Blog - Making Sense Of Cents

Here Are 50+ Of The Best Ways to Save Money In 2020

January 20, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 7 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.

How much money do you save each month? Would you like to learn about the best ways to save money in 2020?

If you're looking for some of the best ways to save money in the new year, then this post is exactly what you need to start saving even more money. There are tons of ways to save money, and you are going to learn about over 50 different ideas.

Teaching people about the best ways to save money is one of my most favorite things to talk about because I have firsthand experience with how it can help you reach your goals.

When I was working towards paying off my student loan debt, I used many of these tips. And, that’s what helped me pay off nearly $40,000 in student loans before I was 25.

There are lots of reasons for why you might be looking for the best ways to save money. You may want to:

Stop living paycheck to paycheck
Pay off your debt
Go down to one income
Save for a vacation
Put more in your emergency fund
Start investing more

Or, maybe it’s as simple as wanting to stretch your income so you have a little more flexibility in your budget. [Read more…]

How I Saved $149,000 for Retirement by 30

January 17, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 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.

Hello! Here is a guest post from a reader of mine, Alberto. Alberto is sharing his story on how he saved $149,000 for retirement by the age of 30. Enjoy!

Sometimes I can’t believe I actually saved that much for retirement before I even hit my 30s. It’s surreal to me thinking how far I’ve come in building my net worth.

What’s even crazier is I didn’t even have a full time salaried job until two and half years after I graduated!

Even when I did get a job, I didn’t know the first thing about 401k plans nor did I even give retirement a second thought. I was just relieved to have a job!

It’s hard to imagine without any context going from a measly $9,215 in Roth IRA savings from my parents making me save a few bucks over the years from birthday or Christmas money, to at 30 having a total of $149,000 in a span of 7 years.

But trust me, if I can do it, so can you.

Related content:

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How Do Credit Cards Work? I Answer The Most Important Questions

January 15, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - Leave a 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.

How do credit cards work? Surprisingly, there are many people who don’t understand how credit cards work and how to use them responsibly.

I have heard so many false things and myths about credit cards even though they have been around for decades.

So today, I want to clear everything up for anyone who has ever asked the question, “how do credit cards work?”

When you know how they work and use them responsibly, there are some great benefits of having credit cards — a higher credit score, cash back, airline miles, rewards, etc.

Those benefits are why I love using credit cards, but I understand that they aren’t for everyone.

A family member of mine once struggled with credit cards, and they found that using a cash only budget was the best way to stay out of credit card debt. Fortunately for them, they were able to recognize their credit card mistakes and found a way to make sure they weren't adding any debt. Part of that was being proactive and noticing that they had an issue early on.

However, others are not as lucky.

I’ve heard many stories about people who continue struggling with credit cards and keep adding to their debt. And I’m always shocked when I find out it’s simply because they don’t understand how credit cards work. [Read more…]

80+ Ways To Earn Extra Money In 2020!

January 13, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 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.

Would you like to learn how to earn extra money in 2020?

Learning how to earn extra income on the side of my day job helped me pay off $38,000 in student loans in 7 months. It’s how I eventually turned my side hustle (blogging) into a full-time job, and it’s how I now travel full-time pursuing my passions.

It’s safe to say that learning how to earn extra money has completely changed my life for the better.

I talk a lot about finding new ways to make extra money on the side because it’s something that I truly believe in.

And, with so many ways to make more money, there is something for everyone.

So, whether you want to pay off your debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, start investing more, save for emergencies, etc., there are dozens of ways that you can make your goals happen even faster. [Read more…]

My Year In Review – Where I Went And What Happened in 2019

January 8, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 20 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.

Looking back on the previous year is always a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see everything laid out in a one year period. I get to see what I did and didn’t do, reflect on everything, etc. So, I am happy to publish my 2019 year in review.

I almost didn't put this together this year, but I realized that it's nice to write this each year so that I have a nice memory to look back at later.

You can read my 2018 year in review here. You can find 2017's here.

2019 was a super interesting year.

We sailed to the Bahamas, bought a van for hurricane season and explored the U.S., then sailed back to the Bahamas (which is where we are now).

We saw beautiful mountains, oceans, beaches, deserts, and everything in between.

2019 was a wonderful year full of travel and great memories. It had its ups and downs, just like for any person, but overall it was an amazing year and I'm grateful for the life that I get to live.

We're really loving how life is currently going too. We love having our sailboat as it's a very exciting way to travel, and we also love having our van so that we can still do all of the land travel that we love.

You can read more about our life on a sailboat here – Welcome To Paradise – We’re Living On A Sailboat!

You can find life updates in the last year here:

Also, if you're not following me on Instagram yet, I definitely recommend doing so. You can see even more photos and stories of the places we are visiting.

Here's what we did in 2019:

Anchored in the Florida Keys

January – The Florida Keys and Bahamas

2019 started by sailing the Florida Keys to the Bahamas. It was the first time we had left the U.S. with our sailboat.

It was a crazy month because we were doing something brand new to us – bringing our dogs by boat to another country. Bahamas is relatively easy to do this with, though, so it went smoothly!

There was quite a bad storm that arrived right after we sailed to Bimini, Bahamas, so we were “stuck” there for a while. It was a nice spot, though, so we definitely did not complain! [Read more…]

How Susie Grew Her Email List By 29,000+ In 9 Months

January 6, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 11 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.

Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Susie Moore.

I had the pleasure of meeting Susie last summer and we had a great weekend in New Hampshire hiking, rock climbing, doing yoga, and more! She is so much fun to be around- seriously one of the most upbeat and positive people I have ever met in my whole life.

Her work has been featured on The Today Show, Oprah, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Time Inc, Marie Claire, and more.

Susie’s work and insights have been shared by celebrities and thought leaders including Arianna Huffington, Paulo Coelho, Kris Jenner, and Sara Blakely.

Recently, I shared in a blog post that I am currently taking a course on how to get more media mentions so that I can grow my page views.

This is something that I have always been a big believer in.

I've been featured on Forbes, The Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, and more.

Nearly every day I am asked how I have so many features….

Well, today, you will learn how you can make this a reality for yourself too! [Read more…]

19 Ways To Make Life Easier This Year

January 3, 2020 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.

Looking for ways to make life easier?

Trying to manage your life, especially your financial life, can be challenging. In addition to your bills and raising a family, you may also be planning for retirement, emergencies, and more.

Keeping up with all of those financial obligations can be very draining.

On top of financial stress, many of us live with a lot of disorder and chaos. These are things like filling our houses with things lots of things we don’t need or use, having spending problems, living with debt, being unsatisfied with your job, etc.

There is also a lot of emotional stress that can come when you live with so much mental chaos and clutter. You might feel depressed, anxious, have low self-esteem, etc. And, it can be very easy to start to compare your life to others — thinking that they have it so easy and are so much happier. [Read more…]

Here's what we did in 2019:

January – The Florida Keys and Bahamas

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