Welcome to The Simple Nickle!

Clueless about your money? Do you want financial security, but don't know where to start?

The Simple Nickle is a free web-based program to help you easily understand and control your finances in less than 15 minutes a day! We'll guide you step-by-step; it's as easy as checking your email! We'll also give you easy-to-understand financial education starting with the most basic aspects.

The End of This Blog

Well, I've become a statistic. I've become one of those bloggers who starts their site and then gives it up after a few months. Yes, the simple nickle will be no more, at least not in it's current, active form.

"Why?" you ask. Well, the short answer is 'time.'

The long answer is that I don't have the time to devote to this blog that I want to. I barely had the time to post regularly, but I made it work. However, to have a successful blog you must do more than just post. You must create a network and community, promote your blog in a variety of venues, learn to ins and outs of blog web design, learn about online marketing, respond to and engage your readers, etc, etc, etc.

As a mother of two young children, the wife of a busy MBA student, and someone with many other interests outside of blogging, I just can't give this blog everything it needs without feeling like I'm neglecting other important things. Which is sort of a let-down, because I really liked doing it!

The other consideration is that my target audience--people who don't know much about finances, are overwhelmed by it's sometimes complex presentation, or those who don't know where to start--seem to be in those situations by choice. If that weren't so, this blog would have been wildly popular with all those who claim the above reasons for not having finanial security. I just didn't feel like I was really helping the people I wanted to. Or I'm just not that engaging of a blogger, which I can also admit.

The long answer finished, I'm sad to see it end...so I've decided to become a pseudo-blogger, for lack of a better word. I will probably write and post articles occasionally, and I would like to help other financial bloggers out by offering them as guest posts, for FREE, if there is interest. We all need a day off now and then, right? I will leave the blog up for anyone who has found it useful to come back to, but there won't be much new content.

To my RSS subscribers, let me also recommend some other great financial blogs to check out:

(There are many other great blogs out there, but I've found theses to be helpful, fun, and welcoming. Enjoy!)

To my SYSTEM subscribers, the whole program is posted, so feel free to continue the simple steps...you will just need a bit more self-discipline to do them without the email reminders!

Overall, it was a great experience. I learned that I really enjoy this kind of writing and want to continue doing it. I learned that there are many talented financial bloggers out there who I will continue to read and learn from. I can cross off one more thing from my 'Things To Do Before I Die List.' I can say 'Thanks!' to everyone who supported and benefitted from the site, and wish you well on your financial journeys, where ever they may take you.

13 comments

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

Tips for Mixing Finances and Family

Growing up, my family didn't talk about money very much. It's not that is was taboo, it was just not a common topic of conversation. We had occasional discussions about saving, credit cards, spending, allowance, and things of that nature.


Most of what I have learned about money came later, on my own, when I realized there were better ways to manage my money. What a waste of my youth! The formative years with the family are a prime time to learn about finance. And with the family being the central unit in our society, who better to learn about and work out your finances with?

That being said, talking about money and such isn't always easy. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Talk about money with everyone in the family...meaning spouse and kids. Don't think that anyone is too young, not interested, not smart enough, etc. Give them a chance to understand, and they'll surprise you. Money can be extremely interesting(you're reading this post, aren't you?).

Have common financial goals. You and your spouse should be on the same page when it comes to retirement, but have you ever discussed it? Your retirement might not be interesting to the kids, but what about a family vacation? Make a date with the family to talk about what kinds of goals you have for your money, or if you don't have any goals yet, make some.
Give the kids/spouse a reason to be on board. This ties in with the goal setting. How does managing the money in the house affect them? They need reasons to want to save their money, work hard, learn about finances, etc. It's helpful to outline how good finances affect them personally, as well as as a part of the family. For example, your 16 year old will want to know that consistently saving will eventually get him or her that car. Your college student should know that their credit history will follow them for years, and can hurt Mom and Dad if they're on a joint account.

Teach money skills and thinking. We deal with money everyday, so there are a plethora of opportunities to teach financial managment skills. Do you teach your children what you're doing when you pay the bills? How about when you use your credit card to make a purchase? Does you spouse know anything about your investment plan, or you path to getting out of debt? Take these daily moments and use them! You'll be amazed at how much easier it is to teach in the moment than out of the blue.

Here are some more ideas from a neat series by other financial bloggers, and one of my own:


Family and finances should go hand-in-hand. I think that following these simple tips would result in less failed marriages, more debt-free young adults , and more financial confidence in kids, all things in short supply right now. How do you talk about money with your family?
Articles you might also enjoy:

0 comments

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)