Personal Finance From the Scatter Brained Media

I realized a long time ago that the various types of media companies out there really weren’t very good at helping me be financially successful.  It seemed that each article I read contradicted the previous article and you could pretty much find any article to tell you anything you wanted to hear.  I guess it was a long slow process that I lost confidence in them, but that’s exactly what happened.

I actually find a lot more support, trust and responsibility in the various personal finance blogs I read than I ever did in any of the more mainstream media outlets.

Today was a great example.  In one article on CNN I read all about what penny pinchers do.  I didn’t find this the slightest bit helpful because it was basically a story about all the things I’d never do.  I don’t want to raise pigs, I’m not really interested in going through other people’s trash to find things to sell on Craigslist and I definitely don’t want to follow senior citizens around to find cheap places to eat.  Really.

And the next article I read on Yahoo Finance told me how I should think about taking on debt because you don’t want to save everything for a day that might not arrive.  Really.  I’ve mentioned plenty of times that I’m trying to find a balance between living for today and planning for tomorrow.  Taking on debt today really isn’t something that I believe I should do to make sure I’m living life to it’s fullest.  In reality, I want to enjoy life today and feel assured that I’ll be okay when I get older.  To do that, I don’t see debt as the path, but rather I think it’s all about living within your means your ENTIRE life.

So, I’ll spend my precious free time perusing personal finance sites like:

Get Rich Slowly (Because JD just makes sense)

MyMoneyBlog (Because I think Jonathon spends the time to get smart and share what he learns)

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity (Because I’ve been reading Jim’s content for years and I appreciate his point of view)

Fivecentnickel (For the same reasons as Blueprint)

Lazy Man and Money (Because he shares real experiences and we have similar strategies)

And plenty of others on my blogroll.  The reality is that I’ve learned more from spending time on other Personal Finance blogs than I have EVER learned on mainstream media sites.  They are real, personal and don’t just regurgitate the same crap over and over.