The Best Financial Blogs of 2015

There are so many Financial Blogs out there today. It seems like every day, a few more pop up out of nowhere. So, how do you know which blogs to follow and which ones will give the best financial advice?

Like all financial advice, some of it might not be suited for everyone, so it’s important to fully understand which blog is right for your unique situation. You can start with a few of my favorites and see if those fit the bill. Below, I will provide a detailed description of my top three picks and why I like them. I’ll cover who might be interested in following these blogs, the Pros and Cons of each blog, and some honorable mentions or runner-ups that are still worth checking out.

Top Three Best Financial Blogs

#1: Get Rich Slowly

 

Get Rich Slowly truly has it ALL in one place. They usually post about once a day, if not more, and their user engagement is very good. People comment, share ideas, ask questions, and participate in this wonderful financial blog. The blog currently has a total following of over 130,000 people (Facebook, Twitter, Google+)! They have around 14 different Authors, so you’re not just getting one person’s opinion or viewpoint. Get Rich Slowly has close to 19,000 blog feed subscribers and followers.

This blog is about personal finance that makes sense. They ask their readers what questions they need answered or what topics they would like to see more of. It’s very engaging and personal. It gives every post a “true voice” and feeling behind what the author is saying. They also have a Forum that you can join to discuss topics such as, Personal Finance, Personal Development, Tips, Tricks, Helpful Links, Success Stories, and Pointers to name just a few.

Pros –

• Over 28 different Categories to choose from
• Named the BEST Blog by Time Magazine
• Voted Most Inspiring Blog by Money Magazine
• It has been around since 2006
• An extensive list of personal finance tools
• Get Rich Slowly community is awesome and always willing to discuss anything

Cons –

• They have a lot of Credit Card Ads and Bank Account Ads on the right-hand side
• So many blog posts that it can feel overwhelming at times
• You have to give a name and email address to leave a comment

#2: WiseBread

 

WiseBread is a large community of bloggers that’s there to help you live large on a small budget. The three creators of WiseBread have known each other since high school. Individuals will sometimes comment, share ideas, and ask questions on this financial blog, but not as much as Get Rich Slowly. The blog currently has a total following of over 68,000 people (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). They have over 45 different Writers which is more than Get Rich Slowly has. They have close to 14,000 blog feed subscribers. WiseBread is very active on social media and they even hold a weekly Twitter Chat (#WBChat) every Thursday at 12:00 pm Pacific.

This personal finance blog has so many great tips and suggestions for being more frugal and learning to live on a budget so you can save money. They post several times a day so there’s a pretty good chance they have something you are looking for. They even have a “Best Deals” section with amazing online deals, coupons, promo codes, and sales.

Pros –

• They have been around since 2006
• Savvy shopping tips to keep you stylish, sassy, and solvent
• Financial advice that is easy to understand and easy to apply
• Career and money-making ideas
• They post multiple times a day about a wide variety of topics

Cons –

• They have a few Ads littered here and there on each page
• With so many different writers and multiple posts a day there’s a lot of information to sift through and it can feel overwhelming at times
• User engagement is not as good as Get Rich Slowly

#3: Money Crashers

 

Money Crashers is a wonderful personal finance blog whose motto is “Your Guide to Financial Fitness”. This blog is full of awesome ideas and everyday useful money-saving tips. They say that their mission is to develop a community of people who try to make financially sound decisions. This personal financial blog attempts to educate people in making wise financial choices about credit and debt, investing, education, real estate, insurance, and budgeting.

Money Crashers has been mentioned on MSNBC, AOL Daily Finance, ABC Good Morning America, and CBS News to name just a few. This blog currently has a total following of over 38,000 people (Facebook, Twitter, Google+)! They have over 50 unique and different Authors which is pretty impressive. It’s a good sign when you have so many people wanting to write for your blog. Money Crashers has over 78,000 blog feed subscribers and followers. That is super impressive!

Pros –

• A huge number of blog subscribers and followers
• The website serves around 800,000 monthly readers
• Money Crashers has been around since 2008

Cons –

• The layout of the blog isn’t that appealing
• They also have some unsightly Ad banners at the top and right-hand side

Honorable Mentions and Runner-Ups:

 

Broke Millennial is about the journey of a 25-year-old millennial learning to be a fiscally responsible member of “Generation Me.” It’s full of humor and great advice. Erin started this blog to increase financial literacy, mostly through telling funny financial tales from her own life, and sneaking in an actual money lesson or two. It has a decent social media following and user engagement through comments. It’s definitely worth checking it out and laughing along with the author on some great posts.

MoneyNing is about all helping people become debt free, showing you how to build wealth, and showing you how certain financial choices impact your life. The founder David Ning is really passionate about the journey to financial independence. MoneyNing was founded in July of 2007. David is a published author, entrepreneur, and proud dad. He started MoneyNing with the hopes of reaching people who need that extra little motivational push to get them to really care about their personal finances. MoneyNing is frequented by more than 450,000 unique visitors every month.

Debt Round Up is the brainchild of Grayson Bell and he created this website in 2013 after he took his own journey to get out of debt. Debt Roundup is dedicated to figuring out how to get your personal finances in order and to push yourself to get out of debt. This blog provides people with ideas to help them move on from debt and create a stable financial future. Certain topics are discussed such as: “How can you use credit wisely?” “Can you use credit cards again?” “How do you build your wealth?” These are just a few of the things that will be tackled on Debt Roundup.

How I Chose the Best Financial Blogs:

 

There are literally thousands of personal finance blogs out there across the Internet. I wanted to make sure I found very reputable and well-liked blogs that are highly regarded in their industry. Here are all of the factors that I considered:

• Endurance: Personal finance blogs that have been around longer have more of a reputation to uphold and less incentive to engage in shady practices.
• A clear, comprehensive, and nicely designed website: The best personal finance blogs will provide clear descriptions of their missions and reasons for doing what they do. It should be easy to find exactly what you are looking for, and it should be appealing so you stay for a long time and keep reading.
• Active and popular in social media: The best personal finance blogs should have a very high following rate and user engagement all throughout the major Social Media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram.
• Post frequency: They should have a pretty predictable schedule for when they release new content. The more information the better, so it’s important to find a blog that posts at least once a week or even more. Nobody wants to follow a blog that only posts once a month or every other month.
• How many categories: The categories should be easy to find and understand. They should include a broad range of topics so you can be sure that you’ll find what you are looking for. You should be able to navigate through each category very easily.
• Number of free tools, e-books, white papers, etc: The top personal finance blogs want to educate their readers with a thorough variety of educational articles, videos, calculators, online classes, e-books, white papers, and other helpful information.
• Number of Authors: A blog only having one author is not necessarily a bad thing, but if there are multiple authors it gives the blog a “different voice” and you’ll receive many different opinions on the same subject. Having a large number of authors usually means that they post new content often and maybe even several times a day.
• Number of Blog Subscribers: This is a good indicator on how well this blog performs. The more subscribers a blog has, the more it is likely you’ll find it interesting as well and want to subscribe yourself.

Conclusion:

 

Personal finance blogs can be a useful tool, but only if you’re disciplined enough to understand your current financial situation and do the things necessary to improve it. The best personal finance blogs will make sure you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into, what steps you’ll need to take next, and what habits you’ll need to change long-term to avoid financial problems.

Above all, you should be interested in following helpful advice to better improve your situation and make smart money decisions. You should be entertained, challenged, and appreciative of the information provided. Hopefully, you’ll subscribe to our blog as well as the ones mentioned above to become a financial guru, and learn all you can about money management, budgeting, saving money, getting out of debt, building wealth and protecting your financial future.