The New Yorker Profiles Refinery29’s Money Diaries

Photo credit: recoverling, CC BY 2.0.

Today in “I want an article about The Billfold and our supportive commenters,” we go to The New Yorker:

Money Diaries launched in January of 2016, premised on the idea that “the first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend.” By encouraging young women to record their expenditures, and to discuss their finances frankly, Refinery29 could, the theory goes, help young women become savvier about money.

[…]

In the comments section, Refinery29 readers quickly established themselves as financial, and moral, adjudicators. “I live and work in chealsea [sic] and I wouldn’t dare waste like this,” one wrote, with palpable condescension. “Esp on that salary. Try reevaluating doll :).” Another took issue with her literary splurge: “Pro tip. Go to the library for books. That one was decent but not worth a buy!”

Let’s compare the “Pro tip. Go to the library” comment with SirWired’s thoughtful comment on my post about packing up my books:

FYI, fellow book lover! If you have (and read) a lot of mass-market paperbacks, there’s a website paperbackswap.com, that makes that habit more than a bit cheaper. The concept is simple; you punch in the ISBN, one after another, of books you have that you wouldn’t mind giving up. And you build a wishlist of ISBNs you’d like to own.

I love Refinery29 and have read several of their Money Diaries, but I love The Billfold best.

If you’d like to set up a Doing Money interview and share your finances with one of the most supportive groups of readers on the internet, email me at nicole@thebillfold.com.

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