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Fresh Perspective Interview with Elle from Couple Money

Written by Aaron Pinkston, Sun, Feb 28 2010
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I start every Monday with a fresh perspective. It helps kick start my week to awesomeness and I hope it helps you too. This week, I interviewed Elle, the creator of Couple Money, about why she’s about to blow up and what she’s done to make that happen. Enjoy.

AP: You seem to have almost come out of nowhere and hitting things hard, but you’re doing it in a way that is really earning respect. Where are you getting your cues from and why is it that everyone seems to find you so infectious?

E: Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I’m honestly trying to work hard on creating something of value on the site not only for myself, but for any readers and visitors of the site. I take some cues from others in the Personal Finance community who reach out to others. I can’t mention them all but Jim, Mrs. Micah, Nickel, and Sam have been very generous with their time.

Couple Money isn’t the first blog I wrote for, but it’s the blog that I deliberately had a plan for since day zero. My other blogs kind of grew from interests and then became something more as I gained readers. I think lessons learned from other sites are being applied on Couple Money and I’m really happy with the readers on the site. Their enthusiasm and intelligence have really helped define the blog.

This time I was looking at making this about a community rather than a blog just about our lives. Our lives is a kind of the case study that Couple Money is based on, but I’m now looking at including different perspectives and ideas when I ’m writing my posts. I’ll ask on Twitter if anyone has written on a topic and try to include it. I think including some other ideas helps us and helps the community to be more resourceful.

AP: What makes your site really unique from the others already out there and what makes you so qualified to discuss these topics?

E: I really think that my ‘qualifications’ are what help make Couple Money a different site. While I’m not a certified financial planner; I’m qualified in the sense that I’ve either done what I write about or I’m in the middle of the process. I’ve worked hard to eliminate credit card debt. I was determined not to start the marriage off with high interest debt hanging over my head.

My husband was very supportive and gives his insights on the matters as well. We’re a real couple going through the processes of not only obtaining financial freedom, but we’re working as a team to create and then maintain careers that location independent. I try to be honest as possible as we work towards our goals, which includes keeping accountable with our net worth reviews. I’m building my freelance business day by day and I know that as I’m learning, someone else may be asking the same question. I try to include things in our lives that I think would appeal beyond just the two of us.

AP: Okay, so your website is “Couple Money” but everything I’ve seen has been from you. Since you’re Elle, will Beau ever make an appearance?

E: While he hasn’t written any post yet on the site, my husband definitely has an impact on Couple Money. Many topics that are discussed on the site started from conversation and situation we’ve been in as a couple. He also handles all the technical issues with the site which frees me up to handle writing and participating in the personal finance community.

I do expect him to write once in a blue moon when a topic is mentioned and he either has more expertise with a topic or he has completely different view on something.

AP: Each post seems to be filled with insanely useful tips like when you suggest people ask for directions a few times when they are apartment shopping to gauge how friendly the area is. How do you keep finding new twists and clever details in such well worn topics?

E: Thanks. I do try to include something different and useful when I write about topics covered on several personal finance sites. I try to include tips, hacks, and stories that my band of friends and family knows when I write. I think that also creating good content is by taking a step back and analyzing what worked and what didn’t work with your own case. With the apartment hunting, I was looking back at some of the apartments we looked at and I need to find a way to quickly gauge if the neighborhood was going to be a good fit.

I think that being yourself and honest with your concerns can really help with spinning a topic in a different way. I hope that other people appreciate them and leave some of their tips in the comments section! We’re always learning from one another.

AP: You’ve defined a couple long-term goals on your site that you want to achieve. How do you stay on track and make sure you don’t get side-tracked?

E: Believe it or not, it can be hard to even stick to 2-3 times per week schedule to posting. On my other blog I had a schedule of 4-6 times per week, and after a while, I realize that topics were becoming a redundant because I wasn’t giving myself enough time to process everything. I’m the type of person that really benefits from writing on pen and paper fist before I type or dictate my post for the blog.

Couple Money is a live case study, which sort of encourages me to include updates so people can see both the progress and failures of moving towards a mobile income. I accept I will get sidetracked and I’m working hard to be honest when I do.

Successful blogging is about being accessible and honest. You lose one of those two ingredients and you’re done. Having our case out there, I try to make it honest (while keeping some privacy) and being open to feedback from the community. That community feedback is part of a wonderful accountability loop that keeps you writing. I know that if I put something I’m having a problem with, a reader will have some suggestion or criticism that can help me reach my goals faster and more effectively.

If I hide stuff or get too sidetracked, then I’m not going to get that support from the community and vice versa. I try to stay on top of personal finance blogs on twitter and my Google Reader to see if I can offer something useful in comments. Community is a key to success, whether it’s blogging, business, or life and I hope to add to that with Couple Money.

AP: I really appreciate this. I hope you had fun with the questions.

E: Thanks so much for the interview! I found the questions to be fun and inspiring. Please let me know if you have any more questions.


Last week, I talked with Tom Drake from the Canadian Finance Blog, who was one of the first people to see Clarifinancial completed, about how his work life and web life interact and what types of insurance he hates. Check it out.