Aside from hosting the Carnival of Twenty Something Finances, I participated in a couple more carnivals last week:
The Finance Fiesta No. 3: The Spanish Money Proverbs Edition
and
The Carnival of Personal Finance #157: Third Anniversary Edition
Also this past week, Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity alerted me that Poorer Than You was mentioned in Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational.
So I did the completely rational thing and told my parents about it, who immediately ran out to buy a copy of the book. I’ve been interested in reading the book since it came out, but since the last borrower never returned it to the library, I never had the chance to have the “OMG MY WEBSITE IS MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK” moment while reading it.
I’m not sure whether I feel that it was a “good” mention or a “bad” one. Ariely says, of this site and other debt bloggers:
Blogging about overspending is important and useful, but … what we truly need is a method to curb our consumption at the moment of temptation, rather than a way to complain about it after the fact.
I’m not sure I’d ever classify my blog as a “complaint” about my debt, although I can see how some debt blogs do fall into that category. In point of fact, I believe a blog can act as a way to curb consumption – mine has kept me accountable and focused on personal finance, which has done wonders for my situation.
Still… SWEET!
Congrats! (I think.) Although, I have to say, that mention makes you (and all the rest of us bloggers) sound kind of whiney. I’m not sure the author truly understands why personal finance (debt) bloggers actually blog, which really just makes me roll my eyes at the whole thought of it.
It also makes me cross it off the list of books I need to pick up and read. Too bad for Dan Ariely. The more good reviews he gets, the more people will pick the book up, but I guess he can’t count on my vote!
Amphritrite’s last blog post..The On-Going TV Saga
Any mention is a great mention! Congrats! And great blog!
Butter Eater Lis’s last blog post..My Biscuits Bring All The Boys To The Yard
First I want to apologize if my depiction of you gave anyone the idea that I was not impressed with your effort to control your spending. I am impressed!
The reason I told about this trend is that I think it shows the difficulty we are in in terms of spending and the desire to take action (which too few people participate in).
My comment about blogging after the fact should be taken in the context of the chapter on emotions where the main point was that we should try to cut some activities before they take place and not after the fact.
In any case if you feel this way after you look a the book let me know and I will fix it for the next edition as this was not my goal at all.
Irrationally yours
Dan Ariely
Dan Ariely’s last blog post..Moving to a new house!
I found your website after reading Mr. Ariely’s book (borrowed and returned from the library).
The Bum’s last blog post..MONDAY MORNING