Thursday, August 23, 2007

PF Blogs I Read, and Why

I am very new at Personal Finance blogging. Heck, I'm very new at paying attention to my finances.

Before I started my own blog, I was reading many others. I know my list of favorites will change over time, but I think it may be instructive to see how that happens--as in, what I read now, and what I am reading later on. Will I become more sophisticated? Will I just add to my blog list, or will I start dropping some of them along the way? Who knows? But here are the blogs I currently enjoy the most, along with my own highly subjective comments:

1. Get Rich Slowly. This was one of the first PF blogs I found online, and it turns out the author lives in my neck of the woods. He's indefatigable, often posting several times a day. He covers not only his own finances, but the finance world in general as it impacts him.

2. Boston Gal's Open Wallet. She would be my favorite blogger were it not for the fact that I'm so dang jealous of this 30-something woman who is well on her way to financial security. I forgive her for being financially smart because her eclectic blog includes lots of extraneous side information such as posts about the fate of the Meyer Lemon tree she bought awhile back, and links to numerous free samples, all of which I have ordered. She's another one that posts more than once per day--and that's another reason I remain jealous!

3.The Wastrel Show, My Journey to Eliminate Debt, Need To Be Debt Free, and Engineering My Finances. These are all very individual blogs from middle-aged adults looking toward retirement and wanting to get their financial houses in order. The journey is not easy, and these bloggers are honest about the roadblocks thrown up by life in general and their own issues specifically. EMF at Engineering My Finances tends to be a bit more general and way more math-oriented. I read him, but I don't always understand him! Bare Bones Living belongs on this list as well, though I wish she would post more often. It makes me cranky to click on a blog daily only to find the last post was written weeks ago. You'd think I'd be a bit more sympathetic since I'm lucky if I post three posts a week, but no. Do as I say, not as I do! (Courtesy of Aesop)

4. Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge, My Money Blog, We're In Debt, Gasping for Breathe, and Blogging Away Debt. These are all baby bloggers in their early thirties or younger who will be in so much better financial shape when they reach my age, than I am.

5. No Credit Needed, and The Simple Dollar. Two great blogs by folks who have been there and done that, but, having gotten rid of the debt, are sticking around to give out great advice. No Credit Needed will even let you monitor your decreasing debt on his website. Simple Dollar is particularly good for relevant book reviews.

6. And finally, for the minutiae of every day spending, I like to read Lucky Robin's Blog because she blogs about every cent she saves. Think I'm kidding? She found three pennies in her couch, added them to her savings jar, and gave us the new total!

I actually read more blogs than this, but these are the ones I never miss.

I think I'll do this again in a year, and see how the list varies.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention. If you live near JD of GetRichSlowly, that means you used to live near me as well =). I miss the NW.

Best of luck towards your goals!

JW said...

These are some great blogs. Some of them I read also. Thank you for mentioning my blog.

mapgirl said...

"Baby blogger"?!?!?!

LOL. Grace, you are funny! Thank you though for the mention. I am glad you like my site.

Grace. said...

Just for the record, a baby blogger is any writer who is under 35. When I turn sixty, I plan to amend that definition to "any writer under 45."

Engineering My Finances (EMF) said...

Thanks for the mention of my blog. As far as your assessment, I'd have to say that Yeah, I do resemble that remark ;)

Louise said...

thanks for the mention, I also hate it when blogs aren't updated for weeks at a time, I'm a bit greedy and check all the blogs on my blogroll daily for my daily fix!

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the great list. I already read a lot of the blogs listed and will definitely check out the other ones!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention. I hope that my experiences can help others. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. Hopefully, the next generation will get it right.

http://wastrelshow.blogspot.com