Why PF Bloggers Should Never Date Each Other
This post stems from a hilarious Twitter conversation between myself, @FrugalBeautiful, @Budgetable, @geekymath, @blondeonabudget, and @krystalatwork. If you aren’t following all these awesome people, you are missing out on some entertainment! (And some personal finance info every now and then too.) Oh, and if you want to follow me, I’m @sooverdebt of course!
With the Financial Blogger Conference (FINCON11) a little over a week away, some of us are slightly more demonstrative in our excitement than others. If you follow me on Twitter - and if not, I’m offended - you’ve probably seen references to things like stalkers, frou frou dresses, @FrugalBeautiful’s boobs, severed animal heads, and So Over Debt dolls made of my hair. Alcohol may or may not be a factor in these conversations.
On Monday night, the conversation on Twitter turned from FINCON11 to flirting to dating, and we joked a lot about what would happen if two personal finance bloggers started dating each other. Some people (I’m looking at you, @krystalatwork!) think it would be SO SWEET if two PF bloggers found romance at FINCON11.
Even though I’m so single it’s pathetic, I think it would be a terrible idea (though somewhat amusing) for a couple of finance nerds to attempt a relationship. And I’ll give you five reasons why.
1. Worst. Dates. Ever.
Could you IMAGINE two financially-minded people trying to go on a date?
“Tonight we’re going to walk to the park to listen to a free concert. We’ll take our own tap water in reusable bottles and sit on this blanket I made out of my old pit-stained t-shirts. When we’re done, I have a BOGO coupon for ramen noodles! Then we’ll head back to my place and watch Til Debt Do Us Part, which I’m streaming because I no longer pay for cable.”
“But what about dessert?”
“Um, I’m on a budget. And I THOUGHT you were too. I’m starting to think we’re just too different.”
2. On a related note, when would you have TIME for dating?
[at dinner]
“Hey, someone retweeted my rant about minimalism!”
[at the movies]
“I feel guilty spending this much money. Plus I need to be working on a post.”
“Me too. You want to just leave? My laptop’s in the car.”
[on the phone]
“Do you mind switching to chat? I’m trying to get through my backlog of emails.”
3. You couldn’t fight like a normal couple.
“Why didn’t you Google +1 my last post?”
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to read it yet. I was responding to the comments on my site.”
“You don’t care about me at all! I’m unfollowing you on Twitter!”
“Well I’m unsubscribing from your RSS feed!”
“At least I understand investing!”
“Yeah, you have plenty of time to learn about it since NO ONE LIKES YOUR BLOG!”
“Tomorrow I’m SO posting about why the single life is more frugal.”
4. Your posts would start overlapping.
Most bloggers talk about issues that are relevant to them at the time. If you’re dating, you might post about ways to save money on dates. If you’re engaged, you’ll talk about saving on weddings. Pregnant bloggers tend to post about things like college funds, buying baby supplies, and frugal ways to clothe Junior. All of us inject a little of our lives into our blogs.
So what happens when your blog becomes a mirror image of your significant other’s blog? People will get bored. And who takes credit for the post idea that comes up during a trip to the grocery store? Do you flip a coin? What if s/he posts a review of nasal strips while casually mentioning that you sound like a foghorn? Things like that are only funny if there’s ONE blogger in the relationship.
5. Money-related euphemisms and pickup lines are SO lame.
Okay, I’ll admit that most euphemisms and pickup lines are lame. But could you imagine the stuff PF bloggers would come up with? It would be cringeworthy.
“Hey baby, my interest is rising. Better hurry while rates are low!”
“I’d feature your guest posts for free any day!”
“I’d love to get a closer look at your portfolio.”
“Nice earrings. I bet you bought those on sale.”
“Want to compare plugins?”
“Have a drink with me, and I’ll give you an extra entry into my giveaway!”
You said boobs. I totally followed every one of those twitter accounts because of it.
You'd be amazed how many boob-related conversations you've missed!
I thought I was the only one who said "Bewbs" emphesis on OO's part, until I met you and @frugalbeautiful:twitter And I just have to say, I don't feel as crazy with you guys around!
HA! This is so funny and pretty much true. I especially love the money-related pickup lines.
Plus, there are the arguments that will ensue if one starts getting significantly more followers, and the conspiracy theories among other bloggers that the two will be in cahoots secretly trying to get the other more juice!
That comment could be interpreted in SO many ways a la #5. LOL at people trying to get more juice in a relationship!
I'm told that some of the things I say can be misconstrued quite a bit, even if I don't mean to do it. That time I really didn't even think about it. Guess it's just how my mind works
Nah, it's just the fact that I have the brain of a 12 year-old boy. It's totally me this time.
As much as I hate spending money, I can't be with a guy who's like me. Ultimately, I wanna be a kept woman. (I make no apologies for that.) However, it's really important that I'm with someone who's financially conscious. So, regardless of how much money my guy has it's unlikely he'll spend money on me frivolously.
The worse kind of men are those who are cheap with you but ridiculously irresponsible with their money. I don't have any patience for those kind.
" those who are cheap with you but ridiculously irresponsible with their money" - I think those kind of people are very unpleasant to be around… especially when you are splitting dinner checks!
You hit the nail on the head with #4. It would be impossible to both blog in the same "sphere" without overlap! I mean, who gets to blog about the buy one get one free movie tickets!!! You'd have to combine blogs. Oh, and then the break up would be terrible!!!
I love me a frugal guy, so a frugal date is not a turn off for me at all. I respect that.
Same here. I'd be fine with a guy who knows his way around a checkbook ledger, as long as he's not a blogger.
What if the guy is so frugal he waits to see if you reach for the check? And waits. And waits. And waits…..
I always offer to pay. So if he is just sitting there, I'm going to grab the check. And then he can pay next time. Now if I'm paying more than twice, I'm going to be all, "It's your turn dude."
I always pay. Well, not always, since sometimes I get yelled at for paying all the time, then I back away from the bill slowly and keep my hands in plain sight
Damn it, I was totally going to ask you out!!
As a side note, I just laughed so loud the guy who smells next to me at the library gave me a sideways glare.
And I'm following everyone on that list asap!
You can ask me out anytime!
Just know it can never be more than friends with benefits because of our blogs.
Wow…love, love, love this. Section 5 is being retweeted over the next few hours….
This is hilarious! Great Post.
“I’d love to get a closer look at your portfolio.” Such a nerd.
Once again, hilarious! Great work.I hope you didn't jinx yourself.
P.S. You should try clicking on the link in my feed.
Jinx myself how? I'm almost scared to know.
And I can't click anything on your feed because I unsubscribed until you start publishing full posts!
oh, I SO want to date a PF blogger girl. Damn! I am married.
You're supposed to be relieved that you aren't dating or married to a PF blogger! You're doing it wrong, SB!
Although that makes sense, then who is left? Spendaholics?
Frugal people who don't blog!!!
Hahahaa.. now I REALLY can't wait for FINCON!
Whoa, a comment from J Money. I may faint.
I thought you just sent your thoughts on blog posts telepathically.
This is hilarious! Thanks for sharing
Or social media romance… flirting via tweets or commentor crushes can go terribly wrong! I don't know though, guys can find a GREAT deal on orchids or roses if they're into personal finance!
Hahah, this is hilarious! But definitely true! But think of how cute it would be if pf bloggers got together!
They can blog about how their babies cost $35 per year!
hilarious! Love it!
Love it. Great post!
Hahahaha…this is so funny! I could really picture something like this - especially the frugal date part.
Hilarious! But imagine if you had a pf blog together. Half the work!
That's an interesting thought… I don't know if I could stand it - I'd be editing the poor guy's posts to fix grammar and spelling, harping on him about posting on his designated days, critiquing his writing ("How can you post about saving on bank fees when you pay fees all the time?"), and just generally being a pain in the ass. Might work for people who aren't me, though!
I've definitely seen quite a few of these around. Wish that I had bookmarked a few right now.
HAHA, what a great read. Love it!
Very funny. I liked this. Hope you all have a good time at the conference. Maybe next year I can be there as well.
This post is hysterical! Who said personal finance was boring….
OMG I'm totally gutted I can't come across the pond to FINCON11. You guys are awesome. (My new girlfriend thinks its hilarious I blog about PF
Hopefully you can make it next year. And bring her with you!
Hilarious post! Maybe two anonymous pf bloggers are already dating and don't even know about each others' secret identity.
lollll, hilarious
Nice post. You just got a new follower.
This is hysterical! You have just guaranteed that I am going to subscribe to your blog AND follow you on twitter! Thanks for making the personal finance world so much more fun. =)
Why thank you! I'm honored to have you aboard the ship of crazy.
Hilarious! You should consider being a personal finance comedian. You would kill!
I don't know how that would work out. I'd have to do free comedy shows or I wouldn't have much of an audience!
This was hilarious.
One point I might argue is that it just might be interesting to see two pf bloggers who are in a relationship with each other post about the same thing in their lives from different perspectives.
That's definitely true… Though personally, I wouldn't be willing to try it to find out!
This is excellent! Haven't laughed so hard all week.
Thank you! Appreciate your visit and comment!
This made me laugh out loud! I had to re read it several times! I think it can work, just it has to be kept of-line!
Ha. Wow. "nice earrings. I bet you got those on sale" has actually been uttered by me a few times.
The worst PF Blogger pickup line? (Caution: this is crass).
"Hey baby, I act in bed like I do in the stock market — I don't pull out too early."
(That joke was inspired by a Twitter conversation between Flexo and Jeremy / Gen X Finance.)
Hilarious! So sad I missed that conversation.