Bryan C. Fleming

Chuck has a good mix of Finance articles on his site. I enjoy reading them from time to time.  If you visit TheFinanceJourney.com, you’ll see he’s tracking his savings on the upper right corner.  As of today he’s got just about $90,000 in savings.  That’s not too shabby.

You know what else?  Chuck has goals.  You’ll see he’s not very close to his retirement goal yet, but he’s much closer to his non-retirement goal. 

You must have savings goals that mean something to you when you’re saving money.  Otherwise you won’t stick with it.  Don’t have any savings goals, why not try the Million Dollar Savings Club this year.  You can start out as a bronze level saver and have an easy goal of just over $1,000 for just $25 per week.

Chuck accepted my invitation to interview him for the readers of the Million Dollar Savings Club.  Let’s see what he has to say.  I suspect it will be very insightful.

What made you decide to write about Personal Finances?

I’ve always been interested in personal finance and frequently visited the finance forums at Fatwallet and many PF Blog websites.  I had been thinking about starting one up myself for a year or so, but finally one day actually decided to do it.  I figure everybody has a little different perspective on it and can provide something for the community from their experiences. 
 
What was your biggest Money Managing mistake?
 
Dollar wise, when I first started out in the stock market I was picking smaller companies with a lot of risk.  I did great on my first few picks gaining probably about 30% each time.  Then I put just about all I had in my brokerage account into one company that went up 10% initially but instead of cashing out I decided to let it ride.  Well it then tanked about 60% of what I had put in and I had no stop in.  It taught me about diversification – I still keep some “play” money for those kind of companies but it represents a very small percentage of my portfolio. 
 
How long have you been saving money?
 
My parents were always big savers.  They used to give me shares of stock for my birthday and I still have all the ones they gave me.  They really gave me a foundation of trying to save and not spend beyond my means.  I worked through college to make sure I wouldn’t have tons of credit card debt when I got out.  Once I got my first job out of school I started my real savings – putting money in my 401k, creating an emergency fund, and paying down any debts I had.  
 
How much money did you accumulate before you stepped back and said “Wow.  This is powerful stuff”?

Probably when I bought my first house.  I was one of the first of my friends to move out of their parent’s house, let alone own their own home.  I guess I happened to have some luck as well because I seemed to buy it right at the time the housing boom exploded and quickly my 15k investment was 75k in equity. 
 
What’s the biggest thing you’ve given up in order to save more money?
 
I’m not really sure.  I’m not one of these frugal for the sake of being frugal people.  I still enjoy my life while saving and living within my means.  I don’t think I’ve ever said “I can’t go on vacation this year because I want to have that money in my bank account”.  I don’t drive the flashiest car or wear expensive designer clothes but that’s not really important to me.  

What advice can you give to the readers of Million Dollar Savings Club who are just getting started?
 
Be patient.  It takes time for you to start seeing the results of your savings.  But trust me, it’s worth it!

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