Personal finance blogs

December 12, 2019 11:23 PM

I'm looking for some inspiration in the realm of personal finance. I used to love Mr Money Mustache, but at this point he obviously has more disposable income than I ever will for experimenting. Are there any good finance/budgeting blogs (or forums with case studies!) that you read?

Bonus points for anything:
- written by women
- written by those with low earnings
- written by those outside the US

Hopefully your answers will inspire me for a new fiscally savvy decade!

posted by teststrip to Work & Money (13 answers total)

Any chance I can get you to look at a book? Before the internet, Amy Dacyczyn put out a newsletter called The Tightwad Gazette. Issues of the newsletter were collected into a series of books with the same name, which was eventually collected into one giant book. You could go through it like you were reading blog posts. She is absolutely brilliant.
posted by FencingGal at 4:48 AM on December 13, 2019

I like The Frugal Girl and The Non-Consumer Advocate (both written by US-based women) and The Simple Dollar (only the posts written by Trent, the founder, a US-based man). I'll be watching this thread for inspiration as well!
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:06 AM on December 13, 2019

The Billfold is sadly no longer updating, but the archive might fit what you're looking for. Majority female contributors, average incomes, lots of general musing about all the ways money fits into our lives.
posted by geegollygosh at 5:23 AM on December 13, 2019

For case studies, have you seen Refinery29's Money Diaries? (They're all over the map in terms of financial status, but some are definitely relatable and interesting!)

The Frugalwoods also have a lot of additional income beyond what they initially represented themselves as but I find their reader case studies, in particular, to be interesting nonetheless.
posted by mosst at 5:56 AM on December 13, 2019

Gail vaz-oxlade no longer updates, but her website had lots of personal stories (mostly Canadian). She also hosted a personal finance tv show, “TIL debt do us part”.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 7:44 AM on December 13, 2019

I’ve found some good conversations and links via this female-oriented subreddit: FIREyFemmes. I also really like the personal finance blog posts on Bitches Get Riches.
posted by Maarika at 7:58 AM on December 13, 2019

On the book front, I strongly recommend All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren. (Yes, that Elizabeth Warren.) It's solid, practical, and very readable.

I also heard a podcast featuring The Budgetnista and want to look more into her stuff. Looks like most of her free resources are Facebook-based, but there seem to be a lot of them.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:53 AM on December 13, 2019

Paula Pant's Afford Anything (podcast and blog).
posted by SinAesthetic at 10:29 AM on December 13, 2019

Oh My Dollar is run by a woman and has the absolute best art I've ever seen in a personal finance blog. The community includes many folks who migrated from the MMM website forums.
posted by yomimono at 11:10 AM on December 13, 2019

Seconding Bitches Get Riches!
posted by skycrashesdown at 10:05 PM on December 13, 2019

Notes from the Frugal Trenches, although it is more about frugality than personal finance topics. Author is a Canadian single mother. She posts weekly frugal plans, which are helpful and inspiring.
posted by eeek at 8:01 AM on December 14, 2019

I really enjoy Paco's writing, she did a short-lived Q&A on Cup of Jo as well.
posted by athirstforsalt at 8:58 AM on December 14, 2019

I found a few more UK focussed ones in my hunt:
- The Monzo blog (UK) has a few good features, like Money in Love, and Dear Monzo
- The BBC has a new My Money blog series (UK & beyond)
- The Guardian has a regular 'How I Spend It' column
posted by teststrip at 1:24 AM on December 17, 2019