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10:11 am
December 22, 2012
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maria@moneyprinciple
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Last week (week 6 of challenge) the word count shows:
On The Money Principle
Principles Money Posts #29 – 1128
My Financial Goals: end of play – 1053
About frugality, co-creation and… – 763
Five questions to ask ourselves before taking out a personal loan – 855
Is getting in debt the best thing that could have happened to me? Really? – 1130
On Tax Fix
Should you give up your Frappuccino? Tax avoidance in the UK – 1048
Grand total: 5,977
Two things have happened: in the last two weeks four people have told me that I am 'a really good writer' (I am trying not to pay too much attention but then again 'if three people tell you that you are a mule go and buy a saddle'); the visits on The Money Principle have been going up. May not be causallity and there is probably some nesting effects – Ifeel much better writing longer pieces because I am a story teller.
Maria
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11:06 am
December 22, 2012
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Financial Samurai
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Week 6, 12/22/12 Update
Financial Samurai
Financial Moves To Make Before And After The Fiscal Cliff – 12/21/12, 1,493 words
Why Does It Take So Long To Refinance A Mortgage? – 12/20/12, 923 words
Your Money Strength: How Hard Is Your Money Working For You? – 12/18/12, 1,198 words
How To Reduce 401K Fees Through Portfolio Analysis – 12/16/12, 1268 words
How Tax Collectors Like The IRS Cleverly Rob You Of Your Money, 12/14/12, 1,593 words
Sub Total: 6,475
Elsewhere
Yakezie: Relationship Building Across Different Genres, 12/21/12, 685 words
Budgets Are Sexy: Side Hustle Series: I'm A Watch Dealer, Baby! 12/13/12, 1,765 words
Grand Total: 8,965
Notes
* Writing 5,000 words is now much easier after working at it for 6 weeks in a row.
* Search traffic is fading due to seasonality, but revenue is surging, which means conversion rates are going up.
* I am more convinced than ever that blogging is a true meritocracy. Once this Challenge is over, I'm going to ask for feedback from those who succeeded in this challenge, as well as hear from those who failed and write up a post of course!
Happy Holidays everyone. One more week, so let's finish STRONG!
Sam
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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1:28 pm
December 22, 2012
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Edward Antrobus
| | Fort Collins, CO | |
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I realize that I've basically been whining the past couple weeks. I apologize. It is eye opening to how much it takes to be a full-time blogger. I probably don't have what it takes to be a full-timer but, as Sam would say, I have no one to blame but myself.
I had a guest post on If You Can Read, You Can Cook this week, but I also published a guest post on another site, so it evened out. Including the guest post, I had new content go out every single day this week. It felt really good to see all those dates line up without any gaps!
- Edward Antrobus is continuing it's gradual climb. Again, no way of knowing what is from the switch to a .com and what if from meatier content, but I'm sure the two have synergistic effects.
- If You Can Read, You Can Cook is beginning to recover from it's fall slump. Monthly page-views should be up for the first time 3 months.
- SEAM Publishing is the clear winner of this challenge. Very clear correlation between the the tutorials I've been publishing and increased traffic, including to other pages.
My numbers this week:
If You Can Read, You Can Cook
12/20 Use Parchment Paper When Baking Cookies: Tips & Tricks – 597 words
subtotal 597 words
Edward Antrobus
12/17 When There Isn't Enough Money at the End of the Month – 854 words
12/19 We Got Outta Debt: Book Review – 1248 words
12/21 Is It Time to Retire the Concept of Retirement? – 1051 words
subtotal 2299 words
SEAM Publishing
12/22 How to Get Published on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing – 2149 words
subtotal 2149 words
guest posts
12/18 Saving Money with Comparison Shopping (Frugal Rules) – 703 words
subtotal 703 words
grand total: 5748 words
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I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
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10:45 pm
December 22, 2012
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martin
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Week 6 update:
I hit my target of 5 posts for Studenomics. The problem? I didn't get a colossal post out. The good news? I got a few guest posts out and did some writing for a new site. The even better news? I turn 25 on Wednesday. I have posts lined up for the next few weeks.
Studenomics:
bright side getting fired 12/22, 450 words
strategy for the job 12/20, 668 words
Protect yourself 12/19, 701 words
Online bank 12/18, 774 words
Start investing 12/17, 750 words
SFN:
Freelancing rule 12/17, 1003 words
Master a new skill 12/20, 945 words
choose a cc @ GPT, 506 words
extra space @ TFB, 694 words
Why a real job is good @Young Finances, 600 words
cc debt @Experiglot, 500
save $ on mortgage @DNW, 500
Grand total= 8,091.
The best part is that I have articles lined up that I didn't count. I have anywhere from 4-7 articles finished and just waiting to be published. What did it for me is that I was a man possessed on Tuesday night. Nobody was safe. The words came out like never before.
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11:13 pm
December 22, 2012
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FI Fighter
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Week 6 check in:
Real Estate Rental Property #2 Update (December 18, 2012) (651 words)
Company Shutdown (Early FI Schedule) (1791 words)
Watchlist (December 22, 2012) (989 words)
How the Journey to Early Financial Independence is Making My Life Better Today (1599 words)
Total: 5030 words
One more week! Let's do this! Happy holidays everyone ;)
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11:22 am
December 23, 2012
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savingadvice
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While it seems that the numbers came in just over 5000, this was actually a pretty good week. I wrote about an additional 5000 words for posts that will go up at various times in the next month, so the real total was about 10,000 words.
Week 6 12/16 – 12/22
SavingAdvice
"I Have No Money" 12/17/2012 969 words
"Preparation: Minimum Wage Challenge" 12/21/2012 680 words
"Frequently Asked Questions: Minimum Wage Challenge" 12/22/2012 769 words
BloggingAwayDebt
"No Money? Things Not To Do" 12/17/2012 885 words
HelloKittyHell
"Hello Kitty Stockings" 12/19/2012 168 words
TimeshareTrap
"Costs Timeshare Have That Hotels Don’t" 12/22/2012 1141 words
NationalParksBlog
"Is Rock Stacking Graffiti?" 12/22/2012 273 words
NoSpendDay
"No Spend Weekend" 12/22/2012 459 words
Total Words Week Six: 5,344 words
Random notes:
* Posts for hellokittyhell and nationalparksblog are short because these are more photo blogs than information blogs
* I have come up with my 2013 blogging strategy with a two pronged attack: 1) I have committed to a year long
challenge of trying to live well on a minimum wage salary — this is to bring real life financial situations and decision
making into the blog. 2) To write at least one comprehensive, exhaustive article each week. I think having those two
as the foundation of the next year will help the blog and site grow.
* I will be pulling away from creating more niche sites and concentrating on the ones I already have and building
those out into stronger sites.
* While this challenge is supposed to end this week, I am going to carry it on throughout 2013 (why stop a good
thing that seems to get me to write more?)
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8:55 pm
December 23, 2012
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Elle
| | Raleigh, NC | |
| Member | posts 199 |
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Week 6
Couple Money
- Finding a Better Deal on Our Home Insurance - 1,169
- Mortgage Payoff Progress for 2012 – 1,281
- Four hour Chef – Worth It? – 602
Word Count: 3,052
My Financial Reviews
- Debt Free Wedding – 726
- What Can You Do to Get Ready for 2013? – 501
- 4 Common Budget Mistakes and How to Fix Them -722
Word Count -1, 949 words
Total Count: 5,001
Just got it in, but I'm happy to have it done!
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7:55 am
December 26, 2012
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Financial Samurai
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Post edited 8:25 am – December 26, 2012 by Financial Samurai
Happy Holidays 5K Challengers!
If you guys are looking for a good post idea in this slow week, try doing a "Best Of….." post. I just did one on FS, and it was pretty fun to see what the most searched for posts were, the most commented, and also the most interesting from the entire year. You'll discover posts you probably forgot you even wrote!
The post is a template for where you might want to take your site in 2013. It can also serve as a "blog resume" if you're interested in freelancing, applying for media related jobs, etc. Finally, the post helps you finish the 5K Challenge strong!
Cheers
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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8:17 am
December 26, 2012
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Edward Antrobus
| | Fort Collins, CO | |
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Sam, Thanks for the tip. Tomorrow is actually my 3 year anniversary of when I first started blogging. I will roll these ideas into the reflective post I was already planning for Friday.
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I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
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10:42 am
December 29, 2012
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Financial Samurai
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Post edited 11:36 am – December 29, 2012 by Financial Samurai
FINAL WEEK update!
Financial Samurai
Supporting Our Veterans Back Home, 12/29,12, 800 words
Best Of Financial Samurai 2012, 12/26/12, 1387 words
Are You Getting Your Money's Worth For The Taxes You Paid?, 12/24/12, 735 words
Financial Samurai 2012 Predictions Recap, 12/28 but moved to 12/31 due to Sunday budget talks 3,009 words
Sub-Total: 5,927
Yakezie
There's No Road Like Home, 12/29, 401
Grand Total: 6,328
Feedback:
* Feels darn good to finish this 7 week long, 5,000+ words a week challenge! Feels like time really flew by. The holidays definitely made the Challenge somewhat more difficult, especially since search related traffic really took a dip during Thanksgiving and Christmas and we're all so busy.
* Traffic snapped back dramatically after 12/25. Did you guys see the same rebound in search at least?
* Opportunities randomly come if you stay consistent! The higher than normal posting activity on FS (perhaps also b/c posting activity is also down across the sphere in general), I was contacted by a video ad agency right before Christmas and on Friday, 12/28 to see if I'd like to host some sponsored videos for Jeep and BMW. I am a car nut w/ the 2013 Jeep Laredo and 2013 X3 on my wish-list. I love their message on family and supporting our Veterans.
* December was a great month vs. expectations of being a poor month due to seasonality.
Questions For Challengers For A Post Recap:
Some point in January, I will publish a recap post on Yakezie.com with a working title, "The Internet Meritocracy." I want to explore the following questions:
* Do you think the Internet is one of the best examples of meritocracy? Why or why not.
* If webmasters/publishers/bloggers want to gain more traffic, why not write more meatier content since the top 10 searched posts average 1,500 words or greater on Google?
* If webmasters/publishers/bloggers want to earn more income, what's stopping them from creating their own products, writing helpful posts with appropriate affiliate products, guest posting, making pitches, and so forth?
* If Google says, "Content is King," and they are constantly updating their algorithms to become smarter to find better content, does anything beyond basic SEO matter?
* Is blogging/freelance a viable income stream for 2013 and beyond? What are two or three things bloggers and freelancers need to be successful. What is the number one thing that is holding you back from succeeding? What does "successful" mean to you?
* Why do you think there is so much hatred for those who put so many hours into something to succeed?
* What are some things you found out about yourself during the Y5K Challenge (positive and/or negative) that you did not fully realize beforehand?
Please e-mail me your thoughts and answers, and I will include them in the post with a link to your site. Conversely, you can write your own post on your site with answers to the questions and I'll link back on my Internet Meritocracy post. You're free to answer one of the questions or all, up to you.
Thanks everyone!
Sam
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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10:42 pm
December 29, 2012
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FI Fighter
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Final Week check-in:
12/26 Portfolio Update: New Addition (SO; December 26, 2012) (560 words)
12/28 Goals for 2012 Review (1623 words)
12/29 Milestone Reached – $300 Month in Dividends (465 words)
12/29 Learning to Deal with Rejection (It Happens…) (2585 words)
Total: 5233 words
That does it! I made it! 
Wow, that sure wasn't easy, but in a way it does feel like these past 7 weeks have really just flown by. With a full time job + the holidays, it definitely took some extra effort and concentration to pull through.
Thanks everyone for all the support, motivation, and push! 
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11:06 am
December 30, 2012
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martin
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Final Week!
Powerful moves in your 20s @ Sweating The Big Stuff, 646 words
Master a new skill @ SFN, 604
Excuses to freelancing @ SFN, 679
Blogging tips @ TFB, 1012
Studenomics:
Saving up for next xmas 12/24, 583
Xmas thoughts 12/25, 400
bday life lessons 12/26, 2535 (updated from last year though)
You don't have to just survive 12/28, 564
Total words= 7,023 words!
Final thoughts: writing 1,000 words a day or so is a new skill that I'm most proud of. I plan on continuing this into 2013.
Thanks for the challenge guys. What's next?
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1:47 pm
December 30, 2012
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maria@moneyprinciple
| | Manchester, UK | |
| Member | posts 679 |
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Last week!
Merry Christmas (TMP) – 398
The Best of The Money Principle – 1193
Principled Money Posts (TMP) – 1454
Things we miss, things we gain (guest post on Budgets are Sexy) – 1302
Total 4,347
Observations: I enjoyed this and although I rarely hit the 5,000 for my blog it has been a positive experience. I will probably continue publishing longer articles but am not sure about the frequency – probably, will stick with four times a week (about 4,000 words per week). What I would like to do in 2013 is to up the guest posting.
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6:15 am
December 31, 2012
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Pauline
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Congrats to everyone completing the challenge! Here is my week 3
2013 financial goals – 732
the tale of two broadband providers, the very best and the very worst – 967
Friday recap, a lost turkey and Christmas miracle – 756
How to plan and budget for a honeymoon @ sweating the big stuff – 1308
That last guest posts saves the week, still pretty low at
3763 words, hoping for a better start in 2013!
Happy new year!!
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8:24 am
December 31, 2012
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Edward Antrobus
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I'm a bit disappointed in myself, because I came up short for the final week. In my defense, I was knocked seriously out of commission for the weekend by a nasty stomach bug. This is the first time my computer has even been on since Friday! If I hadn't gotten sick, well, I have a half-finished post on SEAM Publishing that was going to go up Saturday afternoon and is already at 800 words.
If You Can Read, You Can Cook
12/23 Turkey Potstickers: Recipe Sunday – 561 words
12/27 Use Old Vegetables to Make Stock: Tips & Tricks – 606 words
subtotal: 1167 words
Edward Antrobus
12/24 The $3k Challenge: The Final Update – 865 words
12/26 3 Ways to Get Rid of Your Old Cell Phone – 1008 words
12/28 3 Year Blogoversery – 908 words
subtotal: 2781 words
total: 3948 words
Traffic is recovering nicely after Christmas, and in fact, If You Can Read, You Can Cook had it's best week ever last week. I believe that I've come out of the fall doldrums that the site suffers from. In other news, my AdSense income for the month reached an all-time high late last week.
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I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
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12:14 pm
December 31, 2012
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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Last Two Weeks Update
Ending 12/23:
Monday – When There's Not Enough Money – 856 Words
Wednesday – End of the World Budget- 856 Words (man, I'm consistent :) )
Friday – Budget Friday: Weed Edition – 1510 Words
Sunday – Weelky Wrap Up – 825 Words
Total – 4,047 Words!
Ending 12/30:
Thursday – Christmas on the Credit Cards – 660 Words
Sunday – 5 Reasons to Start a Budget in 2013 – 1087 Words
Total – 1,747 Words
I finally hit my goal of 3,500 words , and then dropped off this past week due to holidays and birthdays. I don't have a queue of posts saved up, so that's why my posting schedule dropped. Didn't hurt traffic at all, though, due to some big mentions and friends that share my stuff. Really appreciate all the blog love these past few weeks :)
I'm going to keep this challenge for myself in the new year, though I'm a little scared of tax season + full-time job + blogging + toddler. It's going to be a rough season…
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3:06 pm
December 31, 2012
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OneCentAtatime
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Massive! rock on you guys. I am up for the next writing challenge.
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7:57 am
January 3, 2013
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Financial Samurai
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Hi Folks,
I hope you guys are seeing a significant pickup in traffic for the new year. The portfolio of meaty posts you wrote in the past two months should really help provide a boost. If not now, than sometime this year. I'd identify two or three of your best posts in this Challenge and work on promoting them internally and externally for 1H13.
Also, those interested in being included in a wrap up post, please send over your questions by this weekend.
Thanks!
Sam
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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2:36 pm
January 4, 2013
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Pauline
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Post edited 9:10 am – January 12, 2013 by Pauline
I sent you an email about the wrap up Sam.
Week 4, happy new year all!
Little house in Guatemala, week 8-9 and costs recap 1429
13 money resolutions for 2013
#1 start somewhere 752
#2 trim the fat 556
#3 do it yourself 466
friday recap, a loving turkey and a big check – 1150
Location of San Pedro Itzá and Retiring in Guatemala: How much does it cost @San Pedro Itzá: 899
TOTAL 5252
Still waiting for a few websites to publish my guest posts this month so it should be a good one. Have a great weekend everyone!
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11:09 am
January 31, 2013
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Financial Samurai
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Post edited 11:09 am – January 31, 2013 by Financial Samurai
Hi Pauline – don't think I got it? Please resend.
How's everybody's publishing initiatives going for the new year? Good traffic and revenue growth in January hopefully?
I'm definitely going to continue with the 5K published words / week initiative for 2013. Three 1,400-1,500 word posts a week + a shorter post for the weekend sounds like a good balance.
Fight on, and never surrender!
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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