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Can it just be Saturday forever?

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 17 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

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 186 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

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 115 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

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 29 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?

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 104 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.

Related content: How To Become A Freelance Writer

So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?

My tips on how to become a freelance writer:

[Read more…]

I started a new BLOG!

Last Updated: 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.

Hey everyone! I bet you all are very happy that it’s Saturday. I know I am! This was a long week for me considering it was my first full 5-day work week since the BEGINNING of December. Talk about having it rough, right? 😛

I finally made my Ways to Earn Extra Income Part 1 post so I hope you all enjoyed it. I have a feeling that this will be a fairly long series that will most likely last forever 🙂

I do have a question for you all: Is there something that you would like to see more of on my blog? Or is there something that you would like to see less of? Or what would you change? I’m all about growing and improving and I’m interested to hear what you all have to say. Please leave a comment below (can be either from you or anonymously).

NEW BLOG

I also started a new blog and it went live TODAY. My sister is the author and I’m just there to help her get the hang of things and to be the behind-the-scenes person 🙂 I hope you all check out the blog. There will also be a giveaway there soon, so that’s another reason to follow her!

Check out FITnancials. Follow on Twitter and you can also be one of her 2,600 Instagram followers that she has had on her fitness Instagram account for quite some time.

Here’s a little tidbit about her:

“I started attempting the ‘healthy lifestyle’ about a year and a half ago. My overall journey in trying to ‘get skinny in any way possible’ started in my Freshman year of high school. I came home from spending the summer with my dad (lounging and eating ALL day) and my mother commented on my weight. (To put it nicely). That’s where it all began.”

Recent posts from my blog:

  1. $1,193 in Extra Income, Life and Picture Updates
  2. Keeping Up With The Joneses
  3. Ways to Earn Extra Income Part 1 
  4. Dreaming of the Future
  5. $5,770 in Extra Income in December
  6. Cooking in a Minimalist Kitchen

Posts I love:

  1. On Passion for Blogging and Burnouts Thirty Six Months
  2. How to Use a Credit Card Like Cash Single Moms Income
  3. Modesty Really is the Best Policy Modest Money
  4. How to afford a vacation when you’re broke Newlyweds on a Budget
  5. Building A Dividend Portfolio For Passive Income Retire By 40
  6. Bold Move By Discover – The Discover it™ Credit Card Money Life and More

Top 5 Referrers to my blog:

  1. When I get where I’m going
  2. Shaking the Money Tree
  3. TeacHer Finance
  4. Plunged in Debt
  5. Frugal Rules

$3,700 in Extra Income in October and My Goals

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 48 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! I have a giveaway for an iPad Mini and cash starting tomorrow on my blog, so make sure you come back. And yes, you read that correctly, I made $3,700 in extra income in the month of October! I didn’t think I was going to beat the $3,275 that I made in September, but I did WOOHOO.

This is proof on my online income since some of you have asked. This is for the month of October and before fees and expenses (expenses were around $907) being taken out. The other income categories that are listed below were mainly cash and check dealings.

October was good for us. We stayed under budget even though we bought some extra things for ourselves.  I love that it’s finally November. The holidays put me in a great mood and I LOOOOVE decorating 🙂  Work is going great for me, and W is still loving his job. WOOHOO

You can find my 2012 yearly goals update here.

October Goals Update

  1. Cut my food budget down to $500. PASS! We’ve been doing really good with this! We did eat out a bit, but it wasn’t more than what our entertainment budget is.
  2. Workout at least 4 times a week and lose 3 pounds. FAIL. I actually gained 2 pounds. BOO!
  3. Make an extra $1,500 this month. PASS PASS PASS! I made $3,700. See above.
  4. Do all of the house stuff from last month that I did not do. FAIL. I did some, but not enough. We still need to get carpet. I priced it out, now I just need them to come in and measure our living room. I also am looking for a new dining room table and wall decor to put in the dining room.
  5. Find an awesome Halloween costume. FAIL. I just wore one that I had from a previous year. I did save lots of money on it.
  6. Plan a girls trip to KC to see a friend. FAIL. AHH so many fails yet again!

November Goals

  1. Keep our food budget down to $500. Our goal is to continue eating at home Monday through Friday.
  2. Workout at least 3 times a week and lose 3 pounds. Wish me luck.
  3. Make an extra $2,000 this month. I increased this by $500 since I seem to be beating my goal like crazy. I also plan on starting to work on affiliate income streams as well. Do you have affiliate income? What are your sources? Tell me everything and anything about it!
  4. Start decorating the dining room. I pretty much know exactly what I want. I’m just waiting for a good deal on the exact one I want (haven’t found that yet). I’m tired of the dining set we have now and want a new style.
  5. Finally GET CARPET MICHELLE. This is something that I’ve been putting off for about 3 years. So if any of you are tired of me saying this, I am sorry. Have any of you gotten carpet recently? How did you bargain?
  6. Spend no more than $50 on clothes. I’m really trying not to buy anything, but I’m putting $50 just in case there is something that I just absolutely need to buy. Anyone else really trying to cut back on their clothing spending?


Blog Goals (I’m not focused on numbers, but it is interesting to see where I’m going).

  • Twitter Followers: Goal was for 350 and I’m currently at 1,460. I’m hoping to get 1,600.
  • Alexa rank: Goal was to be under 90,000. And I’m finally starting to drop. I’m currently at 79,000. I noticed that right after I switched to WordPress that it started dropping quickly. Does anyone know why this could be? My goal for November is to be at 70,000.
  • Guest post at least 2 times this month. I’m pretty sure this is a fail because I can’t think of any guests posts that I did.

 

Extra Monthly Income in September

  • Online Income (this includes staff writing, and is after all fees) – $3,054
  • Selling Clothes – $0
  • Miscellaneous – $300
  • Mystery Shopping – $21
  • Rent – $325

So I made $3,700 extra last month!

How did you do in October? Any extra income?

 

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