eating out for every meal. He doesn’t bother me about never buying new clothes. It works.
What is the best money management or investment tool you have come across?
As much as I dig technology, little gives me more satisfaction than entering numbers into my trust Excel budget template. Once you’ve found a system that works, stick with it!
What did your parents teach you about money as a kid? How so?
My parents rock for many reasons and setting a great financial example is one of them.
First, they’re frugal. Second, they encouraged me to start working as early as I could. The service industry jobs I worked from 14-24 helped shape a killer work ethic. Also, they taught me to save early and often. I opened a Roth IRA at 18 and have been saving ever since!
What do you do for exercise?
Walking to my neighborhood bar? My office is pretty competitive on Fitbit, so I have to sneak in extra steps where I can.
What kind of car do you drive?
While I fantasize about ditching the car completely, my reality is sporting my 2006 Toyota Corolla around town. I’m missing a front hubcap, but it’s still under 75,000 miles!
What are your favorite things to nerd out about?
Classical music. I have a degree in classical singing! Also, politics and food. I had a short-lived food blog called Don’t Hide; I Will Eat You several years ago. But I’ve learned writing about money is better for my waistline.
Huge thanks again to Kate for answering our questions today. Keep in touch with her over on Facebook, Twitter, G+, Instagram, Pinterest and at CashvilleSkyline.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Ah, a Toyota Corolla… wonderful cars, they are. What we learned: if the oil light is burning, CHECK the OIL!! And then, if you can’t see how much oil is in there, THAT PROBABLY MEANS that the levels are WAY TOO LOW. That was the end of our Toyota, after over fifteen years of loyal service. Please take good care of yours, and I bet it’ll take you many years further.
Hey Kate,
Thanks for sharing. I love the variety of your post topics and the honest and heart-felt approach. Keep rocking it!!
I dug your article about closing the gender gap in investing as a dad of two little girls and the son of an awesome, go-get-it professional mama. That is certainly a mission worth pushing.
I also really resonated with this:
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is make other people’s lives better. ”
That’s an awesome attitude. Pretty much my motivation for blogging as well.
Chad Carson recently posted…The 2-Minute Drill of Life: Is It Too Late To Invest in Real Estate?