Hey everyone! Happy Monday. We are leaving St. Thomas today and we had so much fun. I'm sad that my vacation is over, but I'm honestly ready to go home. I miss my dogs, oh yeah and I miss W 🙂 It was a vacation with my sister and it was much needed!
A couple of you have asked me to do a full St. Thomas recap since you will be going on vacation there soon, so look forward to that! We both took tons of pictures. We spent a lot of time at the beach, got really sun burned, SUPed (for the first time!), went kayaking, and went parasailing (first time for this also). We didn't leave the resort once in the whole 5 days but had tons of fun. Usually I explore the area where I go on a vacation to, but we decided to just stay and have a relaxing time at the resort.
I announced the winner to my Novica giveaway but haven't heard back yet. If your name is Erika, please check the Facebook post where I announced the giveaway so that you can see if it's you. I want to give you your certificate code! 🙂
Oh yeah, and go congratulate my sister, she is now a personal trainer! AND this is my birthday month so you all better be super nice to me for the rest of May. I kid, I kid, you should be nice to me all the time 🙂 I definitely know what I want for my birthday, and that is a stand-up paddle board.
Spending
I don't think we did any spending outside of the vacation budget. Earlier in May, our dryer did break though. Luckily we had a gift card that was good at Lowes which covered the whole purchase. It made having to replace the dryer not hurt our budget at all.
Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)
Extra income has been good for this month so far. I'm expecting a couple of payments this week. Affiliate income is still doing awesome. It's nice to know that when I was on vacation, that you awesome readers were still clicking on my affiliate links. Of course I don't count that as income until I actually receive it (usually 45 to 60 days after you click on the link), but it is still nice to know that future income has been made.
Not sure if this should be included in my Extra Income section, but I did win $85 to Starbucks last week. WOOHOO! I haven't spent money at Starbucks in what seems like forever because I seem to constantly win Starbucks gift cards from giveaways.
Posts from my blog:
- Home Updates – How we Plan on Selling Our House Quickly – We have a tooooonnnn of things that we need to repair/replace/update in our house, but luckily most of it is pretty small.
- Why You Should Start a Blog – So Many Positives – In this post, I talk about all of the awesome reasons for why you should start a blog. What are you waiting for?
- How Being a Minimalist has Helped my Finances – This is a great post by Jordann. Hope you loved it!
- I want to learn more about you – I took an idea from another blogger and asked all of you a few questions. Loved the responses! Looks like W and I need to work on our food budget…
Link Love
- Fighting Boredom and Restlessness as you Work on Long-Term Goals The Frugal Farmer
- 3 Businesses you can run from anywhere in the world Young Adult Money
- Why Having Two Jobs Pays off Budget Blonde
- Do You Hoard Vacation Days Squirelers
- What are you willing to do for money My Shiny Pennies
- Pros and Cons of Living in a Smaller Home Retire by 40
- Finance Carnival for Young Adults – I was included!
Food – Clean Eating!
We are still doing good with our food spending, but it's hard to say because I've been gone for 5 days and W can't cook to save his life (I have no idea what/if he's been eating while I've been gone). But this is a new week and I know we will do awesome! What's on your meal plan? Share any links, recipes, pictures and so on in the comments below.
Being healthy
I'm still doing great with being healthy. Our hotel room was on the 7th floor and we took the stairs nearly every single time (except for when we had luggage), which means something! We also worked out at the gym here. It was only one time, but seriously those stairs killed us. After we went down the 7 floors, it was also another 98 (maybe 96?) steps down to the pool and beach area, and we walked that EVERY single time as well. I should have killer legs now.
Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?
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Pauline @ Reach Financial Independence says
May 13, 2013 at 4:13 amSounds like you had a lovely holiday! I would love to get to some of the islands next year but there are no good packages from Guatemala, compared to the super cheap deals from the US!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:44 amThanks Pauline! It was a lot of fun.
momanddadmoney says
May 13, 2013 at 4:55 amI like the stairs approach to working out. A few months ago I started parking further away from my office, the store, or wherever I was going just so I could get a little bit more walking into my day. It feels a little silly, but I feel like our lives can get so sedentary and every little bit helps. Glad to hear the vacation was fun!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:45 amI park further away from everything now too and it does help!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
May 13, 2013 at 6:22 amI hope that you had fun in St. Thomas!!! That is one place that is on my list to go.
Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:45 amYup I loved it there! This was my second visit.
Lance@MoneyLife&More says
May 13, 2013 at 6:23 amGlad you enjoyed your vacation and made a ton of money while you were there 🙂 I need to kick up my game!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:46 amThanks lance!
DC@Young Adult Money says
May 13, 2013 at 6:23 amGotta love those gift card giveaways 😉 We are finally starting to sell some of the stuff we have won. I'm trying out Ebay for the first time this week or next, hopefully get the hang of it pretty quick (shipping is the biggest barrier for me, I just know so little about how much it costs to ship things as well as which shipping option is the best). Definitely would like to start making $500+ a month in giveaway winnings (gift cards + selling stuff I win + cash winnings). But anyway definitely looking at affiliate income more as well! Looks like you had a great time in St. Thomas!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:46 amHow much do you win from giveaways right now? I need to start entering more!
Rachel says
May 13, 2013 at 8:52 amhaha "you better be nice to me" 🙂 Sounds like you had a blast!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:47 amHahahah thanks rachel!
Budget & the Beach says
May 13, 2013 at 9:10 amGlad you had fun! A tropical vacation sounds awesome right now. I'll have to settle for the non-tropical LA. 🙂
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:47 amHaha LA is still awesome of course!
Ree Klein says
May 13, 2013 at 9:11 amSo glad you liked St. Thomas. Next time I hope you get out to explore the rest of the US Virgin Islands. It's so easy because there are water taxis that go from island to island and they're all worth seeing. I love St. John – most of the island is a national forest but there's a great little town to enjoy. My family has done bare boat charters there several times and I never tire of it.
Happy Birthday and I hope your wish comes true!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:48 amThanks! I went to st Thomas and St John in December of 2012 and explored the islands then, so this visit was more of a relaxing one 🙂
SavvyFinancialLatina says
May 13, 2013 at 10:24 amSt. Thomas looks gorgeous! Great job on the extra income! I did 3 bootcamps last week. Bootcamps are awesome because the class combines lots of cardio and strength training. Each class kills me. Last week, we did stairs as part of our workout. We must have done 20 plus floors of stairs, on top of bear crawls, lunges, running, squats, pushups, burpees, sit ups, jump rope, and walking crabs. My body was in pain!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:49 amI've never done a boot camp but I need to!
Keren says
May 13, 2013 at 10:29 amHoly stairs!! I've been doing the 30 day squat challenge. After the first week (when I walked like a pregnant penguin), the pain starts to go away and it's easier to do the increasing number of squats!
Happy birthday month!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:49 amYes there were tons of stairs everywhere!
Rich Uncle EL says
May 13, 2013 at 10:36 amCongrats on the vacation, I think the entire carribean is an amazing place to visit. I am interested to know how your sister became a personal trainer.
Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:50 amThanks! And she has a couple of posts on her blog about how she became a personal trainer. I would check them out 🙂
Kim@Eyesonthedollar says
May 13, 2013 at 10:50 amSt. Thomas sounds really beautiful. Sister trips are great for relaxing. If my husband went, we would be on the go the whole time. Is your sister going to put you through the ringer now that she's a trainer?
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 10:53 amIt was our first sister trip and it went great! And yes she wants to practice training on me. We did some ab workouts on the vacation and my stomach is already killing me haha 🙂
therandompath says
May 13, 2013 at 10:55 amLooks like you had a great time! Can't wait to hear about your trip 🙂
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Jake Erickson says
May 13, 2013 at 11:12 amSounds like an awesome week with going to St. Thomas and making over $3k in the process. The week went pretty well for me too and I'm defnitely ready for the warmer weather that should be coming this week!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 11:57 amI'm ready for warmer weather also 🙂
Brian says
May 13, 2013 at 11:12 amSounds like it was a great trip! Every time I got to the Caribbean I can picture myself living there, or at the very least sailing around form island to island. Now only if I can convince my job to transfer me down there…
Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 11:58 amHaha I feel the same way Brian.
My Money Design says
May 13, 2013 at 11:16 amI'm still jealous. It's freezing here in MI right now. That sun and beach look so great. Glad to hear you had a good time!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 11:58 amThanks! 🙂
alwayshungry4 says
May 13, 2013 at 11:23 amCan't wait to read about the recap and see the pics – sounds like a wonderful time and so jealous of the parasailing excursion! Congrats to you on another great income week, and your sis for becoming certified!
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mycanuckbuck says
May 13, 2013 at 11:46 amSounds like you're doing so well on the extra income – not much there for me right now..sigh..
Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 11:59 amAww I'm sure you'll get there soon! 🙂
Kyle@DebtFreeDiaries says
May 13, 2013 at 11:53 amSounds like you had a great time on your vacation! Good job taking the stairs at the hotel, I usually try to take the stairs when possible too but rarely do we stay higher than the third or fourth floor. Can't wait to hear more about your vacation!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 12:00 pmHaha the stairs were brutal since it was so hot!
Lena says
May 13, 2013 at 11:55 amCan't wait to hear more about your vacation!! And I love the new look of your blog too!
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Michelle says
May 13, 2013 at 12:02 pmThanks Lena!
debtroundup says
May 13, 2013 at 2:26 pmYou are always an inspiration for me Michelle. You make some serious side cash and are enjoying vacation time. I need to just pick your brain big time.
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makingsenseofcents says
May 13, 2013 at 6:23 pmThanks so much! You can always email me if you have any questions 🙂
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Nick @ AYoungPro.com says
May 13, 2013 at 2:48 pmTotally jealous of your St. Thomas trip and looking forward to your post about it!
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makingsenseofcents says
May 13, 2013 at 6:24 pmThanks Nick!
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Crystal @ PET says
May 13, 2013 at 3:56 pmWow, yay for extra money! We sort of consider rental income and hubby's reffing as our extra money and that is steady. I think we bring in about $3000 a month between those two things.
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makingsenseofcents says
May 13, 2013 at 6:25 pm$3000 a month is awesome! 🙂 Great job.
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thefrugalpaths says
May 13, 2013 at 4:35 pmI'm glad that you enjoyed your trip to St. Thomas. With everything that you do, you need a break.
Congrats on the side income, I'm impressed every time I see your numbers.
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makingsenseofcents says
May 13, 2013 at 6:25 pmThanks! The vacation was very nice and relaxing.
My recent post St. Thomas and $3,038 in Extra Income
Canadianbudgetbinder says
May 13, 2013 at 6:40 pmI'm glad to hear you enjoyed your holidays and look forward to hearing about it. How did you win the $85 in an online giveaway?. That's awesome.. I noticed your sisters blog that got her PT cert.. that's great news!
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MakingSenseofCents says
May 16, 2013 at 10:32 amThanks! And I entered a blog giveaway and won! 🙂
Jacob@CashCowCouple says
May 13, 2013 at 8:11 pmI'm so jealous of your awesome passive income. You are killing it!
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MakingSenseofCents says
May 16, 2013 at 10:32 amThanks Jacob!
Girl Meets Debt says
May 13, 2013 at 9:35 pmA sister vacation in St. Thomas sounds like so much fun! I think that's awesome you guys used the stairs every time you could – this is something I'm going to try to add to my routine – use more stairs!
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MakingSenseofCents says
May 16, 2013 at 10:33 amIt was brutal every single time… hahaha
Squirrelers says
May 13, 2013 at 11:28 pmThanks for the mention!
Sounds like a fun trip. Fuels my recent thoughts about wanting to get away for a trip this summer…
MakingSenseofCents says
May 16, 2013 at 10:33 amWelcome 🙂
Catherine Alford says
May 15, 2013 at 10:46 pmHey Michelle! Thank you so much for the link. I really appreciate it, and I hope you had an amazing time on your tip! Can't wait to hear about it!
xo
Cat
MakingSenseofCents says
May 16, 2013 at 10:33 amWelcome Cat!
WILD about Finance says
May 21, 2013 at 8:29 amWow sounds like you've had an amazing week or so, living it up in paradise and coming back with way more moeny than you left with probably! Good work, and thanks for linking back.
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