I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Archive for the ‘blog milestones’ Category

It is already into the second week of September, and I haven’t yet thanked the blogs that referred traffic to PaidTwice in August.  I am remiss.  I blame the start of school and general craziness that abounds in my life right now.  So in thanks, I’d like to not only point out the top ten traffic referrers from the blogosphere last month, but also link to a recent post of theirs that I enjoyed so much I bookmarked it.  If you haven’t seen any of these blogs before, be sure to check them out!  Fully half my monthly traffic comes from referrals from other blogs, so I know that I wouldn’t be as successful at blogging if it wasn’t for other blogs giving me some props.  Thanks!

Without further ado, here are the top ten referrers as well as an article to check out:

1.  Cash Money Life:  Is Frugality A Game, A Way Of Life, Or A Necessity?

2.  Being Frugal:  Composting and Recycling

3.  Moolanomy:  Extra Income Guide

4.  Gather Little By Little:  Why We Used A Real Estate Agent

5. No Credit Needed:  You Can.

6.  Mrs Micah - Finance for a Freelance Life:  Not Intense Money Saving Coupon Method

7.  My Two Dollars:  Qualifying For A Mortgage As A Freelancer - An Exercise In Patience

8.  Snowflake Revolution:  Join The Revolution!

9.  Almost Frugal:  Setting Goals In The Face of Uncertainty

10.  Thrifty Florida Mama:  Time For A New Budget

Thank you again for all the referrals and I hope to pay you all back in kind!  :)  On to September!

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Since we are now entering July (I can’t believe it is July already!) it is time for me to thank the blogs that referred traffic here last month.  I wish I could thank every blog individually but that would take a very long time for me to write.  No matter if you referred 4 people here or 4000, I am very grateful for every referral, be it from your blogroll or mentioning my blog or one of my articles.

This blog really is a labor of love for me and I credit it for helping me begin to turn my financial life around.  It has grown into more than I ever could have possibly imagined and I am so happy to be able to write here and share my thoughts with the world every day, and get feedback, encouragement, and direction in return.

With that said - these were the top ten eleven referrers of traffic to I’ve Paid For That Twice Already… last month (one no longer exists so I listed eleven instead of ten) :

1. Moolanomy
2. MSN Smart Spending
3. Cash Money Life
4. Being Frugal
5. The Simple Dollar
6. Be Thrifty Like Us (blog no longer active)
7. Mrs Micah - Finance For A Freelance Life
8. No Credit Needed
9. Gather Little By Little
10. Frugal Dad
11. My Two Dollars

If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting these great blogs before, give them a peek and see what you think!  Thanks again for helping the PaidTwice philosophy get out there into the world!

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I started writing this blog on June 19th, 2007, exactly one year ago today.  At the time, I started it rather impulsively to help me organize my thoughts about debt reduction and keep me motivated to continue even after the newness of all the ideas I was trying to implement wore off.

I honestly could never have imagined what a labor of love and support this has turned into.  I truly get excited every day about writing posts, reading comments, thinking about new ideas, participating in the personal finance community, and keeping my focus and drive about reducing my debt.

My spouse and I were talking a few days ago about how my blog’s first anniversary was coming up, and he said to me that when I first told him I had a plan for us to be completely out of all non-mortgage debt by December 2010, he thought I was crazy.  Which, looking back, I realize now is why he basically focused on our credit card debt for the first few months when he was talking about our debt at all, and never really mentioned the car or the student loans.  The credit card debt, I think he was reasonably sure we could eliminate by 2010.  :)  But he doesn’t think I am crazy any more, not by a long shot.

I am happy to report that at this point, not only have we eliminated our credit card debt, but we’ve, in total, eliminated $16,401.39 of our debt in the past year.  And in total, we’ve paid $19,338.48 towards debt (including interest) since June 2007.  Of that, $10,535.33 was the budgeted minimum payments of $810.41 per month and $8803.15 was snowflaked from a myriad of sources, as humble as taking online surveys for some additional pocket change and as big as adding another part time job. We’ve revamped our goal of December 2010 to December 2009 to have eliminated all of our non-mortgage debt, and so far are well within target to meet it.  As of June 19th, 2008, we have paid off 45% of the debt we had as of June 19th, 2007.

On January 1st, 2008, I set a stretch goal of paying $18,000 to debt in 2008.  So far we have, in 6 months, paid $8833.94 to debt.  That is almost exactly on pace to meet the $18,000 stretch goal, with 49% of that goal met in 6 months, and that was with both a car engine replacement and furnace replacement.  I think our stretch goal is well within our reach - only time will tell if we can meet it but I feel very optimistic.  And, as a bonus, meeting that would also mean my spouse’s entire student loan would be paid off.  Being down to only two debts…  I can barely imagine it.  But I want to!

All in all, it has been a great year.  Thank you all for joining me in this journey so far and sharing yourselves with me as well.  On to the next year, and the next chapter of our journey.  Who knows, I might have to start thinking about how to eliminate mortgage debt much sooner than I ever thought I would. 

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I just want to say thanks to the ten blogs that referred the most traffic to PaidTwice in May. This list is a bit different than all the previous ones because a few blogs linked to my economic stimulus articles and all the searching for those articles drove a lot of traffic this way. Thanks so much to all the blogs who have included me in link roundups, highlighted my articles, or generally recommended me to their readers. I truly appreciate it!!

With that being said - the blogs responsible for the most traffic driven to PaidTwice in May:

1.  The Simple Dollar
2.  Are You Going to Be This Way For the Rest of the Time I Know You?
3.  Being Frugal
4.  Be Thrifty Like Us
5.  Cash Money Life
6.  Five Cent Nickel
7.  MSN Smart Spending
8.  Mrs. Micah: Finance For a Freelance Life
9.  Moolanomy
10.  No Credit Needed
10.  Snowflake Revolution

There was a tie for #10.    I just love that the Snowflake Revolution made it into the list this month.  The little network that could! Thanks again to everyone who has sent traffic here!!

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It is the start of a new month, and as such, I like to look back over the past month and look at how things went.  The ones about my finances and related topics will come tomorrow and Wednesday, today I want to take the time to thank the top ten blog referrers to I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… in April.  This month I am doing things a little differently - besides supplying a link to the blogs so you can check them out for yourselves if you wish, I’m also going to pick a stellar post from each blog in April.  I hope you find some interesting reading along the way from the blogs that help spread the word about Paid Twice and make this blog what it is today.  Thanks to all the blogs that refer traffic to me!

Without further ado, here are the top ten referrers for April to Paid Twice and a post I recommend from last month for each one:

• 1.  Being Frugal
  • You Tell Me:  Urban Homesteading.  I have this idea in my head that if I tried, I could grow all my own food.  Maybe not, but I still want to try.
• 2.  Like Merchant Ships
  • Thrift Store Nemesis:  Do you have a nemesis?  Sometimes I think I have too many…
• 3.  The Simple Dollar
  • The Snowball Effect:  How Little Moves Now Can Create Huge Effects Later.  It’s all in the title.  A great read on one of my favorite topics.
• 4. No Credit Needed
  • Debt Reduction Guide.  This is actually from May 1st but it is a summary of a lot of great posts on NCN.  It would make a great e-book, I think. 
• 5.  Gather Little By Little
  • Driving A BMW and Dealing With Temptation.  I don’t do this well in the scrapbook store, which is why I just have to stay away completely.
• 6.  Cash Money Life
  • 9 Tips To save Money On Your Next Computer.  At some point when we are more financially stable, I will need to purchase a laptop.  Portability is becoming imperative for many of the miscellaneous ventures I am working at.  These tips should help me make a frugal choice!
• 7.  Mrs. Micah - Finance For A Freelance Life
  • Simple Banking - Alien Abduction Packet #1.  I should make one of these for my spouse.  I kind of have one but not in so much detail.
• 8.  Free Money Finance
  • Warehouse Clubs Are Worth The Annual Fee.  This is something I am still working through in my life - we don’t have Costco but we do have Sam’s Club - and I still haven’t joined because I hate the fee thing.  Argh.
• 9.  Moolanomy
  • The Cost of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving.  This is crazy!  What is wrong with people?  Seriously… poor Pinyo.  I hope they catch the creep.
• 10.  My Two Dollars
  • How To Clean Your House The Natural Way For Mere Pennies.  I keep saying I will become more natural with cleaners, and then I don’t.  But with a guide like this, how can I not?

Thanks to all the blogs, big and small, that refer traffic to me - almost 70% of my traffic is from referrals so without other blogs talking about me, this blog wouldn’t be growing anywhere near like it is!

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