Debt Blogs: Baring it All on the Web

A recent New York Times article called "Debtors Search for Discipline via Blogs" by John Leland exposed the increasingly popular trend of financial-tell-all debt blogs.

More and more people are signing on to blog anonymously and divulge their financial lives to strangers. And in a strange twist, it is these strangers more than anyone else that they feel they have to answer to.

There's We're in Debt run by the King and Queen of Debt, a young Boston couple who started blogging their struggle with student loans, love and money.

Then there's Make Love Not Debt, another couple whose latest financial accomplishment was getting engaged and paying cash for the ring.

And let's not forget Penny Foolish a self proclaimed bad girl "with the pennies who's trying to keep from making the really big mistakes.

The blogs are endless, putting detailed stories of despair behind the dollar signs of debt. They are the real world equivalent of full financial disclosure and answer the question would you change your behavior if everyone knew?

The answer is an overwhelming yes. Although most debt blog authors are anonymous, they feel they are accountable to their faithful readers and keep them posted on the financial ups and downs.

The King and Queen of Debt admit that they rarely talked with each other about finances until starting their We're in Debt blog. Now they communicate about finances via their blog.

Him and Her at Make Love Not Debt admit that their relationship has had some very revealing financial moments, mostly related to their not so far behind college years. But also shine as an example of true financial intimacy. They post their shared Net Worth(less) at -$66,274.27, but they are in it together with their recent engagement.

Their blog is copyrighted and their disclaimer emanates the theme of just putting it out there for readers to do with it what they will - "we're not financial planners, nor are we relationship experts, therefore we cannot be held responsible for any actions you take as a result of what you read on this blog. When you're in as much debt as we are, why would you do anything we said?"

The stories behind many blogs are familiar. Recent college grads paying for credit card misuse or shopaholics who are struggling to separate needs from wants, often with the "I've returned the $500 shoes" blog confession. It's an array of everyday people coming to terms with their costly mistakes.

The accountability to the potential readers of the world seems to be having a profound effect on the debt desperate bloggers.

The Debt Defier from California met his goal last summer, paying off his debt blog start tally of over $19,000 in just over a year - a year faster than originally planned. He'd actually began his financial recovery when $30,000 in debt, which was accumulated during college. Upon release from his financial shackles, he first "did an inner victory dance" and then posted that "all the sacrifices were worth it. The bad haircuts. The scant wardrobe. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The terrible job. I never want to do that again!"

The Debt Defier's last post said he was just about to send in a check to pay off his credit card and then, the next day, was moving to Thailand to teach English, debt free.

At Money Dummy, Mr. and Mrs. Money Dummy are attempting to plow their way through his student loans while she finishes graduate school while taking care of Baby Money and contemplating an employer paid MBA for him all while watching their friends trade higher education for home ownership. Toss in a few pricey trips to the pediatrician and Money Dummy's frustration becomes clear.

There's plenty of money smart blogs where the bloggers drowning in debt can watch others' net worth skyrocket. Like My Open Wallet that follows Madame X, an anonymous New Yorker, approach her goal of a $350,000 net worth. As of March 1st, she was at $315,740.

One thing that all the debt blogs have in common is they are portrayals of a country's economic values. Education, material goods, real estate, the thrill of the purchase and the agony of compounding interest are prevalent themes. There are of course the adverse affects of exposure, like disdain from some anonymous commenter about the knee-deep debt bloggers road to financial disaster.

More often, comments are encouraging prompting complete strangers to identify themselves in the struggle to be debt free and recognize that these debt bloggers could be anyone, their friend, their neighbor or even their spouse.

What is clear is that the debt that weighs down the debt bloggers is not a unique problem, the internet is bursting with blogs about the path to financial freedom. The differences are just a matter of how, where and why each blogger starts their financial journey blog, how they progress and who's watching.

John Leland "Debtors Search for Discipline via Blogs" New York Times, February 18, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/us/18debt.html?ex=1329454800&en=392324fbf93cebac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://thedebtdefier.blogspot.com/

http://www.makelovenotdebt.com/

http://www.moneydummy.net/

http://myopenwallet.blogspot.com/

http://wereindebt.com