1957: The Personal Finance Legend Who Stopped Talking About Money

Summary

So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Episode 1957: The Personal Finance Legend Who Stopped Talking About Money
Guest: J Money (Budgets Are Sexy, Rockstar Finance)
Date: March 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special episode welcomes back J Money—a true pioneer of personal finance blogging, known for his signature Mohawk and the once-radical practice of openly sharing his net worth. J Money reflects on his 15-year journey in personal finance: the rise and eventual fading of blogging magic, his exit and reacquisition of Budgets Are Sexy, and what comes after money goals are met. These days, he’s less focused on money and more on giving back—especially through his nonprofit "free closet," which provides essential clothing to local unhoused and low-income communities. Farnoosh and J have an honest, raw conversation about evolving passions, the meaning of wealth, community, the trap of always chasing more, and how financial independence changes everything.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life After Financial Independence

Timestamp: 16:27 – 18:20

• J Money and Farnoosh discuss what happens when your financial goals are met and “money stops mattering” in the same way.
• J Money: "Money to me gives you the ability to not think about money anymore." (16:59)
• The biggest luxury is “not having to worry or think about budget.”
• After selling his blog, J Money pivoted to volunteering and starting a "free closet," rediscovering purpose and joy outside of financial hustling.

2. The Origins and Evolution of Money Blogging

Timestamp: 07:09 – 13:14

• J Money began Budgets Are Sexy in 2008 after a clueless home purchase in his twenties. Inspired by others’ unprecedented transparency (sharing net worth, savings, debt), he launched a candid, humorous, and unpolished blog to motivate himself and others.
• He published 3,000+ articles over 15 years, openly tracking his financial journey—including hitting a million dollars in net worth.
• Authenticity, humor, and self-disclosure were his hallmarks: “I just started blogging. And I didn’t spell check...I was trying to make jokes and I was learning along the way.” (08:09)
• He describes the early community as radically honest—before Instagram and TikTok, and before financial blogging was cool or profitable.

3. Selling the Blog, Shifting the Focus

Timestamp: 09:20 – 10:54; 37:10 – 38:47

• Sold Budgets Are Sexy to The Motley Fool and briefly drew a salary for ongoing content.
• After the acquisition fizzled, he reacquired the blog (at a fraction of the price), but creative passion had faded: “I’ve said everything. I was starting to repeat myself. I wasn’t as creative.” (10:23)
• Shifts in the audience—from people motivated to pay off debt, to affluent readers chasing ever-more-wealth—left him feeling disconnected: “…a different type of audience was changing...It started to become a little bit more, like, not icky, but different.” (10:55)

4. The Problem with Chasing “More” in Money

Timestamp: 16:27 – 18:20

• J Money discusses the irony of reaching financial independence: once you’re secure, you gain the freedom to forget about money and focus on what matters.
• Both express how money conversations lose spark when repeated or disconnected from personal growth.
• J Money describes the “full circle” of going from relentless pursuit to a stage where, “I don’t think about money. But that’s because I thought about money for a good chunk of my life and I paid attention. I hustle. So I’m glad the old me did all that.” (17:36)

5. Pivoting Purpose: The Free Closet

Timestamp: 22:19 – 27:32

• J Money details his new nonprofit—“just a free closet”—distributing 1,500+ clothing items weekly, mostly to homeless and lower-income individuals.
• Started small, then gained momentum as people donated more clothing and local businesses partnered.
• The joy is partly selfish—learning new things and building the community infrastructure is “fun.”
• Social media now serves as a hyperlocal utility rather than a global platform; efficiency, not numbers, is what matters.
• “My homeless friends...they’re dressed super nice, like, to the point where everyone thinks I’m homeless when I’m hanging with them because we’ve been giving them some good stuff.” (23:38)

6. What the Unhoused Community Taught Him

Timestamp: 24:12 – 26:19

• J Money is struck by the strong sense of community among unhoused residents—sometimes stronger than “regular” society.
• “There are some people over the years of volunteering where they’ve gotten a place, they’ve gotten a home. They still come back to be with all their friends, to be in the community.” (25:32)
• Many unhoused people’s primary barriers are lack of support, bad luck, or episodic bad decisions—not preference.

7. Family, Gender Roles, and New Definitions of Work

Timestamp: 28:03 – 30:08

• Since his wife enjoys her stable job, J Money took on all domestic and parental duties—“stripping” her of those loads so she can enjoy her work-life balance.
• “Imagine if I stripped my wife of all of the domestic duties. Maybe she would actually enjoy her job, her actual work, out of the house job.” (29:26)
• Discusses the unglamorous reality of unpaid family and volunteer work after “retirement.”

8. Mistakes, Authenticity, and Why People Loved His Content

Timestamp: 32:41 – 33:39

• J Money says blogging about his “stupid stuff”—like failing at bitcoin—drew more love than success stories.
• J Money: “When I make financial mistakes and I blog about it, they’re like, thank you...It would get way more traffic than doing good.” (32:41)

9. Bitcoin Misadventures

Timestamp: 32:47 – 34:43

• J Money ignored early bitcoin advice, bought high, and sold low multiple times.
• “I bought it when it went up to $30,000 and then when I sold it, it was like $20,000. Then it went all the way up to $60,000...I realized that looking and timing of the market. And I’m an index fund guy, so all my money is in index funds.” (33:11)

10. The Next Generation and The Evolution of Influence

Timestamp: 13:14 – 15:10

• J Money’s 13-year-old son is passionately making YouTube cologne reviews, gaining thousands of views.
• J Money reflects on creator culture: “When you create and you get an audience, it, like, consumes you and you want more likes, more and more.” (14:05)

11. Social Media’s Dual Edge and The Future of Personal Finance

Timestamp: 12:08 – 13:14, 35:46 – 36:53

• Both praise and critique social media’s impact: while attention spans have shrunk, platforms like Substack and newsletters are reviving long-form, personal writing.
• Farnoosh notes how modern personal finance has become more inclusive and individualized—“Personal Finance 3.0.”

12. Why the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) Movement Endures

Timestamp: 35:28 – 36:53

• The movement is still “alive and well,” but now embraces more diverse paths and packages (e.g., coast-FIRE) to suit unique life circumstances.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Blogging Success:
  “I just started blogging. And I didn’t spell check...It blew up just because I guess I was talking like a normal person.” (J Money, 08:09)
• On Audience Shift:
  “It was now like, how do I make even more wealth?...And the people that were new, they’re like, ‘Oh, I like your style but I cannot relate.’ Even though I tried to be relatable...it was just like a different type of audience.” (J Money, 10:55)
• On Financial Independence:
  “Money to me gives you the ability to not think about money anymore or care about money anymore.” (J Money, 16:59)
• On Mistakes:
  “When I make financial mistakes and I blog about it, they’re like, thank you. It would get way more traffic than doing good.” (J Money, 32:41)
• On Family and Gender Roles:
  “Imagine if I stripped my wife of all of the domestic duties. Maybe she would actually enjoy her job, her actual work, out of the house job.” (Farnoosh, 29:26)
• On Community Among the Unhoused:
  “I was blown away by how much more community they have than probably the outside regular people that are out in the suburbs...” (J Money, 24:18)
• On Social Media and Influence:
  "When you create and you get an audience, it, like, consumes you and you want more likes, more and more." (J Money, 14:05)
• Closing Fellowship:
  “You look more beautiful than you did 10 years ago. More confident and everything.” (J Money, 39:10)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• J Money on new life & nonprofit: 05:25–07:09
• Blogging origins, rise to success: 07:09–09:20
• Audience & content pivot, burnout: 10:15–12:08
• Family, shifting roles: 28:03–30:08
• The Free Closet & community insight: 22:19–27:32
• Bitcoin blunders: 32:47–34:43
• Authenticity in influence: 31:31–32:41
• State of the FIRE movement & inclusion: 35:46–36:53

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Episode Tone

• Warm, candid, gently humorous, and deeply reflective. J Money is self-effacing (“I don’t make a lot of money. I do consulting every now and then...We have like insurance. The blog still makes a little money, but like a couple hundred a month. Crazy.” 28:03), and the rapport between Farnoosh and J Money is rooted in shared history and genuine affection.

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For Listeners

• This episode is a relatable meditation on personal finance’s deeper purpose, embracing the mess and pivots of real life. J Money demonstrates that even for “money legends,” happiness is more about impact, freedom, and adaptability than ever-higher numbers.

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Find more from J Money and his archives at BudgetsAreSexy.com and RockstarFinance.com.

Transcript

[Farnoosh Torabi]

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[J Money]

You're listening to so Money with award winning money guru Farnoosh Torabi. Each day get a 30 minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers and from Farnoosh herself.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Looking for ways to save on gas

[J Money]

or double your double coupons. Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to SO money. It's the unfiltered part, I think that makes things special like real life and again and I knew I was like misspelling and even like the way I was writing, I was like ah, this is, I should go back and polish it up. But it's like just it's who exactly I was at the time and just being able to Say things just free without, you know, stuff I think is what drew people in. I know for me, personally, I. If I had to start a financial blog from the beginning, it wouldn't take off it just because I can't. I've already lost the magic. But moving that into something else. If you told me I had to start a cologne thing, like, my son is doing, like, I'd be like, all right, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just gonna go in raw, have fun, and I'll try and see if I can beat his views, like, as a challenge, like, if it's new. And I think that's the key when you're new into something and you're passionate and you're learning, like, you just give all of your effort, and it's just authentic. It just feels good. And again, you don't know anything. You're doing stupid stuff. But even stupid stuff, man, people love. When I make financial mistakes and I blog about it, they're like, thank you. Yeah, like, this is great. Like, they. It would get way more traffic.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Welcome to so Money, everybody. I'm Farnoosh Tarabi. For as long as I've known him, which is now about 15 years, my guest today has had the same signature look, a sharp Mohawk, and an even sharper perspective on money. We're welcoming back one of the original voices of the personal finance Internet, J Money, the longtime blogger behind Budgets Are Sexy and the founder of Rockstar Finance, a platform that helped shape the early personal finance blogging community. When this podcast first launched more than a decade ago, J. Money was one of my earliest guests. Back when sharing your net worth online was considered radical, and the idea of building a career from a blog about money was still pretty new. In our conversation, we're going to catch up on what's changed and what hasn't. Jay's Mohawk is still there, thankfully, but his life looks very different these days. He has stepped away from blogging full time. He sold his site to the Motley fool and then later bought it back, and now spends much of his time running something called a free closet, giving away thousands of clothing items every week to people in his community. We talk about the early days of the money blogging world, when transparency about debt and savings and net worth helped motivate an entire generation to take control of their finances. We also talk about what happens when you actually reach financial independence. Does money stop mattering what motivates you next? Jay also shares why the blogging magic eventually faded for him and why he believes the real power of money is simply the freedom of not to think about it anymore. Here's J. Money. J money. 11 years later, back on so money. Can you believe it? I'm so glad for.

[J Money]

Has it been 11 years?

[Farnoosh Torabi]

It's been 11 years. Some things don't change. Including your Mohawk.

[J Money]

Yeah, it's still there. It's still there.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Do you know, I'm so happy to see that. I like the world has changed in so many ways, but in other ways, not. How are you? What are you doing? What did you do this week? Okay, let's, like, forget the last 10 years. Like, how are you using your time these days?

[J Money]

I could tell you right now. I just got back from being out in the glorious sun after a crazy winter on the east coast, and I started a nonprofit giving away free clothes and essentials to people living in the streets, in the woods, lower income families. And on Tuesdays, we go out and we give it out into the market. Free food. And I set up clothes and so I spent the last two, three hours here right before hopping on giving clothes to the community. It's something that never saw myself doing, but here we are. And it's fun. I love it. It brings me joy. It brings other people joy. And a lot of people have a lot of extra stuff. That is what I've learned.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yep. And a lot of people need help, that's for sure. I have to say, I could see you doing this. You have always struck me as somebody who is very kind and generous and thoughtful and wants to serve and be helpful. And so you may think this isn't what you envision, but I can see you. I can see you out there hugging people in them shirts.

[J Money]

I gave a lot of hugs today. That's funny. That is funny.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Catch us up. Because for those who I always say, like, this year has been incredible for this podcast because I feel like without really forcing it, I've had a lot of people on who were on like 10 or 11 years ago. So this show is actually 11 years this year. And you were one of my first guests because you and I grew up in this money blogging blogosphere world before there was Instagram and before there was TikTok and AI and all the things. And so tell us a little bit about the origins of J Money and Rockstar Finance, which I know isn't entirely where you're spending your time these days, but it was a significant chapter in your life and you impacted so many people with this.

[J Money]

Yeah, it's been crazy. Yeah. The short Story is back in, what, 2007, 2008. My fiance and I, at the time were looking for a place to. To rent, basically. And I actually stumbled across a house for sale, which I had no money, I had no budget. Like, I didn't know what I was doing. I was in my 20s, and I'm like, everyone says to buy a house. So we said, let's buy a house within 48 hours of seeing this place. And then I said, we need to figure money stuff out. And I've just been. Even. I'd never been really good or bad, just in the middle. And I stumbled across, like, people talking about money online. But not only that, they were, like, showcasing, here's my net worth, here's my savings, my debt, my investments. And I would sucked in for months just reading and consuming. And I was learning. And then I found out that that got me to take action versus reading a normal website or corporation, talking about the same boring stuff that we all know. And that's what I've come to learn. Like, we all know what to do, but it's like, somehow getting motivated to do it. And so one day I said, oh, I'm gonna talk about saving money, drinking beer, and I'm gonna. I don't obviously, wear a certain tie and have the most normal haircut and all that stuff. So I just started blogging. And I didn't spell check. I did. Oh, man. Going back. You can still read the articles there. There's over 3,000 of them. 2008. But it blew up just because I guess I was talking like a normal person. And I was trying to make jokes and just. And I was learning along the way. And of course, the first thing I did was share my own net worth. At the time, I think it was like 30 or 40,000. And so we said, all right, here we go. And I just started doing it every month up into. I think I went 15 years blogging. And I think I had stopped sharing the net worth when we crossed a million dollars. I'd sold the blog to Motley fool eventually when I was done, and they. So they gave me a chunk of money. So they said, great, keep blogging and we'll pay you a salary. And I thought, this is crazy, right? I'm getting money just for doing what I'm doing. And so then eventually I tapered off, and then they actually didn't do too well with it, and they said, hey, do you just want the blog back? You know, a little money? Like, I paid for it, but it was like pennies to the dollar. And they're like, we want you to keep it again. Just archive it, do whatever. And so I'm just blogging on and off. Sometimes I go five or six months without writing anything. And then some days I'm inspired and I write. So it's back to me owning it again.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Oh my gosh.

[J Money]

But different phase now.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

I want to zoom in on that period. That's interesting. Like you said, like it's the dream, like someone for some, an acquisition, like some sort of exit. Because you get into the creator space and you don't really know what's next and you just like, am I just going to be like blogging forever? Am I going to be tick tocking forever? What do you think you just said? The words tapered off, like maybe lost some interest, like what was going on in your life. I feel like I'm in that place a little bit some days where I'm like, how many more days can I talk about? 5 to 9 plans? How many more. How many more years in me do I have? But I always try to keep it fresh. My audience, I say they keep me on my toes. They tell me what's, where to go. And I feel like that's worked for me because I can't be here and think I have all the answers. And I certainly don't want to be talking about every day. But luckily they keep changing the five to nine laws, so there's always something new to say.

[J Money]

There you go.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

But did you have that moment in you, like a voice that was like, what else is am I put on this planet to do?

[J Money]

Yeah, I think it was probably just a combination of. Of things. I definitely felt like I've said everything. Like I have starting to repeat myself and stuff. And I just, I wasn't as creative. I looked back at some of my first stuff I was writing. I was like, man, that guy, he just says anything he wants. Oh, I love that. He's just so raw and as you go and as if you phrase things a certain way. And SEO started coming into play and there's all this stuff where I want to say it this way, but then there's consequences. And less people would see it, but if I say it this way, more people would say it. But then I'll. And so I started to get into my head over the years.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

You know, and I feel like it wasn't as fun as it was. And I think that the main thing that ended up happening was in the beginning, I didn't know what I was Doing really, which made it fun. And so I was learning and my net worth was lower. Right. And then once it started to taper upwards and this was across again 10 or 15 years, I noticed like the audience and just the people that were coming was it, oh, please help me get out of debt. Oh, we're in this thing together. It was now like, like either how do I make even more wealth? Talk about wealth. And I want more and more money. And it started became a little bit more like not icky because it's fine, but it was just like a different type of audience was changing. And the people that were new, they're like, oh, I like your style but I cannot relate. Even though I tried to be relatable and oh man, you're like, you're just bragging at all these hate is like you're bragging about your money, blah, blah. And I was like, oh, this is so weird because I'm in my brain, I'm just still like that same person. Yeah, it changes. And like when social media came out like that, like not people were as like reading long form articles. Like they'd see a clip of me saying here's my net worth and they wouldn't read anything. And so it was just like that guy over there, that a hole. So it was like all this weird thing and I was like, me. What would it look like if I wasn't.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

That's interesting because on the one hand I completely understand what you're saying. I think that our attention spans have diminished and that's in part thanks to being distracted with so much. But also. Or the social media ness of it and like the quick hits. And they even say like with your. When you're making a reel on Instagram, you need a hook. If you can't draw the person in a, in a millisecond, forget it. And that doesn't make it fun. Right. You gotta think about like how do I just say the craziest thing first or show the craziest footage first. But at the same time you're also seeing a resurgence of long form writing. And maybe we called it blogging in the early 2000s. Now we've got platforms like Substack and even just the good old fashioned email. That's how we reconnected. You read one of my emails and replied to it. And I do think that that is still a place to be and a place to want to learn, like reading. Right. Old long form. But it's interesting how in the middle of that transition I feel like we've gone back to blogging in a bit, but for the modern audience.

[J Money]

Yeah, yeah. It's fine too. Is my son. At the time when I started blogging, he wasn't even born yet, and now he's 13. So I guess he came in a couple years in and he knows about blogging and he saw me doing stuff and that was cool. But all of a sudden, I don't know if it's his age. Like, he's obsessed with cologne. Him and all his friends, they Love cologne. He's 13.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yes. My son's 11 and he wants cologne.

[J Money]

Okay.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

He wants.

[J Money]

Okay.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

It's like that tween teen. Yeah. I'm like. Like, really? And my wear cologne. I don't know. It's just. It's a boy thing.

[J Money]

Yeah. And. But which is fine. I'm glad he's into something that's not like crazy crack cocaine. But now he's. We finally allowed him to get onto YouTube and I was like, okay. Because it's just. Especially as a kid, it gets weird. And now he's making these little shorts that are just about as him filming cologne. And it's like a little review or trying to be funny.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Oh, my God.

[J Money]

And like, his last one, he'll be doing it for two weeks, and his last one within 30 minutes had 2,000 views. And I'm like, who's watching these ridiculous little things? And so now I could see his brain, though, right? Because he's. Oh, if I keep doing this. And I could tell he's getting. And this is how I was in anyone. When you create and you get an audience, it, like, consumes you and you, like, want more. Likes more and more. And so I'm like, we're trying to figure out. I don't want to throttle him. I want to encourage him. I could see him being an influencer in colognes as a kid, but I love it. I know the, like, the craziness that comes with it too. Right. Like, at 13, you don't have those barriers and the smarts to deal with it.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

But he is so smart. Because also, cologne or perfume, it's hard to sell that online. Right. You can't smell it. However, he's introducing this to his audience. This is a study for me. I need to go on his YouTube and learn his skills. My God, that's true.

[J Money]

You can't smell. I never thought about that.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Because, like, all these, like, perfume commercials, they're selling a lifestyle, right?

[J Money]

That's right.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

A love scene or whatever. It's the promise.

[J Money]

Yeah. Well, he included me in one of the last ones. He was like, it was like some trend where you see what your dad is and what your dad is wearing. And I'm like, oh, I'm so embarrassed. Like, I don't even know. And so he's like, talking about it.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

I love it. I love it. It could, like you said, it could be a lot worse. He's learning a lot about early entrepreneurship. And I think it goes back to what you were saying earlier about when you got acquired. And now it's really about the metrics like that for someone who got into it for the creativity and for the sharing. And for that, I can see where there was some dissonance there. And so now we're both in midlife and we've experienced a few things. We've got kids that are growing up. We've also accumulated wealth because we followed our own advice. How has your perspective on all the things that you're writing about when you were in your 20s and 30s, how has that changed? Because I was just on Mr. Money Mustache's blog, and he's also tapered off a bit. He's writing, like, once in a while. Sure. His website makes a killing still.

[J Money]

Yeah.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

But he's even talked about how when now that he's, quote, unquote, wealthy people don't even want to hear from him anymore. He's almost like he's disqualified himself in a way. He's doing fine, though. Let's just be clear. But yeah, there is that mindset.

[J Money]

Yeah. No, I get that. I think for me too, like, when I started, I was one of those people that was like, I just want money. I want to be a millionaire. That is cool. If you're a millionaire, you could do whatever you want and buy whatever you want. Even though we know, like, millionaires save money and they don't spend and they live for a. Like, you know, like, people really don't want that lifestyle and that at least small millionaire. And I think now, over the years, actually, I was thinking about this yesterday that I was writing. I started to write a post that like, money. The ironic thing is, like, money to me gives you the ability to not think about money anymore or care about money anymore. For me, the best thing is like going to a restaurant, ordering what I want to eat at that time. Like, I don't have to look at price. Like, I just want to eat whatever you want to eat. And it could be something small or big, it doesn't matter. But not having to worry or think about budget or Anything that to me was like a huge perk. And then even when your car breaks down, and that's annoying, but then you forget about it because you have the money, it's not going to derail you or you can't get your work, you can't. It doesn't kill. So to me, like, I. And that's how, that's mainly why I don't blog anymore. I'm like, I don't. I'll just say the same things over and over again, which is, I don't think about money. But that's because I thought about money for a good chunk of my life and I paid attention. I hustle. So I'm glad the old me did all that. I can't see myself doing that now. On the other side. Now I can do stuff like, and the blog started this way. I had a full time job and I was just writing for fun. And I think what I learned as an entrepreneur is that if something starts taking off, like, you just keep feeding it and doing it and on a roll until it doesn't make sense anymore. And like, with this free closet that I'm doing now, I just put out some clothes one day when I was volunteering at a market, like, totally not like, meaning to do anything. And the weeks came and other people like, I'll give you clothes to give away. And then people started expecting clothes when they came to the market. And I thought, oh my gosh, wait a minute, what's going on here? I'm not trying to get. I wasn't trying to give myself a job, right? Like, I was trying to enjoy, quote, financial freedom and. But I was tired of going to the coffee shop all day and just doing nothing. Like, we can't just sit here and do nothing.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

I really admire that. I really admire your openness to pivot and see, like, over here, something else is working and, and going with that momentum. I think sometimes we want things to last way past their expiration date. Hey, small business owners, let's talk about how Found can help you wrangle your finances once and for all. When was the last time you felt like you had your business finances totally under control? Every expense categorized, every receipt tracked, every invoice sent. Oh, and you were prepared for tax season. If the answer is never, you're not alone. And that's what found is for. Found eliminates the clutter by giving you one platform that handles it all. Banking, bookkeeping, invoices and taxes. No more paying for multiple subscriptions and dealing with clunky, outdated apps. Found is reimagining what business banking should be by putting your bookkeeping, invoicing and tax tools directly into your business checking account. You can even send invoices for free and pay your contractors. Everything all from one app. As someone who's running two different podcasts, I have two separate businesses, two separate bookkeeping systems, two separate tax returns. Yeah, don't be jealous. If I could go back to when I was starting my business, Found would have saved me time, money and lots of tears. Take back control of your business today. Open a Found account for free at found.com that's F-O-U-N-D.com found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by lead bank member fdic. Join the hundreds of thousands who've already streamlined their finances with Found. These days I'm all about quality over quantity, especially in my closet. If it's not well made and versatile, it's worth it to me. That's honestly why I love Quinn. The fabrics feel elevated, the cuts are thoughtful and the pricing actually makes sense. Quince makes high quality wardrobe staples using premium fabrics like 100% European linen, 100% silk and organic cotton poplin. Lightweight cotton cashmere sweaters. Perfect for the changing seasons and can't miss seasonal colors and prints for spring. Quince works directly with safe, ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen. The Quince cotton cashmere sweater has become my go to. It's light enough for layering but still feels luxe. And best part, it didn't cost what I thought quality cashmere would. Stop waiting to build the wardrobe you actually want. You don't need a closet full of options. You need pieces that work right now. Go to quince.com sewoney for free shipping and 365 day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. And you will now available in Canada too. Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to q U-I-N c e.com Sewmoney for free shipping and 365 day return. Quince.com Somoney we all prefer things a certain way. Like groceries. If you want groceries just how you like them, you gotta try Instacart. They have a new preference picker that lets you pick how ripe or unripe you want your bananas. Shoppers can see your preferences upfront, helping guide their choices. Because when it comes to groceries, the details matter. Instacart get groceries just how you like.

[J Money]

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[Farnoosh Torabi]

Tell me about free. Free. It's called free.

[J Money]

Yeah, it's just a free closet.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Free closet. Okay. Free closet. I love it.

[J Money]

Free closet. Nice and simple. And. And it's interesting because after I sold the blonde stuff, I was like, I'm gonna take a break from online. Right? Because, like, it's all 24 7, all over the world. And so I got offline. Really. Then I started giving clothes and I was like, crap, I need to get like a. I need an infusion of clothes every week if I'm gonna be giving stuff away. Like, how do I do that?

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

And everyone's like, dude, you gotta be on Facebook. Yummy. I'm like, facebook, That's. Come on. And so I was like, fine, I'll do Facebook. Fine. I'll create Instagram. Those are like the two places apparently local people go. And it's. But it's interesting. So it's so high. Like, I could have a hundred versus a hundred thousand followers that I used to have. But I get so much done because it's very efficient. I need clothes. You have clothes. Where are you? I'm in town at this coffee shop. Cool. I'll bring it. Like, it's so specific. It's not worldwide. And then the network, the people I've met in the last year, it's been a little less than a year.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Wow.

[J Money]

Has expanded. So it's just for me, I guess I'm doing the good stuff, but also selfishly, it's fun to learn and it's fun to see. How can I get more clips? Like, how can I give people Air Jordans if they want Air Jordans. Right. Like, I want to give, like, some of my homeless friends, they're dressed super nice, like, to the point where everyone thinks I'm homeless when I'm hanging with them because we've been giving them some good stuff.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

It's a fun project. So definitely there is some selfish part of Me enjoying, learning and trying to build something that I'm not used to building for sure.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

What have you learned about the unhoused community since you've been doing this and working closely with them and having probably deeper conversations about what led them to where they are in life and why? I've done a couple stories on our local unhoused communities here in Montclair, New Jersey. And although it's not as big as maybe other municipalities, it's a lot of job scarcity and mental health.

[J Money]

Yep.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Lack of services there and support there. And I'm just wondering what you're hearing.

[J Money]

Yeah, I think the mental health stuff, there's certainly people that I hang out with that prefer to be outside, and they're, like, minimalist. Like, they choose it. A very small percentage, but there are that. And a lot of people that just, like, have done some stupid stuff and they've lost their community. But it's weird because. Or not weird, it's cool. Like, I went to. We give. Where I live, there's a free dinner every night of the week. Anyone can come. Mostly it's on house people, but anyone can come. And you walk in and they have community. It's like a. It's like a college cafeteria. They're chatting, they're eating. Everyone's right. And, like, we're literally serving them. So we're, like, waiting on them, giving them food, talking to them and stuff. And they all know each other, and for the most part, look out for each other. There's drama, of course, and you have alcohol and stuff, which makes it bonkers. But for the most part, I was blown away by how much more community they have than probably the outside regular people that are out in the suburbs that don't really get out much, and they're just like a few of them. Whereas here they all. It's 200 people that all, for the most part, care about each other and help each other, and they're all in the same spot, you know, and there are some people over the years of volunteering where they've gotten a place, they've gotten a home. They're no longer on house, but they still come back to be with all their friends, to be in the community, to where people, like, talk to them and look them in the eye and have conversations. And sometimes people I don't see in a year, and I'm like, where'd they go? And it's either vacation, which is jail, because it's illegal to sleep outside, at least in Virginia. It's crazy. Or they Got a house. And they're like, I got a job, I got a house and I'm doing good. So I just came back to say hi. So it's very temporary for a lot of people.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yes.

[J Money]

And I think too, like, like, for me when I realized, like, how blessed I was. Not even the money stuff, but it was like someone once saw me driving a car and they're like, dude, you didn't tell me you had a car. That's bonkers. Like, where'd you get a car? And I was like, I, Like, I was so. I didn't even know what to say.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

A car was so massive for transportation, for sleeping, for so many. And I'm like, I almost said it's just a car. But, like, I realized the situation I was in and that really got me.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Wow.

[J Money]

But, yeah.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

And so you're collecting these clothes, are you mostly just storing them in your home until you get them away?

[J Money]

Yeah, I'm very efficient. I have. Yeah, I have a garage. I built shelving. I sort everything. And some. Another blogger, I don't know if Gwen from Fiery Millennials, she donated a cargo van to me. So I can put everything in the van. I go do these little pop ups around town. I set up where their people are gathering. They take the clothes. I re. Donate everything that they don't take, and then I start fresh.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

So it's.

[J Money]

I have like thrift store partnerships that give me free stuff. I re. Donate stuff to them. It's a nice circle. And every week I give out probably about 1500 items.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Wow.

[J Money]

And then another 2000 items come in that I have to sort. And again, because I've been getting such nice stuff. All the original stuff I used to give out, like T shirts, like logos on. No, they don't touch them. Like, why would I touch that when I can have a coach bag? People give me coach bags. Crazy. Like. And they all say, I don't want you to make money off of it. I want to give it to the community. I want them to feel special. And I'm very upset with Goodwill. That's like the number one thing.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Very upset with Goodwill. What's.

[J Money]

Everyone is pissed off at Goodwill.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

With Goodwill.

[J Money]

I think from what I've been told mostly is that is their pricing has gone like through the roof. And I even saw this the other day. I was in there because I still shop there.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

And they had an item that was priced higher than the original price tag on there. And I'm like, if you're going to charge more, at least Take the old one. Like stupid. But like people that have worked theirs, they throw away stuff. They don't. It's just people are very upset with them and so they want to give it to free to people. Which, you know, obviously I'm not making any money, but I don't.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

Because the freedom is nice.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

How do you make money these days?

[J Money]

Yeah, I don't make a lot of money. I do consulting every now and then. The blog still makes a little money, but like a couple hundred a month. Crazy. So I don't. I just do what I want to do and then if I get money and if not, I've. Not that my wife still works.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Okay.

[J Money]

We have like insurance.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Okay.

[J Money]

That pays the everything. Yeah. When I got a chunk, like I paid off the house. Like we don't have. Everything's paid off. But with kids now, like everything.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

You've been thinking about college and how that's going to.

[J Money]

Oh yeah. You want to talk about your five to nine account stuff? Yeah. Let me show once this there a baby.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

Like that week. My wife. What do you do? And I'm like, I'm setting up accounts. That's what I'm doing.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yes, you've got the five to nine accounts. Great. Yeah.

[J Money]

Yeah. But that's the thing is she loves her job. It's stable. Ish. And so I'm basically like. When I said, all right, I'm gonna quote, stop working, I will take on. I'll do all the kids, we'll do appointments. I started grocery shop. Like, I did all the things to take away off her plate, so she actually liked it. And so now actually the struggle with this closet is now I accidentally gave myself a 40 hour week job with no pay. But now I'm starting to slack on the grocery shopping, the kids stuff I still do. So now I need to like, okay, buddy, like you need to either get more efficient or start changing a little. Right. Because you go. You just get sucked in and then you gotta pause every now and then.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

You just said something that was quite profound. You said, imagine if I stripped my wife of all of the domestic duties. Maybe she would actually enjoy her job, her actual work, out of the house job. And I've never heard it framed in that way because often, yeah, it makes sense if you're juggling a big job and then you've got 20 things to do at home and then you have the other. Your other partner who's just doing their job. Right. Because maybe we're following traditional gender roles. I can see where she would opt out of the workforce. It's not just to save money, but it's because she's. I don't even have time to really like enjoy my day job and feel like I could even grow into that because I have so much like waiting for me at home. Interesting.

[J Money]

Yeah. Plus I would just feel like a. I don't. I'm trying not to curse a bad guy if I'm like, hey, by the way, I'm just not going to work and I'm just going to go to like coffee shops and go do stuff. And you, you keep doing all this stuff that you know, the grocery. Like I even asked her, I said, what's something now that I have more time? Like, what is like the one thing that like bothers you?

[Farnoosh Torabi]

The department of food.

[J Money]

Yeah. Yeah. Grocery shop. First it was laundry. I actually enjoyed doing laundry. So I took that right away. I do laundry every single day for the whole, for the family. And then she was like, I just hate going to the grocery store. And that one I don't like. But I'm like, okay, that's. We can do that. But then I'd make the mistakes. I'd bring the wrong home thing home. And then I'm like, oh. Because sometimes I would say, why did you get that? She's. You go to the grocery store.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

So I got to say, you go to the grocery store.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah. It's important for everyone to experience all the roles.

[J Money]

Yes.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Do you ever do online grocery shopping though? I have to say, it'll save you a lot of time. And it.

[J Money]

She did can really again, because I was trying to be offline for. So I was like, no, in person, everything. And I don't mind. Like I talk, I chit chat with everyone.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

I really appreciate you coming on the show since you hate being online so much. This is really making me feel special. If you had to start your blog or your sort of your Advice platform in 2026, like what would you do differently? We said earlier that it's not that people don't like long form writing, it's just that maybe you gotta find a new way to bring it, put it in front of them.

[J Money]

I think, I think it's just the way that I started like being passionate about something and just writing unfiltered. It's the unfiltered part, I think that makes things special, like real life. And again. And I knew I was like misspelling and even like, like the way I was writing, I was like, ah, this is kind. I should go back and Polish it up. But it's like just. It's who exactly I was at the time. And just being able to say things just free without, you know, stuff I think is what drew people in. I know for me, personally, I. If I had to start a financial blog from the beginning, it wouldn't take off it just because I. I can't. I've already lost the magic. But moving that into something else, if. If you told me I had to start a cologne thing, like my son is doing, like, I'd be like, all right, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just gonna go in raw, have fun, and I'll try and see if I can beat his views, like, as a challenge, like, if it's new. And I think that's the key when you're new into something and you're passionate and you're learning, like, you just give all of your effort and it's just authentic. It just feels good. And again, you don't know anything. You're doing stupid stuff. But even stupid stuff, man, people love. When I make financial mistakes and I blog about it, they're like, thank you. Yeah, like, this is great. Like this. They. It would get way more traffic than doing good.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah. What's. Speaking of, what are. What is your biggest money error?

[J Money]

I've bought and sold bitcoin at the wrong times every single time. And I remember someone guest posting in 2010 around there on my blog when Bitcoin was $100. And he's everyone, I'm telling you, you're not going to believe me. You need to invest now. This is going to be big, blah, blah. And I remember putting at the end, P.S. do what you want. I'm never doing it. Like, I bl here and I look back and I'm like, ah.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

So when did you buy bitcoin coin?

[J Money]

Oh, I think I bought it when it went up to 30,000. And then when I sold it, it was like 20,000. Then it went all the way up to 60,000. Yeah. And I bought and they went down. I just, I realized that. That looking and timing of the market. And I'm an index fund guy, so all my money is an index fund, so I don't have to worry. So it was like the sun fight sun. The fun side money. But I reiterated to myself, don't do something that you have to keep watching. Go up and down. Do it for the long haul kind of thing.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

So I eventually got out.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Do you know any who made it it really big in the Financial community, the personal finance community. Off crypto, like actually. And not just on paper. But they cashed out.

[J Money]

They cashed out. No, because there could be. I don't. And that's what I tell myself to make myself feel better. Even if you bought it a hundred, you would have sold it at 200 or 300. You wouldn't have gone the whole entire.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

You would never have thought.

[J Money]

No, no. So I don't know anyone in particular. All the people that I know that are wealthy online are all index people. People like, as stupid and nerdy as that sounds. But just because you're putting it in and you're just not doing anything with it and you're just riding it up, up for the most part. But that's not the sexy answer. So people, I try to tell people all the time, just put it in this fund. I'm like, no, I need to. It's like that itch to tinker with it and try. And I would tell people, all right, say you double your money. What are you going to do with your money now? Invest in a new stock. All right, so you double that money. Oh, like it's. They're still playing the same long game, but they're trying to do it in little chunks, adding on top of each other, which is drastically difficult to do.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Do they think that's the way because of the culture, the news making culture, the Wall street, be it.

[J Money]

I got heat by saying this the other day. Like some of the schools, they, they teach financial literacy and stuff and they do that stock market game. Like, all right, for one month you're going to buy a stock and you're going to watch it and you're going to learn about the market, which you do learn about, but I think secretly you're learning to, oh, let me to time it. And then a month in the market is so tiny. How can you learn it? Yeah. So I don't think that's like the major contributor, but that's what I always think now when I think of and I tell people, I'm like, yeah, yes, you need more financial literacy in schools, but you have to make it more fun. And not like, here's how to budget, here's how to pay off debt to start a cologne.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

YouTube.

[J Money]

That's right, that's it.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah.

[J Money]

Call it how to Become a Millionaire. I guarantee every student in that school will sign up and you still teach them all the stuff, how to budget, how to do. But in your head you're like a millionaire. Or how do I, Yeah. Be a Gamer or influencer for the rest of my life. Financial freedom. Right. You know, that's why I like the. I don't know is a fire movement and still.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Oh it is alive and well. However, I think it has evolved. Right. So there's. It's broken off into different sex.

[J Money]

Okay.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Ccts.

[J Money]

Like wow, it has changed.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Not different sexes, but different sex. It's gotten to pick your flavor. If you want to be like a coast fire. Have you heard of that? Right. Or there's. There's just different because it doesn't work. I think increasingly, at least in the last 10 years, people are looking for more unique personal financial advice. Like even more personal. We Personal Finance 1.0. Now we're at like 3.0 where it's okay. But what if I'm a single mom whose parents are Cuban who like has to support her aging parents. And also I want to retire by the time I'm 40. But also I want to have two kids and maybe start a business. It's. But you know what? There's advice for that person out there probably because there's probably like a financial advisor who checks off a lot of those boxes and can show you their way. And I think that's. That is actually quite awesome. Awesome. Because I. When we were starting out I felt like it was a very. It was a much smaller community.

[J Money]

Yeah.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Awesome people. But I think over the years, thanks to. I know we hate it, but we also love it. Social media, it's allowed for more inclusivity in this space and I gotta love that.

[J Money]

Yeah, makes sense. Yeah, definitely. It is good goods and the bads of social media, but there is goods out there.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Do you think you would have sold J Money knowing what you know now or would you have wanted to just like wasn't it, you know, was it a. Yeah. Two years or three years that you were there?

[J Money]

Yeah, I would have. No, I probably would have sold earlier. I think like you mentioned earlier, like when you go past the point, like I think at the 10 year mark was like the peak where I'm like this couldn't like I should have done it right there. And I let it linger for a few years just because honestly I didn't know what else I would do. I was like, yeah, this is the only thing that like Project Dive and It's my Baby and. And it wasn't honestly until the Motley fool came around. Cause I had offers over the years and I came really close to selling to one company that was going to merge three different blogs together. One Being the simple dollar, if you remember them.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yes.

[J Money]

That used to be the one. OGs.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yes.

[J Money]

And they're like, we're all going to have columns on this one site. And I came so close to doing it and I said, no, it just doesn't feel right. And the Motley fool, their culture was fun and unique and they're like, look, you built the brand over you. We're not going to strip that from the site because it's you. And that's the problem of being money and my style. You can't just swap someone in. It doesn't work as the same. And we tried doing it to a degree. And so I never ran it as a business. I ran it as a lifestyle blog. I just wanted to make a living having fun, talking about money. The people that did remove themselves and make it more robotic and robust and turn cute, they made a killing because they anyone can run. It didn't really matter. It was like a whole organization and I just never jived with it. Yeah, no, I just would have done it earlier, but I'm slow to change sometimes, you know, especially as we get older.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Yeah, you did it at your own pace and that's okay. I am sorry about your bitcoin.

[J Money]

You have some you'd like to sell me? Is that.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

No, I don't. But I appreciate the honesty and honestly, more power to index funds. J Money, thank you so much for making time for us on the Internet. I know your least favorite place, but we really enjoyed having you on and catching up. Thank you so much.

[J Money]

Yes. And you look more beautiful than you did 10 years ago.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Oh, thank you.

[J Money]

More confident and everything. Yeah.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

No, I'm kidding. Thank you so much. Thanks so much to J Money for joining us. Rockstar Finance.com is still alive and well. You can go there and read a of lot of Jay's archived articles. And he's still dabbling in personal finance, so appreciate him coming back on the show after all these years. And thank you for tuning in. I'll see you back here on Wednesday. And I hope your day is so money.

[J Money]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your res lover of all things Sanderson. And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy. And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before. That's right.

[Farnoosh Torabi]

Hey. Hey.

[J Money]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter. And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong. News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy fan fellows wherever you get your podcasts. This is Robert Mase from the Athletic Football Show. Men's Wearhouse is here to make you look and feel good no matter the occasion. From formal to casual, dressed down to dressed up, their in store experts will help you find the right outfit for that thing you got on the calendar and their on site tailors will make sure the fit is perfect for your body. Suits, tuxes, sport coats, jeans, shorts, chinos, T shirts, polos, loafers, sneakers sneakers sandals underwear get ready to look and feel good for anything from head to toe by visiting Men's Wearhouse today. Men's Wearhouse Love the way you look.