This week I’m interviewing blogger Steve from Brip Blap. A blogger in his mid-30s living in NYC. He lost and amazing amount of weight and looks great! Inspiration to all of us to be healthy. Anyway I think his writing neat and hope you enjoy getting to know Steve.
1. How did you get your name and what made you start blogging?
The phrase brip blap is from the movie “How to Murder Your Wife” starring Jack Lemmon (which apparently is a comedy despite the ominous title). I’ve never seen it, but my parents have, and they liked the phrase which apparently was used to describe a manic depressive type whose moods went briiiiip….blap (thanks to weird mixes of drugs). They bestowed this moniker on me at a very early age because my ‘baby moods’ ranged from extremely happy to extremely mopey very quickly. Although I am cheerful most of the time these days I expend a lot of effort controlling my temper and darker moods.
2. How did you get your name and what made you start blogging?
I started out as a mathematician but got tired of academic life after a year of Graduate school and switched to accounting, getting a master’s and going into auditing. I’ve been doing that for almost 15 years. The last 5 years I’ve been a contract consultant.
3. What is the reason you blog about personal finance?
brip blap was a political blog for about four years, but one day I realized that I cared more about personal finance and productivity than politics so I switched my focus. Personal finance is an important subject to me and it’s easy to write about – it’s hard to spend a day where it doesn’t affect you in some way or another.
4. What were your 3 biggest personal finance mistakes?
Not getting at least partially out of the market in mid-2008 is a big one, although I share that with most of the US, I guess. I wish I had saved more money while working overseas, and invested more of my cash in the early 90s, but generally I’ve been happy with my finances so far.
5. Is your spouse actively involved in your family finances and how do you deal with it?
My wife is actively involved in our finances, and we work together well. She’s more of a risk-taker and I’m more conservative, which leads to a “discussion” or two, but generally we have the same goals and work well together on coordinating our finances.
6. How long do you think this current economic situation will last and what do you think the answer to it is?
I think we’re in for a long dark time here. It’s time to invest in yourself and to think about generating alternative income outside of a traditional job. People are going to define wealth as the ability to generate income, not as the ability to save money in an IRA or 401(k), during the next decade or two. You can’t save yourself to wealth – you have to come up with ideas to make more money.
7. What was your best personal finance decision?
Attending a state university, without a doubt. I was admitted to Ivy League schools and private schools around the US, but I decided to attend my state university on a huge scholarship instead; tuition, room, board, fees and more were covered. I came out of college not only debt-free, but in a slightly profitable position – plus, I had a diploma.
8. What’s your biggest pet peeve about personal finance?
Extreme frugality annoys me. I am not a guy who is willing to stitch up worn-out socks or make my own soap from fingernail clippings. I do my best – I sewed up some shorts two days ago – but I’m not a hardcore super “frugal” guy.9.
9.Where do you see yourself in 1, 5, and 10 years?
In one year, I’d be glad to be where I am today, given the state of the economy. In five years, I’d like to be earning most of my income from sources other than consulting or accounting – in other words, making more money from alternative income (blogging, other sources) than from a job. In 10 years I’d like to be free of the NEED to work at a job for a living, even though I might still be doing it.
10. Tell me something unusual about yourself?
I’m a Russophile. I learned Russian in college, I lived in Russia for almost 3 years in the mid-90s, I met a Russian woman in New York and married her, my two kids are learning Russian and I am an avid reader of 20th-century Russian history.
But my ancestry is almost completely German, and my family growing up had nothing to do with Russia or russians. Go figure.
Thank you again to Steve from Brip Blap!
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