Welcome to another week of the Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays roundup. 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 – Week 17

1. Exactly How I Saved 72% of My Middle Class Income Bravely

Kara’s story is so dang inspirational because she’s done it without a high income. She paid off a crazy amount of debt with a seriously low income, and she honed those skills in the process. Unlike so many of us who do a great job staying frugal when income necessitates it, I’ve been impressed by how she’s been able to keep such a lock on lifestyle inflation as her income has grown. 

Even beyond this ability to keep her living expenses at a crazy low level, I’m extra impressed that she made this savings rate happen while more or less taking a month off during the year. It’s so easy to get into the habit of always needing to make more and do more, and it’s so important to take care of yourself along the way as well. Once you hit that minimum amount needed to pay your expenses and save a bit for the future, I think that’s the point you need to start thinking long and hard about what makes you happy, not just what is the next optimization for your finances. 

2. Is My Side Hustle Idea Good Enough to Make REAL Money? Budget Like A Lady

There is SO much online these days about side hustling, and so much of it isn’t great advice. This post is a short and sweet explanation of what might make a good side hustle – and what won’t. Like Nicole says, “Running a business is about making money. If you are not making money, you have a hobby, not a business.” Not that there isn’t anything necessarily WRONG with something being a hobby – this blog certainly falls into that category – but too many people confuse the two. If your goal is to create a business or have a true side hustle, it does have to be profitable (a good reason to steer clear of multi level marketing schemes…)

If you ARE looking to create a real side hustle to make real money, I’d suggest reading this post first. She also links to some free worksheets related to picking a side hustle, but I haven’t looked through them myself as I’m trying desperately NOT to have a side hustle. That said, everything I’ve read from Nicole makes me think these are probably a worthwhile download if you are interested in creating or expanding on one.

3. Ask The Bitches: How Do I Prepare For A Recession? Bitches Get Riches

To be honest, anything that Piggy and Kitty write is worth a read as long as you aren’t turned off by explicit language (it should be obvious based on their blog name that this is the case with their writing). To anyone who’s been paying attention to the news lately, the possibly of a recession in the near future is definitely real. And to Kitty’s point, there IS a recession in the future – it will just depend on when. 

I was still finishing up college during the Great Recession, but finding a job post graduation was insanely difficult and certainly colored by that economic downturn. That said, I am in a completely different financial situation now, so being prepared for the next recession looks a lot different for me than it did for the last one, mainly because I have a real income now and have the ability to BE prepared in a way I couldn’t previously. If you’re anxious and a bit stressed about the idea of a downturn and are looking for concrete steps to take to be better prepared for when it does finally arrive, this post is for you, with clear, actionable steps to be as ready as you can possibly be.  

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.