Interview with Maria Nedeva of The Money Principle!

Maria Nedeva is the owner of The Money Principle where she teaches people in financial trouble how to build sustainable wealth. I recently came across her blog and was hooked. Maria’s blog is not only really informative and helpful, but is also a very enjoyable read! I asked her a few questions about The Money Principle and this is what she had to say:
1. What made you start blogging and why?
In brief, three developments came together to shape my decision to start blogging: a crisis, an opportunity and a great book.
First, in late 2009 we found ourselves in £100,000 consumer debt. Naturally, I panicked at first but then resolved to turn around our financial fortune. Started learning, thinking and making progress in paying off the debt. Deciding to write and share what I’ve learned and figured out was a natural step – we all need accountability and supportive friends and a blog provides both. (Oh, we did pay off the £100,000 worth of consumer debt in three years; and with interest.)
Second, I’ve always written. It started when I was seven years old and wrote a story about a wolf cub. It wasn’t very good story but it came from my heart and soul. The writing bug was so strong that even my high school language and literature teacher didn’t manage to beat it out of me. Later in life I became an academic and did mostly academic writing. Had to become professor to finally admit that I’m really finding it boring and limiting. I wanted to learn to write things that more than 20 people want to read and a blog offers an opportunity to do that.
And third, in early 2011 I read a book that changed me profoundly. The book is ‘The 4-hour Work Week’ by Tim Ferriss. I’d recommend it to anyone who feels like they are running very fast to stay in the same place. Also, make no mistake: the book is about how to achieve more by doing less but you are unlikely to be able to get away with working 4 hours per week. I know first-hand that Tim Ferriss doesn’t either.So, in March 2011 The Money Principle was born.
2. What topics do you blog about?

On The Money Principle I teach people in financial trouble how to build sustainable wealth. This is what I know a lot about and this is what I have achieved; so my knowledge is not simply ‘bookish’, it is ‘existential’. Between 2010 and today (mid-2016) we’ve gone from £100,000 consumer debt to over £150,000 in new investments and savings.
Such turn around comes with paying off all consumer debt, making sure that you manage your money really well and increasing your income substantially. These are the things I mainly blog about.
3. Which do you think the most useful post on your blog is and why?
There is a lot on The Money Principle and this is only to be expected form a blog that has been around for over five years. I believe that there are two particularly helpful articles for people in financial trouble who really want to turn their fortune around.
SmartPeople Choose Financial Health over Wealth: this is a blueprint for achieving financial health including links to helpful tools. It is a long post (it is almost 3,000 words long) but there is a mind-map that will help you judge whether it’s worth you reading all of it and which parts you are particularly interested in. If was in financial trouble and wanted to get out of it, I’d read all of it; but then I would say this, wouldn’t I.
How toPay off Debt Fast and Stay Debt Free Forever: this post is part of the book on paying off debt fast that I’m currently completing. It would probably be best to tell you what a reader said about it in the comments: “This is the most common sense and thorough way to get out of debt I have read, and I have read many. Thank you.”
4. What are your thoughts on being eco-friendly and saving money – have you found any ways that being eco-friendly can save money?

I am a firm believer in being eco-friendly and that it can save you money; I’m not evangelical about it though. This means that while I believe that it is our duty to leave the world a better place – or if this is not possible at least not to cause damage – I also believe that the balance can include modern amenities.
In my daily life, being eco-friendly and saving money meet in the following:
  • Not wasting food.
  • Not wasting energy.
  • Not wasting resources (cycling and driving economical cars, for instance).
  • Producing energy (we have solar panels).
5. What do have planned for the blog in the future?
I do have big plans for The Money Principle. Mainly, I’d like to transform it into an easy to use resource for people in financial trouble who would like to learn how to build sustainable wealth. The book on paying off debt fast will be finished in couple of months (and offered as an e-book); have several more ideas for books on these matters.
Apart from that, I’d like to continue to educate, provoke, entertain and inspire my readers. 
Thanks so much to Maria for answering these questions – if you want to find out more take a look at her blog The Money Principle!

Comments

  1. Great interview! I remember Maria posting on mortgagefreein3 that she'd paid off £100k debt. Completely mind blowing!

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