Last year I listed what I thought were my best posts of 2008. I'm continuing that tradition now with what I feel were my top 10 posts of 2009 (listed in countdown order) out of the over 1,100 posts here last year:
#10 - How to Make Money as a Soccer Referee - I love sharing unusual ideas for making money, I love telling personal stories, and I love soccer. This post contains all three of these, so how could I not rank it high?
#9 - How to Buy a New Furnace and Air Conditioner - Good, practical story of how to buy and save on a new furnace and air conditioner.
#8 - How to Make the Most of a College Degree - Your biggest financial asset is your career and most of our careers get kicked off by attending college. This post tells how to get a head start by paying less and getting more from your college degree.
#7 - What to Do When You Don't Get a Job Offer - When you're turned down for a job you really wanted, this post tells how you should respond. Apply these principles, and you may get hired anyway.
#6 - Interview Lessons from a Video Contest - Visual evidence and commentary on what does and doesn't work in an interview.
#5 - How to Market Yourself into a Job - If you want a job, you need to market the product (you/your skills) in a way that delivers the employer wants. In this post, I list the two things most employers want and how to market yourself accordingly.
#4 - 20 Ways to Make More Money - Last February I listed 20 ways to make more money (one every weekday) and this is the summary post. I like it because it offers several ideas for doing something we all like -- making more money!!!
#3 - My Jobs, The Summary - This is a summary post of a series I really, really loved. It detailed every job I've ever held, what happened in that job, and what I learned from it. It also was very personal and had lots of great stories (I can't believe I've been through all of that!) Good stuff all the way around!
#2 - Five Steps to Six Figures in Seven Years - A tried-and-true approach to reaching the upper-echelon of earners in a relatively short period of time.
#1 - The Best Way to Maximize Your Investment Return - This post compares the three factors that impact the performance of an investment -- amount saved, return rate, and time -- and details which one is surprisingly the most important.
There were some other posts that I felt were worth mentioning again, but just missed cracking the top ten. They are:
- How to Respond to Every Job Offer You Receive - Lists and explains the five steps you should take after receiving ANY job offer.
- What It Means to Be Self-Insured - I've mentioned before that once I get a high enough net worth I will be self-insured. Some readers asked what that meant and this post is the answer.
- How You Grow Your Income by 10% or More a Year - Income gains are often erratic and this post illustrates that fact.
- Personal Finance Success is Rather Simple, but Not Easy - A fact we see illustrated again and again. It's why the basics of growing your net worth are simple to understand and yet most people are not making decent financial progress (lack of willpower).
- Extreme Saving Tips for Sample Eating at Costco - Ha! I HAD to include this one simply because it irked so many people. ;-)
- Five Key Questions You'll Want Answered Before You Take a Job - Do NOT take a job without having these five questions answered to your satisfaction.
To fmf
complete pander!
I truly enjoy and benefit from your blog.
Thanks.
Posted by: BillV | January 06, 2010 at 10:38 PM