The Truth Will Out?
Nobody gives out their real name when they blog for various reasons. We don’t want employers to find out because it’s often against company policy. We don’t want people we know (families, friends) to find out because we’re not quite sure how they’d react, especially if we reference or feature some of their stories into our material, which we really can’t help because our blogs tend to be quite personal. And being a financial blogger is even more tricky, given that we discuss our personal financial information with you; I find that the topic of money is a sensitive subject and by becoming really open about it and depending on what we reveal, we could be risking our security as well. Hence, majority of us pf bloggers resort to cloaking our identities.
But I’ve been feeling a tad bit self-conscious lately and I think it’s because there’s a good possibility that I’ll need to shed some of my anonymity at some point this year. It could be sooner rather than later. When I started this blog, I made a pact with myself to protect my anonymity at all costs. [Yes, I'm terribly paranoid.] Even my own family doesn’t know much about what I’m doing with this site, and the only ones I share the fact that I have this site are those who aren’t interested in reading it. About personal finance anyway. 
But as I take blogging more seriously, I am now planning to join more and more blogging conferences hosted around Silicon Valley. I therefore expect that the truth will out, but perhaps only to a contained audience. There’s this one coming up by the end of March and who knows, I may see some of the pf bloggers there. I’m planning to car pool with Lazy Man so I’ll finally know his real identity, and maybe even where he lives.
No, I’m not trying to make a big deal about being hush-hush over who I am. It’s just that when you talk about money all the time, I find it easier to write freely and candidly when I know I can hide behind a mysterious acronym. I’m sure many bloggers in this niche will agree. This would be the case even though I’m no longer employed (job protection was my number one reason for keeping my identity secret).
Unfortunately, there’s just no hiding your online secrets forever.
Personal Finance Reads
- The Simple Dollar: I’m all too familiar with the purge-and-splurge cycle that befalls many a reforming spender. You overspend, then you save like crazy then repeat the cycle — much like yo-yo dieting. Here are ways to break from it!
- Lazy Man and Money: Lazy Man kicks off a huge series on Prosper Days, a conference that I missed altogether!
Unfortunately, the spouse was out of town and I had to take care of the kiddies so I couldn’t attend what turned out to be a superb event (from what I hear). - Money Smart Life: You going to Las Vegas? Before you go, check out this guide to cutting down your costs when you visit Sin City.
- Gen X Finance: This could very well be one of those classic personal finance posts you’d want to hang on to. It covers a list of finance books that can change your life and how you think about retirement.
- The Sun’s Financial Diary: I call him the master of credit card arbitrage, and Sun has done it again, saving himself some money by paying off his car using free money from a 0% APR credit card.
- Free Money Finance: What does it take to become wealthy? Here are 7 habits to get you there.
- Mighty Bargain Hunter: There’s no magic bullet that will grant you success if you don’t put in the work and effort. Not even if you pay for it.
- No Credit Needed: NCN has some inspiring words and throws down the gauntlet with this challenge for us to make changes instead of continually living with our financial frustrations.
- Five Cent Nickel: I hung on to every word from this guest post by My Two Dollars and found my current situation paralleling his own past experience. Down to the part-time gig I’ve somehow landed serendipitously just a few days ago (coincidentally my last official day at my old job). I’m expecting my new calling to make me as happy and satisfied as David is now.
- All Financial Matters: Take a load of this excellent cost analysis illustrating how much it would cost you to borrow against your 401K. Hopefully this scares you out of touching your retirement fund!
- Grad Money Matters: Here’s someone who’s writings I’ve missed, and now I know why — she’s expecting!
Additional Readings
- 38 random thoughts on building prosperity @ Brip Blap
- Thoughts on Bloggers Quitting the 9 - 5 @ The Baglady
- Earn That Extra Money @ Common Cents For Everyone
- Baring My Budget: Malta @ Less Than A Shoestring
- The No Debt Plan: Step One: A Budget @ No Debt Plan
Right now i’m just covering my real name from being known. maybe if i am semi financial independent, then i can reveal it a little bit more
The upside of forgoing anonymity is that you can really create a brand of yourself, which can come in handy when looking for future business or job opportunities. Best of luck!
I’m glad I don’t have to worry about anonymity, since I’m using my real name. I just wish my parents had named me something besides Brip Blap. Just kidding. Thanks for the mention!
Haha. Brip Blap has got to be one of the most interesting aliases I’ve come across. Definitely memorable and chuckle-worthy. (Imagine saying it out loud).
Lily, true about the branding thing, something like that would establish or legitimize you as a writer (in a way). Now that I don’t plan to work in a corporate setting in the manner I used to be, I may not have to be so careful about anonymity anymore.
It’s definitely understandable why most bloggers hide their identity. I think that it sometimes makes for better posts and that bloggers go further than they would if their identity was exposed.
I think you’re are right, as you depend more on blogging for financial freedom, your real identity will be more available and will become more valuable. It might not be such a bad thing though.
A few bloggers know my name, but I’m fond of my anonymity too. If I become particularly successful, I may let it out…but until I’m on tv or something (like MMND) there’s little point. Plus I’d rather not be stalked or have employers find out.
If I were to blog under my real name I would have named my blog, “Tightwad Dad” or worse! I agree it is probably a good idea to keep your identity protected if you are sharing specific details about your own finances. I don’t get into the specifics myself and talk in general terms because friends and family read my blog regularly.
I hide mine because I’d like to avoid the swarm of adoring fans that would surely camp in front of my house (I wish). Nah, I just prefer to keep my web presence disconnected from my other job e.g. there are no links between the sites and no easy way of going between one and the other. Actually my supervisor knows about my (ERE) site (don’t know if he reads it daily) and his boss knows about it as well. My family knows too. This has the side-effect of getting asked about stocks, the economy, etc. from time to time. Being an iconoclast it also helps people understand me better since my philosophy isn’t really communicated well in sound bites.
I just use my first name, but I am not “allowed” to discuss where I work - since I had to get permission from my company to actually build a blog - no joke. My company has taken several days and scrutinized the site, looked at every page, to decide if I am allowed to keep the blog - granted there is no conflict of interest with them, me and/or my blog.
Who knows, maybe when I leave that company I’ll reveal where it was I worked - and then reveal my full name - don’t hold your breath though.
When I first started my blog, I also wanted to keep everything anonymous. Now, however, some of my friends and family know that I run the site and it’s not that big of a deal.
Perhaps in the future I’ll open up my identity fully on the blog.
I like the idea of being semi-anonymous. I use my full first name, but only my wife’s first initial. This way I feel free to write about what I want.
I recently wrote about my parents arguing constantly about money growing up, and I am sure if they would be hurt. Of course, the idea that they would actually hear about my blog is close to zero, but it helps me focus on writing what I want.
Well.. since I started writing at Wise Bread I am using my real name, and one of my coworkers Googled me and found the site, but there’s really nothing I’m ashamed of so it’s okay. What blogger conferences are you going to? I’m thinking of going to one day of BlogHer in San Francisco.
[...] My Budget: Malta was singled out in The Roundup at the Digerati Life and Value For Your Life after its appearance in the Festival of Frugality; it [...]