Nope, I haven’t retired.

It’s been way too long since I’ve published anything here, but that doesn’t mean I’ve retired from blogging. Blame a mix of deadlines and personal stuff, plus the need to enjoy the last days of summer; even though it’s been raining almost nonstop, I still love these days of near-nonstop light.

I’m also getting ready to go to the Financial Blogger Conference, which is in Orlando* this year. Hearing all the horror stories about flight delays or outright cancellations, I’m hoping for the best. But I am also planning to observe the mantra of the stranded seal hunter: Go with the floe.

Taken together, this has meant an undeclared sabbatical. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve given up on this site, because I haven’t retired either from it or from writing for a living. It’s just that other things get in the way of my wanting to post here regularly.

That whole work-life balance thing: If I could figure it out, I’d become a millionaire teaching other people how to do it. But I haven’t. And as far as I can tell, few people have.

That’s because we want to do it all – at least in theory.

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Bobblehead me.

You know you’ve arrived when The Motley Fool casts a bobblehead in your likeness.

My daughter says it just cements my street cred. My partner considers it very cool, although he thinks I should have been wearing one of my “Money Nerds Unite” T-shirts from the Financial Blogger Conference*.

I just think it’s funny as hell, especially since they even put a teeny-tiny copy of my second book in its li’l plastic hand.

The Motley Fool is a private financial/investing advice company. One of its sites, All-Star Money, is a daily digest of personal finance articles that resonate with the curators. I’m happy to have been noticed three times thus far.

One of those notices – “Extreme frugality: Be a frugalvore” – took me to the pinnacle of All-Star Money: being chosen as the Article of the Week. One of the honors accorded thereto is having a bobblehead made. These guys know how to party. 

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Giveaway: The medium flat-rate box of FinCon19 swag.

I’ve been home from the 2019 Financial Blogger Conference for weeks now, and for weeks a medium-flat-rate-box-sized heap of Expo Hall swag has sat on my desk, taunting me.

What’s up for grabs this year? All sorts of goodies, many of which make primo stocking stuffers.

I haven’t catalogued and boxed it up yet because Reasons. Now it’s done, and one lucky person is going to get a large selection of offbeat items courtesy of the expo hall at the annual financial writers’ conference.

Exhibitors lure you to their tables by putting out things like T-shirts, candy, reusable shopping bags and the like. And who doesn’t need a spare box of matches, or a bottle opener, or a little bag of custom M&Ms?

Plenty of people, I know. But again, some of these things are giftable as heck. In fact, I kept a few of them back for the annual shoebox Christmas giveaway organized by a local charity. You fill a shoebox with items homeless people have requested, then wrap it with Christmas paper and drop it off at the Tastee-Freez.

This year my shoebox will include hand sanitizer, lip balm, and a notebook and pens from the expo hall, in addition to the other stuff I bought. And here are the things that this year’s box-of-FinCon-swag winner will receive:

 

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Now available: the FinCon19 Virtual Pass.

We were given a very small number of words to pitch our presentations for FinCon19. Here’s the description of my panel, “From Guest Posts to Six Figures: Actionable Tips for Freelancers”:

Beginning writers often take any jobs they can find, even if they’re poorly paid and/or labor-intensive. You need the clips! But at some point you should ask yourself whether it’s wise to do things like:

– Write for “exposure” (Hint: People DIE of exposure.)

– Write for peanuts (especially for clients who take up waaay too much of your time)

– Take assignments you don’t believe in (“Yay payday loans!”)

– Keep working with First-Ever Client out of loyalty, although other gigs pay better

The takeaways:

– Finding the right jobs

– Learning to say “no” (e.g., to calls/Skypes that take too much of your time)

– Asserting yourself (“My rates have gone up,” or “Sorry, I won’t put together a sidebar without being paid extra”)

– The gentle art of firing a client

It’s your career. Take charge of it, and don’t sell yourself short.

I had three wonderful, experienced panelists – Jackie Lam, Ben Luthi and Miranda Marquit –– and a responsive audience that asked good questions. It was a great experience that went past its alleged stop time and spilled out into the hallway for even more questions.

Sorry you missed it? You can pick up the video version by purchasing the FinCon19 Virtual Pass. The pass features 90+ sessions, including keynoters Sharon Epperson and Ramit Sethi, and it’s the next best thing to attending the Financial Blogger Conference IRL.

 

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The first fire.

I got home at 3 a.m. Saturday from the trifecta trip: D.C. sightseeing, FinCon19 and a visit to my brother’s. Very little sleep and not much to drink on the long trip, so I attributed my slight sore throat to fatigue and the dryness of airplane air.

After about five hours of sleep I spent a lovely, quiet day with DF, including a trip to Glen Alps in the city’s Hillside neighborhood, for a little fresh air and a short walk to enjoy the view.

When I left everything was still unnaturally green due to warmer-than-usual summer, but there’s definitely an autumnal feeling now: leaves turning gold, a coolness in the air, a lowering angle of sun, the sharp scent of highbush cranberries and dying vegetation.

Our back yard is dying back, too, but a ton of tomatoes still peep out from the tangle of outdoor vines. It’s pretty astonishing that they’re doing as well as they are, given that they’re varieties like Stupice and Czech’s bush rather than Siberian hybrid tomatoes.

The outdoor cucumber vines are yellowing but still producing; also unusual, but welcome, since the greenhouse vines are spawned-out. The pea vines are definitely on the wane, yet I picked enough to yield a full pint of shelled fruit, which will make the coming year’s turkey pies that much more succulent. The pods went into the boiling bag, to yield yet another container of soup stock with a definite sweetness.

And oh, the pumpkins, whose vines started slowly but have now produced five or six behemoths that will remain in situ until just before the first frost. Most will be divided among family and friends, with the proviso that we get the pulp scooped out during the jack o’lantern process. We’ll save a few seeds to plant and roast the rest, and add the squishy parts to the boiling bag.

By early evening I realized that I still had the sore throat, along with some congestion and headache. No elevation in temperature, though, so I figured it was a virus that I could kill with fluids and rest.

Sleeping for about 10 hours didn’t drive it away, so this morning DF bundled me back into bed with a couple of heated rice socks and an Advil PM. For almost the next six hours I slept deeply, and woke still under the weather but definitely stronger, albeit somewhat Rip Van Winkled by the loss of most of a day.

And then DF built the first fire of the season.

 

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FinCon19 wrap-up, and a related giveaway.

I’m back, sort of. Before attending FinCon19, I spent five days in Washington, D.C. with my daughter, who had five nights’ worth of free lodging. (Love those travel rewards credit cards.)

We mostly* hit the free museums, gawked at the architecture like a couple of tourists, and ate nearly every meal at the hotel (yay free breakfast!) and from our fridge (it was a full-kitchen Marriott Residence Inn, and there was a Safeway about five blocks away). This frugality allowed us to indulge in Thai and Ethiopian restaurants the rest of the time.

Then it was off to FinCon19 (aka the 2019 Financial Blogger Conference), where I ran nonstop for four days: attending programs, meeting with a bunch of writers and potential employers, and moderating a panel on why freelancers should quit undervaluing their worth.

The conference was a bit overwhelming, especially compared to the first-ever FinCon, which had fewer than 200 participants. This time around it was 2,500 attendees, and the noise and the swirl left me feeling pretty worn-out. At times I would dip out of the crush and head back up to the hotel room for 10 minutes’ worth of peace.

Overall, though, it was an absolute blast. I hung out with old friends and met some new ones, shared tips with newbies and was given great advice by veterans, attended some receptions (especially the AARP one, which was crammed with amazing women writers), and most of all, felt like a professional again.

I’ve been making a living as a writer for 35 years. Living way up in Anchorage makes me an outlier, though, far from easy access to writer meet-ups. Too, I tend to isolate myself: Sometimes I need help, or advice, or simple fellowship but don’t reach out to others.

(About that last: Had a very rewarding chat with Jackie Lam of Hey Freelancer and Sarah-Li Cain of Beyond The Dollar, who both told me to Facebook-message them any time I’m having One Of Those Days. Bless their hearts.)

Bonus: The conference yielded a moderate** amount of swag for a future giveaway, plus a very nice stand-alone item that I’ll be giving away at the end of this article.

 

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FinCon 19: C.U. in D.C.?

Once again I’ve been chosen to be one of the more than 200 speakers at . This year FinCon takes place in Washington, D.C., from Sept. 4 to Sept. 7.

I’ll be coming in a few days early for some sightseeing and to hang out with my daughter. And maybe with some of you, but more about that in a minute.

First, a shout-out to any other personal finance bloggers out there: How would you like to get free admission to FinCon19?

If you can meet a couple of conditions, then I urge you to apply for the FinCon19 scholarship. Those conditions are:

You started your money blog/podcast/website/YouTube channel after January 2018.

You haven’t already registered to attend FinCon19.

 

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ICYMI: FinCon18 Virtual Pass now available.

Here’s a second chance for anyone who wanted to attend the 2018 Financial Blogger Conference (aka FinCon18) but couldn’t: The FinCon18 Virtual Pass is now available.

I’m sorry you missed it. Attendees heard speakers like Rachel Cruze, Liz Weston, J.D. Roth, Jean Chatzky, Chris Hogan, Mr. Money Mustache and, ahem, me. They networked with other writers and podcasters, making guest-post and “wanna be on my podcast?” connections.

They checked out writing opportunities at the Freelancer Marketplace, and learned about the latest financial products and services from tons of vendors. Quite a few of them sat in a 16-foot inflatable flamingo that was set up in honor of the Orlando location (and which was rarely empty).

They met other people who also nerd out over personal finance, and to learn about aspects of blogging and podcasting: writing, creating a niche brand, financial independence, interviewing, creating great YouTube videos, writing and publishing books, affiliate marketing, social media, demystifying Google Analytics and many other topics.

It’s true that the FinCon18 Virtual Pass won’t get the in-person experience (or the 16-foot flamingo). But here’s what you will get:

 

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Giveaway: FinCon18 box of swag.

At this year’s Financial Blogger Conference (aka FinCon18), I had the privilege of moderating a panel stocked with four great folks: Liz Weston, Joe Saul-Sehy, Miranda Marquit and Harlan Landes.

The topic was “how to do a great interview,” whether that’s for articles or podcasts, and the panelists shared tremendously valuable info. Audience members had great questions, and we talked until the next group of presenters needed the space.

Bonus: Abby didn’t get sick this year. I didn’t get sick this year, either.

 

We both had a great time learning, meeting up with colleagues and, yeah, cruising “FinCon Central,” where 100 tables were set up to clue us in as to what’s new in the personal finance world.

Which brings me to the real point of this column: Swag. Lots of it.

Those tables were loaded with shirts, blank books, socks (yep, socks), stress balls and so many other tchotchkes. Thank the FinCon Central folks for this, my first giveaway in quite a while.

Thank my daughter, too, because not only did she remain healthy, she picked up promo merchandise to help me fill a large flat-rate Priority Mail box. (Sorry: It won’t show up wrapped all pretty-like with a big red bow. But it’ll still be full of free stuff!)

 

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Frugal Phoenix fashion.

Before I begin, let me pat my own back for successfully resisting the headline “Phrugal Phoenix Phashion.” You’re welcome.

The thrift stores down here are much better than the ones in Anchorage. No surprises there, since more than a million people live in the Phoenix metro area. This means a lot of donations.

Specifically, a lot of donations of warm-weather clothing, the kind that doesn’t exactly crowd the racks in Anchorage thrift stores.

Since I’m due to attend (and speak at) the in Orlando, one of my goals was to find a couple of new shirts and maybe a pair of pants. My daughter and I spent some pleasant times treasure-seeking in Savers (called Value Village in Anchorage) and Goodwill.

I scored four shirts and a pair of cotton-linen slacks for less than $22. Abby found a bunch of tops for even less – and in the process triggered her thrift-store FOMO. That’s one of the down sides of thrifting. Fortunately my trying-on tolerance is fairly low, so I tended to find a couple of things and then just wait with the cart while she test-drove shirt after shirt.

The best part about Savers: the 50-percent-off sale that takes place every Monday. This allowed me to get good prices on clothes and also a hat to keep the punishing summer sun off the top of my head.

 

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