A testimony from Abby from Winstead Wandering
I’ve been blogging off and on since May of 2011. And in January of 2015, I decided to finally start the new blog I’d been brainstorming for months.
I had just suffered a miscarriage and I needed something to take me out of my own head. I knew, though, that I wanted to be serious and intentional in how I went about starting the new site; I wanted to buy my domain, I wanted to be self-hosted, and I didn’t want a free cookie cutter blog design.
After crunching numbers and spending a good portion of my Christmas break doing research, I decided I needed $200 to buy the things I wanted: my domain name, 36 months of hosting, and a blog design.
I know it’s completely possible to start a blog without spending a penny, but it was important to me to treat my new site seriously — like the business I eventually hoped it would be — right from the beginning.
I also hoped that working hard to earn the money would make the commitment more real to me.
Here’s how I earned $200:
Selling Textbooks
I took four college classes in the summer of 2014, and while I’d always intended to sell my used textbooks, I never got around to it. Needing blog money was the motivation I needed to finally list them on ebay. My timing aligned with colleges resuming classes after winter break, so my books sold quickly, earning me $125.
Teachers Pay Teachers Store
As a high school teacher, I have a Teachers Pay Teachers store where I sell the random forms, worksheets, and activities I prepare for my classes. I typically bring in $30-$40 in passive income each month, but seeing as January was the beginning of a new semester, I was able to set aside my entire $75 paycheck from that month.
Ibotta
I’ve used Ibotta to earn cash back on groceries since the app was first introduced, but I rarely cash out. I prefer to allow my savings to build up and then cash out when I have a specific purchase in mind. Because it had been a while since I’d done that, I was able to deposit $40 from Ibotta into my PayPal account.
It took me less than one month to earn the cash I needed to start my blog. I used the extra — and I continue to use the cash generated from my TpT account — to participate in giveaways and buy odds and ends like pretty dishes to photograph my recipes in.
My goal, of course, is that my blog will eventually bring in a small part-time income to supplement what my husband and I make as teachers. For now though, I love knowing that I started this adventure without tapping into my family’s monthly budget!
Abby is an Oregonian-turned-Mississippian, teaching high school Business and Technology. When she isn’t learning cool new slang at school, she likes to hang out at the golf course with her husband and aspiring (L)PGA toddlers. Abby blogs at Winstead Wandering.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
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Source: moneysavingmom.com