Personal Finance + Inspiration = Free Financial Advice

And the winner is……. Going to be announced at the end of the article! The FinanceSpiration Challenge has come to an end, thanks to everyone that participated! I hope you all have gotten something out of the different stories of inspiration in personal finance; here they are in order of appearance.

Iram
Iram started it off with Working Hard and Spending Very Little. Cheers to no credit card debt, hard work, and saving more than you spend!

Lazy Man
In response to Lazy Man’s praise of personal finance bloggers I thanked these bloggers for being personal finance leaders and examples for the rest of us. Move over Suze Orman, here comes Boston Gal, Flexo, J.D., Trent, and Jim!

Emily
Making important decisions by yourself is not always easy as Emily shares with us in Making Financial Decisions Alone. Thanks to Madame X at My Open Wallet and Boston Gal she has had some guidance and inspiration. While reading about others’ finances is interesting and can be helpful, Emily brings up that it can also be discouraging. Madame X reminds us “don’t be so hard on yourself if you don’t feel you measure up”. Everyone’s personal finance situation is different, if we set and meet our own goals we should be just fine. It sounds like Emily is on the right track!

Courtney
Courtney rounds out the entries in the FinanceSpiration Challenge with Until Last Year, I Hated Money. She has been influenced by many different personal finance sites, most notably the Ladies in Red. I’m glad to hear that these sites have given Courtney a new outlook on personal finance and have gotten her started down the road to financial success!

Thank You
I’ve learned some things from the participants; hopefully you all have as well. A big thanks to Binary Dollar, Blogging Away Debt, Get Rich Slowly, Blueprint For Financial Prosperity, and My Open Wallet for letting everyone know about the contest.

Financial Advice
I’d also like to thank Kristine McKinley from Beacon Advisor for being a sponsor of the contest by providing her knowledge, expertise, and time to the winner. One of the great things about Kristine is that she can handle both personal finance and tax questions since she’s a CFP and CPA. She shares her finance and tax knowledge with the world on her blog, and you can sign up for her monthly newsletter on her website.

Winner’s Circle
Speaking of the winner, the submission with the highest number of comments is Emily! The comments from Boston Gal and Madame X put you over the top, now you can’t say you never got anything out of a personal finance blog! Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories and being an inspiration to all of us! If you enjoyed this contest please subscribe to my feed to keep track of what’s new at a Money Smart Life.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards