My Fincon 2017 Review

Last week I had the opportunity to attend my first Fincon conference in Dallas. In case you didn’t know, FinCon is an annual conference for financial media and bloggers. This year, I applied and was chosen for a new financial blogger scholarship, which earned me a free pass to this year’s event.

I heard of Fincon last year and knew that it was something I wanted to be a part of. Many people I follow online have talked about the value and fun of the conference, so I knew I had to take action and make it happen. This year aligned up perfectly with the free pass and the close location in Dallas (3.5hr drive from Austin).

Why Fincon

1. The connections and friendships developed with like-minded people.
2. The sessions – So much to learn from others who have been in my shoes and have climbed to the top of the industry
3. Personal Growth and motivation – Being around other like-minded people help to keep yourself accountable and motivated to stay the course and double down on your passion.

Fincon 2017 Trip Report

I arrived at Fincon on Wednesday evening after a full day of work. Luckily, there was one session left for the day – Pickup basketball at the SMU Rec center in Dallas.

Pickup basketball was a perfect way to meet many new people and get some exercise in before the conference. I had a blast playing with about 40 other Fincon peeps.

The Conference

I woke up Thursday and didn’t fully know what to expect. I got the Sheraton hotel, and the conference area was packed. The main floor was full of booths for financial services and Fintech companies. The companies ranged from well known like Vanguard, Ally, and Credit Sesame (all 3 had some delicious cookies they were giving away) to new Fintech companies like Tiller and Cinch.

I attended sessions on freelance writing, Facebook strategies, content marketing, video content,  coaching, blog content, and much more. The sessions alone were tremendous, and I have a ton of notes that I am planning to apply to my website and side hustles.

Everywhere I looked I recognized my favorite bloggers and prominent names in the industry. It was a pretty cool follows people’s blogs/podcasts/books/youtube and then meet them in person.

The Social Events

I was pretty impressed with the job the Fincon organizers did with hosting of events.

The first night there was a kick off party hosted by Ally. The event was at the “Rustic” in downtown Dallas. The venue was great, along with good food and free drinks made it a great night. It was so much fun to meet fellow finance and travel bloggers. I also found myself at another similar party on Friday night at the Woolworth restaurant/bar.

Saturday there was a Halloween party that was pretty epic. It was great to meet so many people I have been following over the last year. Everyone I met was super friendly, and it was easy to connect because we all had similar interests.

Expenses Report

Since this was technically a trip report post, I will share my expenses for the conference. Since I got the free pass and the location was close to my home base I feel like the trip was slightly cheaper than it would be in future years.

Fincon Badge – Free 🙂

Gas/Uber – $35.49

Food/Drinks – $56.74

Hotel/Airbnb – I stayed at the Sheraton for the conference with three other roommates – I paid $164 for three nights + 1 night at Airbnb (Wednesday) $76 = $240

Parking – I got a bill for $75 for parking at Sheraton, but I complained that the front desk guy told me it was free and they took it off ($75 savings from picking up the phone). I spent $7 on parking at SMU for basketball.

Total Expenses –  $330.23

Related Posts: Trip Report: Italy and France on a Budget & Trip Report: Washington on a Budget

The Power of Community

Fincon was special because of the new connections and friendships that I developed. The time spent collaborating and brainstorming ideas together was priceless.

It was nice to talk openly about personal finance topics like net-worth, savings rates, side hustles, travel hacking, blog strategies, debt freedom, House Hacking, Financial Independence, and more without making anyone uncomfortable. Not only were people not uncomfortable, but those conversations were the most passionate. I loved it!

Because I had such a good experience, I already bought my pass for next years event in Orlando. I hope to see you there!

Question for You!
What Conferences have you been to and what was your experience?

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Gary

Gary is the author behind Debt Free Climb, a blog that shows how to live intentionally, pay off their debt, build a side income, and travel the world

Gary's favorite free financial tool he’s been using since 2017 to manage his net worth is Personal Capital. Each month he uses their free Investment Checkup tool and Retirement Planner to track his investments.


His favorite way to save automatically is Capital One Performance Saving, a bank that allows him to create multiple high-interest savings accounts and create an automatic savings plans for each account. He uses these features to meet short and long term savings goals.

His favorite way to save money on car insurance is by using Root, an app-based car insurance service. He saved $240 this year after switching from Geico to Root

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