Ever wanted to cheat on your budget? Find out why it's okay! Do you ever get tired of being careful with your money? I do. I have a website about taxes, I write articles on personal finance topics, and I consider myself pretty strict with myself when it comes to spending money. But my self-discipline has its limits. Take, for instance, the time in our life (me and my husband’s) when we were socking away money in anticipation of having our first child. We were self-disciplined enough to save all (or nearly all) of my income for a year and a half before she was born. And because I was Keep Reading
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Prepaid Debit Card Budgeting System – Part 2: Budgeting on Vacation
I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for American Express Serve. I applied for the Serve Cash Back card to facilitate my review and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. A few weeks ago I wrote about my plan to use a prepaid debit card to curb my spending. Since then, I’ve had a chance to put my prepaid debit card into action, and today I’m sharing my findings! Vacation Budgeting with a Prepaid Debit Card – #ServeSomeGood I originally thought I would use this prepaid debit account for grocery budgeting, but then something Keep Reading
Prepaid Debit Card Budgeting System (with 1% Cash Back) – Part 1
I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for American Express Serve. I applied for the Serve Cash Back card to facilitate my review and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. As many of my readers know, I love writing about family finances. I’m a busy parent just like you, and I’m all about finding simple ways to save money, make money, and stretch our monthly budget so we can afford to splurge. I know I’m not alone in saying that the day-to-day money decisions I make as our household’s money manager is what makes or breaks our Keep Reading
$265 One-Month Money Challenge! A Fun Way to Save / Earn Nearly $300 Without Even Trying
This one-month money challenge will allow you to boost your savings! Today I have something super fun to share. It's a $265+ ONE MONTH SAVINGS CHALLENGE I put together to help anyone get a jump start on savings. It's a unique combination of saving money and making money that, if done bit by bit over the course of a month's time, will net you at least $265 in extra money! I am a strong believer that some people are just not cut out for strict budgeting. I personally fall into that category! I don't like feeling deprived ALL THE TIME. But I can do just about anything if it's a Keep Reading
How to Start a New Self-Hosted Blog on Bluehost by 2020 (a Step-by-Step Guide)
Every day I get questions from readers asking about starting a blog of their own. I write a lot about making extra money on the side and publish the occasional income report for WhatMommyDoes.com, so it makes sense I would get a lot of questions. I LOVE getting questions and spend quite a bit of time each week going through and answering each question individually. I realized one day that I should probably start putting answers to some of the most common questions in a central place so I can just link to them in my responses. I can't believe I didn't think of this Keep Reading
Best Budget Spreadsheet for 2019!
Searching for the best budget spreadsheet to use this year? Well, you have found it! In this post, I'd like to discuss and recommend the best Excel budget planner I have found to manage your finances in 2019! If you are ready to really take control of your money this year, you will want to use a family budget planner to do so. This little document will seriously rock your wallet! It will give you all the information you need to save money, pay off debt, and live a more financially free life. CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PERFECT FAMILY BUDGET TEMPLATE (or keep reading to learn all Keep Reading
How to Create a Holiday Budget That Works {+ free worksheet!}
This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own. This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own. Every year I feel like the holidays just sneak up on me. I'm going about my day all summer long, enjoying the nice weather and then BAM! I go to a store and all of a sudden there are holiday decorations everywhere! Halloween…Thanksgiving…Christmas…you name it! This year I'm taking the early presence of holiday decorations in the stores as my cue to plan ahead for the holidays. I'm a habitual procrastinator and Keep Reading
This is Why Minimalism Doesn’t Work if You’re Frugal
Please tell me I'm not the only one.... The only frugal person who really, really doesn't get minimalism. Or, I probably should say, I get it - but I don't like it. I appreciate those who can pull off this lifestyle, but honestly, it's not for me. I just couldn't bear to spend the money required to achieve that certain aesthetic. You know the one! I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm ANTI-minimalist since that would imply I take minimalism seriously as a lifestyle choice when it is just a preference. After being frugal my entire life and a minimalist for a little more than one year Keep Reading
3 Things Most Bloggers Get Wrong When It Comes to Pinterest Traffic
Hey! I've been meaning to write about this for some time, but I've been holed up in my home office creating Adventures in SEO for the past 4 months and am just now finding time to breathe! I get emails ALL THE TIME from bloggers who want advice on Pinterest. I get great traffic from Pinterest + Google so I wanted to share some tips as to what does and doesn't work for me. Adventures in SEO is the FIRST course to combine effective Google and Pinterest SEO Strategies into one. This course explains everything in a straightforward step-by-step manner with videos, Keep Reading
⭐ How to Get Traffic to Your Blog EVEN IF Pinterest or Facebook Disappeared Tomorrow
As I write this post, I'm in the passenger seat of our van right on the way to the beach for a long weekend! yah!! I love the fact that I can take my work with me wherever I go....even if the hot spot connection is weak and I keep having to re-connect every few sentences. LOL If you have any suggestions for a better "on the road" internet alternative than my Verizon Wireless hotspot, I'm all ears! :) This is Your LAST Chance! This week we have been talking about the amazing Genius Blogger's Toolkit, a collection of over $5,000 worth of growth-inducing, Keep Reading
Need to Organize Your Blog? Grab This Blog Topic Organization Guide
I know lots of people say to choose the ONE NICHE you want to write about and stick to that on your blog. As in, if you want to write about fitness, keep your blog only about fitness. Or if you want to write about healthy meals, keep your blog only about healthy meals. I think most of us aren’t that focused, though. I don’t know about you, but I have LOTS of passions. I am a mom, a volunteer, an athlete, and a CPA. I love spending time with family, gathering friends at cookouts, and learning new things. I am constantly learning and love to share what I learn with everyone I Keep Reading
How to Find the BEST PRICES for Prescriptions (even if you’re uninsured)
This post is sponsored by SingleCare; however, all opinions are 100% my own. The health insurance marketplace is all over the grid nowadays. We never really know which way reform will go but one thing always stays the same. We all need medical care and prescription medication. When you get a bad flu or your kid gets pink eye, you NEED to visit the doctor's office. But what happens when you don't have good insurance? What happens when you don't have ANY insurance? What happens when your insurance doesn't cover your prescription or the care you need? These are Keep Reading
Pinterest Secrets of a Six Figure Blogger
Lately I've decided to start sharing more of my blogging secrets with you guys. I figure there's no point in keeping them all to myself because A) I think there's plenty of room in the blogosphere for thousands of bloggers even if a lot of us write about the same thing since we all have a unique perspective to share and B) I need some co-workers to talk to! :) Grab your spot in the FIRST course to combine effective Google and Pinterest SEO Strategies into one. This course explains everything in a straightforward step-by-step manner with videos, checklists, and Keep Reading
Must-Read Money Management Tips for New Moms
Before we had our first child 11 years ago, we were used to living on two really nice incomes. We both had professional jobs and no debt other than student loans and car payments, and we really had no commitments to anyone other than ourselves. We traveled wherever we wanted, ate out at restaurants often, and didn't really give much thought to saving or scrimping because we didn't feel the need to do so whatsoever. When we decided that I would be a stay-at-home-mom when our daughter was born, we were in for a super rude awakening! I went on a long journey of figuring out the money rules of Keep Reading
Thinking About Starting a Blog? Here’s a Simple Way to Make Money with It!
I've been getting so many questions about earning money from a blog that lately. Today I thought it would be a good idea to go over an actual example of how I make money blogging. I don't know about you, but I really appreciate examples. Hopefully this will help you visualize exactly how you build a profitable blog piece by piece. Lots of little actions like incorporating the coupon below is how I grew my blog from $100 per month to over $13,000 per month. In the beginning, it's a $10 here, $20 there kind of thing. Only after you get good at this kind Keep Reading
