When asked about our goals, we usually tie them to our careers or our finances. While our careers can definitely help us achieve our financial goals, delving into the world of personal finance can be a great complement to this. One way to supercharge your personal financial chops is to read some of the best Canadian personal finance blogs — or fourteen of them.
The world of personal finance in Canada can seem like a mystery to some, but what if it didn’t have to be? Regardless of your goals, there is plenty of information out there to help you achieve them. Whether you’re looking to pay down debt, build up credit, invest, or save, there is a ton of information available online — the trick is finding the right kind for you, your lifestyle, and your needs.
The sheer amount of information available on personal finance websites can be overwhelming, so we put together our list of the best Canadian personal finance blogs you should be following to help you master your money management.
Top Canadian Personal Finance Blogs
In school, some of us wanted to be friends with the student who did all the reading, listened in class, and took the best notes (and some of us were that student). Why? Because when it came time to prepare for a test, we knew we’d be ready.
Today, we’re that friend for you. We’ve done the reading, taken the notes, and now we’re ready to present some of our favourite Canadian personal finance blogs. Some are informative, others are entertaining, but every single one is worth your time! Here are our 15 favourite blogs about personal finance for Canadians, in no particular order:
1. Mint Worthy
This Canada personal finance blog, targeted specifically toward women, seeks to break the taboo of talking about finances. With a background as a CPA and Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Vanessa Bowen has the financial knowledge to lend, as well as the strategies and mindset coaching to see you through it all.
When she made the connection between financial freedom and her own ability to follow her dreams, she couldn’t help but share that experience. Offering what she refers to as “holistic” coaching, she blends financial literacy with real talk to change your financial reality.
Vanessa covers everything from budgeting (a big focus), reducing debt, building emergency savings, and setting and achieving money goals on her personal finance website and blog.
2. MapleMoney
Tom Drake wants to show you how to make, save, invest, and spend money — so there’s something here for everyone! As a financial analyst based out of Alberta, Tom started his site in 2009 to share what he calls his “money experiments.”
Today, the topics on his personal finance website cover the wide spectrum of money management — everything from starting a side gig (make!) and reducing utility usage (save!), to how to gain tax advantages (invest!) and using promo codes (spend!).
3. Squawkfox
Meet Kerry K. Taylor, a Canadian personal finance journalist who has been dishing out sound money management advice and skills via her blog and TV appearances, which span over her 10+ year career. Taylor offers a refreshing take on finances and money management, tackling topics like emotions and money, and how behavioural science can help us pay off debt faster.
Why do we love her? Because she doesn’t just crunch the numbers to show you exactly how much you could be saving and how much the decisions you make every day are really costing you! She also digs deep and goes beyond the numbers to address the real issues that impact personal finance for Canadians. Plus, she recently dealt with some serious health challenges, and took it in stride while guiding others just like her.
4. HowToSaveMoney
Stephen Weyman wants you to save money. He really does! Growing up with an Investment Advisor — his father — Stephen learned early on how to treat money responsibly — and he wants to share his secrets with you… for free.
He’s done all the homework: He’s compared credit card fees and rewards programs, cable and internet providers, and much more. He also provides a plethora of how-to’s, like how to watch sports for less, and how to stack grocery deals and coupons to get the best deal. If a Canada personal finance blog that covers money-saving topics sounds good to you, consider subscribing to HowToSaveMoney today!
5. Money After Graduation
Bridget Casey wants you to live your best financial life. A millennial finance expert with an MBA from the University of Calgary, Casey has been recognized as one of Alberta’s Top Young Innovators.
She founded the finance website not as a place for tips on clipping coupons and giving up lattes, but to help readers get ahead financially…for real. It offers regular advice and encouragement to become an entrepreneur instead of an employee, a shareholder instead of a consumer, and a money master instead of a victim of your finances.
6. My Own Advisor
Like many young people, My Own Advisor’s advisor, Mark Seed, was told that one of the best wealth building strategies was to invest. So, in his 20’s he did just that — he started investing.
After realizing how much his bank was taking in money management fees, he took matters into his own hands. He read everything he could get his hands on, setting a goal of an investment portfolio worth $1 million and, he did it around age 40.
Seed provides everything from investing basics to specific stock and trading advice. If your goal is to build your portfolio and learn to invest for wealth building, this Canadian investment blog is a great place to start!
7. Half Banked
For a lot of millennials (and others as well), managing their finances, financial goals, and saving are akin to sacrifice. It seems, for many, a choice between living and enjoying life now or saving for the future.
But, Desirae Odjick argues that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, her blog boasts that you can save AND drink your lattes. With four pillars to money management (spend well, save money, make a budget, and invest), Odjick and her team provide real and simple strategies for each tenet, so their audience can leverage tools, tech, and other resources to build their wealth.
8. Modern FImily
Nic and Court lived in the US but now reside in gorgeous Alberta, Canada (Court has dual citizenship). They have a daughter named Finn, and in 2018 they achieved financial independence for their family. Looking to add an additional member, they set (and achieved by the end of 2020) a new family-of-four FIRE goal number — FIRE meaning financial independence and retire early. But their finances weren’t always in a good place.
Together they had over $100,000 in student loan debt but managed to pay it all off in just 2.5 years. And they didn’t do it by depriving themselves. Instead, they jumped off what they refer to as the “work-spend treadmill,” focused more on living with intention, and looked for ways to gamify life while increasing their enjoyment. Their motto: be weird and wealthy.
They have a FIRE Community Guest Interview series, a Master the Big Stuff series (like food, housing and transportation) and offer travel hacks.
9. Savvy New Canadians
Meet Enoch Omololu. He’s a self-described “new Canadian,” having immigrated to Canada in 2011. Although he’s a veterinarian by profession, he’s very passionate about personal finances. He received his Master’s Degree in Finance and Investment from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
His blog began as a way of chronicling his understanding of financial issues as they related to his new home in Canada. Now he covers topics about personal finance for Canadians ranging from DIY investing to frugal living, and even contributed to our very own blog with this awesome article, Want to Improve Your Financial Situation? Try These 10 Savvy Money Tips.
10. Money We Have
Like travelling? Like money? So does Barry Choi. His blog is all about doing the things you love (like travelling) while still keeping up with your savings and financial goals.
Who said you had to choose between enjoying your life and enjoying your financial independence? You could even go so far as to say that they both go hand-in-hand, and Barry Choi agrees. His expertise includes personal finance, budgeting for travel, millennial money issues, credit cards, and frugal living.
11. Retire Happy
This popular Canada retirement blog is dedicated to “making retirement the best years of your life.” Retire Happy focuses on delivering top-quality financial planning information that is practical, timeless, and can make a lasting difference to your long-term financial well-being (versus quick wins that can come crashing down). The site is chock-full of information.
Author and columnist, Jim Yih has been writing about finance since 2000, and everything he’s written is still available through his site. With so much information at your fingertips, Jim recommends making the search bar on his site your new bestie to find just what you’re looking for!
12. Mixed Up Money
A blog that has won the Canadian Personal Finance Blog of the Year award twice, Mixed Up Money offers a “safe space for women who care about their money.” Founded by Alyssa Davies, a content specialist for Zolo, this blog helps make learning about personal finance in Canada easy and fun for readers.
Whether you need help with controlling impulse spending, advice on buying a home, or information about RESPs, Alyssa and her team of writers have the knowledge and compassion to help.
13. Million Dollar Journey
This blogger, who is known only as “Frugal Trader” or “FT” began Million Dollar Journey in 2006 with just under $200,000 in the bank and one goal: To turn that $200K into—you guessed it—one million dollars by 2014.
Congratulations are in order, because FT did it with time to spare. Now, you can read all about how FT did it with bi-yearly summaries encompassing the 8-year journey. He covers topics like withdrawing from your TFSA to comparing online banking options.
14. Cut The Crap Investing
Former advertising writer and creative director, Dale Roberts, quit his day job in 2013 to move to Tangerine and work as a personal financial advisor to help people discover lower fee index investing. Little did he know that five years later he would create a popular Canadian investment blog, too.
“Most Canadians are still invested in high fee crap,” he writes. “I hope to show millions of my fellow Canadians how easy it might be to take control of their investments, cut those fees and ties to the high fee investment industry and live better financial lives.”
Roberts also writes for Seeking Alpha, a popular investment site, on topics such as asset allocation, dividend strategies, and retirement. To date, he’s written over 280+ Canadian investment blog posts, which we could all learn a thing or two from.
What to Look for in a Personal Finance Blog
When it comes to figuring out what makes a good Canadian finance blog ‘good’ we’ve narrowed it down to four things to look for:
1. A good Canadian personal finance blog should be interesting.
At the very least, whatever you’re reading up on should be interesting to you. Many of us are so crunched for time, and so much of our lives can be tied up in our professions, that when it’s time to clock out at the end of the day, the last thing you may want to do is spend your precious time doing something that doesn’t interest you.
And while the world might tell you that working on your personal finances isn’t fun (and by the way, it definitely can!), we’re here to tell you that at the very least, it should be interesting. One way Canadian bloggers make talking about personal finances interesting is through the value of the knowledge they provide, like saving you an extra $50 a week, or giving you options on how to pay off debt faster.
2. A Canadian finance blog should provide you with tips you can apply to your everyday life.
Because what’s the point in reading something that doesn’t bring some value to your life? Whether it’s entertainment, making your life easier in some way, or giving you a whole new perspective on something you thought there was no solution to, like paying off your student loan or credit card debt.
But there’s so much information available on the internet, that sometimes, it can be overwhelming. That’s why information that is simple, clear and easy to apply to your everyday life is monumental and can be life-changing, especially when it comes to your finances.
3. Money blogs in Canada should speak to Canadians, eh.
It’s easy to find a great money blog, but finding a great Canadian money blog can take a little extra leg work. As Canadians, our finances can be quite different from our American neighbours, so you have to be careful where you’re getting your financial information from.
It’s important that anytime you’re basing a financial decision on something you read in a personal finance blog, that you make sure it’s coming from a Canadian source.
4. A Canadian finance blog should inspire you.
Sometimes reading about personal finances can make you feel stressed, overwhelmed and like it’s already too late. But a good personal finance blog will do the opposite — it should make you feel hopeful, motivated, and inspire you to incorporate simple changes into your day-to-day living and spending that will make a big difference in how you feel about yourself and your future.
The best Canadian personal finance blogs break down complex (and sometimes intimidating) money management ideas and concepts into easy-to-use tips that anyone can understand. After reading a good personal finance blog post, you should feel motivated and inspired to take on your financial goals from an empowered and positive place. Bottom line: a good financial blog will make you feel good.
A Financial Blog for Everyone
There’s no shortage of advice out there. The trick is finding what works for you, your situation, and perhaps, for some, how risk-averse you are. There are many paths to wealth, you just have to decide to take one. In fact, there are many more financial and Canadian investment blogs out there — we’ve only highlighted a few stand-outs.
An online search will, undoubtedly, reveal more (and perhaps even better) Canada personal finance blogs suited to your particular situation. Share your own personal favourites in the comments below! And of course, if you haven’t already subscribed to Credit Canada’s blog, there’s no time like the present. When you know better, you do better, so what are you waiting for?
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