May was good, but we had a lot of big expected and some unexpected expenses. Between my plumbing mistake, and us wanting just to replace all the pipes, that cost around $400 (before drywall). I also had to get new license plates (and pay all the fees and taxes), my sister moved in, and a bunch of other small things happened.
The weather has been brutal this month, so I’m assuming that our air conditioning bill will prove that. This weekend has been cooler though. Gotta love Midwest weather. One day it’s 100 degrees and the next day it’s 50.
I’m really hoping for a great June! It’s a 3 paycheck month for me, which I am definitely looking forward to.
You can find my 2012 yearly goals update here (I last updated this a couple of weeks ago).
May Goals
- Reassess our budget and cut out $25. FAIL. I don’t think I cut anything out.
- Workout at least 3 times a week and run with my dog. FAIL.
- Sell 30 items to a consignment shop. PASS. I made money from selling clothes, but I used that same money to buy stuff back, so I actually PAID in the end.
- Make an extra $600 this month. PASS. I made $672! See below. I feel like I’m forgetting something and that it should actually be higher.
- Start moving stuff into my bigger closet. FAIL. Haven’t done this at all. Now that we have another roommate moving in (more on that later), my future closet will instead be his bedroom. But I convinced the Boy to completely gut the closet I have now and redo it to make it nice.
- Eat in at least 5 times and make 1 vegetarian meal a week. FAIL. We’ve been horrible with eating in. This is something we WILL succeed at in June.
- Do great on finals. PASS. I could’ve done better, but laziness definitely took over.
June Goals
- Reassess our budget and cut out $25. I’m finally going to cut our cable bill this month. No, I will not get rid of HBO (come on, True Blood starts this month!), but I will ask them to lower it since our contract will be up soon.
- Workout at least 3 times a week and run with my dog. I will do this…
- Make an extra $1,000 this month. Now that we have another person moving in (I’ll update you all on this soon), I am going to bump this up. I don’t have anymore textbooks to sell, but I’ll figure out ways to make more.
- Gut my closet and re-do it. We plan on testing our DIYing skills this month. I want to paint, all new shelves and to clean it.
- Eat in at least 5 times. Definitely something we will accomplish this month!
- Study everyday for at least an hour for part 4 of my work certification test. I really need to study everyday!
- My last semester starts this month and I have my annual review, do great! This will be my final semester, and then I’ll have my Finance MBA. I also have my annual review this month at my work. I need to really get across my strengths in order to make this Finance MBA worth it to my company (and my salary).
Blog Goals
- Twitter followers: Goal was for 350, I’m currently at 450. My goal for next month is 600. Help me with this 🙂
- Alexa rank: Goal was to be under 90,000. I’m right around 85K now. I’m happy with this now. I think this has started to plateau. Any help on lowering this? I’m not sure what to do next.
- RSS readers: Goal was for 650, I’m currently at 670. My goal for June is to have 750.
Extra Monthly Income in May
- Sponsored Posts on my blog – $350
- Surveys -$12
- Mystery Shopping -$90
- Sold textbooks -$220
So I actually made $672 extra last month!
How did you do in May? Any extra income?
Janet Fazio says
Love these little goals. Easy doable steps to make life less stressful.
Doug says
“It’s a cinch by the inch, but hard by the yard” ~ DF
Esteban says
Hey,
I recently started blogging myself and trying to escape the 9-5 lifestyle.
I’m wondering if this is your first income report ever or did you try blogging etc for longer because if it is that is an amazing start.
I was also wondering what Sponsored posts are and how I can implement them maybe 🙂
Thanks,
Esteban
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
I started blogging around one year before this post was published 🙂
Deborah says
Michelle,
Can you help me as to where to start blogging to pay off my student loans? I just checked my balance and it is 89,000. I would very much appreciate any help/advice you can offer.
I was asked to mystery shop, but was a little worried about it being legit.
Thanks,
Deborah
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Hello Deborah,
Here’s my tutorial on how to start a blog – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2014/08/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog-on-bluehost.html
Hope that helps! 🙂
Jaimie McCallum says
Well I had to go back in your history to find your humble beginnings and I must say, I’m not doing too bad. I started doing surveys as a first step into getting into a routine to being online and finding those spare moments that are available if you look for them. I made over $30 in my first week. I started posting things for sale online and am brainstorming ideas for a blog. i’d like to follow your method of buying a host site…is that right? Anyway…glad i found your articles and happy to be a follower. Hope to have my own following some day and strictly work from the comfort of my little camper, which by the way I remodeled for very little money! My new blog…The $10.00 budget!
Sincerely Jacqueline Blog says
How cool! I wanted to see how you far you have come over time…and it is quite miraculous! I admire you hard work and dedication. I really love the fact that even when you “failed” on meeting a goal…you incorporated the “failed” goal into the next month to try again. I am glad that you have been able to reach and help so many people over the years.
Best Wishes!
Young and Finance says
Best way to start is with small goals. Congrats on your success!
Chris says
I can’t believe how much progress you made over the years. I think I was following your blogs around this time. Keep up the awesome work that you do!
The Savvy Couple says
Throwback! It has to feel amazing being able to look back at things like this.
Matt says
What survey companies worked for you?
I hope that you still remember.
Thanks!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
My favorite was Pinecone.