Travel Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

When was the last time you did something that scared you?

August 13, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

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Scaring yourself is a good thing – it means that you're pushing yourself to do something new and outside of your comfort zone. This can help you grow as a person and continue to improve. #scareyourself #motivation #dreamlife #lifetips I'd be lying to you if I said that our new sailing adventure didn't scare me.

We are currently around three months into our new boat life. We are very happy with our purchase and the huge life change that we have made.

We are excited for our future, all of the amazing places we will visit, and all of the learning experiences that we will get to have.

However, making this huge lifestyle change has been a little scary for me.

The first month of boat ownership was an interesting one. Before we bought our boat, we were constantly told that there are two best days in a boat owner’s life:

The day you buy you boat.
The day you sell it.

And, for a moment there, I thought that was right, haha! [Read more…]

Welcome To Paradise – We’re Living On A Sailboat!

July 17, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 69 Comments

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It’s official, we’re now living on a sailboat!

To be specific, it’s a Lagoon 42 catamaran that we named Paradise.

Now, we are still very new to this lifestyle, but we are very excited!

We’ve wanted to move onto a boat for a while. In fact, we wanted to live on a sailboat before we even started RVing.

Our switch from RV life to living on sailboat started earlier this year, when we made the journey from Tucson, Arizona (where we were wintering in our RV) to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We started looking at sailboats online, both on the west coast and east coast, but Florida just had so many more options.

We pulled up the RV jacks and made the long trek to Florida. Along the way, we stopped in multiple places, sort of a last RV trip hurrah to see our friends and family that live all over the U.S. [Read more…]

You Wouldn’t Work For Free, Right? So, Why Do You?

June 28, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

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You Wouldn't Work For Free, Right? So, Why Do You? Do you often find yourself at the end of the year with unused vacation days?

If so, then you are essentially working for free.

According to CNN, 23% of workers surveyed said they used all of their vacation days in the previous 12 months. That means that 77% of people had unused vacation days!

Also, this same survey showed that the average U.S. worker uses less than HALF of their paid days off.

So, I did some more research because I find this subject so interesting. According to CNBC, on average, American workers gave up around $604 in lost benefits by ending the year with unused vacation days and other paid time off.

I find this topic interesting because when I used to work for others, I would never use all of my paid vacation days. [Read more…]

From Backpacker Working For $3 An Hour To Sailor With An Online Business

June 27, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 15 Comments

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From Backpacker Working For $3 An Hour To Sailor With A Digital Business My monthly Extraordinary Lives series is something that I'm really enjoying doing. First up was JP Livingston, who retired with a net worth over $2,000,000 at the age of 28. Today's interview is with Kach Howe. She has been to over 100 countries and all 7 continents. She is now sailing the Caribbean with her husband and cat.

She's not retired, though – she's still working!

In this interview, you'll learn:

How she has been traveling for 5 years and has traveled to 100 countries;
How she now lives on a 1971 Finnrose 37 sailboat;
How she affords to travel;
How they taught English in Peru for $3 an hour and how that motivated her to find ways to make more money;
How much sailing costs them.

And more! This interview is packed full of valuable information! [Read more…]

The Digital Nomad Lifestyle – A Day In The Life

June 18, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 75 Comments

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“What do you do all day?”

I am regularly asked what my average day is like. It's always such a difficult question to answer, as there is no routine day for me. If you know me at all, then you know that I pretty much hate schedules, haha.

My hatred of schedules is probably one of the main reasons for why I love living the digital nomad lifestyle.

Telling people that I work online and travel is always an interesting conversation. Telling people “I'm a blogger” just leads to so many questions, which I completely understand. But, when they find out that I’m a full-time traveler too, they get even more confused!

Now, blogging is a lot of work. I may not work a ton everyday, but there are many days when I'll work 16 hours a day. There is almost always something that needs to be done when it comes to my blogging business, and I have a whole long list of things that I want to do when I have more time. [Read more…]

One Year Later: My Extraordinary Interview Series Roundup

April 4, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 18 Comments

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One Year Later: My Extraordinary Interview Series Roundup One year ago, I launched a new series here on Making Sense of Cents where I interview people who are doing extraordinary things with their lives.

I started this new series because I wanted to show you all real stories about financial successes, and I wanted you to get to know the people leading these extraordinary lives.

I figured this would not only be great motivation, but it would also show everyone the different things that are possible. Plus, interviewing these amazing people is a great way to learn from them as they share their secrets to success with us.

Here's a quick snapshot of the people I interviewed this year:

How This 28 Year Old Retired With $2.25 Million
This Successful Entrepreneur Went From Welfare To Earning Millions – Interview With Kimra Luna
From Rags To Riches- How Tina Immigrated To America With Nothing And Now Has A Net Worth Of $2,000,000
How This Couple Does Van Life With A Baby (and a dog!)
How This Successful Family Of Four Makes Travel Blogging Work For Them
How This Family Moved To The “Hood” And Paid Off $120,000 In Debt
How This Couple Bought An $11,500 RV, Traveled To All 50 States, And Built A Thriving Business
How This Couple Paid Off $204,971.31 In Debt
How We Paid Off $195,000 In Debt In 18 Months!
How This 29 Year Old Is Building A Real Estate Empire
How Elizabeth Reached Financial Independence By 32 And Moved To A Homestead

[Read more…]

Here’s How To Save Thousands For Your Next Vacation

March 26, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

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How To Save For A Vacation - Create Your Vacation Savings Plan Now! #howtosaveforavacation #travelfundjar #vacationsavingsplan Do you want to go on a vacation? Do you know how to save for a vacation?

The two go hand in hand!

Because vacations can be expensive, many people try to “afford” them by taking on more debt, and this is something I never recommend doing. Vacations are supposed to be relaxing, and coming back home to a pile of debt is the opposite of relaxing.

So, today, I want to help you learn how to save for a vacation. These are actual things you can do to save money for your trip and have money to spend without taking on any debt.

There are many ways to save money ON your vacation, and you can read those here – How To Travel On A Budget And Still Have The Time Of Your Life. Today's article is a little different from that, though.

With the tips in today's blog post, you'll learn how to save for a vacation by creating a savings plan that allows you to actually save all of the money you need before you leave for your trip.

I hear a lot of people say that they don't have any extra money for a vacation, and I hope that with today's advice, you can start setting aside money to finally go on that long awaited trip. [Read more…]

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