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Blogger or WordPress – Tips on How to Move

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 99 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.

Blogger or WordPress - Tips on How to MoveAfter my How to Start a Blog on WordPress post (this post included tips on how to get your domain, self-hosting, etc. and reasons for why you should pay for blog hosting), I received several e-mails on how to switch from Blogger to WordPress, questions about the whole migration process, whether a person should choose Blogger or WordPress, and so on.

A lot of you asked me what is better: Blogger (Blogspot) or WordPress? I've also been asked “What will happen if I move my Blogspot blog to self-hosting?”

Let me say that I am definitely no expert in this area and just fiddled around with it just so that I could try and help you guys.

This is a very basic set of instructions. If you don't have the time to sit down and do this, please, please just pay someone to migrate your blog from Blogger to WordPress for you.

Some of the tips in this blog post will be a repeat of the How to Start a WordPress Blog post, as I'm trying to help each individual person instead of having someone having to flip back and forth between the two blog posts for the basics.

If you sign up for Bluehost through my link and purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting, then you will get your domain for FREE plus receive discounted pricing! [Read more…]

$2,420 in Extra Income, Life, Wedding Updates

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 73 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.

This is the style that we are kind of going for. We LOVED this house. And it faces a lake.

This is the style that we are kind of going for. We LOVED this house. And it faces a lake.

Happy Monday everyone! The weekend went by way too quickly and of course I'm not happy about it. I still have so much to do and don't feel like I accomplished much.

This weekend we did a lot. We looked around on Sunday to try and think of possible areas that we want to buy in, and we found a couple that we like. We pretty much know what kind of house we want (we are pretty open, but love older styled and southern style homes).

We're still unsure about how much we want to spend, and I guess it all just depends on how much we are able to save. It also depends on whether we want to go all Young House Love and renovate the house ourselves and make it perfect for us, or just buy something that someone else liked. I'm still not sure what I want to do! Oh yeah and we don't know if we want a house that's in an HOA or a home with a lot of land.

I have a feeling that buying this next house will be a long process, and much longer than when we bought our first house at the age of 20. Anyone else feel like this the second time around? It's just that nothing seems perfect and what we're exactly looking for!

I guess I should probably make a post soon that details everything that we want or need, and then I can makes references to that whenever I need to. What do you think are “needs” with the house that you buy? Let me know because there could easily be something that I'm overlooking. We want to live in our next house for awhile and don't want to forget anything.

I'm still looking for possible guest posters as well. Since I am kind of close to paying off my student loans, I’m thinking about starting a debt payoff guest post series. Anyone interested? Topics can be about what you’re doing to pay off debt quickly, how you’re paying them off, whether you think your debt is good/bad, etc! A post that is somewhat related to the topic of debt is great.

I've also been constantly updating my blog post from the other day on How To Start A Blog. There are now added tips and instructions so that you guys don't get too confused when starting your blog. I also have several other posts about blogs in the works, including how to transfer your blog from Blogger to WordPress.

Also, don't forget to check out my sister's blog, FITnancials. I'm helping run it, while she is the writer. This blog has been going pretty well and I'm still excited about it. My sister is a new writer but seems to be doing well. She's still learning about the whole blogging thing but is starting to get the hang of it. She recently became got a Page Rank of 2 (read my post on how to increase your Page Rank) from the recent update as well!

Spending:

I don't think we bought anything in the past week, at least nothing that I can think of.

extraincome

Extra Income (does not include salary from our jobs):

The $1,635 was for the first 10 days of February. This does not include the $325 from my sister, payments that I'm expecting or any affiliate income. If you add up just the $1,635, rent payment and some additional affiliate income which will come by check (I don't want to count the expected payments until I actually receive them), then I have made $2,420 for the first 10 days of February.

I do feel like like I'm on a slow start for February so far, but I don't think I'm doing bad. Hopefully I can start reeling in these payments that I've been waiting for!

I'm still working on my affiliate income as it's one of my main blog goals for 2013. For now, will you tell me if you do affiliate income and what I should know? Any tips, opinions, etc. would be awesome.

This was our Friday night dinner. Chicken in vodka sauce, toasted ravioli and toast. YUMM!

This was our Friday night dinner. Chicken in vodka sauce, toasted ravioli and toast. YUMM!

Food: 

No meal plan for this week, but we have been doing really good with eating at home as much as we can. We also ate out a couple of times last week, but we had a coupon for every time. Buy one get one free dinners at all of our favorite restaurants? We'll take it! Thankfully it was W's birthday last week so we got tons of free coupons.

Wedding

Nothing new with the wedding right now. We finally have decided on photographers. I love who we chose and I'm super excited! Now we just have to get everything else on track, which there is a lot. I don't feel too rushed though, and I'm not really worried.

homegym

Our home gym in our basement is complete!

Being healthy:

The treadmill came in last week and we put it together. Took around 2 hours for us to put it together but it was well worth it. We thought about paying the company to put it together but we decided that it was not worth the extra $250 to pay the company to do this.

One thing that we didn't really think about when we bought our home gym was making sure the ceiling was high enough. Yes we measured the height, but didn't measure how much room we would actually NEED. So even though the home gym fit, we can't actually do pull ups on it because the ceiling is so close (but come on, I most likely would never do a pull up anyways).

So this also means that if a giant wanted to run on my treadmill, they would be out of luck because there head would most likely hit the ceiling. Luckily I am only 5'4″ and have around one more foot before I hit the ceiling when I'm running.

I've only ran on it twice so far, but I have been swamped with things to do so I will blame it on that. My goal is to run on it 5 days this week and most likely at least 5 miles each time. Wish me luck!

How's your spending, working out and extra income going?

Can it just be Saturday forever?

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 18 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! Happy Saturday. This week seemed to fly by. It's Mardi Gras weekend here in St. Louis. I won't be going out until later, but of course nearly all of my friends are going out now. I'd rather sleep in because I'm lazy! Lots of things to do on the blog and some writing to do today. Anyone venturing out today?

I had two giveaways this week (see below). I hope you enjoyed them and one of you win. Question though: do you guys like that I have so many giveaways? Or do they get annoying? Let me know! I personally love giveaways and entering them.

I'm the Blogger of the Month over at Ready for Zero! They did a great interview on me and it went well. Go read it!

If you have any suggestions on how to improve my blog further, feel feel to comment below, send an anonymous e-mail and so on. I appreciate all opinions!

Since I am kind of close to paying off my student loans, I'm thinking about starting a debt payoff guest post series. Anyone interested? Topics can be about what you're doing to pay off debt quickly, how you're paying them off, whether you think your debt is good/bad, etc! 🙂

Posts this week on my blog:

  1. I spend too much money on him and GIVEAWAY – This post is a whole mix of everything in my life. At the end, enter to win some cash.
  2. How To Start A Blog – Tips for a Beginner – This post is about how you can start your own blog. I'm currently learning along with all of you, but I plan on making a post about how to transfer to WordPress from Blogger as a lot of you e-mailed and commented about it. Look for for that soon!
  3. Saving Money on Food and a GIVEAWAY – We've been doing a lot better with food and it's been great. We still have many improvements though. Read about our progress and also enter to win $500 in cash.
  4. Staff Writing is the Perfect Side Hustle – Jordann talked about staff writing yesterday. A lot of you have been really interested in doing this.

 

Posts on my sister's blog:

  1. How To Find A Good, Cost Efficient Gym Near You – Gyms can be very expensive. We just bought a home gym (picture to be posted on Monday) and I'm sure excited to use it all the time.
  2. All Natural Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – These cookies were super tasty. She made them last weekend and I pretty much ate all of them. I didn't think they were going to be THAT good.
  3. Financial Goals for 2013 – My sister finally posted her 2013 goals, and they're all finance related! I'm a super proud sister right now 🙂

 

Posts I LOVED:

  1. I WILL Partake in Lifestyle Inflation Plunged in Debt
  2. House Hunting Priorities My Pretty Pennies
  3. 10 Credit Card Secrets They Don’t Want You To Know Stumble Forward
  4. Frugal Ways to Say I Love You this Valentine’s Day Canadian Budget Binder
  5. Designing Your Dream Job Budget and the Beach
  6. You Didn’t Save Any Money I Heart Budgets

 

What are your plans for the weekend? Mardi Gras plans anyone? 🙂

How To Start A Blog – Tips for a Beginner

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 210 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 To Start A Blog - Tips for a Beginner

Today, you will learn all about easily creating a blog on your own. Blogging is what changed my life and allowed me to make thousands of dollars a month, all by doing something that I love. Plus, you can start a money-making blog for just a few dollars a month! Below, I have included discounted pricing that I personally negotiated with Bluehost so that all of you can start a blog for cheap. You will also receive a free blog domain through my link too. Act quick though because I’m not sure how long these low prices will last! 

Blogging has been one of the best things ever for me. As you can tell from my business income reports, I now make over $70,000 a month from my blogging-related services. I earned over $300,000 in 2015 through blogging and I am expecting to double my income in 2016.

I am able to work from home, I can travel whenever I want, I have a flexible schedule and more. I am absolutely loving life and I can't believe how much my life has improved in just the past few years.

Anyone can make money with a blog, and I was able to make the money back that I paid for blog hosting very quickly. It is well worth it to pay for blog hosting and I'm sure you will be able to make your money back quickly as well. [Read more…]

I’ll Never Be a Frugal Blogger

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 123 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.

I'm what you might call a bad personal finance blogger. Or maybe just a bad frugal blogger (never said I was a frugal blogger though!) Anyways, yup, I said it. I like nice (and brand new) cars, big houses, vacations, cable and premium TV, and everything else. I don't really talk about using coupons a whole lot either. I also use loans to my advantage by obtaining low interest rates (such as 0%) instead of paying for things with cash when I have the cash available.

Some of the things that I just wrote seem to be things that some bloggers and readers might frown upon. Yes, I would like to retire early and not have to worry about money. However, I do like buying things and having nice things also. For me, I don't see it as me trying to keep up with the Joneses, I see it as I work hard for my money, so why not enjoy myself? I'm not the type of person who wants to retire early by being extremely cheap with everything that I do (no offense to those who do this).

I am not perfect, and if I have the income to support the things that I want, then why not? I'm all about increasing my extra income, and a lot of it is used to pay down my $38,000 student loan debt. After that is gone, a lot of it will be funneled towards savings but also for fun things in my life. I hope you all do not hate me by the end of this post by the way.

A couple of months ago I talked about my Budget Busters and My Plans. There are a lot of things on this list that I will be spending money on in the next 18 months. Big wedding? CHECK. Big house? CHECK. Paying off student loans? CHECK. Vacations? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Oh yeah and I plan on getting a new car also.

These girls said it best

These girls said it best

I agree with Cait and Leslie. Even though I am definitely not a frugal blogger, I am money conscious and watch my spending. I manage my money well (at least I think so) and make sure that I am able to pay all of my bills. I also make sure that my spending and expenses equal less than 50% of our income. [Read more…]

Oh Saturday

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 32 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.

DogFrench Bulldog
Happy weekend everyone! This past week at work seemed to fly by, mainly because I was extremely busy the whole time. So much to do! Oh yeah, those are my wonderful pups above.

This weekend I'm hoping to get a lot done. I really need to start scheduling and writing posts ahead of time. I haven't done this in forever. How far ahead do you write your posts? I'm hoping to get maybe 5 posts done, but I doubt that will happen. I have a long list of things that I want to write about, but I would like to knock them out beforehand.

I'm going to a bridal show on Sunday for MY wedding! First bridal show that I'll have gone to that is focused on me. WOOHOO! Bring on the free drinks and free food 🙂 I hope to find a lot of good ideas and good vendors. Considering that I still need EVERYTHING for my wedding and nothing has really been planned, I know I will be going crazy at this thing. But that's okay, because I love planning and just the thought of it makes me super happy!

This was a week full of whale posts. Sorry they were all so long! I obviously have a lot to say about everything. There will be some more whale posts for next week. I have at least one special post lined up for next week, a post all about how to become a virtual assistant. A lot of you have wondered what a VA does, and next week you will find out how to start and where to begin.

Also, I plan on publishing my How To Start a Blog post next week. Is there anything specific that you would like to know that I can answer in this post? I will try and include it and it'll help me guide where the post will go. A lot of you e-mail me with your questions, but if you have any others, ask away in the comments below. I have a feeling that the How To Start a Blog will be a huge multi-post, so be on the look out!

Posts on my blog:

  1. What Does a Virtual Assistant Do? – This post details possible things you can do as a virtual assistant.
  2. Reconnecting With Family – An emotional post – I talk about about my dreams of having a normal family.
  3. Wedding Budget – Our Expected Costs – If you're not tired of wedding talk yet, then you will be after reading this lengthy post! I'm having a lot of fun planning, so look forward to even more posts in the future.
  4. Time Management According to Strengths – This is a staff post by Jordann. All about time management!

 

Posts on my sister's blog:

  1. Becoming a Personal Trainer – At first she wanted to go into nursing, but after working in healthcare for a couple of years, she has completely changed her mind. This is why it's good to get a job on internship in the field you want to work in before you jump too far in! She now wants to be a personal trainer.
  2. Looking Cute When Working Out On A Budget – It can't be only me and her who like to buy nice athletic clothes, right?
  3. Jamie Eason’s 12 Week Free Plan – My sister is too healthy for me… 🙂

 

Favorite posts of the week:

  1. Personal Finance Bloggers I Admire Evolving PF – SOMEONE ACTUALLY LIKES ME! 🙂
  2. Churning Credit Cards for Hotel and Travel Rewards on I Heart Budgets
  3. How Do You Define Success? Tackling Our Debt
  4. Benefits of a Crappy Job Eyes on the Dollar
  5. Are You Financially Ready For Kids? Prairie Eco Thrifter
  6. ….When You’re Talking in Your Sleep L Bee
  7. 5 Ways to Invest in Yourself on Young Adult Money
  8. The Sexiest Thing My Money Has Bought on Plunged In Debt
  9. Learn From Mexican Merchants – Avoid Being a Passive Blogger on Modest Money
  10. I Will Never Retire on Krant Cents

 

What are your plans for the weekend?

So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 132 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.

Find out what you need to know about becoming a freelance writer. This is a great list!Last week I finally started my Ways to Earn Extra Income. A lot of you have questions, and today I figured I would continue my Extra Income series with how to become a freelance writer or a staff writer. A lot of you seem very interested in this. For the sake of this post, a staff writer = freelance writer, just to make this all easy.

Before September, I never thought I would be staff writing, and I never even thought about it. But once I began, I really started to enjoy it. I really love to write (yes, I do realize that I'm not the best and I probably should proofread more, but I do like to talk), and writing for different blogs was fun for me.

And I'm not going to lie, the money is nice also. Being able to write about topics that I enjoy, from the comfort of my home is great. I try (yes, try) to throw all of my extra money towards student loans, since I do have a $38,000 student loan payoff plan that I am working on.

I believe I started freelance writing in September of 2012. I DID make mistakes though. I signed up for way too much, and as a result, my own blog suffered. I feel like the content on my blog wasn't the greatest when I had signed up for so many staff writing assignments. Luckily, that did not last long as some of the assignments were only short-term.

Then I ended up stopping a couple of others and right now I am at my perfect amount. Taking on too many writing assignments at one time was definitely a mistake that I made.

So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?

My tips on how to become a freelance writer:

[Read more…]

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