Struggling with financial management? Reddit is here to the rescue.
Whatever you’re interested in, no matter how important, probably already has a community on Reddit. Reddit is a discussion site where people form communities or “subreddits” for just about anything, from health tips, funny videos, and scary fictional stories to people dedicated to just talking about annoying things.
A similar category of subreddits is personal finance. I mean, let’s face it, most of us don’t have the best financial knowledge. We learn on our own, be it through books, YouTube videos, articles or internet guides. However, all this does not help us with the exact financial dilemma we may be dealing with. This is where Reddit comes to the rescue. If you’re looking for one-on-one guidance from people who might be dealing with the same situations as you, here’s a list of subreddits you should check out:
r/PersonalFinance:
r/PersonalFinance is a community of 16.4 million members that describes itself as a community where you can learn about budgeting, saving, investing, and retirement planning. If you look at the subreddit’s Wiki page, you’ll see tips categorized by different age groups, as well as different types of loans and investments.
The subreddit also has 30-day challenges designed to encourage community members to get their finances in order. At the time of writing this article, the month’s challenge is to track all of your spending habits. The community has taken proactive steps to track spending by making the budget complete with categories such as savings and retirement funds.
r/Financial Planning
r/FinancialPlanning is your one-stop guide to a more frugal lifestyle. The community has 400,000 members who discuss windfalls, salary negotiation and next investment. The community also tells you the types of documents you should get when buying shares.
Unlike the previous post on this list, investing or stock analysis is not within the scope of this subbook. Community rules encourage members to write posts related to speculative investments such as cryptocurrency.
r/budget
r/Budget is the place to be for help creating your personal budget. The community has 24,000 members who talk to each other about the cheapest places to buy groceries, credit card payments and budgeting apps they should be using.
Redditors in this community also share their budget sheets with each other. Members can look at the sheets and help them see where they can cut costs and advise them on how to live on a budget. Some good Samaritans on the subreddit also create personal budgets for others to use.
r/povertyfinance:
r/povertyfinance is a community of 1.4 million people offering tips and advice for those struggling financially. The Community Wiki page has detailed information on food banks, affordable healthcare and free financial literacy courses. Redditors can use this subreddit to talk about their problems, get encouragement from other community members, and also share tips on how to be frugal with their expenses. Some community members even seek to share job opportunities with others who may be interested.
If you are familiar with the basics of financial management and need investment advice, this may be the right place for you. With 2.1 million members, r/investing is full of advice on how to invest in the capital markets. The community was created in 2008, around the time the stock market crashed.
This subreddit closely follows all investment news, providing detailed posts that ask questions about why the market is the way it is. Members share tips on where to invest as well as explain the terms of investing to those who may not be familiar with them. Members can also access a reading list on investing, financial reporting, and understanding the stock markets.
According to the 2020 S&P Financial Survey, only one in three adults can correctly answer three out of four questions on arithmetic (the ability to use simple number concepts), inflation, risk diversification and interest rates. This should tell us that financial knowledge is limited to only a few people in the world. The best way to spread financial literacy is for those with financial knowledge to share information with others, and that’s why these communities are so important. If you’re starting your journey to becoming financially independent, be sure to check out these subreddits.
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