Making Sense Of Cents

Learn how to make extra money, how to save money, how to start a blog, and more.

JOIN OVER 300,000
MONTHLY READERS!

Happy Memorial Day and $1,582 in Extra Income

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 57 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 Memorial Day and $1,582 in Extra Income

Hey everyone! Happy Monday and Memorial Day. We had a BBQ on Saturday for my birthday and BBQed at W’s parents’ house yesterday. We also went to a winery yesterday and drove around wine country. It has been a fun weekend so far! I have today off from work and will probably just spend it at home.

My birthday was last week and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who said Happy Birthday to me. Love you all!

Last week, I published my Pursuing What I Love or What Brings in the (Stable) Money post and all of you said very nice things. A lot of you had awesome tips that I will have to keep in mind when I make the switch.

So, yes, you heard it, I will be making the switch. I have a date in mind and have told some of you. It’s not within the next month, and that’s because I want to be better prepared. I need to start focusing on becoming more diversified. If you have any other tips on self-employment, please share below!

 

Student Loan Update

My student loans are still scheduled to be paid off completely in June. I can’t wait! I know that I’ve had some delays, but I am still of course very happy with my progress. Also, not putting thousands of dollars (my minimum payment was less than $500 but I’ve been throwing a lot of extra money towards the loans) towards student loans every single month will feel awesome!

Spending

We spent a decent amount last week. We were going to replace all of our patio furniture but couldn’t find anything that we liked. We went to over 5 stores and didn’t find anything. Then we had the idea to use Rustoleum on the patio furniture that we currently have and it all turned out awesome. We painted the table a bright coral and the chairs white. We also bought a lot of big plants and that helped spruce up the patio. Then strung up some lights around the whole patio and now it looks awesome!

We spent only around $100 out-of-pocket (the rest came from a gift card), which isn’t bad at all!

Happy Memorial Day and $1,582 in Extra Income

Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)

Extra income was good last week. I’m expecting a couple of payments this week. I probably need a better system for this because I have a good amount outstanding that need to be collected.

Affiliate income for me is still going great but I need to start focusing on this more. I’m looking into additional products and I really think that I can be doing better. I am also still looking into additional streams of income. I actually have a couple of new side hustles in the works and I can’t wait to get them started! A lot of you have asked me how you can increase the amount you make from side hustles, and my main tip is to NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! I tell everyone this. The new side hustles that I have in the works are all from me networking with others.

Posts from my blog:

  1. Student Loan Update and $805 in Extra Income – My weekly update post.
  2. How I Live in a 400 Sq. Ft. House – My Minimalist Home – This is an awesome post by Jordann. A lot of you have been very interested in the small home that she lives in.
  3. Negotiate For A Raise or Work on Side Income – Is a raise as important as working on side income for you? Different people have different opinions on this. It all comes down to time, money, and value.
  4. Pursuing What I Love or What Brings in the (Stable) Money

 

Link Love

  1. Thursday Rant: 2008? Huh? What!? 1500 Days to Freedom –  This is a great post! I read the articles mentioned in this post and they are all great reads. Really makes you think what might happen…
  2. Making “Enough” for Everything Isn’t Possible – Be Happy Anyway BITFS –  This is something that W and I talk about a lot. At what point are we making “enough” and can slow down and enjoy what we already have?
  3. The History of Budget Blonde and an Announcement Budget Blonde – She has an awesome announcement!  Very similar to my announcement…
  4. You Don’t Have To Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business To Follow Your Passion… Advice From A Former Freelancer Frugal Beautiful – This post was published on the same day that I made my post about whether or not I want to pursue my passion. A very interesting read since she is doing the exact opposite.
  5. He Said She Said: One Year of Blogging Planting Our Pennies – Go say congrats to them! One year blogging is always important.
  6. How to Blog Carnival-First Edition
  7. How to Blog Carnival-More Blogging Tips

 

Being healthy

I have been doing HORRIBLE with being healthy. I find this funny because this past weekend I have been asked by 4 or 5 different people about how being more healthy is going. Of course once I am on a bad streak, people are interested. Haha! Anyways, I need to get back on track. I haven’t run in a very long time or anything else. I also haven’t been eating very healthy.

Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?

 

Related Posts

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Liquid says

    Trying to live healthy constantly is difficult. I have to let myself go every once in awhile too. I follow @BeFitMotivation which often puts up motivational images of people in really good shape and that gets me motivated to work out more lol. Congrats on your student loans progress, you're almost there. Most people take forever to pay off their debts accumulated in college but you've made it a priority 😀

    Reply

  3. The Norwegian Girl says

    Happy Memorial Day:-)
    and a happy (but late) birthday!:-) I was a bit MIA last week, so that´s my excuse:-P

    Reply

  4. plantingourpennies says

    Thanks for the shout-out, Michelle =)
    And I'm so excited to hear more about making the switch to self employment. That's so exciting!

    Reply

  7. mycanuckbuck says

    I'm so on and off about being healthy – some weeks I'm great and some weeks I'm terrible! So you're not alone! 🙂

    Reply

  8. mycanuckbuck says

    Unrelated comment- every time I try to tweet, I get a bookmarklet window but it freezes. I'm using Google Chrome – anyone else reported this?

    Reply

  11. Squirrelers says

    To your point on networking, I like you're strongly emphasizing that! Really, networking seems to be very important in terms of income generation in general – whether side income or career.

    Reply

  13. DC@Young Adult Money says

    Congrats on making the switch! I hope to be joining you one day, though it won't be anytime soon. I've been doing well on the side income, really trying to make contacts and get the advertising revenue going. I got a monthly contract with a company last month so I'm happy about that. I had surgery last week so the whole "being healthy" is good…I think? haha we'll see how the recovery goes long-term.
    My recent post Random Facts about DC of Young Adult Money

    Reply

  14. Katharine says

    I love these round-up posts you do. Reading about other people just knocking it out of the pat it hugely motivational for me (though maybe that's because I'm just a competitive person…) And don't worry about the health stuff, the little changes add up eventually. Stressing about it just undoes all the work!
    My recent post You Need a Schedule

    Reply

  16. Girl Meets Debt says

    Congrats on making the decision to switch to self-employment! Even if it doesn't work out (but it WILL) you can always work for another company! I've never been to a winery before but it's on my bucket list for sure 🙂
    My recent post GMD’s 100th Post!

    Reply

  22. E.M. says

    Such exciting news, you seem to have a lot of awesome things going on, congrats! Student loans getting paid off, making the switch to self-employment, can't wait to read all about it! Your little patio project sounds cute, always good to think of alternatives, plus you saved some money.
    My recent post Getting an Apartment: Part II

    Reply

  24. Michelle says

    I am so excited for you!! You've worked hard and will ROCK self-employment. A huge congratulations and I am looking forward to hearing about this new phase in your life.

    Reply

  25. Keren says

    Your switch is uber exciting!! And you've worked so hard, so enjoy it!
    My recent post My Favorite Websites

    Reply

  27. Jenny@FrugalGuru says

    Good luck and congrats! 🙂
    My recent post “Shopping Addiction”: Stress, Depression And Overspending

    Reply

  29. C The Writer says

    Honestly, Michelle, it sounds like you need to just focus on the diseases caused by eating too much sugar, sodium and fat, and the diseases that come from not exercising. This has been going on for some time now, and it seems like the fact that you need to do it isn't enough motivation. It's going to take a rougher approach to get you to change your behavior (which you know is unhealthy).

    I feel blessed that my poor health manifested in obesity. My body was like "Hey! We have a problem here!" I feel it's even more dangerous for people who take poor care of themselves but stay thin, so they think what they're doing is fine. It's dangerous for your heart and all your other organs, no matter how you look. You MUST get this problem under control NOW, before it becomes more settled in. I know you don't like it. I know it doesn't feel good–to not eat that sweet thing, or go for a run. I know it sucks, but honestly, suck it up.

    You really will be sorry. I promise you you WILL get health problems if you don't take care of this now while you're young. I wish I could say I'm not trying to scare you, but honestly, it seems like nothing else is going to get through to you at this point. I want this to be the last post I read about you not eating correctly and not exercising. I really want this to be the last one.

    Reply

  31. Vicki Dunn says

    I have been following your posts for some time now and have to say am somewhat of a fan. And belated birthday wishes. I really liked your previous post and this continuation of that post, which really proves that money can be made doing what you like if you actually believe in the thing your are doing.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

PRIVACY POLICY
TERMS OF USE
DISCLAIMER / EARNINGS DISCLAIMER
Copyright © 2011 - 2023. All Rights Reserved.