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
7 Blog Income Strategies that Work 100% of the Time
You may remember in my March 2016 income report (the last one I published) where I shared my theory that it's way easier to scale certain types of blog income even in periods of downward trending page views. Well, I did a LOT of testing over the past 10 months and have found that YES, this is absolutely true! I've been on quite a ride testing many many theories related to income generation, and I've made some interesting discoveries. You can earn more money with less traffic if you know what to do What I found is that by focusing on selling products (for affiliates and my own Keep Reading
6 Amazing Survey Websites to Try Right Now
One of the most common questions I receive each week is "how can I make extra money quickly" without having to get a real part time job or start a blog? Although teaching people how to start blogs is my specialty, I have some tricks up my sleeve for earning money more quickly. I get it - Sometimes you just want extra cash on the side without a lot of effort up front! :D One of my favorite ways to make extra cash without much effort is by taking surveys. My sister and best friend take surveys all the time - the money won't make you rich, but you can take these Keep Reading
March 2016 Income Report – How I made $6,032 Blogging
Hey everybody! Welcome to my latest income report! This income report is for March 2016. It was a very interesting month, so let’s get started! Past Blog Income Reports This is the sixth income report I’ve posted to date. Here are links to the previous blog income reports: July 2015 – $3,391 October 2015 – $7,495 2015 Yearly Recap – $33,500 January 2016 – $9,997 February 2016 – $9,026 First Things First: How to Start a Blog If you landed on this post because you are interested in starting a blog, I wrote these posts to get you started: How to Start a Keep Reading
15 Things to Sell for Quick Cash
Whether you're a stay-at-home-mom or not, sometimes you find yourself needing a little bit of extra cash. It's easy to make money selling things you already have in your spare time. I sell things from around my house on Craigslist, Facebook groups, and on an app. I thought it would be nice to go over a list of some of the items I find that sell the best for me. If you look hard enough, you probably have many of these items around your home and can flip them for fast cash! :D Don't forget to share this list with your friends - use the blue Facebook button Keep Reading
List of 100+ Ways to Make Money – How to Make Extra Cash
Most of my friends know - if they ever need extra money to come to me. No, not because I will give them money, but because I have an endless list of ideas for them to use! I'm serious - I literally have 12 notebooks & binders full of pages and pages of money making ideas. It's not that I'm money hungry - I just love helping others figure out ways to build a life they want, whether that's travel, working on something fun on a flexible schedule, paying for their kids college, or having fun with family & friends. I have these notebooks full of ideas for Keep Reading
February 2016 Income Report – How I Made $9,026 Blogging
Hands down the most requested type of post on my blog are income reports. I write a lot about making money from home as a stay-at-home-mom and I also write to help bloggers grow their online presence….almost all of my readers are interested in these reports! Because of this, I’ve decided to be a bit better about publishing them on a regular basis. The last income report I published was for January 2016, so I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I’ll see if I can publish two a month until I get caught up for the year! Why I Publish Income Reports Some people question why I these income Keep Reading
How to Start a Cupcake Business – Books & Ideas to Get You Going
I love talking about unique business ideas you can run from home or just on your own terms. Perhaps one of my favorites is a CUPCAKE SHOP! I get so many people who ask me about cupcake businesses that I felt compelled to write a post highlighting some of the best CUPCAKE BUSINESS RESOURCES I can find. Before I would start any business, I would likely read about 5 books on the subject (not kidding!). There is absolutely no reason for anyone to have to go into business completely blind these days...there is so much information available to us now. I would want to know everything Keep Reading
10 Things I’ve Sold by Accident Online as a Blogger
One of my favorite things about being a blogger is the ability to recommend my favorite products and services to my readers and get paid for those recommendations. I write blogs posts about my favorite things, say, the best books I've found to encourage my kids to eat veggies. But then something weird happens. Sometimes, I sell other things on ACCIDENT. If you're already a blogger who's part of the Amazon Associates program, you probably know what I mean. What happen is that I will refer people to one item, but they will never actually buy that item - instead, they purchase other Keep Reading
January 2016 Income Report – $9,997
Hello friends! I’m so glad you’re here! Welcome to my January 2016 income report. Written in June. Hi, my name is Lena and I’m a professional procrastinator. :) I read an article recently that indicated people who procrastinate and are perpetually late are die-hard optimists. Apparently really optimistic people think they can do ALL THE THINGS in a limited amount of time. Good thing it’s true!..........I CAN do all the things!! Just not on time. lol I’ve had this income report on my to do list since February 1st! When I got to April and still hadn’t started it, I considered Keep Reading
4 Reasons You Need to Start a Blog by 2017
There are so many indicators pointing to 2016 being the year to start a blog. There are thousands of blogs out there. Many of them started by people just like you – students, parents, young and old, people with full time jobs and part time contracting work, aspiring artists, people into cooking/crafts/business/sports – the list goes on and on! Everyone has their own reasons for starting a blog. There was some catalyst (usually financial, sometimes creative) that drove them to get into blogging. Why should you start a blog now? There has never been a better time to be a blogger. So Keep Reading
2015 Blog Income Recap: $33,500 June – December
My best make money blogging tips EXPOSED! Today I am excited and nervous at the same time to share my income report on the blog. I’ve shared a couple of monthly income reports to date but for some reason sharing a monthly recap seems less invasive than a yearly recap. I’m sharing this annual income report for the same reason I share my monthly reports – so it can give other bloggers an idea of what’s possible and also how much work I had to put in to get the results I had. Some will think I work a lot while others will probably think it’s a pretty sweet work schedule for the Keep Reading
5 Things You Should Know Before You Start a Blog
Hi there! If you've never been to my blog before, I'm Lena and this is my blog about everything under the sun related to being a mom and managing a household (well, except for decorating, because I'm not good at that) :) I write quite often about starting a blog, and I get lots of questions from women who are just about ready to take the leap and start a blog of their own, but aren't quite sure how it will all work. They usually ask me very specific questions like "How do you get ads on your site?" and "How do you get people to look at your blog posts?" They are concerned about earning Keep Reading
How to Start a Blog to Make Money – Very First Steps to Take!
I receive questions quite often about how you make money blogging. Specifically how to start a blog to make money. I usually point people to my Blog Startup Guide but I know it can be a lot to handle all at once (it's a comprehensive tutorial all about starting a blog the right way if making money with it is your goal). I just realized that I never separately listed out the steps you must take to begin a blog in a super simple format so that's what this post is all about. If you were to take a look at my blog startup guide and boil it down to Keep Reading
How to Make an Extra $1,000 a Month – 5 Ideas to Get You Going
I write quite a bit on my blog about making extra money on the side, but I don't often put all of my ideas together into one place. I decided that I should probably do it today so that you can pick whichever idea fits you best to make an extra $1000 a month! This list outlines 5 specific ways to make an extra $1000 a month, and they're all ways to make extra cash that have worked for me and my friends. These aren't just hypothetical ideas! I hope you find something you like in this list or, at the very least, I hope it gets your creative juices flowing so you can find the perfect money Keep Reading
