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Feeds on InvestorBlogger: Dollar Travels, Blogging Travails, Taiwan, and much more…

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With the new software I’m using and a couple of plugins, I have been endeavouring to bring both summaries and full-posts to my readers as they wish. However, recently things went awry. I was able to spot the situation before it got out of hand! But it resulted in double posting in the main feed.

What feeds can you find on InvestorBlogger?

There are a number of sub-blogs on this domain now, each of which as its own feed.

1. The main feed: URL = https://www.investorblogger.com/feed/

This feed is the front door to the other blogettes, and is intended to feature the ‘best of…’ each of the other blogs for readers. It will also contain ‘lighter material’, basic information, and so on.

2. Dollar Travels Feed: URL = https://www.investorblogger.com/feed/

Dollar Travels contains the posts related to Personal Finance, and the remit is WIDE open. All topics are subsumed under “Just how far does your dollar go? Read on…”

3. Blogging Travails Feed: URL = https://www.investorblogger.com/feed/

Blogging Travails covers all the material on tech, blogging, making money online and much more. It’s off to a strong start.

4. Sticky Rice Feed: URL = https://www.investorblogger.com/taiwan/feed/

This sub-blog features picture posts, life in Taiwan, Politics, and all the other posts that don’t fit in anywhere else.

And …

… there is a whole site feed which includes ALL posts on the website. If you would prefer a higher frequency feed, then subscribe to that feed:

5. Whole InvestorBlogger and NOTHING BUT Feed: URL = https://www.investorblogger.com/?wpmu-feed=posts

Notes: I’m planning to publish both the main site feed and the Whole 100% Feed with one being summaries and the other full posts at some point, but my first attempts didn’t work properly at all. There are another few sub-blogs hosted on this URL, but I will feature them as time goes by. It’s likely that you may not wish to subscribe to all the posts, esp. if the volume of posts picks up. If so, please subscribe to the appropriate channel only.

Friday Reading: Great Deals on Finance Magazines

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Amazon is currently having a great sale on certain Finance Magazines. I’ll highlight three or four that caught my eye. The deals are pretty good: each currently is on sale at about $12.00 for a 12-month subscription. Always check your payment before you checkout just to make sure the deal isn’t expired!

Portfolio Magazine

Smart Money Magazine

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine

So, for $36, you can get a decent financial education by reading these regularly, and you may even feel after 12 months that it wasn’t a waste of money. Use another $15 to buy a supply of teabags so you can sit at home and save $5 each time you want to go into Starbucks for a Latte and a scone! Here’s my current favorite.

Always check out these deals to make sure that you buy at the price you expect!

Should I blog about my own finances?

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One of the reasons I set up my blog on DollarTravels was to encourage me to put more effort into my financial life. While I’ve been very succesful as a blogger, and earned not a small amount of money!, I haven’t really posted any personal financial details on any of the blogs I write before. I do share my credit card spending from month to month, but I don’t share my expenses, my cashflow or my investment holdings at all.

I’ve already settled part of this discussion in my mind: I’m resolved to start posting my investment holdings at some point, but my own financial situation: somehow that seems like a whole new ballgame.

Privacy: is it that important?

Unlike Flexo who writes fairly anonymously, a lot of people in Taiwan actually know me, and they know where I live and work. So this would be highly personal reporting and attributable to some they know. I’m not yet convinced that this is a good thing. An article in Business Week that featured another Money Blog actually has a source that is attributable, known and trackable. I don’t know if this is something I would like to be. Part of me urges caution, part of me wants to celebrate success and share failure with EVERYONE! I’m torn.

Breaking Taboos

Coming from Britain, where I grew up and with friends, personal financial details were rarely shared amongst even the closest relatives. We were brought up such that you didn’t talk about death, sex, politics, religion, health, and money! While some of these seem obviously inappropriate at certain times, such proscription seems so intolerable that it’s a wonder anyone was able to learn anything about any of these sensitive topics. So for me to discuss some aspects of our financial situation, it’s definitely running counter to my experience as a child or younger person.

The Power of the External

Having seen my blog help me focus my mind more on generation money through the number of routes that I choose, I can see how having an external pressure, a barometer, an audience, etc.. can help me keep on the straight and narrow. Perhaps it will stop me splurging on a third 28″ monitor or a brand new BMW when I can ill afford, perhaps not. Even the failures will provide a good lesson: I’m ever hopeful that our ‘shared experience’ online will help others develop their own self-discipline, goals and means, even when I have demonstrably failed.

So what should I do? Reveal ALL my personal financials, lift the veil on some of finances (e.g. Net Worth and Investments), or keep them away from prying eyes? Comment your answer if you dare. I’ll be making a decision by September 1st. I’d like to say that some from my audience helped me gain perspective whichever outcome I decide.