Money Diaries as we know it has existed for years, but it has been a solid minute since we pulled back the curtain and let you into our Money Diaries bubble. So we present our first Ask Me Anything. At the end of last year, we asked Money Diary readers to ask us questions, and you certainly delivered. So, here we are, ready to answer your Q’s with the best A’s we can muster. (Please be gentle in the comments!)
Are all Money Diarists real people? Do you check?
Yes! We check the identities of our diarists to make sure they are who they say they are.
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Why are there occasional grammar mistakes?
As a rule, we choose colloquially correct over grammatically correct because we prioritise keeping the diarist’s voice as close to their actual voice as possible. Occasionally, we also miss commas and such because we’re human.
What criteria do you apply to choose which Money Diaries get published?
It depends. We get many weekly submissions, so we have quite a few diaries to choose from, which is why we can’t post them all. First, we choose based on varying location, salary, and job title — with a priority placed on including diarists from marginalised communities. Then we look at length — we prefer diaries that are between 3,000-5,000 words, though we will edit down a long one if it’s really great. Finally, we look for voice and story and any interesting or unique purchases/life situations.
How does one become an MD editor?
Our Money Diaries editors sit under the Lifestyle team, which encompasses Sex & Relationships, Health, Work & Money, Home, Fitness and more.
How many people edit Money Diaries? Who gets final approval before something is posted? Is someone monitoring the comments?
Two editors look at each diary before it goes out and yes, we monitor the comments for doxxing and the like, and we have a moderating service that makes sure all comments are within our editorial policy.
How much of the actual submitted content do you rewrite/edit? So many money diaries read in the exact same voice. Is this intentional, to make them feel cohesive?
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We rewrite the diaries as little as possible, but most of them need a decent amount of revision to flow in the way we want them to. We specifically don’t edit out voice to try to keep each diary as unique as possible, but we will say, many diarists seem to fall into similar styles, which we're guessing comes from most diarists being avid readers.
Why are you asking gender identity?
Not all of our diarists identify as women and we want to make sure we get pronouns correct. We also include trans voices whenever possible.
Do you ask diarists follow up questions (for instance if the paycheque numbers don’t add up or if someone mentions a debt without any explanation)?
We do! We often ask for clarification, especially when diarists don’t include specific paycheque or salary information. We also double-check any numbers that don’t make sense since everybody makes typos sometimes!
I am part of the "sandwich generation" — caring for kids and elderly parents. Our money issues are different from most Gen Z/millennials, but still interesting, I think. Are there any plans to expand Money Diaries into other age groups?
Please submit a diary! We get asked this question all the time and we always welcome diarists outside of these age brackets. We’re in the process of changing our language to include all generations (18 and older).
I wonder what time allocation looks like by employees that work on MDs? Are they dedicated to MDs or a lot of different areas? If the latter, explain more.
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Some weeks, Money Diaries is about 70% of our job and other weeks it’s 100% of our job. When we're not producing Money Diaries (which is about half editing, half logistics), we write for the Lifestyle section and other verticals on site.
How has the readership of Money Diaries been recently? Lately, a lot of people have complained about judgmental commenters and I was wondering if that's affected readership in any way?
Honestly, it’s been just as great as ever, if not better. For every judgmental comment we get, we get five friendly, wonderful comments and they really add up! If comments are ever unkind, we turn them off immediately.
Is there one Money Diary that comes to mind that sparked a lot of controversy/negative feedback that the editors never anticipated readers having such a strong reaction to?
At this point, we have a pretty good handle on how commenters are going to react. More than anything, we're sometimes surprised by how kind and generous our commenters are. The comments can get negative, but it’s also really wonderful to see you all lifting each other up — which happens more often than not.
Has there been any consideration to updating the submission process?
Yes! This is a goal and we are working on it. Changing the backend is not a super simple process, but we are hopeful that it will happen this year.
Have more questions? Pop them in the comments and we'll answer whatever we can.
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