10 Questions with Reaching Our Balance

Today is the 35th 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.

This week’s answers come from Jason from Reaching Our Balance. I love Jason’s openness and transparency. He’s been through some rough times which you can read about in:

• How I Got Here, Part 1
• How I Got Here, Part 2
• How I Got Here, Part 3

Jason, I’m not sure which is worse; a failed cross-country relationship or that horrible Ford LTD!

Tell me about your blog and why it’s great.

My blog is my personal journey about attempting to find “balance” in my financial life. Balance has always been hard for me. Either I totally focus on work (which is a lot of the time) or I gravitate toward leisure and laziness. I am trying to manage paying off debt, saving for retirement, and having a good life with my family. My blog isn’t all that great, but I found when I read a lot of personal finance blogs that they were great, but didn’t talk about things from someone in my perspective: a teacher with a lot of debt. So my blog really became a beginning of trying to find a little niche in the personal finance world.

Since then it has grown into a larger crusade to help students, friends, and family navigate larger financial issues. If anyone can learn from my story I hope the blog helps.

What Goals Do You Have For Your Blog, Short and Long Term?

Short-term I hope my blog helps keep me in check as I attempt to pay off more debt and save for retirement. Long-term I hope that it continues to expand and reach an audience beyond academics and my students. I don’t have a desire to be famous like Mr. Money Mustache or 1500Days, but I do hope that I can reach a larger audience to help people.

Mr. 1500 note: Me, famous? LOL!

Do I Enjoy Writing?

Yes, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Part of my job is to write and research. I have written a couple of books on politics, the presidency, and American culture so I write quite a bit. This blog has just given me a larger venue for writing and really it, in some respects, is more fun. I don’t have to spend hours, days, and/or weeks writing a blog post. Typically, it takes a half an hour and I am done. I wish all of my research projects were that quick.

1500 Days is about early retirement. Do you have early retirement dreams? At what age do you think you will retire?

When I first started writing the blog I did actually romanticize the idea of retiring early. However, I have come to realize that my real goal is financial independence. I want to get to the point that I don’t have to work, which I hope to be before I am 50. By then I project I will be part of the 2 comma club. However, I don’t know if I will ever really “retire” from my work. I love teaching. I love research. I love traveling because of my job. In some respects, I have argued that I might already have some form of financial independence because I get to do what I want for my life.

If blogging isn’t your full time gig, what is?

I am a professor at a university in the U.S. and I love what I do.

I try to really have the attitude to each his own. However, I fully admit that I can be a bit judgmental, particularly when I see somebody making a huge money mistake. If someone wants my help I will try to give it to them, but I try not to tell them they are wrong. I just want us to talk about it more because it is such an important topic.

Did you grow up with money? How did your money situation growing up influence you?

My parents certainly didn’t have a lot of money and they wasted it on some things that I still don’t get to this day. However, as it turns out my dad did a really good job of financial planning for my parents. They have enough money to live on and are happy.

I think the big thing I took away was what not to do. My parents like to gamble, I don’t that much. My parents don’t talk about money, whereas I think we should. My parents don’t travel that much whereas it is my favorite thing to do. I will have to say that my dad was a big do it yourself kind of guy and I think that rubbed off on me.

What is your favorite style of beer – and what is your favorite beer in that style?

I am definitely a wheat beer kind of guy. I love a good Hefeweizen. I don’t know if I have a favorite brewer. I love Surly and Finnegans (both MN brewers). Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss is always a good mainstream choice.

We notice a lot of frugal people are into board games – what is your favorite?

I don’t know how frugal I am, but I love it when we play Cards Against Humanity. I like playing cards like Cribbage, Hearts, and/or Rummy (my dad used to make some awesome Cribbage boards).

What is the best thing you’ve read lately.

I read a LOT of academic books for my job and like most of them. I also love science fiction and historical fiction. The best book I have read recently was The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell (I love his Saxon Stories series) and The Lovers Quarrel: The Two Foundings and America’s Political Development by Elvin Lim (yes, I am a total goober). This book offers a great understanding of the political quarrels we have in American society today.

I am also writing another book of my own, which should be coming out in 2016. Stay tuned.

Thanks Jason for your 10 Questions today! Find Jason over at Reaching Our Balance. Jason, stay away from old Fords!