Following Frugal Professor’s example, I’m going to track my blog’s history with an annual State of the Blog post. Here’s the inaugural edition.

Why I’m Blogging

Before diving into the statistics, let me reiterate my current purpose of my blog.

My primary reason to blog is that I love thinking about all things personal finance and writing about it helps bring clarity to my thoughts and gives me some accountability. This blog is a success for that reason alone.

My secondary reason is to have something to point friends and family to when they ask me a personal finance question and I want to give them something they can consume on their own time. I often get asked a question which leads to me writing a blog post that I can share later when asked that question. Write once, read many.

Lastly, I’m organizing my thoughts with the idea that one day it could come together in a book form. I’m not working from a plan, more of the “fieldstone” method of writing: gathering stones, then stacking them at one end of the field, until one day, I realize I’ve built a wall.

It’s tempting to look at blogs like Mr. Money Mustache and GoCurryCracker and dream of this blog paying for itself and then some. I know I’m looking at a long tail. But even if this blog can’t break even, it’s a fun hobby. Other people drive race cars or skydive. I play with spreadsheets. To each their own I suppose.

Blog Stats for 2020

Total Posts: 52

Total Page Views: 1,513

Unique Visitors: 521

Comments: 154

Feedly.com followers: 5

Mailchimp Audience: 7 subscribers

Top Five Referrers:

• frugalprofessor.com: 125 views 
• maxoutofpocket.com: 14 views
• apurplelife.com: 9 views
• retireinprogress.com: 8 views
• chiefmomofficer.org: 8 views

Amazon Affiliate Revenue: $.40

Blog costs (domain + DreamHost hosting): $39.74

• Namecheap Domain Transfer: $8.66
• DreamHost Starter/Shared: $31.08 (3 year contract)

Profit: -$39.34

Conclusion

Hopefully you found that entertaining. I know I did.

Hasta luego!