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 22

1. The Risk of Doing Nothing Smile and Conquer

When Sarah talks about “doing nothing,” she doesn’t mean nothing, nothing. Once you’re looking to start saving your income after paying off debt, it is so important to understand that saving is not the same thing as investing. Like Sarah, I’m a personal finance blogger who actually doesn’t like talking or thinking much about my investment strategy. I do it, and I keep it pretty simple, but I’m not one to dive deep into that area of finances.

I’d rather take a hard look at where my expenses land and making sure I have to right accounts set up (hello high interest savings account and Vanguard investment accounts), but beyond that I’m content to let it ride.

For someone who is new to the investing world and finds it overwhelming, this post does a great job of laying it out in simple terms, and especially focusing on why you need to do it. Compounding is your friend, and you need to get your money working for you instead of leaving it on the sidelines.

2. Why I Needed A Break Up Fund Refine My Money

I wrote a bit about the importance of having at least semi separate finances even in a marriage in the guest post I wrote for Get Rich Slowly, but the need to have fully separate funds is something that’s been a theoretical discussion for me rather than something I’ve actually faced personally (though I’ve experienced it second hand through friends in the past).

What I’ve never considered fully though is the concept of a break up fund separate from an emergency fund. While she hoped to never be in a situation to leave a relationship you expected to last forever, having solid footing financially made an unpleasant situation a little bit easier. Emergency funds are for things like needing to replace your furnace or a temporary job loss; a break up fund is for a complete life change.

She says it so well here: “I realized that my Excel formulas won’t account for some massive life change unless I tell it to.” Even those of us who are well prepared and look closely at our finances on a regular basis may be less prepared for a significant life change than we realize. And it doesn’t even have to be a breakup.

3. DIY Wands Inspired By Harry Potter Minivan Adventures

So, perhaps this isn’t “personal finance” exactly, but it’s definitely frugality which is what makes the financial stuff work for most of us. And if you have a couple chopsticks laying around without matches, this could be a reuse project as well.

While we will likely be holding off on this craft project for a few more years as four year olds are perhaps not the best candidates for running around with pointy sticks, I’ll be keeping this in mind for the future because these are just so awesome. And if my friends and I ever get around to a Harry Potter themed event, then we may end up making these for our adult selves regardless.

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.