Hi there, welcome to The Fillennial!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog, I’m genuinely glad you’re here!

I know there are about a million other things you could be doing right now, so the fact that you’ve landed here and are taking the time to read this really means something to me.

This blog is called The Fillennial, a mashup of “finance” and “millennial”. Although I’m a Dutch millennial in his near thirties myself, you don’t need to be one to enjoy what you can find here. Whether you grew up with Harry Potter, TikTok, or rotary phones, if money plays a role in your life (and it does), there’s probably something here for you.

But before we get into what this whole thing is about, let me tell you what it’s not. This blog is not another list of “10 hacks to retire early” or a lecture about skipping your morning coffee. If that’s what you’re after, the rest of the internet already has you covered, in abundance. This is something different.

This is a place for stories about money. My stories, to be precise. They’re real, personal, sometimes uncomfortable, but always honest. And if one of them helps you see your own relationship with money a little differently, then this whole thing has been worth it.

Why Does This Blog Even Exist?

Here’s the thing about the vast majority of personal finance content today: it’s completely missing the “personal” part. We’ve all seen it, right? Phrases like “Save 15% of your income”, “Max out your retirement accounts”, “Invest in index funds”, “Don’t buy expensive coffee”, and the list goes on. The advice isn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s also prescriptive, repetitive, and usually missing the most important part: the real-life contexts under which any of it actually works.

With this blog I’m trying to do the exact opposite.

Instead of starting with generic advice and then looking for stories to support it, I start with key moments and core memories from my personal life first, and then explore the money lessons that naturally emerged from them. Sometimes I arrive at the same conclusions as most, and sometimes I draw conclusions you rarely see in traditional finance content. All of it is fine, because the journey matters just as much as the destination. It gives you a context that will make the lessons stick better, and it makes the content read like personal money memoirs rather than generic financial advice.

I personally haven’t found any content that approaches personal finance this way, but it’s absolutely something I would’ve valued to be there when I was younger and trying to make sense of my own money. That’s why I decided to create it myself, and hope it gives you what I’ve personally always been looking for.

Behavior Matters More Than Math

Experience has taught me that the majority of money decisions mostly aren’t math problems at all. They’re emotional decisions disguised by numbers, and the underlying behavior is what matters: the patterns you inherited, the social circles that you’re part of, the mistakes you make under stress, and much more.

Most personal finance content either ignores this stuff entirely or treats it as a minor footnote, but it’s always your personal context that decides if something could work out well for you. The behavior and emotions are what matter, and understanding yourself is what actually moves the needle.

That’s why you’ll not find generic advice dressed up with a fake anecdote here, but real stories, real stakes, and the honest lessons that came from living through them instead. And it’s completely up to you to do whatever you want with it.

These Are My Stories, Not Your Instructions

Now before you start, let me be clear about one thing first: nothing written on this blog is financial advice. These are my own experiences seen through a money lens, and what I’ve personally learned from them. If your own experiences have gotten you to completely different viewpoints that’s not just okay, that’s extremely valuable. Everyone’s story with money is shaped differently.

What this blog offers is honesty about what happened in my own life, why I think it happened, and how it impacted my thinking around money. If that gives you a new perspective on your own situation, that would make me really happy. And if it doesn’t, which I’m sure will happen, I hope you at least got an entertaining read and something interesting to think about or come back to in the future.

All of my stories are written under the pseudonym of ‘The Fillennial’. The reason for this is to make a clear separation between the financial aspects of my life that are emphasized here and the one I’m actually living, both personally and professionally. The latter is infinitely more complex and diverse, so the pseudonym is a clear boundary that protects both.

About the Stories

I started this blog after a discussion with my best friend about the differences between our financial upbringings, where I realized my own money stories could bring connectedness, understanding towards others, or even completely new perspectives. Not because they’re extraordinary, many of them are actually drawn from normal day-to-day situations, but because they’re real and the lessons derived from them were obtained by simply living life.

The people in my own social circles know these stories already. They’ve been discussed over dinners, shared during late-night conversations, and laughed about over drinks. I’m currently in a position to tell them openly, and I want to acknowledge upfront that’s a big privilege by itself.

I live a comfortable life. Certainly not millionaire-comfortable, but enough to have the financial and mental freedom to write this blog and share these stories without worrying too much about the consequences. I’ve got a stable career, a good income, and a safety net most people don’t have.

I’ve also been lucky enough to have some experiences that aren’t typical, especially for someone my age. Think stuff like having dinner with a billionaire, hitting €100k net worth before the age of 30, and being part of the executive-level circuit at my university despite being a regular student there. All of them have led to experiences, stories and lessons that I believe are worth sharing.

But let me be honest as well: I’ve also made big mistakes. Think stuff like naively losing significant money in a relationship that I thought was going last forever, or developing a (fortunately short-lived) gambling addiction while crumbling under financial stress.

Those mistakes matter as much as the wins, because that’s sometimes where the best lessons live. Most finance content seems to hide these failures or sanitizes them, but if I’m honestly sharing a story with you, I believe you should be getting the uncomfortable parts too.

Who This Blog Is For

This blog is ultimately for anyone trying to make sense of their own relationship with money, regardless of social background. People who care about why they make certain financial choices, and are willing to examine and address their personal truths about money, their environment, and themselves.

That said, these stories focus on all parts of my life, so you might find extra value in unexpected places. Some of my childhood stories might resonate a little extra with parents, career stories with students or professionals, and lifestyle-related ones with anyone who wants to get an insight into a bubble they cannot easily access otherwise. 

How This Evolves

I write a new story once I’ve discovered a clear money lesson behind the events in my life. They don’t appear out of thin air and since there is a finite number of memories I can draw from, there’s no specific release strategy or schedule behind them.

The stories can be read independently, and are being written without a particular order in mind. I would therefore encourage you to jump around, and simply start with the one that looks most interesting.

I also want these stories to still be meaningful to you years from now, not just today, and that also means I’m still learning how to tell them well. If I realize something isn’t working or I’ve left out crucial details, I’ll go back and improve it. The facts don’t change, but my ability to share them does.

Think of it as ongoing editing, not revisionist history. I’m committed to getting these stories right, and that takes time. And if you’ve got a tip to improve them, always feel free to let me know.

Where to Start

I would heavily encourage you to explore the stories on this blog freely, but if you don’t know where to start I’ve got a couple of entry points depending on what you’re curious about:

Want to start from the beginning? As said, this blog started after a conversation with my best friend about our financial upbringings, and me realizing that simply telling my story could genuinely help the people around me. My side of that conversation has become the first post on this blog.

Want to know get a better overall picture of me? Read about the career advantages I didn’t earn. It gives you a more elaborate profile of me, and explains the personal context through which I approach this blog.

Want to start with something lighthearted and fun? Start with the post about my favorite video game teaching me the fundamentals of investing, it’s one of my favorites.

Personal stories in the personal finance space have power, because they transform information into meaning and turn tactics into understanding. They show us not just what happened, but why it mattered, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with every post I write.

Welcome to my life. Pull up a chair, get comfortable, and let’s explore it together. It means more to me than you might think.

– The Fillennial