December’s an interesting month. We hurry, stress and overschedule like crazy until you get to the last two weeks of the month (and year). My bible study went on hiatus, schools are out and try having a meeting in the office.
Here’s a look back at December before it gets too far into the new month.
Alternate Income
I didn’t even try to sell anything on EBay this month. For the first time I had to cancel a transaction on Half.com. It was my fault because I’d listed the wrong book and didn’t have it to sell. How did that happen? Well, Mediterranean by Cruise Ship and Alaska by Cruise Ship are close, right?
Retirement Savings
The rate of return on my 401K was soooo much better than 2008, but there was a similarity. My 2009 rate of return was 38%. Woo Hoo! Here’s the similarity: the rate of return in 2008 was -38%. Did you catch that minus sign?
Where does it leave me? My balance is still not up to pre-recession, but very close. I’m looking for good gains in 2010 as the economy continues to recover.
Spending
The first installment of our property taxes were due in December. Since we don’t pre-pay through the mortgage holder this is a planned expense with a sinking fund.
We celebrate Christmas and want to give gifts to loved ones and tips to regular service providers. Our budget includes a line item for Gifts which covered all the planned holiday spending. What a great feeling to know that January won’t bring new bills or increased credit card balance!
Blog News
Vists were down about 7% in December with the low being December 25th. I guess people had better things to do that day (including yours truly). This year’s goals include building subscriber numbers and redesigning the blog. I’m starting work on that this quarter.
I will also write one guest post a month. If you’re interested in guest posters, let me know.
The top 10 referral sites in December were:
1. Graceful Retirement
2. Studenomics
3. Canadian Finance Blog
4. Len Penzo Dot Com
5. Wise Bread
6. Money Hackers.Net
7. Blogging Away Debt
8. Out of Debt Again
9. Being Frugal
10. Enemy of Debt
These are some of my favorite blogs so please check them out. But don’t forget to come back.
The end of the year is behind us now. Was 2009 better to you than 2008? How did your year end?
photo credit: kevindooley
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{ 4 comments }
Last year was a great year for me because I have finally followed my dream of building a blog. It feels great to be living in my dreams, I have found a place to express my passion. 🙂
Walter, you were ahead of me because you had a blog goal.
We ended up fairly well. We were able to sell our house and then buy a new one, it was great
.-= Louise´s last blog ..Mastermind a game of logic review and #giveaway =-.
Louise, good to hear 2009 went well for you. Here’s hoping we both have an even better 2010.
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