A big ‘ol DIY welcome to the listeners of “The Down and Dirty” with Frank Fontana. If you want to read a bit more about the deck project that we spoke about today on the show, you can see it here: DIY Disaster, Or, Our New Deck.

Since you’re into DIY, you can take a look at what we did to our kitchen as well.  And then check out this article on The Cost of Not Doing it Yourself, where I talked about a small plumbing fix that I tackled.

I hope you’ll enjoy those articles, and if like what you see, please feel free to subscribe to Beating Broke or join me on Twitter and Facebook.

Welcome!

Also, if you weren’t listening to the show today, here’s a link for the replay.  I come on at about 44:30: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diy/2012/01/18/working-bikes–dd-radio

We’re a few days into the new year, and, like many will do, it’s time to reflect a bit on the year that we just completed.  Also, like many, it’s time to try and spot the things that were successful in 2011, and try and improve upon them in 2012.  I don’t normally share a whole lot of the behind the scenes things here at Beating Broke, but, I’d like to share some today.  First, I want to take a look at some general statistics of the site.  (note, I’m using Google Analytics for these stats.)

• Pageviews: ~52,000 (last year: ~17,000)
• Unique Visitors: ~28,000 (~8,600)

Overall, 2011 was a pretty awesome year for Beating Broke.  The increases year-over-year are astounding.  In fact, (let me do the math here, hold on.) that’s an increase of over 300% in both statistics.  Yowsa.  There’s no one to thank except for you, the readers.  Without you, those numbers wouldn’t be possible.  I had fun last year, and fun this year, and I think we’ll have fun in 2012 as well.

Now, I want to take a little closer look at the year.  Let’s start with the most popular posts of 2011.  (note that these are listed by popularity (pageviews) and may not have been published in 2011.)

1. Important Changes to Tax Cuts and Credits for 2011
2. Data Backup on a Budget
3. 11 Tips on Smarter Spending
4. 5 Creative Ways to Save
5. The Great Recovery
6. 7 Frugal Date Suggestions
7. Carnival of Personal Finance 332
8. Four Strategies to Get Dinner on the Table if You Are Single
9. 1950 vs. Today – Have Our Changed Spending Habits Improved Our Lives
10. Wells Fargo Fee

A pretty diverse list, really.  Several things stand out to me as I look it over.  The first is that hosting a carnival or festival is still a good way to get a bump in traffic.  Does that traffic stick around?  Very little of it, but it certainly helps.  Another thing that stands out, is that sometimes big news is a good push too.  The Wells Fargo post at the bottom, there, was a short post to point out the fee that WF had announced, and not really heavy on content.  Again, does that traffic stick around?  Not much there either.  But, most of the rest of the posts are quality posts and deserving of their position on the list.  Again, it’s all you, the reader, who make that list possible.

Clearly, I’m happy with most of the stats of Beating Broke, and with the upward trend that they are making.  Some of the big events of 2011, like the Financial Blogger Conference that I attended, and having Quit my Job, all point me towards 2012 being an even bigger year.  I hope it is, and I hope you will stick around to see where 2012 will lead us.

Finally, one last THANK YOU to the readers and friends of Beating Broke!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  By now, you’ve likely got the turkey out defrosting, and are getting the rest of the ingredients for you Thanksgiving Day feast all in order and ready to go.  Tonight, or tomorrow, you’ll start traveling wherever it is that you’re planning on going (or your guests will start arriving) and you’ll be surrounded by family and friends, ready to take in the festivities of football and food.  Enjoy it!

I’d like to take this time to make a special thank you to my family and friends.  While we all have things to be thankful for, I feel especially thankful for all the support I’ve received from everyone during my new adventure.  I knew that I had the support of my wife when I Quit my job, I had no idea how the action would be received by the rest of my family and by my friends.  Not once, have I been told that it was a stupid thing to do, or that I shouldn’t have done it.  Everyone has been supportive of the decision and has done what they could to accommodate the changes in our situation.  For that, I am truly thankful beyond measure.

When I finally put in that two-weeks notice, I was floating on this nice little cloud, high above the world, happy with my decision and feeling like I could do no wrong.  Like Andrea of So Over Debt put it, it was the first good nights sleep I’d gotten in quite a while.  And, of course, for the two weeks that I was still working, I stayed on that cloud, anticipating that last day, and the end to my tenure at that employer.

As those two weeks went by, I went from anticipating the day, to downright demanding it came faster.  As more and more of my tasks were transferred to temporary replacements, and I packed more and more of the stuff off of my desk, I began to think about all the things I could be doing at home, at my computer, with this site, and my other sites.  It was torture!

At the end of those two weeks, I nearly ran for the door!  I was already filled with ideas of what I would write the next day, the things I would do, and the changes I could make.  Little did I know that I had a bit of a different path planned.  You see, I woke up early the next morning, with the flu.  Yep.  I spent my entire first day of self employment with the flu.  The following day, I was well enough to at least sit at my desk, but being productive was almost certainly out of the question.

One of the things that I decided, early on in this adventure, was that the income from this and other sites wasn’t going to be enough to make up the difference, or even to make a dent in it.  I would have to get a part-time job in order to help pay the bills, while I built the sites up to a reasonable income level.  I already had a lead on one, so the first full week of self-employment, I went and met with the owner and we worked out some details, and I started last Thursday.  The part-time income from that should help with the bills.  I’ll get a bit less done on my sites, as I’ll be working three days a week, but it was something that I felt/feel was necessary in order to keep some constant money coming in while I work on building other things.

Now, a full week and a half after I quit, and the holidays rushing in on us, somethings are coming back into focus.  I’ve always gotten a bit worked up about finances.  That’s why I created this site, after all.  So, knowing that we lost over half of our income and will only be able to constantly replace about 1/3 of that income immediately, has me a bit stressed.  My wife want’s to do some holiday shopping, and my natural instinct is to shut off all of that, and “give hugs” this Christmas.  It’s caused a bit of friction, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

I’m recovering.  From the high of quitting my job.  From the flu.  From stressing entirely too much over money.  From a lot of things.  Such a major life change is bound to require some recovery period, and I am confident that I’ll come out the other side.  There’s just a few bumps in the road.  What an adventure!

photo credit: alibree

I did something a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure that, based on the title of this article, you can guess what that something is.  In fact, today is my last day.  Starting at 5, I’m a free agent!

Why I Quit my Job.

Over the last several months and weeks, several things had happened at work, and while each would have likely been bearable on their own, the whole was completely unbearable. I don’t want to get into any real details, as I prefer to take the high-road and just leave what’s done, done. Unreasonable demands on me, and and my time had made my work a true chore, and I wasn’t willing to deal with it anymore. And so, I attempted to make my argument as to why the demands were unreasonable, but those arguments fell on deaf ears, and I submitted my resignation and two weeks notice. And, boy, did it feel good.

What about that House?

If you’ve been reading the last few weeks of articles, you’ve noticed that I’ve been writing alot about the house we were planning on buying, and the process that we and other prospective home owners have to go through. As you can likely imagine, the loss of one of our incomes has made it impossible for us to be able to afford the new mortgage payment that the new house would have brought with it. As a result of that, we’ve since cancelled the purchase and will remain in our current house.

The upside of not buying the house, and having to pull our current house off of the market is that we’ve done quite a bit of work on it in the last month or so to make it more appealing to prospective buyers. A new deck, some new flooring in the hall, and paint touch ups, among other things have made the house look pretty nice. It still remains rather small for our growing family, but it’s in really good condition now, and we’ll just have to make do.

Plans for the future.

With my resignation, I got something that I hadn’t really expected. Some freedom. I declared my free agency, and I’ll be attempting to make the most of it. I’ll be spending a lot more time writing for Beating Broke, as well as my other online properties. I’ll be writing some guest posts for other personal finance sites, and am hoping to have another ebook ready for you all sometime around the end of the year. (If you’ve got topics you’d like to see an ebook on, please let me know in the comments!)

I’ll likely have to take on a part time job, but have resolved to make it part time so that I have the time to do the extra work on this and other sites. It’ll help supplement the income I make online until such time as the online income grows enough to support me doing it full time.

How can you help?

The biggest way that you can help me, right now, is to continue reading my articles, here. It’s why I write them. It’d be pretty boring if you didn’t stop in to read, leave comments, and add to the discussion. If you’ve got topics you’d love to see covered here, please let me know in the comments or by using the contact us link at the top of the site. I’ll do my best to cover them as quickly and as fully as I can. Finally, share the site with your friends! Let them know how much you enjoy the articles!

photo credit: timsnell

I don’t believe I’ve written about NaNoWriMo here before.  That’s a bit surprising considering I’ve been around here for going on 4 years and participated in the last 2 NaNoWriMos.  But, I can’t find anything on the site about it, so I guess it’s about time.  First, a basic explanation.  NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.  The premise is that you spend the whole of November writing a novel.  For the sake of the event, a novel is described as a written work of 50,000 words or more.  I wrote about my experience in 2009, in which I “won” by actually accomplishing over 50,000 words, and then wrote about my experience last year, in which I did not win.

It’s an interesting challenge.  Especially for someone who fancies themselves a writer.  Many of us who do don’t make the time to do the actual writing, choosing to put it off for other pursuits, then dust it off in November and let it fly. I know I’m guilty of it.  At least, to some degree, I get my practice in by writing here and elsewhere, but that’s largely non-fiction and not the fiction that I want to write.  So, I’m jumping back into the NaNoWriMo waters again this November.  I’m changing the rules a bit, though.  Instead of one large work of 50,000+ words, I’m going for 10 individual works that add up to 50,000 words.  If your a NaNoWriMo purist, it’s breaking the rules, but I do it for me, not for the purists.

If you’re a writer, or want to be, I invite you to join me!  It’ll be fun, and you’ll get some practice in.  It’s good for non-fiction practice too, if that’s what you want to improve.

If you’ve been paying any attention to other personal finance blogs over the last week, you’ve heard a good bit about the financial blogger conference that took place in Chicago last weekend. While I don’t work full-time as a blogger, I do make money from blogging, which makes FINCON a professional conference for me.

For any professional, a conference can give you a lot of value. It doesn’t necessarily have to be value in the form of education or additional profit, either. For many, there are additional benefits to attending a professional conference.

Professional education.

Primarily, if your company is going to send you to a conference, they’ll be sending you because they believe you’ll get some educational value out of attending. The many breakout sessions are full of speeches and presentations that are designed to educate you on new and different ways to improve your business. Because of the focus of FINCON, for instance, the many speakers were mostly speaking about how we, as financial bloggers, can improve our writing and reach to provide the reader (that’s you!) with a better experience. J.D. Roth (Get Rich Slowly) gave a wonderful presentation about the power of the story. Cliff Ravenscraft (Podcast Answer Man) presented ways (and reasons) to use the power of the spoken word to reach our readers. Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income) closed the conference with a rousing speech on being epic and providing the best content you can.

Networking.

The other, just as important, value you’ll get out of a conference is the benefit of networking with other professionals. Everyone of the attendees at one of these conferences is in the same industry as you are. They have experienced the same difficulties that you have. You can share your difficulties and accomplishments with them. Some will have overcome those same difficulties and will share how they accomplished it. Even better, through networking, you’ll make friends in the industry that you can contact after the conference is over and bounce ideas off of them. For many, the relationships created during these conferences will develop into strong professional partnerships. At FINCON, I was able to meet with many of the Yakezie. For most of us, it was the first time we were meeting in person after over a year of interaction on the Yakezie website, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail.  We took advantage of the power of the network, and strengthened the relationship we already had.

Affirmation.

The final value that I’d like to mention is the value of the affirmation that a professional conference can provide.  If you’re in a professional position in an industry that you love, a professional conference can provide an affirmation of your chosen path.  For me, FINCON provided that.  The last thing that I wanted to do on the Monday after the conference was go back to my day job.  It’s not that I hate that job, but I love my job as a blogger. FINCON affirmed my decision to become a blogger.

Professional conferences can be exhausting.  They can even be a bit boring at times.  But, the value that they provide far exceeds the cost, both monetarily or physically.  I encourage you to find a conference in your field and attend it.  Especially so if you are a small business owner or a self-employed person.  It’s doubly important, then.  It doesn’t have to be half way around the world; for most industries, there are regional conferences all the time.  It’s worth it.  It pays off.

I wrote briefly about buying my ticket to the Financial Bloggers Conference a few months ago.  In the time between then and now, FINCON turned into a really first class conference.  But, more on that later.  As a part of the conference, the folks behind FINCON and teamed up with the folks behind Team Love Drop to schedule a conference service project to start the weekend off.

About 80 or so of the attendees joined in, and we took a bus over to an organization called Phil’s Friends.  Once we were there, we got right to work moving furniture around, packing care packages, and getting cards ready to mail.  It was a really good time, that afforded all of us who attended to get some informal networking in while helping out those we could.  I really hope that PT and the folks behind FINCON make this an annual part of the conference.  Luckily, the folks in charge thought ahead and took some video.  It’s a short bit; watch it.

Phil’s Friends is a great charity.  Inspired by the story of the founder, Phil, they send weekly cards to cancer patients, care packages, along with providing counseling, and other things that cancer patients might need.  Right now, they’re getting set to move into a new space that will allow them to have room to bring in groups for educational projects, as well as extra volunteers to help with the day-to-day projects that they have.  In order to do that, they’ve got a pretty hefty fundraising goal that they are trying to meet.  Consider giving, if you are able.

The Second Annual Plutus Awards are upon us!

What are the Plutus Awards, you might ask?  Well, they are an annual award given out for personal finance services and blogs.  Think of it like an Academy Award for personal finance.

The most brilliant part of the whole thing this year is that Beating Broke is one of the finalists.  My ebook, The Beating Broke Guide to Your Credit Score, is nominated as best new ebook.

I’m up against some very stiff competition, so I’ll need your help.  Will you go and vote?  I’d appreciate a vote for Beating Broke, but feel free to vote for the best of everything!  I’m honored to be nominated, and can’t wait to accept the award see who the winners are when they are presented at the Financial Bloggers Conference in Chicago at the end of the month!

Here’s the link to the voting ballot for the Plutus Awards, so go vote!

Hi all,

I’ve put up a small poll on our facebook page.  I’d like to get a better feel for what topics you’d like to see us cover here.  We can continue rambling on whatever topic suites our fancy, but maybe you’d like to help us guide that a little bit better.  If you feel so inclined, would you pop on over to the Beating Broke Facebook page and vote on the poll?

Alternatively, you can leave your suggestions here on the comments to this post.

Thanks so much!

photo credit: alancleaver_2000