Comments on: The Exception vs. The Rule in Money

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 17:55:00 +0000

In reply to ZJ Thorne.

Agreed x10000!! Its actually harder to find genuine bloggers than not these days!

By: ZJ Thorne

ZJ Thorne — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 06:04:11 +0000

I get so frustrated by those sites. Do X thing to earn a million dollars, but please ignore that I'm earning money telling you how to do something rather than doing it myself.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:49:14 +0000

In reply to Ms. Montana.

Thanks, girl! Haha - yes the 5 kids might be a little hard to replicate. You've had such a cool and unique story. Blast to read :)

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:48:07 +0000

In reply to Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life.

So true! It's important that these stories are shared and given light because it does provide great motivation for others. It's actually a huge deal that you know what your strengths are, because so many people struggle to figure that out or acknowledge the truth! Paula Pant is on another level haha, but she is seriously inspirational, so to be anywhere close to her is awesome.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:46:30 +0000

In reply to Matt Spillar.

Thanks Matt! We absolutely need to enjoy our own lives first and foremost. You can't truly appreciate what you have if you're always looking to someone else for guidance.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:45:36 +0000

In reply to TJ.

I totally know what you mean! I think we're all guilty of it because it's good to take a stance on some things. However, that doesn't mean anyone else is doing it the wrong way. I do appreciate though, that it sparks good conversation and thought within the community.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:44:37 +0000

In reply to Allea Grummert.

I love your outlook on providing financial support. It's not very often that people who work in this industry are unbiased and take into consideration that one option might not be the only option. Thanks for sharing, girl!

By: Ms. Montana

Ms. Montana — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 18:46:00 +0000

This is so good! It's something I really am careful about. Because no one can just copy my life. That can't be their road map. Especially on the big things. It's more about finding the small habits and patters that help create success on any path. So that is what I try to focus on. We paid cash for our first house. That is crazy to ask someone else to do. There were so many moving pieces of that story. It's impossible to perfectly replicate. Plus our life is so darn weird, I don't think there is another person alive who would want the carbon copy of it. 5 little kids, enough said.

By: Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life

Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 18:20:03 +0000

Many of the most visible PF bloggers are the exception against the larger population but it's good to know that in the back of your mind. There's a balance between understanding that they're reading exceptional experiences, and understanding that you can't recreate that exact experience and therefore curling up into a ball and doing nothing. The best thing that I've done with that for myself is to read them, knowing that I can't duplicate their way to success, but instead that it's my job to distill those experiences into something that I can apply to my life. My strength lies in intuitively knowing, and playing to, my strengths. My strengths do not include absorbing and imitating another person's thoughts and actions exactly, they lie in being an unstoppable force when I have found a path to pursue. Turning that into real life examples, I can't, and shouldn't, try to copy Ramit's exact path to success but I have built on the negotiation ideas he espouses to become a very well regarded professional in my field that is just about fairly compensated. For another, I don't have Paula Pant's experience with rental properties but I can, and have, ventured into building my own rental portfolio, albeit with more caution. ;)

Knowledge is out there for us to make our own exceptional stories, if we care to look.

By: Matt Spillar

Matt Spillar — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 18:18:56 +0000

Lots of really great points Alyssa. My favorite line was "Comparisons in personal finance can become a dangerous game, so next time you read a story, just remember – it might not work for you." It's so true, the more we compare ourselves to others the worse off we are. Whether that's with how other people spend their money, or their social media feeds, or whatever. The more time we spend trying to emulate other people's lives, the more time we spend not enjoying our own life. It's important to take lessons and tips from people that have reached success, but there's no "one size fits all" blueprint for how to live, we have to each discover our own path.