Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, Author at Making Sense Of Cents

14 Best Camping Breakfast Recipes For Your Next Trip

Last Updated: July 28, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 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.

Are you planning your next camping trip and looking for delicious camping breakfast recipes?

Camping can be a very affordable way to travel and visit new and exciting places. And, it’s a fun activity to do with your family, your partner, or even by yourself.

While camping is a lot of fun, it can be challenging to plan out your meals, and you need to pack and transport everything with you.

Because it’s not like you can always simply open the fridge or pantry, some people think that the only options when camping are roasting hot dogs and granola bars.

That’s not the case at all, especially if you put in a bit of work to prep your meals in advance.

Camping is also an excellent opportunity to get creative with your cooking, and you will quickly learn that you can make almost anything while camping.

This is one of the lessons we’ve learned while traveling full-time in our camper van.

Actually, being in a camper van, RV, or boat is similar to camping because you have very limited kitchen space. You often only have one burner too, so you have to get creative when you cook. [Read more…]

We’re Pregnant!

Last Updated: July 26, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 174 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.

Hey everyone!

Big news.

We are having a baby!

We are super excited for this new adventure that we are on, and I can’t wait to share more.

I went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to share this directly on the blog, but many of you have been with me for years, and I haven’t really done a life update in a very long time.

I completely understand that a pregnancy announcement can lead to mixed feelings, and both good and bad judgment/advice/etc. Also, I do not plan on having things change around here on Making Sense of Cents, as personal finance is still what this website is all about.

Anyway, this is exciting news for us, as Baby Gardner is due in December 2021!

We are so excited to share that we will be starting our greatest adventure yet, and we can’t wait to show our new family member the world.

Pregnancy has been interesting so far, with lots of nausea (but I actually haven’t thrown up at all) for the past couple of months. Eating has been difficult, which feels crazy because I’m usually a huge eater and will eat anything. But, pregnancy has led to a lot of food aversions.

I am starting to feel better now, though, so I am hoping to get ahead in work, do as many fun things as I can, and prepare for the new family addition as best as we can.

I know that many of you are probably wondering (this is the number one question that I’ve received so far)- Our plan for right now is to live with our new family member on our boat. We plan on taking it slow but eventually doing a lot of travel with our new family member by boat, van, plane, etc.

Please leave a comment below:

If you have any books or blogs that you recommend I read about pregnancy, starting a family, work/life balance as a parent, traveling families, etc.
If you have any positive advice or kind words that you’d like to share
If you have any questions for me.

Thank you so much for following along on my journey over the years. Things are about to get even more interesting!

Have a great week!

Best Blogging Courses & Resources That Helped Me Make $100,000+

Last Updated: July 23, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 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.

Are you looking to grow your blog and make more money blogging? Then you need to check out the best blogging courses and resources to grow your traffic and income.

Since I started my blog 10 years ago, I have earned over $5,000,000. I have also helped countless people improve their financial situation, make extra money, travel more, pay off their debt, and more.

Blogging changed my life for the better, and it allows me to earn thousands of dollars a month, all by doing something that I love.

The funny thing is that I created my blog on a whim after reading about a personal finance website in a magazine.

At first, my blog was just a hobby to track my own personal finance progress.

I honestly didn’t even know that people could make money blogging when I first started this site back in 2011.

My interest in blogging quickly grew, but like I said it was all just a hobby. I wanted a space to write about my financial situation, have a support group, to keep track of how I was doing, and more. [Read more…]

4 Things About Debt You’re Confused About but Too Embarrassed to Ask

Last Updated: July 21, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

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.

This article is in partnership with Credello.

You can probably get through your life pretending to understand everything about debt—fake it till you make it, right? But much like high-heeled Crocs, that’s not really necessary.

Get answers to all your questions about debt that you’re too embarrassed to ask your financial advisor boyfriend about because what if he breaks up with you because he thinks you’re an idiot and you’re going to die alone? Don’t overthink it. [Read more…]

What Is ExtraCredit? Here Are 4 Reasons You Need to Read This ExtraCredit Review

Last Updated: July 17, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

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.

The following is sponsored by ExtraCredit from Credit.com. Please enjoy this ExtraCredit review.

Are you looking to build your credit profile, monitor your credit, and more?

As I’ve talked about on Making Sense of Cents in the past, your credit score and credit history can be quite important in your life.

They can impact whether you can get home loans, apartments, credit cards, and more.

But, it doesn’t have to be hard to track and manage your credit.

With ExtraCredit, you can build, guard, track, and restore your credit profile. By easily seeing all three credit bureaus credit reports, 28 FICO scores, alerts and ID theft insurance, rent and utility payment reporting, and more, Extra Credit offers a lot of valuable benefits.

If you’re looking to get serious about your financial health, then ExtraCredit may be just what you’re looking for.

And, that is why I want to talk about ExtraCredit further in today’s article.

Some of the questions answered in today’s ExtraCredit review include:

What is ExtraCredit?
How does ExtraCredit work?
Is ExtraCredit safe?
How much is ExtraCredit from Credit.com?

You can get started with one month free of ExtraCredit by clicking here. [Read more…]

How I Retired At Age 30 with $500,000

Last Updated: July 12, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 19 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.

My monthly Extraordinary Lives series is something that I really enjoy sharing with you all, and I’m back with another great interview. Today’s interview is with Purple, who retired at the end of 2020 at the age of 30, with $500,000 invested.

Are you interested in financial independence and/or early retirement?

If so, this interview is for you!

You probably know Purple from the popular blog APurpleLife.com. APurpleLife.com is one of my favorite blogs, so I’m excited to share this interview with you.

In this interview, you’ll learn:

How an early retirement amount of $500,000 was chosen
Why she chose to retire early
The career she had before she retired early
Whether or not she still earns income in early retirement
The sacrifices that had to be made to reach early retirement
Her choice of health insurance as an early retiree and full-time nomad

And more!

This interview is packed full of valuable information on reaching early retirement. [Read more…]

How (And Why) We Paid Off $240,000 Of Debt In 27 Months

Last Updated: July 9, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

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.

Today, I have a great article from Neiko Johnson on how he and his wife Alexis paid off $240,000 in just 27 months. They share their finance knowledge and debt-free journey on their blog Secret to Finance. The primary focus of their blog talks about budgeting, paying off debt, and building generational wealth by investing.

My wife Alexis and I have been married since 2018 and both brought a lot of debt into our marriage. We thought we were living a normal life but quickly realized what we were doing wasn’t going to work in the long run.

Like most people, we got into a routine that could lead us down the wrong path of ending up broke. We were simply enjoying life and didn’t have a good financial plan to build wealth.

There’s not an easy path to wealth but in this article, I will outline the steps my wife and I took to pay off $240,000 in 27 months and create a path to wealth.

I hope our story inspires you to take action on your financial journey and teach you some helpful tips that we use.

Our Background – Who We Are and What We Do

We’re Neiko (33) and Alexis (31) from Atlanta, GA. Neiko was born and raised in Atlanta and Alexis was born in Miami and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Neiko works in Cybersecurity and Alexis is a general dentist.

About 4 years ago we set a goal to both retire by the age of 50. So, to reach this goal we had to make some financial changes and focus on how to pay off debt and create passive income. [Read more…]