15 Best Finance Blogs for the Frugally Minded
Saving money is difficult if you don’t take the time to make a concerted effort to do it. But just getting started is half the battle for most.
We looked far and wide for the best blogs for ordinary people on how to make their money go further in more places than one.
Take a look at our fifteen top finance bloggers and follow some and start making saving money fun again!
- SquawkFox is a financial blog run by Kerry K. Taylor. She is the lone writer as well, so if you see it there, it’s her. Kerry has been on TV and in the news as a financial consultant and media expert, so you can at least trust that she knows what she’s talking about. Her blog talks about all sorts of financial matters from getting a budget together to keep you on track, to the markets performance in the past year should you be interested in investing. There isn’t much that you can’t find on this page, actually. And her very simply and fun way of putting it out there makes it easy to understand for even the “noobiest of noobs” to the financial world.
- WiseBread is run by a team of financial bloggers dedicated to “help you live large on a small budget”. These bloggers cover a wide variety of topics, like best detergent brands, beauty buys that won’t cost an arm and a leg and crockpot recipes to curb that eating out habit when you don’t feel like cooking. One thing that I found different and nice is a ticket mid page that lists the best clothing deals online for the day. Should you find that your daughter is in need of a new tutu, or your son needs new cleats (or the other way around!), this ticker can help you find what stores are having sales and maybe help you save a bit of money when making those unavoidable purchases.
- The Simple Dollar – I love this site. There are tips on credit cards and managing them, but there are also tips on writing thank you notes when you receive gifts or travel to other people’s homes. The site aims to help with personal development on the whole, not simply financially. The whole benefit model that they are using is something that I think most people can relate to more than simply revamping finances. Simply because, if you don’t build better habits, it doesn’t matter what you revamp.
- 20Something Finance – Another single poster success story on this site, but he seems to write about anything and everything that he thinks may help any household. For example, the day that I visited, the top post was “New LED Bulbs Have Reached ‘Foolish Not to Upgrade’ Prices”. He then goes on to explain how these bulbs will save you money in your home. He’s written about how to have a frugal wedding, how to save on health insurance, how to save by buying your glasses online… This guy seems to know a bit about everything, which means that if you want to know it, it’s probably somewhere on here. You just have to go find it.
- Financial Samurai – This site is more for the data nerds, who want the facts presented in an easy to understand way. The admin of this is site is by no means uninteresting or boring, but his style of writing is nothing like what you’d expect from some of the others outlined here. Yes, he talks about his travels, what he wanted to learn from this visit and whether or not he achieved his goals, but he also tells you how you can take the trip, how to save a bit of money on it, etc. He wants you to achieve your goals as well, and seems to be willing to offer you help, should he be able to.
- Len Penzo – I’ll admit, my initial reason for clicking on this was because of the odd name. Maybe that’s why a lot of people click on it, but that was my reason, it intrigued me. It’s billed as on “off-beat personal finance blog for responsible people”, which for some reason made the name make more sense to me. The admin of this site takes consumer questions, a mailbag sort of feature, as well as the normal article writing. There are also guest writers, such as the blogger from Maryland who explains how she lives on less than 40k a year, something that I found fascinating enough to want to read. The topics picked seem to be geared to make you want to click on them, to be interesting and engaging, and they are. This is one blog you won’t regret reading.
- Mighty Bargain Hunter – This blog takes on a more personal tone. The day that I visited, the writer talked about and quoted the letter that she received from her bank about having paid off her car loan. She then used that to move into the differences about how banks feel when you pay something off when compared to how you feel. It was a very well written article and the personal touch made it much more relatable. All the articles on this site are written with that personal flare, and that is what keeps her audience.
- See Debt Run – I was scrolling through this site and came across a post called “How to Choose the Right Side Hustle”, and that was it. I was hooked. The practical and very real way that this site is written, from the perspective of someone who actually lives the same lives that we do, make this one a lot of fun and very informative at the same time.
- Going Ham – Another name intriguer. Anyone who, like me was raised with a crafty Aunt, knows that gingham is a type of fabric, so what does that have to do with finances? It turns out that the founder of the site loves gingham fabric, go figure. Her posts are well organized into several different home categories which makes finding what you are looking for simple and easy. Plus, Miss Sara seems like a lot of fun to get to know through her posts.
- Stop Buying Crap – The name kind of says it all, doesn’t it?
- Tight Fisted Miser – Another personally written blog that is a lot of fun to read. For instance, the lead post for the day I visited lined out his monthly income and explained how he had planned on more incoming, but was sidetracked due to the fact that he was hit by a car (HIT BY A CAR!). His personal experiences, how he handled student loans and other financial issues are all over this, and I love it. The perfect way to lead is by example.
- Frugal Zeitgeist – Well of course the word zeitgeist made me click on this one, who wouldn’t click on such an awesome word? But here’s the thing: The site is actually very well put together and gives a lot of information that I haven’t seen other places. For example, how to find a local barter network. That’s new. And could save you a lot of money, should you be good at negotiating. So, for offbeat financial news, this one should do just fine.
- Frugal Babe – No, it is not skinny women in skimpy clothes telling you where to spend your money. It is one woman, blogging about how she and her family have done all sorts of things, like built up their credit, bought a house redid their living room on a budget and several other things. Things that we could all do if we sit and listen to how she managed. It’s brilliant!
- Saving Without A Budget – Well that’s a bit unfair, I have a budget, there just isn’t much in there in the way of extra… Anyway, this is another fact-heavy site that gives you a lot of numbers and a bit of explanation to go along with it. Nothing fancy, just good information to have. But, should you be the type that needs to be entertained, skip this one.
- Frugal Bonvivant – That means “good living” in French, by the way. This site is for the shoppers. Shopping for clothes, trips, hotels, coffee… Whatever it is that you want, you can find it here with a coupon and a link to the sales. It’s glorious, trust me.