Interview with Madame X of My Open Wallet Blog

This is the 5th in a series of interviews HelpYourMoney.com is doing of other personal finance bloggers.

An Interview with Madame X of the My Open Wallet Blog:

1. First, can you please introduce yourself and tell us why your started your personal finance blog?

My name is Madame X (really, I swear!). I’m in my late 30s, single, and live in Brooklyn, NY.

I started my blog because so many people in New York talk about how expensive it is to live here and complain that they are broke, but often I think they assume that only rich people can get by here, and that just isn’t true.

I’ve been able to live well and save money on what is a modest income by NYC standards, and I thought it would be fun to write about how I do it, how I feel about it, what my worries and successes and failures are, and just look at some of the absurdities of how people make, spend, and think about money. It’s a great thing to write about– you can toss out almost any topic and somehow it will end up relating to money!

2. Do you feel you are on the right track to reaching your financial goals and what are they?

I’m on the right track, I think, but I wish it was a faster track!

I live below my means, try not to be obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses, and try to put my money towards building assets.

My goal is to be able to live reasonably well and not worry too much about money. I’d like to have a net worth of somewhere around $3 million in about 35 years from now, based on my calculations for how I want to retire– I think if all goes well, I could possibly get there! But I’d feel better about it if my income was a little higher.

3. Do you work in the financial industry?

I don’t work in the financial industry.

4. If you had to recommend just one financial related book, what would it be?

I don’t have a favorite financial book. I think there are many out there that give various bits of good advice, though, and I think everyone should read as much as possible to educate themselves about the different aspects of personal finance.

5. If you had to recommend just one financial related magazine, what would it be?

I don’t subscribe to any financial magazines– again, I think there are many worth reading.

My latest favorite magazine is the new one called ShopSmart from Consumer Reports– it’s fun to read and has lots of great tips on how to make the most of your money when shopping for various products.

6. If you had to recommend just one or two financial related websites (besides your own and that is not a blog), what would it be?

I don’t read any financial websites that aren’t blogs, though I do read the business pages of the New York Times and sometimes the Wall Street Journal.

But two websites I’ve found helpful are the calculators at dinkytown.net and the Mortgage Professor.

7. What is one of the WORST financial related decisions you ever made?

I became a homeowner for the first time in my mid-20s– that was a good decision, but then I sold and rented for 6 years.

Now I’m in the process of buying a home again. I wish I hadn’t had that period of renting in between– it happened to coincide with the boom in housing prices, so I’d have a much higher net worth if I’d immediately bought another home! I think as long as you can afford the payments on a traditional mortgage, owning is almost always a better choice than renting.

8. What is one of the BEST financial related decisions you ever made?

See above- I bought a home at a relatively young age, and the equity when I sold was a good chunk of money that I would not otherwise have had if I’d been renting during those years.

9. Do You Trade Individual Stocks and If so recommend your favorite 3 to 5 picks?

I have owned some individual stocks but I am not actively trading in them right now. McDonald’s did well for me but GM did not. I may buy some individual stocks again in the future when I have more of a savings cushion to play with, but in the meantime I’ll be sticking with mutual funds and trying to build a balanced, low-fee portfolio.

10. If you could give our readers just one financial related tip, what would it be?

Think about what you really “need” vs. what you merely “want.”

You have to be open-minded to ways to live below your means. That doesn’t mean you have to deny yourself everything you want, but if you really look at your choices and experiment with ways of scaling back your expenses, you may find you’re not missing much, which will save you money for the things that are truly important to you.

11. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

I can’t think of anything else… thanks for the interview!

>> Visit Madame X’s My Open Wallet Blog.