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$1,175 in Extra Income, Life, Food Weekly Update

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 56 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Happy Monday everyone! Above are some pictures from my weekend. I’m really loving having an iPhone 5 because it makes everything much easier. Expect more pictures from me! Also, if you scroll through my Twitter, you will be able to find my Instagram (I posted it multiple times), so follow me! Yes, I will make it difficult and not post it directly on my blog. 🙂

Thanksgiving was really great for us! I love going to the Boy’s Grandma’s. So many family members go (well over 100 I’m guessing) and it’s a lot of fun. Just check out the dessert table that I posted on Saturday, so many awesome desserts! And I also got my ears pierced on Friday. Yes, I know, truly sad.

I also updated my blog a little bit, I think it looks better, what do you all think? I also added an Extra Income tab above so that I can keep everyone updated and my readers can quickly click on each update without searching too too hard.

I also wanted to thank everyone for your support for my aggressive $38,000 student loan payoff plan. I am excited to finally start putting more effort in this, and I can’t wait for it to be done.

My updates:

Spending:

We are still doing good with our spending. We have bought some Christmas presents for each other (the Boy is completely done), but I still need to tell him what I want! And then we still need to get presents for my sister and the Boy’s family. Still not sure what to get everyone.

I did go shopping over the weekend. Bought a dress, a shirt and a cardigan. Yes, I probably didn’t need these items, but I know that I’ll enjoy them! Did you do any Black Friday shopping? I wasn’t and never will be brave enough to shop with the crazy crowds.

Extra Income (this is on top of my salary from my job):

Yet another great week. I made around $1,175 from online income (staff writing, website, etc.) last week. This is before fees and everything else though. I am still in the middle of drafting my extra income explanation post, but if you have any questions, remember to ask.

Food: 

We’ve been doing well with our food spending. We ate out a couple of times last week but it was all cheap food. This is something that we are of course still working on and we will be working on it forever most likely.

I’ve been thinking about this, do any of you do batch cooking? I tried it once and it didn’t go great for me, mainly because I have no patience to cook all day?

I forgot yet again to do a meal plan yesterday, so here it is below:

Being healthy:

I’ve been doing MUCH better with this, but mainly only with me eating better. I ran with my dog a couple of times, but it was so cold last week that each run was not for a very long time.

I did lose 3 pounds last week. I am very surprised how just eating better helped me lose so much weight. Here it goes to future weeks/months/years/decades of better eating!

How’s your spending, working out and extra income going?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I'm Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I'm passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

Comments

  1. DC@Young Adult Money says

    As you know from my constant commenting on the topic, I can't wait for your extra income post! My goal is to bring in $1k/month from Young Adult Money, but I may not be taking full advantage of other side incomes (spreadsheet stuff I do, freelance writing, etc.) so I will be interested to see what you do to bring in that cash.
    My recent post Black Friday Haul

    Reply

  2. Sam says

    Great week of extra income again! I am SO looking forward to that detailed post. I’ve never done batch cooking, but one thing I love is my crockpot! This time of year i love making soups & it usually makes enough to feed the bf & I for 2 nights. Oh, and try http://www.bodyrock.tv for working out girl!

    Reply

  3. plantingourpennies says

    Eating well is definitely something a lot of us find tough – but I just try to remind myself – junk in, junk out.

    Reply

  5. Living Debt Free Rocks! says

    It sounds like you had a great week-end and a healthy extra income week too! I too have been doing my best to eat clean but I don't really sweat it when I occasionally succumb to my sweet tooth.
    My recent post Debt Freedom Day

    Reply

  6. Holly@ClubThrifty says

    Good job on your extra income and staying on track with your spending! I was afraid that I would fall off the healthy eating wagon over Thanksgiving…but I didn't. Whew.

    Have a great week!

    Reply

  9. SavvyFinancialLatina says

    That's so awesome!!! Side income is so nice. I really need to make a plan for my blog, and figure out how I'm going to monetize it. I would love to make some side income. I am such a procrastinator though.
    Spending has been meh. We just keep having things pop up. Plus, we are not controlling our spending on food as much as I would like. It's hard because we are young, and just want to enjoy ourselves.

    Reply

  13. Jason Clayton says

    Nice work on your extra income. I look forward to reading your post about how you make this a reality, as I could use some extra income. 🙂
    My recent post Save Thousands of Dollars with this One little Rule

    Reply

  14. Veronica Hill says

    Also looking forward to your extra income post. You do so great in this area and everyone wants to know how!
    My recent post 10 High Paying Tech Jobs Without a Degree in 2013

    Reply

  15. Brick By Brick Investing | Marvin says

    I love following your progress especially the firing range 😉 My wife begged me for the iPhone 5 but we chose the 4S because it was a cheaper option at the time. We’ve tried batch cooking before but it didn’t go too well due to the fact we were staying at my parents while our home was being built. Now that we’re in our new home we plan on trying it out again next week!

    Reply

  17. Anne_UGifter says

    Once again, thoroughly impressed by your side hustle income! I keep meaning to try out some batch cooking, but haven't got there yet. I made a meal plan last week and that was awesome. naturally, I neglected to do it for this week and we will be off to a rough start. I have a meeting tonight that includes dinner, which will leave us scrambling for lunches tomorrow as my spouse will likely only make enough for one person tonight.

    Reply

  18. @danilee_13 says

    I can't wait for your extra income post!! I'm doing really well this month so far, but some of it is money I won't see right away. 🙂 Great job on everything you do!
    As for batch cooking, I'm going to try a new strategy in December. I'll be posting about it too, hopefully later this week!
    My recent post An Amazing Weekend!

    Reply

  23. fromshoppingtosaving says

    So glad you're on instagram so I can keep tabs on you more =) Glad to see things going well!!! Looking forward to the extra income post, especially since I will be quitting my job soon and winter break is coming up!

    Reply

  26. Holly says

    Here is my secret to batch cooking:

    Each week I make 1 dish w/multiple servings, usually on Sun

    Recently that has been soups:

    Chicken stock

    Gumbo

    veg/mushroom/barley

    On my list of to dos is:

    meatloaf muffuns

    6/more servings of chicken (usually split flavors: lemon, BBQ, oven fried)

    lasagne

    I have in the freezer some lentil stew, chicken cassarole, rice & beans, salisbury steak, swiss steak.

    Reply

  27. mycanuckbuck says

    Yes, I do batch cooking – chili and ham/lentil soup. A little time on the weekend, and then meals for several weeks. 🙂 That is amazing on the weight loss – healthy eating does definitely make a difference!
    My recent post 30% off Ontario tuition? It could happen to you!

    Reply

  28. Debt Roundup says

    I batch cook almost every week. This is how my wife and I eat throughout the week and month. I am interested to see your side income post. It is nice to see how other website owners monetize their site along with other freelance work. Nice job so far.

    Reply

  29. Chelsea says

    I think I'm most interested to know where/how you find the staffwriting/freelance jobs?
    My recent post OOTD: All The Bloggers Are Doing It….

    Reply

  30. Elena Moiseenko says

    Even going out to cheap fast food restaurants can be a budget buster for many of us. I would suggest making whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce and a simple lettuce, tomato, cucumber salad 2-3 times a week which is healthy, will feed the whole family and will cost you almost nothing compared to even one trip to McDonalds.
    My recent post Discover Exciting Careers in Radiography

    Reply

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