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Following Your Passion Is Not Just Luck

Last Updated: December 20, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 63 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.

Although the title of this post is Following Your Passion Is Not Just Luck, I do feel incredibly lucky that I am able to have my own business and do what I want.

Self-employment has been amazing for me so far, and I can’t believe that I had any doubts last year of what having my own business would be like for me.

I worked hard to get to where I am. I was working and going to school around 16 hours a day, 5 to seven days a week, for over five years. I believe that how hard I worked in the past 5 years led to where I am today.

And, I’m still working hard. Thankfully, I’m not still putting in 16 hour days 5 to 7 days a week, but I am still working hard. I have been better at utilizing my time and being more efficient, which has been good for me (and probably those around me as well because I’m sure I’m not as cranky).

Here is what I think it takes to become successful and do what you want.

[Read more…]

63 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Extra Income Tagged With: Career, Extra Money, Self-employment

Common Myths About Working From Home

Last Updated: July 30, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 67 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.

Common Myths About Working From HomeI’ve been working from home for a few months now, and because of that I have heard several myths about what it’s like to work from home.

Whether you work for yourself and your office is in your home, or if you telecommute and work for someone else, I’m sure you’ve heard some of the myths below as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE working from home, and I wouldn’t change a thing. However, some people have said certain things to me that really make me laugh. Working from home is still work.

I understand that not everyone works from home (although, I did read a statistic in an article the other day that said 30% of workers actually work from home) and the thought itself can seem unattainable, but it is possible for you if you want it. Also, I’m not mad at anyone for anything that is said to me, because I know that I used to think some of the same things.

Here are common myths about working from home.

[Read more…]

67 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Extra Income, Life Tagged With: Career, Extra Money, Life, Self-employment

Extra Income Series: I’m a Frequent Flyer Mile Redemption Specialist

Last Updated: December 9, 2014 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.

Extra Income Series: I’m a Frequent Flyer Mile Redemption Specialist Hey everyone. Today I bring to you the next edition of my “Extra Income” series. If you would like to be featured, please send me an e-mail. Other hustles in this series include: I Run a Resume Business, I Help Businesses Create Online Campaigns, I’m a Creative Web Entrepreneur and I’m a Beachbody Coach.

I’m a frequent flyer mile redemption specialist. I offer assistance to people to redeem their miles for flights to destinations such as Paris, Thailand.

Most of my clients are either time deprived to research possible options or don’t know what’s possible with their bank of frequent flyer miles. That’s where my service, iflywithmiles.com comes into the picture.

 

How did you get started with your side hustle?

I started by acquiring a domain name, but when I registered the domain name, I had no intentions of starting a frequent flyer mile redemption service.  I was compelled to register a domain name because a frequent flyer mile program was running a lucrative promotion where you earn miles for certain activities and one of them was registering a domain name through an internet service provider.

Without giving much thought to the name, I simply came up with the first thing that came to mind related to frequent flyer miles.

Months later, one of my colleagues and I were chatting at work and he expressed a desire to learn HTML and CSS. My mind was thinking about utilizing him to make a web site that would serve a purpose. I asked him if he would be interested in making a site for a service that I would like to offer. He offered to do it for free despite offering to pay him. [Read more…]

11 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Extra Income Tagged With: Career, Extra Money, Hustle Series

Update: Three Months of Being Self-Employed

Last Updated: December 20, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 66 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 last day at my day job was back in early October. It’s crazy to think that it’s been a little over three months since my last day. Every day of self-employment seems to go by quickly. I don’t ever wake up dreading work, which is very nice.

Instead, I wake up happy and energized. I look forward to each and every new day because that’s a whole new day of new possibilities.

I’m in control of my future, and everything that I do it matters. It can be scary, but it is also great.

Three months is of course not a long time, but I want to do a quarterly update to see how I am doing, and hopefully improve each and every quarter. It will probably also be interesting to read these updates years down the road to make fun of myself.

Many of you have also said that you are preparing to make the switch as well, and that periodic updates would be helpful for you. Thank you to my readers for being interested! 🙂

 

After three months of self-employment, I have learned a lot.

I definitely am no expert at being a self-employed person (at least not yet!), but I do think that I have learned a lot. I am learning more about my business, how to expand my business, and much more.

I really love being self-employed and so far it’s been treating me pretty well.

 

I thought that I would have a better schedule.

When most people think about making the switch to self-employment, one of the things that they usually look forward to is the idea of a flexible schedule.

A schedule just doesn’t seem to work for me right now. I find myself constantly on my phone, but I do think that may just be because I am excited for my new business.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my schedule, however, I need to work better at creating a more strict schedule and working during those hours. Instead, I find myself on the couch or on the bed working. I need to sit in a REAL chair and work!

 

I’m starting to spend less.

One thing that many self-employed people will tell you is that when you are working from home, you will save a lot of money. However, that just didn’t prove true for me in the weeks after I left my day job.

Instead, I found myself spending much more right after I left my day job. I was spending more and eating out much more. It didn’t make any sense. I was at home more, so why couldn’t I just make myself some meals?

Luckily, that has completely changed. We find ourselves eating at home much more and cooking delicious meals. It does help that I’ve also been on a healthy kick, so the smell of fast food actually makes me sick.

 

Luckily, I’m not eating everything in my view.

I thought that when I would switch to self-employment, I would constantly be in the kitchen or in the fridge. That would only seem normal right? If I am at home, that would mean that food would always be in reach. It would be completely different from my office job, where we didn’t have a vending machine or any food to snack on.

What has really been helping me in this area that I don’t really buy snacks anymore. I can’t even remember the last time I bought a bag of chips. Snacks in our house now consist of fruits and vegetables.

 

I’m still sleeping probably a little too much. 

When I had my day job, I would wake up a few hours before work so that I could work on side business tasks. This meant that every single day I would wake up around  5 or 6 a.m.

Nowadays, I wake up around 5 a.m., work for around an hour, and then go back to sleep… AND THEN, I don’t wake up until hours after that. This is something that needs to change.

This will sound stupid, but it has been hard to wake up at a certain time, early in the morning, while being self-employed. Technically, I don’t have to be anywhere… However, I know that I work best early in the morning, even though I am not a morning person. Weird, but it’s true for me.

 

You know how self-employed people are always thought to be in their pajamas?

Well, it’s true. I feel like I’m always in my pajamas. If I’m not going somewhere that day, then I will be in my pajamas all day it seems.

Haha I know – you probably think I’m absolutely disgusting.

There is one positive in this though – I hardly spend money on clothes anymore. In the past three months, I believe I bought two jackets (I’ve been eyeing the Patagonia jacket that I recently bought for months!), a dress, and one shirt. I probably didn’t even need that shirt, or that dress.

 

What else do you want to know about my three months being self-employed?

Did anything in my update surprise you?

 

66 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Extra Income Tagged With: Career, Extra Money

Extra Income Idea: I’m a Creative Web Entrepreneur

Last Updated: May 1, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 21 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.

Dion Lynk PhotoHey everyone. Today I bring to you the next edition of my “Extra Income” series. If you would like to be featured, please send me an e-mail. Other hustles in this series include: I Run a Resume Business, I Help Businesses Create Online Campaigns and I’m a Beachbody Coach.

I’ve been on the web for 7+ years now, and I stand here as a battled tested graphic designer/ creative web entrepreneur. My journey has been a long one filled with curve balls, trials, and tears. My website is www.hifiverr.info.

I’m Dion, a level two (and growing) graphic designer with on the hottest startups this side of heaven, fiverr.com.

I know you have questions as many people are generally curious about earning an income with fiverr, and it so happens that I have a story to share. (In my best Nicolas Cage voice) I’m not going to lie to you, I’m just going to tell you what happened.

[Read more…]

21 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Extra Income Tagged With: Career, Extra Money, Hustle Series

How To Promote Your Blog Through Networking

Last Updated: August 9, 2022 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.

Hey everyone! If you haven’t yet, please check out my newest monthly income update – $12,160 in December Business Income. I also published my 2014 goals on Monday – 2014 and January Goals – It will be a GREAT year.

Whenever I publish my newest income update, I always receive many questions about how to start a blog. Read this post if you haven’t yet – How To Start A Blog – Tips for a Beginner. Also, if you are still on Blogger, I made a post about why you should switch to WordPress.

 

A question that I am often asked is how a blogger should promote and network with their blog. I’m no expert in this area, but I do think that I know enough about it to write a blog post about it.

Networking with your blog is a great thing. Without it, my blog would literally have zero readers.

Without networking through my blog, I never would have started a side job, I never would have quit my job to freelance full-time. And I never would have 1,000 other things. Networking is what has helped me and my blog grow.

Read further on Diversified Finances.

 

5 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Business Income, Career Tagged With: Blog, Career, Extra Money

$12,160 in December Business Income

Last Updated: August 9, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 84 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 how I made $12,160 in December from blogging and working from home.December was a good month. Not quite as good as November, but I’m still satisfied with the level that I made – especially since I spent a good amount of time away from my laptop.

It’s now January though, which means that I have a brand new month and year to start over.

I’m ready for my first full YEAR of self-employment.

In December of 2013, I made $12,860 in business income, before expenses. I’m hoping for a higher level in January though, but it has been a slow start so far because of the holidays.

 

Lately, it does seem like I am at a little bit of a standstill. I do need to try working harder.

I am not going to lie – I have probably been taking off more time than I should. I will blame this on being so busy the past few years and my laziness is just trying to catch up to me.

Also, we did sell our suuuper nice 1961 Chevy Apache in December, but that amount is not included in this income post as it is not a part of my business income. We did get to put a pretty penny away and we made a profit on the truck, so that was nice.

 

I didn’t think my level of income was attainable.

Just last December, I made $5,770 in extra income. $5,770 is, of course, still a great amount, but each month I am still amazed by my progress.

Like I say every month, when I first started blogging, I didn’t think this level of income was possible. I read (and still read) income reports from bloggers such as Pat at Smart Passive Income and Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff and I thought their levels were just completely unattainable for me.

I’m sure many of you feel the same about your level of “extra income” and that my story is just a lucky story.  However, I read stories on other blogs and used them as motivation for myself.

I didn’t think their levels were possible for me, but it turns out that I was wrong.

And, I’m glad I was wrong. No, I’m not at the levels of Pat or Crystal, but I will keep trying everyday to improve my business.

$12,160 in December Business Income

This is for the month of December and before fees and expenses (expenses that lower the amount above include approximately $700, which includes VAs for my other websites, PayPal fees, etc.) being taken out.

December‘s number above includes a rent payment from my sister and her boyfriend. So after all expenses and fees, I made approximately $12,160. In the amount above, I do not count the amount that I bring in to blogs that I help run, I only include the amounts that are my actual earnings from my services.

[Read more…]

84 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Business Income, Extra Income Tagged With: Blog, Extra Money

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My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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