Peter Adeny, better known as Mr. Money Mustache, retired at the age of 30. He says he did it by “living a lifestyle about 50% less expensive than most of our peers and investing the surplus in very boring conservative Vanguard index funds and a rental house or two.” In 2011, five years after he retired, he started a blog and content business to share how others could do it too.

He ended up building the Mr. Money Mustache brand – “Financial Freedom Through Badassity.” Peter also became an influencer in the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. In a 2018 interview with Kiplinger, he said his blog generated $400K the previous year thanks to commissions from banks, investment services, and other financial products he recommends.

The blog of @MrMoneyMustache is about “Financial Freedom Through Badassity. A few years ago, it brought in $400K via @Kiplinger.  Click To Tweet

Mr. Money Mustache has developed an app incorporating his blogs. He also shares his work and thoughts on Twitter (130.5K) and Facebook (135K).

Why we’re a Stan: Peter’s content tilt came from a contradiction he discovered. He heard people say they wanted – to earn an income that would lead them to have more freedom in their life decisions – and what they did – spend a lot to live their lives. His content could have fallen on deaf ears, but instead, it became a booming content business.

But don’t worry, Peter’s still living a semi-retired life. As he writes on his media-contact page: “Feel free to get in touch using the contact form. But remember this is an early retirement blog, so there may be some occasional violation of deadlines.”

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.