This year, I’m jumping off the traditional gift-giving wagon. To be honest, it’s partly from necessity (student life does decimate one’s budget). I believe that celebrating Christmas does not have to be expensive. It’s giving from the heart and giving with impact.

So I start my Life Transforming Giving series this December 2009. At least once a week, I’ll be posting articles about links, stories, people, stuff and experiences that have had a positive impact on my life. They have these in common: they let me live, laugh and learn.

Life Transforming Giving 1: Personal finance blog sites

Like most fresh graduates, I was not ready for the responsibility of handling my own money when I was let loose from college. In the past few years, though, I have learned a lot of principles about managing my personal finances.  These learnings came from my own successes and failures, from mentors, blogsites and books.

Here are my favorite 5 websites regarding personal finance and investments. Try to draw out principles that will apply to you, since most are written from a US context. For example, we don’t have Roth plans and our stock market has a different taxation system. In general, the ideas in these websites are sound and practical. Most of the authors are earning money from their blog sites and are freelancers. Enjoy!

www.thesimpledollar.com

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/

http://www.wisebread.com/

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/

Personally, I learned these important things from these sites:

• Spend less than you earn.
• Save! Save! Save!
• Invest according to how much you’re comfortable with risk.
• Give back generously. Give back sacrificially.
• Do what you love and excel at it.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart ” Psalm 37:4