Blog We Like: Gather Little by Little

When I hear the phrase "gather little by little" I think of cozy, happy things. Grandma knitting a warm blanket, one row of yarn at a time. A sparrow gathering twigs and fluff to build a nest. A turtle gaining ground, albeit slowly, in the big race. Sometimes, gathering something little by little is the best way to do it.

In a world full of get-rich-quick schemes, wild stock market swings, and credit cards that let almost anyone live like a king (for a little while anyway), it's refreshing to see a blogger writing to a different beat. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Mike of Gather Little by Little, which offers ways to collect wealth smartly over the long haul. You won't find insider stock tips or money-making gimmicks here, just tried and true advice of building wealth slowly and responsibly. Here's what Mike has to say about the blog, his background, and being true to your own financial and lifestyle goals.

SPL: How did you get into blogging about personal finance?

GLBL: Funny as it seems, I am passionate about personal finance. What I like about it is the ability to manage one’s situation through multiple alternatives. Being a financial planner myself, I noticed how most people don’t know a lot about personal finance. It is unfortunate to see that school teaches us history with great emphasis on its details and omits basic practical life skills such as how to make a budget, use credit cards wisely and successfully maintain our mortgage payments. I don’t have anything against History (I actually find it quite interesting), although I question the pertinence of memorizing the dates of significant events when they are available in history books (and on the internet!)  I believe our children would benefit a great deal by learning how to handle their income and use debt effectively to acquire assets and to save for the future.

So I started my original blog, The Financial Blogger (TFB), in order to help educate people about general personal finance topics. I also wanted to tell the world that there is no free lunch. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Slowly, the blog grew and it started to take a more important place in my life. I have always dreamed of earning a living from my writing skills. Blogging might be the way to achieve my goal!

SPL: Prior to being the face of Gather Little By Little, you were The Financial Blogger. What are your plans for TheFinancialBlogger.com and how do you see the two sites interacting with each other?

GLBL: My intent is to continue writing for TFB and since Stew is joining our writing crew, I will compliment him at GLBL. I don’t see the two sites interacting too much at the beginning as TFB has more posts about investing strategies and market commentaries while GLBL concentrates more on managing personal finance on a day-to-day basis (i.e. managing debt, budgeting, being frugal). I like both approaches and think they both can bring a lot to our readers. I also like the Christian side of GLBL. This makes it special as money and religion are usually not combined in the same thoughts with such a positive outlook. I don’t know why, but many tend to think that money is the root of all evil. I find that money is a marvellous tool to improve one’s life and create happiness around oneself.

SPL: What is the largest financial hurdle you’ve personally had to overcome and what helped you through it?

GLBL: I left my parents house while dating my girlfriend and still in school. I bought a car with one of my credit cards and paid for rent with another… I had a third one for food, of course. More seriously, I financed my lifestyle for six months on multiple credit cards using 0% APR balance transfers to get by… I just needed enough time to finish my bachelor degree and find a job. This is what I did during that spring then worked two jobs during the whole summer in order to pay off my high interest credit cards (0%  only lasts for so long!).

I was able to make it because I was determined (read obsessed) to pay off those debts. Every penny I earned was used to drop the credit cards. It was like killing each dollar of debt one after the other until there were no survivors. In order to get out of debt, you need to believe in yourself and set your priorities in order to achieve the ultimate goal. This is how I was able to pay them off that fast.

SPL: We were glad to hear that Stew is staying onboard as a regular contributor to GLBL! In the future do you see GLBL growing through contributors or keeping the small crew that you now have?

GLBL: As I don’t want to make to many changes on GLBL in the near term, Stew will keep writing and I hope to add a couple of posts per week personally. I previously never considered having multiple contributors for one blog. The reason being that it would be hard to keep everybody on the same track. A blog gains readership because of its useful content and the way it is written. If you have multiple contributors, it could start to look like a newspaper. I want to keep a close relationship with GLBL readers. I think they are part of a wonderful community!

SPL: We all have different measures of financial success in our lives. For some it’s assets and for others it’s savings. By what equation do you suggest individuals measure their financial achievements?

GLBL: Financial success should be measured according to people's goals. For example, many of us would need to become a millionaire or own a successful business before considering ourself successful financially. My dad, on the other hand, is far from being a millionaire but his financial goals are different: he wanted to have enough money to support his lifestyle without working too much. He has his house, his bike and he works three days a week. He is perfectly happy and would not return to his previous lifestyle (making a six figure income, having two properties, three trucks and more money than he needed, and working six days a week, 12 hours per day). He was way wealthier, but he didn’t enjoy his life.

I think the key resides in what you want to achieve. Do you want to pay off your debts and live frugally? Do you want to have the latest BMW in front of your million dollar house? Would like to manage a business or multiple properties or do you prefer to live simple and not have to wake at 3 a.m. because the toilet of your tenant broke again? Set your own financial goals and measure your success by comparing them with your progress instead of looking at your neighbors’ situation (looks can be deceiving, especially when keeping up with the Jones’.)

SPL: If GLBL could only offer readers one fortune-cookie-sized piece of personal finance advice, what would it be and why?

GLBL: Believe in yourself as God believes in you.

I told you I like the Christian perspective! God gave us all the tools to create whatever is in our mind. If you want to become debt free or reach financial freedom, believe in yourself and you will find ways to make it happen.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this interview and I look forward to the future together.