Wealthtender’s Finance Blog Startups to Watch in 2022

With more than 2,000 personal finance blogs in the U.S. alone, it can be difficult for newer blogs and amateur bloggers to stand out and get noticed.

But with millions of people looking for help with money matters on the internet everyday, new finance blogs sharing the diverse perspectives and unique life experiences of their founders play an important role extending the reach and impact delivered by the personal finance community.

Wealthtender is committed to raising awareness of up and coming finance blogs and celebrating the success of amateur bloggers as they grow through the startup stage to reach new milestones and help more people achieve their financial goals.

Introducing Wealthtender’s Finance Blog Startups to Watch

Rising from Amateur Blog to Becoming a Business

With the launch of Wealthtender’s Finance Blog Startups to Watch, we’re excited to help introduce more people to the newest finance blogs and their founders. We also hope hearing directly from these creators will encourage anyone who has been thinking about starting a finance blog to take the next step. As you’ll read in this article, many of these founders have already moved beyond amateur blogger status on their path to building a sustainable business for themselves while delivering significant value to their fans and followers.

This article is organized in sections based on the month and year each site was launched. For example, sites launched in 2019 are in the “Class of 2019” section.

In many instances, we’ve included feedback from well established and successful finance blog owners who kindly agreed to review these new sites. We believe their thoughts and suggestions are valuable for the founders of these new blogs along with all readers who either own a finance blog today or are thinking of taking the first step on their own journey from amateur blog to business owner.

We’ll update this article at least twice a year to introduce you to the newest finance blogs.

Wealthtender congratulates all new finance blog founders on the launch of your sites and we wish you the greatest success in the years to come. Thank you for becoming a part of the personal finance community dedicated to helping people enjoy life more with less money stress on their path to financial freedom.

Finance Blogs – Class of 2021

Founder Name: Lisa

Site Description: Managing your money effectively in a way that helps you to reach your financial goals is no easy task. Living in a state of constant financial difficulty does not have to be your norm. Adapt Your Dollars is about making changes and modifying the way you are using your money so you can use it to live your best life. Learning the basics of money management, living frugally to spend less money so you can live below your means, and finding ways to increase your income are all effective ways to improve your financial situation.

What inspired you to launch your site: Growing up I was never taught how to manage money effectively. I had to learn the hard way after going into debt early in life. As my financial knowledge grew and my financial situation improved, friends started coming to me with questions about their money problems. I decided to start this blog to put my knowledge in writing so I can help as many people as possible avoid the mistakes I once made. I want my readers to know there is hope, don’t give up, keep learning, and adapting your money habits until you are living the life you want to live!

Favorite Article: Frugal Living: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide

Why is this your favorite article: Living below your means is a stepping stone to achieving financial wellness. Living a frugal lifestyle and spending intentionally is a great way to help you live below your means. I strongly believe changing my lifestyle to a frugal lifestyle has been one of the most important aspects of achieving financial wellness for my family. One of the goals of my blog is to help others learn to live a frugal lifestyle to help them achieve their financial goals.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Don’t worry about starting a blog in a crowded niche. Your experiences and personality will help your blog shine and attract readers. Be real and write from your heart. People will relate to you and you will help so many people just being you!

Founder Name: Katelyn Binkley

Site Description: The backbone of financial success is knowing where your money is coming from and, more importantly, where it is going. Hey You Finance wants to help you maximize your financial potential by encouraging diversified income, budgeting, investing, and managing your debt wisely.

What inspired you to launch your site: I created Hey You Finance to let others know that there is more than one path to financial success. I started working full time right out of high school, attended night and online classes at a community college to earn my Associate’s Degree in Accounting, and bought my first rental property at 19. After finding success my own way, I want to make sure that others know they, too, can take control of their finances!

Favorite Article: Pay Your House Off Early and Save Money While Doing It

Why is this your favorite article: The amount of interest paid on a mortgage is commonly overlooked. Too often, monthly payments are made blindly without actually understanding how the payment is broken down between principal and interest. This article explains the transparency that an amortization schedule provides into knowing how your payments are applied and how to calculate the impact of additional principal payments.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Stay focused and remain patient. Remember why you started.

Founder Name: Katelyn Binkley

Site Description: The backbone of financial success is knowing where your money is coming from and, more importantly, where it is going. Hey You Finance wants to help you maximize your financial potential by encouraging diversified income, budgeting, investing, and managing your debt wisely.

What inspired you to launch your site: I created Hey You Finance to let others know that there is more than one path to financial success. I started working full time right out of high school, attended night and online classes at a community college to earn my Associate’s Degree in Accounting, and bought my first rental property at 19. After finding success my own way, I want to make sure that others know they, too, can take control of their finances!

Favorite Article: Pay Your House Off Early and Save Money While Doing It

Why is this your favorite article: The amount of interest paid on a mortgage is commonly overlooked. Too often, monthly payments are made blindly without actually understanding how the payment is broken down between principal and interest. This article explains the transparency that an amortization schedule provides into knowing how your payments are applied and how to calculate the impact of additional principal payments.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Stay focused and remain patient. Remember why you started.

Founder Name: Money Sloth

Site Description: Chronicling the smart and steady path to financial independence. The Money Sloth covers topics including making/saving money, student loans, budgets, investing, and more!

What inspired you to launch your site: I found myself nearly $200,000 in student loan debt after college and wanted to chronicle my journey to achieve a positive net worth and eventually, financial independence. I’ve had a passion for personal finance from a very young age and decided it’s time to get involved in the online PF community and start contributing!

Favorite Article: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Why is this your favorite article: Public Service Loan Forgiveness is incredibly misunderstood. If more people understood PSLF and took advantage of it properly, it could significantly improve their financial situation! I will be able to eliminate $200,000 in education loans after just 10 years of working for a qualifying employer, a “benefit” worth about $20,000/year.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Just do it! I procrastinated for years in starting a blog. Just make it a priority to get started and keep at it.

Founder Name: Chris

Site Description: A non-traditional personal finance blog bringing meaning into money. My blog’s mission is to inspire readers to reach financial independence in a meaningful way–learning money and success habits along the way.

What inspired you to launch your site: I’m obsessed with personal finance because I’ve always struggled and still do managing my money. By means of earning more income, I’ve invested in myself and have had many wins along the way with my blog. Some include interviewing top entrepreneurs like JLD from EOFire and meeting personal finance celebrities like J Money.

Favorite Article: 7 Quality Ways to Earn Money Online in 2021 (and Beyond)

Why is this your favorite article: I spent years dabbling with different side hustles. Most information online is confusing (i.e. top 100 side hustles) and I’ve poured my personal experience into creating a post that’ll guide readers in the right direction.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Start a blog on something you care about and be obsessed with making your writing memorable. Anyone can write a boring “how-to” post, but few will inspire readers.

Founder Name: Rebecca Hunter

Site Description: We believe that every man and woman, no matter their age, has the power and ability to achieve their financial goals. That’s why we strive to provide valuable information, while at the same time simplifying personal finance topics in order to empower individuals during this rewarding journey.

What inspired you to launch your site: As a couple in our mid-20s, we realized it was hard to find people around us that we could talk to about personal finance topics such as, challenges in buying a house or getting the most out of our budget. So, we were constantly looking online for answers. We quickly realized that we were not alone. After reaching one of our biggest financial goals, buying a house, we decided to start The Loaded Pig to share our personal finance knowledge and help others reach their goals.

Favorite Article: 6 Ways Practicing Gratitude Can Transform Your Finances

Why is this your favorite article: We often overlook how changing our mindset can impact our finances. Taking the time express gratitude (even just to yourself) can truly transform your financial decision-making and your life.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Choose the platform wisely. Do your research and take your time understanding what features you need before you make your website. It’s much harder to switch later than to take the time before to learn more.

Founder Name: Jonathan Sanchez

Site Description: We’re parents building wealth whiling working full-time jobs. We aim to help others understand their money and generate passive income.

What inspired you to launch your site: Our site was born out of Jonathan getting furloughed from his job due to the pandemic. Once that event happened, we became more intentional with our money to work towards financial independence.

Favorite Article: Statement Balance vs. Current Balance

Why is this your favorite article: This article represents a milestone in our blogging career. This article is the first one we’ve written after learning the correct way to develop content.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Good keyword research is key! Find out what your audience is searching for and provide them a comprehensive answer.

Site Description: Mr. Blue Sky is comfortable with investing and money management risk; the FraidyCat has to resist burying gold in the backyard. Together, we’re tackling our big financial fears, establishing good financial habits, and sharing the journey along the way.

What inspired you to launch your site: During the pandemic, we have been taking a lot of walks and talking about financial goals and fears, and we wanted to talk honestly about them in a blog format.

Favorite Article: Non-Essential but Inelastic: A Personal Fascination

Why is this your favorite article: One of my thought experiments is about what holds medium-income folks back from financial security, and this article was a place where I played out one way that lifestyle creep calcifies into a belief that something “must” be part of the budget.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: It’s so fun and I’ve loved getting to read more PF blogs as I’m learning!

Founder Name: Chris

Site Description: During the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, we finally cemented significant changes to our career tracks. We changed our focus from day-to-day career-building to evaluating larger goals and plans. We wanted to set our eye on giving something back and discovering the more to living than work. TicTocLife is our story of how that has transpired. We’ve been working to earn our financial independence since before it was the cult topic it is today. Earning financial freedom is the first step in the process of early retirement which we detail throughout what we publish.

What inspired you to launch your site: The pandemic and looming recession can be the source of a smoulder for folks considering the advantages of reaching for financial independence or early retirement. In difficult situations, people are more likely to reconsider what they’ve taken for granted. We hope that sharing our story of taking steps into retirement, through a stage of pre-retirement, inspires others to consider what’s possible. We’ll take some twisting turns through psychology, personal finance tactics, and detail everything we’re dealing with along the way.

Favorite Article: The Difference Between Frugal and Cheap: Frugality Earns Profit

Why is this your favorite article: “The Difference Between Frugal and Cheap: Frugality Earns Profit” is our most popular article to date. It’s also the most linguistically fanciful, celebrating the inanity of small wins like selling a toothbrush but leaving the reader with what we hope is a life lesson in building a Frugality Muscle. The article takes a turn by revealing personal mistakes, putting on display how we’re all prone to choose cheap sometimes.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Start it! At first, it doesn’t have to be a blog website. Got an idea in your head? Write it out on paper or digitally. Hit it while it’s fresh and you’re driven. Don’t get lost in the minutiae of websites. Write! Once you’ve something you love, build the site.

Founder Name: Bella Wanana

Site Description: Bella Wanana is a passionate personal finance writer. She hopes to share her personal finance knowledge with the rest of the world, one blog post at a time.

What inspired you to launch your site: After successfully helping my close family members with their personal finance, I felt the burning desire to help as many people as I possibly can.

Favorite Article: Tuition Hacks 101

Why is this your favorite article: This is my favourite article because it provides valuable and practical tips for students who are looking to save money with their tuition. With the looming student debt crisis, such a blog post is timely. The contents are easily digestible, and the specific personal examples also make the blog post more personable.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: 1. Be genuinely passionate about the topic you want to write about. 2. Be patient, because success doesn’t come overnight.

Founder Name: Audra Kershner

Site Description: The Ambitious Dollar is a personal finance and professional development blog dedicated to those who are ready to be honest with themselves, take charge of their life, and start reaching their goals. We believe in embracing your shortcomings. We believe in capitalizing on your strengths. And, most importantly, we believe in keeping yourself open to the tough love we all need to hear sometimes.

What inspired you to launch your site: The inspiration for The Ambitious Dollar came from the Founder and CEO’s experience while completing her MBA. Audra Kershner has a firm belief that all people should feel confident in taking control of their finances, and that personal finance and wealth management information should not be limited to formal education avenues.

Favorite Article: Why You Should Stay the Course in the Market but not Your Job

Why is this your favorite article: This article represents the idea that ‘staying the course’ isn’t always in your best interest. It’s important to open yourself up to the idea that if you want to change your life for the better, you need to be open to doing things differently.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: I wish I would have started this years ago! Time is the most important resource in your life – so use it wisely. Don’t let fear or anxiety get in the way of you trying things. Even the millionaires of the world had to start somewhere, and most of them didn’t strike gold the very first time. But they did learn, and knowledge is power.

Founder Name: Anna Barker

Site Description: LogicalDollar aims to help people become financially empowered and in control of their money to put them on the path to financial freedom. This is based on the premise that effective money management doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s – dare I say it – logical.

What inspired you to launch your site: I’ve always been a strong believer in the need for people to take control of their finances, purely based on the freedom it gives you. At the same time, I consistently heard people in my life saying things like “investing is too complicated” or commenting on their “normal” credit card debt. These points just seemed crazy to me but the fact they kept getting mentioned indicated a real need for people to have more information on these issues. So I thought why not provide that information myself!

Favorite Article: The Only Three Budget Categories You Need to Stick to Your Budget

Why is this your favorite article: One of the main reasons why many people struggle to stick to their budget is because of over-complicating the process. This article sets out exactly why (and how) keeping it simple is the best way to approach this, making your budget easier to manage and more likely that you’ll follow it in the long term.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Patience is definitely key when it comes to growing your blog. Your audience will come, although it can take time, so don’t expect to rock the financial world on day one. At least the process of getting there is fun though!

Founder Name: Scarlett McCarthy

Site Description: Personal finance that’s written with female-identifying artists and creatives in mind.

What inspired you to launch your site: In 2019 I increased my net worth by 15k on a 35k salary and got really into personal finance in the process. But while I was getting into personal finance I found a conspicuous lack of advice for artists and creatives like me. So I did what anyone would do and starting a blog! Literally Broke is written with artists and creatives in mind, but it can be a resource for anyone who is looking to maximize their financial wellness.

Favorite Article: A Conversation with Tiffany Ferguson

Why is this your favorite article: Tiffany Ferguson is a YouTuber whose series “Internet Analysis” breaks down trending topics like VSCO girls and minimalism in a way that is both theoretical and (dare-I-say) accessible. Last year she opened up about her student loans and credit card debt with her 500k subscribers. Since then she’s paid off over 10k in credit card debt. I found Tiffany’s videos while on my own personal finance journey and talking with her about student loans, Democratic Socialism, and personal finance was really affirming. It solidified my passion for making personal finance accessible and intersectional.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Just start! I read so many blogs, books, and watched YouTube videos but I wish I had just started sooner. Nothing prepares you for actually running a blog besides running a blog.

Founder Name: Scott Henderson

Site Description: To help Americans control their spending, learn to budget proactively, eliminate debt, work together with your partner and live financially well.

What inspired you to launch your site: As we build our app, we not only wanted to create an incredible budgeting product, we wanted to create incredible educational information around helping users with their personal finances.

Favorite Article: The Difference Between Proactive and Reactive Budgeting

Why is this your favorite article: It breaks down how budgeting is not a passive act. Instead, it requires being proactive and taking the time to plan. Whereas most budgeting apps are passive and reactive, Qube Money is a proactive budgeting tool.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Don’t worry about being the best blog upfront or ranking for the top keywords. You need to write the most amazing article ever created on the topic, the promote the heck out of it. Over time you will start to be known for your desired topic.

Founder Name: Amber McGill

Site Description: This blog is for budding Money Moguls and travel enthusiasts. My vision is for this platform to inspire, educate, and prepare the next financially secure world-traveled generation. I will share tools and resources that will allow you to make informed decisions about money and travel to help you leave a legacy for generations to come.

What inspired you to launch your site: After getting questions about how I am able to afford traveling consistently I realized that I had figured out something that many of my peers had not – budgeting. I wanted to share the advice that I’ve been giving to friends and family with people all around the world.

Favorite Article: $20k in 2020

Why is this your favorite article: My viewers can go on this journey with me. The fact that I’m writing about what I’m doing as I’m doing it makes this my favorite part of the blog. People have also taken on this challenge for their year, and I was not expecting that this would inspire others to do the same.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Take your time launching. Make sure you are solid in your content, your scheduling to keep producing content, and your setup if you post videos.

Founder Name: Ben Le Fort

Site Description: My Site has 3 primary features. 1. Personal finance articles. 2. Financial calculators and free tools for my visitors. 3. Personal finance courses and education.

What inspired you to launch your site: I created several free personal finance courses and one full length, paid personal finance course. I needed a “home base” for people to find my courses.

Favorite Article: 6 Things You Need to Know About Personal Finance

Why is this your favorite article: It serves as a starting point for anyone who is just getting started with learning about personal finance. For each of the “6 things, the reader needs to know” I also provide an action item. Something they can do right now to start improving their financial situation.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Think about your reader when you are creating content. How is the content your creating helping your reader and making their life better?

Founder Name: Lindsey Morris

Site Description: Annie’s Inspo was created to motivate and inspire women. Using side hustles to launch them into financial freedom. About living the best quality life and enjoying the finer things all while balancing life.

What inspired you to launch your site: I was tired of being in debt and wanted out! When I started seeing myself climb out of debt, I wanted to share the knowledge I learned along the way so people don’t have to struggle like I did.

Favorite Article: 10 Best Steps to Drastically Cut Your Monthly Expenses in 2020

Why is this your favorite article: Because it can inspire anyone to cut their spending.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Be consistent, people will find your work.

Founder Name: Jake Allen

Site Description: Money By Jake takes a modern approach to money, breaking down technical barriers and making it easier for people to make, invest, and mange their money.

What inspired you to launch your site: Money remains a taboo topic, even in the tightest of circles. I want to change that and get people like me – mid-20s to mid-30s millennials navigating a growing career, family, and planning for the future – talking about money in honest, constructive, and progressive ways.

Favorite Article: How I Created a $2 Million Retirement by Age 28

Why is this your favorite article: It’s the most personal article I’ve written. I talk about my career, my salary, my savings, and everything I do to plan for and build wealth. I hope it can be used as a template for others seeking to find future financial security.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Just get started. Write a lot, publish a lot, and continually work to improve and grow.

Founder Name: Marilyn West

Site Description: Vision to Wealth is a financial blog to encourage and empower millennials to take advantage of their financial journey. We provide 1:1 coaching, financial literacy through our blog, and support through social media.

What inspired you to launch your site: To encourage others to start their journey and to show my community, it’s not about your income, and it’s about your commitment.

Favorite Article: 7 Things So You Won’t Give Up By February

Why is this your favorite article: It’s my favorite article because it encourages others to start their journey and provide them the motivation and tools to stay committed to the process.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Stay connected to your why and mission. If you do, your content will remain authentic, and you will forever attract your tribe.

Founder Name: Danielle Davis

Site Description: Money in Matrimony provides practical steps to teach married couples how to improve their money habits by changing their mindsets. My goal is to encourage and inspire readers by providing them with the tools to:

• Speak life into their current financial situation and create a more positive mindset
• Improve the dynamic of their marriage as it relates to communication and finances
• Learn how to better manage their finances, earn more money, and save for the future

What inspired you to launch your site: Money in Matrimony began out of my passion for helping others with their personal finances. I launched this site as a community for married couples who want to improve their money habits, strengthen their communication as it relates to money and change their money mindsets. Since money and the sometimes-negative actions that result from the differences in opinion surrounding money often lead to divorce, I thought this would be a great way to intertwine each of these areas. However; this is NOT just your average personal finance website. This site gives you the best of three worlds- Money, Marriage and Mindset!

Favorite Article: Everything You Need to Know to Improve Your Money Mindset

Why is this your favorite article: This is my favorite article because it purely focuses on mindset. Money mindset is a person’s individual thoughts and beliefs about money. Think of mindset as the foundation. If we don’t tackle the foundation first, then all of the other tools and resources, such as spreadsheets and budgeting apps, etc. will be ineffective. A mindset shift must occur first and then everything else should follow.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: I would advise any blogger to join relevant accountability groups. These can be either free or paid groups. Trying to figure out tech, social media, systems, etc. as a new blogger can be very stressful. Therefore, you want to find a mixed range of bloggers who you can bounce ideas off of, exchange feedback and suggestions with, and can point you in the right direction when you are stuck.

Founder Name: Martina

Site Description: Stack Your Dollars was created to help others make better personal finance decisions, save for their future, and live a debt-free lifestyle. It not only teaches ways to save and make more money, but also topics like how to use a credit card or write a check. The #1 mission of this website is to help others become financially stable and not feel stressed around the topic of money.

What inspired you to launch your site: Going through life, including the military life, I’m constantly seeing the struggles of my peers around me. Watching others make horrible financial decisions, I’ve always wanted to just take them aside and educate them; however, people don’t take kindly to unsolicited advice. This is why I created my website, I can put all the information and resources here that I wish people knew about. In this way, they can chose to read it and take the advice or simply ignore it.

Favorite Article: How To Live On $2500 A Month: Budget Breakdown

Why is this your favorite article: It’s hard to chose one article as my “favorite”, but I believe my budget breakdown really shows people how they can lower their cost of living. It serves as a real example that it’s possible to live on a frugal budget, and I did this in one of the most expensive cities in America! I’m hoping that the article inspires others to start taking control of their finances.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: I’m a part of blogging groups and see others that try to find a money-making topic to write about – don’t do that! Write what you know and are passionate about and you’ll engage your readers better.

Founder Name: Becky Heptig

Site Description: Basic Personal Finance Through the Lens of Faith. Topics will include how to get started handling your money, how to be a good steward of your money, a life of generosity, and what the Bible says about money with a sprinkling of our own experiences in retirement and caring for aging loved ones.

What inspired you to launch your site: My husband and I spent many years making poor choices with our money which eventually affected our marriage and our family. Our turnaround came first through Dave Ramsey (about age 50) and then with our discovery of the FI community. Our journey took us from thinking we would NEVER get out from under the debt we were creating every day just to live to retiring at 63. Not early by most standards, but early for us! Now, my passion is to help others gain the skills needed to put their finances in order and create a life of good stewardship and generosity. My hope is to keep others from walking through the same pain it took for me to get my financial house in order.

Favorite Article: OUR STORY – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE …HOW DID WE GET HERE?!

Why is this your favorite article: This article is “Our Story”. It has already had a big impact on people because of its message of hope. It communicates the message of “It’s Not Too Late”. It’s never too late to make positive changes for your future.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Don’t be afraid to try and don’t give up. It’s been hard to figure out how to do just the basics of blogging, but it’s so rewarding to read a comment from someone who’s financial trajectory has been changed by your words.

Founder Name: Kyle

Site Description: The alpha and beta perspectives to help you make money with side hustles.

What inspired you to launch your site: I’m passionate about making extra money. It’s much harder to make more money than it is to cut expenses. Therefore, I’m here to do the dirty work to help you find the right side hustles and strategies to increase your income.

Favorite Article: How to Make Money Online: 5 Ways to Make Over Six Figures Online

Why is this your favorite article: This is a full guide to my philosophy and my DNA for increasing my income. It outlines the best ways to help you make more money.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Play the long game. Generally speaking, blogging isn’t a business that scales overnight. You need to develop repeatable habits of hard work and persistence with content. Ensure you create quality content. Your product is your content.

Founder Name: Austin Weyenberg

Site Description: The Logic of Money is a personal finance education site that writes about saving money, debt, retirement planning, credit cards, and credit building/repair.

What inspired you to launch your site: I launched The Logic of Money because I have had a passion for finance for a long time and I wanted to do my part to help encourage financial literacy. It is unfortunate that in today’s world, so many people don’t understand the importance of money and I want to help bring awareness to that.

Favorite Article: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire: Are you on track?

Why is this your favorite article: This is my favorite article because it makes people realize how important saving and investing really is. Retirement is something everyone will do or want to do someday. Not everyone has a desire to buy a car or buy a house and not even one needs to pay down student loans. Everyone will at some point retire however and this article puts that into perspective.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Don’t get into blogging to try to make a quick buck. If you are truly passionate about something and just want to share it with the rest of the world, then starting a blog might make sense for you.

Founder Name: Ed

Site Description: Educator FI focuses on the pursuit of financial independence from an educator perspective. It’s about building wealth while doing work that matters by recognizing our professional advantages and making intentional changes. I share a mix of educator specific finance information and real examples from our journey to financial independence.

What inspired you to launch your site: Public educators typically do the work out of passion and dedication to students but don’t talk about finances. This leads to the constant pervasive myth that educators are doomed to poverty. My wife and I were clueless about money into our 40s. Then, we started learning and have turned our finances around. It has made a huge difference to our quality of life and job satisfaction. I wanted to share that with other educators and support those who aren’t necessarily trying to escape their jobs, but want to do it without constant money stress.

Favorite Article: Unexpected Benefits of Downsizing Your Home To Save Money

Why is this your favorite article: This one isn’t educator specific, but it’s about the most significant step we’ve taken to change our financial lives. It also illustrates that by taking intentional action related to our finances, we were actually able to increase our quality of life while dramatically accelerating our financial independence timeline. Far too often we equate spending with success and happiness. Our experience shows that the opposite can be (and often is) true!

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Get clear as soon as you can about the purpose of your blog and focus on that. Blogging will take more time and persistence than you expect, so you need to be passionate about those goals. Do not expect instant success with traffic or money. Write what will help your readers and success will come with time.

Founder Name: Melody Fanslau

Site Description: Cash for Tacos is a blog dedicated to helping people spend wisely, save intentionally and create a life they love. At Cash for Tacos, we believe in pushing readers to think differently about how they approach their money while providing them the tools and insights they need to balance saving for their future and living their life now.

What inspired you to launch your site: I launched Cash for Tacos because I wanted to shout from the rooftops how taking control of your finances can feel so empowering. Before I started on this journey, I had no clue that by making conscious, intentional financial decisions, I could start using my money to help me create a life I wanted instead of simply living a life to make money. After this realization, putting it into practice, and not only seeing, but feeling the results, I became passionate about personal finance and had to share my excitement and learnings with others.

Favorite Article: It’s OK to Feel Guilty About Spending Money

Why is this your favorite article: I love this article because of its honesty. I was struggling with feelings of guilt after spending money and I couldn’t figure out why. This article takes the reader on a journey through my thought process with the hope that it will resonate and help others work through their own feelings of guilt.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Let your truth shine. Your experiences, good and bad, are what differentiate you from other bloggers. When sharing your experiences, you might be surprised at how many readers relate to exactly how you felt when you were frustrated, and how your own solutions can help them on their path.

Founder Name: Samara

Site Description: Sharing my story of my journey to become debt free and teaching what I learn along the way.

What inspired you to launch your site: I like personal finance since I found out about it in my twenties. I am always reading books, blogs, and listening to podcasts. I finally got the courage to write what I know and share my story. I want to help others to budget so they can be free to do what they want to do.

Favorite Article: 10 Ways to Have Fun on a Budget without Breaking the Bank

Why is this your favorite article: I wrote this article after I taught a webinar on this subject in the BeFree Circle. I push past my shyness and gave out some good information.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: I would say just start. Don’t compare yourself to others. Also join Facebook Groups that are in your industry and get an accountability partner. Use YouTube to help you with setting up your blog and learning other stuff. Also research other blogs or Pinterest to help you out.

Founder Name: Andrew Kerr

Site Description: Achieve Financial Independence through Real Estate Investing – Andrew shares his process of house hacking and real estate investing that got him to lean FIRE in 2016. He also has weekly case studies of house hackers featured on his podcast, The House Hacking Podcast.

What inspired you to launch your site: I had people asking me how I built the financial stability and lifestyle I now have, and how they can do it as well. In addition, people would ask is there one thing I could do that will make a big impact. My answer to these questions is to now point folks to the blog and podcast.

Favorite Article: House Hacking – The Ultimate Guide about Doing a House Hack

Why is this your favorite article: It is a simple quick read on the one single change that we can make, that has a huge impact on your life financially.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Plan your content out, and then execute on producing consistent quality.

Founder Name: AJ

Site Description: I review financial apps for investing, checking, savings, HSA’s, Cash Back Apps, and more. My goal is to help and motivate people to get started with investing. Investing for Beginners, to put it simply.

What inspired you to launch your site: I didn’t grow up learning much about personal finance or investing. As I began to learn more and share this information with friends, I realized how few were actually investing, and I was often explaining how things worked. I was also usually the first in my friend groups to know about a specific application or financial account and make referrals to them. So I decided to start a YouTube Channel and Blog initially to have a resource to share with my friends, but also to take the information I was learning and share it with more people! I want every person in America to get started with investing!

Favorite Article: Why Stock Back Apps Are the Best Investment Apps for New Investors

Why is this your favorite article: It takes away the “I don’t have any money to invest” excuse.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Talk about what you’re interested in, and try to find a way to make money talking about things you would discuss with a friend or family member even if you didn’t have the Blog. If you do this you will always have something to talk about, and when you’re not making a lot of money starting off, it won’t feel so bad.

Founder Name: GovWorker

Site Description: Government Worker FI is a website focused on personal finance and financial independence for government employees.

What inspired you to launch your site: I couldn’t find many voices in the financial independence movement that talked about how to account for pensions and the potential loss of a pension with early retirement.

Favorite Article: Gluten free for less: How we feed our family of 5 for $1.25 per person per meal on a gluten free diet

Why is this your favorite article: I’m proud of our grocery budget. We keep our grocery spending less than $600 per month on average for our family of five!

What advice do you have for future blog owners: I’d encourage future blog creators to not compare themselves to other bloggers. Instead celebrate your own writing!

Founder Name: Suchot Sunday

Site Description: The Curious Frugal is a personal finance website dedicated to helping moms live well on a budget, learn to manage their money, and find flexible work-from-home jobs.

What inspired you to launch your site: I have been frugal and a saver for as long as I can remember. I graduated university debt-free, and started investing when I was 20 years old. Because I’m more careful with money, I’ve been able to take time off, go on longer trips, take sabbaticals, and still save money on a part-time income. This summer my husband and I will have our mortgage completely paid off and be fully debt free! From realizing how many people are in debt or on a budget, I want to help particularly moms who might be overwhelmed with financial stuff, to learn more about personal finance in a very supportive environment.

Favorite Article: Side hustle ideas: How I made $2,300 at home while my toddler napped

Why is this your favorite article: This article is perfect for my readers! They are mainly moms who want to work from home or have a side gig so they can spend more time at home with their kids. I go into detail about one particular side hustle I started when my daughter was just a baby, and still work at two years later. There are also many other side gig options in this article, all of them flexible and perfect for moms that want to work from home.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: If you’re interested in starting a finance blog, start now. Start with one post. Even if you don’t have a lot of time, it’s better to get your site up there and have it start aging. You can work on it and improve it over time. There’s no perfect time, but now is pretty darn good.

Founder Name: Kevin

Site Description: Just Start Investing has a goal to make personal finance easy. Whether we’re providing information on investing, credit cards, budgeting, banking, or any other personal finance topic, we provide it in a straight-forward and actionable way. We’re proud to have been featured in Forbes, Business Insiders, MSN Money, Yahoo Finance, and other major publications.

What inspired you to launch your site: I realized that a lot of people feared personal finances, especially investing, because they thought it was confusing or complicated. On Just Start Investing, we’re cutting out the jargon as much as we can to cut straight to the point and help readers take control of their finances.

Favorite Article: 3 Fund Portfolio: The Lazy Way to Invest

Why is this your favorite article: This article is a 101 guide to create a 3 fund portfolio, which is otherwise known as a lazy portfolio. It provides the information to help you create one of your own, but also the rationale on why it can be a good strategy. It was one my first articles and favorite finance topics to talk about, and to this day it’s still one of my favorites.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Just get started. Whether it’s investing, learning a new hobby, or creating a blog, the first step is usually the hardest.

Founder Name: Sarah Wilson

Site Description: Who runs the world? Every woman can and should empower themselves to master their money, regardless of their income. Here at Budget Girl, you’ll find resources and tips on living a frugal, full and fearless life, from making your first budget to building your legacy. I’ve got free personal finance resources on debt payoff, making money, investing and diversifying your income and more: all to help you build the life of your dreams. 

What inspired you to launch your site: I’ve had a presence online as a financial YouTube vlogger for nearly six years, which has been incredible for connecting with other people passionate about improving their money habits and lives. Creating the site was a way to provide more value for my online community in a place where I can have full ownership over the space and mold it into a place that will serve my readers.

Favorite Article: How to Deal with Personal and Professional Jealousy

Why is this your favorite article: This article deals with something that all women (and men) deal with, but no one talks about openly – personal and professional jealousy. Especially as women, we are never supposed to admit to this emotion and therefore we have very little practice dealing with it in a healthy and productive way. The content of this piece would not have been successful in video format due to the nature of it. I exposed some unattractive but very natural parts of myself and how I worked through it and the response was over a hundred messages from people reaching out and saying they had dealt with or were dealing with the same issue and thanked me for being transparent about struggling with it. I think it helped a lot of people, which is incredibly rewarding.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Websites are not cheap. They may have been at one time, but it’s not the case anymore. Budget for hosting, themes, security, having to hire a graphic designer or web specialist to help out if something breaks, e-newsletter services, and more. And don’t ignore basic SEO.

Founder Name: Jessica

Site Description: Our motto at the Fioneers is “The journey should be remarkable as the destination.” This means that while we are focused on reaching financial independence, we are enjoying the journey along the way. We don’t want to throw away the next ~10 years of our lives just to reach financial independence earlier. Instead, we want to discover our passions and create a life that will allow us to achieve both. Since starting our journey, we have already begun to achieve incremental freedom along the way. This freedom will only increase over time. We’ve begun to leverage it to design a life that we want to live today.

What inspired you to launch your site: We started the Fioneers as a way to track our nontraditional journey to financial independence. We felt like we had a different FI message. Ours is a message of small shifts and transforming your life along the way. Then, when you hit your FI number, you don’t actually need to change anything about your lifestyle.

Favorite Article: Slow FI: The Real YOLO

Why is this your favorite article: We coined the term “Slow FI” as a way to describe an approach to financial independence that balances the enjoyment of the journey with the goal of reaching full FI. Slow FI encompasses every intentional decision that someone makes on their journey to FI to make their life better (even if it doesn’t necessarily make financial sense). This includes mini-retirements, part-time work, semi-retirement, seasonal work, finding an enjoyable job that pays less, starting your own business, etc. This idea is countercultural, and we’ve heard from many readers that it has impacted the way they are pursuing FI.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Learn to enjoy the process of writing! Regardless of whether I ever make money from the blog, I love creativity, personal growth, and the resulting community interactions.

Founder Name: Disha

Site Description: I help physicians and other high income professionals pay off their student loans and build a solid plan for financial success. I am a mother, a wife, and a primary care physician trained in internal medicine. My family was the typical physician household that inflated our lifestyle right out of residency. We found ourselves deep in student debt and unhappy, even though we supposedly had everything. Reluctantly at first, we found the utility of frugality and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. We paid off over $200k in student loans in a year and a half and are now swiftly making our way toward financial freedom.

What inspired you to launch your site: I always wanted to learn how to be good with money but I got lost in the weeds more often then not. Then, I found the key steps and my family was able to pay off $100k of student loans in 6 months. I was astounded that it was relatively simple. So, I decided to write an essay about it. Then, I needed a place to publish it, so I started a blog. Since then, the positive response has been overwhelming and I am encouraged to keep it going!

Favorite Article: How I paid $100,000 on Student Loans in 6 months!

Why is this your favorite article: This was the first article I ever wrote on the site and the one that started this whole journey. It is still my favorite.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Write quality material consistently and devote some time to promoting it. While blogs are time consuming, I’ve found the process to be so incredibly rewarding. I don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon!

Founder Name: Sahirenys Pierce

Site Description: The Poised brand and blog is focused on helping millennial women balance their finances and their lifestyle with purpose. You will find personal finances blogs and videos as well as recipes and lifestyle tips to promote saving money and time.

What inspired you to launch your site: As a Latina millennial mom, I saw a gap of information and guidance in the personal finance space. I decided to share my financial knowledge and share some personal content to help inspire and motivate others on their financial journey.

Favorite Article: The High-5 Banking Method

Why is this your favorite article: It amazes me that in every heartache there is still a lesson to be learned. I created the High-5 Banking Method right after my 6-month-old son’s successful open-heart surgery. During this incredibly stressful time, I realized how valuable it was to have your banks separated for specific purposes. I was able to save for my son’s surgery and not have to deal with the financial stresses during this time.

What advice do you have for future blog owners: Speaking from the heart of experiences you’ve gone through is the best way to help others with their finances. Giving basic stats and making people feel bad about their spending habits won’t make a difference in the world. Be authentic and sympathetic to the human factor of managing money. That is the best advice that I constantly remind myself of when creating content.