Here are 5 competitive sites I found that deal with the topic of “living cheaply”, the same subject my proposed website will be dealing with. In general, the competition is pretty weak at this point; many of the websites I found were no longer active, poorly maintained, or terribly designed. Even so:
This site is a pretty basic blog that would update with tips for saving money or getting free stuff, but that seems to have ended as of November of last year. There’s no complexity here – just a simple, chronologically based posting of articles with simple tags categories, set against a clean but drab white and black layout that reminds me of a typewriter. The articles themselves can be useful and the author isn’t a bad writer, but the site seems more like a casual hobby for its creator.
This site shares a lot in common with the previous one; it’s a basic blog format with minimal touch ups for design and layout. However, this site is still regularly maintained, and there is a little more attention to detail in each article. The author posts more content per post, more thoroughly categorizes his postings and links to related blogs, and makes more of an effort to take advantage of content aggregators and other ways to disseminate his site. Kudos to the author for also having a good “voice” to his site, I think it’s the one aspect I will emulate most in creating my own project.
Another blog that concentrates on little more than posting articles regularly, with an emphasis on taking a more humorous approach to living frugally. This site is slightly better than livingthecheaplife.net, but falls below thesimpledollar.net in terms of effort and execution. The picture bar at the top of the page makes me cringe, as do the block of rotating animated gifs below that. Can’t blame them for wanting to get paid, but, yeesh.
Another blog that competes with thesimpledollar.net for the top spot. There is little derivation from your standard blog layout and design, but the site logo and and navigation clearly indicate a more in-depth execution from some of the other examples. The articles have great content, and are posted with much more regularity than any of the other competitors. I also like the site name the most so far – it seems to have better branding potential than any of the alternatives.
This is the most original of the sites I reviewed, but its subject matter stretches beyond what I have envisioned for my site. Merely than just providing tips on frugality, the author also gives his insight on having a simpler outlook on life and gaining value from things other than money. The approach is interesting and really emphasized by the very sparse, clean layout, which uses spacing and images to maximum effect. I really like the approach and, though it doesn’t seem to be a direct competitor to my idea, will have to consider integrating some of his “zen” philosophy into some of my content. After all, it is much easier to live frugally if you don’t care about money as much.
