I started this blog anonymously. Money is still largely a taboo subject in our society so my preference was to keep my blog under wraps.
When I first started, I didn’t tell anyone in my personal life about my blog. I’m becoming more open with it, because I’ve been blogging for long enough that it’s starting to change my life in a positive way and I wanted to share that with the people I love.
The reason I started my blog anonymously was this: I didn’t want to make anybody uncomfortable with money talk; I don’t want to wonder if anyone knows more about me than I’ve offered to them; and I don’t want people to make assumptions about me because of things they’ve read on my blog.
I feared that my frugality would be misconstrued as cheapness, and my friends and family members would think that I wanted to avoid spending all together, which is clearly not the case.
It’s also daunting to think of somebody being able to see hundreds of posts that you’ve written. There is a certain vulnerability behind it.
Despite the reasons why I started an anonymous blog, there have been some downfalls to blogging anonymously that I have encountered since I started.
Turning Down Media Requests
Since I started, I have had two media requests locally who have contacted me regarding a story, but who I had to turn down due to anonymity. Would it have been awesome to share my story in the media and spread the word about my website? Absolutely.
Blogging really is a land of opportunity if you do it well, but you can limit yourself severely by being anonymous.
Celebrating Successes
When I first began to make some substantial money from my blog and partner with companies that I’d always wanted to partner with, having not shared my blog with my family members and friends limited the amount to which I could celebrate my successes. A party in your head is just not as fun as actually celebrating with your friends.
Limited Social Media Interaction
I love Instagram and stalk the people I follow on the regular, but because I’ve chosen to remain anonymous, I am not able to post pictures of myself. When I am with another blogger, they are limited to not identifying me in any photos.
That’s not a huge deal, but I think being able to interact with your followers and readers as yourself really humanizes bloggers, which is certainly important for maintaining readership.
Blogging anonymously has it’s good and bad aspects; I don’t know that I’ll stay anonymous forever, but I made the decision I made for a reason and I’ll stick with it for now.
Only my BF knows that I blog. No one else. I stay anonymous for pretty much the same reasons as you.
There’s definitely soem positives and negatives to staying anonymous!
I use my real name and email but I don’t tell anyone IRL that I blog. Obviously this means that some people have found me online. When I decided to un-anonymize I deleted a bunch of posts that were a bit… iffy in terms of niceness.
I find that it’s beenficial to me to not be anonymous because I have to sit back and reflect on each blog post and tweet. If I was anonymous I would just spew whatever thoughts came into my head and then, if I was accidentally “outed” one day, I could be in big trouble 😛
Has it ever been problematic when people have found you online? Has anyone ever gotten mad that you didn’t tell them? That’s something I’m trying to be more concious of for sure.
I think that BF will be a bit upset when he finds out because a) he will think that he can make a nicer site and b) he’s be upset that I’ve hidden the pf community from him for so long (he’s the most frugal person I know!)
When I found a blog of someone I know IRL I asked him why he decided to start a blog and he told me that I inspired him when he found mine 😛
we have talked about this one quite a bit, and ended up telling a few friends and family about the blog.
i think that our thinking was mainly that we will be even more accountable, if those in our direct life can follow along. i think that i have been “embarassed” of our debt for as long as i can remember, and a big part of making changes is “coming out” to the world about the debt.
however, you are right. i was writing a post last night about possibly moving my family away from this city (where my parents live), and i had to rewrite a few paragraphs, because i knew that they would read them, and didn’t want to offend them.
we thought about posting about our site on facebook so that our acquaintances would see it as well, but decided against it for now.. i wouldn’t rule it out in the future, however.
your concerns are valid, and
That’s so true – it probably keeps you more accountable to pay down your debt if your family and friends know, too. I know some of my facebook friends have blogs that they publicize, but I’m so curious to know whether any of them have anon blogs like me!
I am in the early stages of my blog and am facing this struggle. My wife knows that I blog, but nobody else knows. I want it to be personal and to be able to discuss intimate details when I want, without thinking of who could be offended or what people would think. Do you think that if your other half ever found out he would be upset?
No, J wouldn’t be upset. He’d just be like “oh, cool” and leave it at that. I’m glad I’m anonymous – it’s so fun to have my little identity and all that – and I really wanted to protect myself at the beginning when I started blogging because I have always been one of those people who pick up projects and then drop them when I get bored – I didn’t want to get excited and get family/friends reading my blog and then feel like it was an obligation because I said I was going to do it. I’m wierd like that.
You make an interesting point on the last one there. It probably gives you more motivation to blog doing it for yourself and not to cater for your family and friends!
I had no idea your man didn’t know! Crazy.
Even though my name is on my blog and Twitter, I still consider myself pretty anonymous. Have yet to show my face and my family (other than my sis) doesn’t know I write. But my friends read. Quite a few of them, actually. And even some of my co-workers read! So I’m sure I’ll fully come out eventually…
He knows that I write online but doesn’t know that it’s a blog – I don’t think he really understands what a blog is or why people have them, and goes on the internet maybe once a week for 5 minutes.
I think that’s awesome that your friends read! I complain about some of mine (frenemies) on here so I would be scared to show them.
I’ve been wanting to write a post on this too! I blog anonymously mostly because I wanted to be 100% open about my debt and budget, without worrying some potential future business partner/employer googles me and says “She has how much in debt??”. I’ve told my parents I blog, but not about what. My sister, boyfriend and all my close friends know about the blog and some read it (a couple read religiously and email me right after I post! which I love). I don’t share as openly as you do, even though sometimes I really want to. I just think about the fact that this thing can grow, like you I’ve started to make a little money and am starting to see some nice traffic. I do use it as an outlet to express ideas and frustrations, but I also want it to grow. for me, the last part is telling my parents. they know I have debt, they don’t know how much. I’m just not comfortable telling them yet! eventually I will. I would like to do a “reveal” someday (when I’ve made a big dent in my debt)!
You should!I love reading people’s anonymity stories. That’s pretty much dead on about why I started off anonymous. I’m super open – which makes me less comfortable telling IRL people about it. I thing I’d like to tell my parents about the blog but I don’t know if they’d be mad that I kept it from them for the last year and a half. I’m probably irrational.
I think in the long run it’s good to attach your real identity to your blog. People do want to know about the author. If you sell any affiliate products, people are more likely to buy from someone who they feel like they “know”. That being said, there is no absolute right or wrong, so you could make it work for you. Perhaps the mystery of who you are could be intriguing to some!
I’ve been slowly coming out and revealing myself more. One day I hope to have my first name more available but never my last (employment issues). I agree though – I always want to know more about the bloggers I like!
Wow that is amazing that you can keep this blog secret from your boyfriend. After launching my blog I was debating whether I should have gone the anonymous route. It seems both sides have their advantages and disadvantages. I am a little more hesitant to share details about my finances, but I’m going to try to open up more as I progress.
It’s not a “secret” per say – he doesn’t really go online very often and when he does it’s to pay bills online. Other than that, he wouldn’t really care. He knows that I write online, that’s it!
How are these white girl problems?
I blog semi anonymously, since I only use my first name in my blog and have never posted a picture of my face. I post my financial balances online, but never which banks they’re in or what type of credit card I have. My friends and family know I blog, but only a handful read it. My boyfriend knows I blog, but he doesn’t read it. I only know this because when I mentioned I had taken on a sponsored post he asked me to print it out so he could read it. Some days I think about posting more information about myself online, but other days I don’t. If people ask me about my blog or talk about money, I discuss it as openly with them in person as I do online. Sometimes I don’t talk about things similar to your MIL post because I don’t want people reading them, but that’s about it. It just depends on how open you want to be.
Are there certain people you’d keep your blog from? That you wouldn’t want to read it? I remember you posting about your new job looking you up and finding your blog. How did you feel about that?
P.S. I meant first world problems 🙂 I work in a very multicultural environment and lots of my coworkers tease me that when I complain I’m complaining about white girl isues. They’re funny.
I was nervous when work googled my full name found my blog, but I’m not too concerned about it now. I don’t talk about work much online anyway. I’ll be honest, I don’t want The Boy’s father to see how far in debt I was. He’s fully capable of finding the blog, it’s linked to my facebook account, but I don’t make a point of encouraging it. If people ask, I’ll tell them. I’m completely up for open conversation about money mistakes.
I’ve mentioned my blog in passing to my friends but only to the friends I think might actually care. After I mentioned it once, I don’t bring it up again because I don’t want people to feel obligated to read it.
For me, I choose to go anonymous because I don’t want a prospective future employer to google my name and find my blog about Financial Independence 😛 Seemed like the best solution.
That’s a HUGE reason why I am anonymous. Especially with my blog name – lol!
haha I have a post in my drafts ready to go up next week why I don’t blog anonymously, and the perks & pitfalls thereof.
I find it so much easier to be public. When my recent interview in the UofA alum magazine came out, it got printed off and sent around the office. Pretty sure everyone at work has checked out the blog — and now they jokingly ask me for stock tips all the time 😉
I think being public keeps me in check about what I write, but that’s also a downside. I don’t share everything I would like to, which is too bad.
I probably overshare – but I do try to limit myself a bit becuase you never know who may have an inkling as to who I am, you know?
Great topic. When I started, no one knew, not even my wife. I wanted to make sure I was going to stick to it before I told anyone.
I’ve recently told my parents and they are now readers. A few friends from high school know, but most of my friends these days are through work. I haven’t told any of them.
This is because I write about my job sometimes.
If I were fully out there, I don’t know that I could be as authentic with my writing. By the same token, I am very quiet and reserved IRL. I don’t even have a Facebook page.
Also there is the safety angle. There are a lot of weirdos out there and my money is private IRL.
That being said, if this experiment gets to the point of “success,” I will probably tell everyone.
That’s another big reason I didnt tell anyone – I don’t have the best track record for sticking with things and I wanted to make sure I would. And then it sort of just became my little thing that nobody else could touch, lol.
I’ve been blogging as myself since day one. My first promotion was to my personal Facebook page, so everyone I know knows about it.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s something to be said for censoring myself. It keeps me from saying something I might regret later.
And writing about debt and money, I’ve seen a lot of positivity spill over into my real life. I’ve had friends tell me they had the courage to cancel cable after I did. I’ve seen my family make changes to their habits too. Money can be a taboo subject in social situations, so I like that I’m considered a safe person to talk about it with since I lay so much out there publicly.
lindy, that’s a=really inspiring…you’re making me want to go all public and revelatory!!
That’s really cool, Lindy! I would love for some of my IRL friends and family to change thier habits!
When I decided to write my blog I knew I would have to do it anonymously. The last thing I need is for our families to know that we are $158K in debt. Of course my husband knows about my blog because we are in this together.
I also set it up this way so that I could be more open about things and not have to worry about something coming back to haunt me in the future.
The funny thing is I was writing an email to one of the fellow Yakezie members this morning and I signed it with my real name. I knew that would happen. I quickly removed it 😳
I understand what you are saying though about sharing your online success. It’s a catch 22. If you tell your family then you won’t be able to write freely. But I would guess that a lot of your success has come from the fact that you can write freely. I know I have seen many comments in the forum about what a great writer you are.
From a fellow Canadian friend…
Fair enough. I have done that before – commented with my real name, signed my real name to advertisers and caught it before it went out. I’m becoming a little more lax about it though!
Are you sure you aren’t anonymous because you don’t want us all beating a path to your door bearing big bags of lemons, looking for vodka?
Darn, you’re onto me!
It’s definitely a struggle. If I didn’t work in media, I would probably blog under my name, openly.
I’ve been thinking about linking to some of the stuff I write professionally on my blog, though, because I’m proud of it (and yes, would like to drive traffic to it!)
Like Lindy my first promotion was to my personal Facebook page in 2008, but I doubt anyone ever actually followed it.
Reading back through my archives recently, there are definitely some posts from my early days that I would like to edit or remove. They’re just so amateur and embarrassing.
Moneywise, I happily talk about how I spend in real life, so my spending recaps I’m not fussed about. I guess the one thing I have blogged about are family and money issues, all on T’s side, which might not bode well if I went fully public. I suppose I might password protect those.
I have posted pictures of myself on the blog and linked to some of my other profiles online, from which anybody can figure out my full name. I have never specifically mentioned to the boy that I blog, so I’m not sure if he knows, but anyone who jumped on my laptop would be able to tell.
Never mind, you always have us to talk to about your blogging triumphs!
LOL. I’ve looked back to when I first started and have deleted some posts. They can be so embarrasing.. it would be cool if you shared some of the stuff you do professionally on your blog!
I definitely write anonymously. My husband knows – which is great because I can boast about dropping my Alexa ranking and things like that – but apart from him no one else knows. He told my in-laws by accident one day, but we didn’t give them the name of it.
I really wanted a place where I could write without people commenting IRL. Like, I wrote (in a past blog) that I was a food junkie and my in-laws took that to mean I was addicted to junk food. They took up my addiction with my husband, who had to explain that the term “junkie” was slang.
Haha, that’s actually sort of a funny story! I’m glad that my boyfriend’s parents don’t use the internet – ever. Your inlaws sound funny!
I try to just keep it clean and sanatize names/places and avoid specifics due to the nature of what I’m discussing on my blog. If somebody follows my advice and goes left instead of right they stand to lose their shirt so I keep it clean to hopefully avoid any potential liability.
Fair enough! I try not to give advice that might put me in a sticky situation but that’s another reason for anonymity
I also blog 90% anonymously. I outed myself to my sister a few years ago when she was having a hard time financially – actually, I told her I was a personal finance blogger, and that she’d know me if she found me, which she proceeded to do. I told Peanut that I had an anonymous blog on one of our early dates, but I didn’t tell him which for a while longer. (I finally did because I felt that he had a right to know if/what I was writing about him, especially when it became clear that our finances were going to become entangled.) And I accidentally outed myself to my brother by commenting on his blog without checking to see which account I was logged in with. Peanut reads my blog regularly, but I’m not sure whether my siblings still do.
Because of the ease with which my sister found me and the ease with which I accidentally outed myself to my brother, I have no illusions that my blog is really all that anonymous. Basically, I just don’t want it to be attached to my real name in search results, but I don’t really care otherwise whether people I know in real life find it. Peanut and I display pretty much the same level of honesty about our finances with our friends and family in real life that I do online, and in some cases we go into a lot more detail with them (example: I sat down with a friend and poured through ALL of our mortgage paperwork a few weeks ago, so she could really see how the house-buying process worked). A while ago, I cleaned things up to remove references to how much money we actually make, preferring to focus on what we spend. I figured that we generally know what people around us in real life spend, even if we don’t know their income, and this way if someone DOES stumble across my blog, I haven’t shared information I would be uncomfortable with them knowing.
The only downside that has come from this is that I am sometimes treated at work as if I don’t understand blogging, since I’m not the one that writes the company blog. I don’t feel like I can say, well, I’ve been blogging in some form for nearly a decade and am now actually making some money from it – not without inviting some googling, and my colleague is a skilled enough googler to potentially find me.
Intriguing life you lead, but great reading! 1st world problems indeed.
My hubby knows that I have a PF blog & he’s my biggest fan – he seriously checks it every night. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with anyone else, friends or family reading my blog. My blog is going to stay anonymous for a while, I think.
Awesome post! I do EXACTLY the same thing for EXACTLY the same reasons. Also, I don’t want my friends to know that I am a 1%’er. I feel liberated in talking to like-minded people who share the same goals and passion in terms of personal finance.
Your writing is awesome and feels real (even though you’re anonymous)…keep at it!
I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months and so far I’ve stayed fairly anonymous. As I’ve started to build a rapport with other bloggers, I feel sort of compelled to disclose at least my first name. That’s pretty harmless I think. And with regard to my circle of family and friends, I’ve only told my wife and one other friend. He’s been blogging for a couple of years and inspired me to start, and I’ve actually encouraged my wife to start as well.
I just started blogging anonymously. I have a lifestyle blog that is the complete opposite of anonymous that all my friends know (I link my posts on Facebook sometimes). But when I wanted to start a PF blog, I decided to go anonymous – the main reason being that I want to be completely open with my finances. You can’t do that if your coworkers know your blog.
That said, my boyfriend knows my blog because, well, he knows how much I make. I don’t see any problems with that. No matter how anonymous I am, I still abide by the idea: if I’m not comfortable telling something to someone’s face, I’m not going to write it on the Internet. I’ve gotten burned in the past from writing negative things about people (even if I didn’t think they were hurtful) and I’ve learned from it. Never doing that again.
Popular topic lately!
I’ve been debating about a few final edits before I put my name on my blog, but I’ve also been thinking I’ll just use my first name, so that my blog doesn’t show up in Google searches. Especially since the HR department at our school has been on a crazy anti-social media rampage lately…
I think my husband knows that I write a blog, but I don’t think he reads it. We don’t really talk about it, but I do mention my “internet friends”, and he knows I read personal finance blogs. He’s active in some sports-related message boards, semi-anonymously, but I don’t really read those either. I haven’t told any other friends or family about the blog. They’d know it was me, though, if they read a few posts!
Nothing is really anonymous actually. What we write is who we are. What we do online is social capital, and that is very important. I don’t care what someone’s real name is. What they are are who they are.
Best, Sam
For months after I started, NO ONE knew I had a blog. The day I got my first big ad deal, a few of my coworkers knew because they had to cover for me while I went to my office to place the ad code. But they didn’t know anything about the blog other than the fact than I had one.
Right before I left for FinCon last year, I finally told my parents, but I didn’t give them the name or anything. Then I accidentally sent my mom an email from my blog account, so that was the end of that! She respects my request that she not read it, but my dad doesn’t. :/
Anyway, at this point, my parents, my son, and my sister and BIL know and have actually seen the site. Quite a few of my friends know I have a blog, but they don’t know the URL. And two friends from high school know because they found it via a Google search.
I don’t really try to be anonymous anymore. Or even semi-anonymous. My last name has been on several posts for other sites (and of course in Reader’s Digest) so I don’t make an effort to hide it. But I also don’t put it on a billboard. Now that I’ve left my job, I don’t mind as much.
I know I can’t prevent people I know from seeing my blog, but I just don’t want to hear what they think about it. I don’t know how else to explain it. If they want to read it, fine. Just don’t come to me with opinions or suggestions. My dad tries to give me suggestions and I literally put my fingers in my ears and yell “I CAN’T HEAR YOU” because it feels like such a violation. I guess I’ll get over it someday but that’s where I am right now. 🙂
I write vaguely anonymously, but not really. I have my first name and picture on my site, and I tell everyone I meet that I write and the name of the site, but any random person who stumbled across my blog wouldn’t be able to just look me up without a little effort.
I decided that being able to connect with people IRL and direct them to my blog was a big priority for me when I first started out. I’m also interested in cross-promoting different projects I’m working on and that would be hard to compartmentalize with anonymity. This does limit what I can write about, but since I’m more focused on tips and general lessons learned, and not so much about the specifics of my financials, it works for me. I know for other people not being anonymous would greatly reduce the amount of information they could divulge.
Since I’m anonymous too, maybe we can be blog celebrating partners when something happens? No one knows about mine either.
I’ve written a health & fitness blog for just over a year, and most of my readers are my family! But I just launched my PF blog, and no, other than my husband, no one else knows yet. I did mention it once on my other blog, but I doubt I’ll see many readers come over.
So far, I haven’t posted anything controversial or offensive. I probably won’t discuss my family much, except for a couple of posts about what I learned (and didn’t) growing up. Since I’ve already had these conversations with my parents, I don’t think they’d be offended reading them. 🙂
But I understand – I’m not sure I would want anyone I work with (or who works for me, I’m in management) to read about my financial issues!
I’m pretty new to personal finance blogging so none of my friends/family really know that I’m doing it yet. My BF does and and very supportive. For now I’m keeping things quiet (not using my last name etc) solely because I fear my full name coming up in google searches etc. if/when I start looking for a new job. I know this sort of sounds strange, but I don’t mind people I’m close with (or people I don’t know) knowing about my finances, but I’d feel weird with a potential employer reading my blog and making certain assumptions about me.
This is a fascinating topic and I am so amped to write a post about it. I started blogging to keep myself accountable, not to make money from it, but I’m involved in a lot of different things with social media that I am hesitant to come right out and say it.
I definitely do NOT share my blog with anyone, even my BF. We are on the same page about finances but I do rant about almost everyone on my blog haha. I might tell people one day but not just yet.
I told my family about it and a friend and my boyfriend but no one reads it lol.
There are definitely lots of pitfalls to blogging anonymously (e.g. declining newspaper/magazine and other media involvement) but I wouldn’t change it for a thing.
I disclose too much information on my blog.
I think you should tell your BF about it though- it would be hard hiding something like that from my SO.
I wish I would have kept it a secret from my family; I’m actually considering starting a new blog so I don’t have to worry about it any more.
Like a month or so ago, we spent WAY too much money at the casino and I posted about it. Of course, that’s normal for me—I share it all. Later that day, I got an email from my MIL saying that we could have bought a plane ticket to visit her instead of wasting it at the casino.
Now, almost every time I hear from her, she goes on and on about it and how we could come visit her instead. OMG! It’s driving me nuts.