The Budgetnista making financial dreams a reality

Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista, is a financial mogul. Not only does she run a blog, but is a bestselling author, featured speaker and, we must say, one smart, cool lady! Through all of her mediums, Aliche works to financially empower her audience, offering a clear understanding of how to more skillfully manage money.

Where you’re based: I’m based in Newark, N.J., but I consider myself a mobile mogul.

How long you’ve been blogging: It’s been 2.6 years, if you want to get technical…which I do.

Blog basics: My blog is all about financial stuff made easy and fun. My main focus is on budgeting (duh), debt, credit, money mindset, savings, spending, basic banking and travel.

Other blogs I love: Learnvest, 1500days, and chrisguillebeau

Guilty pleasure: Homemade chocolate chip cookies and anything gummy: worms, bears, fruit snacks (it’s seriously a problem).

Last thing I bought: A vanilla ice cream cone. The truck ran out of chocolate.

What are your favorite places to shop? Unique (a thrift store chain) and Target …. ooh, Target (another serious problem).

Do you ever splurge? Yup! On vacay and chocolate chip cookies. I take everythird month off to travel the world.

How did you become the Budgetnista? I grew up in a home where finances were openly and regularly discussed. It was just a part of life. I tell a pretty awesome story about the actual day I became the Budgetnista at age 11 here.

We heard you wrote a book, tell us about that. The One Week Budget (which recently hit No. 1 on Amazon under budgeting), is a step-by-step guide to creating your money management system. The book is broken down into 12 steps that can be completed over a seven-day span — hence, The One Week Budget.

It’s an easy, fun read and after you complete the necessary work, can reduce the time you spend managing your money to less than 30 minutes a month.

What is your favorite thing about your job? Helping people. When I was in my early 20s, I decided that I wanted to live a life of service. I became a teacher for 10-plus years and after my school closed due to lack of funding, I started The Budgetnista. So, I still teach and serve, just in a different way.

What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn about saving money? What to do with it after you save it. I’m still trying to get the hang of investing.

What’s your ultimate goal? My ultimate goal is for The Budgetnista to become an international brand that represents value. It’s my dream that one day you’ll walk into a Target and see my logo on items that I think are worth more than what they are priced.

Do you miss the Jeri Curl you had as a kid? Noooooo! I love my hair now. That hairstyle was child-torture and I never let my mother forget it.