August 21st marks my third anniversary of blogging at MB-50. Still going strong after publishing over 80 articles or about two posts per month with occasional guest posts from interesting people here and there. It’s been a pleasure serving you.

It has been said that it takes three years to build a successful business. You spend a lot on infrastructure in the first year only to break even on the second. It’s the third year when you’re supposed to start making money.

Except that this blog is not a business, it’s a beloved hobby! Sure, I sell T-shirts and Google ad space. However, at this stage, my family will starve if I made this my day job.

“So what’s driving you to write then?” you may ask.

I write about money because people, in general, suck at personal finance

Somebody ought to do or write something about it.

Here are examples of what’s happening in my backyard:

Falling into the iPad bait: One couple attended a real-estate investment seminar to get a free iPad. They ended up buying raw land. Now they’re paying thousands of dollars in property tax, every year, on a property that barely appreciates, and they can’t rent out. That’s money that can be spent on dozens of iPads!

Swimming in debt: Another couple used the equity in their home to build a swimming pool to “save money” on swimming lessons when they’re still paying student loan debt, and kids have no college savings. Now they are even in greater debt. And their house becomes the new “community country club” the whole summer.

The ultimate overkill: My neighbor just bought a $90,000 Tesla because he has a 60-mile commute. He’s no longer burning money on gas— he’s now burning money on depreciation cost every mile he drives his car!

College tour galore: A couple I know regretted driving their college-bound kids out-of-state for private university tours. Now their twins have over $50,000 student loans each and still growing, and they spend a lot of time and money driving or buying airline tickets to see them.

With all this stuff happening around you, who isn’t going to be inspired to write?

If money were the main reason, I would not have rejected people offering cash for me to publish articles with links to gambling sites.

I write to raise awareness and help people

When you see an elderly woman struggling to move stuff into her car, what do you do? You help her. Then she thanks you.

When you see a random person doing stupid stuff about money, what do you do? You tell him. He’ll ask you to mind your own business. Either that or you get smacked in the face for giving unsolicited advice.

Writing a blog about Personal Finance is a better alternative. That way, you can reach and help more people. The web is mightier than the sword.

Here you will see real numbers. Not only do I write about my financial underwear. I also share my past and possibly future mistakes about money.

Relying on mainstream media like USA Today or Yahoo Finance to learn about personal finance is like relying on Facebook to bring you the news.

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I need you to help me raise awareness

My mission remains the same— to educate broke Americans (including Filipino-Americans, Indian-Americans, or whatever your nationality is) about money and potentially other aspects of your life. But I can’t do it alone.

You can help me in various ways: commenting, liking, sharing any MB50 post to your friends, or signing up for emails using the form below.

P.S. – I will be attending FinCon 2019 in Washington D.C. Feel free to contact me at msolve_at_millionairebefore50_dot_com if you wish to connect.

Stay tuned. More exciting things to come!