DvD, there's a saying, you must be aware of - If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
I don't agree with the notion that you are supposed to change the template or modify it regularly or it becomes outdated. A template is a template, afterall. If you need features (New features), you can always make changes, but this DOESN'T mean that you HAVE to change it regularly to keep up to date. Yes, we all like keeping up with the new features and trends, but, still, it's a personal choice, nothing out of necessity.
Here I'm able to see some confusion over Domain names and plugins.
Plugins are free for self-hosted thing or maybe .org.For .com, some widgets are free. I just paid to make http://aborrowedbackpack.wordpress.com read like http://aborrowedbackpack.com
Divya, as far as I've seen WP, most of the plugins are free, including the source codes. Ofcourse there are a number of premium plugins, the developers of which, think they need to charge for a license, other than that, most of the WP's plugins are free. And, I don't think whether you're on a wordpress.com hosted blog or a self hosted wp blog makes any difference on the implementation of plugins, whatever is free is free (maybe, some of them might have chosen specific criteria, like for akismet-the spam blocking plugin, it's free for personal use, but once you start earning from your blog (i.e. commercial activity), you're supposed to purchase a license to use it, and what's the problem with such an implementation?)
You're getting confused with the domain name purchase and plugins. Domain name purchase is a totally different thing. When we move from a subdomain, i.e. from abcdef.wordpress.com or abcdef.blogspot.com to abcdef.com, we are purchasing a domain name space (abcdef.com is a domain name, also known as TLD -Top Level Domain) Since you're customizing from a subdomain Wordpress or blogger provided you to run your blog from, you're supposed to pay for it. Plugins, on the other hand are totally different. Plugins are nothing but small pieces of code that you install to enhance your blog/website's functionality. Purchase of a domain name/hosting space is an annual affair, as you're supposed to pay a recurring annual cost, every year, while, most plugins, I suppose, have a lifetime cost, where you pay for a premium plugin only once and you can use it till whatever time you want (maybe, only to be restricted by number/website/blog where you're using it).
In your case, I think, you may like to uninstall and install the feedjit plugin for WP (if you have already not done so).. You can check out your WP dashboard, uninstall the plugin, and then reinstall it again to check if it resolves the issue.
Regarding your second query, I don't think there is an impact on statistics, except that each post is treated as a page by our analytics software, and the post you put up on your home page will receive the highest number of pageviews, because it's loading everytime someone visits to your blog directly, using your domain name, or some backlink to your domain, not an article.
I'm using Pinboard, you may like to check it out.
