21 of the Best Personal Finance Blogs for 2021

The Top Personal Finance Blogs Broken Down by Category

Over the years, so many blogs and bloggers have influenced me. I wanted to create a space for a “wall of fame” of personal finance blogs separated by categories. We are all at different spots in our respective journeys with money. Some people are focused on saving and budgeting money, some are working on side hustles to increase their income, some are looking toward retirement, and some are trying to get out of debt. Hell, just think about the phrase – “PERSONAL finance”. It is personal.

It wasn’t easy to narrow this list down to 21. There are hundreds of great bloggers out there. I attempted to choose the bloggers that write great content, but also personalize it.

I’ve always preferred to learn about personal finance through meaningful, real-life stories. All of these bloggers give the reader a glimpse into their lives and the events that led them toward a more disciplined approach to personal finance.

Here are 21 of my favorite personal finance blogs for 2021, organized by category. Each excerpt also includes a must-read post and many have direct quotes from the blogger about the purpose of their blog.

Best Personal Finance Blogs Incorporating Simplicity & Intentional Living

Minimalism and Your Money

You should have figured I would start with this one. I started this blog along with my wife in 2019. The tagline on our site is “the intersection of a simple, minimalist lifestyle and personal finance” and that’s exactly what you can expect. The blog is split fairly evenly between posts about intentional living and minimalism and posts about personal finance, but the end result is always the same: What can we do to increase our happiness?

From a money perspective, we do not consider ourselves ultra-savers and we have made our fair share of money mistakes over the years. But we have also made some good ones including paying off $80,000 of student loan debt. We are big believers in the theory that simple, actionable steps, no matter how small they might seem, set the stage for financial success down the road.

Must-Reads: The $1,000 Rule for Car Buying and Ditch Your Budget…And Save Money?

Frugalwoods

Liz is one of the most popular personal finance bloggers. She has a huge following on her blog as well as her Instagram. Yet, she has such a casual and welcoming way with words. As you read through her posts, you feel like you are sitting with her and her family at their homestead in Vermont. That’s right, homestead.

Liz and her husband were both working and living in and around the city of Boston when they both decided they didn’t want to do this the rest of their lives. So they managed to save a good chunk of money, quit their 9-5 jobs, and move to rural Vermont.

Liz wrote a fabulous book titled, Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living in addition to the blog.

Must Read: Demystifiying Personal Finance Series – Part 1

Handful of Thoughts

Maria writes about taking a more mindful approach to personal finance. Her blog incorporates many of the lessons she has learned by paying off her entire mortgage as well as accumulating 9 rental properties. While the financial accomplishments are impressive, it’s not what sticks out to me about her blog. I love the fact that Maria incorporates mindfulness and intention into her personal finance journey. As a self-proclaimed “valuist”, she focuses on using money as a means to optimize time.

I created Handful of Thoughts as a resource for other moms to learn about money and personal finance. By sharing my experiences I hope it takes some of the stigma away from money for women.

Maria (Handful of Thoughts)

Must Read: Is Your Echo Chamber Limiting Your Growth?

Best Personal Finance Blogs on Debt

She Picks Up Pennies

“Penny” is a fellow teacher who is focused on living a more intentional and purposeful life. The money decisions she has made allow her to live a more fulfilled life. Penny and her husband have managed to pay off over $100,000 of debt on teacher salaries. Penny also writes about her experiences as a mom to “Half-Penny” and gives some great parenting advice as well as ideas for things to do with toddlers. I could have easily put this blog in the simple living category as well. Her blog posts are entertaining, relatable, and informative, all at the same time.

I created my blog because I wanted to chronicle my attempts to live more purposefully and spend more thoughtfully. I hope readers realize that you don’t need a six figure salary to use your money to live the life you want. And honestly? I learn more from my readers than anything, I think, thanks to the ideas and insights they leave in the comments. We grow together!

Penny (She Picks Up Pennies)

Must Read: We Could Pay Off Our Mortgage – So Why Aren’t We?

Arrest Your Debt

Ryan is a police lieutenant who has created a very successful blog based on his experiences with debt over the past 15 years. Ryan’s blog is very much catered toward first responders, but the advice is relevant to everyone. If you are in debt and looking to regain control of your money, this might be the site for you. Ryan will show you how to get out of debt and start to save, while also taking into account the additional stresses of a difficult job.

As a first responder, I have seen first hand how other first responders deal with stress. Many police officers experience traumatic and stressful experiences on a daily basis and they attempt to self-medicate through poor spending habits. With so much responsibility at work, many officers and firefighters ignore their home life, including their finances, which eventually leads to even more stress. My mission is to help people get out of debt and start building wealth on any income.

ryan (arrest your debt)

Must Read: Simple Steps to Start Your Debt Free Life

Best Personal Finance Blogs on Budgeting and Saving

I Like to Dabble

Daniella is a self-proclaimed “serial side hustler” who likes to dabble in a bunch of different projects to make money on the side. Looking to make a few extra bucks? One of the quickest ways is through a side hustle and Daniella is an expert. Whether you’d like more money for savings or you’re trying to get out of debt, a side hustle can be a great tool. There is plenty of information on here about saving and budgeting your money along with a wealth of resources on how to start your own side hustle and make it grow.

I created my blog at first as a creative outlet and then wanted to switch from a hobby blog to a brand. I wanted to create a safe space for those looking to explore creative and different side hustles. I hope my readers learn that they can do the crazy thing! It will be hard but it’s so worth it. Everyone has something amazing they can share with the world and make money doing it.

Daniella (I like to dabble)

Must Read: 49 Side Hustle Ideas to Create More Income Streams in 2021

Brave Saver

Elyssa is all about the personal aspects of personal finance. She gained little traction with the traditional strategies and steps for financial success. Instead, she takes a holistic approach to money. Elyssa doesn’t just talk about how to save and why, but also what’s going on in our lives and personalities that might keep us from those goals. She encourages all of us to make brave decisions that are right for us.

I created Brave Saver because after writing for years about money and personal finance, I realized I had a lot to say on the topic. Among all the informational posts full of tips and explanations of accounts, I felt something was missing: more conversations about us, the humans who are actually managing money. I wanted to dive into discussing the behavioral, emotional, and psychological side of money to better understand why money can sometimes be so hard, challenging, and complicated.

When money advice doesn’t talk about the human side of personal finance? It often gives us the message that we’re the problem. That we’re bad with money, failing at it, and not doing enough. Some money experts use explicitly judgmental, prescriptive, and shaming language as a way to “tough love” readers into better money habits.

But I want my readers to know that struggling with money is not a moral failure. It doesn’t make you a bad or irresponsible person. What it means is you are human, and that’s okay. I want to help you learn more about yourself and your relationship with money, so you can start to see new creative ways to improve it. I want to get past all the judgments to reach a place of greater financial awareness, compassion, and resilience.

And I want to help you learn to be your own ultimate authority of your finances, yourself, and your life — with the self-knowledge to know what is and isn’t right for you.

Ultimately, my mission with Brave Saver is simple: I want to help you improve your self worth as you increase your net worth.

Elyssa (brave saver)

Must Read: Your Money Needs You to Be Your Own Best Friend

Four Pillar Freedom

Zach runs an immensely popular website based on…can you guess??? four pillars. The four pillars are Philosophy, Psychology, Work Ethic, and Finance. Zach has been successful enough to quit his full-time job and he now runs multiple websites. His posts are always informative, and his ability to add aspects of psychology and philosophy to personal finance help his articles stand out from the rest.

Must Read: The Math That Explains Why Net Worth Goes Crazy After the First $100K

Best Personal Finance Blogs on Retirement

A Purple Life

“Purple” just retired at the age of 30. No, that’s not a typo. In her blog, she has chronicled her journey to financial independence (FI) and is now writing about retired life. She started optimizing and hyper-focusing on her savings at age 25 and just recently retired. Her posts are entertaining and relatable while also being so damn impressive. As she has entered retired life, one of her goals is to travel, while also maintaining her blog. She’s proof that you don’t have to spend much money at all to enjoy life.

I started my blog to catalog my journey to and through early retirement. It was for Future Me to look back on. As it grew, I was hoping to provide a slightly different example in the FIRE space as a black woman who worked in marketing, isn’t getting married, isn’t having kids and plans to live a fairly frugal international nomad life.

purple (a purple life)

Must Read: Jobs Suck Because They’re Never-Ending Group Projects

Educator FI

As you might gather from the name of the blog, Ed is involved in education. His site provides tons of resources tailored toward educators, but it doesn’t end there. Honestly, most of what Ed posts are applicable to everyone whether you are in the field of education or not. Ed and his wife, both in education, went from six figures of debt to a net worth in the seven figures. They will both have the option to retire within the next couple of years. He chronicles what he has learned along his incredible journey to financial independence.

I love being an educator, but far too many of us are stressed about money and it impacts our effectiveness and ability to enjoy what we do. I hope to help dispel the myth that we are doomed to poverty by supporting educators in personal finance, career advancement, and solid decision-making.

ed (educator fi)

Must Read: Money Can’t Buy Happiness? It Can Buy Important Ingredients

The Fioneers

Jessica writes about finding a balance between work and life. While most people agree that the mundane 9-5 job can be a drag sometimes, Jess decided to do something about it. Instead of working more hours, adding in new side hustles, and putting more on her plate to retire early, Jess has opted for “Slow FI”. She reduced the number of hours she was working so that she could focus on herself and her own mental health. Her frugality and wise money decisions have helped her live the life she wants now instead of pushing herself to the limit to eventually retire early. Recently, Jess has been able to make enough money through her blog to walk away from her job completely. Jess gives great financial advice, but her message is always personal.

I help people discover who they really are, what they want in life, the unique impact that they can have on the world, and the skills/strategies/mindsets to feel good doing it. Working toward financial freedom is a core component of being able to become the best version of ourselves and reach our full potential. This is what motivates me to write about personal finance and lifestyle design.  

Jessica (The Fioneers)

Must Read: Why I’m Saying “No” More Often

Retirement Manifesto

Fritz has one of the most comprehensive and best personal finance blogs. If you plan on retiring in the next ten years or so, this is a great resource. Fritz and his wife retired at the age of 55. They have spent the bulk of their time traveling the country since. He’s also the author of a book, Keys to a Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active, and Productive in Your Retired Years. Fritz not only talks about the numbers and financial aspects of retirement, but he also covers a lot of the psychological and emotional challenges that come with it.

I started this blog 3 years before my retirement with the hope that others could learn from my journey to and through retirement. I’ve now been writing for 5 years (retired for 2 years) and my byline of “Helping People Achieve A Great Retirement” has become a fulfilling Purpose in my retirement.”

Fritz (The Retirement manifesto)

Must Read: The Ultimate Retirement Planning Guide

Accidental FIRE

Dave writes about everything in personal finance and does it in a creative way. His path to financial independence is an interesting one. He had never heard of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and he hadn’t given early retirement much thought when he suddenly realized he had enough money saved to retire using the 4% rule. Hence, the name Accidental FIRE. He is also an avid outdoorsman. He has managed to cycle over 5,000 miles in each of the last two years as well as hiking up all 58 Colorado mountains that peak above 14,000 feet! You can read up about more of his adventures on his blog as well.

I created the blog because I feel the mechanics of good personal finance aren’t that hard, but the psychology and complexities of life that drive our behaviors related to money are far more difficult to understand, and fascinating to study.  Having achieved financial independence in my mid 40’s I feel I navigated those behaviors relatively well, and want to help others do the same through my stories.

Dave (accidental fire)

Must Read: Do You Live in a 15-Minute Neighborhood?

Tread Lightly, Retire Early

Angela has been such an essential member of the personal finance community. In addition to her regular blog posts giving financial advice, she also puts out Women’s Personal Finance Wednesday each week. Angela is on the path to FI (Financial Independence), but she has no immediate plans to retire. Instead, working toward financial independence will allow her to choose what she wants (and doesn’t want) to do.

Must Read: The True Cost of Saying Yes (Revisited)

Best Personal Finance Blogs on Investing

JL Collins

JL Collins is one of the most respected members of the personal finance community. A lot of his content revolves around investing, but he has one of the best overall personal finance blogs. He is also the author of an immensely popular book, “The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Roadmap to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life” which simplifies the process of achieving financial independence. This was one of the first books I read when I started to become interested in personal finance. Specifically, if you are looking for investing advice, this is the spot for you. Whether you are a beginner trying to differentiate between a Roth and Traditional IRA or you are advanced enough to be calculating the percentage of VTSAX you should buy, you are in the right place.

Must Read: Why Your House is a Terrible Investment

The Dumpster Dog

Amanda, aka “Dumpster Dog” could easily fall into the next category as one of the most entertaining blogs. Her posts are creative and hilarious. However, she has a ton of great content specific to investing. Her blog is tailored to young women, but everyone can learn (and laugh) from reading her posts. Some people may find the topic of personal finance boring, but not on Dumpster Dog. She originally worked in the investment industry and is now a long term financial planner.

My purpose with my blog is to make personal finance and in particular, investing, accessible to those who have been left out of these conversations. I am a clown who goes to great lengths to take this crusty old information and make it into something entertaining and even joyful!

Amanda (dumpster dog blog)

Must Read: How to Be a Dumpster Dog: A NEW and DIFFERENT Saving Solution

The Most Entertaining Personal Finance Blogs

Bitches Get Riches

Piggy and Kitty are the masterminds behind this entertaining and informative blog. They are equal parts knowledgeable and hilarious. They focus on helping younger people avoid and get out of debt and set them on a path to financial independence. Their ability to give great advice in a creative, funny and oftentimes profane way makes them one of the best personal finance blogs out there. But don’t just take my word for it. They won “Best Personal Finance Blog” this year in the Plutus Awards!

Traditional money media leaves a lot of people in the dark. And that includes early-twenties Kitty and Piggy! Like many millennials, we stumbled through early adulthood without a clue. We had to rely on each other, compare notes, and learn shit on the fly because we were never taught the skills we needed to navigate the financial world in an accessible and encouraging way. Surely we couldn’t have been alone. And the more we learned about personal finance and economic systems, the more realized how those systems exclude marginalized groups. So we decided to be the accessible, encouraging, and (hopefully) entertaining source of basic financial literacy we longed for in our salad days! Let the younglings learn from our mistakes and benefit from our experience! Let them gain the Secret Knowledge from our how-tos and be radicalized by our discontented screeds on late-stage capitalism! And let them learn that the highest form of humor is not simply dick jokes about money… but also money jokes about dicks.

piggy (bitches get riches)

Must Read: I Lost My Job and It Might Be the Best Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened to Me

Burrito Bowl Diaries

Mr. Burrito Bowl writes some of the most entertaining content, period. His blog covers many personal finance topics but is not limited to that. Additionally, he covers lots of the psychological and social factors that come to impact our finances. Come for the humor, sarcasm, and amazing stick figure drawings, stay for the thoughtful and relevant information.

I started the blog because I love to write and I needed an outlet. Once I found FI I became much like a newly converted religious person. I wanted to share the good news with everyone. Then I realized there were 47,000 personal finance blogs on the internet and I already wrote that one post about the rule of 72 so I sort of transitioned to being more mindfulness-centered. I know in my head it’s the journey, not the destination so I started focusing more on being present in the moment and how to be satisfied with each day. I hope readers find themselves armed with one or two tools to become more content people. Also I hope they laugh some.

Mr. burrito bowl (burrito bowl diaries)

Must Read: If You Just Save a Little Bit, It’s Not Really Worth It. Ya Know?

The Best Personal Finance Blogs that Originally Inspired Me

Jillian Johnsrud (Montana Money Adventures)

Montana Money Adventures (as it was known at the time) not only had a major impact on my understanding of personal finance and FI, but this blog also set me on a path toward minimalism and a more intentional life. I consider it one of the best personal finance blogs, but I also learned so much about simplicity and mindset from reading those posts. Jillian went from being in debt 15 years ago, to financial independence at age 32, all while raising six kids! Currently, Jillian runs a top-rated podcast titled, “Everyday Courage” and she is also a speaker and mentor and runs her own FI retreat in Montana. I don’t listen to many podcasts, but I have listened to Jillian’s and they are outstanding!

The purpose of my blog and newsletter is to help people master their money so they can build meaningful and enjoyable lives. I started writing as a hobby 6 months after my husband and I retired and now it’s a full education company with the goal of helping a million people over the next decade.

jillian

Must Read: Hardwired for Lifestyle Inflation and How to Beat It!

Our Next Life

Tanja originally created her blog to track her journey toward financial independence and early retirement. Along with her husband, Mark, they started planning what their “Next Life” would look like after retirement. Tanja chronicled their journey of saving until they had enough money to retire from their jobs. Tanja is the author of Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way and she is currently working on a new book called Wallet Activism. She has also teamed up with Kara Perez to co-host an outstanding podcast, called Fairer Cents. She has not only used her platform to give great financial advice, but she has also become an outspoken leader in the FI community, supporting many social justice initiatives.

While I started the blog in part to have documentation of our financial journey, it was also to start conversations that I didn’t see happening elsewhere online. At first it was representing women and progressive ideas in the FIRE space, which was overwhelmingly white and male when I joined five years ago, then it was pushing the entire personal finance community to be more aware of our role in upholding racist and classist structures, and now to focusing almost entirely on using money in the interest of our collective good, for both social and environmental justice. It’s never been interesting to me to write about things that everyone else is writing about, unless it seems like something big is being left out of the conversation. I’m much more interested in drawing attention to the things people haven’t been thinking about, especially when those things are actionable.

tanja (our next life)

Must Read: How We Pay Ourselves First: Advice for Money-Conscious Non-Budgeters

Mr. Money Mustache

I’m not sure where to start with Mr. Money Mustache. This was the blog that started it all for me. MMM’s unique style of writing made personal finance, extreme frugality, and early retirement fascinating concepts. I read through every blog post he had ever written in one weekend. Since that point, I was hooked. Pete still blogs, but not nearly as frequently as he once did. Instead, he has created his own Mustachian group and with meetups across the country. He also does lots of charitable work in and around his hometown of Longmont, Colorado.

Must Read: A Lifetime of Riches — Is it as Simple as a Few Habits?

What Did I Miss?

This list is simply a collection of the personal finance blogs that I have found most helpful during my journey. I know there are many, many others that are great.

So what did I miss? What do you think are the best personal finance blogs? Please feel free to add them in the comments below. I would love to find more great blogs to read.