Shameless self-promotion (and a little financial advice)

I have no real post for you today. I apologize. I really wanted to provide you with some of my normal, witty insights but sadly, life is kicking me in the ass and forming coherent thoughts and sentences has fallen to the bottom of the pile. There’s a doozy of a post coming up next week (do people even say that anymore? “Doozy”? If not, I’m starting a campaign to bring it back. Maybe I’ll even ask Justin Timberlake to write a song about it) explaining what I can explain without crimes being committed against me (that’s a long story that’s really not worth sharing. Please trust me on that one).

Part of the reason I’m swamped is because I launched another site. Yes, that’s right. Another site. But this one is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It’s a completely different side of myself and my writing and I’m shamefully proud of it. It was an idea that came to me this past Saturday morning and by that afternoon, it was up and running (at the advice of my husband who suggested that I just get it started instead of waiting on it. He has a good idea every now and then).

You might have noticed that I’ve been tweeting about the new site (which will subside a bit once I get a chance to fully establish the new site’s Twitter feed) so maybe you’ve seen it. If not, it’s called The Jealousy Files. I feel obliged to say that the site design is really rudimentary right now. It’s in the middle of a face lift so in a couple of weeks, it’ll look really pretty. But for now, it’s all about the writing and not about the design. And quite frankly, it’s a little refreshing. Like getting back to my roots.

I guess since this is a personal finance blog, I should provide a piece of financial advice. With The Jealousy Files, I opted to start with a free WordPress site instead of a self-hosted (although I did by the domain name a few days later). I wanted to make sure that this is something that I was going to enjoy writing about and wouldn’t stress me out. I didn’t want to feel pressured to make it perfect. So, I did everything I could for free, which I suggest to anyone starting a new project or hobby. Whether it’s playing an instrument, a sport or crafting type hobby, figure out a way to try it out for free first. Then, if you like it (and are even a little good at it), start putting some money into the hobby or activity. Not having money invested takes some of the pressure off. Because if you don’t like it or show no aptitude for it, you haven’t lost anything but time. And sometimes, the time lost is worth the experience gained.

So, please, if you get a chance, go check out The Jealousy Files. I promise that it makes up for today’s non-post.