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Llama Money goes on Hiatus

Llama Money — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:29:58 +0000

After over a year of blogging rather sporatically here at Llama Money, I’ve decided some time away is in order. I am stretched too thin with my time, and if I can’t give a project 100%, it doesn’t feel right to continue. So, I’ve decided to go on a blogging hiatus at Llama Money. Whether it’s a month, 6 months, a year, or forever, quite frankly I don’t know just yet.

I will be focusing on my other projects, which have become quite overwhelming. In addition, I’ve just started a new blog called The Simple Llama. It’s about living simply, and techniques to help in that goal. Technology will play a role as well, with some occasional finance tips. I know, it almost seems silly to turn off one blog, only to fire up another. But the past few months have sent me in a new direction in my life, and simplifying is something that I feel strongly about.

If you just can’t live without my thoughts and opinions, please stop by The Simple Llama. I welcome subscribers, comments, and any links you might want to give. If you don’t stop by, my feelings won’t be hurt. I know it’s a different kind of site, and not everyone will be interested. And yes, I know the design is atrocious I have hired a designer who is currently drawing up a new look. In the meantime, the default is what I’m stuck with.

So that’s about it. Writing about finances has been great here. I may be back after some time has passed, and I can re-evaluate my goals. Until then, thanks for reading!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Llama Money goes on Hiatus is a post from: Llama Money

Llama Money gets a new look

Llama Money — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:09:01 +0000

After hemming and hawing, putting it off, and just generally being lazy, I decided enough was enough. I got several quotes for a custom WordPress design for Llama Money. The least expensive quote was for over $1,400! That’s all well and good for a site that’s bringing in thousands of dollars per month – but not quite what I’m looking for here. I can’t very well justify spending that kind of money on a theme for a personal finance blog, now can I?

So, I went the cheap route. Rather than paying a designer, I stripped down my old theme, kept the parts I liked, changed some, and added some more. What I ended up with is what you see today – a much cleaner, more modern design. Gone are the dark colors ( except the huge footer, I love that! ) I took out a bunch of fluff at the top, which moved all the content up the page quite a bit. I updated my Emergency Fund indicator, and added a tag cloud down at the bottom. Under each post is a new Social Networking section, so you can easily submit any Llama Money post to your favorite network. I also ( finally ) added related posts! The footer, of course, is all new and bold.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. It’s far from a professional job – I’m not a designer. But I think I did well, and more important, stayed under budget. Total spent on the new look? $0. Now that’s what personal finance is all about.

Follow Llama Money on Twitter

Llama Money — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:54:21 +0000

Finally, I’ve joined the thousands ( millions? ) of folks using Twitter to communicate online. I’m just a Twitter novice so far, but I’m doing my best to learn quickly. To help get things started, I’m asking all my readers to follow Llama Money on Twitter. You’ll get to see all my tweets, ask me questions directly and quickly, and get super fast notice of any new postings here. In other words, it’s another great way to stay in touch with the most financially astute llama you know. So c’mon, follow a llama, would ya?

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Follow Llama Money on Twitter is a post from: Llama Money

Has the Llama gone missing?

Llama Money — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:39:40 +0000

No, this llama isn’t hibernating for the summer. In fact, I’m pretty sure llamas don’t do that anyway. Especially financially astute llamas. Can you imagine the cost to fatten up for a summer of no eating? And the electricity bill – yikes! I’m getting the shivers just thinking about it.

So what’s been going on? I hate those “sorry I haven’t been posting” posts. Really, I do. Yet here I find myself doing what I dislike, and cannot manage to stop. In any case, content has been sparse here lately for a few reasons. One, I have carpal tunnel syndrome, and it’s been acting up very badly. On any given day, my arms and hands are “very painful.” Over the past week or two, they’ve upgraded to “exceedingly painful.” Since I pound on a keyboard all day at my day job, the only thing I could cut back on is Internet time at home. So I have.

Two, I’ve been busy with work, and with projects around the house. I’m working on cleaning up the backyard, getting a room painted, and general house maintenance. Not exciting, not fun, not glamorous, but all necessary.

So, there you have it. I wasn’t llamanapped, and not getting ready for hibernation. Just a bit of pain and monotonous work getting in the way. In any case, keep your eyes peeled for a few new articles over the next few weeks. I will be ramping up again, at least as much as I can. Gracias for reading.

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Has the Llama gone missing? is a post from: Llama Money

Llama Money is on Squidoo

Llama Money — Wed, 21 May 2008 02:40:18 +0000

I won’t lie – I don’t really know much about Squidoo. But I read somewhere that all smart llamas should have a squidoo page. And since this is Llama Money, I don’t want to be a dumb llama. So to that end, I took a few minutes and set up a (very) basic Squidoo lens. So check out Llama Money at Squidoo when you have a chance. And it you know anything at all about Squidoo, please let me know what I should add to the lens to make it more useful.

April 2008 Most Popular Posts

Llama Money — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:57:56 +0000

So long, April. And what a month it was. My net worth numbers are already up, so you know how I fared from a financial standpoint. How did you favorite llama-featured financial blog do this past month? Fantastic beyond my wildest dreams. For the month of April, Llama Money received a whopping 25,416 unique visitors. That’s up from 1067 UV’s in March – a 25 fold increase. I can thank a whopping 21,535 of those visitors from the excellent utility StumbleUpon. It seems SU’s users liked a couple posts on the site, and came over in droves. That leaves a cool 3,881 visitors from other sources – still way, way up.

Here is a list of Llama Money’s most popular posts for April 2008:

Dollar Bills: Why we still have them

Diversify your Cash

How To : Become a Billionaire

6 Myths about CFL’s

Dividends are a blast

I ended the month with 45 RSS subscribers – that’s up from 28 last month. Still moving forward, though I’d love to see things move along a bit more quickly. If you’re a reader ( new or if you’ve been around for awhile ), please consider subscribing. Llamamoney.com has both RSS and Email subscriptions, so you don’t have to worry about missing a new post.

Llama Ads

The time has finally come to offer ads here at Llama Money. With much improved traffic, a PR rating of 3, and Alexa rating of 280k, it’s about time. There are currently two ad slots for sale – 125×125 banners that are featured at the top of my sidebar. The cost? $10 per month. Less than fifty cents a day. Peanuts, really. If you would like to be featured on Llama Money, please use this link – the signup process is simple.

Overall

What a great month. Everything is looking up for Llama Money, and I expect May to be even better. Thank you all for reading – this site wouldn’t have a purpose, and wouldn’t exist, if you guys didn’t read. Thanks.

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. April 2008 Most Popular Posts is a post from: Llama Money

Does Llama Money have speed issues?

Llama Money — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:45:51 +0000

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been noticing speed issues when loading up Llama Money. The problems are on and off, and just when I’m about to do something about it, everything starts working fine. So I present the question to my readers – does Llama Money load slow for you?

The reason I ask is this. If you guys are seeing speed problems, then I’ll upgrade my hosting to a Virtual Private Server. Basically it’s almost like having a dedicated box, but without the obscene expense. Still more than the shared hosting that I’m on though. The bottom line is this though – I want you to have a good experience here. If that means I have to drop a little extra coin, then that’s no problem. But if the issues are here on my end only, then I won’t bother.

So how fast does my site load for you?

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Does Llama Money have speed issues? is a post from: Llama Money

March Most Popular Posts

Llama Money — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:34:03 +0000

The third month of the year is done, gone, bye. You already know how my net worth was affected by March – but how about this site? Well, some numbers are up, and some are down. During March, Llama Money was visited by 1067 unique visitors. That’s actually down from 1072 in February, but I see it as a positive. Why? More visitors came from Google and other personal finance blogs – and less from Stumble Upon. In addition, my subscriber count is now 28. Sure, that’s peanuts, but a good % jump from the 18 in February. I would really like to steamroll forward toward the 100 RSS subscriber count. If you’re a reader, please consider subscribing. I offer both regular RSS and email delivery options.

Here is a list of Llama Money’s most popular posts for March of 2008:

Diversify your Cash

How To : Become a Billionaire

American Silver Eagle Coins

6 Myths about CFL’s

How to : Beat Inflation

As for revenue, there still isn’t any! I’ve managed to keep ads away from now, so you can focus on the content. And the llama, of course. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please continue to do just that! Comments are welcome, as always.

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. March Most Popular Posts is a post from: Llama Money

Tell your friends about Llama Money

Llama Money — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:50:02 +0000

Do you like reading what I have to say here at Llama Money? If so, please do me a favor. Tell your friends about the site. My readership here has been growing slowly, but I’d like to see it grow faster. I can buy advertising to get the word out, but that’s tough to do when Llama Money doesn’t make me a dime. For the time being I want to focus on getting more readers, and htat’s why I need your help.

Word of mouth advertising is the best kind, after all. If you could take a moment or two and spread the word, I would truly appreciate it.

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Tell your friends about Llama Money is a post from: Llama Money

Llama Money gets a new look

Llama Money — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:58:09 +0000

Yep, I’m one of “those guys” – serial design changers. Tonight I put the finishing touches on my update of the excellent StudioPress WordPress Theme released by Daily Blog Tips. I did my usual tweaks to make it fit Llama Money, and I think the results are outstanding. Llamafolio now has a tab right at the top, so you can track my stock portfolio’s progress. There are now 10 popular posts in my sidebar, and all the goodies that were previously in the footer are in the sidebar. In case you missed it, the search box is now way at the top right.

I have tested the new theme in Firefox and Internet Explorer 7. As far as I can tell, it’s working the way it’s supposed to. If you see something strange, please drop me a comment below with the details. Your current browser & version will be helpful as well.

What do you think?

Do you like the new theme better than the old? Do you think it’s horrible? Let me know. If it makes your eyes bleed just by looking at it, then I have some changing to do!