What's a Personal Finance Community and How To Build Yours?

According to the Corporate Financial Institute, personal finance is “ the process of planning and managing personal financial activities such as income, spending, saving, investing, and protection.”

Now that you know what personal finance is, what is a personal finance community?

A personal finance community consists of a host of resources that can help you get better at how you manage money.

These free resources or paid professionals that can help you figure out how to get out of debt, increase your credit score, save money, create a budget, invest, create passive income, and so much more.

A Personal Finance Community is made up of:

Financial Institutions

Commercial Banks, Credit Unions, Insurance Companies, Savings and Loan Institutions, Investment Companies, Brokerages, and Investment Banks.

Many of these resources you’re using right now.

Programs

Credit Counseling, Debt Management, and Financial Advisors all provide free or paid services to help you learn how to manage your personal finances.

Blogs

There are Blogs about everything under the sun, anything you like to do or want to learn, there is a blog for it.

Blogs about how to get out of debt, increase your credit score, live on a budget, create a budget, save money, build generational wealth, and where and how to invest can be a part of your community.

Real people that have real experiences, their stories will inspire you to learn what they did and try it for yourself. Mistakes and setbacks, how to overcome them or not put yourself in the line of fire in the first place.

I was inspired to expand my financial portfolio based on advice from blogs. It worked out in my best interest.

Now this doesn’t mean that the advice you get is to be followed exactly, because everybody is different, you still have to think about your circumstance and do your research.

But you get tips on how to start and what resources to tap into. You can even pose questions in many of the group forums.

Podcast

If reading is not your thing, try listening to your favorite bloggers on podcast platforms or personal finance podcasts in general.

People

Family and friends can be a part of your financial community. Think about the person you would ask for financial advice, or the person that would make you an authorized user on their credit card.

You know, the person that cheers you on when you’re making smart choices with your money instead of squandering it.

Let’s not forget the time you needed to borrow money, but refused to go through a payday loan to get it, that family or friend that loaned you money so that you didn’t have to.

They are all a part of your personal finance community.

Related Stories: 16 Ways To Get A Positive "Money Mindset"

Why you need one?

You need a personal finance community because you need help with your money.

Many of us were not taught in school or at home how to manage money, we were not taught how to invest.

You need motivation, inspiration, and advice on how to make smarter decisions and build your wealth.

If this is not you, then maybe you need to take your wealth to the next level. You want to make smart investments or just learn what’s happening in the world and how it’s affecting all of our money.

It doesn’t hurt to educate yourself.

Don’t think this is going to make you think about money all the time, it won’t. You’ll be surprised how little you think about money when you're making smart money decisions.

8 Best Personal Finance Blogs, I think you will enjoy!

Some of my best ideas that made me money and is still making me money came from a few of my favorite bloggers, I learned how to invest, start my own business and start making passive money to retire early and do the things I really enjoy. Check these out for yourself!

• Money Girl- Get simple tips on how to make smart financial decisions when it comes to taxes, insurance, and investments. If you want to take your finances to the next level you will enjoy this blog.

• Clever Girl Finance - Love the free financial courses on this blog. This is a blog helping empower women to take control of their finances. I have learned so much from this blog. I love how they focus on getting started early when it comes to making smart financial decisions.

• The Budget Mom- Need help creating a budget, this mom has you covered, as she demonstrates live how to create a budget and stick to it