Nearly one whole year has passed since I began this blogging adventure back in 2010 around the same time as my good friend Mich from Beating The Index, who started at around the same time as me and is also celebrating one year of blogging. I’ve come a long way since then and learned a lot along the way. I’ve learned a great deal from my fellow bloggers and readers who have generously shared their wisdom on finances and on life, and I’ve also grown as a person.
While many finance sites focus on the mechanics such as getting out of debt, saving for the future and living within your means, what really interests me the most is how we can apply these mechanics to make a better life for ourselves. Everything we do should have an end goal in mind, such as getting out of the rat race so that we can spend more time doing the things that we really want to do. If you imagine one’s life path as a rising chart, where the higher it rises the more value we get from our lives, then the goal should be to make this chart rise as much as possible. This is what I call “maximizing your life EV” (expected value).
The journey has not been without its trials and tribulations. There have been times when I have second-guessed this adventure and there have been times when I have been pessimistic; such is the folly of emotions. What is really great about this blogging journey though is that it really helps me to understand that many others out there have faced the same sort of challenges that I have, and they have successfully overcome them. There are people out there whom I highly respect and look up to, such as Andrew Hallam (otherwise known as the Millionaire Teacher) and Sam of Financial Samurai who is doing great things with the Yakezie, a well-respected group of top personal finance bloggers. When I see their optimism and passion for life, I can’t help but see the world a little more brightly as well.
The most enjoyable part of the experience for me has been sharing my thoughts with you, the reader, and learning from your thoughts as well. I think the two-way dialog is what really sets blogging apart from more traditional media, and I look forward to another year of blogging and continuing the adventure!
One Year of Blogging
Here are some highlights to recap the past year of blogging:
Top 5 most viewed articles
- 3 Unconventional Investment Moves to Make in 2011
- What Do You Need to Get out of the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom?
- 3 Frugal Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day
- Breaking Free of the Cage: Escaping the Rat Race
- Have a Lump Sum? Should You Pay Off the Mortgage Faster or Invest It Instead?
Top 5 referring blogs by visits
Top 5 most active commentators
- Everyday Tips
- Forest
- Andrew Hallam
- Roshawn @ Watson Inc
- The Biz of Life
Top 5 countries by overall visits
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- India
- Australia
Top 5 most discussed articles by comments
- Becoming a Renaissance Man: Early Retirement Extreme
- 3 Unconventional Investment Moves to Make in 2011
- Our First Home Together
- What Do You Need to Get out of the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom?
- Gold, Revisited: Is $1500 Near?
I am deeply thankful to everyone who’s taken part in the site and left thoughtful comments on the articles; thanks for helping to make the year a good one! It feels like only a short time ago that I was recapping the first six months of blogging!
One year blogversary giveaway!
To celebrate, I’m throwing a one-year giveaway as a thank-you to my readers; you are the main reason I continue to write and share my thoughts.
A very big thank you goes to my generous sponsors:
- How To Save Money
- The Amateur Financier
- Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
- Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
- Control Your Cash
- KNS Financial
- Maximizing Money
- Prairie EcoThrifter
- Frugal Zeitgeist
- Bucksome Boomer
- Squirrelers
- Wealth Informatics
- My Personal Finance Journey
- Cents to Save
- The Saved Quarter
- Young and Thrifty
Prizes
There are over $485 in prizes available to be given away to the winners!
| Prize | Blog name | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Grand Prize: $150 via Amazon gift card | via Invest It Wisely |
| #2 | $30 via PayPal | via How To Save Money |
| #3 | Magazine subscription (up to $30) | via The Amateur Financier |
| #4 | $25 Amazon gift card | via Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance |
| #5 | $25 Amazon gift card | via Budgeting in the Fun Stuff |
| #6 | Autographed copy of Control Your Cash + Kindle version. | via Control Your Cash |
| #7 | $25 Amazon gift card | via KNS Financial |
| #8 | $25 via PayPal | via Maximizing Money |
| #9 | $25 Amazon gift card | via Prairie EcoThrifter |
| #10 | $25 Amazon gift card | via Frugal Zeitgeist |
| #11 | $15 Amazon gift card | via Bucksome Boomer |
| #12 | $15 Amazon gift card | via Squirrelers |
| #13 | $15 Amazon gift card | via Wealth Informatics |
| #14 | $10 Amazon gift card | via My Personal Finance Journey |
| #15 | $10 Starbucks gift card | via Cents to Save |
| #16 | $10 Amazon gift card | The Saved Quarter |
| #17 | $10 Amazon gift card | Young and Thrifty |
The giveaway is now closed; thanks for your participation!
Contest entry details
Winning entries will be selected using Random.org. Winners will be contacted by email. In the case that shipment is not possible or is prohibitively expensive, a prize of equal value will be substituted less any applicable fees. The contest is now closed. Winners will have one week to respond and to claim their prize once contacted. If their prize is not claimed, it will go on to the next winner. If you tweet, Twitter accounts must have at least 10 followers. If you link from your blog, blogs must be established and reputable. Successful entries will then be announced on the site. We reserve the right to reject entries that we consider fraudulent, spam, or otherwise as invalid.
Good luck!
The giveaway is now closed;thank you for your participation!
Congrats to 1 year. I am just trying to learn about blogger myself and boy am i lost sooooooooo much to learn. So many things i dont know or have a clue about. Great job and i wish you continued success at every step of the way!!
kevin.linkie@hotmail.com
Thanks for this giveaway! Well done on the year 🙂
JB xx
Congrats on your 1 year anniversary!
Corgrats and thank you very much great giveaway!
Thanks for participating, everyone. The contest was closed and the winners will be selected, and announced once they have confirmed!