Personal Finance Blogs Worth Reading

When money is tough to come by, managing it the best way possible is important. In these tough economic times, people are looking for fresh and innovative money advice to help them understand today's economy. The newspaper can be full of stodgy old timers telling you to buy bonds, and a finance book could go out of date at any minute. The best way to get the advice you need that is up to date and appropriate is through personal finance blogs. Personal finance blogs are written by real people every day. They don't work for a bank or an investment house, they just feel compelled to to archive the thought process behind many hundreds of financial decisions. Here are some of the best:

The Simple Dollar

Trent has been writing this blog for some time now, and it just became his full time job. As a middle class husband and father in middle America, Trent has an interesting take on money matters that you won't find in the New York Times. He started his blog as an aid to battle his way back from a mountain of credit card debt. Now that he has paid it off, he has begun to talk more about investing wisely and saving. He can always be counted on for a tip on frugal living or DIYing something. I don't always agree with his values or his take, but he always explains his opinion completely, using good evidence which is a rare find these days. Very good site.

Get Rich Slowly

J.D also battled his way back from a large mountain of credit card debt, but comes from a different perspective. He imparts quite a bit of knowledge about our stuff: why do we have so much, why do we want so much, and what can be done about it. He talks about money as we should; as both a mathematical issue and a mental one. His site creates a dialogue with his readers, often offering their email queries up for readers to comment on or highlighting really great comments in a new post. If you are looking for a place to think about your relationship with money, J.D.'s post's will give you plenty of jumping off points.

My Open Wallet

This blog is run by Madam X, a 30-something New York women who writes about her experiences with living in an expensive city and saving and investing for retirement and a condo. She is very honest about where she saves and where she splurges. Rather than coming off preachy, she comes off real, dealing with lifestyle decisions which affect her finances like the rest of us. One series she did which I found particularly enlightening was when her father went into the hospital unexpectedly. She was left dealing with his finances during his stay and trying to figure out what would happen in case of an emergency. Her honesty and thoroughness in sharing the steps to come up with a plan were certainly helpful to anyone who finds themselves in the same situation.

Wisebread

Wisebread is a personal finance blog written by several different authors. This means that it is both updated frequently and full of many viewpoints. Each author has a different style and view, and each post brings up something new. There are authors who are downshifting their lifestyle, authors who are trying to make extra money on the side, authors who are avid coupon clippers, and authors who are economists. If you love downshifting and despise coupon clipping, you can sign up for RSS feeds of each author you enjoy rather than the whole site.

Frugal Dad

Frugal dad is a father of young children trying to save money. It's as simple as that. If you want to save money and help your family, or if you just want to read about cute kids stories with your frugal advice, this is the site for you.