Wow. I can’t believe it’s already been a year. How did that happen? Coincidentally one of my daily blog favorites Grumpy Rumblings has also turned one today too. I know we started blogging about the same time, but I didn’t realize it was on the exact same day. Great minds think alike, I guess. I remember reading their comments on places like Get Rich Slowly and nodding my head in agreement long before we had a blog of our own.
This kind of snuck up on me, so I don’t have any elaborate giveaways or anything.
Stats
- 155 Total Posts
- 2666 Comments
- Page Rank: 3
- Moz Rank: 4.72
- Alexa Rank: 158,000 but was as low as 90,000 for a while
- External Links: 7945
- Busiest Day: March 2, 2011 with 49,000 page views when MSN Money picked up the article:
You can Always Cut More out of your Budget
- Most Popular Post of all Time through Pages Views and Search Engine Results:
Buy a House without a Mortgage
This was is partly popular because One of Invest it Wisely’s Unconventional Investment Moves articles was picked up by a couple of major periodicals and my article was linked in there.
My Top Referrers for 2011
http://www.investitwisely.com
http://www.moneyreasons.com
http://everydaytipsandthoughts.com
http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com
http://knsfinancial.com
http://movetoportugal.org
http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com
http://tobedebtfreeby30.blogspot.com
http://mollyonmoney.com
http://thesavedquarter.com
I can say every one of these bloggers inspires me and make me laugh on a daily basis. It’s been wonderful sharing our personal finance and life journeys together and I very much appreciate everyone’s visits, comments and general support. And of course, I love being part of the Yakezie, It’s been such a great group to be a part of, I haven’t joined any other blog collaboratives as a result. Am I missing out by not accepting that invite to blogher?
I also have to give a little shout out to Frugal Dad, the very first personal finance site I ever read. I remember spending hours going through his archives. After that, I was hooked.
Did I Achieve My Blog Goals?
If I think about what I was trying to achieve with the blog, it really was about sharing my life with Babci. It’s never been about stats or money, although I admit, I still would love to have more readers. Every single one of my friends thinks Babci’s a hoot and I felt like more of the world needed to know about her. In fact, when I polled a few folks about what I should blog about, it was almost unanimous that I had to write about my crazy but lovable mom. I hope her stories touched you and made you laugh. I also wish that if people are struggling through a tough time either emotionally or financially, that some of my articles gave you the hope you needed to believe that if you put the time in to make a positive change, it will happen. It’s important to hang in there and really believe life can get better.
Okay, enough preachy mumbo jumbo. Lastly, if you have any tips or suggestions of what you’d like to see more of, please let me know. Do you have a favorite story that sticks out in your mind? I plan on continuing to write at least 1-2/week and I’ve been really enjoying the creative outlet that blogging has offered. I feel like I need to dig into my past some more as those stories seem to be the most powerful but I’d love a second opinion on that.
Thanks again to every single one of my readers. I appreciate each and every visit. Let’s hope year 2 will be as interesting as year one.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations! You’re generally our first stop every morning (except on days when we start off alphabetically down the blogroll… then you’re somewhere in the middle
) I’ll have to flip through the archives after work to remind myself which posts I liked best!
http://firstgenamerican.com/2011/03/22/babci-says-its-never-too-late-to-save/
and
http://firstgenamerican.com/2010/12/27/happiness-is-independence/
and
http://firstgenamerican.com/2010/10/03/settling-estate-disputes-babci-style/ though it made me cry.
Thank you. I’ll have to reread the estate one. I have a horrible memory and forgot what I even wrote there.
Congratulations, FGA! Any Babci post is great, and I’d say the last post about Babci’s garden was my favorite.
Congrats! What an amazing accomplishment!!!!
Congratulations Sandy! Absolutely awesome!
Good work, I had a feeling when I first started reading that you’d probably surpass me and you indeed have! Can’t wait to see where the next year takes you!
Happy Blogiversary! I like the Babci stories – they remind me of all the deceased relatives that I miss. But all of your posts are good and easy to relate to – practical, no nonsense and in a compassionate tone.
Wow that is amazing!! It’s your first year and you’re kicking some major butt. Congratulations and happy blogday to you!
gz!
Congrats!!! You had some major accomplishment in the first year! Great work. Heres to an even more awesome future years!
Congratulation!!!
Congrats on your one year anniversary! I love reading about Babci’s viewpoints and your experiences. I think the post that made me laugh the most was the one about Babci trying to smuggle stuff through customs after her last trip to Poland. Rusty bits of metal! Ha, ha!
Linda – Yeah, that was “classic Babci.”
Congratulations on one whole year! It certainly has flown by. Keep up the great stories.
Nice! Being a first gen american myself, I could relate to many of your posts. The difference is that my parents were from China, so there are a few different culture customs than yours from Europe. But it was fascinating seeing a few similarities between the two cultures also. Keeping your blog personal is the best way to progress with your blog. Once J.D. Roth started outsourcing his post I quickly lost interest, however his blog was the one that got me hooked on all these personal finance blogs. Good luck on your second and future years!
Stacking Cash – I was a big GRS fan too but have been reading him less lately and hanging with smaller blogs these days. I love reading about immigrants too. There is definitely a common thread amongst people who are gutsy enough to leave everything they know behind with nothing but the dream of a better life. It doesn’t matter where they are from, most of them have the will and perseverance to make a better life for themselves. Plus, in a lot of developing countries it was very hard to get loans, so debt is really strange for many folks coming over.
Congratulations! You have been great to blog and email with!!!!
If I could change anything, it would be posting frequency, but that is just because I love your posts and I am selfish!
Keep up the great work, and enjoy yourself!
Everyday Tips – I’ll have to work on doing shorter stories, but I’ve never been good with that. Maybe part 1, part 2 of a story would be more interesting, but I feel bad keeping people hanging. Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to think about how I can get back to writing a little more frequently.
Your posting frequency is fine! I just like reading what you have to say.
Congrats! Hope you have many more years.
Congrats on completing the 1st year and best of luck for many more to come. Please post more, as You write really well and it will of course make you more money too hopefully.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes.
Congratulations!
You always have wonderful content. I do love Babci though. Thank you for having such a great and relatable blog.
Happy B-Day!
I usually don’t like to ready long post, but your post I cling to like a flea to a dog
You definitely write superbly! While (like Kris) I would love to ready more of your stuff each week, I know how life gets busy, especially since you have young ones… opportunity costs and all…
All your stuff is classic (although I did like the recent lake one, I felt like I was there too)!
Congrats on the 1 year! First Gen American is one of my favorite blogs to read, and I’m proud to be your #1 referrer for the year! I’ve enjoyed the Babci stories, the light posts, and the more serious posts as well, and definitely looking forward to another year of greatness.
Congratulations Sandy! My favourite post is your most popular post……..I’m really interested in mortgage freedom.
I’m honoured to be on your blogroll and I’m glad to be able to send some readers back your way
You always have wonderful content. I do love Babci though. Thank you for having such a great and relatable blog.
Ps, this is my blog http://ternic.com , looking forward for your visit
Congrats! Those are some great status for 1 year!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I love these type of evaluations articles. You are doing GREAT!!! Keep it up, great resource with a distinctive voice. Here’s to many more years.
Congratulations on your one year blog anniversary!! You have a great job and I love visiting (when I get a bit of free time!!).
Continued success in your blogging!
Happy Blogiversary!
I love reading about Babci, but I also like learning a lesson from Babci’s stories. I like reading about how you save money, because every time I go to spend money now, I think of little tips from your site, and ask myself if I even really need it, and if so, where can I get it second hand?
Kellen – oh my, I left an impression. That’s so cool. Hurray. That comment made my day.
Happy birthday to you! I hope you’re celebrating in style
That’s great, congrats! I remember when your blog was brand new, and I checked it out for the first time. The Babci stories were compelling and got me hooked. I like how your blog is personal, and shares Babci advice/habits that might seem unconventional to some at first, but make sense when you think about it.
Squirreler – trust me, babci’s habits still don’t make sense to me on some days. I took writing about it to really understand some of the stuff.
I love reading your tales. Congrats on your blog birthday and all of your success!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- you’re a great storyteller and Babci is such an amazing woman it creates a perfect match. She’s lucky to have you writing it all down. My hope is that you will turn it into a book someday.
The post that sticks out for me the most is the one about your father (Negative Role Models).
Congrats on making the 1 year mark! That’s huge b/c it makes the 2nd year that much easier as you have a great wealth of content already and you build momentum.
Keep it up!
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