Introduction of SB
When I was a 6th grader, I collected some money in my piggy bank; while my elder brother spent it up buying toys and sports equipment, I gave the money back to my dad urging him to buy a few company shares.
I developed my passion in the field of investment, finance and money at quiet an early stage of my life.
It is due to strong monetary education at home that I have never been in debt. I haven’t paid even a dime in credit card interest or penalty fee.
I take good care of my money and keep track of every dollar I earn and every dollar I spend. With the money I saved so far I can happily retire now and go back to India to live a happy retired life.
I prepare yearly and monthly budget which let me save around 50% of my income. I am frugal but, at the same time I am also an informed spender. I am a frugal guy who can loosen up the wallet string at times when situation demands. I am growing richer One Cent at a Time.
I do wear the latest fashion, I have a collection of ties, watches and sun glasses yet I try to bargain at Neimanmarcus.
I want cool new gadgets because I am a techy and I can afford it, yet I will make sure my Macbook lives its full life before buying another laptop.
I do not open a wine bottle with a string, as few frugal bloggers suggest but at the same time my bottle opener is not made of gold either. I don’t teach you how to come out of debt because I have never been in debt. I will rather teach you how to remain debt free. I may also teach you how to be rich.
Background
I left India when my American employer decided to have me in their head office here in USA, having passed out from one of the premier Indian universities with masters degree in Computer Sciences.
I work in technologies department for a major financial corporation (I hope my readers will not object to my preference for privacy).
My parents live in India and like most Indians living in US, I do support my parents financially by remitting money for their up keeping.
I take pride in being a Hindu, the oldest religion in the world. My religion teaches us to be tolerant and love every living being.
I live in south Florida, the sunshine state, a vacation and cruising destination. So far I have been successful in my life. I am a potential leader in my company and still in mid 30′s. I am hopeful to climb the corporate ladder when the time comes.
As of now I do not plan on to quit day job and take up blogging full-time but, if I improve upon writing skill and continue to produce great articles day after day to attract large number of visitors then, probably, I may think about quitting.
My Family
My wife SMB is a great home maker, a housewife (not desperate though 
) who is always on top of any household matter. Such is her strength and power that even a lizard can not dare enter our home and a particle of dirt is not allowed to stay for more than few minutes.
She has many natural talents such as music, crafts and cooking. She holds the chair of cultural secretary for Local Indian association in Miami area. She is a great cook of Indian and Italian cuisines; our friends urge her to take part in ‘Next food network star’ competition, seriously, no joking! She taught me and continue to teach me things every day. Sometimes her depth of knowledge amazes me. The amount of reading she does, very soon I may start calling her “walking-encyclopedia”, no pun intended.
SMB has double masters degree in science, one day she likes to teach. She doesn’t want to write for this blog, many of my attempts to persuade her failed. I hope she changes her mind and start writing one day.
She also does have the best English vocabulary among the people I have had known so far including native English speakers. I even tried to persuade her becoming my proof reader, since my English is not-so-great. She has a very personal blog though, which she insisted I didn’t disclose.
Her crafty words and mastery of sentence formation compels me to think she could have been a great writer too, had she persuaded it seriously. Below is just one sample of her writing, she talks about a rainy day as she watches it from the patio.
“..I love when it rains…The ripples caused by the falling shower…The drops of rain creating an orchestrated music as it falls on the water, on the branches and the leaves….The pitter- patter on the asbestos roof or the tiles for a while, and then the collected rainwater guzzling out of the pipes ….The raindrops clinging on to the branches like pearls, just about to fall when ready with the perfect surface energy..A sudden zephyr touches my favorite wind chime, making it sing…An occasional bird alighting on the branches just when the sky bellows and the clouds roar ! The ducks swimming about wiggling their backs, taking in the beauty with style….A hot cup of tea and a good book while listening to your favorite music, in sync with the sound of the rain and the calls of the sky…And taking a break now and then to glance outside and admire the stunning beauty of nature….A rainy day is all you sometimes need to refresh and rejuvenate, just like nature does”
I am proud of my talented wife, we do have ego clashes often, we do have our personal spaces where the other one is not allowed to enter. But, we love each other.
There is no third addition to the family yet, although we have been hoping and trying for years On SMB’s personal finance inclination, she’s not interested at all, she let me handle all investment, taxes and account management stuff.
This Blog
This blog is my entrepreneurial venture, no doubt, but I have a passion for finance and investing any way, frugality attracts me. Finance, saving, investments are what I live in. I breathe finance. I am the stock adviser for my colleagues. I am the go-to-guy for people with financial questions at my work.
I do believe financial success take its own time, it’s not an overnight phenomenon this is why I named my Blog One Cent AT A Time.
On financial matters I am very methodical, I meticulously keep a count of each dollar spent and each dollar earned. If finance is my hobby and my most interesting subject, writing was never my forte. Languages were ones I hated most in school, more over English was my 3rd language of choice.
A poor writing skill is what prevented me from starting a blog earlier in 2005/2006, when just about every blog producing regular updates became mega blogs.
The passion for finance, willingness to share my opinion in public, an urge to have a name in public and a wish to become an owner of a successful business, are the main driving factors towards starting this blog.
Why should you read this blog? I do not have a shortcut answer, it is true that the information I give you is not exceptional, except a few. You can certainly find ways to save money in your day-to-day life elsewhere. You can read professionally written investor news letters for your investment needs. There are plenty of material to increase your productivity that are on the internet.
Moreover, I do not disclose my actual income or expenses on this blog, I’ll never reveal my blog earnings either. So, I couldn’t find a compelling reason for you to stick to my blog.
At most what I can say is, there is a little difference in my approach to blogging (so does every one else). Like the way every human being is unique, my approach to personal finance is also equally unique.
I not only talk about money, but also talk about overall improvement in one’s life. I write about improving social life, I talk about spending money on things I cherish. I talk about cleaning inner self and enjoying each moments of our lives. I write about becoming happier and enjoying life and everything it has to offer.
Blogging helps me gain knowledge, I learn new things with each post I publish. I am not a master of the topics I write on this blog, rather, it’s for my own learning as well that I write.
The most celebrated theme we have here is “How to be rich“. I have written quiet a few articles on this. They are not only about monetary richness, they are about richness in every aspects of our lives; such as emotional, spiritual, social and monetary.
Few articles on this theme are, How to be rich by creating value for money, Only you can take care of your financial future, 4 steps in pursuit of being rich, What makes you feel rich and wealthy, Enjoy finer things and feel richer in life, Get rich by saving 1 hr of daily wage and Best way to be rich, find time to be rich.
I have a Facebook page, ‘onecentatatime‘ and a Twitter account , @onlyonecent. You can also connect with me through Google Plus
I will keep on adding more information on this page in future. Thanks for your time, would appreciate if you write a comment stating how you feel about me or my blog.
I encourage you to read our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy. If you want to write for us, send in your guest post.
One Cent at a Time was finalist for Plutus award as “Best new personal finance blog of the year 2011″.
Elevator Pitch : One Cent at a Time is a blog from a common man trying to become rich in life. I learn and then jot down the everyday process of becoming rich Financially, Socially, Emotionally and Spiritually. I blog to get ahead and to teach you to get ahead, One Cent at a Time!
Well finally got to see the person. All the best of luck on what you are doing.I am your regular reader.
No way to convince the Mrs. to post a few of her Indian food recipes on the blog?
Tried hard, now left it upon her. I have an open offer, one write-up will get her a dine out
SB, nice picture! I enjoy reading your story.
Sounds like you’ve got a lot of passion for writing on your site. I know you will make it and become a Member during the next round in January, 2012!
Make sure you get to know your fellow Challengers and Members in the Yakezie forums!
Best, Sam
I love your unique story. I always watch the Next Food Network Star. I am pulling for Vic Vegas right now. I would suggest that your wife apply!
yes I am rooting for her too to compete. Not following the show these days, so no favorite as such thanks for reading my about page, people rarely do it
I also work in IT and everyone in my office is Indian… I wish we had more Americans working in IT here? and you’ve never been in debt?? Nice!!
HS
I think that way too. Its brain drain from India. About debt, fortunately not yet. Hope to remain so.
SB-
Between our collection of watches and passion for writing about finance, I’d say we have a few things in common. I’m signing up for your RSS Feed right now
great to kow you are a watch collector too. I know another similarity, that you also never been in debt..thanks for subscribing, I will return the favor.
That’s only partially true! I have debt which I have opted not to payoff. I figure my student loans at 4% aren’t a huge concern (assuming I can earn more by investing). I may have to change this mindset after last week’s losses :/ Check out my logic here: Indebting vs Investing : http://funancials.biz/post/6585427553/indebting-vs-investing
SB,
I would like to subscribe to your posts.
Thank you.
You are most welcome Namrata!
I just came across your site, and thoroughly enjoyed reading about you. I wish you the best and look forward to reading more of your posts.
I wish your wife would start a blog, I would love to see some authentic Indian recipes.
I will show your comment to her
I can share some recipes myself, but, try at your own risk. Thanks for commenting!
You and your wife are a lovely couple.
Thanks Lisa, very nice of you!
We really, really want your wife to start a blog. We will seriously read anything she has to say. (We enjoy your blog too.)
Thank you Wendy! I will convey the message
Nice to read your blog
Great story, and I really like the title of your blog. There is so much truth to it, as there are no shortcuts to accumulating wealth.
Best wishes!
I find your post interesting. One of my best friends is from India and he is a Sikh and I am Christian and it has never been a problem for us. He catches a lot of flack for his wearing a turban, but it does not bother him. Unfortunately the things you seem to have learnt young, I learned the hard way. It took me years to develop my concept of letting my money work for me, instead of me working for my money. It changed my life and for that I am thankful. It was learnt while going through some particularly hard time. Appreciate your sharing. It can help others live a better life with less suffering and that is a good thing to do. Nice meeting you even if just on the internet. Have a nice retirement, but do not abandon your followers. Take care and be blessed.
Just stumbled upon your site through twitter. I love to read people’s About page because to me, it’s says a lot about that person. I hope you reach your goal of doing so well with your blog that instead of climbing the corporate ladder, you climb the “life ladder” ever so higher! Best of luck to you! I live in South Florida too so if you’re ever bored and would like to have a cup of coffee, I’m buying
@amateurconsumer
Thanks Lou, will shoot you mail sometimes.Thanks for stopping by and the comment.
Funny thing is, due to commodity prices a pre-1981 penny actually has a copper melt value of 2.5 cents. Any penny made after 1982 (some 1982 pennies are copper) are made mostly out of zinc. Even a nickel is worth more than its face at 5.3 cents in copper. Fascinating!
Thats good to know but what that has to with my ‘about’ page?
Nothing really, but when you explained how you came up with the name for your blog it made me think of that, I love collecting pre-1981 pennies and nickels and doing so makes me wealthier “one cent at a time”.
yes, in true terms
I came across your blog while searching online for something on Google. All the tips and tricks given to save money are just marvelous. I really liked the post “Does blogging affect your work?”. I too live in India and have been doing a day job and also spend my time or I should say lot of time, doing blogging, which actually is my hobby.
Just like you, my performance has also gone down as I am allocating a sufficient number of hours to my blog and I got the rating 3 which is “Meeting Expectations”
. Frankly speaking, I don’t care about it. The reason being: I like blogging and it satisfies my urge to do something different. Secondly, blogging help you to earn money and like any other person, I believe a person should have alternate sources of income. Now to make sure that I don’t lose my job for putting hours in blogging, I have reduced my sleeping hours, spending less time with family and friends and avoid going to family functions. I know that will affect my social life but I guess to get something in life, you have to lose something and I am okay with that.
I hope my blogging income will increase and stabilize so that I can think of quitting my day job and becoming full fledged blogger.
I will be keeping an eye on your blog and would love to see where you stand after couple of years.
I would love, if you can give me some tips to balance my work and blogging career.
Thanks a lot RInkesh! Sorry I don’t have a ready-made solution for balancing blogging and day-job. Just cut off the fat. No viewing stats, no spending time on non-productive work. Always remember unless you’re a huge blogger, your day-job would earn your bread, so put your preference there.
If it is in you even little time can produce A class blog posts…
This is an excellent site. I will be back to read more as I have time.
and I am honored by this.. thanks for encouragement.
Congratulations on your blog SB. You’ve got a great range of content on your blog and I applaud you for taking the time and effort in providing so much value on your blog. I didn’t notice anything in your extra income section about making income from dividend investing ? If you happen to have a few minutes, please swing by my blog and I hope I can make my case for why you should consider including it in there!
. Best wishes for your continued progress.
Integrator.
So where do i start if i have $0 but the heart to do whatever it takes. Im 22 with a associates degree in business but. Im literally livin day day to day in a hotel I’m dojng odds jobs just to survive where would i start.
I’m totally new to the Blogosphere and I’m glad that Monevator brought me here.
This is excellent stuff. I share the same insights as you. Will keep up with your updates!
Thanks Janice! Appreciate it, like to know about you as well
Was reading your blog as I got an update on my E-mail. Congratulations on your award that is pretty neat. While my blog is not just about money. It has a lot of blogs on how to survive financially. I ran my own business for twenty years as an over-the-road-trucker. Most of my life I was self employed. Most of it was self taught and it had its ups and downs. From bankruptcy to retirement. While your blog is about getting rich, mine deals mainly with financial survival and overcoming downturns, job losses and wise spending habits, learned the hard way. If someone types MONEY on the search bar on my blog it will take readers to the blogs dealing with money. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I do like helping people learn to handle their money without making all the mistakes I did. Again, congratulations and I hope you enjoy your retirement and the rest of your life.
I would like to offer to proof read if you would like. I am not a grammar major, but I can correct the few errors I find. Yours are mostly “tense errors” , but they give you that personal touch. Maybe we need to write a joint book. “Financial Management, The Best and The Worst of It.’ “A joint HIndu-Christian perspective on personal finances. Your wife is a very good writer. With her education she could write some very interesting cross cultural pieces that would help many people. It could also contribute to your reaching your goals sooner. Keep at it and I will keep reading.