To All the Blogs I’ve Loved Before

I discovered FIRE in 2016 by way of an article in The New Yorker. The article was sort of a back-handed compliment to Pete, the blogger behind the Mr. Money Mustache (MMM) blog. But it sort of mocked him specifically, and the idea of FIRE more broadly. The author’s intent seems to have been to have the reader scrunch up his or her nose at MMM and/or the concept of FIRE. 

It had the opposite effect on me. 

After reading the article, I visited MMM’s website and binge read everything in its archive. I was smitten with the idea of FIRE. 

In the course of my binge read, something wholly unanticipated happened: I discovered that MMM wasn’t the only one writing about this stuff. Sure, MMM’s content and ideas were aaammmaaazzzzing. But these other bloggers I discovered? Maybe I could learn something from them, too.

One blog (or comment within a particular post) would lead me to another blog, which would lead me to yet another blog. And so on and so on. 

Most blogs that I discovered and began following are still going strong. Some, however, are still going, but nowhere near as mightily. That makes me sad. And then there are great blogs that have since disappeared. That makes me even sadder.

In honor of these blogs and with the perhaps silly hope that my lament might be seen by one of the bloggers behind them and prompt them to write (more frequently) again, I thought I’d list some that I miss. 

Dead and gone

Lemme first give it up for the blogs that just plain disappeared. Poof!

Bayalis Is the Answer: Bayalis Is the Answer, authored by Mrs. BITA, is the blog that inspired this post. I miss this blog so, so, so much. Mrs. BITA shot right out of the gate on her first post. It—and every one of the few dozens of posts she ultimately published—was hysterical and hugely engaging because of the transparency she showed. She even was a Plutus award finalist in the “funniest personal finance blog” category in (as I recall) her first year blogging. Mrs. BITA had excellent ideas as to how to build wealth, and a super fascinating personal story. Suffice it to say that this was one of my all-time favorite blogs. 

Think, Save, Retire.: OK. Technically this blog still exists. But not really. See, Steve, the blogger behind it, sold the blog several years ago and his years of posts no longer exist. Steve’s a fantastic writer, and his posts were both educational and engaging. He and his wife (who retired soon after him) now have a few YouTube channels. Steve also occasionally writes on a newer blog of his, steveadcock.us. Those posts are short and focus a lot on personal finance 101 stuff. They’re fun reads and really well written. But I liked his posts on Think, Save, Retire, much more.

The Money Habit: JP Livingston, the blogger behind The Money Habit, wrote a lot of mind-blowing posts. Her story (she’s a high-earning Harvard grad who fat FIREd at 28) was so amazing as to almost be unbelievable. In fact, I several times did some googling to see if I could verify her story. Although I always come up empty on that front, I can’t deny that her posts were really educational and well written. 

Rockstar Finance: OK, Rockstar Finance wasn’t a blog. Rather, it was a resource that listed FIRE blogs, great personal finance blog posts, net worth and other information on content producers, and other FIRE-related content. It was, as far as I know, started by J. Money, who’s one of the most influential and prolific content producers in the FIRE space. J’s story within the FIRE community may be the most fascinating of anyone’s. After many active years, he mostly stopped producing his own content a year or two ago. Happily, though, he resurfaced with a new sense of mission a few months ago, having bought back his Budgets Are Sexy blog and started posting on it regularly again. Rockstar Finance, unfortunately, remains dead. But given J’s comeback, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he repuchases and resurrects Rockstar Finance.

Here’s a few other blogs I used to read that have gone toe up: The Green Swan; I, Vigilante; Othala Fehu; Rich and Penny. 

Dead and not quite gone

A second group of blogs are still accessible, but new posts, which used to be published regularly, have (relatively) long since ceased with no warning. 

Early Retirement Dude: ERD, the author behind Early Retirement Dude, is a really funny writer. He happens to have written maybe the best blog post ever on the history of FIRE, too. At least the best one I’ve read. He never wrote on any regular schedule. The posts would just appear every several weeks or months. Until they didn’t. 🙁

Eat the Financial Elephant: Chris, the blogger behind Eat the Financial Elephant, is still active in the FIRE community. He’s now the main blogger at Can I Retire Yet, an excellent blog in itself. But Eat the Financial Elephant remains one of my favorite blogs because I learned so much from it iearly in my FIRE journey and really loved Chris’ (and his wife’s) story. This blog is dead in a different way than the others in this group. Reason being that Chris did give advance warning that he was ceasing publication of posts on the blog. 

Four Pillar Freedom: Zach, the blogger behind Four Pillar Freedom, shot right out of the gate as a young blogger. Incredibly, he posted almost every day in the early years. That’s a lotta content, and major dedication. The content quality was excellent, too. A data visualist by profession, he created all sorts of charts and graphs that illustrated his points in easy-to-read-and-understand format. Several continue to be referenced by other bloggers. He eventually left his job to focus on side hustles that had become hugely lucrative. 

Mike & Lauren: When I first discovered Mike & Lauren, I think they had both a blog and YouTube channel. Both were among the first FIRE resources I found. The YouTube videos not only were hugely helpful because of the strategies and tactics they covered, but really well done and wildly entertaining, too. They were among the most influential and inspiring content producers I came across in those early days.

Money Metagame: Noah, the blogger behind Money Metagame, and his wife, Becky are very young high earners on their way to fat FIRE (if they’re not already there). The blog posts were so, so, so educational and otherwise fun reads. Both as to the ideas Noah explored and the couple’s story, which included taking a year off to travel. 

Fire Drill Podcast: OK, Fire Drill Podcast is a podcast, not a blog. Although I listen to a lot of fantastic FIRE podcasts, this remains my all-time favorite. The two women originally behind it—Gwen and Julie—are still active in the FIRE community (Gwen with her excellent Fiery Millennials blog, and Julie with business ventures). But unfortunately, the podcast is no more. 

Here’s some other blogs I used to read that are still accessible, but on which the bloggers have since ceased posting: Freedom With Bruno; Mr. Crazy Kicks.

Not dead and not gone

This last group of blogs are still accessible. And the bloggers do occasionally write posts. But those posts are either rare or rrreeeaaalllyyy rare. 

Afford Anything: Paula, the blogger behind Afford Anything, wrote a post titled “Renting Is Throwing Money Away , , , Right?” It’s not only one of my all-time favorite blog posts, but one that’s ever since I read it been hugely influential in my thinking about renting vs. buying. All of Paula’s other posts are excellent, too. She’s all but stopped blogging and focuses on her podcast of the same name. The podcast is excellent, but I miss Paula as a blogger. 

Asset-Based Life: Paul, the blogger behind Asset-Based Life, is hysterical and super sharp. For me, that’s a delicious combination of qualities. Several of his posts have demonstrated a contrarian thinking on the same high level as Mr. Money Mustache, who, for me, sets the standard in that department. 

Cutting Through Chaos: Like Paul of Asset-Based Life, Mr. Chaos, the blogger behind Cutting Through Chaos, is hysterical and super sharp. Emphasis on the hysterical. He and his family also are not American and have lived in several countries. It’s fun reading about their experiences in those countries and getting the perspective of a non-American. 

Financial Chain Breakers: Mrs. FCB, the blogger behind Financial Chain Breakers, is a super-sharp, no-nonsense blogger. When I discovered the blog, I binge read it in just a few days. She dishes out great insights and has a unique and fantastic story. There’ve been no new posts since the beginning of 2022. I’m hopeful that the blog’s not dead and that Mrs. FCB will write once again. 

Living a FI: LAF wrote a few epic series of posts. In my opinion, they’re among the best blog posts on any subject in the FIRE space. One series prompted me to write my own “Money, Man!” series. 

Mad Fientist: Brandon, the author behind The Mad Fientist, almost never writes blog posts anymore. He’s for several years mostly focused on his podcast of the same name. But even new episodes on it have become exceedingly rare. His blog posts (especially the early ones) were and remain hugely influential for many of us in the FIRE community. They explained strategies and tactics I never could have thought of on my own. 

Our Next Life: Tanja, the blogger behind Our Next Life, FIREd with her husband a few years ago. She published posts that were exceptionally well thought out and informed by a very healthy dose of (often contrarian) caution, realism, and social- and self-awareness. She’s since written a few books, the first of which I read and think is one of the best books by a FIRE blogger/influencer. 

Thoughts of an Anonymous Lawyer: I really related to the author behind this blog because, like me, he was a legal-industry lifer and saw clearly through the baloney that is BigLaw. He earned gobs more money in BigLaw than I ever did and eventually fat FIREd. I find his posts, which mostly tell his story, hugely engaging. It was fun to follow him along his journey and his stories about BigLaw. 

And in the end . . . 

Well, there you have it, Dear Reader. A long lament about great content producers. I dunno if any of these fantastic blogs will ever reappear or start publishing regularly again, but I’m not giving up hope.