Writers1 Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Join the Down Payment Movement

March 6, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored partnership. All opinions are 100% my own. This movement is powered by Unison.

Hello!

I have partnered with several amazing personal finance bloggers to help you save for your down payment on your next home.

Why am I doing this, you ask?

I want to help motivate my readers to save for their down payment for their home. I know many of you are interested in purchasing a home, but may not have the motivation to actually save for your down payment – and your down payment is so very important!

I purchased my first house at the age of 20. See, I needed a place to live (I was on my own since I was around 18 years old and my dad passed away. I received no inheritance, and desperately needed a place to call my own.

I was young, though, and I made so many mistakes when it came to purchasing a home. While I did manage to buy my own home when I was very young, there were so many mistakes that I made.

One thing I did was that I didn't save enough for a large enough down payment. Instead, I put the smallest amount that I could down and this led to me paying PMI. I recommend reading Can You Remove PMI From Your Mortgage? to learn more about PMI. [Read more…]

4 Great Self Care Online Classes You Should Take (Plus Thousands of Other Classes to Up Your Game)

February 25, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored partnership with Skillshare. All opinions are 100% my own.

It's funny, when you're younger, I feel like you'll do anything to rush through school and not be learning all the time. I still vividly remember being in college and there being an older person in one of my classes. Everyone asked him “why are you taking this class if you're not trying to get a degree?”

No one could understand and we all thought he was crazy. He then replied that when you get older, that you will enjoy learning new things. I still remember that like it was yesterday, and now I completely understand it now. I am always wanting to learn new things now, and it's always a joy to do.

Recently, I learned about Skillshare and I am so excited to share it with you all. Skillshare is an online learning community for designers, photographers, marketers, entrepreneurs, really anyone! They have more than 18,000 classes in the broad categories of creative, business, technology, and lifestyle.

And, it's affordable. [Read more…]

Looking for a free checking account?

February 18, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored partnership with Radius Bank.

Looking for a free checking account?

Lately, I keep hearing from you, my readers, about how hard it is to find a free checking account. Trust me, I've noticed!

It seems like many of the big banks are charging monthly costs for a checking account, and you shouldn't have to pay for that!

So, if you are looking for a new checking account with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, then this is the blog post for you.

Radius Hybrid is a free checking account that takes less than 5 minutes to open an account, and you can do it online!

Unlike other checking accounts, Radius Hybrid is a high interest checking account offering a 0.85% APY. That rate is not introductory, so it’s not going to drop down to basically nothing after the first few months. There is no cap on balances that earn the 0.85% APY rate either. Along with that, balances are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. [Read more…]

8 Free Resources To Grow Your Blog

February 16, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 12 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you're looking to start a blog or if you already have one, I have some great free resources and guides to share with you today.

First, if you don't have a blog, then I recommend starting off with my free blogging course How To Start A Blog FREE Course.

I started my blog, Making Sense of Cents, in August of 2011 and have built a great business. It allowed me and my husband to leave the day jobs we disliked to pursue something that we loved. Now, we travel full-time, make a great living (last month we made over $100,000 blogging), have a flexible schedule, have more time to spend with loved ones, and we will be able to retire early.

If you already have a blog or if you are thinking about starting one, I recommend checking out these free resources below as well (EDIT: One has expired so now there are only 7):

Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet – With this time-saving cheat sheet, you'll learn how to make affiliate income from your blog. These tips will help you to rapidly improve your results and increase your blogging income in no time.
7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight – This free ebook gives great tips on how to increase your blogging income.
120 Awesome Blog Post Ideas – Are you struggling to come up with new content for your blog? Here are 120 great blog post ideas that will help you beat writer’s block and create great content.
Blog Structure Blueprint – This freebie will help you to create an organized blog.
The New Blogger's Guide To Guest Posting – Guest posting is a great way to improve your blog traffic. However, there is a right and a wrong way to go about it. Here's exactly what you should do!
Goal Setting Workbook – Do you want to learn how to work smarter, not harder? This Goal Setting Workbook for Bloggers is the perfect tool to help you take back your time by allowing you to clarify your purpose and prioritize what's really important.
2018 Blogging Trends eBook – Overwhelmed with all the blogging advice out there? Here are the latest blogging trends you need to know about in order to grow your blog and start making money.

Enjoy!

Essential Things That You Need to Know Before Buying a Diamond Ring

February 9, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Buying an engagement ring is an important and exciting milestone in your life. It’s one of the most important purchases most people will ever make. However, when it comes to buying diamond engagement rings, most people don’t know the essential things you need to know before buying a diamond ring. [Read more…]

Why You Need To Track Your Finances

February 9, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Tracking your finances is an extremely important task, yet many people do not do this and actually skip this very important part of their life. This may then lead to debt, delayed retirement, stress, a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle, and/or more.

Surprisingly, many people don't know a lot about their financial lives. I've met people who didn't know how much their mortgage payment was, how much debt they had, and so on.

And, this is why tracking your financial situation is so very important, no matter who you are.

Tracking your finances can mean many things, such as:

Creating a budget
Tracking your expenses, spending, etc.
Keeping an eye on your credit score
Knowing your net worth
Being aware of how much debt you have

And more! [Read more…]

Choosing WordPress Hosting that makes your website future-ready

February 5, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored post.

Like most readers of this blog, you’re probably considering starting your blogging business with WordPress or have just gotten started with it. WordPress is one of the most popular platforms to start a blog on and is a great choice. Getting your blog started on any platform and hosting is perfectly alright to start with but what you need to realize is that as your online business grows, you will require WordPress hosting that will cater to the growth of your website-a feature that standard WordPress hosting products in the market do not cater to. [Read more…]

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