I don’t like beauty contests. Not a big fan of award shows. I DO, however, like to judge. In this case, how about a Golden Nameplate award for “Best Personal Finance Blog”??
This post is a way of honoring my favorite reads in 2017. And because Abandoned Cubicle is such a well-respected stalwart and GIANT in the personal finance field, what better platform from which to recognize talent? A-hem…
A few disclaimers: One, there’s a very fine margin of quality in our vast community. Everyone’s voice is unique and worth taking the time to read. The trouble is, with over 2,000 bloggers in our space, it’s mighty hard to get acclimated with them all. Thank goodness for Rockstar Finance! Regardless, when I come across a gem of a blog, I’m darn sure to come back often for more.
Best Personal Finance Blog?? Gotta Write GOOD.
There are five total golden nameplate awards. Thanks to Canva, for helping me craft a nice little dime-store graphic for this illustrious occasion.
Each of the five awards has these things in common:
- Their content is engaging and often (if not always) unique. Even if it’s a common subject, they write from a unique point of view.
- Each of these fine writers has “found their voice” and inspire me to do better. You know what to expect.
- You’re left feeling good about having read what they wrote.
There is some aspect where they differ:
- Some have more of a minimalist feel to their sites, others are a little busier, but not so busy as to distract from good writing.
- Some swear openly, some swear with substitute symbols (like “$hit”, “a$$hat”, etc.), while some don’t swear at all. It just goes to show that you don’t need to swear to win a Golden Nameplate award. But a little salt sometimes helps to make the meat taste better.
- Some write often, some don’t. Pictures may or may not be key to their content and storytelling. Again, each winner uses his or her style to convey the message, and I dig that.
Bottom line: Each of these winners is strong in his or her way. The one common thread? They write good sh*t!
Without further adieu, here are the 2017 winners of the more-prestigious-than-Plutus Golden Nameplate awards!
In no particular order, the winners are:
DonebyForty.com was one of the first blogs I stumbled upon after gorging on MMM’s posts a few years back. You can immediately tell this guy knows how to write. Check out this ditty on Sunk Costs if you’re not familiar with DBF’s work. (Something is amiss if you’re familiar with my work and not his at this point, but oh well…)
The topics have depth and the posts are succinct. I know that when I’m all read up on how to save money on cat litter, I can stop over to DonebyForty.com for some meaningful prose. (Tweet THAT!)
BitchesGetRiches.com is one of my newer faves. At first, when I picked them up on my Twitter feed, I was like “Are you serious?!? That’s awesome! Why didn’t I take that name for my blog???”
Sigh… Well, I’m sure as F glad I didn’t, because Cubert comes nowhere close to the combination of crass, sass, and civic class that these ladies bring to the table. Plus, I’m not a woman, and can’t justify using the “B-word” flippantly and in jest. As my wife educated me after publishing this post, leave the “B-word” to the ladies for reasons X, Y, and Z.
And they’re all good reasons. Bottom line, I’m glad to have these two fine co-bloggers in the field for inspiration.
Take this recent extract from Bitches to see what I mean:
If only there was some kind of helpful venn diagram that broke down anti-consumerist attitudes about gift giving…
Oh wait! Silly me, I’m a graphic designer! I’m paid to eat data and sh*t venn diagrams!
Fritz is, quite simply, the BOMB. If you’re looking for “the all-around package”, TheRetirementManifesto.com deserves a bookmark in your browser. Not only is Fritz an excellent writer, he’s also a stellar photographer.
And get this, he knows a thing or two about personal finance! What I most appreciate about Fritz is his positive attitude. He wears his love for his family on his internet sleeve. Best Personal Finance Blog? How about the best person!
I’m glad to have virtually met this guy. The Manifesto is like a cup of hot cocoa on a sub-zero winter’s day.
When it comes to entertaining stories with a personal finance twist, look no further than MissMazuma.com. Granted, you need to practice some patience because she takes her sweet time between putting out new posts. The Ms. must be too busy being a landlord to satisfy us greedy readers, or, she’s off on some excellent hiking adventure…
I love her style. Only MM can write a post about how to dye black jeans and make it entertaining. But her best work is when she takes on epic fails, head-on with a self-deprecating sense of humor that us blogger hacks all strive for. If writing were edible, Miss Mazuma would be Good Eats.
FreedomisGroovy.com has a kick-butt logo, a spit-and-polished website, and some mighty fine writing to round out a complete package. I sometimes give him sh*t for being such a crackpot about “too much government this” or “too much government that”, but he means well. wink!
We do agree on a couple of things: Cubicle jobs suck, we’d rather be hiking in a national park, and pro sports are a waste of time and money.
Mr. Groovy, and his equally talented better half, Mrs. Groovy will keep you guessing. There is some serious brain-power at play, but it’s accessible content written with some potent sarcasm and humor. Make this blog a regular in your rotation!
Looking ahead to the 2018 winners
Hopefully, you’re all inspired by this collection of talent. It wasn’t easy to exclude heroes like Mr. Money Mustache, J. Money, and Mr. 1500, but they’ve got the lifetime achievement nameplate already etched.
For all of you bloggers out there who stumbled on this post today, go get inspired by the mighty five Best Personal Finance Blog of 2017 GOLDEN NAMEPLATE WINNERS!
Let me know if I should keep an eye on you in 2018. Nothing says “success” like having that little golden badge on your right-nav bar! double wink
Happy New Year!
Great stuff and I love what you got going on here! Hope the family time and holidays were good Cube!
-Josh
Thanks, Josh! The holidays were nice, but way too cold here in the upper-Midwest. That and getting a stomach bug has made for a bleh start to 2018. Best to you and yours!
Hahahaha. I’m a millennial too. Don’t forget me in your 2018 Top 200 Millennial Bloggers.
On a serious note, I like this year’s winners. Those are the bloggers that inspire us all and keep us going.
Most definitely, Ms. 99! I may just trim that down to the top 100 – make it slightly competitive? Let’s see what Damn Millennial thinks… 😉
nice post.
Ok, youve inspired me…..
The life achievement award for “focus”
There are not many in the running for top honors… Your chances greatly improve if you DELETE or ignore social media and just simply blog, golf, think….. whatever! 🙂
Happy 2018 all
Peace
Scott
Thanks, Scott! Good point. Focus on writing first, and if you have the discipline, squeeze in some social in small doses. Real small doses…
Um YES! To all of these blogs. Congrats to the winners, you guys totally deserve it…
AC, you forgot to mention Mr. Groovy’s awesome Talking Trash YouTube Channel too. If you don’t already watch it, you should!
Thanks, Mrs. Wow! I agree – all are highly deserving.
I’m glad I’ve come across your blog of late and I look forward to more sweet waffleness in 2018!
(And good call out on “Talking Trash!”)
Hi Cubert, I just got my Dividends Diversify blogroll up and running this week. Abandoned Cubicle is included and I was wondering if you would add DD to your friends and idols page. I doubt I fall in either of those categories, but it never hurts to ask. Tom
I’ll add you now, Tom — Glad to have you on my list!
As a millennial I am here to complain that everyone didn’t get a trophy! I hope to make you’re list in 2018! Happy New Year!
Oh my! That’s right!!! Serious backlash there, DM. I’ll take that under advisement for 2018. Maybe have a Top 200 Millennial Bloggers category? 😉
It keeps getting pushed back as our rolling 12 month spending average climbs…
Right now we are at August 2020, but I think we can shave some expenses in 2018. ?
I know how THAT goes. We’ll see if 2019 is still in the cards for me. It’ll come down to how our Airbnb experiment unfolds.
Nicely done sir, very deserving winners! Love the nameplate idea hahaha. It does seem weird not mentioning some of the big hitters when doing “best of” blogs but like you said, they have the lifetime achievement award. Stay warm over there!
Hey man – appreciate that! I can easily say that DefinedSight is emerging as a strong contender. You guys have a really good thing going over there. Stay warm yourself! And Happy New Year!!!
Nice list. Certainly all good ones here. I will have to check out the ones I’m not familiar with. Thanks for putting it together. Tom
My pleasure, Tom! Best!
Hey, anytime I’m included with the likes of Done By Forty, Fritz, Bianca, and The Bitches, I’ll take it. In fact, from this point on, the Plutus Awards are dead to me. Long live the Golden Nameplate! Thank you, Cubert, for showing our humble blog some love. And thank you for tolerating my warped political views. Happy New Year, my friend. Cheers.
You know it’s all love, Senor Groovy. 🙂 Since I tend to lean to far to the other side of the political spectrum, I’m truthfully happy to have you around to balance me a bit. Keep up the great work, and Happy New Year to you as well!
Golden nameplate? I hope we live up to it in 2018. And I say “we” sarcastically because my worse half has been doing most of the writing. In fact, he’s working on his e-book right now so I’m commenting for the both of us.
Thank you for such a prestigious honor. We truly appreciate it. Have a great 2018!
You’re certainly welcome, Mrs. Groovy! I don’t know exactly how prestigious this award is, but at the very least, it’s a sincere compliment to kick-butt writing chops! Happy New Year!
This is really humbling.
This morning I showed your post to Mrs. Done by Forty as proof that other humans read the blog. She was pleasantly surprised.
LOL. C’mon, man. You’re one of the biggies! Keep up the great work.
I’m looking forward to keeping our little contest going into 2018. Are you still gunning for March 2020 to RE?
Thank you for these, I’m always looking for more decent personal finance blogs to read!
My pleasure, Joe!
Love this list! Until I dipped my toe into blogging myself, I had only read a few of the really big name blogs. I’m loving Twitter especially for really connecting with the PF community. Excited to read more in 2018!
Ah yes, Twitter. It’s a blessing and a curse. I think I’ve found my balance with that platform. Used to spend too much time thumbing through a lot of stuff – I’m easily distracted.
Keep a good watch on these five – they’re all-stars!
I think that’s easy to do on any social media, not just twitter 😉
Excellent choices, Cubert. Love the eye rolls. 😉 Yes, to less cubicle time! Happy New Year to you and yours!
Those eye rolls were inherited from their mother. 😮
Indeed – down with cubicles in 2018!!! Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
I wholeheartedly agree with this list! Awesome list of awesome blogs… see you in 2018!
Thanks, Mrs. AR! I really enjoy your blog as well and I’m excited for what 2018 will bring for us both. Peace!
Golden Nameplate?! YES!!!! This ranks right up there with a Plutus Award & I am truly honored!! My apologies on my recent absence in posts. What started with a break to travel (Budapest and Prague) has lasted long past my return home. Time to get back to it!! Thank you again and Happy almost NEW YEAR!!! Can you believe it?? 2018…
PS – I am stealing my Golden Nameplate to put on my side bar! 🙂
Well, I’m glad you think so! 🙂 Well-deserved, MM.
And no apologies needed whatsoever. Just a little fun needling. We’re all looking forward to your travel recaps in ’18. Happy almost New Year to you too!