Life Updates and $3,287 in Extra Income

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. The weekend went by too quickly, yet again. Hope all of you fathers enjoyed Father’s Day! We took our engagement photos on Thursday night, and it went well! I was super nervous but our photographer was awesome. My sister helped us out and watched the dogs so that we could take…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Written By:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: May 26, 2023

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Life Updates and $3,287 in Extra Income
That’s part of my sister’s lovely face on the left and me on the right…

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. The weekend went by too quickly, yet again. Hope all of you fathers enjoyed Father’s Day!

We took our engagement photos on Thursday night, and it went well! I was super nervous but our photographer was awesome. My sister helped us out and watched the dogs so that we could take some photos with them and photos without. We should be getting the photos either this week or next, so be on the lookout for them!

Who watched TrueBlood last night?  Who is very confused?! This season definitely seems like a weird one. I’m not sure what to think.

I have my annual review at my work today, wish me luck!

We are still looking for a potential dream house and have been searching every single day. Haven’t found anything that we LOVE, which is probably good since our current house isn’t for sale yet. However, if the PERFECT one did come up, we will probably put an offer on it.

Also, we’ve decided that we will most likely sell our current house. We have been thinking about it, and if we were looking for a house to buy in order to rent out, we most likely wouldn’t do that with this one since we could definitely buy something cheaper and more “basic” and get a higher return from it.

Don’t forget that Google Reader shuts down in a couple of weeks. Don’t forget to switch your reader over to something else. I’ve come to love Bloglovin, so I recommend trying that out. What are you switching to?

Student Loan Update

My student loans will be gone this month! WOOHOOO! I’ll be making an update post on this soon. This feeling is awesome and I can’t believe that I am this close.

Spending

I don’t think we spent too much in the past week. I can’t really think of anything. We did of course spend money on our engagement photos and those were around $400. Well worth it to me though! I’m sure W would say otherwise… 🙂

Life Updates and $3,287 in Extra Income

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

Extra income was great last week. I finally collected some very overdue payments which helped increase my weekly income, but I am still waiting on a few more. Estimated taxes are due, and let me tell you, that is never any fun to pay… Lets please not even talk about how much I will pay altogether this year!

I launched my new blog last weekend. Diversified Finances is live! This blog will be all about how I’m trying to diversify my finances and eventually become financially independent. The newest post on there is all about passive income.

Being healthy

I haven’t been the healthiest this past week, and I will say it’s because I’ve been busy, but it’s partly been laziness as well. Working out has definitely gone downhill, but oh well. We have been eating very healthy though. That is one thing that we have got going for us! Both of us want to lose weight and look/feel better…

 

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

 

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Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: 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.

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  1. Matt Becker

    I finally made the switch to Feedly and it’s been good enough so far. Still trying to figure some things out, but it’s not too bad. I have noticed some new traffic recently from BlogLovin, which I’d never heard of before, so maybe I’ll have to check it out. Nice job on the side income. Hope your pictures turn out great.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Good to know! I still haven’t decided what I will for sure use.

      Reply
  2. Lisa @ Cents To Save

    It has been awhile since I have had time to catch up on all my blog reading. You have done an awesome job on paying off your school debt! And congrats on your pending nuptials! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks Lisa! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank

    I’m still distraught that Google Reader is ending 🙁 I used to use it everyday and I haven’t found any other platforms that I like as much.

    FYI – Your little doggie is so cute!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I am distraught also! Google Reader is my FAVORITE.

      Reply
  4. Holly@ClubThrifty

    Great job on your extra income! I need to check out your new blog! =)

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks Holly!

      Reply
  5. Thomas

    Congrats on the photos Michelle! I bet they will turn out great! I don’t watch TrueBlood so I have no idea whats going on with that show. When will you be listing your home and how soon after that will you be trying to find another home to rent out. This weekend did go by fast but it was a very enjoyable weekend. I haven’t made any income from my side hustles as I am just starting but the progress is going well. I will definitely make use of the advice you gave me. Thanks again!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I have no idea when we will be listing our home, probably within the next couple of months. And we won’t be buying a rental home for years most likely.

      Reply
  6. DC @ Young Adult Money

    Great job on extra income! These updates inspire me to keep working hard to increase mine.

    “Also, we’ve decided that we will most likely sell our current house. We have been thinking about it, and if we were looking for a house to buy in order to rent out, we most likely wouldn’t do that with this one since we could definitely buy something cheaper and more “basic” and get a higher return from it.”

    I think this is definitely the way to go. I have gone back and forth about what we will do with our current house down the road and I think you have a great point here. Why not sell it and find a house that you know you are going to rent? That way you can find one that is more suited for maximum rental income.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks DC!

      Reply
  7. Jai Catalano

    Thank you for spending money on a photographer. $400 is actually really good. Although we haven’t seen the photos yet.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I think $400 was good also. I didn’t know that was a good price for a photographer, I thought it was a little on the high side, but I love her work so I didn’t mind. How much is photography for 1 hour usually? $400 was the highest that I found for my city.

      Reply
  8. Grayson @ Debt Roundup

    Nice work Michelle. My extra spending up by a lot this past week because I was on a bachelor party trip and that tends to be expensive, especially with two rounds of golf. I really had fun though and there were no regrets.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Sounds like fun!

      Reply
  9. Ree Klein

    Hey, Michelle, it’s almost time to drop the word “extra” in front of “income!” By my definition, you’re making a fabulous income from your business–who needs a job when you can bring in that much from your business??? I realize it isn’t that much all the time, but it’s still VERY impressive.

    Congratulations on getting to torch the student loan debt this month. That must feel great!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Haha I know! I need to drop that word! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Kim@Eyesonthedollar

    That’s very exciting about your new site and the student loan payoff. I’m also really impressed that you can walk the dog in tall shoes. I’d break my ankle for sure, but my dog can be a bit sporadic on directions.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks Kim! And haha thankfully wedges are my friend 🙂

      Reply
  11. Debt and the Girl

    Another great week, Michelle. And your puppy is so cute. I love french bulldogs! Good luck on your annual review

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks!

      Reply
  12. Keren

    $400 is definitely reasonable in my opinion. The session may have only been 1 hour, but photographers typically take those many shots and do edits, cropping, etc. on them before they are presented to you. I’m fortunate to have a sister-in-law who takes awesome pictures so that saves us a lot of moolah, especially when it comes to our kiddos.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I agree, I definitely think it is reasonable.

      Reply
  13. Michelle

    Thanks Anna!

    Reply
  14. Michelle

    I need to check out Feedly also. I wish Reader wasn’t going to die 🙁

    Reply
  15. Kyle @ Debt Free Diaries

    $400 isn’t bad at all for engagement pics. I’ve heard of many people in my area paying much more for them. I bet they turned out fantastic! How far away until the wedding?

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks Kyle!

      Reply
  16. Michelle

    Thanks Angella!

    Reply
  17. CeCe @Frugalista Married

    Yeah for no more student loans. I remember how amazing it felt when mine were gone. Even though I’ve had two vacations back to back I’ve been doing really good on my spending. Mainly because I cut down big time on shopping. I was getting outta control. Good job as usual on all of your extra income. The healthy part will come!!!

    Reply
  18. Nick @ ayoungpro.com

    Awesome income week!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Testing, Testing!

      Reply
  19. John@MoneyPrinciple

    Good week for income. I would not stretch to buying a new house without selling the old one to start with. That could leave you exposed if tenants fell through. Build a cushion first.

    We feed straight from the TMP – it’s the easiest way to do it. Using third parties just complicates the issue, particularly if the feeder changes policy. But then we don’t have too many people taking feeds. If we did then I would set up our own feeder system – it isn’t that difficult. Either way you can monitor things.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Luckily our current house has a pretty low mortgage, so it wouldn’t really affect us too much if it took a little bit to sell 🙂

      Reply
  20. E.M.

    I hope your review went well! Glad to hear the photo session went nicely. $400 does seem reasonable for pictures you’ll cherish forever. I think you’re making a smart move regarding the possibility of having a rental property. I’m still in denial about google reader 🙁 I’ve been using Feedly but it’s just not the same.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I’m in denial also! I hope they change their mind at the last second haha

      Reply
  21. Michelle

    Thanks!

    Reply
  22. Michelle

    Haha thanks!

    Reply
  23. Alexa

    Cute dress & dogs! My extra income is finally starting to increase whoohoo. I just hope that one day I will be able to reach the level you are at!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks Alexa! And I definitely think you will be 🙂

      Reply
  24. KK @ Student Debt Survivor

    woo hoo for finishing off the student loans. Paying off mine really was a life changing moment (well memorable and exciting to say the least). I don’t know what engagement photos cost but $400 seems really reasonable to me. As for google reader, I’m trying to get used to “The Old Reader” but am not loving it and might try something else.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      I can’t wait!

      Reply
  25. Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies

    I hope google changes their minds, too! I’ve been trying Feedly, but I’m not nuts about it. I keep saying I need to set up bloglovin and give it a shot, but I always seem to enjoy reading the posts more than setting up RSS feeds! =)

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Haha wouldn’t it be awesome if they changed their minds?

      Reply
  26. Canadian Budget Binder

    Congrats on the engagement photos! I hope your work review goes well for you but I’m sure you don’t need any luck in that department since you are so brilliant. Good to hear you are both eating healthy and continue to have that goal to lose weight. You will get there with the same determination you put into your blogs… I know you will!! Cheers

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Thanks! And yes my work review went very well. And haha you are too nice!

      Reply
  27. The First Million is the Hardest

    Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but I just don’t understand the point of engagement photos. Seems like something the photographers came up with to make some extra money!

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Haha well I really just wanted photos with our dogs, that was the main reason 🙂

      Reply
  28. Meghan

    I’m really liking BlogLovin. The only thing that I don’t like is that the format changes on mobile phones and my iPad, and replies aren’t under the post being referenced. If you read GRS for instance, there are 100 posts with people talking to each other, and you can’t follow the conversation at all. As long as it’s read on a computer, it’s good.

    Reply
    1. Michelle

      Hmm I didn’t even try to look at it on my phone. Good to know!

      Reply
  29. Michelle

    Good to know! Thanks girl.

    Reply
  30. Squirrelers

    That’s a great week of EXTRA income! Annualized, that’s a solid income, but extra is off the charts!

    Reply
  31. KC @ genxfinance

    There are a lot of god news and reasons to celebrate. Looking forward to have a glimpse of your engagement photos. It’s good that you had fun doing it. And you’re student loan, really nice. Good job. Enjoy that feeling, the sweet smell of independence.

    Reply