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 think 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 47

1. Self Reliance In Early Retirement Dragons on FIRE

There are so few voices online who are regularly writing about what life is like AFTER early retirement, and it feels like even fewer of those voices are female. So many bloggers who closely share their journey while they’re on it tend to – understandably – find other things to spend much of their time on once they’re away from the computer with work so much. I love hearing stories from “the other side,” like this one.

Early retirement tends to be overwhelmingly talked about in the positive, which makes complete sense, but it’s the parts that take a little more struggle and introspection that are the most interesting to me. A couple years into early retirement, Dragon Girl has a perspective we don’t hear about nearly enough, and I found this a fascinating read.

2. Letters From The Past Three Year Experiment

In a way, blogging about personal stuff (not just about money!) is writing for my future self, though it’s a lot more outward focused than these letters that Laurie shares. I think I might be convinced to write my own now.

What I love best about these letters she shares is how kind she is to herself. So often it’s easier to be kind and uplifting to other people while beating ourselves up at the same time. Perhaps by writing to your future self, you’re apt to be more kind? I think I want to find out.

3. When having money is a problem Revanche

If you’ve never been asked for money by a family member, count yourself in the privileged group that only has to worry about covering your own financial burdens. For so many families, and even friend groups, having money is seen as something that is meant to be shared.

Sometimes this can make sense – I’m the first one to step up and offer support in many situations – but it can also open the floodgates to requests and being seen as the bank of one. Being caring and generous are some of the best things you can be, but that means being caring and generous with yourself as well. And setting boundaries when they need to be set.

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 Financial Independence Community.