My grandparents were storytellers. I could sit down with any of them and become engrossed in their words. I loved their insight, experience, and thoughtfulness. That love of learning about others continues, and now I’ve been spending some time interviewing the best of the personal finance community (like the founders of Budgets Are Sexy and Modest Money).
Surprisingly, it’s a tight-knit group of writers and financial experts. Some are certified financial planners, while others (like me) are experts in another field. The latter feel like the Supermen of the personal finance world: regular employees by day, financial bloggers by night.
Today, I have the privilege of interviewing one of the top financial bloggers, Stefanie O’Connell from The Broke and Beautiful Life. Her work has been featured around the top personal finance sites, and even on Frugaling. Here’s my interview with her:
What inspired you to begin TheBrokeAndBeautifulLife.com?
Oh, lots of things:
- I spent the first several years of my acting career on tour where we would get a per diem for housing, food, and other day-to-day expenses. My goal was not only to live entirely off that modest allowance (rather than dipping into my salary), but also, to save as much of the per diem as possible. Unemployment is an inevitable reality in the acting world. Every job ends, I knew that going in, so I prepared accordingly. By implementing this strategy, I learned lots of ways to scrimp and save that I felt I should share.
- Some actors are terrible with their money. I knew it would make for an uncomfortable working environment if I walked up to them and told them they were being stupid with their spending, so I decided to write about it instead.
- I heard so many stories about actors in Broadway shows who were left with zero savings when the show closed because they had inflated their lifestyle so much during that time. (The minimum salary for an actor in a Broadway show is $1,807/week; yep, that’s some serious spending).
All in all, I just wanted to spread financial literacy in the acting community. If anyone needs to know how to budget well and make money last, it’s actors.
How did people (friends, family, etc.) react when you first started?
I’m not really sure. I think people may have been skeptical because they knew I was a “theatre person.” I don’t think anyone ever expected me to make a career writing about money.
What was your experience with design, code, web work prior to starting your site?

Zero! I started out on a free blogger template. After toying around with that for a year I decided to get a logo, hire a designer for the site, and setup self-hosting. As soon as I made that financial commitment to the blog, I suddenly felt committed to myself as a business owner–I needed to make the investment worthwhile.
What advice would you give to those thinking about starting their own site?
Two things:
- Define what you want from creating your own website. Are you looking to start a business? Are you looking to have a hobby? Do you want to use it as a portal to market yourself or your service? Are you looking to make a lot of money? Clarifying your goal for the site will help guide a lot of your initial decision making.
- Embrace your YOU. When I decided to transition to a self-hosted site, I hired a blog coach to help me figure out where I wanted to go with it. After talking to her for five minutes she said, “I’ve read through your entire site and I didn’t know until just now that you were an actor.” I had been afraid to pigeonhole myself and make myself irrelevant to non-artists, but the truth is, it’s my perspective and experience as an actor that sets me apart from all the other finance sites out there. Heck, that’s why I started writing in the first place!
How do you make money from your site?
While I make a fair amount of money blogging, it’s mostly from freelance writing (hire Stefanie!). My blog has served as a kind of active, online portfolio/resume to get me jobs writing for other websites.
Going forward, I’d like to generate more from the site itself through affiliate income and direct advertising. I’ve got a little bit of that going on now, but maximizing that earning potential is definitely my next big goal.
What do you think you’ve learned from your readers and fans?
I am a huge fan of alternative perspectives. Reading through the comments on each of my posts is always exciting and enlightening. I truly value the different opinions I come across, even when I don’t agree.
How can somebody in lower incomes best overcome financial hurdles and prosper?
Everybody has challenges, some of us more so than others, but the steps for overcoming them are universal: S.M.A.R.T. goals coupled with defined action steps. Chances are, you already know what you need to do, as Nike says, “just do it.”
Who are your financial role models?
Honestly, it was Suze Orman who really got me interested in my finances. I read her book, The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, and I was hooked; not necessarily because she had some life changing techniques or advice, but because I found her engaging and interesting. That’s what I hope to do with my blog, engage people enough that they want to take control and learn more.
What personal finance sites do you read?
I once tried making a list of all the blogs I read on a regular basis and it just got to be too long. Somewhere between 50-100 (maybe more), and they’re all fantastic in their own way.
What else would you care to share with the readers of Frugaling?
One of the big messages on my site, and one that you’ve undoubtedly heard before, is balance. I’m all about pursuing dreams, while earning income, saving for the future, and living in the present. You can have it all if you’re willing to prioritize. I don’t do the daily latte, but I’m going to Europe next month. It doesn’t feel like a sacrifice when you’re thinking about the big goals.
Want to read more interviews like this one? Read the entire interview series here!
Thanks for having me Sam!
Absolutely! Happy to add your name to the terrific list of interviews. 🙂
YB&F was my favorite personal finance book too! It really got the wheels rolling on my early debt repayments!
Love my Suzie!
Glad to get to know you more and thanks for introducing me to frugaling.org!
Thanks for coming by!
This interview may be the best example of how to differentiate your blog and to let your personality shine through I’ve ever read. Your perspective and experience as an actor is my favorite part of your blog. I also think your story is motivating. If Stefanie can live on a budget working as an actress and living in NYC others think they can do it too.
I caught the end of a radio show interviewing two actors from Flashdance who were touring here in Milwaukee. I immediately thought of you. The male actor said he learned two things early on that he feels contributes to an actors success: They have to figure out how to handle the grueling audition regiment along with rejection. And while working on the road they have to come up with a fitness and eating plan that works for them. He has seen too many actors succumb to bad eating/drinking/fitness habits that ruined both their bodies and careers in the long run.
Actually that is another blog topic for you – how you take care of yourself on the road and maintain your budget.
SWG,
This is a terrific idea! I hope Stefanie can bring her wisdom and expertise to this one. 🙂
Good thinking. After all, It was being no the road that inspired the blog, I’ll have to share some of my stories.
I agree! Always great to have a really fresh perspective, and as a fellow creative I doubly appreciate where you’re coming from.
I also wanted to mention I’ve always been interested in personal finance. I grew up on a family farm in western Wisconsin and my Grandma made sure all of us knew sound money principles and had a strong work ethic. Back in the day a farmer could lose his farm if he wasn’t careful with money. The author that inspired me to stop trying to keep up with the Jones and to live within my means was Mary Hunt of Cheapskate Monthly. I read an article she wrote in a women’s magazine after my husband had been laid-off in 2003. Living below our means allowed us to start investing for retirement and to build-up a strong emergency fund. We are now so strong financially that when my husband was laid-off this winter, we didn’t have to change our lifestyle at all or spend nights worrying about our finances. He returns to work tomorrow and I’m actually not looking forward to it – I will now have to once again spend my evenings cooking and my weekends cleaning.
It’s nice to have help and company for cooking and cleaning. Congrats on all of your success though!
Really enjoyed the interview. Although I may not have the typical profile for a follower, since I am “Old, fabulous and broke.” I read Frugaling and other sites as I am trying to get back to a “safe zone” financially since the meltdown hit me hard. I hope you young people will save, but diversify safely. At 75, I am just hoping to find a level of comfort and safety for my later years…I don’t expect luxury. After a working career of over fifty years, I had a modest retirment planned until Wall street lost almost half my retirement savings, only the part not in secured investments, and the banks cost the other “leg” by losing the equity in my home and now they are foreclosing. I am left with only the third leg strong, Social Security. Let’s hope it doesn’t get cut. Finding adequate housing now is not hopeful With rising costs,shrinking incomes and costly health issues, it is only faith and stubborness that keeps me going. So I plan to learn from you all any tricks I can to stay afloat. This article was especially interesting as I am trying to create my own blog and/or website. There are many thousands of us seniors in my situation who might be interested. Best to you.
I think a post retirement approach to money would be fascinating. Your challenges are relevant to so many people, even the young-ins like myself 🙂
Great interview Stefanie, I didn’t read that book but I watch Suze Orman, I have her show on DVR. It’s great to see what people want to buy on that show. My first book that get me interested in accumulating wealth was Rich Dad Poor Dad.