If it wasn’t entirely obvious, my blogging flame has finally flickered out. It’s been nearly six months since my last post and I’d be lying if I said I had a desire to write again. My season as a Personal Finance blogger has come to an end.
It’s been a wild ride and I’ve been fortunate to have many successes over my six year blogging career. Girl Ninja and I were flown to Chicago to appear on the Steve Harvey Show. I was featured in a print version of Reader’s Digest. Had a huge interview and feature on Forbes.com. And even won the “People’s Choice” award at the largest personal finance blogging conference in the world UNIVERSE, meaning a bunch of random people thought I was the best PF blogger alive!
Thanks for sticking around for so long. If you want to keep somewhat abreast (hahaha, I said breast) of my current life happenings, feel free to follow along on my latest hobby, furniture flipping. I started MidandMod.com (not so much a blog, but a showroom for my furniture, with an occasional random life thought), or on instagram at…
Midandmod (my furniture instagram)
or
B_patch (my real life, day-to-day, instagram)
Or you can always shoot me an email if you’d like to stay in touch ([email protected])
Also, Girl Ninja has another human/fetus/baby/thing inside of her, a Girl apparently. Due in May. Jury is still out on a name. Oddly enough Baby Ninja 1, Weston, was named by a random reader of this blog when I asked you all to help name him. Perhaps you have some gem of a name you’ve been saving that you wouldn’t mind us considering 🙂 If so drop it in the comments.
I’ll do my best to respond to any comments this post gets (within the two weeks before my anti-spam robot closes the comments section of this post), so feel free to ask any questions if you have them.
Oh, and our current Net Worth is like $420,000 (for those of you weirdo’s that would feel like you were left with a big cliff hanger if I didn’t do one last net worth update).
Well, I guess that’s all.
As the cliche saying goes…
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.
That end is here.
Adios,
Ninja
p.s. If you’re interested in buying my blog and the URL let me know.I guess I won’t have much use for it anymore.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
Best of luck man and congrats to you and Girl Ninja. Really enjoyed reading your blog over the years. Curious to know if Baby Ninja #2 means you’re back in the house hunt again?!
Thanks for sticking around that long. As far as house hunting, we’re staying out for now. We should be good here until kids get a lot older, or until a third one comes. Otherwise we have enough space for everyone to be happy.
Wow, it’s been real. Sometimes really real!
I’ve been an avid reader for, well, I can’t remember how long. Was referred to your site by J. Money waaaay back when… must have been the rap, and since we are about the same age and could relate on almost all levels, was hooked from the beginning.
All the best to you both, with the new baby, with your career, with everything!
Haha. Oh the good ol rapping days. Thanks for sticking around all these years Tom. Shoot me an email if you want to keep in touch.
Not surprising, since all we’ve ever learned for the past six months was that a tree fell on your house, with six comments. Now unless a tree fell on your house every day for the past six months and you had six comments on this momentous event each day, it seemed like this blog wasn’t going to be updated any more. But I shall definitely miss our little debates here and some of the cast of characters, and I still have fond memories of our dinner together in DC which must have been 4-5 years ago by now. So I wish you and your family well, Brandon, and hope we can keep in touch, especially if you ever visit New York and want to meet again.
– Larry
Thanks for your faithfulness and consistency over the years. I’ve definitely enjoyed your voice and thoughtful comments. We probably couldn’t be more different (age, location, political ideologies) but I’m thankful for our friendship as it shows that just because two people have different beliefs, does not mean they can’t get a long. Best to you Larry!!!
I always look for Larry’s comments on any of your Blog posts.
I’ve missed you too, Matt from Bruce Bucks.
Hope you’ll follow along and say hey on the new blog Larry!!!
Of course I will, B. Once a blogger, always a blogger. But which of you is Mid and which is Mod?
Yours was the first PF blog I ever read. Will miss it! Best of luck to you guys!
Thanks Andrea. It’s been a great ride!
Ana – not Anna but Ana.
Good luck!
Too bad, going to miss your funny posts! I love the names Madison and Jordan for a girl. Best of luck in the future!
Hey, I always hate to see financial blogs go down because it is such an important topic but we all have different journeys we must face. How much would you be willing to sell your domain name for?
Catherine is perfect with Weston. I’m Julia Catherine and am one of the few people who like their name. It never goes out of style!
Good luck and I will miss your blog as I have been reading it for years!! I’m following both of your Instagram so I can keep up with your future success!!
Good Luck!!
Loved this blog and I’m wishing the best for you and your family! God bless!
Even though you haven’t been writing, it is still sad to see you officially go. I’ve always enjoyed your drawings.
Because my children are crazy and think that their geriatric parents should have another child (not!), baby names have been a dinner topic at our house recently. We’re all pretty in love with Camille, Eleanor, and Isabel.
Best of luck to you all!
I vote for Gemma.
I loved this blog! I’m sad to see it end, but I do think it has run its course. You provided some great information over the years and a way different perspective than most PF blogs. I even guest wrote for you once, way back when!!!
I will definitely follow on to your Instagram page. @melbthatsme. I’m not too much of a creeper don’t worry! Congrats on baby #2
I always wanted to name a baby girl Tess. We didn’t have a third or else I probably would have. My girl is named Reese.
Gertrude is my vote.
Best of luck with life and congrats on baby #2!
Thanks, congrats, and good luck. Of course, since I’m in the Seattle area and just bought a house from 1950 we might actually meet up in real life some day – definitely going to keep an eye on your inventory.
Personally, I think Juniper is a lovely name.
I’ll definitely miss seeing your artistic drawings and funny posts!
At least, you actually said goodbye instead of just letting spider webs grow on the blog.
WHAT?!?!
It was just yesterday — er, five years ago — that we were both newbie bloggers hanging out together in a flimsy tent in Schaumberg, Illinois. (Okay, now that I read that sentence, I think I know why you’re quitting this scene.)
This is the end of an era. My hat’s off to you. (Actually, I’m not wearing a hat. But if I were, I’d tip it.)
P.S. I like the name Grace.
P.P.S. If you pick that name, you totally owe me an email. And maybe a drink.
P.P.P.S. Wait, were you at Schaumberg? Or am I hallucinating?
I was there! haha. great memory. I still check in on your progress and your awesome real estate empire. Good luck to you!
Congratulations on baby #2! My favorite girl names are Natalie and Julia, if that helps at all.
Congratulations, too, on your new financial chapter — leaving your debt life in the dust! We just hit $0 net worth (we still have debt, but we built up our retirement accounts), and I’m looking forward to the day that we’re in robust 6-figure net worth! Congratulations again!
Aw man I’ll miss your blog! For girls names I love Esme, Poppy, Juliette, Margo, Beatrice, and Lily. For boys I like Elliot, Ethan, Felix, Max, Cooper, and Cohen. Congratulations on baby#2!
Cheers old buddy, it was great to follow your story. Wishing you and Mrs. Ninja and the baby ninjas much future fun, success, and lots of adventures. Thanks for the inspiration and many laughs.
🙁
I’ve been reading your blog and Budgets Are Sexy since 2010… sad to see you go, but best of luck with Ninja #2 and the furniture biz!
Thanks Jason. Furniture is the new Personal Finance… for me at least
Will miss your smart, funny blog!!
Congrats on a new baby ninja! We added a baby girl to the fam in our house in November, so I will share some names: Clara (the winning name), Cora, Emry, Regan, Hannah, Ruth and Grace.
Awww! This makes me so sad! Your blog was one of the very first ones I read. It was fun following along and I wish you the best of luck 🙂
Glad I was one of the bloggers to pop your PF cherry? is that weird to say? oh well. thanks a lot!
Great job with your net worth. I remember when it was negative. 🙂
Best wishes!
Ninja!
I have loved reading your story for so many years!! I think I found you in the wee hours of the night when I was up with those newborn feeds with my now 5 year old!! Your journey and growth and sharing has been SO great! I’m really happy that the blog has served its purpose for your fam 🙂 Congrats on the new edition coming soon! We love our little girls names (Everly and Delaney!).
I will be following you on insta…although that feels even more stalkerish since you didn’t even show your face on this blog forever!
Congrats again and thanks for being so open and forward thinking. I can only speak for myself, but I am sure your posts changed readers’ financial lives for the better!! We actually have a meeting with an estate planner this week…it never ends 😉
Trina
TRINA!!!! Man, sad day seeing your name pop up 🙁 I’ve always enjoyed our conversations and email exchanges over the years. You’ve been around for a heck of a long time. Hope you’ll drop your two cents in on the new site/blog from time to time and send me email updates!
Nooooooo! I am sad as a reader to see this chapter close for us.
I can fully understand why you would want to move on. I have been reading PF blogs for nearly 10 years and then finally got around to my own last year. After only a year, a bunch of posts, accomplishing a bunch of PF goals of our own, I can see an end for us as well.
Nearly 5 years of writing on your blog takes some real commitment. As a reader, I appreciate that and wish you and your family the best!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, I enjoyed every post.
Thanks Bryan. It wasn’t easy to decide to hang up the towel, but the reality is I did just that about a year ago when I pretty much stopped writing.
I’m excited about the new blog and website and hope that maybe I can have the same influence on an audience in a different capacity 😉
Good bye Ninja! All the best with everything. End of an era…
Weston and Winnie Ninja 🙂
Winnie Ninja?! I guess I’ll be running that name by Girl Ninja and see what her stamp of approval is. Front runners right now are Elle or Evie.
I just found this blog last week, but I kind of obsessively read through old entries. Thank you for all the great advice on personal finance! Congratulations on Baby Ninja #2! I like old fashioned names – Margaret, Carol, Irene, Frances.
I plan to keep reading on the new blog. Best of luck to you!
Haha. Thanks for hitting the OCD button and reading through my old posts. I saved a PDF file of my blog and it was 5,150 pages! Insane. Look forward to have you contributing to my latest blog/venture.
It was great while it lasted! Some great, honest articles!
Enjoy furniture flipping! and congratulations on Ninja 2!
Thanks Joe! It’s been a fun ride. Hope you’ll consider following along on my new site and see what we’re up to. I’m sure money topics will bleed in to my furniture stuff 😉
I wish you, Girl Ninja, Boy Ninja and all of the future ninjas much happiness, health and success. Good Bye and Good Luck!
Darn it, late to the post… For what it’s worth your blog was at the top of my bookmarks for the longest time. At the best, it was entertaining and informational. At the worst, it did draw out my worst trait, jealousy. But just goes to show how amazing your life is 😉 I always thought I did provide a pretty good contrasting viewpoint at times, however 😛
Overall, it was fascinating to observe your PF journey from debt to no debt to debt again… I guess getting out of mortgage debt is not as exciting as student debt.
Best wishes to your future, Ninja and family! I might eventually get the nerve to stalk you on insta one day… 🙂
enjoyed reading your blog! sad to see you go. congrats on baby #2. name suggestion: hadleigh or veronica. haha veronica mars is one of my favorite shows ever and i always thought it was super rad that you went to the movie premiere and know kbell. best wishes!
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
P.S. – My baby name vote goes to Nora.