
When I was working full time in an outpatient ortho clinic in 2020-2021, I would read blog posts during my breaks and my lunch hour. I was never much of a blog reader, but my husband would send me these articles that he found interesting. I would then go down a rabbit hole of all the great information that these bloggers were writing about, which led me to subscribing to their blog, and the rest is history.
I want to share four of my favorite blogs that I started reading when I was at the beginning of my FIRE journey. These bloggers inspired and helped me to spend less, earn more, and invest the rest.
*note: I am not an affiliate with any of these blogs…I’m just a huge fan and want to share with you all how much I love their blogs!*
The man, the myth, the legend. The OG FIRE movement blogger. Mr. Money Mustache’s moto “Financial Freedom Through Badassity” already caught my eye when I first got to his home page. He writes about how we can “live a frugal yet Badass life of leisure,” and he was able to achieve FIRE through living a frugal lifestyle that was ~50% less expensive than his peers, invested what he saved in Vanguard index funds, and a couple rental properties. When I found Mr. Money Mustache, we were all about investing in Vanguard index funds, but we were still struggling with saving more. Now that we’re able to prove to ourselves we can achieve >50% savings rate, and we invest primarily in Vanguard index funds, we are starting to learn more about rental property investing. Mr. Money Mustache’s blog posts are a great place to start for those who want to learn more about how to change their lifestyle to achieve financial independence.
I will warn, his writing is not for the easily offended. His matter-of-factual style of writing conveys his opinions very clearly, and his take on living frugally can be quite shocking for the average consumer.
Here are my personal favorite posts from Mr. Money Mustache to help you get started:
- Getting Rich: from Zero to Hero in One Blog Post
- The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
- The 4% Rule: The Easy Answer to “How Much Do I Need for Retirement?”
- What is Stoicism and How Can it Turn your Life to Solid Gold?
- Frugality: the New Fanciness
Once I started learning about the FIRE movement, I needed to learn more about HOW to achieve it. This is how I found Making Sense of Cents. Michelle has a TON of posts that talk about how to earn money from various side hustles, rewards credit cards, how to pay off debt, and many more great tips on how to enhance your personal finance life. Her post, What Is A Blog, How Do Blogs Make Money, & More, is what helped me to get started on my own blog. I also started getting into doing online surveys for some extra cash during the pandemic when I read her post, 13 Paid Survey Sites To Make $50+ Per Month.
It may seem intimidating at first when you go to Making Sense of Cents, because she has so many posts on so many different topics. I would recommend subscribing to her email list, as she will email you her latest posts, along with a list of posts she recommends that go along with the current topic. I found this strategy to be most effective for me when sifting through her amazing content.
Here are my personal favorite posts from Making Sense of Cents to help you get started:
- 12 Passive Income Ideas That Will Let You Enjoy Life More
- 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
- Best Rewards Credit Cards For This Year | What You Need To Know
- How I Paid Off My $40,000 Student Loan Debt In Less Than One Year
- Yes, You Can Save Enough Money For Long-Term Travel
If you’re a Millennial like my husband and I, you will find this blog very relatable and helpful. FIRECracker & Wanderer are a FIRE couple who retired at 31 to travel the world. They went against the norm and instead of buying a home, decided to invest instead, and because of that they built a 7 figure portfolio that has given them the freedom to retire from their full time jobs and travel.
I like their writing style because it sounds like they’re sitting right across from me, having a normal discussion as friends. Their posts are easy to read and make seemingly complicated things less intimidating and easier to understand. I also love that they do Reader Cases, where they interview and look at a specific person’s situation and go through what they’re doing to reach FIRE, which makes it more relatable.
Here are my personal favorite posts from Millennial Revolution to help you get started:
- The Key to Early Retirement: Flexibility
- How to Become Financially Independent by Travelling
- Reader Case: Big Earnings, Big Student Debt
- Dollar Cost Averaging: How To Invest Without Freaking Out
- Are Most Degrees Useless?
Another FIRE couple, Lauren and Steven, were able to retire from their full time jobs before the age of 30 through some lifestyle tweaks, growing their savings and investments, and focusing more on long-term traveling
What I like about Lauren and Steven is that they are very candid with the fact that it isn’t a one size fits all lifestyle. Like I always say as well, everyone’s situation and personality is different, so find what works best for your. Trip Of A Lifestyle does a great job of challenging their readers to think differently, which was definitely eye opening for me when I started my FIRE journey.
Here are my personal favorite posts from Trip Of A Lifestyle to help you get started:
- Financial Roadmap: Save Money, Travel Tons, & Retire Young
- Financial Independence 101: Never Have to Work Again
- Hack the Menu at Restaurants and Pay Less
- How to Take Months Off Work and Travel for $36 per Day
- We Signed Up for 40 Credit Cards and Made $20,000 Doing It
I hope you find these blogs as awesome and helpful as I have. Happy reading!
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Note: I am not a certified financial advisor/planner or a certified financial analyst or a CPA or an accountant or a lawyer. Remember, I am an allied health professional, just like you! This website/blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor(s) regarding your personal finance, investment, and tax matters.
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