Here at Homegrown Hillary, I know there isn’t just one way to do frugal living. In fact, there are hundreds of frugal blogs all showing their unique ways of living happily on less. But which frugal blogs are worth following? Let’s take a look at some of my personal favorites that still put out new content in 2023, plus some other money-saving bloggers the internet can’t get enough of. (If you’re specifically looking for frugal mom blogs, I’ve done a separate post on my favorites!)
Best Frugal Blogs
Fun, Cheap, Or Free
Jordan Page, the queen bee behind Fun, Cheap, or Free, was my ‘gateway drug’ into the world of frugal living on the web. She has a Youtube channel as well, and often shows off how she manages her family’s eight kids, two dogs, giant van, and a partridge in a pear tree. (Ok, kidding on the last part.) I really enjoy her content because she shows that living frugally is something that can be done at any income level, and she talks candidly about how their decisions to live well below their means for the first 10 years of their marriage have paid off big time now.
Article to start with: How to Sign Up for Free Stuff & Rack Up the Discounts
Frugal and Thriving (AU)
Melissa Goodwin is a former accountant, 10 year veteran Australian frugal blogger, and studied to be a researcher in college. Can you get a better set of skills when trying to discover the most cost-efficient ways of living life? Melissa’s writing reminds me greatly of St. Amy’s work in The Tightwad Gazette, which is about the highest praise I could bestow on anyone writing about frugality.
Article to start with: Turning Single-Use Items into Multi-Purpose Savers
The Frugal Girl
Kristen’s tagline, “Living Cheerfully on Less,” speaks to my soul. Her series on spotlighting other tightwads, her grocery hauls, and her “Thankful Thursdays” also strike a chord with me. She also agrees with me about not couponing or scoring rebates, but prefers to live simply and use what she has. Ok, I just love pretty much everything she writes.
Article to start with: Food-Waste Fighting Meals | the lunches-only edition
Homegrown Hillary
Of course I’m going to include myself on my own list! I’m Hillary- stay at home mom, certified master gardener, and penny-pincher extraordinaire. My goal is to offer some serious frugal living tips by doing deep research and discovering the most affordable, creative, and sometimes ridiculous ways to save money. Then, I want to share that knowledge with literally anyone who will listen.
Article to start with: How to Save Money When Buying Meat: Tips from an Actual Butcher
Video from my YouTube channel:
Frozen Pennies
Sara started a blog because she wanted to document a no spend challenge. And then it snowballed! Now, she writes about saving money, budgeting, and anything related to living frugally. I’m consistently running into her stuff on the internet and am always impressed.
Article to start with: Easy Packable Lunches for Your Husband to Save Money
Tuppenny’s FIREplace
Emma’s frugal blog story started as a broke single mom struggling to make ends meet. Now, the British frugal blogger and her husband have been so good with money they got to retire 15+ years early! She writes about her journey with FIRE (financial independence, retire early), budgeting, and other smart money habits.
Article to start with: 11 Habits of Frugal People that You Need to Know
Frugal Confessions
Amanda is a financial writer with 10 years of experience and pieces in Forbes, Business Insider, and Women’s World magazine. She also has plenty of personal experience- paying off nearly $60k in debt and raising a family along the way. My favorite part of her website? All her posts about her hometown in Amish country, and all the frugal life tips she’s learned from her neighbors.
Article to start with: Amish Parenting & Financial Tips
Miss Many Pennies
Hayley is one of those bloggers whose content I’ve pinned over and over again on my Pinterest boards. I never want to forget her ideas! She’s got fabulous advice for families trying to live on a budget, money-saving hacks on pretty much everything, and also a special “Amazon Deals” section.
Article to start with: Quick Tips to Creating a Family Budget
Frugalwoods
This blog has been going since 2014, all published by “Mrs. Frugalwoods.” She still publishes reader case studies, super transparent monthly spending breakdowns, plus plenty of frugal tips and tricks. She also currently lives in rural Vermont, so it’s the blog to visit when you want to read about homesteading on the cheap.
Article to start with: City vs. Country: Which Is Cheaper? The Ultimate Cost Of Living Showdown
Frugal blogs (that also blog about other stuff)
My Joy Filled Life
Sarah identifies herself primarily as a Christan and homeschool blogger, but I’m still including her because her frugal living section is really insightful! You know any mama who’s making it work on one income with 8 kids is doing something right.
Article to start with: How to Afford the Holidays with a Large Family
The Frugal Navy Wife
Marissa is a mom of four who, you guessed it, writes about life as a military family. She touches on homeschooling, travelling, wedding planning, and Christmas in addition to general frugal life hacks.
Article to start with: 40+ Ways to Upcycle an Old Sweater
Thrifty Frugal Mom
Lydia’s frugal blogs have been running, in some form, for almost ten years! She was the money-saving expert for Parent’s Magazine for a few years, but is once again independent and sharing all things homemaking, money saving, and parenting. She’s probably best known for her thrifty recipes and her series on how she spends $200/month on groceries for her family of six.
Article to start with: 18 Simple Recipe Ingredient Substitutions That Save Money
Other Excellent Personal Finance Websites
Clever Girl Finance
Bola Sokunbi is the Nigerian-born powerhouse behind Clever Girl Finance. Her goal is to provide free content in the form of books, worksheets, courses, and coaches to help educate the world in personal finance.
Article to start with: How To Save Money On Car Expenses
The Penny Hoarder
I remember religiously checking the Penny Hoarder when I was in college and they had a section of their website devoted to free money on the internet (usually in the form of class action lawsuits, free samples, and referral codes). Now, they’ve reached a higher plane of web-existence and focus equally on how to save, make, budget, invest, and overall handle money.
Article to start with: 160 Military Discounts That Say “Thank You For Your Service”
Kinda Frugal
Kinda Frugal is run by power couple Sara & Jerry Graham. They write about a variety of topics, including debt reduction, saving challenges, and how to lower your bills. Like the name suggests though, it’s definitely an all-in-one personal finance blog and not just a frugal living blog, since they talk about side hustles and earning money as opposed to just spending less.
Article to start with: 23 Ways to Reduce Your Housing Costs
The Money Guy
Brian Preston, CPA, CFP®, PFS, and his business partner Bo have such an entertaining youtube show, I often find myself watching them while cooking dinner! They’re both professional financial advisors, award-winning podcasters, and are considered some of the most influential voices in the personal finance beat.
Article to start with: Top Highest Paying Virtual Jobs [Work From Home]
Dave Ramsey
You didn’t think I’d wrap up a post on personal finance sites and not mention Dave Ramsey, did you?
If you’ve been living under a rock, Dave Ramsey is an author, radio host, and the CEO of Ramsey Solutions, the personal finance brand he started to help people get out of debt, save money, and “live like no one else.” He and his team of “Ramsey Personalities” also talk about insurance, taxes, relationships, careers, politics, and basically anything tangentially related to money. My husband and I credit following his plan to our getting out of $40k in debt in two years (while paying for a wedding & two births).
Article to start with: Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps
Hopefully, you’ve found some new writers to inspire your journey towards financial freedom. If you’d like more money hacks, subscribe to my newsletter below for weekly updates.