I’ve been really pumped since I got back from FinCon. Not only did I learn some great stuff and get to connect with some amazing people, but going to FinCon also motivated me to do some things on this blog that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that things are looking a little different around here. Obviously, there’s a slight visual change. With over 120 posts on this blog to date, I thought it would make sense to organize some of these posts in a way that might help people get to whatever information they’re looking for. It’s still a work in progress, but I like the way things are starting to look. (Shoutout to Money Wizard for the idea during our chats at FinCon).
Probably the biggest change that you might have noticed though is the fact that this blog now has a “professional” URL – www.financialpanther.com! I’ve made it to the big time!
As you may know, since the inception of this blog, I’ve been rocking the “dot-co” domain name. It’s served me well, but I always felt like I was just a step behind without the full “dot-com” name. Plus, I hated having to qualify that the site was FinancialPanther.co, instead of the expected FinancialPanther.com.
Buying the dot-com is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and last week, I finally went around and made the leap. It’s, without a doubt, the biggest investment I’ve made on this blog to date.
So how did I get here? For that, we’ll have to take a little trip down memory lane.
Financial Panther Origin Story
The idea for Financial Panther came to me at the beginning of 2016. I was still working in biglaw at the time and digging my way out of $87,000 worth of student loans. Two years earlier, I’d vowed to pay off all of my student loans as fast as I could and by the beginning of 2016, I only had about $12,000 worth of them left. The finish line was in sight!
In addition to being close to paying off my student loans, I had also been trying my hand at side hustling using the sharing economy – first signing up for Rover in the summer of 2015, then getting in on some food delivery apps shortly after.
It was a nice little outlet for me. I was burning tons of hours at work, but being able to get outside and do deliveries on my bike or watch cute pups when I got home was a nice stress reliever. It also made me believe that there were ways to earn money beyond just the normal things I was supposed to do.
To my friends, the things I was doing seemed funny – it wasn’t every day that a lawyer at an AmLaw 100 firm went around and delivered food to people after work. I was living differently, and if anything, it seemed like it was at least worth sharing. So, I decided to start a blog.
Financial Panther Domain Name
After toying with some names, I ended up going with Financial Panther. It sounded funny to me, seemed to fit what I was trying to do, and most importantly, I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons (you’ve probably seen random Simpsons GIFs strewn about the site).
In case you don’t know where Financial Panther comes from, it comes from this clip:
With the name nailed down, my next plan was to snag a domain name. Unfortunately, www.FinancialPanther.com wasn’t available – it was a parked domain that was WAY too expensive for me to invest in at the time. Rats!
I also looked at www.thefinancialpanther.com, but that turned out to be an empty blog with no content on it. The domain info showed that it was set to expire towards the end of 2016, which was a bit too long for me to wait.
Since I was out of luck on those two domains, I settled for grabbing www.financialpanther.co. It did the trick, but I always felt like things were just a little bit off without the prestigious, dot-com name. In the back of my mind, I knew that I needed to get FinancialPanther.com as my domain name.
(As a side note, if you’re starting your first blog, I recommend doing it for pretty cheap. Blogging is HARD and takes up a lot of time, and the last thing you want to do is sink a ton of money into starting a blog only to find out it’s not for you. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to start a blog to see how to get started with your blog for just a few bucks a month).
The Blogging Journey Continues
Around the end of 2016, the domain name www.thefinancialpanther.com finally became available (I guess whoever owned that name never got around to starting their blog and didn’t feel like renewing the name). I went ahead and bought it for the extravagant price of $12.
With that domain in hand, I thought about making the switch over to www.thefinancialpanther.com, but it seemed like a ton of work and I wasn’t sure if it was worth all of the effort to make the move when I really wanted the domain name without “the” in front. Grant over at Millennial Money kept telling me that I needed to buy financialpanther.com. And I was finally convinced to do it when ApathyEnds tried to go to my site and typed in the dot-com domain name, only to find it was a parked domain.
So, with that last push, I went ahead and made the leap into the dot-com world. It was an expensive move, but I’m hoping it’ll pay off. The main downside is that my Alexa Ranking – which I’d gotten up to 250,000 in the world or so – is now back at the bottom. And I’m still not sure how this change will affect my domain authority, which was pretty decent too.
If anything, this domain change will keep me motivated to keep pushing out great content. I think that a lot of blogging is about staying motivated, which can be hard to do. For most people, it takes a while before you start gaining any traction.
I motivated myself in year 1 by putting the carrot of FinCon in front of me. Since I’d already bought my ticket, it’d be a waste if I didn’t keep blogging – at least that’s what I told myself. Now in year 2, I’m going to be even more motivated since I need to make sure that I get my money’s worth with this new domain name investment. I’ve already bought my ticket for FinCon 2018, so there’s that little bit of motivation there too.
As of today, I now own three variants of this blog name:
- www.financialpanther.com
- www.financialpanther.co
- www.thefinancialpanther.com
All of those links now redirect to the dot-com version of the name, so you can pretty much type anything and you’ll find yourself here.
Anyway, that’s just a quick blog update for all of you. All of the old links out there should forward to the dot-com version of the site, but if you see anything wrong, please let me know. It’ll really help me out!
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Congratulations! How did you know it became available? Do you have some type of automatic alert system?
It’s been a parked domain ever since I started up the blog, but I didn’t have the income to justify throwing down so much money on it on a project that I might give up on. At FinCon, a few folks convinced me that I needed to take the leap and buy the domain name, and thankfully, I’ve earned enough from the blog, that I could afford to buy the name. If the blog were to fail right now, I at least know I made enough to pay for the domain name, which is mainly what I was waiting for.
So, no automatic system – just me looking at it every once in a while to see what the price was at.
Nice 🙂
I love the new design. It looks really professional.
I’m experimenting with Pinterest this month. We will see the results..
Be sure to set reminders to stay on top of it! My old domain expired and a Chinese company bought it and puts the most awful design advice on it. I have a friend who is a patent attorney specializing in intellectual property and we’ve been working on getting something on their home page that says they’re not affiliated with me. But it’s hard because I had built up a little traction and off it went. I haven’t felt as motivated since, which is a shame.
Ah bummer! Sorry to hear about that.
Yeah I meant to say something about this a while back when I couldn’t find your blog. Good move, Kevin!
Thanks Cubert! So far, I’m liking the switch, especially if it helps people find their way here easier.
I messed up when I registered my name ( I do feel like an idiot about it ) and most people think it was meant to be “money is crap”! Really not what I was going for. I am very new to blogging , do you think I should fix my name now and buy the name I was actually going for? The name is available but not sure how much work is involved to link/switch my current site to a new one. Thanks
Hmm…that’s tough to say. The bigger your site is, the more of a pain it is to switch things over (bigger name brand, more posts and links to worry about, more Google juice and SEO stuff to think about). I’d say that, if you’re small and just starting out, and you’re not happy with what you’ve got going, better to just pull the band-aid now and make the switch.
Congrats on the domain name pickup! Probably a bit of hassle to get everything moved over, but it’s got to be a great feeling now that it’s done! 🙂
— Jim
Definitely a hassle. The main bummer is just that I have to start over with my Alexa ranking and my Domain Authority, both of which I had gotten pretty high.
Nice job on the move, and redirecting everything over – that’s always a stressful thing to setup.
At FinCon I also heard your domain wrong, but I heard “FinancialPanda” which doesn’t sound too bad actually.
Haha. Financial Panda wouldn’t be bad either. It’s on sale for $3,888…just a bit outside of my budget…
Awesome! Much more professional. How much did you end up having to pay for the .com?
Let’s just say it was more than I wanted to pay, haha!
Congrats – I’m currently having the same issue. I chose a .io
Thanks! I saw that GoFi is on sale for $300k – just a little bit out of most of our price ranges!
Though, a short name like yours though actually lends itself well to a domain name like .io.
Congratulations on purchasing the Dot com domain name!
Thanks!