Tuesday
Aug312010
Blogging Story: Ana Armstrong
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:00AM
This blogging story comes to us from Ana Armstrong of The Dolla Thug Life.
I just launched my blog in March so I'm still a newbie! I had been thinking about writing my own personal finance blog for a while, and a lot of my friends told me I needed to just DO IT – so I finally DID! I think my quarter-life crisis was a good catalyst too (I just turned 25 in January). Now I'm in the process of getting my name out there and building up traffic to the site because I know I have a lot of good content and a fresh perspective I want to share with the world!
My story is one that my community can learn from: learning financial literacy the HARD way! Back in college, I got through everyday expenses with a credit card and NO budget. BIG MISTAKE! When my new real world salary wasn't as much as I thought it would be to miraculously pay off all my debt, I needed to change my lifestyle by:
1) Spending LESS than I made
2) Paying down the credit card debt ASAP
3) Building up an emergency fund and other assets so I actually had something to show for working my new "9 to 5"
That's really how the Dollar Thug mentality came to be! It's really not rocket science, but I've been doing my best to improve my finances every month since that revelation. I still have a long way to go (the credit card debt is long gone though!). But it's really empowering to see yourself making progress – much more powerful than spending all your money on items that you'll be bored with in 3 months!
Blogging has been a therapeutic outlet for me. I love to write when I have something to say, and when it comes to personal finance, I have a LOT to say. Blogging has been my way of broadcasting my message: I want people (especially Black people) to embrace the fact that if one can just block OUT the consumer propaganda to spend, spend, spend, one can actually achieve some serious financial goals! I hope to develop the site to the point where it becomes an online resource for people to have access to information surrounding financial literacy and the skills one needs to build sustainable wealth (not fleeting riches). Our community NEEDS it!
How did you begin blogging? Who (or what) influenced or inspired you? What has blogging brought to your life? We want to know! Send your post to staff@blackweblogawards.com in text (500 words or less), audio, or video, and we'll post them on the Black Weblog Awards blog! Visit our Blogging Story post for more information.
I just launched my blog in March so I'm still a newbie! I had been thinking about writing my own personal finance blog for a while, and a lot of my friends told me I needed to just DO IT – so I finally DID! I think my quarter-life crisis was a good catalyst too (I just turned 25 in January). Now I'm in the process of getting my name out there and building up traffic to the site because I know I have a lot of good content and a fresh perspective I want to share with the world!
My story is one that my community can learn from: learning financial literacy the HARD way! Back in college, I got through everyday expenses with a credit card and NO budget. BIG MISTAKE! When my new real world salary wasn't as much as I thought it would be to miraculously pay off all my debt, I needed to change my lifestyle by:
1) Spending LESS than I made
2) Paying down the credit card debt ASAP
3) Building up an emergency fund and other assets so I actually had something to show for working my new "9 to 5"
That's really how the Dollar Thug mentality came to be! It's really not rocket science, but I've been doing my best to improve my finances every month since that revelation. I still have a long way to go (the credit card debt is long gone though!). But it's really empowering to see yourself making progress – much more powerful than spending all your money on items that you'll be bored with in 3 months!
Blogging has been a therapeutic outlet for me. I love to write when I have something to say, and when it comes to personal finance, I have a LOT to say. Blogging has been my way of broadcasting my message: I want people (especially Black people) to embrace the fact that if one can just block OUT the consumer propaganda to spend, spend, spend, one can actually achieve some serious financial goals! I hope to develop the site to the point where it becomes an online resource for people to have access to information surrounding financial literacy and the skills one needs to build sustainable wealth (not fleeting riches). Our community NEEDS it!
How did you begin blogging? Who (or what) influenced or inspired you? What has blogging brought to your life? We want to know! Send your post to staff@blackweblogawards.com in text (500 words or less), audio, or video, and we'll post them on the Black Weblog Awards blog! Visit our Blogging Story post for more information.
Reader Comments (3)
#bwa2010 – New Post: Blogging Story: Ana Armstrong http://goo.gl/fb/Km0PC" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/fb/Km0PC
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/blkweblogawards/statuses/22618610652" rel="nofollow">Twitter
Thanks so much for the honor. Glad to see an organization recognizing the few Black writers out here in the blogosphere!
[...] just in!: Dolla Thug has been featured in an article on the Black Weblog Awards website (which I didn’t know existed until a few weeks ago when a friend randomly sent me the link to [...]