Should have figured this earlier on, but we’re experiencing a growing number of engineers coming out of the closet – as personal finance bloggers! Maybe its that natural disposition to analysis or that notorious reputation for penny-pinching, but whatever it is, I’m glad our numbers our growing. After reading Joe’s bio, it inspired me to compile a list of the best posts written by my fellow engineers.
Here’s the highlights for your reading pleasure:
Thousandaire
Kevin and I are only celebrating our 1-week anniversary, but I’ve got to give him top spot. Right from the get-go, his unique sense of humor had me. If you want an example, check out the comical spoof music video he made! OR just leave a comment on any of his posts and receive a hilarious message.
ENGR PHRASES: N/A
Retire by 40
Another new kid on the block, Joe appears to be another engineer. Checking out a few different articles, I couldn’t resist including his September 2010 credit card bill review. Reason? He added an equation at the bottom of the post!
ENGR PHRASES: analyze, compliance
Dividend Monk
Maybe ashamed, DM hides his true profession. But if you’ve read any of his stock breakdowns, you’d be able to spot him a mile away given the extremely well-organized and laid out analysis. Fittingly, he writes often about technical companies – in this case, Chevron Corporation.
ENGR PHRASES: thesis, maximizing energy efficiency, upstream projects
Renting Out Rooms
A recent guest post-er here on Engineer Your Finances, Mike chronicles his experience as a “live-in landlord”. How does he show his hand? The Phenomenon of Why Strangers are Better Roommates takes away the emotion and applies the calculated approached. Sometimes this can be referred to as “cold”, but that comes from the (non)receiving end. ;)
ENGR PHRASES: phenomenon, assumptions
Invest It Wisely
Although this is a review for another website, Barbara does claim her dad was an engineer so I guess this can slide. Kevin talks about the ebook: A 20 Minute Guide to Investing. And don’t expect a sugar-coated write up, he lays out what he thinks the book was missing. Overall he does a great job providing comprehensive updates of what’s going on in the PF sphere if you ever need an update.
ENGR PHRASES: dense, impact, tool
Money Green Life
Charles works through the seemingly age-old question: How Much Savings Should You Have? And in true engineering fashion, he references his budgeting spreadsheet and provides sample calculations.
ENGR PHRASES: spreadsheet, assuming, feasible, practical
Joe Taxpayer
If you are buying your first home, then check out Joe’s post. The meat of the article can be found on American Express’ new blog – Currency, but I wanted to give credit to his own site. Giving a detailed breakdown of costs, he provides a useable checklist for potential buyers.
ENGR PHRASES: consistent, range
Early Retirement Extreme
While not technically an engineer, Jacob has a keen technical sense and a strong background in physics. Enjoying his writings since my own start, it would be remiss to exclude him from this carnival. Short and to the point, he uses something very dear to me – tap water – to draw a comparison with wasteful spending.
ENGR PHRASES: finite resource, irreplaceable aquifers
Len Penzo dot com
Having had the chance to meet him in person, I love reading Len’s work now more than ever. Putting a face to the name can really make the difference. His writings are consistently fresh, witty, & entertaining. Your Personal Finance Voter Guide gives a good example. Again, you can tell the technical nature of the writer by the clearly outlined examples.
ENGR PHRASES: thereby, appreciable, conducted, extensive
Darwin’s Finance
Another long standing giant, I think DF was the 4th blog I contacted when starting out. Writing on a vast array of topics, I really enjoyed Workplace Recognition Goes a Long Way. As best takeaway for me personally: “However, I do anticipate that by doing this a few times to a few good people, not only do you foster an improved sense of morale and performance, but you earn yourself a reputation for being someone who gives a crap”.
ENGR PHRASES: operations, functions, process
Personal Finance by the Book
The first shall be last and the last shall be first. In this case, we gave Joe (third one here) both. Hope you checked out his personal interview he gave, but if you’re looking for more he gives an unlikely position on whether Should Senior Citizens Become Cry Babies Over Social Security Freeze? Like we’ve shown before, engineers can remove personal feelings to look at a system for what it is. Even though Joe stands to directly benefit, he still agrees that the “system simply cannot afford being squeezed”.
ENGR PHRASES: mechanism, stagnant, system
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Nice job with the wrap!
Wow – what a rapid fire response – I’m impressed!
Holy Buckets! Top of the engineer list!? I feel like the homecoming king!
Seriously though, I really appreciate you including me on this list and pulling this together. It’s great to see so many engineers blogging; we’ve got some serious brainpower behind this personal finance stuff. I’ll have to make sure I check out all these blogs.
Whoa Kevin…it was good, but let’s see what the rest of the album sounds like.
Definitely – it’s always feels good supporting each other and hopefully we’re actually making a difference somewhere/somehow.
Thanks for including my post from Darwin’s Finance. Glad you enjoyed.
Sure – would have liked to included the letter you wrote about the fridge, but that was probably a little too old.
Hmm, I’ve been revealed. In my defense, I at least said it once on my blog!
I appreciate the mention.
DM: HA….nothing to be ashamed of ;) It really would have been evident from your write-ups, almost like a technical brief – you do a great job! Know if I make any money on these recommendations I’ll have to let you know.
thanks for the mention! this is a great list and a great idea! i was similarly inpsired by today’s member post as well.
Thanks for doing the roundup, and for including my review!
Definitely, and someday we will solve this perpetual spam problem! Actually, what’s your level of interest in book reviews? We may need to talk with regards to Yakezie.
Book reviews? Definitely interested in doing them. I could do one per month or so. I already have some books on the backlog ;)
Wow – that’s pretty impressive – 1/month? Alright we’ll continue this over email.
Woohoo! my first shout out. I didn’t think anything about putting an equation in my blog. I guess I’ve been an engineer too long. :)
Retireby40: Alright! Glad I could help :) Keep on plugging away at the posts and it will continue to grow!
What have I started? Will engineers really take over the world…or the blogosphere? Seriously, this roundup is a great idea. I appreciated being a part of it!
Thanks for getting me moving on it. What’d you think of the ENGR PHRASE? Almost like tagging an a post ;)
Late to the party again, but I loved this! Absolutely loved it!!! :-)
(BTW, it looks like we’re in good company.)
Best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
Len: Better late than never as always. Would rather have you commenting anyway!