Who is your current personal finance hero?

Some people find my personal finance hero’s often loud communication style to be…well…annoying. But I have learned so much from him in less than a year that I call Jim Cramer my personal finance hero. Cramer taught me how to analyze companies as investments and market trends in simple language while being quite entertaining. Anyone who is interested in investing needs to read Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World to learn how to do the home work necessary to choose investments that are appropriate for their situation, and check out Mad Money on CNBC too.Cramer is not just another “talking head,” he is an educator. Everyone should understand at least the basics of investing because even if you have someone else manage your investments, it is still your money and no one will care about it like you will.

Your husband and you took a 40% cut in income because you had to leave work to raise your child. What methods did you use to handle this financial challenge?

I tried working part-time when my daughter was a baby but my husband and I were not comfortable with the day care alternatives available, so we decided to take the plunge into the one-income world.The major thing that enabled us to take that cut in income was that we have always spent less than we earned so other than our mortgage, we had no debt. And, our mortgage payment was low. Just because the bank said we could afford a certain mortgage payment didn’t mean we wanted to spend that much.While I was home with my daughter I decided my job was to save money where ever I could. During that time we rarely ate at restaurants, and I stocked up on sale items and planned meals around what was on sale. I would go between three grocery stores to buy what was on sale at each store, and I clipped coupons and used them on double coupon days at one store (the savings in double coupons was amazing).I read everything I could find on living on less money and chose the methods from those books that would work for my family. Online, I used The Dollar Stretcher and I still do (you interviewed Gary, the guy running the show on that site).I discovered rummage sales in some wealthy neighborhoods where I could get gorgeous baby and toddler clothes and toys for very little money. We did not go to the movies (babysitter plus movie tickets = money needed for groceries) and did not take vacations. To keep from feeling very deprived, I kept my mind on my goal of raising my daughter and I enjoyed the simplicity of our family life; that season of my life would not last not forever. I was grateful for what we did have and spent little time dwelling on thing we chose to do without for awhile.We had monthly savings goals then as we do now, and we saved up for Christmas gifts and other larger purchases so we would not get taken by surprise by a big outflow of cash. I bought some Christmas gifts in August because they were on sale then but would be priced higher in the fall.

Although I wasn’t sure how we would be able to keep tithing at church, we chose to continue to do so during our financially scarce years. At the end of each month we always had enough. It is an amazing principle; when we give to others, the world gives back.

You have mentioned that your parents frequently discussed earning, saving, and investing money around you and your brothers, so personal finance is a topic that became natural for you. Do you think parents can be a big influence on how their children will handle finances when they grow up?

Parents absolutely influence their children’s financial choices. Kids imitate what they see and the home environment they grow up in provides them with a compass for what is acceptable. Of course most kids naturally rebel and make spending mistakes, but if they were exposed to sound financial practices growing up, they will likely go back to those fundamentals to recover from mistakes and move on to make better decisions in the future.

What is your method in teaching your child the basics of finances?

My husband and I teach by example as well as explaining finances to our daughter. My daughter has seen us save for things we want, and she has seen us do research to get the best value for our money, and we discuss financial responsibility with her at her level. Now she saves her money for the latest Nintendo game and she helps me to figure out the best buy at the grocery store. I also teach her that some things are worth paying more for because of quality or because they are simply more enjoyable.

How do you handle your finances with your husband? Does a single person handle all the details or is this a joint effort?

I handle the majority of our finances but I would never make a major decision without asking my husband what he thought about it. I think we fell into this arrangement because I was interested in researching how to save money and how to grow investments.

While we’re on that topic, what is your opinion for those couple that handles or don’t handle their finances together (e.g, keeping separate accounts etc.).

I have not thought about this for years. I thought my husband and I would keep separate accounts plus a joint account when we were first married but I quickly found it to be unnecessary because it’s just easier to keep one account, and each of us knew what the other was spending anyway. I suppose if two people had very different ideas about spending, a his/hers/ours set up would be ideal. I can also see how problems could result if something is needed for the collective household that is more expensive than anticipated but one person wants to use their money on themselves instead of contributing to defraying the costs.I think the answer to whether separate accounts work is, “it depends.”

Why and how did you become a guide at the Financial Software section at About.com? And Suite101?

I’ve always liked About.com and have used it for years as a resource for research on just about anything (and I do research just about anything!). I would occasionally check to see if I could cover any of their topics, and when I saw financial software was open it seemed like a good fit because I had used many financial software packages and have designed and taught computer classes.I like to teach people how to use software to automate tasks and to reduce redundancy. I worked for a crazy lady once who insisted that I enter inventory data into a spreadsheet even though it automatically went into a database as raw materials were used. Well, that’s one of my definitions of crazy: spending time doing something that is already done. There is more to the crazy lady story, but I’ll leave it at that was the worst job I’ve ever had. I think she ties for worst boss I’ve ever had as well.I started writing for Suite101 because I like writing about personal finance in general. While my About.com work is about personal finance software tools used to manage money, I can’t get into more specific information there like types of mutual funds or IRAs.

What is your approach when evaluating personal finance software?

I approach the software methodically and ask myself several questions. Does it have all the standard features other finance software has, and does it have unique features? Does it navigate easily? Is the help documentation complete? As I use the software I think about who would benefit from the features. I also consider what the software offers for the price, and of course, the “kewl factor” of how the software looks and functions is something to note.

As a writer on personal finance, what are some of the challenges you face to convey the concepts to readers?

With financial software, I need to explain how people can benefit from features, and I can’t take for granted that a reader understands what terms like “download” and “OEM” mean so I link to definitions. When I do tutorials, I give background information to make sure the steps in the steps in the tutorial make sense.With general personal finance writing, I like to explain concepts at a very basic level or I give background information before I get into details. It’s important to give the reader information they can build their knowledge base on.

Current Financial Strategy:

Save and invest for retirement, save for unexpected expenses and save for a nice family vacation in a few years. I save some for college for my daughter as well, but retirement savings has to come before college. There are ways to finance a college education but you can’t finance your retirement.

Best Financial Tip:
Take care of your stuff. If what you are trying to sell looks clean and newer, you will get a lot more money for it when it is time to sell.

Do not neglect keeping your home in good repair and reasonably updated. Enjoy the comforts of updates while you live on the property, then get a better price for the home when you sell. The same goes for vehicles. My husband does an amazing job at keeping our vehicles clean and maintained and we get great trade-in values or get top dollar on vehicles we sell ourselves.

Worst Financial Move Ever:

This ties in with my Best Financial Tip: While my husband and I kept our first little starter home in good repair, we did little updating and it really needed more. We thought we were saving money by making do with things as they were, but we just broke even on that sale and we would have taken a loss had our real estate agent not taken pity on us and cut her commission.

Financially, I need help with:

I need to consolidate IRAs from five or six brokerages into one or two so I can track them easier. I don’t actually need help with doing this, I need to stop procrastinating and start filling out the forms to do it.

What personal finance tools do you currently use to track and manage your money?

I use Quicken to enter or download account transactions and to keep a budget. I use the online tools my brokerages provide for analyzing the portfolio and investment-related stuff. I use tax software for my quarterly and annual tax reporting.

What are the problems in your personal finance tools?

Sometimes my financial software refuses to download from financial institutions for days at a time. Financial institutions have been putting new security measures in place and that is likely messing up these downloads. Determining whether it is the bank or the software causing the problems is usually difficult to do since they each point a finger at the other.

How would your ideal personal finance tool work?

It would be awesome to find software that sold features ala cart so it wasn’t bogged down with “whistles and bells” I don’t need while having all the features I do need.

How much do you think you currently spend on eating out?

I work from home so I rarely eat out on my own. I maybe spend $20 a month to grab lunch while I’m out of the office. I’m more likely to spend $15 of that on ice cream cones over the month….does that count as going out to eat?

Mint’s Note: The Digerati Life is a fun-to-read personal finance blog from the perspective of a software engineer/mommy/blogger. Check out today’s interview to read up on Silicon Valley Blogger’s view on the dot-com bubble burst; living in the high cost region of Silicon Valley; and finances in regards to family and kids.

Name: Finnegan Lane
Age: 40
Profession: Software engineer
Website: The Digerati Life

Seeing the dot-com bubble bursting from the inside perspective will always be different than those of us not in the industry, can you describe a little bit about what you saw during that time?

Oh yes, this brings back memories of extreme elation, when everyone at one point was dreaming of new beginnings away from the rat race. I saw how people were giddily tallying up their paper money on a daily basis and drawing up plans for their first big purchases from what sports car to buy to planning where they’d move to. I also saw the frenzy get wilder after every new announcement that a new startup just had an IPO, especially when we had friends in such companies. Commute traffic became unnerving and unbearable and housing scarce as the Bay Area attracted more and more transplants. People day traded every day while I argued with these people that they were practically throwing away their money on margin. When the bubble popped, I saw some friends lose half their net worth to the markets. Others left and returned to their home lands. Everyone got laid off (I am not exaggerating here). But people remained optimistic about their next ventures while coasting on severance (when available) and unemployment benefits so it wasn’t as bad as you’d think, except perhaps accepting the loss of those paper millions.

You’ve mention that a disproportionate number of personal finance bloggers are engineers. Do you think that’s merely a coincident or is there something more to it? Perhaps engineers (in all fields) are more interested in knowing how things work, having control over how things work, and maybe this includes personal finance?

I’m going to venture a guess on this one. Finance is math based and involves some strategizing — perfect for logical thinkers who receive a decent amount of disposable income, as many engineers make. The idea of budgeting, investing and even arbitrage may be something that they could be drawn to since a lot of finance deals with discipline, control (as you’ve mentioned) and maybe even creative thinking to some extent. Finance is a fascinating subject on its own which I’ve enjoyed for a long time. It was natural for me to get into it. But I’m also going to suggest a more sober reason for why engineers do financial blogging: they’re on the lookout for additional income; they’re technically inclined and comfortable with the internet so they can exploit its opportunities quite easily. Plus they know that financial blogging can be easily monetizable. How’s that for a different angle? What I’m surprised about is how talented a lot of these engineers are as writers. The engineers I know personally abhor writing exercises of any sort. Good luck with trying to make them do design and technical documentations with a smile.

Silicon Valley is definitely not a cheap place to live; do you have any special budgeting tricks to handle the higher cost of living?

I will admit that for a long time I lived very simply and frugally to the point of being teased about it. I started investing very early and really saved up during the high salaried days of the dot com boom. I knew it wouldn’t last and really “made serious hay while the sun shone.” My best tip is to never take for granted what you have and receive so no matter how much money you make, think twice before spending it. Also, to survive in the Bay Area, one needs to seek opportunities to grow their money along with tightening their belt. Budgeting or being frugal alone may not be enough to live comfortably in SF.

Having a young family can be quite challenging. You’ve mentioned that having two children changed your financial mindset significantly, what are some of the steps you’ve taken in meeting these financial challenges?

In the past, I was admittedly pretty tight with money. I was very careful how I spent and consumed, believing that there will be a time when my expenses will grow greater. I realized that those days of higher expenses came when my kids were born. My financial mindset changed in the sense that I had to be more relaxed about how to spend money because raising kids takes a lot of resources. My spouse and I were glad that we had built up enough financial resources to handle these changes. We also delayed having children until our mid 30’s in order to provide our family a stable and secure financial life. Choosing to become older parents was the sacrifice we took to achieve a solid financial foundation for ourselves.

One of your dreams is to become a Certified Financial Planner (which is totally awesome in our book), is there a particular reason why you want to be a CFP?

There were occasions when I’ve helped out friends and family with some advice regarding their finances. I was surprised at how many people I knew who weren’t familiar or comfortable with personal finance. I realized how much I enjoyed helping them out via discussions and informative exchanges. Now that I’ve become a finance blogger, I’ve also realized how much there was that I did not know about finance that I am now learning. So it may be the case that I hold my tongue on this for now. I’m just glad to have found a place in the financial blogosphere where I can both learn and hopefully help people in this arena.

A common question to personal finance blogging parents: how do you plan to teach your kids about finances?

My kids are still quite young so they aren’t yet privy to the whole concept of money. I’m probably going to approach this in a moderate fashion. I won’t be a tightfisted parent but probably one who will lead by example. I will educate them with stories and basic information as they grow older and may withhold allowances until a much later age. I hope to see them build some ambition even while they’re young and will be encouraging them to take jobs once they’re ready.

Current Financial Strategy:

Keep a solid and hopefully flexible job, save, invest, diversify and run a business. Employ prudent asset allocation. Also, we’re hoping that our home business will fly in the next couple of years in order to relieve me of my 9 to 5 job. My husband is currently working on this startup and has sacrificed a full time income to focus on this at this time. Currently, he’s one year into this venture.

Best Financial Tip:

Never take your money for granted. Educate yourself in the areas of finance and business, stay reasonably frugal and invest your savings in index funds.

Worst Financial Move Ever:

Emotional investments in independent stocks. Shorting stocks and participating in overly complicated schemes that involve money. I realized that the more complicated a money making scheme or venture was, the worse my returns were. Getting scammed (a few times!).

Financially, I need help with:

I don’t have any issues financially, except perhaps to run my finances more efficiently. I really need to be more organized and am yearning to learn even more about certain aspects of finance that I’m not as familiar with ( e.g. real estate and other alternative investments; loan industry, etc).

What personal finance tools do you currently use to track and manage your money?

Morningstar.com tools, my spreadsheets, custom reports I’ve built for our use. I’m planning to purchase my first financial organizational software soon. Yes, I’ve been managing our finances for almost 20 years on my custom, self-developed tools.

What are the problems in your personal finance tools?

Since my spreadsheets are simple and custom, they’re probably inferior to these fancy personal finance tools that are out there.

How would your ideal personal finance tool work?

This remains to be seen. I need to review a few tools before I can comfortably answer this question.

How much do you think you currently spend on eating out?

There are 5 members in my family, so each time we go out, our bill could run up to around $75 to $100 a pop. We don’t eat out too often though. And we don’t skimp on food as much.

How often do you want to know about your personal finance?

Very often. Every day?

What is in your wallet?

I’ll pass you my wallet’s picture sometime! My wallet has one personal credit card, one business credit card, driver’s license, med insurance cards, a bunch of calling cards and around $100 and change.

Mint’s Note: TeXtra is a technology news show with a lot eXtra! It is technology meets culture, analysis, and humor! Host Natali Del Conte follows the what’s what, who’s who, and WHY of technology news that goes beyond the Silicon Valley. She is an established technology journalist, having written for PC Magazine , TechCrunch, MarketWatch, and more.

Name: Natali Del Conte

Age: 28

Profession: Journalist

Websites: TeXtra @ Podshow.com; Natali Del Conte @ Podshow.com

Current Financial Strategy:

I have a pretty low-tech way of managing my finances. I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to balance my checkbook every month. I’ve tried Quicken and other financial tools but I like my old way that I’ve been using since I was 18 years old. I balance my checkbook to the penny – yes I am anal – and then lay out a budget for the rest of the month, depending on what I’m saving for and what I have planned for the month. All of this comes after my contributions to my savings accounts and Roth 401K. This monthly session lets me know how much I’ve saved, how much I need for bills, mortgage, etc., and how much elbow room I have to spend with.

Best Financial Tip:

My mom read a book called “The Richest Man In Babylon” when I was a child and she told me that I should always save at least 10 percent of every paycheck. So I always have. I’m a pretty strong saver. Unfortunately, I’m a strong spender too but even if I go through my spending money for the month, I stay away from that 10 percent until it’s time to buy houses or cars or things like that.

Worst Financial Move Ever:

Leasing a car. What a waste of money for a car that I can’t even drive at my leisure! I’ll never do that again!

Financially, I need help with:

Investing my money. I have a financial adviser but I don’t always understand where he’s put my money and whether it is growing or not.

What personal finance tools do you currently use to track and
manage your money?

My own homemade Excel spreadsheets, which are password protected! It’s so antiquated compared to what is available online now but I still like it.

What are the problems in your personal finance tools?

Its low-tech. I wish there was a better way that I could get real-time information from my bank’s Web sites and integrate it into my system. I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard but if it isn’t broken…

How would your ideal personal finance tool work?

It would be a bit more portable. I know that mobile browsing will get better though so I can be patient for that.

What more do you want to know about your personal finances?

I wish my investment firm had clearer statements that gave more forecasts for the future. They don’t really do that.

How much do you think you currently spend on eating out?

Not very much. I usually prefer to cook. It relaxes me. If I had to guess, I would say I spend less than $40 per week eating out.

How often do you want to know about your personal finances?

I will check my bank information every few days but then I do the full checkbook balance and strategizing session once a month. I love that night of the month actually. I plop down on the couch with my statements, checkbook, laptop, and a glass of wine. It’s not always good news but its good alone time for me. Plus, it is so satisfying to have it done and know that you’re in control of your finances.

What is in my wallet?

Two Visas that I try not to touch, an ATM card, a Victoria’s Secret credit card, grocery store club cards, Starbucks cards, and my MAC discount card. Oh sometimes cash, but I usually don’t carry that much. My sister is always lecturing me about that.

Being the only girl. I get picked on a lot.

Work out, bikram, tennis, and code some more.