FIRE bloggers fizzling

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Not sure if there is another thread about this, but I'm noticing that many FIRE bloggers are posting less, commenting on how their incomes are crumbling, and some of the smaller ones have closed shop entirely.  Most prominently, FINcon has pretty much imploded.  I guess it will be back with someone new at the helm in 2021?  But for blogs that I used to follow -

MMM hardly ever posts anymore.  Same with RootofGood, 1500days, and GoCurryCracker. 

RetireBy40 is showing a monthly income drop on his blog from $6k to $950

The Frugal Engineers seem to have vanished entirely...  Mr Crazy Kicks last posted over a year ago...

Any other observations on how the FIRE blogosphere has changed this year?

[asauer]

Interesting observation.  I’ve actually noticed an uptick in female bloggers and bloggers/ Youtubers of color.  I think that platforms are more diverse and the content is more a mix of lifestyle than straight nuts and bolts tactics.

[fattest_foot]

I don't really follow many bloggers, but of the ones I had in the past, it seems like their interest in talking about FIRE falls off a cliff when they actually retire early. So not sure of the working status of these people, but that's a possibility.

[Bloop Bloop]

In a way, I don't think it's sustainable to build a FIRE model based on year-to-year huge increases (say 10%+) in shares and the hysteria that creates.

The huge returns that are fuelling the FIRE craze in the US are kinda weird to me. I don't think it's sustainable.

[Cassie]

Ptf

[SwordGuy]

There's only so much you can say, and only so many ways you can think of to say it.

A lot of FIRE material is not that complicated.   

I think a bunch of them just get bored and run out of ways to say the same advice over and over.

[brooklynmoney]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

[G-String]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

I thought the new owner hired JMoney back?

[EscapeVelocity2020]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

It really touches a nerve for me when a FIRE blogger sells out - the writers spend years telling us that they are happy and living the dream, then, one day, sell their blog?  Get Rich Slowly (JD Roth) cashed in, then Dividend Mantra (now Mr. Free at 33)...  Both sites totally sucked after the investors took over, trying to profit off of the dedicated long time followers.  And they probably did run the numbers and come out ahead, at everyone else's detriment.  Ugh.  There are certainly areas of capitalism and human nature that work against the betterment of the commons.

That is one thing I will sincerely respect Pete for, that he never sold out even though juicy opportunities came his way.  Even if he no longer publishes very often, at least he didn't cash in and leave his readers in the hands of profiteers.

[Dicey]

Apparently there is a new post on the MMM Blog today. I haven't rushed to read it. The last one left me kind of cold.

She's not a FIRE blogger, she's a Buy Nothing blogger, but she's been around since before MMM and she's a great writer. She did FIRE without much fanfare before the pandemic hit, which is good, because she's a Labor and Delivery Nurse. Alas, she used to write wonderful posts with a Five Frugal Things (FFT) post thrown in the mix occasionally. These days, that's just about all she writes, and she doesn't update very often. I know she posts in Instagram and there is a FB Group, but I miss the blog. Oh, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm referring to Katy Wolk-Stanley, The Non-Consumer Advocate. I really miss her voice, but I'm not a FB user and don't have an Instagram account either. I figure during a pandemic is not the time to start, lol.

[undercover]

Blogs are basically dead nowadays. Instagram and YouTube killed them.

[SugarMountain]

Apparently there is a new post on the MMM Blog today. I haven't rushed to read it. The last one left me kind of cold.

Interestingly, aside from the "and now a word from our sponsors" in the middle, I feel like this was one of his best in a long time. He got back to some of the personal touch that's been missing.

[2Birds1Stone]

How many times can someone repackage the same basic content over and over again before people start realizing there haven't been any really insightful ideas shared in a while?

The only FIRE related blog I follow these days is ERN (www.earlyretirementnow.com) he continues to put out excellent content which someone who is past the 101 phase of FIRE can actually learn a TON from.

[Sid Hoffman]

Blogs are basically dead nowadays. Instagram and YouTube killed them.

Yeah written text of any kind is way down in popularity. One of the forums I'm on I think used to rank at something like 19th most visited websites back in 2005 or whatever - right before Youtube came out. Mainstream internet video becoming common was the beginning of the end of people caring about written words. I've seen it with tech stuff too. It went from print magazines to website reviews to now all the biggest money-makers are like Linus Tech Tips: doing entirely Youtube reviews with some Instagram and Twitter posts on the side.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but forums and articles are simply so much better ways to share complex information than tweets, instagram posts, or videos nearly all the time, especially for anyone that isn't highly skilled at video production and creating animated visuals. I suspect it's the combination of what was said earlier (there's only so many ways to say the same thing you've already said) along with the fact the incentive to post articles is much less when your income per article is a sixth of what it used to be.

[2Birds1Stone]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Apparently there is a new post on the MMM Blog today. I haven't rushed to read it. The last one left me kind of cold.

Interestingly, aside from the "and now a word from our sponsors" in the middle, I feel like this was one of his best in a long time. He got back to some of the personal touch that's been missing.

Thanks for the 'heads up' - it IS a really good post.  Too bad he ruined the flow with a giant 'I need income' block in the middle.  Does he really need income?  I mean, I know it's juicy to get $200-300 pp referral income for folks that use his link to refinance, but still?  It really distracts from the message - at least for me.  I do like my paychecks that drop every other week, so who am I to judge, but then again, I'm not telling other people to ER.

[Metalcat]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

Hmm, I personally can't stand videos because I specifically don't have the attention span for them.

The vast majority of what is on the internet is low quality information, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to spend much time with it.

[rothwem]

There's only so much you can say, and only so many ways you can think of to say it.

A lot of FIRE material is not that complicated.   

I think a bunch of them just get bored and run out of ways to say the same advice over and over.

Yep. Saving money is boring, and writing about it even more boring. One of the reasons I gravitated towards the MMM blog is that he had/has a fun writing style and does interesting things in his early retirement.  The post that actually brought me to MMM was the one where he writes about his heated floor install.

Most of the FI blogs recently have just been expense reports, which, holy fuck, are an entire new level of boring. And infuriating. 280$/month for food for a family of 4? Riiight.

[slappy]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

[ender]

There's only so much you can say, and only so many ways you can think of to say it.

A lot of FIRE material is not that complicated.   

I think a bunch of them just get bored and run out of ways to say the same advice over and over.

You can see this on MMM's blog.

Almost all the FIRE content was years ago. Most of the last five years is really not that relevant from a FIRE perspective imo.

[Hadilly]

Not entirely a FIRE blog, but Bitches Get Riches is going strong. I love their take on personal finance, feminist and inclusive. See just a few of their past posts:

http://www.bitchesgetriches.com/financial-advantages-white/

http://www.bitchesgetriches.com/latte-factor-poor-shaming-economic-compassion/

http://www.bitchesgetriches.com/10-rad-black-money-experts-to-follow-right-the-hell-now/#more-6392

http://www.bitchesgetriches.com/the-real-story-of-how-i-paid-off-my-mortgage-in-4-years/


I also really like The Non-Consumer Advocate, particularly the comment section. The FB page tends to the pragmatic, cleaning and food related. 

[Dicey]

Just an observation of almost all blogs. In the beginning, they talk about their family life and as they become more well known, their need for privacy increases, so they stop mentioning anything personal. I understand that as kids get older they want to control their own narratives, but the switch from personal to impersonal is distinct. I don't feel as invested in their success. I'm sure that part of this is due to trolls and stalkers, but a little follow-up, especially as it relates to family finances, would be appropriate. Last I checked, the genre is still called "Personal" Finance.

MMM wanted us to care about Mrs. MMM's soap making business, but since she became the ex-Mrs. MMM, it's been radio silence. Did she close the business, or is it thriving? Was it worth the investment? Hmmm, maybe she was pissed at him for writing about her business and that was the reason for their split. Who knows?

The trajectory from "This is who I am and this is is how we live" to "Leave me alone" is pretty consistent.

[G-String]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

I find it funny how ChooseFI were adamant that they would never have ads during the podcast, that it went against their values, and even referred to the practice as "spammy". And now they have ads.

[Dicey]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

I find it funny how ChooseFI were adamant that they would never have ads during the podcast, that it went against their values, and even referred to the practice as "spammy". And now they have ads.

Mmm, Spam.

[Metalcat]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

Ugh, I have become completely intolerant of podcasts. My tolerance for listening to people blather on is extremely low.

I made it about 30ish episodes into ChooseFI before DH banned me from listening to it while he was in the house because me yelling "OMG I DON'T CARE! SHUT THE FUCK UP" periodically was driving him nuts.

[slappy]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

I find it funny how ChooseFI were adamant that they would never have ads during the podcast, that it went against their values, and even referred to the practice as "spammy". And now they have ads.

That's why I appreciated the explanation they gave. Other than that I didn't put much thought into it because I don't really like the podcast in general. Maybe the whole explanation was BS, I don't know. But at least they said something instead of just throwing the ads in there all of a sudden.

[slappy]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

Ugh, I have become completely intolerant of podcasts. My tolerance for listening to people blather on is extremely low.

I made it about 30ish episodes into ChooseFI before DH banned me from listening to it while he was in the house because me yelling "OMG I DON'T CARE! SHUT THE FUCK UP" periodically was driving him nuts.

Haha, i really like podcasts, but I can't listen to ChooseFI just drone on and on about how amazing they are.

[jeninco]

It's all about the podcasts for me. Easier to get information on the go. I hate staring at a computer screen.

Also, I don't normally listen to ChooseFI and they generally annoy me, but I was impressed with the way they handled adding ads to the podcast. They explained that the income from the podcast supports more than just the two of them. They have a team that they work with that relies on that income as well. So they added a little ad section in the middle of the podcast. I believe they said it would be a temporary thing. I personally just skip through it, like I do when I occasionally listen to Paula Pant.

Ugh, I have become completely intolerant of podcasts. My tolerance for listening to people blather on is extremely low.

I made it about 30ish episodes into ChooseFI before DH banned me from listening to it while he was in the house because me yelling "OMG I DON'T CARE! SHUT THE FUCK UP" periodically was driving him nuts.

See, In Olden Times you could just throw the book (or magazine) against the wall at that point, but these Newfangled devices are so darn delicate...

[lemonlyman]

How many times can someone repackage the same basic content over and over again before people start realizing there haven't been any really insightful ideas shared in a while?

Yup. I did like this one:
https://www.beardsandmoney.com/posts/tragicomedy-hubris-personal-finance-blogs-suck

[GoCubsGo]

Agree with the "there's only so much you can say" camp.  In the 8 years or so I've read blogs, I've been drawn less and less to the actual content and more to seeing how some of these people live their lives. When that goes away, the blog just gets less interesting to me. 

That said.  I agree big time with 2Birds1Stone.  Big Ern (www.earlyretirementnow.com) is putting some extremely high level stuff up that sometimes I have to read multiple times to understand. Having access to that guy's brain for free is an amazing reason to keep trying new blogs every now and then.  I've made some active changes to my plans because of some of his posts.

[slappy]

Agree with the "there's only so much you can say" camp.  In the 8 years or so I've read blogs, I've been drawn less and less to the actual content and more to seeing how some of these people live their lives. When that goes away, the blog just gets less interesting to me. 

That said.  I agree big time with 2Birds1Stone.  Big Ern (www.earlyretirementnow.com) is putting some extremely high level stuff up that sometimes I have to read multiple times to understand. Having access to that guy's brain for free is an amazing reason to keep trying new blogs every now and then.  I've made some active changes to my plans because of some of his posts.

Big ERN is a great example of why I like podcasts. Besides his amazing accent. ;) I think his stuff is too involved to just read a blog post in passing. It needs to be digested. And I feel like I don't have the time to give to something like that in a blog format, compared to being able to listen to a podcast and get the information more quickly and a bit more easy to digest.

[LWYRUP]

I think over time the people that start successful blogs (like MMM) just plain get bored of the subject.  Plus the need for privacy.  I've noticed as well that the volume of MMM posts has declined dramatically and more of them seem like "fluff" compared with the meat of things years ago.  Not a knock, just an observation.

PF blogging is also a more crowded space now it seems to me.  I haven't heard of most of these new blogs.  I think back in the day there were fewer people.  So as the eyeballs get split, it's harder for new entrants to make money.  It's possible even that click through rates are down or that advertisers are paying less.

Anyways, I'm happy there's a forum here and that's really about it.  My interest in the subject matter has waned as well, I'm just sort of in the boring middle and things are fine and I'm just as happy to spend my internet time focusing on other things.  Income high, expenses low, savings in VTSAX (or comparables) and rinse and repeat until 25-30 times expenses.  Got it. I'm more interested in self-actualization generally with FI being one component of it.  I do want to check out that Big ERN blog though, it sounds cool. 

I'm really happy MMM didn't sell the blog to some investor and ruin it.  So I'm grateful to him for that.  Today's article is pretty good as well -- I don't mind at all that he's becoming more conceptual and less focused on the nuts and bolts.

[Plina]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

Hmm, I personally can't stand videos because I specifically don't have the attention span for them.

The vast majority of what is on the internet is low quality information, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to spend much time with it.

I also dislike videos as well as podcast. I don’t like to listen to someone rambling for ages. Give me a text I will probably read it if it interests me but give me a video or a podcast ot had to be something really interesting for me to bother.

I also prefer books instead of audiobooks because I can read the book much faster.

[goat_music_generator]

Just an observation of almost all blogs. In the beginning, they talk about their family life and as they become more well known, their need for privacy increases, so they stop mentioning anything personal. I understand that as kids get older they want to control their own narratives, but the switch from personal to impersonal is distinct. I don't feel as invested in their success. I'm sure that part of this is due to trolls and stalkers, but a little follow-up, especially as it relates to family finances, would be appropriate. Last I checked, the genre is still called "Personal" Finance. ...

The trajectory from "This is who I am and this is is how we live" to "Leave me alone" is pretty consistent.

Honestly, this makes a lot of sense to me, as someone who has only ever experienced brief and relatively-small interludes of "lots of people on the Internet are paying attention to me." It's kind of terrifying. There are always so many people ready to criticize or pry or generally interfere with your life, even if you're trying your hardest to be chill and fair and reasonable.

The spotlight is a hard place to be. I can definitely understand wanting to grow a blog for a while, then getting to a point where you're like "Nope. I can't give these people any more information about my life, for my own safety."

[Metalcat]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

Hmm, I personally can't stand videos because I specifically don't have the attention span for them.

The vast majority of what is on the internet is low quality information, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to spend much time with it.

I also dislike videos as well as podcast. I don’t like to listen to someone rambling for ages. Give me a text I will probably read it if it interests me but give me a video or a podcast ot had to be something rally interesting for me to bother.

I also prefer books instead of audiobooks because I can read the book much faster.

I go through boat loads of audiobooks during long walks, hours of physio, and cooking, but I listen at at least 1.25 speed. Otherwise, yeah, they're just waaaay too slow.

I used to love recorded lectures because I could watch them at 2x speed and skip all of the questions. Glorious.

[mm1970]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

Hmm, I personally can't stand videos because I specifically don't have the attention span for them.

The vast majority of what is on the internet is low quality information, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to spend much time with it.

Same.

I hate videos.  I want to read.  If you want to give me some info and it's a video?  Hard pass.

[arebelspy]

I don't really follow many bloggers, but of the ones I had in the past, it seems like their interest in talking about FIRE falls off a cliff when they actually retire early. So not sure of the working status of these people, but that's a possibility.

Bingo.

Add some of my favorite bloggers of all time to this list:
MikeBos (LackingAmbition)
Dr Doom (LivingaFI)
BraveNewLife

I never got into many of the bloggers post 2013-2014 or so (my interest in the subject peaking around that time, then FIREing in 2015), so I don't recognize a lot of the names in this thread, but the pattern is the same.

All three that I mentioned got really into FIRE, made amazing blog posts, FIRE'd, ran out of stuff to say, are gone.

I mean, they're still alive, doing their thing, but not interested in creating content anymore.

RoG was one mentioned earlier. He has many thousands of awesome posts on various forums, including this one and E-R.org, and I love how his blog has basically become a "I update once/mo with our financials.. sometimes a second time about a vacation, but rarely" and he still makes 30k or whatever it is now on it. He's found a good way to maximize income with minimal time on it, once he sort of lost the drive to do real blog posts. He's contributed so much to the ER community though his wisdom, I don't see why he needs to continue, if he's moved on mentally.

Personally, my main "FIRE" outlet was posting on this forum, and that dropped off a lot after I FIRE'd in 2015, and even more as the kids started coming. I'm sure there are people who were here in 2013 who couldn't see a thread without hearing my thoughts on it, and there's likely people who joined in 2019 who's never seen a post from me, besides maybe a forum sticky. I mostly pop on to moderate, then pop off, not even reading any threads. Life just... moved on. I miss a lot of the people and conversations here, but it's mostly nostalgia for what was. The forum changed, the discussions that were interesting to me then are no longer, etc. I keep in touch with a few (mostly ones that I've met IRL), but otherwise, people tend to move on in life.

I'm going to link my own blog (gasp, please don't report me to moderators, I just don't want to retype these ideas, and I don't make money from it):
https://www.adventuringalong.com/2015/09/15/why-quit-if-you-love-your-job/

That same idea about why you'd quit if you love your job is the same idea about why you'd stop creating content and your participation in a FIRE community would dwindle; you're on to your next life.

[Optimiser]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

It really touches a nerve for me when a FIRE blogger sells out - the writers spend years telling us that they are happy and living the dream, then, one day, sell their blog?  Get Rich Slowly (JD Roth) cashed in, then Dividend Mantra (now Mr. Free at 33)...  Both sites totally sucked after the investors took over, trying to profit off of the dedicated long time followers.  And they probably did run the numbers and come out ahead, at everyone else's detriment.  Ugh.  There are certainly areas of capitalism and human nature that work against the betterment of the commons.

That is one thing I will sincerely respect Pete for, that he never sold out even though juicy opportunities came his way.  Even if he no longer publishes very often, at least he didn't cash in and leave his readers in the hands of profiteers.

He has since bought it back. He sends out a weekly email that is decent IMO.

[FireLane]

I like to think that so many bloggers stop updating after they FIRE because they've ascended to a higher realm, and they no longer concern themselves with the petty cares of mortals.

[G-String]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

It really touches a nerve for me when a FIRE blogger sells out - the writers spend years telling us that they are happy and living the dream, then, one day, sell their blog?  Get Rich Slowly (JD Roth) cashed in, then Dividend Mantra (now Mr. Free at 33)...  Both sites totally sucked after the investors took over, trying to profit off of the dedicated long time followers.  And they probably did run the numbers and come out ahead, at everyone else's detriment.  Ugh.  There are certainly areas of capitalism and human nature that work against the betterment of the commons.

That is one thing I will sincerely respect Pete for, that he never sold out even though juicy opportunities came his way.  Even if he no longer publishes very often, at least he didn't cash in and leave his readers in the hands of profiteers.

He has since bought it back. He sends out a weekly email that is decent IMO.

Pretty sure he did not buy it back, but rather the new owner hired him back.

[Buffaloski Boris]

There are a few blogs that I still think are worth the read: ERN at the top of the list. And then there are a few generally unknown people who are fellow posters here who I think have extremely interesting blogs.* I also happen to like the posters so that plays into it I suppose.

Other than that, the FI blog space is packed with people who have STEM careers, hate them, figure out how financial compounding works and later quit their jobs. Then humblebrag about all the wonderful things they’re doing.

*(@chasesfish, @Tyler, and @financialvelociraptor immediately come to mind. )

[Travis]

Personally, my main "FIRE" outlet was posting on this forum, and that dropped off a lot after I FIRE'd in 2015, and even more as the kids started coming. I'm sure there are people who were here in 2013 who couldn't see a thread without hearing my thoughts on it, and there's likely people who joined in 2019 who's never seen a post from me, besides maybe a forum sticky. I mostly pop on to moderate, then pop off, not even reading any threads. Life just... moved on. I miss a lot of the people and conversations here, but it's mostly nostalgia for what was. The forum changed, the discussions that were interesting to me then are no longer, etc. I keep in touch with a few (mostly ones that I've met IRL), but otherwise, people tend to move on in life.

I've been finding it difficult to find new and relevant (to me) content from FIRE bloggers the last couple years. There's only so many ways you can hear folks express the same interests and ways to invest or live frugally.  Financially I'm on autopilot for the next few years with an occasional new question to ask the group here. My listening/reading habits are similar. I'll skim my favorite bloggers now looking for something new and specific every few months rather than continuing to absorb it all.  In the last year I've gone from four hours of podcasts per week to an hour per month.  Scrolling through half a page of ads to get to a FIRE blog article where they tell me how happy and financially secure they are in retirement is starting to become a chore as well.

[Dicey]

JMoney sold Budgets are Sexy and now some other guy has taken it over. I stopped reading.

It really touches a nerve for me when a FIRE blogger sells out - the writers spend years telling us that they are happy and living the dream, then, one day, sell their blog?  Get Rich Slowly (JD Roth) cashed in, then Dividend Mantra (now Mr. Free at 33)...  Both sites totally sucked after the investors took over, trying to profit off of the dedicated long time followers.  And they probably did run the numbers and come out ahead, at everyone else's detriment.  Ugh.  There are certainly areas of capitalism and human nature that work against the betterment of the commons.

That is one thing I will sincerely respect Pete for, that he never sold out even though juicy opportunities came his way.  Even if he no longer publishes very often, at least he didn't cash in and leave his readers in the hands of profiteers.

He has since bought it back. He sends out a weekly email that is decent IMO.

Pretty sure he did not buy it back, but rather the new owner hired him back.

I think it may have been JD Roth who bought his blog back. GRS was a favorite of mine in the olden days.

[brooklynmoney]

Yes @Dicey JD bought his blog back and his working to revive it. He still does great long form stories although from what I have seen it’s when he gets around to it haha.

[BTDretire]

Hmmm, maybe she was pissed at him for writing about her business and that was the reason for their split. Who knows?

I suspect she wasn't as much on the live on $25k as he is. And since the blog/forum is throwing of somthing like $400k, the nest egg probably became sizable and she just decided to live a more conventional lifestyle and could certainly afford to.
 That's my two cents, but as you said, "Who knows?"

[Metalcat]

Hmmm, maybe she was pissed at him for writing about her business and that was the reason for their split. Who knows?

I suspect she wasn't as much on the live on $25k as he is. And since the blog/forum is throwing of somthing like $400k, the nest egg probably became sizable and she just decided to live a more conventional lifestyle and could certainly afford to.
 That's my two cents, but as you said, "Who knows?"

So many people say this despite him very specifically stating that it isn't the case, that he was never unilaterally in charge of their spending, and that he was the one who asked for the separation.

I really don't like speculating about other people's divorces, but I think for a couple like them who managed to be so well coordinated financially for so long, I seriously doubt that finances played a major role. Sudden fame seems like a possible culprit, especially with the other partner being a private person, but again, that's pure speculation, and based on my own dislike of fame.

The assumption that his frugality ended their marriage presupposes that she was under his thumb with respect to spending, and that just doesn't seem likely to me, nor does it seem very respectful to her.

Marriages break down, it's pretty normal. We don't need to assume Pete is blatantly lying or that his ex wife wasn't really on board with their level of frugality in order to make sense of their divorce. People break up, it's a pretty pedestrian part of life.

[OtherJen]

Hmmm, maybe she was pissed at him for writing about her business and that was the reason for their split. Who knows?

I suspect she wasn't as much on the live on $25k as he is. And since the blog/forum is throwing of somthing like $400k, the nest egg probably became sizable and she just decided to live a more conventional lifestyle and could certainly afford to.
 That's my two cents, but as you said, "Who knows?"

So many people say this despite him very specifically stating that it isn't the case, that he was never unilaterally in charge of their spending, and that he was the one who asked for the separation.

I really don't like speculating about other people's divorces, but I think for a couple like them who managed to be so well coordinated financially for so long, I seriously doubt that finances played a major role. Sudden fame seems like a possible culprit, especially with the other partner being a private person, but again, that's pure speculation, and based on my own dislike of fame.

The assumption that his frugality ended their marriage presupposes that she was under his thumb with respect to spending, and that just doesn't seem likely to me, nor does it seem very respectful to her.

Marriages break down, it's pretty normal. We don't need to assume Pete is blatantly lying or that his ex wife wasn't really on board with their level of frugality in order to make sense of their divorce. People break up, it's a pretty pedestrian part of life.

Reminds me of the Tolstoy quote from Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

[Tyler]

I think it's natural for there to be regular turnover in the FIRE blogging community. Even once you get past the early roadblocks like finding your voice and building an audience, the reality of your passion slowly turning into a job (complete with deadlines, haters, and the feeling of a perpetual treadmill) has a way of sapping away the inherent drive that got you started. Which of course is an especially important inflection point in a FIRE blog where the entire purpose is to build a life where you don't have to do anything you no longer enjoy. ;) So it doesn't really surprise me when prominent FI voices decide to move on to something new.

(And thanks for the hat tip, Buffaloski Boris. I'm glad you find the site interesting! I'm just hitting my stride, and if anything I plan to start posting new content a little more frequently.)

[pdxvandal]

Interesting observations. No one mentioned MadFIentist, who is still posting blogs occasionally and has some interesting podcast guests.

[Plina]

@Sid Hoffman, I wonder how much this has to do with the average persons attention span and conditioning nowadays. Most people just can't be bothered to spend more than a couple of minutes (or even seconds!) digesting content. We're living in a modern day "Idiocracy".

Hmm, I personally can't stand videos because I specifically don't have the attention span for them.

The vast majority of what is on the internet is low quality information, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to spend much time with it.

I also dislike videos as well as podcast. I don’t like to listen to someone rambling for ages. Give me a text I will probably read it if it interests me but give me a video or a podcast ot had to be something rally interesting for me to bother.

I also prefer books instead of audiobooks because I can read the book much faster.

I go through boat loads of audiobooks during long walks, hours of physio, and cooking, but I listen at at least 1.25 speed. Otherwise, yeah, they're just waaaay too slow.

I used to love recorded lectures because I could watch them at 2x speed and skip all of the questions. Glorious.

I do the same with audiobooks. Walks to work or for pleasure, running and sometimes cooking. I also listen at 1,25 speed. I also find it annoying that I can’t go back and read again some interesting parts.