Last August, I asked if my readers wanted to know anything about me. Since there are a lot more of you now than last year, I thought I’d check in again. Today is the second official “Ask BFS Whatever You Want Day”, lol. 
I also ask you a few questions at the end, so please chime in!
Here are the most frequent questions I usually get just to get the ball rolling:
Q: Why did you start blogging?
A: Short answer – My comments at other personal finance blogs were getting to be longer than the actual posts, so Budgeting in the Fun Stuff was born on February 20th, 2010. I really wanted a place where I could hang out with other personal finance geeks and let loose.
Longer answer – I was pushed over the decision edge by a few posts on other blogs that were about discretionary spending. The commenters and some of the blog owners acted like splurging or having fun was evil, and I simply couldn’t agree less. As long as you pay your bills and save for your future, you should be able to have fun with your money too in my opinion.
Q: How do you make money blogging?
A: Advertisers pay me for space on my site. I also staff write for Sweating the Big Stuff and write freelance posts for cash sometimes too. Feel free to check out the Make Money Blogging posts I have written and ask me any specific questions you still have!
Q: Where have you lived?
A: I was born in West Virginia but we immediately moved to Texas (I was only a few months old). I grew up in Texas until I was 15. Then we moved to Holland for 6 months for my dad’s job and transferred down to Argentina for another 2 1/2 years. We headed back to the Houston, TX area after that and I’ve stayed around here ever since.
Do you have any other questions for me? Anything that popped up while reading any of my past posts? Any suggestions or complaints that you’ve been holding on to for way too long?
I would love to hear from you:
Q: How did you find/start reading Budgeting in the Fun Stuff?
Q: What keeps you coming back?
Q: What is the most important aspect of personal finance to you?
Wow Argentina for 2 1/2 years! That sounds pretty interesting!
In response to your questions: I’m pretty sure I found your blog from a comment you left on someone else’s blog. That is typically how I stumble upon new blogs. I keep coming back because I like your idea that budgeting and saving doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while you are at it! and the most important aspect of personal finance to me? I guess just knowing that I am saving for retirement. I’ve still got 30+ years until that probably happens, but I know that the more I save now the better my life can be then!
What is your favorite part about houston/texas in general?
I found BFS through the Yakezie!
I like to watch your readership grow and want to see you blog full time next year!
Most important aspect of personal finance: Assigning each dollar a home (budgeting/planning ahead)
@Mercedes, that’s how I find blogs to read too, lol. I’m glad you found BFS and have stuck around! We both have 30 years before we retire and it sounds like we’re both trying to save for it as much as possible.
@Jeff, honestly, I love the fact my husband and I are so close to our families and have made so many good friends here. It’s nice to have a whole support network within 15-60 minutes from your house (and that works both ways).
Less emotionally, I love that we are surrounded by forests, wetlands, and a ton of wildlife. I even see deer in our suburbs.
I also love all of the very yummy restaurants. We really do have some awesome food here – and so many varieties!
No state income tax is nice too. 8.25% sales tax in my area does sort of stink though.
I also appreciate that hurricanes are really the only natural disaster we have to deal with – and they suck – but earthquakes and tornadoes scare me more. I will never buy a beach house in Galveston though…
I love the mild winters but really dislike the hot summers.
Oh, and I LOVE the fact that we can get a 1750 square foot house that was less than 4 years old and built well for $114,000 at the same time as holding down $35,000 and $45,000 a year jobs.
I found your blog through Yakezie, and I keep coming back because I love your posts and am rooting for you to be able to quit your job and blog full-time. (This is the same goal I have, after the kids are bigger.)
@Tim, I’m actually planning on writing more about my actual budget again, so yay, I’ll keep at least you interested!
@Melissa, we’ll both get there! I’m humbled by the support I get for my full-time blogging goals. Thank you all!
Ok, since it’s “Ask Crystal Day”, here’s my question for you. Now, of course you know I started my blog around the time you did, and we follow each other’s blogs.
That said, it would be interesting to get your thoughts on 3 things you would have done differently when starting up BFS, and why. Keep in mind that I of course think BFS has been very successful and that you’re on my short list of favorites:)
@Squirrelers, great question! I may turn this into a post for Crystal Clear Thoughts later, lol.
Top 3 Start-My-Blog Screw Ups:
1. Ignoring SEO for the first year. If I had simply used the All in One SEO Pack plugin from the beginning, I’d be months ahead of schedule and $250 richer (I paid to have someone go back and fill in the info for the first year of posts and pay for Sribe SEO now to check myself and to check that work I paid for…).
2. Selling a one-year text link for $200 about 9 months ago because I was feeling desperate to make some more money. I HATE THAT LINK. It taunts me…
3. Starting on Blogger instead of WordPress. I luckily fixed that mistake in less than 2 months but the learning-a-new-software process STUNK. There were a few mental meltdowns involved. And I’d have saved myself $125 (I paid to have it transferred).
Close 4th. I may have picked a shorter name. Typing out http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com all over the place is a pain in the butt, lol.
What would you have done differently?
Q: How did you find/start reading Budgeting in the Fun Stuff? From Sweating the Big Stuff.
Q: What keeps you coming back? The fact that you always write back.
Q: What is the most important aspect of personal finance to you? Saving money so I can retire early and buy a home.
Crystal-Your site is called budgeting in the fun stuff so I ask you, have you ever done any budgeting in your profession/life?Because I just got out of a managerial accounting class and I never want to do a production/direct material/cash budget again.
1 – From either Yakezie or another blog, may have been PDITF.
2 – Your cool personality. Your posts feel like you’re having a chat with friends. I needed a new target to stalk on the Internet.
3 – Having a backup plan a.k.a an emergency fund and a rough plan for the future.
Cool story. I found out about your blog on the Yakezie network as well. I enjoy your unique view on personal finance. I share the idea that if you get the big things right you shouldn’t lose sleep over treating yourself once and awhile. I especially liked your wedding post as I am anticipating tying the knot soon myself. I keep coming back because I like the practical advice (as opposed to abstract theory).
A1: I stumbled upon BFS through the Yakezie network. You were very helpful when I first started blogging and I really enjoyed reading your postings.
A2: I come back because there is a great community here. Your readers have the same great personality as you Crystal!
A3: The most important aspect of PF right now is saving for the downpayment on a house. I would love to put at least 20% down on a house and then pay off the remaining balance in 3-4 years. I think it’s completely doable, and will have a great time doing it!
@Jenna, sounds like I can keep writing savings articles and keep you happy (which is good since that’s my cup of tea too).
@jeff, lol, actually yes. I love budgeting. I actually type every single transaction my husband and I make every month into an Excel sheet to make sure we are staying within our monthly budget expectations (http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/quick-info/our-monthly-budget/).
I also budget my Weight Watchers Online points, which is why I think it is the only diet that has ever worked for me. I’m down 19 pounds in less than 3 months, so woot for all sorts of budgets!
Of course, budgeting has always been a choice for me, so I never get burnt out…
@Ryan, I love my stalkers.
Ooh good, I’m big on backup plans too. You all are giving me great ideas on where to concentrate my posts in the future!
@My University Money, woot for the Yakezie! I really loved our wedding and am just so happy it was also so cheap. I am so glad you keep coming back and I will definitely make sure to keep the posts “real” – I don’t really do abstract well anyway, lol.
@LifeAndMyFinances, my readers are really awesome! I am thankful every day for all of you!
I will keep in mind to write more about our own housing stories. We too are big on early mortgage repayment.
Crystal -
Thanks for answering my question on the 3 things you would do differently when starting up your blog.
Since you asked, I’ve thought of my 3:
1) Picked a different layout/theme. People seem to have good feedback on the theme I chose, but I like Thesis after seeing on many sites. Starting out, I never heard of it and didn’t think long-term with the blog at that time (nor did I know much about blogging). Once I got going and got into it, I saw that there were other themes that were really functional. Anyway, mine is totally fine and workable, but there are others that are premium.
2) Paid attention to the more technical side of blogging. Starting out, I knew zero about blogs and didn’t really care to read any blogs until a few months prior to starting my own. When starting mine, I was just interested in posting articles and commenting on other blogs. It took me a while to realize that I needed to ramp up my knowledge on the more technical aspects of making changes/updates to a blog.
3) Paid more attention to SEO. When starting, as I said, I just posted what I wrote and did it for the pure joy of it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if you want a widespread audience, it helps to make the articles SEO-friendly as well. Consequently, some work that I consider some of my best so far was put together without thinking of SEO. Hopefully I can get those posts more visible again.
Overall, of course, blogging has been a whole lot of fun and I’m pleased with how things have gone with my blog.
@Squirrelers, I actually like your theme, but I also sort of wish I had started with Thesis since I now know that it will be VERY hard to ever change.
It really sounds like all of us bloggers wish we had the experiences we’ve had before we started, lol. At least we catch on quickly…
Do you consider yourself a Texan, Crystal? Habla Espanol?
@Dr. Dean, I consider myself a Texan but my husband calls me a yankee to bug me.
Si, hablo espanol mas o menos. Probably on the level of a 1st grader…
Hi, Crystal. First of all, congratulations for this “ask me anything” idea.. lots of fun!!!
Answering your questions: Ever since I started blogging about the subject, I’ve been very active in my search for quality material… spanish material is still scarce, so I started visiting many Canadian blogs and saving the ones I liked to revisit. Yours was one of them and I must have found it on some blog roll section.
I keep comming back because I like the topics you write about, your style, publishing frequency and the opportunity to relate to those topics. I like interacting with you through comments as well.
I think the most important aspect of PF is making the knowledge available to others and using some kind of financial strategy to one’s finances… sometimes we know there’s an opportunity but we just can’t get to do something about it.
Best of luck!!!
@Finanzas, I’m sorry I must have missed this! I wonder how I got into the Canadian blog realm? I live down here in Houston, TX, so that’s too cool.
The “interacting with you through comments as well” is particulary ironic since I missed this by a few days, lol. I will continue to participate as much as possible since this is the whole reason why I love it!
Thanks so much for participating and for commenting!
[...] Feel free to check back in on my monthly progress updates. Thanks for visiting! I am doing an Ask Crystal day over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff and Squirrelers had an awesome question. …it would be [...]