The sun has risen on the final day of 2010.

As I always do at the end of the year, I spent some time yesterday poking through the statistics to see what people came to read over the past twelve months. GRS had 9.5 million visits during 2010 from over five million unique visitors. That’s a lot of readers. Most of those folks came to explore pages in the site’s archives (we’ll see which pages in a moment).

But regular readers — you folks — are what keep the site running every day, and what keep me enthused about this project. And it’s the regular readers that determine the day-to-day popularity of individual articles. Based on the stats, these were your favorite articles of 2010:

  • The best time to buy almost everything by April: “The key to finding bargains is timing—off-season, end-of-season, new models bringing down prices on the old models. There’s a pattern and a perfect time to buy just about anything.”

  • Does renting make sense? Renting by the numbers: “We’re not about to move, but you know what? If I had it to do again, I’d never buy this house….Knowing what I know now, I might even be inclined to rent. For most folks, renting isn’t a bad option.”

  • How to find unclaimed money (and unclaimed property): “If you can prove that you’re the rightful owner of a particular abandoned asset, you can reclaim it. For free. Here’s how.”

  • Make more money: How to supercharge your income: “Cutting costs isn’t the only way to boost your cash flow. If your goal is to build wealth, you’ll get the best results by looking beyond frugality to increase your income.”

  • How much does canceling credit cards affect your credit score? by Adam: “Why would I be pleasantly surprised that my credit score has dropped between 5-10 points over the last 16 months? Because that’s when we stopped playing the credit game.”

  • Extreme personal finance: Eating well on $1 a day: “Jeffrey documents…everything he purchased and every receipt, and describes exactly how you might be able to find similar discounts. It’s great stuff.”

  • Action not words: The difference between talkers and doers: “If there’s something you want to be or do, the best way to become that thing is to actually take steps toward it, to move in that direction. Don’t just talk about it, but do something. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just take a small step in the right direction every single day.” (This is my favorite GRS post from 2010.)

  • How to replace six vital documents by April: “The good news is that if you’ve lost important pieces of paper, you can replace them — and it might be easier than you think. Here’s how to replace six of the most important documents in your life.”

Also very popular (and un-popular) was the guest post from Erica Douglass about outsourcing life. She called this “unconventional advice for when you’re financially secure”, but a lot of readers called it classist. In response, my wife wrote a follow-up piece about why we hired a housekeeper. (Short answer: J.D. is a slob; paying for a housekeeper is small price to promote marital harmony!)

I wish there were an easy way for me to collate re-tweets and Facebook likes — those would be another way for me to gauge which articles resonate with people. Anyone know of a quick way to do this?

Blasts from the past
Out of curiosity, I also checked the stats to see which posts from prior years remain popular. These are articles that continue to see tens of thousands of visits every year. Here’s what keeps people coming back to this site:

2009

2008

2007

2006

Notice a theme there? Long-term, the most popular articles at Get Rich Slowly tend to be about how to do things or where to find the best financial options ( savings accounts, credit cards, CD rates, whatever). I’m not sure I want to write about where to find the best savings accounts all the time (although, who knows, maybe that’s what you folks would like…), but I’d already decided I’d like to see more “how-to” stuff around here, so look for more practical posts at GRS in 2011!

Further reading
If you’re looking for more money-saving goodness, check out the greatest hits from the first four years of this site:

Which are your favorite Get Rich Slowly stories from the past year? (Or of all time?) Your feedback will help us improve this site.

Happy new year, everybody!

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.

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