As some of you will have picked up from reading our Weekend Reading articles, I read a lot of different blogs and often comment on the articles that peak my interest. In our Weekend Reading we’ve highlighted a large number of blogs both big and small, personal finance and lifestyle. I wanted to discuss my favourite blogs with a few words as to why I enjoy these writers.
This great personal finance blog written by Frugal Trader is one of the first personal finance blogs I read when I decided I needed to get keenly interested in our personal finances. Frugal Trader has a goal he is well one his way to attaining: having a net worth of at least $1 million by the time he turns 35. As I was about to turn 35 when I stumbled upon FT’s blog and I was no where near a net worth of $1 million. As I was now married and considering starting a family I found MDG a fantastic resource to start learning about personal finance. From this site I learned about the Smith Manoeuvre, the MBNA Mastercard and Red Flag Deals and Canadian Money forums
Mike Holman, a financial professional writes Money Smarts Blog. Mike has been a great resource for myself in our young blogging careers with advice about SEO, look and feel, how-to techie stuff and other sage advice. Mike gives out this advice freely and without expectation of returns of any kind and from what I can tell he treats the quality financial articles on Money Smarts Blog the same way. If you want to learn about RESPs, TFSAs, the Smith Manoeuvre and countless other financial topics this is a great site to read for any Canadian. One section Mike has is Baby Expenses which we are KEENLY interested in right now since we are expecting in October. I keep going back to Money Smarts Blog and for good reason.
Sustainable Life Blog
When I first thought about writing our own blog I was looking for an appropriate blog name. When I typed: sustainable finance into the Google search engine I saw The Sustainable Life Blog so I headed over to the site to check it out. When I read “Typically, the best thing for the earth, your health and your wallet are the same thing, but habit, “convenience” and many other things prevent us from taking that route.” in the About section I knew i’d found a blog I would be reading well into the future. Jeff, who writes the blog, is a really good guy to chat with and he’s very open to working with others.
THE Canadian Personal Finance Blog
It seems to me that far too often in the Personal Finance realm of the blogging community everyone is overly polite and purposely watching their tongues. Are we simply trying to not offend, do we dislike adversity or are we nervous we’ll lose readers? Well, Big Cajun Man who writes THE Canadian Personal Finance Blog shows no fear with his rants when ranting is the most appropriate reaction to a (usually) touchy subject. Sprinkle in a lot of personal finance discussion with some politics and news of the moment topics and this site is a natural for me. I comment there often and highlight Big Cajun Man’s posts in most every Weekend Reading edition.
The Art of Manliness
I found the Art of Manliness recently. I am a man and not ashamed of that fact. This site is a fantastic resource for the things men really should know and know how to do. This site isn’t like a lot of the “men’s magazines” – there are no pictures of actresses or models. What you will find is great advice on everything from tying ties and typing knots or topics like caring for a pregnant wife. They also have some awesome giveaways but the site is so popular there get thousands of entries for each prize!
Another of the first sites I found when trying to learn about personal finances and investment tips. CCP advocates investing with ETFs and has a plethora of different portfolios styled to different types of investors. A great resource site for those who want to invest but don’t have the time, inclination or know how to invest in individual stocks but want to know what is an ETF.
This is a website I promote to my friends and family. Everyone likes to save money, right? Sometimes it takes a lot of work to understand all of your options and truly analyze what you should do to save money. Saving Mentor, who writes HowToSaveMoney.ca, does a fantastic job researching and analyzing the best way Canadians can save money. Whether you want to save on Internet, phone, want to get free TV or need to understand what the best credit card options are – Saving Mentor has it covered. When I send my Mom and Dad to this site you know I hold it in high regard.
Thanks for the kind words – very flattering.
Hey, thanks for the inclusion in your favourite blogs list SPF!
For those checking out the site for the first time – sorry there isn’t any new content in the past several weeks. There will definitely be more content again in the future when my life cools off a bit.
The good news – there should be enough existing content there to keep you busy for quite some time! :)
Sustainable Personal Finance is definitely one of the blogs I frequent most so you will definitely be on my top blog list if and when I get around to making one.
Honoured to be on your list, thanks!
Perhaps you can add my site to your list…it’s all about Stylishly Frugal Living. Frugal Living is often associated with being bland and boring. It doesn’t have to be, if you add some style to it!
Thanks for sharing this list – a few of the blogs you mention are ones that I haven’t had the pleasure of reading. I’ll check them out.
Also – I chuckled at your comment that “I am a man and not ashamed of that fact”. Well, there’s no reason to be ashamed!!
Thanks so much for the inclusion and for saying such kind things about me and my blog. I am honoured to be listed.
Hope all is well with you two and that Mrs. SPF is feeling ok. Have you had your first ultrasound yet?
Of course Miss T!
Our first ultrasound is about 1 month out. I guess there is a “range” to get it done and we’re scheduled toward the end of that range. Could feel the little one boogying around last night tho which was totally cool.
These are really good blogs. I salute all of the authors for their success and for making it to this list. I think it’s important to educate people about personal finance because the value of learning how to save and invest their money will help not only their household but also the whole economy. More power everyone!
Thanks for posting this list. It’s always fun to get exposure to other sites. If you like crazy, pull no punches kinds of blogs, you should check out Financial Uproar. http://financialuproar.com/ He isn’t politically correct, but he can be hilarious.
With some luck, maybe I’m make your list next year too.
Cheers!
Andrew