How to Get Your Finances Under Control – Step 6 and 3/4 – To Be Continued
By glblguy
This article is part of the series How to Get Your Finances Under Control
As some of you may have noticed, it has been about 2 weeks since I published, Step 6 Get Out of Debt of my How to Get Your Finances Under Control series. The reason for this to be honest is I have been struggling. Not so much as to what the steps are, as I have those and have had them since I first began the series. Nor has it been due to trying to determine what each step should contain, as I have that for a while as well. I have been struggling due to an integrity issue: Should I tell my readers how to do steps that I have not yet done?
I have read numerous books, read hundreds of blog and magazines articles on the topics, and have even discussed the topics with very experienced and financially knowledgeable people. The bottom line for me though, is I haven’t done these steps yet. In my financial journey, I am on Step 6 I’ll be on step 6 for a while.
The internal debate I have been with myself is whether to continue the series or not. If I were to continue, I would be telling you how to do things I haven’t yet done. While I would love to complete the series, I just don’t feel comfortable providing you with guidance on things I have not yet experienced first hand.
As a result of this decision and in the spirit of Harry Potter, this is Step 6 3/4 – To Be Continued. I am going to stop the series for now, and then once I get to each of the steps I will publish them.
Here’s the steps I plan to write and publish:
Step 7 – Build up your full emergency fund
Step 8 – Payoff your mortgage
Step 9 – Invest
Step 10 – Enjoy
My vision for this series in addition to providing sincere knowledge for those struggling to get their finances under control was to publish the series as a free e-book. I still intend to do this; however not as soon as I would have liked.
An e-Book is a great way to gain some free publicity and web traffic, but what is more important to me is maintaining my integrity and the trust I am trying so hard to build with you my readers. As with most things in life, this series is a journey, and I will finish it, but only once I get there and I can do so from real, first hand experience.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Love the platform!
I agree. I have the same issue with my budgeting series. Part 2 will be up on Friday but I am still myself on part 3 so Part 3 waits til the end of Sept. Then I think Part 4 won;t be til January :) lol.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:17 am
You sound a bit frustrated! Don’t be! Your blog is very beneficial to your readers; and will still be when you continue your series as you go through those later steps. You’ll have more tips and advice to give because you’ve actually worked through those steps.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:03 am
@paidtwice – Thanks makes me feel better others are making a similar decision.
@Erin, thanks. Not really frustrated as much as don’t like having to re-arrange my plans :-) I agree it was the right choice and will provide more benefit to my readers in the long term.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I really admire your integrity. However, I am not sure if I can wait 30 years to read Step 8. ;-)
Personally, I don’t think you have to wait until you get to the destination to write about something. If you have been on the journey long enough and you learnt a lot, you can legitimately share your experience.
Just my 2 cents.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I would rearrange or do simultaneously some of your later steps. But anyone that references Harry Potter is a friend for life.
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I agree that you may want to make some of the later step concurrent.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
This is good stuff, however I think I will challenge you on step number 8. With mortgage rates still at 40 year lows, I don’t see the benefit to paying it off early, except for the piece of mind. If one cannot make more than 7% on other investment options, there is something wrong! Just food for thought.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
@PFR – You’ll find if you read this site, I don’t always make decisions on the numbers. I made decisions based on risk and peace of mine. I am also a huge advocate of not being in debt. So that plays into my decisioning process as well.
Thanks for stopping by, hope you stay a while!
June 20th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Well! I want to say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for steps 1 through 6. You have helped me tremendously. I do think it’s okay to tell us what the experts say about the next few steps because you are one of my favorite pf blogs. I really like the way you write (even if you do need a better proof reader!) because you are very natural in your tone and as a middle-aged financial mess, I relate to your lifestyle. Also, thanks very much for your budget spreadsheet. I’ve been using it since you introduced it and I like it very much.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Hi Bettsi, I am so glad you enjoyed and benefited from the series. You’re right, I do need a much better proof reader! I have a really hard time proofing my material and seeing the mistakes. Hopefully hey aren’t too bad!
Thanks for your kind comment!
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I think this series has been really excellent. Even for those of us who try to be wise stweards of our money, there are always things that we can learn and news ways of working that make life a little easier. Right now I’m working towards the “Payoff your mortgage” goal.
August 29th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Yay! Countdown to Harry Potter New Movie!The best part? Emma Watson! It is sooo sad to see the series over but I’m glad tha actors are moving on ! Best Of Luck to them All in in their next movies