Broke Grad Student » announcements

Broke Grad Student Is Back (Kind Of)

Broke Grad — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:17:57 +0000

Happy 2009! My apologies for the delay. Thanks to my blog getting hacked the day before I went out of town for a wedding, Broke Grad Student has been down for almost a week.

Now that the craziness of the holidays is subsiding, I finally found some time to get this blog back up and running. This is the first time one of my blogs has gotten hacked, and it hasn’t been fun. It feels like someone broke into my house, tossed some stuff around, and then left.

On the bright side, I found out that I won an Acer Ultra Mini PC from a Wise Bread Contest on the same day my blog got hacked. Proof that karma exists?

Anyway, I hope everyone has had a great holiday break, and I look forward to getting back to writing now that my blog is back up.

Happy Holidays, See You In 2009

Broke Grad — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:00:40 +0000

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. This is the first time I’m going through the holidays as a full time employee, not a student, so it has been a little weird. Instead of flying home a week or more in advance, I just flew in yesterday, and now it’s already Christmas.

This holiday season is going to be a little more hectic than usual, because one of my relatives is getting married around the New Year. That means relatives from all over will be gathering here over the next week, which has led me to derive the following equation:

Holidays + Wedding + Family Reunion = (Organized/Absolute) Chaos

Most of the plans have already been made, so I’m guessing it’ll probably be organized chaos. Either way, the next week of my life is going to be filled with family activities, so I’ll be stepping away from this blog until 2009.

Of course, there’s a slight chance that I’ll get bored at one of the family events, sneak off to a computer, and write a quick post about “101 Things To Do When You’re Bored At A Family Reunion,” but just in case I don’t, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and I’ll see you in 2009!

One Year Blogoversary

Broke Grad — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:00:01 +0000

Broke Grad Student is one year old today! (The blog, not the person.) We all know that it’s not a proper celebration unless there’s cake, so I got this one for my blog. Does anyone have a light?

Photo by smcgee

Broke Grad Student’s First Year

366 days ago, one broke grad student sat down at his computer and, in an effort to put off his thesis, started this blog. He succeeded, and the rest, as they say, is about to be explained in the following paragraphs.

It started with the obvious. Broke Grad Student explained how the best way to get out of debt is to get paid to do something. Fortunately, his writing would improve as the year went along.

Shortly after starting the blog, Broke Grad Student got a job offer that he couldn’t refuse, so he took it. He struggled to keep the blog going after moving halfway across the country, starting a new job, and working on his thesis after hours.

He eventually defended his thesis and received his master’s degree. Apparently, giving your blog a name that still makes sense after you graduate is not a requirement for earning a master’s degree.

With his thesis out of the way, Broke Grad had more time to work on his blog. Instead, he launched the College Money Network, a network of twenty-something bloggers who write about money-related topics as they relate to the lives of future and current college students and recent grads.

Broke Grad’s (relatively) “big” breakthrough came when an article about one of his articles was linked on the front page of MSN Money. Any subsequent successes have been pure luck.

As Broke Grad starts his second year of blogging, he hopes to continue this lucky streak. And despite everything being pure luck, he would still like to thank all of his readers and fellow bloggers for their support.

One Year Statistics

For any stats junkies out there, here are some fun numbers from the past year.

232 Published Posts
1,387 Comments
430 Subscribers
121,309 Visits
237,023 Page Views

And here’s a picture for people who are afraid of numbers.

Most Popular Posts

Finally, here are the 10 most popular posts over the past year based on page views.

Introducing the College Money Network

Broke Grad — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:00:36 +0000

Get out your laptops, it’s time to add another personal finance blog network to the list. “Why,” you ask? Because this one is different, I swear.

What do you get when six college-age/twenty-something personal finance bloggers get together on the Internet?

Okay, that wasn’t a very funny joke, but that’s because it’s not a joke!

I’m excited to announce the launch of the College Money Network. We are a diverse group of college students, grad students, and recent grads who blog about money related topics that relate to the lives of college students and twenty-somethings. We cover everything from student loans to credit card debt to adjusting to the real world with plenty of other topics sprinkled in between.

Now for a quick introduction to the rest of the College Money Network:

Broke-Ass Student [RSS]
… where my idea of splurging is feeding my cat Fancy Feast

Green Panda Treehouse [RSS]

MFA or Bust [RSS]
Fine Arts ≠ Money

Poorer Than You [RSS]
Talking about money, without being boring.

This Writer’s Wallet [RSS]
the story of an Chicago 20-something as she tries to make, save and spend money

What can you expect from the CMN?

Frat parties, spring formals, barbeques, foam parties, pop quizzes, water balloon fights, beer pong, snowball fights, winter formals, cold pizza, the smell of weed, final exams, and spring break. NOT.

Instead, you’ll find the College Money Network members working together on group writing projects, promoting each others’ blogs, and maybe even hosting the occasional giveaway contest. By collaborating with each other, we hope to put together content that is better than any of us could create individually.

To give you a better chance to know everyone, I’ll be interviewing each member of the College Money Network over the next few weeks. Be sure to come back or, even better, subscribe to my feed so you don’t miss anything.