The title of this post doesn’t refer to me (the thrill of personal finance? Gone? Nonsense!), but to the recently-published New York Times article on the fate of “orphan” blogs left by their owners.
I actually have “orphaned” several blogs. Some of them I don’t even remember the addresses – I had one at angelfire.com and another one at geocities.com and another one at scribble.nu (which doesn’t exist anymore). I also have a brief, public blog at livejournal.com. But eventually, after a couple of months, I left every one of those blogs orphans of the blogosphere!
When I first started Well-Heeled, it was conceived as a blog devoted to lifestyle, fashion, decor issues. My first post (long edited away) had pictures of an Anthropologie dress, that, at $400+, I had no business owning. Then I started reading now-defunct blogs such as FreeTheCow, NYCMoney, and Laws of Finance (anyone remember them?), and I thought it was really cool that people are taking charge of their financial lives, and writing for the world to see. It was as if I’ve suddenly developed a taste for something that I not only find interesting, but is also GOOD for me (loving personal finance is like loving brussel sprouts?).
What has helped me continue blogging at Well-Heeled is 1. a genuine interest in my topic (and the fact that I can still write about decor and shopping and everything else, after all, the trademark of a personal finance blogger is that one can write about money and, well, anything!) and 2. all the reader feedback I get. If I haven’t gotten any comments, I probably wouldn’t have continued blogging for as long as I have. I expect that at some point I’ll stop blogging, but for now, I can’t imagine when!
Related posts:
First, don’t stop blogging.
Second–I had to laugh because I’ve been spending too much money on the Anthropologie website lately.
I don’t remember the blogs that you mentioned, but I do miss Antishay Ventenne’s blog that she abandoned, and I’m really, really hoping that Escape Brooklyn is up and running again in some form soon.
Yeah I know that eventually I’ll stop blogging, but I haven’t exactly decided when. As our blogs become read by more and more people, it’s harder to stop. And I’m afraid of what might happen if I don’t have the blog to hold myself accountable for my spending. Chances are I’ll be fine and keep going. But there’s always that fear.
I’ve been blogging for about 8 years now, in various forms, and have kept a handwritten journal for about 10 years on top of that! I know that eventually I’ll grow tired of this one and the posting will peter out. That almost started to happen, but I’m trying hard to push myself back into it. It’s exhausting relating everything after the fact – luckily with PF blogs we’re all obsesive planners so my planning process is actually better to write about than the results!
I think I will abandon my pf blog someday. It just happens. I’m currently in a lull but like you said, you can post about anything.
I keep a more personal semi-private (digital) journal that I really don’t forsee abandoning… Writing to express myself is part of who I am, and I feel I’ll always need that outlet. But you never know. I’ve gone through phases where I didn’t do it for 6 months +, so… we’ll see.
Very interesting article!
I had a couple ill-fated blogs long ago, one “genius” idea was that my boyfriend and I do his-and-her movie reviews. I guess it helps to have a willing, devoted partner in blogging crime.
It’s also sad when I think I find a great new blog only to realize it has been left as an orphan for many months!
I think PF bloggers are very lucky these days to have an almost unlimited amount of news to follow related to finance and budgeting. Whenever I am at a loss for a topic or idea, something in my life always ends up spurring my next post!
Keep the blogging alive!
-GIB
I used to shop at anthropologie all the time when I was poor college student, now that I have money I can’t imagine spending that much on one piece! I’ve already left one abandoned blog in my wake, there was no way I could keep up with 2 at a time. I hope to stay with this a long time, it makes me sad to see a blog friend leave. But it is a huge time committment, especially if you write an advice/research based pf blog and post daily. You better not quit on me, I’ve seen too many of those lately
I started a personal finance blog this year – don’t have many readers or many comments but I keep posting because it helps keep me accountable. Work and life get in the way of me posting as often as I would like, but I will keep blogging until all my debt is gone, and then see how I feel about it.
KB – http://anotherpfb.blogspot.com
Oh man Angelfire!! my very first website I ever published, used to love that place. never heard of those pf bloggers you mentioned, but the one I do miss is ChickyFinance.
I think you hit it all pretty well here – it’s about passion. Talking/writing about the things you love make it that much easier to stay on top of. Keep on going
That sounds like my blog! And I’m in process of changing it yet again. Mine started out as a fashion/style dedicated blog, then began moving towards providing information for my business. Now I’m trying to incorporate the two aspects, but am really having a hard time as to “how” to go about doing this. I’ve changed the name 3 times. I think it would be more interesting for readers to read some personnal excepts as opposed to all business all the time, but how to mesh the two?
Please keep blogging forever. LOL! I love you blog!
I recently started writing a PF blog, have no readers or comments, maybe one or two friends, but I am doing this for myself, as a cathartic exercise, and I am loving it. While I have not been as active as I want or thought I would be, it keeps me in check ( just like one of the other comments!).
I love shoes and decorating, so please don’t stop!
Angelfire? Geocites? I haven’t heard those in forever. I think I started out with Xanga but quickly moved to Livejournal. I’ve had my Livejournal account since 2001 and have consistently blogged on that site. Also, I think the reason I have used it so much was the communities that I belong to. Last year I started on Blogger & continue to cross post to LJ.
Lately, I have had writer’s block. I need to so something about that.