The Best of Couple Money (2011 Edition)
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This week I'm catching on some items on my to -do list that I've been putting off. It's been an amazing year for me, both personally (our baby girl!) and professionally. I'm happy with how 2011 went and I'm looking forward to improving Couple Money in 2012.
I want to thank those of you who have been with me since the beginning and those who have joined recently.
As a way to wind down this year, I wanted to share some popular posts of 2011:
January – March 2011
The beginning of last year was memorable. I started having morning sickness and was feeling miserable. I kept myself positive as I kept thinking that soon we were going to have our baby some time in the summer. At that point don't ask me why, but I thought we were going to have a boy. I only became confident when nearly everyone else was guessing boy as well. The only ones that mentioned girl were my husband and a family friend.
In February we went to get the more detailed ultrasound we found our we were going to have a little girl – my husband was right! Naturally he's excited about being right and spend the rest of the month trying to reclaim the better parent title 😉
As for Couple Money we had a great month with the netbook contest and being a part of Free Money Finances' March Madness. With your votes of support, Couple Money raised $100 for Charity: Water.
- Flying with a Baby: 16 Tips to Keep Your Sanity.
- Rising Gas Costs – Keeping Them in Control
- Can You Change Your Home Property Tax Bill?
- How to Save Hundreds of Thousand of Dollars with Your Mortgage
- Financial Freedom as a Couple
April – June 2011
Anticipating the baby's arrival, I decided to start banking some of my posts and scheduling them around her due date. This is very helpful for me because time seemed to crawl. June couldn't get here quick enough. With the heat wave it feels even a bit longer.
I was also surprised to see how people felt about saving money for their kids' college fund. I still believe you need to be out of high interest debt and have a retirement plan in place for yourself before you start saving up for a college fund, but some parents disagreed. I understand that parents want to give the best to their kids; I just believe that also includes leading by example.
- When Do You Start Saving for Your Child’s College Fund?
- Optimize Your Bank or Credit Union Accounts
- How Much to Save for College for My Child?
- Credit vs. Debit With the Fraud Protection Title On the Line
- Income Stream: Affiliate Programs
- Home Equity Lines of Credit – Something to Consider?
- Tips and Ideas to Get Ready for Your Road Trip
- Baby Fund is Up and Ready!
- Marrying into Debt: Handling Your New Spouse’s Debt
July -September 2011
Our baby girl arrives in July and we're off! Well, I was pretty much off the month of August. I did some light posting, but the schedule remained pretty much the same on the site since I had already written ahead. Exciting and fun times as we learned to survive on less sleep. Eventually things improve and our baby realized that nights are for sleeping, not playing or eating.
To add to our new insanity we drive up to Chicago for the Financial Blogger Conference. Couple Money was nominated for a Plutus Award, but alas, J. Money won. We had an awesome time and my little girl was a great conversation starter 🙂
- 5 Common Resume Mistakes You Should Avoid
- Don’t Sabotage Your Own Job Interview
- If I Had A Million Dollars…
- Find Deals on Diapers
- 15 Ways to Save on Baby Expenses
- I Saved Hundreds on Our Medical Bills in 10 Minutes
- Makeover Your Bathroom for Cheap
- Having Trouble with Your Student Loans? 3 Options to Help You
- Why Is My Bank’s Bill Pay So Slow?
- Are Kids Really That Expensive?
October – December 2011
I got back into my new routine her on Couple Money, sharing tips about family and finances. We had 2 back to back contests that were popular – the tablet giveaway to celebrate Couple Money's 2nd anniversary and the 50/50 Challenge where Julie picked up a new Kindle Fire. I already decided we'll have both contests again next year, but I'm spreading them out.
Speaking of anniversaries, this month was our 5th and we had a great time celebrating it with our baby girl and friends.
- How Much Do We Need to Save For a Baby?
- Get More Money in Your Paycheck: Calculate Your W-4 Withholding
- Saving Money on Video Games
- Please Read These Personal Finance Blogs!
- How to Make Your Own Homemade Baby Foods
Thoughts on Couple Money
Thank you again for a fantastic year! Which are your favorite Couple Money posts from the past year?
The baby is adorable!