Invest It Wisely

Maximizing your EV in life

Two Years of Blogging: My Thoughts, and an iPad 3 (The “New Ipad”) Giveaway + Other Great Prizes!

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Birthday cake. Source: (seen on multiple sites)My second blogversary is tomorrow, Thursday, the 29th of March. My very first post went live on March 29 two years ago. It has been quite an adventure since then, with many changes both in my personal life and in the online world! Here are some of the highlights:

  • I purchased a home with my girlfriend, and we moved in together.
  • I started taking my first Mandarin courses a bit more than two years ago. I’m now almost finished the whole program (30 credits!). On one hand, I could be halfway through an MBA or something like that. On the other hand, it was great learning a new language, even if I still have a long way to go. It wasn’t easy going through the program, but I enjoyed it.
  • Two years ago, I was in a bit of a rut at my job. Things were going well, but I had been doing the same thing for a while. Since then, I learned a great many new things, got promoted, and even mustered up the courage to take a leap into the world of self-employment.

It’s been a great adventure, and certainly one that I haven’t shared alone. I’ve enjoyed sharing the journey with you, my fellow reader. 20s Finances is asking us to share our advice and tips for newer bloggers out there, even though I still consider myself a young blogger. Here are my answers to some of the questions a lot of you may have:

Why did you start blogging?

At the time of my mild rut a couple years ago, I was debating if I should go back to school to pursue a CFA and MBA, and perhaps jump into the world of finance. I had done well in those classes at school, and I liked to compare different scenarios. My fellow colleague, Mich from Beating the Index, loved to talk about investing in oil & gas companies, as well as his daily battle to beat the index. I recommended he start an online journal to record his thoughts, and I decided to try the same to document my own thoughts and journey in personal finance. Back then, I didn’t know much about the blogging world or about other personal finance bloggers.

I’ve since learned that I’m not as much into the finer details of investing in stocks as my buddy is. I like seeing my money grow, but I prefer an approach based on index funds and following simple and sound strategies, such as spending a LOT less than you earn, and not getting ripped off by the banks.

I’m not sure if this blog succeeded in helping me pursue a CFA/MBA in the end. I’d like to pursue a master’s someday, but since it’s not cheap, I also need to look at the opportunity costs!

Where this blog really helped me the most is in forming new connections and learning new ideas. I have learned so much in this short span of time. Invest It Wisely is the main reason I was able to make my jump to full-time self-employment. It’s still too early to say where things will go, and I’ll be honest: I would have had a much more relaxed schedule had I stayed at the job. I also would have hated my job. It’s enjoyable to fight the storms and fight for your future, instead of letting it be dictated by what happens at your company and by the whims of your bosses!

I am also starting to write my first book and a major section of a second. Many of these doors have opened for me simply by being exposed to this world of opportunity. For that, I am again thankful to you, dear reader, for keeping me going through the thick and thin of it.

How long did it take you to earn $100?

Probably almost an entire year. I made very little money at all during my first year of blogging. Blogging doesn’t make a significant amount of money for me even today (far less than what I earned at my day job), but it helped me accumulate enough extra savings so that I could make the jump.

What is (at least) one thing you wish someone had told you before you started blogging?

Tough to say. However, something I highly recommend is regular backups, of both the database and of your files. This is doubly important if you don’t have your own hosting. Most importantly, breathe, and relax. Not always easy, I know, and I need to often take this advice myself, but the key to blogging is longevity and resilience, and you won’t get there if you’re always feeling stressed out.

Giveaway

On to the part I know you’re all waiting for. 🙂 To celebrate my second blogversary, I’m giving away over $1200 in prizes! There are three prizes to win in all:

  • Top prize: The new iPad 16GB with 4G + Wifi (value $649) . The new iPad has a high-res screen of 2048×1536, quad-core graphics, and long battery life. With the 4G connectivity, you’ll have access to high-speed internet wherever you are. I would love to get one for myself!
  • Follow-up prize: Simply Investing course (value $347). This course is a simply investing approach to value investing with a focus on dividends. Learn the same techniques used by successful investors like Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham.  You can find out more at the Simply Investing course description.
  • Follow-up prize: Stock Trend Investing Gold Membership + $25 via Amazon (value $216). This membership will give you access to simple investment strategies and teach you how to analyze the market to grow your savings and net worth. You can learn more at the Stock Trend Investing website. There is also a $25 gift card via Amazon to make the prize even better.

Please note: This giveaway is open to legal participants in Canada and the U.S. only. Also, entries are only valid if they are new entries. For example, if you’re already subscribed by email, you can’t count that as an entry. You have to do something new.

Sponsors

Thank you very much to everyone who has kindly sponsored this giveaway!

Thank you all, for helping to make this giveaway possible! The contest is now closed; thanks for participating! See this page for the winners.

Listed on:

Contest Girl
Online Sweepstakes

Best of luck!

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Comments

  1. Great post Kevin! thanks for joining in. I agree that frequent backups is really important. I didn’t do this when I was starting out, but now it is more frequent. I would hate to lose everything.

    • What do you think about services like Code Garage? I find it more efficient than downloading the backups from each site’s control panel, but on the other hand with the recent increase to $30 a month it’s getting more expensive…

  3. How time flies Kevin!

    Congrats on your second year anniversary and here’s to many more… I am happy you pushed me to take that jump and happier you took it with me!

    Cheers,

    Mich

    • Haha, I’m happy, too! Sometimes it really helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of and kick in the ass when one is having doubts. 😉

  7. Congratulations on making it through 2 years! I love your writing style and how you are willing to go against conventional thinking…don’t change that. I would like to hear more about you making it as an entrepreneur – especially with the Android apps.

  8. Congrats on two years of blogging, time sure flies doesn’t it? I just celebrated my 4 year bloggiversary! Would love to read more about your adventures creating and selling apps!

  10. Congratulations on 2 years! It looks like your blog has really grown in that time and you’re going a great job!

    • I went thru some of the older posts cleaning them up a bit. I don’t know why WordPress is so lazy sending out pingbacks sometimes. 😉

  17. 2 years – that’s like an old man in blog years! Congratulations!

  22. Its been amazing watching (errr stalking?) the changes you have made in your life over the past 2 years. I can’t believe you and BTI are buddies in real life!

  27. Congrats on 2 years. I too haven’t made a lot of money blogging. It’s more today than when I started nearly a year ago but hopefully it will grow some more. Good thing is that I make business from my site so that keeps it all worth it. Happy birthday.

    • That synergy always helps out! I need to find a way to tie my diverse sites and interests a little more closely together.

  31. Keep up the great work — I can always find great info on your blog. Thanks for the chance to win!!!

  33. Two years- many congrats! Always solid content & am looking forward to many mores years of quality information… Thanks!

  34. I’d love to see you continue the strong investing articles and advice that you already have. There’s so many “get rich quick” investing methods and mantras out there, we need to have a voice for doing investing wisely.

    • Thanks, BB! Speaking about Roth IRAs we are debating increasing out TFSA limits to $10,000 up here in the frozen north… 😉

  35. Congrats on the blogiversary Kevin!!!!

    I really enjoyed reading the brief trip down memory lane 🙂

    All the best to you this year and for many years ahead! Keep up the stellar work.

    Awesome giveaway. I will be promting it this weekend and next week! 🙂

    Cheers,
    Mark

    • Thanks, Mark! I’ve enjoyed reading your own journey to build up a dividend war chest, and your articles are among the best out there. I’m glad to count you as a blogging buddy. 🙂

    • It took a very long time for me, but I think if you go deep enough into blogging it can open up a lot of other doors. Like, authorship, other ventures, etc…, so there is a lot to be said for looking beyond the direct strategies, though those are important, too.

  38. congrats on 2 years of blogging! I’d love to see your blog get even more well known!

  42. Hey, Congratulations on 2 years of blogging! I always invest in my RRSPs for retirement and for my nieces and nephews education. Thinkin’ of the future.

  43. I would like Investitwisely to perhaps have fun pamphlets/guides for children. Material suited for children to understand the value of money and smart investing tips. Prepare the next generation of kids ! This sense of ENTITLEMENT needs to be curbed somehow !

    emu839(at)gmail(dot)com
    eva urban

    • Thanks, Eva! I agree about the sense of entitlement. I have found some of the “Skinny On” books to be decent, and I also like those long infographic banners. Maybe I need to get some of those on here.

  45. congrats on the anniversary, I don’t know much about investments, maybe you can teach me.

  46. Congratulations on two years of blogging! You’re a model to those of us just starting out. I would definitely like to hear more about your journey in the app-making world. It seems like a really saturated market to me, so I am curious to see your strategies to stand out amongst the competition.

    • Thanks! It is a saturated market, but on the other hand, there are niches to be explored. Markets work in a long-tail fashion, so there might be 100 apps in a niche but it doesn’t mean all 100 are good…

      I actually think that the blogging sphere is a lot more crowded, though again it depends on niche. There are a lot of things that translate between the two sides, actually! You guys are all giving me a lot of ideas, and I’ll have more to say on this in the future.

  48. Anniversaries come and go but InvestItWisely is here to stay – I want to see you there when my children grow.

Trackbacks

  2. […] congratulations to Kevin from Invest It Wisely who is celebrating his second blogiversary!   In celebration of this event, Kevin is giving away a new iPad and a host of other great prizes!   Go visit his site this weekend for your chance win. Thanks for reading! Categories: […]