Ok, this forum got pretty crazy over the span of just one day, with everyone starting their own introduction threads. I think it would go easier and be read by more people if we just had one thread! Feel free to ignore me if you disagree!

I'll start the ball rolling...

Hey everyone, I'm Kgazette, although you might know me as Stephanie from Poorer Than You. At 20 years old, I'm probably the baby of the forum. Wee! You all will give me cookies, right?

Most interesting things about me:
I sang REM's "End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" in front of my entire high school in 9th grade.

I think this is a great idea, Stephanie. It'd be cool if people could cut-and-paste their intros from the separate threads into this single thread.

I'm J.D. and I run this place! You probably already know too much about me, but just to summarize:

I'm 38, live outside of Portland, OR with my wife (Kris) and four cats. We own an old farmhouse (circa 1900) on 3/5ths of an acre. All of the big lots around us are being subdivided, but we plan to live in our old place until we die. (The house reminds me of the one from that George Bailey buys in It's a Wonderful Life — the thing is poorly insulated.) We're hobby gardeners. We'd love to raise all of our own food, but who has the time?

I work for the family business, which manufactures boxes. I take care of the sales end of things. My brother (Jethro on these forums) handles production. My goal, though, is to go part-time by next March, and then to quit to write full-time by my 40th birthday in 2009.

My hobbies include science fiction, comic books, computers, and other traditionally geeky pastimes. Lately I've been hooked on the Nintendo Wii!

I look forward to fostering these forums. Once they're running, I'm hoping that a couple of volunteer moderators (as yet to volunteer) can keep things running while I focus on the blog. We'll see what happens!

Hi, I'm Jethro... I'm an audio geek -- married, with two kids and two dogs.

My wife and I are trying to overcome past mistakes that had us headed down the GPS path (Get Poor Slowly). We have changed our ways considerably... reducing debt instead of increasing it, and instating the 'B-word' to keep our credits ahead of our debits. It's been a long hard road, but we finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I look forward to discussing tips and experiences with all of you.

-Jeff

Hi, I’m Dylan. I live in New Jersey (Exit 8) with my wife and twin 9 month old sons. I am an independent financial planner, not the kind that sells stuff.

In a past career, I worked as a broker (“financial advisor” as we called ourselves) at a large Wall Street firm for 5 years, so I have some good insight into some of the things brokers and the industry don’t want you to know and how they leverage that.

I really like the concept of Get Rich Slowly, and I’m looking forward to participating more in this forum.

Hello everyone,
I'm Elissa, a semi-recent college grad who moved clear across the country to live and work in Los Angeles, CA. Why? Because in any other place I'm considered unemployable, ha! Needless to say I've racked up my fair share of debt and bills along the way. I'm now going through the process of getting rid of it all, and trying to learn as much about personal finances as possible while I'm at it. Oh yeah, and I'm also rebuilding my pitiful credit report/score and trying to get back to where it used to be.

Other than that, work is mainly the rest of my life. Production and Broadcast (of the television variety) is my main work focus, but I do lots more on the side as well. The unique balance of technical ability and creative ambition pushes me to work as a photographer, cinematographer (my ultimate goal in the life, btw), editor, and web designer. It's fun and I enjoy every bit of the work I do, but it makes tax time hellish!

Hi there! I'm Angie, and I've been enjoying GRS daily for the past several months.

I'm 37, happily married, the mother of two terrific kids (6 and 3). My husband and I were grad-school sweethearts and, then as now, work as much for love as for money. It's great to have jobs we love, with quite a bit of flexibility in our schedules, that help us keep work and home life in balance. We are more than happy to live frugally (modest house, lots of secondhand shopping, consumerism kept radically in check) in order to live with this balance, particularly since the kids are still small.

This is important, since we live in beautiful Seattle, WA where the cost of living is pretty ridiculous. In particular, the cost of housing continues to skyrocket with little sign that the bubble's about to burst. While we are homeowners, and even (amazingly) became landlords last spring, it's going to be interesting to see how these forces shape our hometown in the decades to come. I worry that my kids won't be able to live anywhere near us when they're grown.

More relevant to the here-and-now, and GRS: I'm essentially the chief financial officer of the family. I love numbers and math (as befits a scientist), but have come to realize that there is a lot I don't know about the world of finance, and am always eager to learn more.

I am also a former welfare kid who's finally learning from direct experience about how the system is tilted to favor the more well off. "Them's that got shall have, them that don't will lose," sang Billie Holliday, "So the Bible says, and it still is news." I struggle with this and think a lot about the ethics of money and capitalism. I'd like to see more discussion of this on GRS or on these forums.

Hey all,

JD Thank you for Get Rich Slowly, I think it's the best personal finance blog out there, but there are so many good ones! I am new to the personal finance game and a information junkie to boot. I created a new site to help me keep track of all the best blog posts and other personal finance tips and tricks on the web.

http://www.coinclips.com

Come check it out and vote for your favorite articles. Blog authors, self promotion is welcome!

Hi All,

I'm RJ, though I go by "John" in real life. I'm a professor of Early Spanish literature and culture; when I'm not teaching or writing or doing other university/academic work, I like to read, cook, travel, watch birds, and exult in frugality. Due to work issues, my partner lives a few hundred miles away from me, but we see each other frequently, and he plans to retire and join me in a couple of years. My interest in GRS reflects my developing interest in personal finance, frugality, and simplicity. I don't have any particular expertise in these areas--just interest and personal experience. I'm not much of a blog reader in general, but I've enjoyed GRS for many months now. I'll see you all on the boards!

RJ

hi im mike and i pinch pennies

by day i work as a network admin... i also fall somewhere between advanced amateur and semi-professional photographer and i blog

currently running www.ilikecheapstuff.com and www.randomn3ss.com

just wanna say hi to everyone.. i've been reading JD's blog for a few months now (usually use an "anonymous" name).. but i'll be using the kick_push screen name from now on

what does kick push mean? it's a song by lupe fiasco which is in reference to skateboarding

but what does it mean to me? KICK means work hard.. PUSH means make money.. and COAST means enjoy life and what you have

Hi. I am fairly new to this blog, but I've been enjoying it quite a bit and catching up on the archives. I'm married with a 4year old son, my wife is a stay at home mom. I'm making more money than i used to, but still feeling like there's not enough. That has me thinking I need to figure out what's going on with my money. I put 6% of my salary into the company 401K (the max) $75 a month into a college savings plan for the kid, and $100 a month to build an emergency fund at an ING account. For the first time ever I'm carrying a credit card debt of $2k, which I'll be able to pay off over the next 4 months. Just got a 0% interest card to transfer that debt to while I pay it off. Sorry. TMI? Anyway I'll be reading with great interest, and I certainly have questions... Thanks.

Hi, this is Ranjan Varma from Mumbai, India. I started blogging six months ago when I was stuck up at home and nothing better to do . I write on Personal finance too and am a big fan of Ramit (iwillteachyoutoberich.com) and JDroth's GetRichSlowly.

My blog basically covers the Indian perspective of personal finance. Hope to be like Ramit/JDR for the Indian community. But that's quite far off right now. Wish me all the best, though.

Hi, I am DonoInBolivia, hahaha!

I am a current U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer currently living in.....you guessed it, Bolivia, South America.

Planning on getting married to my Bolivian fiancee by the end of June hopefully, depends on when the paperwork arrives.

I am pretty new to the whole idea of personal finance, but am a quick learner and have been doing a lot of internet based research to help get me prepared for post volunteer service!

DonoInBolivia

I am so glad that JD has reinstated the forums at a time when I can actually pay attention and have the desire to learn more! It is really wonderful to have a down-to-earth guidance with some great personal aspects!

I am Jamie, from San Diego, and I am 23. I currently work full time while going to school at night - am going for a degree in Nutrition and then certification as a Registered Dietitian. Not the most enjoyable way to spend time, but its going to get me somewhere (hopefully that somewhere is somewhere I want to be!).

I have been following GRS for probably close to a year now, since I found it linked off of Getting Finances Done, and I think it has helped me quite a lot! I never had that much debt, but reading and thinking about finances, and how to go about them properly, has helped me pay off the $1500 I had in credit card debt from a vacation to Hawaii. I've also been able to save enough for both a starter retirement acct (~$1000) and a decent savings (~2000). I consider myself very lucky for being in the financial state that I am in, and I think this blog most certainly has something to do with.....though I must say that my sweetheart got me started and really motivated in the first place.

Thanks for the great blog, JD!

I've posted a bit, but I figured I'd drop a line and introduce myself.

I'm 32 (and I LOVE it), very happily married, an Iraq war vet (so's my husband), and on the way to being a homeowner. We just purchased the land we'd like to retire on, seven+ acres in the Hill Country of Texas, and hope to start building next summer. We've got two paid-off cars, no student loans and just enough credit-card debt to make me but that's going to be cleared up in the next four months or so.

We've got a nice Vanguard account, enough for six months of total expenses and we're looking to add even more to that. I'd like to get our Roths funded this year, too. Busy busy busy!