It feels good when people ask for advice and thank me for what they have learned from the blog. But I wonder if it’s right.
The right advice: A good advice means a total understanding of your situation, your risk profile, your spending profile and your income. For example your present spending spree can be a result of giving yourself some shopping therapy for the current stress levels. So, does telling you to minimize your spending help? Maybe yes, maybe no!
Beware of confidence tricksters: When you are stressed to make financial decisions, any guy who gives you advice seems to be an expert. The more confident the advisor, the more trust you have on him.
Finance is Personal: Even with the same age and income profile, a financial decision by a Gujarati and a Bihari would be different. Even between two Gujaratis/Biharis and with the same age/income, the situation could be different. I guess, finance is as personal as the genes we have.
NYT has an article, Ignore Generic Financial Advice: Excerpts:
The financial press, personal finance bloggers and best-selling authors are all sources of information. But don’t confuse information with the real work of figuring out how it applies to your very unique situation. I know many of the best personal finance bloggers. As good as many of them are at providing a filter for information, and even providing general rules of thumb, you are the only one who can figure out how it applies to your life.
And this comment was scathing!
So am I advising that you shouldn’t depend on my advice? 
(Btw, your head spinning is another side effect!)
I edit Personal Finance Online Resources, nurture Financial Literacy Foundation, deliver Financial Awareness Workshops and have built a desktop RupeeManager.
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Ranjan,
In business world there is a tendency to graft a ‘best practice’ (probably CEO or HOD read in a HBR article or heard in a seminar) and then implement without a understanding of context of that ‘best practice’. I believe this is true in personal finances (and life) too.
Men have been dreaming of easy, lazy & cheap way of making a million. But universe is unwilling to give that so far.
Joseph
@Joseph, very true. We are swayed with the “best practices” and try to plant them without fully customizing them for our unique context.
Having said that, it would be useful to sit with a professional and thrash out your own personal plan.
Thanks for the lovely comment!