Your Shiny NEW Staff Writing Duo

So as we enter the New Year here at My University Money we thought it was time to diversify the content we give to our readers.  While I like to think we have done a pretty good job creating stuff that it is interesting to read, we felt we needed to add some different flavours.  The two guys we found definitely provide that.  I’ll let them introduce themselves, but I can guarantee they will certainly be well-informed and entertaining.  Enjoy!

A. Blinkin 

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“Allow myself to introduce…myself.” – Austin Powers

A lot of personal finance blogs sound the same. The author, as a young adult, incurred an insurmountable amount of debt and now you get to follow his fiscal revival to riches! Surely I understand the “learn from my mistakes” philosophy, but why would I take advice from a financial flunkee?

Imagine this: you sign up for a basketball camp and the first thing the instructor says is “I don’t play basketball. I tried one season, but I lost every game. Let me teach you a few things.” Absolutely not!

Wouldn’t you rather have Michael Jordan? That’s me, I’m Michael. Well that’s not actually my name; but picture me as the Michael Jordan of Money (only paler).

Why I’m writing?

Reason #1 – To Help Myself

I figure if I’m consistently writing about financial responsibility, then I will be financially responsible. I can’t possibly preach the importance to others and not hold myself accountable. Exception to this rule: Matchmakers. I’m pretty sure all matchmakers are single…

Reason #2 – To Help Others

Most people worry about money. My 9 to 5 job (8-7) is to worry about money so you don’t have to. I have worked in sales, lending, banking, and investments – so although I’m young, the experience is there. I used to think my everyday thoughts were common sense, until I had people thanking me for my tips. With this blog, my goal is to use these tips to simplify common financial decisions.

Why are you reading?

With the blog format you’re able to pick up little tidbits, enjoy an interesting thought, and hopefully crack a smile within a minute or two. I will try to make each post brief but relevant. Since I do work “in the field,” I often get bored with the generic articles you most likely read elsewhere. “Top 10 Ways To Save Money On Food” or “Why You Should Have Renters Insurance” isn’t what you’re going to find here. That sh*t annoys me; so instead I will most often leave the realm of personal finance and dive into Behavioral Economics, Political Economics, and Personal Improvement.

I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to connect with the My University Money community.

-A. Blinkin

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 Nelson Smith

First off, let’s take a minute to laugh at the irony that I’m going to be writing for a site called My University Money, even though I’ve never attended a class of university. The guys behind this blog are probably wondering if it’s too late to abandon this arrangement. Too late suckers!

I’ve always been the kind of guy to go against the grain. Instead of going to university at 18 like everyone else, I decided to head out to the workforce and get a job while I figured out what to do with the rest of my life. It’s now 10 years later and I still really have no idea. I’m a little closer to the answer, at least I think. What do you want from me, answers? But, unlike most other people who didn’t bother with higher education, I lived at home and invested every spare penny with one long term goal in mind: I wanted to be rich.

One thing that’s remained constant in my life is an interest in finance. Well, that and attractive ladies. I’m endlessly fascinated with all aspects of finance. It’s like a game, but a game with many possible solutions. I like to focus on aspects that increase income – things like side hustles and investing, rather on the frugality stuff which gets a little overdone sometimes. Besides, earning more money is definitely more fun than cutting back.

In real life I work for a major snack food company, which at least ensures I’ll never starve. The good news for you guys is that’s it’s fairly mindless work, meaning I have lots of time to think up of topics that haven’t been explored by the blogosphere like a million times. There’s other things I think about too, but there’s no need to explore them further.

I’m here to tell you that the path to financial prosperity isn’t always in the direction you think. There’s a benefit to thinking outside the box. You don’t want to become another sheep, just waiting to be slaughtered. Besides, do you know what happens to sheep? Lamb chops. And I’m not talking about that lame puppet.

So join me every other week, and together we’ll get a little closer to becoming wealthy enough to really have some fun. And if you don’t like it, I’ll gladly refund your price of admission.