These newer bloggers are writing about their dreams, and we should pay attention

Over the past several months, I've come to a realization: The veteran blogs in the personal finance space have fundamentally changed.

It's not that they are no longer helpful. Rather, once veteran bloggers reach financial independence, most of them start talking about very different things.

And in case you're wondering, yes, that absolutely includes my blog.

Before I retired early, I used to blog about the journey. About how we streamlined our expenses to prioritize our happiness. How I slowed way the hell down. Our budgets. About how badly I wanted to retire early.

But now that I've accomplished that goal, I can't really blog about the "struggle" because there isn't really a struggle. It's all different.

Sometimes, reading the newer blogs in the PF community is just so damn refreshing because they are in the grind. They want to achieve the goal just as badly as I did. I love reading about the emotional side of FIRE.

As you know, I'm a firm believer that the "mind" aspect of early retirement is way more important and crucial to master than the money side.

And, newer blogs are right there in the thick of it.

Check out why these newer bloggers are writing about their money dreams

A couple of weeks ago, I asked on Twitter for newer bloggers (bloggers who started writing about their journey within the past year or so) to tell me why they blog. Their motivations.

It's because I want to get back to that point in my journey, too.

Don't get me wrong, I love being early retired. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, there's also an element of me that loved the grind. And, writing about it gave me purpose, and connecting with other bloggers lit a fire under my ass in a way that can't be replicated.

And so, without further ado, I want to present to you a collection of newer bloggers. Bloggers who are charging toward the finish line. They are motivated and determined. And, their blogs are a part of their journey.

Please, show these folks some love. Visit their blogs and read what they have to say. Follow their journey if they connect with you.

Check out these newer blogs

Shut Up & Save Money | Start date: 2/23/2019

While doing our taxes this year, I realized we had made almost $400k in the past three years and didn't have much to show for it. I felt embarrassed and I knew we needed a change.

I'm really new to the FI movement but I figured the best way to keep us accountable would be to blog it. So started shutupsavemoney.com. It has been liberating so far but still quite new to blogging.

Fates On Fire | Start date: 2/14/2019

My new FI blog, FatesOnFire.com was designed to explore the magic of financial independence - going beyond the usual “how to” and examining the “who and why” of FIRE.

FatesOnFire is not about how to save money doing A,B & C,  or optimize your X by doing Y, or how got get rich as a FI blogger, but, hopefully, and with grace, to tell a long-term story of us FIRE folks.

Fates On Fire is about exploring the potential of the financially free individual – the possibilities and impact beyond ourselves. What would we risk? What and who could we become?

I get it's esoteric, but will there be an audience? I sure hope so.

I've already reconciled that my destiny among the "pantheon" of FIRE blogs is to be more like the Sex Pistols than the Beatles and that fits just right. I am publicly offering up my FIRE experience as, perhaps, a good example to embrace the ideas I espouse in a fun & inspiring way.

However, I have no problems with controversy or throwing a Molotov in our own "FIRE movement" backyard to expose some of the things I don't particularly care for such as crass commercialism (we zillionaire FIRE folks should give our knowledge to others because it's the right thing to do, not line our pockets), use FIRE as a podium for financial exhibitionism (I just posted how "big my wad is"), and make others who are much less fortunate than feel anything other than empowered, irrespective of how dire the circumstances may be.

There's a bajillion FIRE blogs nowadays.  I often wonder if that there was a ZERO PERCENT certainty we could NEVER, EVER make a cent with our blogs, how many of us would really, still be here?

Money Stir | Start date: 12/15/2018

I wanted to put my passion down on paper. It helps me process my thoughts and also adds some accountability to my decisions.

I've also felt since I'm a PHP developer, that in itself gives me an advantage over some PF bloggers. I would like to generate income, but that isn't my top priority right now. I'm learning that I need to focus my passion somewhere.

Why not do it in a way that "might" benefit other people? Are there people who have made f'ed up financial decisions (like me) and are trying to figure out how to turn things around? By sharing my story, I hope to start conversations, hear different perspectives and get my family to a much stronger financial place.

I'm sick of my spending not representing what matters most to me.

I find it ironic and a little funny when I hear people talk about how "they don't care about money" and yet their spending reflects the exact opposite. I've been there most of my adult life and I'm motivated to change my financial destiny.

Government Worker FI | Start date: 1/25/2019

I started my blog because I have been a federal employee for 18 years (since I turned 18) and have never, ever seen a federal employee retire before their minimum retirement age.

Federal employees are potentially leaving a lot of guaranteed money on the table if they retire early. I wanted to blog to show that it’s possible to retire early as a federal employee.

I wanted to let my peers know that it’s possible to leave before the magic date. I wanted to create a resource for my federal employees about how to think about their retirement benefits in light of early retirement. I am passionate about helping federal employees.

I also love being frugal. I have come up with a lot of ways to save energy around the house. My wife was featured in our local newspaper as an “extreme couponer” before the grocery stores essentially outlawed it.

We have tons of cool stories to share and are looking to share our journey with new readers. Thanks for taking time to support new blogs!!

Principal FI | Start date: 11/13/2018

I started Principal FI because I’m passionate about education.

A well-educated society is better economically, civically and for each individual. The myth that educators are doomed to a life of poverty is bad for educators and our kids because fewer talented people enter or stay in the work.

I wanted to provide information that supports people to reduce money stress, stay in the profession, and frees them to focus on their passion.

From a personal standpoint, we discovered FI and went at it hard for about two years. We’ve got our plan set now and it’s just a matter of time until we get there. No significant huge actions left, just monitoring and tweaks.

I’ve read about this waiting phase! I’m not one to just wait, and I love to write, so I thought I’d jump in to learn something new and share my thoughts. So, it was both a personal and mission choice which is how I write.  It’s been more learning and more fun than I expected.

Author FI Life | Start date: 1/1/2019

I started my blog as a way to document my journey to FI. I come from the vibrant author community where there are hundreds of posts and podcasts about people striving to leave the rat-race and become a full-time independent author.

There are lots of discussions in our echo-chamber about when is the best time to leave your job to pursue writing full-time. I wanted to write about my personal journey on building my author catalog so that it helps fund my savings and then become my main career after I reach FI.

I picture my audience as other authors (novelists). I want to encourage them to explore the FI movement and not just focus on leaving their job as soon as possible without giving thought to investing.

I only have one post up right now, but plan on ramping it up in March to post weekly.

Your Money Blueprint | Start date: 5/16/2018

I only recently discovered the concept of FIRE, and it has been life changing for me. I have gone from living dollar to dollar to being on track to retire early.

It is not just the money tips I have picked up, but my life is now much simpler and less stressful all thanks to bloggers such as Mr Money Mustache, Think Save Retire, and The Mad Fientist.

I started my blog as a way to share the knowledge I have learned and provide a unique perspective as a single income household on a lower than average income with children. Optimistic I know, but with my blog, I'm hoping to help change other people's lives for the better just by making some smarter financial decisions.

There is a real knowledge gap in society as is evidenced by the negative household savings rate in New Zealand. Personal finance isn't generally taught in schools or spoken about in our family lives, so I consider my blog as resource for people to improve their knowledge.

The added benefit for me is that I get to interact with other like minded bloggers from all across the world.

Eat Sleep Breathe FI | Start date: 1/1/2019

When I discovered the FIRE community, I knew I'd found my people.

These amazing bloggers and podcasters changed my life—and I wanted to pay it forward. Blogging has been the perfect way for me to do this.

I'm able to help others, connect with like-minded people, and put my creativity to work. At the risk of sounding cliché, I feel that blogging about FI is what I was meant to do!

e big goal for my blog is to inspire others to make changes in their lives and reach FI sooner. FI gives us the choices to live our happiest, best lives—and I want that for as many people as possible. I'm still a very new blogger, and right now, I can't see myself tiring of this fun hobby.

But as Steve's mentioned, things will change as I progress in my FI journey.  For now, I'll enjoy the ride and keep putting out useful content while also championing other great bloggers.

Thanks, Steve, for giving me the opportunity to share my story!

The Saver & Spender | Start date: 1/11/2019

It's a topic I've been passionate about and one I've followed for several years from many great contributors, such as yourself.

Ultimately, I wanted to try and help others and brought the suggestion up to my wife to provide a different take from a husband and wife perspective.

While our background story may be common, our vision and journey may be a little different than some of the followers out there but hoping it is still relevant and resonates with some. If it provides some inspiration and habit changes I would deem it a success.

It’s been an outlet away from the work stressors and has allowed a different approach on how we both view life and that’s the great thing – in an attempt to help others we are helping ourselves! And we've only been at it for less than 2 months so excited to see what the future holds.

Invested Wallet | Start date: 6/9/2018

I started Invested Wallet for a few reasons. First, I wanted to share my financial journey and be more relatable to regular people. I never had a finance background and self-taught myself along the way.

I also am not retired or a six-figure earner, so I saw a need out there. I also enjoy writing about money and personal finance, with a goal to help other beginners learn.

And lastly, I started it as a potential side business. I work in marketing full-time and want to put my skills to the test. My goal is to have the blog cover my monthly expenses so I can save 100% of my income or this becomes my full-time job in the near future.

The Hutch Life| Start date: 1/1/2019

Growing up as minorities and not really receiving any financial wisdom we had to hit our "rock bottom" to even begin thinking about debt, period.

After taking time to look at where we are and do the deep work on how we got to that point we decided to go hard or go home on our debt and we tackled all $111k starting on one income the first 7 months and kicking it into high gear the last 12 after we became a 2 income household.

We want to share with others that it's possible, especially to those who didn't grow up knowing anything about money. We love being open and transparent and look forward to showing how we get to financial independence.

Now that we are a one income household again and I am a stay at home mom we want to show the ups and downs of the journey.

How to FIRE | Start date: 7/23/2018

Most of our family, friends, and coworkers don’t understand what the FIRE movement is. We both do our best to try and explain to others what this community is made of, but we thought it may be beneficial for everyone to learn and apply the concepts at their own pace.

We wanted to create resources that people with little to no understanding of FIRE could use as a learning platform. Our biggest goal is to help spread knowledge and help others to be more intentional with money.

We started our blog on July 23rd, 2018 - the day after the “Podtastrophe” event was held in Philly. I’ve been an admin of the ChooseFI Philly group since its inception back in Nov. 2017. Having the opportunity to meet so many like-minded people has been such an amazing experience. But after meeting a dozen podcasters/bloggers in the personal finance space, I felt like I need to be part of this community in a bigger way. So we pulled the trigger and started our blog the next day.

A few friends and colleagues had already expressed interest in hearing more about this stuff as we’ve shared tidbits over the past few years with them. But how do we help our family, friends, and coworkers learn about this FIRE movement so they can experience this amazing community as we have been for the past several years?

Starting a blog to begin detailing our own journey seemed like a great way to share our story with others.

Frugality and Freedom | Start date: 2/1/2019

I started Frugality and Freedom to help me distill what I've learned about financial independence since 2012 and how to apply the principles to my local (Australian) context.

I've enjoyed having the blog as a project to work on during my current one-year mini-retirement trip around the USA, providing more purpose to my days and allowing me to share my story and articulate my personal growth.

Founding my blog was also motivated by wanting to connect with others in the FIRE community more deeply through writing and social media, which has already facilitated new friendships and opportunities such as house-sitting engagements!

Finally, I wanted to improve my writing skills and have the blog as a 'portfolio' for future freelance work options.

Salty Old Lady| Start date: 12/18/2018

My goal is to slowly build an online presence to explore moments of personal finance. I notice the FI community has tons of tech-minded folks. As an artist, I think I can bring a new texture into the mix.

From One Geek to Another | Start date: 7/24/2018

I started my blog to detail my FIRE journey and also to keep me motivated through that journey. I've also tried my hand at a few other things, but the journey to FIRE is its core.

Mind Over Money Matters| Start date: 1/1/2019

I am constantly amazed by people wasting money, moaning about money, being negative about things they work hard to afford. I wanted to share my outlook, which is about maximizing the joy and maximizing the value in what you’re spending anyway.

Not being frugal or saving every penny, its about enjoying life without spending unnecessarily.

The decision to do this was made after a fab meal out with a couple of friends. Great company, great food, reasonable price. One of our friends phoned the next day and apologized, he'd been to the restaurant before and the menu had more choice then and was cheaper (we went on a Friday night-set menu with music). That made me start Mind Over Money Matters.

Fun Times Finance| Start date: 2/26/2019

I've been obsessed with reading everything related to personal finance for years now, and I'm at a point where I want to share my knowledge.

My workplace recently held a retirement information session for staff, and I was shocked by how little everyone knew about saving and investing.

Somehow I thought everyone was as interested in the finance community as I was! After taking several coworkers aside to walk them through their retirement accounts (even though I don't work in HR or finance), I realized that I could combine my love of writing with my love of helping people achieve their financial goals...and Fun Times Finance was born!

I'm passionate about having fun and living out dreams, and finance is a critical part of achieving those goals. I'm determined to show people that being financially responsible doesn't have to mean over the top frugality. Fun and finance can go hand in hand!

Radical FIRE| Start date: 12/9/2018

About a year ago I found out about the FIRE community, which was a world opening up to me! It was amazing how people who have similar money goals to me are united in one community.

I've enjoyed reading a lot of articles, after which I started to feel the desire to put myself out there.

I was not really feeling a blog since I'm generally not the outgoing type that wants to put their thoughts out there. One weekend I was going to a seminar by T. Harv Eker, and I felt that this was what I wanted to do.

I felt quite anxious, but I had the momentum so in that exact moment I decided to follow through. I started reading those 'How to Start a Blog' blog posts, and within 2 weeks I started my blog.

My big why is to show other people that it's possible to reach FIRE.

I want to show them that if you set their mind to it, you can do anything! More specific, I want to help people overcome the challenges they face while on the path to financial freedom.

Writing is like therapy for me, I love to get it all out on 'paper'!

Mind the Gap Financial| Start date: 6/16/2018

Nickel, my trusty co-blogger and I, were needing a fresh perspective after languishing in the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps for a few years.

We discovered the FI community (some faves include Paula Pant at Afford Anything, Rob Berger at The Dough Roller, JL Collins) and felt as though we'd found our tribe.

We want to make FI accessible to women like us, 40ish, not making mega bucks, not living in high cost of living areas. Also to explore the possible impact of the cultural lens- many British friends were asking me if these skills I had learned in the US were applicable to their lives in the UK.

This is just one of the many "gaps" we experienced personally on our journey and try to explore through the blog.

Future Fire Father| Start date: 12/28/2018

Future Fire Father is my Financial Independence journey as a mid-30’s husband and father of three great kids (7, 5, 2) where I will chronicle my failures and successes.

My desire to write more publicly about my situation is two-fold:

• Hold myself more accountable, and
• Be a resource to those who can better relate to my situation (mid-30’s, multiple kids, living in suburban America)

My wife and I discuss our financial goals often. This blog takes it a step further and publicly shares them.

By not only writing down our goals but sharing them with others this should keep us more accountable in attaining our goals.

In addition, many of the FIRE blogs I read are about people who have one or no kids, worked in careers where the salaries and stock options were very generous or lived in a situation where monthly expenses for food, etc.. could be kept very low due to access to gardens.

I am happy to see these people succeed in their goals in whatever their situation is. It gives me and others the confidence to work towards our own dreams. I can relate to those people in many ways, but not all.

I want to reach out to those in a similar age/family situation.

I’m just starting in my FIRE journey at 35. I won’t retire in my 30’s. Based on where I am financially as I start this journey, retiring in my 40’s would be a stretch goal.

Most likely my early 50’s based on my calculations.

Future Fire Father will help hold me accountable and be a place where people with multiple children and just starting down the FIRE path can watch me make mistakes and share in my triumphs.  

FIRE Unversity| Start date: 11/1/2018

To help educate everyone but especially young people about saving and investing. Tired of seeing people work so hard but have nothing to show for it.

The Geoscience Behind Finance | Start date: 2/23/2019

While writing my very first guest post ever for The Money Mix about how I use The Scientific Method to help my readers save money, pay down debt and build wealth, I was truly inspired and thought to myself "If I am this passionate about one post, why can't I share a million posts about things that I love?"

I then decided to spend 3 months rebranding and refocusing my blog. In the end, I couldn't have imagined a better result. The Geoscience Behind Finance is a perfect mix of my love/need for personal finance and my life and career as a geoscientist.

Fifty Week Vacation| Start date: 4/21/2016

I started the blog years ago and promptly did nothing. Zip, zero, nada.

I posted here and there, very sparingly. I wanted to write about the bigger picture of personal finance and how it can help you flip the work/life balance upside down. I wasn't finding the in-depth pieces online that I wanted to read and figured that there were others who wanted that as well.

The ones that shared experiences.

Plus, at the time there were few people that I could find who was using real estate to achieve FI. You'd hear anecdotes, but no actual results and findings for real estate on these blogs as well.

I've tried to share what worked and why for my site. Then we moved halfway around the world. That really changed my perspective and direction.

Now, I am trying to write more about the opportunities and challenges of living abroad and pursuing FI. Things are not as straightforward, and new doors have opened up as well, such as travel opportunities. I hope to give the readers a unique take on this journey, and as you note, share what is or is not working rather than preach from a pulpit.

Everyone has a different journey, goal, and idea of what FI looks like. Here is mine!