June Monthly Totals
Posted on July 1, 2009
Filed Under monthly totals | Leave a Comment
debts
Brighter Planet Personal Visa – $2,163.11
ShoreBank Business Visa – $3,050.27
assets
ING Direct personal checking + $43.41
local bank personal checking + $5,708.20
emergency savings + $105.10
“Life Happens” savings + $.04
house down-payment savings + $.02
work pension fund + $3,312.03
business checking + $284.72
business PayPal + $148.56
business savings + $37.18
total assets $9,639.26 – debt $5,213.38 = $4,425.88 TOTAL
June turned out to be a pretty good month, possibly a turning point even. My sister got married and my dad, figuring that my boyfriend and I have been living together so long that we’re practically married, was very generous and gave me $5,000 in lieu of a “wedding present”. Right now it’s sitting in my local checking account, since I was only able to deposit it a few days ago, but I’m about to pay off my personal credit card and then move most of the rest of it into my emergency fund. I’m going to use a little of it to book a flight to FINALLY see my best friend in Indiana though. That should only be a little over $200. And I need to take care of some dentist and eye doctor appointments I’d been putting off as well.
My car has been acting up again, but I brought it back to the same mechanic I used last time (a highly recommended mechanic from Angie’s List). He looked at it for three days and couldn’t replicate the problem or determine what’s causing it, so he didn’t charge me anything this time. It’s got me worried, as it appears to be an electrical issue, and I know those are the worst and hardest to fix. I really need a reliable car to pursue growing my business this fall, at local art markets.
On that note, I did a trial run at a market a few weeks ago and did very well. I got set up to take credit cards in advance, through ProPay, and that helped a lot. Over half of my sales were via credit or debit cards! I did almost $400 in sales for a four hour event, so not bad. And I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, so I’m going to try to keep building my business this fall.
May Monthly Totals
Posted on June 4, 2009
Filed Under monthly totals | 1 Comment
debts
Brighter Planet Personal Visaa – $2,408.53
ShoreBank Business Visa – $3,350.27
assets
ING Direct personal checking + $121.27
local bank personal checking + $768.20
emergency savings + $25.01
“Life Happens” savings + $.04
house down-payment savings + $.02
work pension fund + $3,120.03
business checking + $102.96
business PayPal + $17.30
business savings + $12.16
total assets $4,166.99 – debt $5,758.8 = $-1,591.81 TOTAL
Looking at the numbers it’s discouraging, but I actually feel very hopeful…
Car repairs set me back $400+ this month. (And that was at a very reputable mechanic who had extremely high praise on Angie’s List and elsewhere for being extremely honest and fair when it comes to prices.) Still though, cheaper to do one major fix a year (at the rate I’m going) and keep a car that’s paid off than to switch to something new and have a monthly car payment. (Though I’d love a hybrid, I’m just not there yet financially…)
I also joined a mixed martial arts gym this past month. It’s $100 a month, but I’m not usually much on excercise and I’m really getting into this. I’m also trying to ride my bike more to work, so I’m starting to feel more healthy and the extra activity is definitely helping with my stress levels. And I’ve been a little more stressed than normal because I’m getting really anxious about my business goals, so after some conversations with my mentor and former employer recently, I’ve decided to jump in headfirst and start bootstrapping my way to where I want to be. I’ve been relying on my blog income for awhile, but I realized I need to do more. The long term goal is to have a retail store (both in person and online) selling ec0-friendly goods. There’s really nothing like it around where I live, and I know I could make it work. But since I have no capital at the moment, I’m going to start very small: pick up a few wholesale lines at a time and do some events around town to try to build both capital and a customer base at the same time. Hopefully the fall season will be good to me in this regard… We’ll see where I am by Christmas.
13 Ways to Go Green and Save Money
Posted on May 21, 2009
Filed Under frugal living | 3 Comments
Check out Green America’s list of 13 Ways to Go Green and Save Money, cross-posted below. Which of these have you already tried or do you want to try? We’ve recently started a vegetable garden ourselves, we’re working on getting a compost system going, and I’m trying to bike to work at least once a week (probably more often once it cools down again in the fall…)
1. Grow Your Own
“The biggest thing I’m doing this year is growing my own vegetable garden. It will be organic, and it doesn’t get any more local than my own back yard. Plus, it’s one heck of a money saver. It will even help me build community, because I will surely have extra fruits and vegetables to share with my neighbors.”
— Jessica S., Littleton, CO
Real Green: Food That Nourishes People and the Planet »
2. One Less Car
“I don’t own a car. Even in the cold Minnesota winters you’ll find me biking. Riding a bicycle obviously saves money and resources, but I believe it also builds community. When I am on a bicycle, I feel more connected to my surroundings, and I’m more approachable. I’m always saying hello to people as I ride past, whereas in a car, that interaction would be lost.”
— Sarah P., Minneapolis, MN
Real Green: The Case for Electric Bikes »
3. One Less Car, Part Two
“Although I get 48 miles per gallon with my hybrid car, I still make every effort to plan my trips to avoid needless driving, to carpool, and to take public transportation and telecommute, as often as possible. I write and call my political leaders in support of laws and funding for mass transit, and for greener cars.”
— Jeanne T., Springfield, VA
Real Green: Carpool for the Climate and Community (online tools make carpooling easier than ever) »
Green American: Fuels for the Future »
4. Reuse, Reuse, Reuse
“One way I have discovered to keep items out of landfills and save a bunch of money in the process is FreeCycle – an online group where members post things they are looking for, and what they have to get rid of. I have received a dining room set (complete with six chairs, buffet, and hutch), bunk beds for my kids, a set of night stands, and a really good juicer for no cost. And I’ve used FreeCycle to give away all the clothes that my kids have outgrown.”
— Lea P-W., Painesville, OH
Real Green: Finding Used Items Online »
Green American: 25 Ways to Green the World (get what you need without money) »
5. Stop the Leaks
“I’m unplugging the toaster, lamps, cell phone chargers, laptops, and other electronic devices when I’m not using them. These things leak energy needlessly when they are plugged in all the time. It’s the quickest way to save energy and it saves me money on the electric bill too.”
— Rachelle N., Nashville, TN
Green American: Efficiency First! »
23 Steps Toward Energy Efficiency »
6. Harness the Sun
“We installed solar panels on our townhome in March along with another family in our homeowners’ association. Several others had expressed interest before the economic meltdown and then backed off, but we hope that with our example others will see that in the long-run it’s a money-saver, and they will understand the benefit for both the planet and their bottom lines.”
— Ellen S., Boulder, CO
New Tax Credits for Going Solar in 2009 »
Real Green: Making Solar Affordable Now »
Faces of the Green Pages: Evergreen Energy »
7. Waste Not, Want Not
“I compost. I keep my garbage creation to a minimum. I refuse packaging and bags whenever possible (bringing my own cloth bag). I explain to the checkout person why I am refusing the bag or giving back the packaging. Also, steel is 100-percent recyclable. The recycled steel isn’t downgraded or ‘downcycled.’ I recycle every unusable nail, every screw, every wire, etc., at my local transfer station. Even my steel roof will be recycled when it is done being my roof.”
— Ruth O., White Salmon, WA
Green American: Getting to Zero Waste »
21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle »
8. Dispense With Disposables
“This may seem like a minor thing, but it really helps on my limited budget. I have ceased purchasing paper towels and instead use old rags for cleaning and wiping up spills. I wash the dirty rags and reuse them until they wear out. I didn’t realize how many paper towels I used to go through before I started this new system.”
— Sarah F., Tullahoma, TN
10 Things Never to Buy Again »
9. Reallocate Your Resources
“Our path toward sustainability began when we realized the value of doing things for ourselves. I began by making our own laundry detergent. It is all-natural and costs less than a penny per ounce to make! We used the money we were saving to take bigger steps: buying our meat in bulk from local farmers who raise their animals on pasture and sustainably, and buying Energy-Star appliances for our house.”
— Carrie C., Salem, VA
Real Green: Ten Simple Ways to Clean Green »
Green American: Heal Your Home Guide »
Real Green: Buying the Best Appliances »
10. Examine Your Diet
“By becoming vegan I cut my carbon footprint to at least 60 percent and the amount of money that each meal costs me by an average of 78 percent. Beans and legumes are so inexpensive compared to meat! I cut costs even more by growing herbs and vegetables for myself, and I earn fruits by offering to do the picking for friends with fruit trees, in exchange for keeping the surplus. I preserve them in glass jars and make pickled fruits and vegetables to extend them even further .”
— Sarah F., Tullahoma, TN
Real Green: Eat Less Meat, Cool the Planet »
Real Green: Think Globally, Can Locally »
11. Green celebrations!
“On June 20, I am getting married green style. Oh, green wedding, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: 1) Used wedding dress from eBay, $10!,
2) Organic, Fair Trade apparel for the wedding party that they can use afterwards,
3) Asking guests to carpool to save gas, money, and the environment,
4) Sending plantable wedding invitations [That's right, you bury the invitations and wildflowers spring forth, just like love blooms…],
5) Using leftover supplies from my cousin’s wedding,
6) Buying organic flowers from the farmer’s market … and more.
My fiancé Mark and I will be celebrating our day free from wedding-induced debt and the weight of a heavy carbon footprint!”
— Michelle B., Oshkosh, WI
Faces of the Green Pages: The Green Bride Guide »
Real Green: Green Weddings and More »
12. Invest Wisely
(and Needs vs. Wants)
“We’re always asking ourselves whether this next purchase is a ‘need’ or a ‘want.’ When we actually stop to think about it, there are precious few needs. People say things like ‘I need cable TV,’ but that’s probably not true. Calling such things ‘needs’ cheapens the meaning of the word. We’ve also begun investing some savings with a community bank. Interestingly, in our experience, the smaller community bank with the social mission has been reliably beating the pants off of the mega-banks in terms of rate of return. We know that we’re saving more by getting the higher rate of return, but we are also proud that our money is doing good in the community as well!”
— Steve O., Mamaroneck, NY
Green American: From Greed to Green
(shift society’s underlying values) »
13. What Really Matters?
“I’m trying to stay focused on people and relationships rather than stuff. This helps me consider who is affected by what I do buy and from whom I buy it. I save by buying only thrift store clothes, but splurge on Fair Trade chocolate. I support locally owned businesses. I volunteer my time. And with some of the money I save, I use it to support organizations that help people help themselves. I do without stuff; that isn’t what matters anyway!”
— Kelly G., Charlotte, NC
Green America’s Fair Trade Guide »
Real Green: 7 Fixes from the Green Economy »
Make More Money Blogging
Posted on May 16, 2009
Filed Under blogging, entrepreneurship | 3 Comments
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my different blogging income streams: how I’ve continued to make more money blogging each month since I started my primary blog almost three years ago, and how I can potentially improve and increase that income even more.
It’s definitely gratifying to watch the traffic grow on that blog each month, but I’m also always trying to figure out how to make the site better — attract more readers, give them what they want, and increase my income from that blog. In some ways I’ve feel like it’s grown a lot, but in other ways I feel like I haven’t tapped into all of the potential of that site.
I’ve also worked as a paid blogger in the past for a big blog network, being paid per post. That was a great steady income, but I recently quit the blog I was working for because of changes in editorial practices that made it more trouble than it was worth — it just became too time-consuming and I wanted to focus on growing my own blogs instead of wasting the time on someone else’s baby.
I’ll admit it — for the most part, has been my most steady income stream on my main blog for more than a year now. It took awhile before it started to really pick up, but for over a year, I’ve been earning about $150 a month from it. Some sites like ProBlogger.com (which I respect immensely and recommend anyone interested in making money blogging to read) would warn against using services like Text Link Ads, citing the fact that Google typically frowns upon these types of links. However, the income is too steady and sizable compared to my other blog income for me to give it up. On top of that, my main blog has a pretty good page rank — 5 — and I consistently show up near the top of searches for key niche terms related to my blog.
I’m getting better with affiliate income finally, I think because I’ve found more affiliates that I feel passionate about and can write truthful, high-praise posts about their products and services. I link to sites like Angie’s List and Ideal Bite on both my main site and this blog because I really do use their services and find them extremely helpful. I receive and read the Ideal Bite e-mail newsletters on a daily basis, and would recommend them to anyone whether there was a commission in it for me or not. I’ve been running the Ideal Bite links through Sharesale pretty much since I started my main blog, and the links to Ideal Bite alone have earned me over $100 — pretty decent for a free email newsletter service!
I joined Commission Junction this year, and while I’ve found myself making more money so far through the Commission Junction links, I find some of the features that Sharesale has to be a little more user-friendly. For example, I can make direct affiliate links to pretty much any page on an affiliate’s site through Sharesale. While Commission Junction has links to specific products already set up, those aren’t usually ALL of the products that an affiliate has on their site, so sometimes the thing that catches my eye, the thing I’d like to link to and mention specifically doesn’t have a way to link directly to it with an affiliate link. Or maybe I’m just obtuse, but I’ve searched the help menu on Commission Junction and haven’t found a fix to this yet. (If anyone knows Commission Junction better than I do and knows how to fix this, please let me know!)
I’ve found that affiliate programs that run through smaller networks or are specific to only one website haven’t really worked for me. To me, the key is to have a lot of affiliate programs that you can promote through one network, that way all of the little commissions add up together. Both Sharesale and Commission Junction only pay out once you reach $50 in earnings, so if you were only promoting one program it might take forever for you to make any money. Same with Google Adsense really, which is even worse since you have to earn $100 before they will pay out. I’ve got to love Amazon’s Associates program for that, since they will pay out at $10 if you do direct deposit. It took me awhile to really make money from Amazon either, but I’m finally starting to see those little $10+ deposits more often in my savings account.
I just signed up for Chitika a few days ago, because ProBlogger reminded me to. I’m not sure why I never got around to trying this one out before, since it’s his 2nd largest source of blog income, and my main site has great SEO and page rank, so I think it will do well. *fingers crossed*
I’m also an affiliate for the Thesis Wordpress theme, which I switched to about six months ago on my main site and might use for this blog in the future as well. I haven’t found a way to bring it up in a featured post on my other site, so I haven’t really made any money off of that program yet, though I really love the theme. It’s been super easy to tweak things (I did all of the back end customization on free themes for a few years before switching to Thesis, and it’s so much less hassle now…), and it’s got great built-in SEO on top of how SEO friendly Wordpress is to begin with. I’ve definitely seen my search traffic increase in the months since I switched to Thesis. I’m currently trying to convince my friend that Thesis is the right option for her blog’s upcoming redesign.
I’m really hoping to grow the affiliate traffic and revenue particularly. Like this post points out, it’s a great passive income stream (my favorite kind of income!), and the more I can do the work now and continue to reap the benefits into the future, the more secure I’ll feel.
Working Woes
Posted on May 10, 2009
Filed Under entrepreneurship, work | 1 Comment
I think one of the things that stresses me out the most about money is knowing that it’s the biggest thing keeping me back from my goals. My long term plan is to open up a retail boutique, with both a physical storefront and an online, e-commerce presence, and sell recycled and other eco-friendly items. I don’t want it to just be a place of commerce either, I want it to be a place where people can learn and I want to have a space that I can open up to the community — bring in artists and host community gatherings.
I want to do it the right way though. I want to make sure I have a personal emergency savings fund, as well as decent start-up capital. I feel soooo far from that right now though, seeing as at the moment, I have NO savings and some debt. The time feels so ripe for what I have in mind though, that it just kills me. I see perfect locations sitting empty and up for rent. There’s no place in my city doing what I want to do, but I wonder if I wait too long if someone else will jump on it before I get the chance. I keep trying to build my business on a much smaller scale, but it’s hard to do much other than make a little money blogging while I’m working full time. (And this recession and state budget cuts has it looking like I won’t exactly get a raise anytime soon.)
Work has been getting on my nerves more than normal lately too. I think part of it is because I want my own full-time business so badly, but also because for the last year and a half, since I started my current job full-time I’ve been promised a better position. (My boss always wanted me for a specific job but the higher-ups wouldn’t approve it, so I got hired, but for a lesser position.) In the mean time though, I’ve been essentially doing the job that I’ve been promised, though I’m not being paid for that job. It feels like I’m doing that stupid “girl in the workplace” thing and selling myself short, but I tend to be a perfectionist in whatever I do, so it’s hard for me to not try to fix things that I know need to be done. It’s also hard since I work for the state, so with all the bureaucracy it’s not like I have a lot of leveraging power to threaten anything with.
Ugh… I’m just not sure what to do, other than suck it up and live with the current situation for now and continue trying to build my business slowly in my off-hours…
April Monthly Totals
Posted on May 3, 2009
Filed Under monthly totals | 1 Comment
debts
Brighter Planet Personal Visa – $2,082.45
ShoreBank Business Visa – $3,183.85
assets
ING Direct personal checking + $100.23
local bank personal checking + $1,323.20
emergency savings + $0
“Life Happens” savings + $.04
house down-payment savings + $.02
work pension fund + $2,928.03
business checking + $215.85
business PayPal + $149.45
business savings + $.21
total assets $4,717.03 – debt $5,266.30 = $-549.27 TOTAL
This whole moving thing has really taken a toll on my finances. I pretty much wiped out my savings to take care of the deposit on our new apartment, which has made me feel very stretched thin and nervous. There are all of those little things that you have to get at a new place, little quirks about a new home that didn’t exist at your old home, and so I keep having to buy things to take care of it. I’ve been trying to avoid putting everything on my credit card, although I have paid for some of the home expenses that way. The last few purchases I’ve had to make have been on debit though. The last two paydays, I’ve sort of paid all of my bills, put money aside for rent and then made the few urgent purchases for getting the house in order, and then I’ve been left with not much for the next two weeks until my next payday.
I’m getting sick of this and I feel bad about it because it’s not where I want to be at all. I’ve wiped out the rest of my savings accounts to put that money towards debt, although I really want to start putting money towards both again soon.
