What is Personal Finance? Why Personal Finance?

When you hear the word personal finance, what comes to mind?
Finance that is personal? How to save and spend less? Frugality? Mortgage? Making more money? How to invest your savings?

I have been wondering of recent, and thinking hard about personal finance. I ask myself, Siji when you call yourself a personal finance blogger, what are you? And what are you trying to become? (If you are still in doubt as to my vision and mission, please read my About me page and this post about my online dream project.)

As a Nigerian talking personal finance isn't easy, not to talk of 'not being a finance major'. In fact as a Nigerian starting out as a personal finance blogger, I had so few, very good Nigerian blogs to follow in personal finance. I found among others Olafusi Michael, financial freedom inspiration, nairametrics, moneyissues.com.ng, deoluakinyemi.com. Not too much by the way of topics adapted solely to the Nigerian situation.

[Luckily in the international personal finance blogosphere, I was not short of options. In fact you should check out Andthenwesaved.com's list of 58 of some of the top personal finance blogs in the world.]

And that was just the first challenge, the major one is this: How do you teach Personal Finance to a people who have already adapted to the frustration and adjusted to a life of frugality in order to survive the poverty in their land? Or have they not?

The beauty about personal finance blogging, or any blogging at all is that you can take a topic today and start to learn about it even as you blog about it. You do not need to be an expert on it, only passionate about it. In PF blogosphere, what makes it more appealing is when you are going from debt to wealth. (And that thread seems to run through the lives of many a newbie PF blogger, particularly those outside of finance, including this one).

Personal finance encapsulates so many different spheres and topics and issues cutting into virtually every other aspect of our lives (leaving out only the aspect of our lives that money does not touch - and I doubt that such an aspect exists). And that is why I can't talk personal finance without talking/including scriptures. I am yet to comprehend how a Christian will really talk about finances and intentionally leave out the bible; where most financial principles have their roots, and numerous examples consist.

You can check out Jon the saver's (of FreeMoneyWisdom) list of 10 Christian personal finance blogs.

To Sijinius, personal finance is taking the reins of your finances from your emotions and giving it to your disciplined logic -'financial brain', from what your mum or the experts say about it, to what YOU have come to realize works best for you.

Personal finance is knowing and accepting that you, and you alone determine whether you will meet your goal of living on, and leaving this earth financially independent and financially free. And taking decisive steps daily to ensuring that.