About

Who Is This Len Penzo Guy, Anyway?

Welcome!  I’m the dorky-looking guy in the picture to your right, sitting there with a big grin on my ugly mug (the Dodgers must have been winning that day). As for the beautiful babe next to me, that is the Honeybee.

“In a Nutshell, What Is the Main Theme of Your Blog?”

Glad you asked! This little blog is all about being personally responsible – not only for your personal finances, but also for everything else we do in life.  I want to help you on your quest to manage your personal finances and attain financial freedom by passing along to you all of the tips, tricks, and lessons I have learned over my lifetime. As you will learn from my blog, the great thing about financial freedom is that you can attain it regardless of your income level! On the flip side to that, and as many of you who may have been drawn to this page probably know, it is also true that a very large annual income never guarantees financial freedom. A core tenet of mine is that the best way to manage your personal finances and achieve financial freedom is to run your household like you would your own business — and that, of course, requires a household CEO.

“But Len, There’s A Million Money Blogs Out There; Why Should I Read Yours?“

Good question.  Here are just a few reasons:

1.  My Blog Was Selected As One of the Best Blogs of 2009 by Political Calculations!

I’ll let them tell you why in their own words:

“What happens when you combine a lot of common sense, a lot of irreverence and really entertaining writing? You get Len Penzo’s blog, that’s what you get! Maybe the best description that we can offer is that reading Len is like reading what Dave Barry might be able to achieve if Dave Barry wrote about personal finance.”

Hey, I’ll drink to that! Make it a Coke – and I like it neat.

2.  I Have Plenty of Real Life Experience I Want To Share With You. At the risk of sounding like an arrogant horse’s behind, let me be blunt here.  Unlike a lot of people who only seemed to wake up to the adverse impacts of spending more than they earn after the economy went into the toilet, I’ve been practicing sound personal finance management since I graduated from high school many years ago.  So when I am talking the talk, you can also be assured that I have always walked the walk too.  Always.  That’s not to say I haven’t made mistakes in life with respect to money.  Nobody’s perfect, after all.  In fact, to prove it here are my ten dumbest money mistakes.

C. I May Look Like a Dork, But I Am Usually Extremely Entertaining.  That’s not to say every post is going to be laugh-a-minute funny, because sometimes I do believe that it is better to be serious when trying to convey certain points and messages.  But I will try to keep the posts as eclectic and interesting as possible.  Most of the time I will try to teach and have fun at the same time.  For some example, I enjoy doing lots of product experiments including my very popular Blind Taste Test Experiment series where I assemble expert panels to compare store brand versus name brand products.  Or check out posts such as 19 Things Your Suburban Millionaire Neighbor Won’t Tell You,  Why Big Spenders Are Terrible In Bed and Why “Coke Rewards” Is For Suckers.  Other times I will be just plain stupid, such as my post on 10 (Extremely) Out-of-the-Box Ideas For Saving Money or the one where my Magic 8 Ball Answered Your Money Questions.  Then again, at times I will get on my soap box and seriously rant — sometimes about politics, and even sometimes about mundane things that barely have any association at all to personal finance like this post entitled New Parents, Before You Name Your Baby, Learn How to Spell.

iv. If I Do Say So Myself, This Is A Great Place to Window Shop! If you are looking for unique and entertaining ways to learn about topics in the world of personal finance and/or my occasional irritating thoughts on the world around us, then pull up a chair!  I encourage you to come back from time to time, browse the archives and have some fun!  You won’t be disappointed. 

E.  I Really Can Write Competently  (Well, pretty competently.)

Well, for those of you who hate reading prose in the style of I Can Has Cheezburger, you might be interested to know I have real journalistic credentials.  Are they impressive credentials?  Probably not to most people.  But my freshman year I was selected by the English Department to be the Editor-In-Chief of my school newspaper The Trojan Tribune.  Unfortunately, my term was not renewed the following year because of an expose we did on Assistant Principal Wilson.

“Give Me One Good Reason Why I Should NOT Read Your Blog.“

If you don’t believe in personal responsibility, then you shouldn’t waste your time here because I will probably just make your blood boil.  After all, this is a personal finance blog for responsible people.  If you refuse to accept responsibility for your financial situation, you should know there are plenty of politically correct personal finance blogs out there that will coddle you and affirm your excuses for why you’re up to your neck in debt – but this ain’t one of them.  And before you accuse me of being a personal finance bully, keep in mind I do understand bad luck does occasionally strike that can put even responsible people into financial ruin.

“You Look Pretty Old, Dude.  Why Should I Listen To Anything You Have to Say?”

Guilty as charged!  I’m 45 — and everybody knows 45 is the new 32.  But with age comes real experience.  For over twenty of my 45 years I have been a household CEO that has been fortunate enough to successfully manage my company (i.e., the Penzo household) finances.  So while many people were tapping their home equity loans over the past ten years to raise their standards of living well beyond their means, I was steadfastly staying the course and following My Ten Commandments of Personal Finance.  And because of that I am in a great position today, despite the terrible economic conditions around us.

“So Do You Have Any Famous Followers?”

Probably not.  Although on April 13, 2009, I did have the honor of having an unsolicited post of mine (a serious one) entitled “Stop the Bailouts and Let the Bankruptcy Process Do Its Job” featured in The Huffington Post, so somebody must be reading. That was very exciting!    I also had my piece on The 10 Most Overpaid Jobs featured at the Houston Chronicle’s web site, and my article on Why Rechargeable Batteries are Rarely Cost Effective featured at Time, LifeHacker and The Consumerist.

I also had a very nice article from Time magazine highlighting my post entitled My Store-Brand vs. Name-Brand Taste Test Challenge.

I have also had my articles featured at MSN Money’s Smart Spending blog multiple times, including this really cool feature story.

“So Tell Me A Little More About You.”

Okay.  On a personal note, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Go Mustangs!  I also have an MBA. Using money I saved working as a teenager and throughout college, I was able to fully pay for my own education, room, and board, without the benefit of any loans.  I have been employed in the aerospace industry for over twenty years (so trust me when I say being a household CEO is not rocket science!), and I have been very happily married since 1996 to the Honeybee, who tirelessly works double duty as a stay-at-home mom and the household CFO.  I also have two kids, ages 12 and 10. To learn a little more about me and my financial philosophy, you can check out “24 (Financial) Things About Me…And One Confession Makes 25.”  Also, feel free to friend me on Facebook and/or follow my random rambles and updates on Twitter.  If you want to friend me, make sure you note that you follow my blog!   Thanks. 

“How Can I Contact You?”

If you’d like to drop me a line, I can be reached via email at: Len@LenPenzo.com

Although there are no guarantees, I always do my level best to respond within 24 hours.

And Here’s The Obligatory Disclaimer…

I am neither a stockbroker nor a certified financial planner.  This blog is only intended to be a fun and informative platform to discuss personal finance topics.  These are only my opinions, folks.  Take them for what they’re worth, and if you disagree, by all means, please leave a dissenting comment!  Remember, when in doubt, always consult a certified financial planner or investment professional before making significant financial planning decisions.