Since this is the last week before Christmas and we’re smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, and thus holiday blog posts, I decided to have my first “themed” roundup week with all three posts shared focused on the holidays. I’ll likely not do too many themed weeks in the future, but it just felt right this week. So here it is, my first holiday roundup for Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays.

I started this series after months of debate because I wasn’t certain I wanted to up the ante and commit to publishing three posts a week. However, now that I’ve started sharing these posts, I’m so glad I started.

There are so many fabulous women writing about personal finance online, and yet there is still a perception that women aren’t good with money, don’t care about money, or don’t understand it on a granular level beyond perhaps knowing how to coupon and score a good shopping deal. These roundups are my way of doing a small part to change that perception. There are no shortage of women online doing their part to make it clear that they DO understand money, and these posts are meant to amplify that fact.

The hardest part of this post every week always is narrowing it down to my favorites, because there is just so much good content out there. If you’re ever interested in what else I’m reading, I share quite a few other posts on Twitter (and that’s also where I read most of the content to begin with these days).

Our Women’s Personal Finance Facebook group also has a sharing thread on Fridays, and that’s the place to read all the blog posts written by members over the previous week. If you’re looking for more articles written by women, that’s a great place to continue reading (plus we have plenty of great discussions on finances the rest of the week as well!).

If you don’t have the time or inclination to go searching down myriad posts, though, I will be continuing this series every week to showcase some of the best of the new content I read. If you ever read a post you thing I absolutely need to consider for this roundup, please let me know! I am always open to reading new blogs (and posts of blogs I do know, because I miss some).

Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays – Holiday Roundup

1. between holidays 6512 and growing

While not a personal finance blog, 63 and growing has been one of my favorites for longer than I can remember. Rachel has the most beautiful writing style, and her content is real and inviting, focused on family, sustainability, minimalism (her family of four lives in an 800 square foot home), empathy, and homesteading. She may not write about financial independence and may not be pursuing it directly, but she and her family live a very “FI” like lifestyle.

Her kids are older than mine, so I love having a bit of insight into what seasons of life *might* look for us in the future. Balancing holiday magic and time with family and friends is always an endeavor, and I love her take on the matter. Plus, as someone who hates pumpkin but adores squash, her recipe swap mentioned gets an A+ in my book.

2. Enough Is Enough Ms. Liz Money Matters

Even with a pulled back holiday season, this time of year is usually pretty crazy making. And for some reason, things that seem fine most of the year crop up as noticeable around this time. Short days, long nights, presents lists, goals for the new year; whatever the reason, we tend to contemplate our lives in detail in December.

I love the sentiment in this post, and how Liz so clearly walks through the sticking points in her life as she works through her “enough.” This one got me thinking about my own situation long after I finished reading.

3. More Experiences. Less Stuff. Travel Plus Family

I kind of wish Tara had written this post earlier in the year, because I could see myself doing something very similar with my kiddo. More experiences, less stuff is an easy thing to understand with adults and older kids, but there is a ton of pressure to fill the base of the Christmas tree with presents when the kids are young.

I’ll be bookmarking this idea for next year and think there’s a good chance we’ll be doing something similar in the future. What an awesome way to balance the excitement of Christmas morning without the hangover of too much stuff the next day.

I  hope you enjoy the posts this week as much as I did. I read a ton of content and it was hard to narrow down my favorites. I’m looking forward to sharing some new ones with you again next week!

As always, if you’re looking for a categorized list of self identified women writing and speaking about personal finance, here is my comprehensive guide to the Women of the Finance Independence Community.