Happy 5th Birthday to GMBMFB!
Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for five years. FIVE YEARS!
So much has changed over the last 1,825 days – not only within the personal finance blogosphere, but my life is completely different than it used to be. And I honestly never, ever thought that I’d be writing a 5-year anniversary post here on GMBMFB, or that there would be people here, reading what I have to write.
Since I started taking care of my finances, I’ve gone from a -$21,000 net worth, to over +$71,000. That’s a difference of over $92,000! What I’m most proud of is the fact that I was able to accomplish this with an average salary of just $44,000/year – proving that you don’t need to make a huge salary in order to change your life. You just need to be determined to do whatever it takes. :)
For long-time readers, you know that things have changed a lot since February 2007. In the past five years, I’ve had 6 jobs, move 5 times, and went through 2 tough break-ups. And just last year, I bought my very first home. Other notables include getting adult braces, having LASIK eye surgery, getting fired from a job, and my big blogging break with the Toronto Star/Moneyville.ca.
This blog began on February 25, 2007, and since that time this is what has happened:
- Posts: 2,500+
- Traffic: 2,500,000 visitors
- Highest traffic (day): 11,500 visitors
- Highest traffic (month): 90,100 visitors
- Featured in (print): FLARE Magazine, Financial Post Magazine, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star/Moneyville, Metro News
- Featured in (web): MSN Money, The Consumerist, Wall Street Journal, Montreal Gazette, MoneySense, Sympatico.ca, Yahoo! Finance
- Featured in (radio): 103.5 QM/FM, CBC Radio One, CKNW 980AM, NewsTalk 1010
- Featured in (television): CTV News Channel
Thank you to all the GMBMFB readers out there. You guys are fantastic. It’s been a great 5 years, and I’m excited to see where the next year takes this blog!
31 Responses to “Happy 5th Birthday to GMBMFB!”
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Fantastique! You’ve inspired so many people!
anexactinglife´s latest post —> I’ll Do It Later!
Congrats Krytal – Watching you get past some of your financial hurdles convinced me that it was possible, and motivated me (and others I’m sure) to get it together and start taking action. Thanks for writing.
MadlyClumsily´s latest post —> New Arrival – Camel Saddle
This is great Krystal!!! I feel like I have been along with you on this wild ride in the last few years. I feel really proud for you. Can’t wait to see what you have going on next.
Congratulations, Krystal – 5 years is incredible!
Echo´s latest post —> What’s New Around The Blogosphere: February 24th, 2012
Happy Blog Birthday! Ugh, when did we all get old writing our blogs? I can’t believe your blog is now five as well.
Anyway, I’m proud of all you have done. You really are living your own life, regardless of what other say. Keep up the great work! I’m looking forward to finally meet you in person at the PF blogger conference later this year.
Tim
Tim Stobbs´s latest post —> Some Minor Name Changes
What an achievement!!
Out of interest, what happened the day you had 11.5 k views?
Savvy Scot´s latest post —> Dealing with Obsession
I think that day one of my articles was on the front page of the Toronto Star website, and I got linked to from the Sympatico front page as well.
Congratulations!!! Your blog is one of my looooong-time reads, and I’m so glad to see you doing awesome. :)
Well Heeled Blog´s latest post —> Financially Ready To Have Kids?
Happy Birthday!! Wow that is a lot of fantastic accomplishments. I love reading your blog because your world is so very different than mine. A bit of living vicariously I suspect. thank you for all the wonderful reads.
jolie´s latest post —> New Budget Line Needed
Congrats on making it so far! Those are some pretty awesome stats! Especially 2.5 million visitors! Wow!
Jeffrey´s latest post —> Tax Hack: Use Premium Features of Turbo Tax For Free and Save
Congrats on five years of blogging! That is really impressive to have a blog and continue going for that long!
Dave´s latest post —> Building a Grow Light Stand
Congrats on 5 years!
Congratulations! This is certainly something I can aspire to!!
Marianne´s latest post —> New Job: I Get To Work From Home!
Congrats Krystal! Wow, all of your hard work really seems to have paid off! Thanks for the motivation :)
Congrats :)
Stephanie´s latest post —> A new one and an old (but good) one
New visitor here, but congrats on the big milestone Krystal! It sounds like you’ve done amazingly well with this blog. Few bloggers can claim those kinds of accomplishments. Keep up the great work!
Modest Money´s latest post —> My Decision To Live In An Expensive City
Congratulations! That’s a HUGE milestone… I’ve only been reading for a couple of months, but I can see how much work you put into this blog. You’ve done a fantastic job.
BrokeElizabeth´s latest post —> Why I Wash My Clothes by Hand
Way to go Krystal! Five years and a lot of accomplishments along the way! Here’s to many more…
Cynthia´s latest post —> Thursday Ramblings
Congrats! That’s quite the list of accomplishments. Your success is absolutey inspiring!
Country Girl´s latest post —> The Single Stigma
Ditto on the last zillion comments. Excellent work.
Joe´s latest post —> Blog Party #4 – The TurboTax Contest Finale
Congrats and happy birthday, gmbmfb!
Young Professional Finances´s latest post —> Link Love: Budgeting, Saving and Lottery Games
Happy Blogiversary! Here’s to many more! You’re like a dinosaur in PF blogger years! :)
youngandthrifty´s latest post —> Weekend Ramblings and PF Blog Love: Winter Doldrums Edition
Happy fifth birthday GMBMFB! You’re no longer an infant :)
Money Infant´s latest post —> What’s Love Got to Do With It!
[...] Congratulations to Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks for reaching 5 years blogging! [...]
Congrats, Krystal! I’m excited to see where the next year takes your blog as well :)
Leigh´s latest post —> Why I Re-Hired my CPA to do my taxes this year
[...] me Back my Five Bucks celebrated its 5th birthday! I for one am happy that GMBMFB was created and will continue to put forth great [...]
Aww, this blog post warms my heart. Congrats and keep up the hard work.
Renee´s latest post —> Where has my week gone?
Congrats on 5 years. I’m surprised your highest month of traffic after 5 years is only 91,000 though. Are you disappointed with how low this is after writing for so long?
There are so many other blogs out there with far fewer posts which much more traffic. You should take it as a sign to write better. You don’t want to not have a career, be single again, and have a run of the mill blog eh?
Congrats from a long time reader! Hoping for 5+ more years!
CanadianSaver´s latest post —> The very late final trip report, France 2011!
Congratulations! You’ve come a looong way in the past 5 years. It’s neat to have all those numbers for exact comparisons!
Julie @ Freedom 48´s latest post —> The Depreciating Value of a Cell Phone
Happy Birthday GMBMFB!
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