We did do some spending in the past week. We needed some things for our bikes, such as for maintenance or repair just in case something goes wrong for when we are on a long ride.

My bike surprisingly broke a couple of weeks ago while riding it. I am still not too happy about this as we spent a decent amount of money on it. Luckily it was nothing major. The pedal came undone and fell off, and I came crashing down (boy, did that hurt) while we were riding on a trail fairly fast.

Luckily, there was a construction crew on their lunch break and they were more than happy to help us. They even offered us beers while they were fixing my bike! And yes, they were drinking beers while working on building a busy bridge that hundreds of thousands of people drive over every single day. Lets not even talk about how much that scared us…

 

 

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

Extra income was good in the past week. Nothing too extraordinary, but I’m not going to complain. I can already tell that September will be a great month. Hopefully I don’t jinx myself but I have had a good amount of freelancing leads right now. WOOHOOO!

A lot of you have also been asking about taxes. Around 35% of my extra income goes towards taxes, and I will have a post on my other site, Diversified Finances, about that sometime soon.

I still don’t know when my 100% self-employment switch date will be. I’m still a little afraid to give up such a stable income from my day job, and I’m not going to lie, I am afraid of failure and that something will go wrong.

I will say that these feelings aren’t as big as they used to be. All of this doesn’t bother me as much, and I know that I am ready now. Now, we are really just trying to increase our emergency fund before I make the actual switch, so that we are as prepared as we can be.

 

Posts from my websites:

1. What not to do when leaving your job – There will always be crazy people out there, right? People quit in the most ridiculous ways. What’s the craziest quitting story that you know of?
2. 2 Year Blogiversary – WOOHOO! I still cannot believe that it has been two years. It’s crazy to think about. I dived into the blogging world, not even knowing what I was getting myself into. Now, I am in love with it all.
3. Four expenses that aren’t worth the money – This post was by Jordann.  There are a lot of things that I don’t like paying for. I also hate paying for haircuts, but luckily I’m trying to grow out my hair and don’t need to do that as much. What do you hate paying for?
4. Pay off your mortgage faster, save thousands of dollars – This was a post on my site by a blogger friend. This definitely seems to be a divided issue. Would you rather pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible or just pay the normal monthly payment?

 

 

Link love:

1. I’m not rich, but thanks for thinking so Budgets are Sexy – I loved this post a lot. I know that I post my extra income every week, but life is not perfect. Just wanted to get that out there! 🙂 I am working hard in all areas of my life and need to if I want to make self-employment a reality.
2. Job Burnout is Brutal  Personal Finance Utopia – Job burnout plays a big role for why many people leave their jobs. Have you ever left a job or wanted to because of job burnout?
3. The Daycare Dilemma and Why I’m Not a Stay At Home Mom Club Thrifty – While I would love to say that when W and I have kids that I would be able to be a work-at-home mom all the time, I also see myself sending our future kids somewhere in order to get work done. I’m not talking all the time, but maybe on some days.  I think it’s just being realistic though. My freelancing still requires me to work, I’m not just sitting on my bed and only working for a couple of hours each day! Do you see yourself being a stay at home parent? Or will you be sending your kids to daycare as well?

 

 

 

Being healthy

Being healthy has definitely been much better lately. The weather has been so great lately, so it’s hard to just sit inside and not soak it all in. I went on a couple of long walks with my dog, ran on the treadmill a couple of times, and road my bike. We’ve been eating kind of more healthy, but we definitely went out to eat way too much last week. And this week will just be a disaster with being healthy since we will be in New Orleans, but oh well!

We went on a nice bike ride yesterday of around 15 miles. It would have been longer but we made the mistake of going out for a ride without eating at all beforehand. After about 7 miles I felt super hungry so we had to turn back!

We didn’t do too much spending in the past week. I had to buy a pair of wedges for a wedding that I am in but they weren’t expensive and are actually something that I would wear again.

Spending will be higher next week though because we are going to New Orleans. However, we found a really AWESOME deal on a 4 star hotel, and it will only be $500 for 4 nights plus parking and including taxes. The hotel is right on Bourbon, so it seems like the perfect location.

At first we were going to stay at a not-so-nice hotel and we booked that one with the other couple, but I found a deal for something much cheaper and hopped right on it last week.

We canceled our other reservations and I booked 2 rooms for 4 days each and it was the same rate as the 2 star hotel that we originally booked. I honestly cannot believe how cheap it is! I guess that’s what happens when you book something at the very last second.

Gas wil probably be a couple hundred bucks for there and back (for each couple), as it is around a 10 hour drive and we are taking a Jeep, so it’s not the most gas efficient. Food and drinking will probably be the most expensive part of the trip, however, I definitely do not think we will spend over $1,500 on this trip on everything (including hotel, gas, food, etc.), and that is really overestimating everything.

If there is anything that you would absolutely recommend for us to do while we are there, please let us know! The four of us have never been and cannot wait.

 

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

Extra income was very good for the first 10 day of August. I have been working on expanding my side hustle income and I do have a few good potential leads that will hopefully go somewhere. I do have some other plans for things that I would like to do, I just need more time! I can’t wait until I have an extra 50 hours a week for expanding on everything that I want to do.

I still don’t know when my 100% self-employment switch date will be. I’m still a little afraid to give up such a stable income from my day job, and whenever a couple of days in a row are slow I definitely get nervous.

 

Posts from my blogs:

1. $11,117 in July Extra Income – This is my monthly extra income post. I surpassed my goal and it felt great! However, I’m not sure how August will turn out.
2. July Goals and Life Update – Life is GOOD!
3. Things people say when I tell them I am making the self-employment switch – People have definitely not been afraid to voice their opinions on my self-employment decision. Some of the things that people have said are just absolutely ridiculous.
4. Cheap ways to stay healthy – There are many ways to stay healthy but not hurt your budget.
5. How to manage a side business while traveling – Have you ever wanted to travel and work?

 

Link love:

1. Ditching the Day Job – 6 Months To Go Single Moms Income – WOOHOO! Another person who is going for their passion.
2. The Power of Partying, I Mean Networking Broke Millennial – Networking is always important.
3. How to get a Part-time Job at REI Teens Got Cents – I love REI, and I’ve always heard that it’s a great part-time job to have.

 

 

Being healthy

Ha, this has been a huge fail so far in August. I have been eating slightly better, but not the greatest. I haven’t really ran in forever, and working out altogether has been nearly non-existent. I’m not sure why this is, I guess I’ve just been a little more lazy when it comes to being healthy.

We haven’t touched our bikes so far in August, and that is something that I definitely want to change also. It has been kind of rainy lately, so I will blame it on that.