In August 2011, I started Making Sense of Cents. It’s wild to think it’s been seven years since then, and how much it has transformed my life. Initially, I juggled blogging with my full-time job as a financial analyst. Two years in, I quit my day job to blog full-time. Blogging has been a life-changer, allowing me to earn thousands of dollars a month doing something I love.
Let’s take a step back. I created my blog on a whim after reading about a personal finance website in a magazine. It started as a hobby to track my own finances, and I had no idea people could make money from blogging. I knew nothing about blogging and had no specific goals for Making Sense of Cents.
Before blogging, I worked as an analyst at an investment banking and valuation firm. I was stuck in the 8-5 grind, Monday through Friday, with a stressful job full of deadlines and responsibilities that didn’t interest me. I couldn’t see myself doing that for the next 40+ years. Blogging became an outlet for my stress and quickly grew from a hobby into something more. It allowed me to write about my finances, have a support group, and track my progress. Surprisingly, within six months, I started making money from it.
A friend from the blogging community connected me with an advertiser, and I earned $100 from that deal. That first deal sparked my interest in taking blogging more seriously and learning how to make more money from it. Now, I earn a great living from my blog, all starting from a random idea without knowing blogs could be profitable.
Blogging has given me financial control and the ability to work from home, travel whenever I want, and have a flexible schedule. I’ve had incredible experiences like traveling across the U.S. in an RV, living on a sailboat, and taking amazing vacations. All this happened because I started a blog seven years ago.
I’ve made many mistakes along the way and still do, but I keep learning and improving. Quitting my job was scary, and many people thought I was making a huge mistake, especially since my husband quit his job at the same time. It’s been almost five years since I worked for someone else, commuted to work, or was tied to one location. I’m my own boss now, and I’m incredibly grateful for how things turned out.
Here are five things I’ve learned about blogging and myself over the years:
1. **There’s always something to learn.** Blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s hard work, and you won’t make $100,000 in your first month. The blogging world is always changing, so you need to keep learning and adapting. This includes social media, running a website, growing your platform, and creating high-quality content. I love that blogging is never boring and always presents new challenges.
2. **I enjoy being in control and being my own boss.** I never dreamed of being my own boss, but blogging showed me how much I love it. I enjoy setting my own schedule, deciding what to do each day, and handling everything behind the scenes. I have a rule that I don’t do anything unless I want to, which has improved my work-life balance. I love every aspect of my work, from writing and promoting to networking and interacting with readers.
3. **Bloggers make great friends.** Many bloggers see others as competition, but networking is crucial for a successful blog. Making friends in the blogging community can help you learn, grow, and enjoy blogging more. Networking helped me learn how to make money from blogging, and it’s important to be genuine and give more than you take.
4. **Having a flexible schedule is amazing.** One of the best things about being a blogger is the flexibility. I can work whenever I want, whether it’s in the morning, at night, or on weekends. This flexibility allows me to balance work with fun activities and appointments without any hassle.
5. **Location independence allows me to work from wherever.** Being location independent for the past five years has been fantastic. I can work from anywhere, whether it’s an RV or a sailboat, as long as I have an internet connection and my laptop. The challenge is separating work from personal life, but the work-life balance I have now is great.
What major change have you made in your life?