I think I’m allergic to financial advisors. Every time I hear one start to talk, whether it’s on the radio, on TV, or in a newspaper article my eyes start to glaze over and I get a dazed look on my face. I can’t pay attention because in my head I think that this guy (or gal) can’t possibly be saying anything that will interest me. This isn’t entirely wrong either, since most financial advisors tend to focus on aspects of money management that I hadn’t even started to consider yet, like estate management, life insurance, ect. Very few of them (that I had heard) have anything to say on the topics that affect millennials like debt repayment, budgeting, or living frugally.
Personal finance bloggers, on the other hand, I can’t get enough of. These are the real people, out there in the trenches, bettering themselves and living to tell the tale. Personal finance bloggers write about the things that I have to deal with every day, like trying to stay frugal in the face of temptation, or staying up until midnight working on freelance projects so you have a few hundred extra dollars to put towards debt that month. These are the things I’m concerned with, and I love reading about other people going through the same trials and tribulations as me.
Personal finance blogs are also amazing because they are so not one size fits all. Whatever your situation, there is a personal finance blogger who mirrors it. In a ton of debt? Check out Plunged In Debt, in a little debt? Financial Diffraction. Not in debt and trying to figure out investing/earning more? Money After Graduation, and so on and so forth. It’s so easy to find someone who is in a similar situation to you, and to take that person’s success and use it as a reason to start improving on your own. For me, Blonde on a Budget was a huge source of inspiration during my early debt pay-down days, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have made as much progress, as fast as I did without her.
For me, personal finance blogs are where it’s at. They’re where I discovered that I could do something about my debt, and where I realized that being financially prosperous isn’t just totally attainable, but it’s pretty darn awesome. In particular, J. Money’s net worth tracker made me realize that paying off my debt wasn’t the end game, but rather, just the beginning. There’s nothing like taking a look at how many normal, everyday people are farther ahead than me to remind me that I need to keep striving, keep saving, and keep investing.
So if you’re having trouble getting your financial house in order, or you’ve just been feeling uninspired about your financial goals lately, check out one of these blogs. I’m sure you’ll find someone in your situation who is doing an amazing job with their finances, who’ll remind you that you to can do an amazing job.
Now tell me all of your favourite personal finance blogs, I need some new reading material.