The 100 Most Influential Personal Finance Bloggers
Bloggers have begun to supplant traditional media in influence and audience in a wide array of areas, none more recent and more profound than in personal finance. Whether their goals are as ambitious as becoming a millionaire or as humble as paying down their credit card debt, tens of thousands of people over the past few years have turned to bloggers to help guide them and inspire them to make changes in their own lives. In this article we highlight the 100 most influential personal finance bloggers in order to provide you with a resource for finding your own source of information and inspiration.
Goal-based bloggers
Who wants to be a millionaire? They do. These bloggers are shooting for a net worth of one million or beyond. Read their blogs to see how they plan to do it and how far they’ve come.
- PF Blog: PF Blog chronicles one person’s journey towards a net worth of $1 million by age 36.
- Accumulating Money: Accumulating Money is written by a twenty-something who has a goal to have a net worth of one million dollars. Along the way, he discusses credit cards, investing and tips on how other twenty-somethings can be smart about money.
- 2 Million Blog: This 30 year old has a more lofty goal than some of his other personal finance brethren: he wants a net worth of two million instead of one. He discusses real estate, money-saving tricks, investing and perhaps most importantly, beer rebates.
- My First Million at 33: The writer behind My First Million at 33 isn’t trying to reach $1 million. He’s already done that. Through some wise choices, diligent saving, and a fortunate turn of events, this blogger became a millionaire at 33. Read the blog and soak up some knowledge about wealth.
Debt Warriors
Many Americans struggle with heavy loads of personal debt, and our debt bloggers know that trouble all too well. From tales of couples crawling out of debt to those who avoid it altogether, readers can learn from what these bloggers have to say.
- Money Musings: This blogger decided to wage a “personal war on debt” and change the way he looks at money. He’s eliminated a large portion of his debt and wants to share his lessons with others.
- Money Crashers: Eric Folgate, author of Money Crashers, thinks it’s a travesty that people feel like they have to turn to banks for information on financial decisions. He believes that we can live without debt, and wants to help you change the way you think about money.
- The Simple Dollar: Trent Hamm had a money meltdown and decided to get his financial life in order. His blog centers on fighting debt and bad spending habits.
- Blogging Away Debt: Blogging Away Debt is written by a woman who was $105,000 in debt. In her blog, she focuses on what started as over $37,000 in credit card debt. She reveals her income, how she spends her money, and any setbacks along the way.
- Inchoate Random Abstractions: Inchoate Random Abstractions is written by a 30-something woman who hopes to be the millionaire next door some day. Although for now, she just wants to go to grad school without any debt.
- No Credit Needed: No Credit Needed has saved an emergency fund, now he’s trying to live without borrowing money while still planning for retirement and saving for his two kids to go to college.
- Not Made of Money: Not Made of Money is written by a couple living on one income who have been debt free their entire married life. They share insight on how they’ve done it.
- Credit Bloggers: Credit Bloggers is a panel of experts discussing credit, loan, debt and identity theft.
Consumer Culture
Americans like to keep up with the Joneses, but our spending comes at a high cost. These bloggers encourage consumers to get a bargain and stop spending mindlessly.
- The Consumerist: A division of Gawker Media, The Consumerist helps look out for the little guy. Features include how to complain effectively, do it yourself projects, scam alerts, product reviews and more.
- Consumerism Commentary: This blog was created so that the writer, Flexo, could stay accountable in personal finances. Consumerism Commentary features Flexo’s account balances and spending information as well as current events in personal finance news.
- Obsessive Consumption: This blog is based on the idea that shopping is one of our society’s favorite ways to pass time. Kate Bingaman of Obsessive Consumption hand-draws purchases that she makes every day.
- The Frugal Duchess: Sharon Harvey Rosenberg writes a column for the Miami Herald about saving money, but her preoccupation with saving doesn’t keep her from living well. She writes about how we can all live large while staying within budget.
- Stop Buying Crap: Stop Buying Crap takes on consumerist culture and encourages readers to think twice about their spending. Highlights include poor spending choices, tales of customer service and how to be a better, safer consumer.
- Frugal For Life: Dawn at Frugal For Life shares the joys of living thrifty. In her world, less is more and she wants to help you understand that things are just that: things.
- >Mighty Bargain Hunter: Mighty Bargain Hunter keeps an ear to the ground for deals and ways to enjoy frugal living. Other topics include saving, investing and debt reduction.
- The Budget Fashionista: The Budget Fashionista may not teach you how to invest in stocks, but she can certainly teach you how to be frugal and fabulous at the same time.
- Save Leigh Ann: Almost two years ago, Leigh Ann found herself about $20,000 in debt, but paid it off within a year thanks to her blog. Now, she writes about savings and her quest to stop bulimic shopping.
- Bank Deals: BankDeals helps readers find the latest and greatest in deals and news from banks and credit unions.
Wealth Building
The Internet is full of get rich quick schemes that tend to hinder more than help. These bloggers are above the mess, offering smart ways for readers to grow their net worth.
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Ramit Sethi, a recent graduate of Stanford, offers advice on investing, entrepreneurship, saving, adventures in customer service, and more.
- Get Rich Slowly: Get Rich Slowly isn’t about hype, fads or schemes. This blog is simply about how to better manage your money. It offers tools, articles, advice and news.
- Free Money Finance: Free Money Finance is a place to find simple money wisdom. The site is about growing your net worth, with every topic existing only as a subset to this all-encompassing topic.
- 22 Dollars: 22 Dollars, written by Chad Lapa, provides advice on growing personal wealth, including topics on investment, business news and financial learning.
- My Money Blog: My Money Blog aims to help you find new ways to better manage your money. The writer shares net worth boosting methods for making, saving and managing money.
- Enough Wealth: This Aussie blogger asks the question, “How much wealth is enough?” Discussions include investment in the stock market, retirement and net worth.
Saving
Do you have an emergency fund? A college savings plan? These bloggers do, and they think you should too. Read up on how to secure your future by turning into a money miser.
- A Penny Saved…: This blog subscribes to Benjamin Franklin’s philosophy that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” A Penny Saved investigates ways to get more bang for your buck as well as how to get free stuff and save money by pinching pennies.
- How I Save Money: This blogger is a college student living on a tight budget. She offers her methods for saving money as well as helpful tips.
- Saving Without A Budget: Saving Without a Budget accepts the fact that some people just can’t create or follow a budget. In fact, they think that’s just fine. They’ve found that you can save tons of money by using simple tips and making smart financial decisions.
- Savvy Saver: The Savvy Saver writes about how to save by making wise financial decisions. This blog will teach you about living below your means and hanging on to more money.
- Birds & Bills: Birds and Bills’ Stacy Cowley has conquered credit card debt. Now, she is learning how to manage savings.
- Cents-to-Save: Cents-to-Save is written by Lisa, a 40-something health care professional trying to improve her financial outlook.
Girls’ Club
The days of waiting for Prince Charming are over. Savvy women know that if they want to secure their future, they’ve got to take money matters into their own hands. Check out these blogs for women in the know.
- No Limits Ladies: This group of ladies blogs about finance as it relates to women. They cover subjects like entrepreneurship, investing and more.
- Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge: Mapgirl offers financial advice from an “everygal” perspective. She’s got credit card debt and a mortgage, much like other American 30-somethings. Her advice includes how to fix stuff, bargain, find a new job and take on do it yourself projects.
- Penny Foolish: Penny Foolish is the blog of Kira, a girl who hasn’t been great with pennies, but has managed to stay out of major financial trouble in the adult world of money.
- My Open Wallet: My Open Wallet is the financial diary of Madame X, a 30-something single woman living in New York. She discusses everything about her financial life and money as it pertains to the world around her.
- The Weight of Money: The Weight of Money is about one woman’s understanding of a money concept that was foreign to her: money in terms of weight. She’s learned how to manage her money, started savings accounts, and a house fund.
- Boston Gal’s Open Wallet: Boston Gal’s Open Wallet covers one girl’s quest to control her net worth.
Young Money
Students, young couples, and people just starting out are often severely lacking in financial wisdom. These bloggers offer young people advice on saving, student loans, careers and more.
- Wise Bread: Wise Bread, a personal finance blog for young people, believes that you can save money and have fun at the same time. They offer shopping tips, financial advice, career ideas and more.
- Generation X Finance: Gen X Finance specializes in money issues as they pertain to members of Generation X. It’s primarily tailored to readers in their late 20s and 30s, focusing on topics like buying a home, retirement savings and debt elimination.
- The Frugal Law Student: Brett McKay blogs about student loans, getting the most out of your law school dollar, ways to save a buck and how to live like a starving law school student.
- Young and Broke: Amanda of Young and Broke doesn’t like it that her peers aren’t savvy about financial basics. Her blog covers practical information about finance and how to save money.
- Poorer Than You: Stephanie of Poorer Than You realized just how little money she had when she started film school. She’s not there anymore. She’s working on her net worth through high yield savings accounts and paying down her gigantic student debt.
- Ask Uncle Bill: Ask Uncle Bill could have written a book about the financial world, but he realized that his target audience of college students and young people don’t really buy financial books. Instead, he decided to put it all on the internet.
- Stingy Students: The writer of Stingy Students knows how to live on a tight budget: with an endless amount of time in school and a barely-above-minimum-wage income, this stingy student can teach you a thing or two about stretching a buck.
- Living Almost Large: Living Almost Large is one half of a young couple on their way to financial freedom. She writes about topics ranging from frugality to fun.
- Grad Money Matters: Grad Money Matters promises to help graduates improve their financial IQ.
- One Big Mortar Board: One Big Mortar Board’s author has a goal to wipe out $22,000 of debt in three years.
Investing
Why bother stashing your money in low-yield savings when you can make real earnings on the stock market? Read these blogs for the best tips and theories in personal finance investing.
- Stock Market Beat: This blog’s tagline reads, “Our beat: The stock market. Our job: Beat it.” Stock Market Beat offers expert insight into the stock market and economy in general so that you can beat the stock market, too.
- The Kirk Report: Charles E. Kirk has been trading stocks for more than 12 years. He blogs to help the “little guy” make good investment decisions through the information he shares.
- Fat Pitch Financials: Fat Pitch Financials offers investment and money saving ideas, particularly on the topic of value investing.
- The Mess That Greenspan Made: Tim Iacono writes about the Fed, investments and other economic matters.
- The Capital Spectator: James Picerno of The Capital Spectator discusses investments and the economy at large.
- Calculated Risk: Calculated Risk writes about investing, finance and economics.
Relationships, Family and Money
Your money doesn’t just affect you: the way you manage your finances has implications for your significant other, children and other people in your life. These bloggers discuss the influence of money on relationships and family.
- We’re in Debt: This young couple, as the name suggests, is in debt. Their goal is to zero it out this summer. They blog to help others learn from their mistakes so that they can get out of debt, too.
- Single Ma’s Fabulous Financials: This blogger is a single mother who’s working on a complete financial overhaul. Single Ma writes about her goals to get rid of debt and build her net worth.
- Make Love, Not Debt: Make Love Not Debt chronicles the aftermath of a couple in denial about their debt. They discuss money management and the way finances affect relationships.
- Chief Family Officer: Cathy of Chief Financial Officer provides readers with tips on “food, finances and fulfillment.” She’s an attorney as well as a wife and mom to both a newborn and a toddler. Her topics cover finances as they relate to parenting and managing a family.
- Five Cent Nickel: Five Cent Nickel delivers information on personal finance as it relates to families from someone who should know: a 30-something father with 4 boys. He delivers advice on profiting from credit cards, saving money on bills and getting good customer service.
- Kimmunications: Kim Snyder is the author of a forthcoming financial book, “The Family CFO’s Guide to Financial Success” and host of a finance coaching radio show. Kimmunications serves up advice on retirement and investments.
- Dual Income No Kids: Dual Income No Kids discusses personal finance as it relates to couples in committed relationships.
- Tired But Happy: Tired But Happy discusses family finance for working parents.
- Dimes to Dollars: Dimes to Dollars is “a military wife’s guide to personal finance.” This Navy wife helps other military wives understand how to manage finance, writing about how deployments affect money as well as why you should have a credit card.
- Jack Stevison: Jack Stevison is a Certified Financial Planner and author of “How to Merge Your Money for Marriage.” He provides readers with an independent view of market and economic analysis.
The Reformed
These bloggers used to have money troubles, but they’ve made it back from the edge. Read their blogs to learn from their mistakes and bone up on their hard-earned knowledge.
- One Money Dummy Getting Smarter: Money Dummy is “book smart, money stupid,” but she’s getting better.
- Clever Dude: Like many personal finance bloggers, Mike from Clever Dude has made some mistakes in the past. He’s learned from them and wants to share his new knowledge with you.
- My Two Dollars: My Two Dollars is written by a man who came back from being overloaded with debt. He offers posts on how to find free Internet access, tricks stores play and how to save money on purchases.
Real Estate
Real estate can be a lucrative way to invest money, but it’s not without risk. These bloggers discuss real estate investment, adventures in renting, and the housing bubble.
- Sitting Pretty: Nina Smith of Sitting Pretty has a regular job, but she’s made a nice chunk of cash in real estate investments, too.
- Landlord Schmandlord: Landlord Schmandlord discusses adventures in real estate investment and being a landlord.
- The Housing Bubble: The Housing Bubble takes a look at how the housing boom affects the economy, specifically owners, lenders, regulators and realtors.
- Housing Panic: Keith at Housing Panic blogs about the real estate bubble.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit
Many people are looking for a new way to make money and break free from the rat race. These bloggers work on startups, creative income and business in general.
- Neville’s Financial Blog: Neville Medhora is a young entrepreneur who is always on the lookout for a great new way to make money. He created this blog to keep track of his own progress, but you could do well to read about his experiences and learn a thing or two.
- Startup Princess: Kelly King Anderson, of Startup Princess, created this blog so that women entrepreneurs could have a place to network as well as learn and support each other. The blog offers resources and publicity for women who are working on their own business.
- 2 Nickels Making a Dollar: 2 Nickels Making a Dollar writes about how to supplement your income with online programs like Pay Per Post, Associated Content, Cash Duck, surveys and more.
- The Corner Office: The Corner Office tracks topics on entrepreneurship, business, finance and investing.
Money for Everybody
Not everything has to be specialized. These blogs offer information on personal finance that’s helpful for everyone.
- Blueprint for Financial Prosperity: Blueprint is a personal finance blog for novices. It’s a community where readers can ask questions and help each other learn, all with blog owner Jim at the helm.
- Blunt Money: Blunt Money offers a qualified opinion on money matters. Topics range from books and debt to decluttering and saving energy.
- The Sun’s Financial Diary: This blog details issues in saving and investing. Highlights include deals on tech gear, credit cards, finance accounts and more.
- Binary Dollar: Binary Dollar offers “money tips for everyone.” With topics ranging from student financial aid to minimum credit card payments, they’ve got something for every reader.
- Money, Matter and More Musings: Money, Matter and More Musings didn’t start out as a personal finance blog, but we’re glad it ended up that way. This blog discusses the “Latte Factor,” credit scores, gas prices, housing and more.
- Punny Money: This blog offers a fun take on personal finance, offering stories, humor and financial news. You’ll learn a little something about money, but you won’t get a headache reading it.
- Zen Personal Finance: Zen Personal Finance is written by Justin McHenry, Research Director for Index Credit Cards. The blog focuses on personal finance enlightenment through simple, long term financial strategies.
- All Financial Matters: All Financial Matters offers sound advice on budgeting, retirement, financial planning and more.
- Experiments in Finance: Experiments in Finance believes that understanding personal finance shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for MBAs. This blog explains finance to the Average Joe.
- Ka-Blog!: Kara McGuire writes about money management, investing and more. She shares her knowledge about confusing money issues and helps readers better understand saving and spending.
- FIRE Finance: FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Finance reports on the journey to their goal of retiring early. They also share insight on deals, tips, tools and reviews.
- Lazy Man and Money: Lazy Man and Money chronicles the financial life of a very lazy man who wants to retire rich and comfortably. He’s working on investments as well as alternative income.
Miscellaneous
From gay to crafty to expatriate, these bloggers offer a unique take on personal finance.
- The Digerati Life: Written by a Silicon Valley engineer, The Digerati life writes about money as it pertains to people involved in digital technology. Topics covered include personal finance, development, tips and trivia.
- Candadian Capitalist: The Canadian Capitalist discusses personal finance as it relates to Canadians, highlighting deals and interest rates.
- Queercents: Queercents, founded by Nina Smith of Sitting Pretty, offers financial tips for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
- Don’t Mess With Taxes: Kay Bell is a self-professed tax geek. Her blog, Don’t Mess With Taxes, aims to help you “keep money in your bank account, not the government treasury.”
- Adult ADD and Money: John MacKenzie writes about Adult ADD and ADHD and how these disorders interact with personal finance, money management and business.
- The Big Picture: The Big Pictures looks at a “macro perspective” on markets, economy, housing, energy, digital media and more.
- Millionaire Artist: Artists need to know how to manage money, too. Check out this blog for finances as they pertain to people in creative fields.
- Death and Taxes: Joel Schoenmeyer, a Chicago-area attorney, writes about “estate planning, estate administration and real estate issues.”
- Udandi: Andi at Udandi shares crafting projects and ways to stretch your money.
- The Money Hospital: The Money Hospital’s blog helps consumers in the UK better understand money.
- Travel Guide for your Finances: Luke Wilson and his wife are American expatriates who’ve lived in various European countries for 10 years. With this experience, they’ve learned to live frugally and they share their knowledge through this blog.
If you enjoyed this article, please bookmark it at del.icio.us
»
The Digerati Life
June 15th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I’m honored to be included in your list and to be in such awesome company! Thanks for putting this together.