There are a lot of people giving financial advice on the Internet. We looked for sites that are updated frequently and that offer excellent advice on a well-rounded list of topics in the area of personal finance. Below is our list of the top ten financial blogs along with our reasons for including them.
#1 Wise Bread
Wise Bread sits comfortably at or near the top of personal finance blogs. Blog posts are directed at a readers in different stages of life giving the site broad appeal. Wise Bread was started by three college friends who wanted to build a blogging community that would pay bloggers a competitive income. The blog’s theme is that you can live large on a small budget. The site has a simple layout, but is packed with information found in sections and topics that can be browsed easily using the top navigation bar. The right sidebar gives top billing to their list of hot topics making it easy for you to follow the conversations.
Currently, Wise Bread has a community manager and a group of writers who contribute content each week. Some of these writers have their own finance blogs and at least one, David Ning, is included on this list.
One special feature is their list of the top 100 most popular personal finance blogs.
#2 Get Rich Slowly
J.D. Roth started Get Rich Slowly in 2006 after reading personal financial guides to help him get a handle on his own debt. Today he shares advice to help others get out of debt, set financial goals and save money. Get Rich Slowly is another site that is easy to read and navigate. The top navigation bar takes you to the different categories with some breaking out into more detailed topics.
J.D. retired from Get Rich Slowly, but can be found at Time’s Moneyland blog and at his personal site More than Money. He leaves GRS in the hands of a dedicated group of financial bloggers, with some sharing their personal financial stories about getting out of debt or living a frugal lifestyle.
A unique feature at Get Rich Slowly is the high yield savings account comparison tool.
#3 Financial Samurai
Sam Dogen is passionate about helping others achieve financial independence. He retired early from corporate America in 2012 after building enough passive income to live comfortably. Sam not only writes for those looking to gain some financial independence, but he supports other bloggers in the personal finance genre. He is the driving force behind the Yakezie Network and Challenge, a community built to support personal finance bloggers and help them grow their sites. FinancialSamurai.com is a good looking, fast loading site. It is lean with common sense navigation that takes you directly to the most helpful sections of the website. Sam is still the only writer at Financial Samurai, but he accepts guest posts from knowledgeable writers. The content is authoritative and very well written.
A unique feature at Financial Samurai is the Yakezie Network.
#4 Good Financial Cents
Certified Financial Planner, Jeff Rose, started Good Financial Cents in 2008 because he wanted to reach more people to help them take charge of their personal financial lives. The site is uncluttered, highly organized and easy to navigate. The main sections of the site are titled Get Out of Debt, Retirement Tips, How to Invest, Build Your Credit and Entrepreneurship. Jeff has the help of a couple of other experienced financial writers. There is no prominent link offering guest post opportunities.
A unique feature of Good Financial Cents is that most of the content is written by a certified financial planner.
#5 MoneyNing
David Ning founded MoneyNing in 2007 to help people save money and pay off their debt. David and his team share common sense advice with their readers and periodically write about other topics that are indirectly related to personal finance. The site is attractive and uncluttered. Navigation is well organized and easy to follow. MoneyNing has a team of five writers who keep fresh content posted on the site and who keep the conversations moving.
A unique feature of MoneyNing is the three category navigation bar that takes the reader to pages centered around frugal living, investing and money management. Each page is very organized with links to important articles on the site that from each category.
#6 Money Talks News
Stacy Johnson, CPA is the driving force behind Money Talks News. Johnson and his large team of writers work to communicate financial news and advice in a way that matters to their readers. Money Talks News has a large number of categories with the front page presented in a news style layout rather than a blog layout. It is a fairly busy layout that can be overwhelming but readers can rely on the well organized navigation bar to find their way around the site. The site has several staff writers and editors keeping it constantly updated. Money Talk News offers a generous link agreement with bloggers who offer guest posts. They also will sometimes pay a freelancer for content.
I unique feature of Money Talk News is its collection of personal finance videos.
#7 Prairie Eco-Thrifter
Miss T is the owner and lead writer at Prairie Eco-Thrifter. She started the site after making a change to live a more “frugal, healthy and green” lifestyle. She has combined her passions for writing and helping others in her blog. Prairie Eco-Thrifter has a nice clean design with a lot of white space. It is uncluttered and easy to navigate. Miss T has a group of staff writers helping her post fresh content on the blog frequently. She is open to guest posts and has an easy submission process.
A unique feature at Prairie Eco-Thrifter is a group of series. There are three topics – 7 Ways to Increase Your Wealth, Financial Lessons from Running a Marathon, and Get a Financially Savvy Brain.
#8 College Investor
Robert Farrington is an MBA graduate and started The College Investor in 2009 because he has a passion for helping people with their personal finances, especially where it concerns getting out from under student loan debt. College Investor has a good looking design and is uncluttered and easy to navigate. Main sections are titled Student Loan Debt, Investing 101 and Personal Finance Basics. Robert has two other writers helping out to keep content fresh and welcomes guest posts from other bloggers.
A unique feature of College Investor is the amount of information about managing and paying off student loan debt.
#9 The Simple Dollar
Trent Hamm started The Simple Dollar site in 2006 after he and his family went through a financial meltdown. He has a very compelling story and shares it openly. He also shares tips and tricks to getting out of debt and offers advice on living a frugal lifestyle. The site has evolved into so much more than one man’s story. The Simple Dollar is very easy to read and has a clean, uncluttered look. It has easy to follow top navigation with articles and hot topics listed in the right sidebar.
The site currently boasts an impressive list of contributing writers with an emphasis on those who can demystify the different types of insurance.
Trent runs a few weekly features and one that is particularly interesting is his Reader’s Mailbag. In this particular post, Trent takes the time to address several topics or questions sent in by readers.
#10 Money Saving Mom
Crystal Paine runs Money Saving Mom to help her readers save money and improve their quality of life. She credits her mother with teaching her at an early age to use coupons and make meal plans to get the most out of her grocery budget as she helped prepare meals for their family of nine. She came up with the idea for the site Money Saving Mom after she wrote about living on a very low grocery budget on her former blog and was inundated with questions from her readers asking how they could replicate her budget success. Money Saving Mom has a simple layout design with a more detailed navigation bar. There are a lot of categories and Crystal has designed the site to keep the pages uncluttered despite the full navigation menu. Crystal has a large team of family members and blogging friends who help her maintain the site and keep the information fresh and flowing. She has also made it very easy to submit deals and guest posts.
A unique feature at Money Saving Mom is the coupon database.