Happy Blogoversary to me

Seven years ago I took the leap and put my thoughts and worries and learnings into writing and started posting here.  I am surprised as the next guy that I have not only kept up the blog, but kept up the jars and the budget and the money learning. And boy am I glad that I did.

Here are my Letterman Top 10 things I am grateful for, because of this blog:

#10 - momentum - Some months I blog less, and some I blog more, but keeping up with the month to month data, especially 'where the money stands', really helps me keep my focus

#9 - reader comments - I have been very fortunate to have supportive readers or readers that give me something that makes me think or explore deeper.

#8 - history - I love seeing how far I have come in my learning about how to better take care of my money. Always more to learn, but I have come a long ways.

#7 - organization - having this helps me keep things organized in my mind, in my papers and in my accounts.

#6 - flexibility - I understand better now that budgets are meant to be flexible...fluid.  They have to be, as life is never stagnant

#5 - the high - I get from paying off a debt or meeting a savings goal. It's quite powerful. and addicting.

#4 - evolution - I love how the blog has evolved as I have over the years.

#3 - confidence - whenever I get the 'I can't do it' blues, I can read back on here and know that I hit many moments where I felt that way, and got through it.

#2 - documentation. I can go back and find out dates and details of something, if I blogged about it. You will see how this helped me today, in my next post.

and the #1 reason I am glad I started this blog is....

all of you. I have learned so much from connecting with you and reading your blogs (sometimes as a lurker). What a wonderful community it can be for those to find people who are similar to me, and people who are quite different than me.