Budgeting for the rest of us

Category: Blogging

  • New Theme

    New Theme

    When Mrs. BFTROU set up this blog, she chose the Atahualpa theme, mainly to experiment with it. One of our friends uses Atahualpa, so we figured it would be a good theme to use.

    Today, I got rid of it, and replaced it with a much simpler but less customizeable theme. Not so much because I didn’t like the theme, but because I just didn’t have the time or inclination to deal with the literally thousands of different customizations available with that theme. Plus the last batch of customizations made the site difficult to read.

    Atahualpa is probably GREAT for somebody who either has only one blog, or wants to use only Atahualpa on all his/her blogs. Otherwise, the sheer complexity of the theme will drive you nuts.

    For me, a less complex theme gives me most of what I want. I hope that the result is easier to read and navigate. Bear in mind that this is probably not the last time I will update the theme…

    If you have any suggestions for improvement in any aspect of this site, please feel free to comment below — or use the contact form if you don’t want to excoriate me publicly.

  • Eating crow – not so tasty!

    Eating crow – not so tasty!

    Well, Mr. BFTROU certainly handed me a wake-up call this morning.  You see, I never, ever ask his permission to post anything, nor would he expect me to.  I don’t send a post to him for editing in advance either.  But after I’ve posted, he generally gets around to reading what I’ve written and commenting on it.

    So, this morning I was somewhat surprised when he greeted me with “that post needs to be entirely rewritten from beginning to end.”  HUH?  So much for being the most supportive husband in the world.

    This morning I was much more likely to call him Mr. Burr Under the Saddle than Mr. BFTROU or Mr. Most Supportive, but I’ve learned – though it’s sometimes hard to admit – that maybe, just maybe, I am not the world’s repository of all knowledge about how to write a blog post that people resonate with.  :-)

    So, I have set the previous post -the one he hated so much -to private and will take his advice by basically starting over completely.  I will make the post sound less like a Master’s thesis in Accounting and more like something that could be helpful to an entrepreneur.

    And maybe, just maybe, if he’s really nice, I’ll consider speaking to him again some day :-)

    Will be back soon!

     

  • Joining the Unemployed – On Purpose!

    Joining the Unemployed – On Purpose!

    I took that big step, and now I’m joining the unemployed.

    Not that that’s a bad thing, but I am not entirely sure whether it’s a great thing yet.

    I don’t think we’ll starve. First of all, neither of us is underweight. Secondly, we have quite a bit of reserve in the bank – else I’d never have taken this step.

    Still, it’s scary. REALLY scary. Because, despite the fact I’ve not used my health insurance in so long I didn’t even know what pharmacy was covered under my plan – you never know, do you?

    So, what brought all this on? Now that I am officially no longer associated with the company, I can say a little, but bad-mouthing isn’t my intent. Honestly, I might want to go back to work there in the future – just definitely, DEFINITELY in a different department. And the skill I have as a result of working for that company makes me highly re-employable there. Despite my unhappiness in the current position, I took care not to burn any bridges.

    I have been reading for months – years, really, about how some people earn enough money through their online efforts to take care of – and in some cases, WAY MORE THAN take care of – their financial needs. I want to be one of those people, because, well, what could be better than working for myself? At home. With no tolls to pay, no gasoline to buy, and all my equipment is high-tech and paid for. Oh, and how could I help but love my boss? But -it’s clear that there are some things I do well, and other things I am not so great at. Which is which? Well, I don’t mind telling you:

    1. I’m a CPA but I haven’t had (nor do I want) recent tax preparation experience. (CPA’s actually DO do other things besides taxes, BTW.)
    2. I can write.
    3. I’m a pretty good editor too. I have learned a technique that makes it much easier to actually see the words I am reading, rather than just glancing over the mistakes and “reading” words that aren’t there.
    4. I have the world’s most supportive husband. NEVER underestimate the value of a supportive spouse, especially when things are bad.
    5. I’m an introvert. (Yes, that goes under the good GREAT side!)

    Oh my. I thought I had a longer list than that of good things!! Maybe I need to work on adding to them. Now for the bad:

    1.  Marketing. I hate marketing. I don’t even know how to do it, but if it involves contacting people and asking them to do something for me (like read my book) I just can’t do it (see item 5, above – the one about being an introvert).
    2.  I’m not all that imaginative. Most of my writing involves factual stuff, rather than stories, though I have been able to string together a coherent story or two. I just can’t do it on a regular basis – or, if I can, I don’t know it yet.
    3.  I don’t join all that well with the rabble (or as Niall Doherty would say: the rabblement*) OK, in all honesty, this is the reason for joining the unemployed.  Just the very idea of sitting in a huge room with no personal space all day, with people milling about, making all sorts of noise (on purpose) and actually trying to concentrate and get something done …I wish I could, but I can’t. Agile, thy name is evil, but in truth, there are people who thrive on this atmosphere. I am (almost) sorry that I am not one of them.

    For the next few months, I am going back to work for the same company (yep, but in a different department) as a contractor. This is the department I originally worked in and transferred out of more than two years ago for what I thought would be a better opportunity. So, I can go in, do the work they ask of me, leave whenever I get good and ready, get paid well, get some real appreciation, and don’t have to participate in office politics. Not a bad deal! I went in for four hours on Friday, and the change in atmosphere was almost palpable. From the warm welcome I received, I have reason to believe the other workers at least tolerate me. It’s good.

    Aside from the issue of health insurance, I’m actually reasonably satisfied with my lot these days. It’s a good thing, too, because who put me there? Nobody but me!

    So my plan from here, other than contract work, is to do the best I can picking up freelance jobs and earning money blogging (see Crystal’s book advertisement in my sidebar – she has many wonderful suggestions for people who are interested in earning money this way.)

    And we’ll see what effect joining the unemployed has on our household budget.  I’ll be reporting here – the good, the bad, and the ugly!

    **Niall Doherty has a wonderful blog, Disrupting the Rabblement, where he exhorts his readers to “think for yourself, live your dreams, piss off some zombies.”  His ongoing story of how he is traveling around the world **without flying** is fascinating.

  • How I Make Money Blogging – Book Review

    How I Make Money BloggingIf you are new to this blog, you aren’t alone. I am too! Although I have several other blogs that I write for and administer, both by myself and with my husband, I am really late to the party with a personal finance blog. That may seem a bit strange, since I am a licensed Certified Public Accountant. It seems like finance and budgeting would be native language to me.

    And they are.

    So, why didn’t I start a personal finance blog a long time ago? I think the main reason I didn’t was that there are already so many excellent personal finance bloggers, I felt like my little “me too” voice would get lost in the wilderness, since I am very new and there are so many.

    And maybe it will.

    So, why me and why now? There are a couple of reasons.

    For one, I have been following Crystal Stemburger at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff for several months, and the detailed income and expense reports she used to provide in the blog to track her success drew me like a bear to honey. (Due to some rude readers, she is no longer comfortable publicly providing that information in as much detail, but for me, that’s OK. I got the gist of it the first time she wrote about it – she’s a success!)

    And then, there’s my friend Wendy, of The Budget Professional. Besides just being a friend I know in person, Wendy is a very accomplished writer and extremely well versed in the tax and finance arena. She has a long history of internet marketing, writing, and is, well, just an awesome person! I mentioned Crystal’s blog, Wendy looked at it, and that’s when things started popping. Crystal was looking for new bloggers to mentor, Wendy volunteered, and together with four other bloggers, they are working through Crystal’s plan as detailed in Crystal’s new book “How I Make Money Blogging: The Beginner’s Guide to Building a Money-Making Blog.”

    So, just in case you see something either here or there you don’t like, feel free to blame Crystal and Wendy! :-)

    Since I already knew that Crystal was successful, I wasted no time picking up her ebook and and reading it from beginning to end. It’s a relatively short book (printed, about 32 pages, and yes, I did print it). While Crystal is chatty in her blog, I think she pared the book down so people could get the information they need and want without wading through a bunch of personal information and asides. As a result, she has produced a book that is very utilitarian without being dry and boring. (Although the question arises: who would be silly enough to be bored when someone’s telling you step by step how to be successful as an internet marketer?)

    Topics Crystal covers are

    • Choosing a name, a host, and a platform
    • The basic elements of a successful blog
    • Search boxes: who needs ‘em (answer: you do, and she tells you why!)
    • Disclosures are important
    • How to get traffic, with a slightly different and refreshing take on SEO
    • Essential plugins
    • Ads and how to get them
    • Tracking your efforts
    • Other ways to get blogging income

    Crystal finishes up with a numbered and detailed action plan that will tell you exactly what to do and how (and when) to do it, followed by some additional suggestions on how to get help if you need to outsource some of your work.

    There are many things I like about How I Make Money Blogging. Among them are the fact that it is:

    • Concise
    • An easy read
    • Interesting (who doesn’t like reading about how to make money?)
    • Not a sales gimmick to get you to buy a bunch of extras
    • Short, sweet, and to the point: no hyperbole!
    • Covers all the really important things you need to know

    There are also a few things that I think could be improved in future versions:

    • This book needs to go on the Amazon platform to get wider distribution  Update:  I just heard from Crystal – the book IS on Amazon, but in a very basic format.  The original purchase from the link on this page includes an Excel spreadsheet that shows you how to keep track of all your work. It’s excellent and makes all the difference between just the book and the book with a true-life example of how-to!
    • At $27.00, the price is a bit higher than what you normally see for this type of book (but keep reading for a discount!)
    • While it’s impossible to detail all the plugins available, there are some pretty useful ones she doesn’t mention. I would recommend a wider range of plugins and a description of how they’re used.

    Since the book is relatively new, Crystal has generously offered a $10 discount to anyone who purchases her book during the month of August, so the total price is $17.00 instead of the original $27.00. Use the code “thankyou10” at checkout. After the end of August, the price will rise to its normal $27.00.

       To Recap:
    1. The book is for beginners, but has instructions that help even a seasoned blogger get a better handle on the money-making process
    2. It’s written clearly and doesn’t have a bunch of extraneous junk – just the facts, ma’am
    3. Ok, this isn’t a recap of something I said previously, but the truth is that this book has made me want to do even BETTER and work more efficiently on my own blogging efforts

     

    Buy This Book! You won’t be sorry (but if for any reason you are, Crystal will give you a no-nonsense refund!)

    (As a reminder, I have an affiliate relationship with Crystal on this book. However, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t risk my reputation just to get a few bucks!)