It’s about that time when we all reflect on 2011 and look forward to 2012. In short, 2011 has been an amazing year for me. I proposed to my future wife, I moved across the country, I got my first car, a new job, and my blogging has brought me success I never imagined could be had from a blog.

I don’t think I set any specific goals in 2011, and I’ll go over some 2012 goals in a few days, but when I look back, a whole lot has happened. And most of it was unexpected, so any goals I set would be irrelevant. Let’s look at my year in review:

Posts I’m Proud Of

I’ve written a lot of posts this year, but there are a few that I really liked (and a few others that were popular in the personal finance community):

Stable Government Jobs Promote Laziness

How to Be a Frugal iPhone Owner

Would You Ever Move Into Your In-Laws’ House?

It Pays More To Have a Side Gig If You Make More Money

A Nigerian Scam Could Be A Legitimate Transaction

Federal and State Estimated Quarterly Tax Payments are Due!

Blog Improvements

In addition to a new theme that was put into place around March, I also was able to increase readership dramatically. In December 2010, I had just over 5,500 people visit my site. In December 2011, the number is over 13,000 and growing rapidly. Compared to 2010, my traffic increased by over 130%. I’m pretty proud of myself in that area.

Side Income

Through this site, a related side venture with a partner, and various staff writing positions, I was able to increase my income dramatically, and in total I made about 300% more from my side business in 2011 than I made in 2010. It was great to have second and third sources of income, and that allowed me to become self-employed for a few months over the summer and relieved what would have otherwise been a lot of stress.

Thank You!

Finally, I want to thank you guys for reading. A blog is nothing without readers, and without knowing that people were reading, I would have stopped writing years ago. Please let me know if there is anything you want me to write about, I love suggestions!

This year has truly been amazing for me, personally and professionally. And yet, I won’t bask in any of my accomplishments for more than a few minutes this morning. I’m already looking forward to 2012, which I hope will be just as amazing.

Bingoport, the leading online bingo portal in the UK and Europe, has launched a specially-commissioned Bingo Olympics infographic as the countdown to London 2012 gathers pace.

With just over 200 days to go before the biggest and most iconic sporting event of all gets under way, interest in next year’s Olympics is constantly increasing. Millions of tickets have been snapped up and hundreds of thousands of sports fans are expected to pack the 32 venues staging the various events next summer in what I’m sure will be a memorable few months.

If recent Olympics history is anything to go by, London 2012 could see existing world and Olympic records smashed on a daily basis. The prospect of seeing records tumble got the bingo people at Bingoport thinking about what records exist within the world of bingo.

And, after extensive research, Bingoport have compiled together a list of eye-catching bingo records in a ‘Bingoport Olympics’ infographic, which can be viewed on the Bingoport blog.

Among the many bingo-related statistics to feature on the infographic is the fact that the quickest big win in the history of bingo came just 40 minutes from signing up. One lucky guy walked away with a cool $63,000, which works out as £1,000 a minute after they signed up. Can you imagine winning over $1,500 a minute?

Ever wondered how many players took part in the biggest game of online bingo? Well, wonder no more! The exact number is 493,820 people, which is enough to fill the London Olympic stadium an impressive six times.

Did you also know that the three biggest bingo wins ever are £1,167,795, £1,101,686 and £1million respectively? These are life-changing amounts of money and show that playing bingo and online bingo can change the fortunes of people of all ages in an instant. What’s more, bingo has never been more accessible as you can play down your local bingo hall or in the comfort of your own home these days.

Back to the bingo facts and figures and it’s worth noting that the highest game was played at 17,500ft, which works outs as about 1,500 times the world pole vault record. And that if you line up all the bingo balls used in the last three months it would actually stretch the length of more than 300 marathons.

Any bingo players out there? Impressed by these number? Reader for the olympics next year?