Month in Review: June 2016

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Overall, June was an AMAZING month!  It’s been hectic and crazy, but it has also been SO worth it.  Two wonderful things happened: this blog earned triple digits in income for the first time, and the hubby and I adopted a sweet little pug puppy named Herbie.  Here’s a breakdown of our successes, failures, and highlights for the month of June!

Frugal Successes

-I made an extra $2,000 payment on one of my student loans.  I’m on track to have my first “big” loan ($6,000+) paid off in July!  Now that I only have large loans left, my progress feels so much slower and it’s been a bit demotivating.  It’s exciting to be close to paying off the first large loan, and that motivates me to keep going!

-I got serious about monetizing this blog and my efforts are paying off!  I had originally planned to focus primarily on freelance writing and to hold off on sponsored posts/affiliate income until my page views increase.

However, I managed to make money through all three of those things this month, which is incredibly exciting!  I earned $101.30 – that probably doesn’t seem like much (especially compared to bloggers who make $20,000 per month), but it’s a start!

-Making money off of this blog is awesome, but that’s not the reason I do this.  Even if I weren’t making money, I would still blog.  I started this blog because I wanted to help others to learn to live happily on less and to pay off debt as quickly as they can.  Reading personal finance blogs has changed my life in ways I never thought possible – and I want to have that same impact on others.

Recently, after receiving some negative comments, I started wondering if I was really helping anyone.  Then an old acquaintance contacted me and told me that after reading my blog posts, she was inspired to buy Dave Ramsey’s book – the same book that completely changed my life and my perspective on money.

When you put your life online, there will be some critics.  But I AM inspiring people to change their financial habits and improve their lives – and that makes it all worth it!  You can’t make a million friends without making a few enemies.

Frugal Failures

-The hubby and I had some disagreements about money, but we continued having our weekly budget meetings and we tried our best to look at things from the other person’s point of view.  The Frugal Girl recently wrote a thoughtful post On Humility, Grace, and Frugality which showed me that, as a naturally frugal person, I probably don’t handle my husband’s spendier habits in the best way.

I am a big believer that what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another – what works well for me (a three year spending ban, for example) won’t necessarily work for my husband.

Here is my Month in Review: June 2016

-WE GOT A PUG!!!  After many years of wanting to adopt a pug, my husband and I finally became pug parents.  Herbie is a sweetheart!  You can read more about our decision to adopt a pug despite being in debt here.

What I Read

I started reading Jason Vitug’s You Only Live Once: The Roadmap to Financial Wellness and a Purposeful Life.  I haven’t gotten very far yet (Herbie is keeping me busy!), but I love it so far!  Jason Vitug is the founder of Phroogal, a financial education start-up and lifestyle brand empowering millennials to live their dream lifestyles through financial knowledge.

Jason has organized The Road to Financial Wellness – a road trip across America raising financial awareness through local grassroots interaction.  He will be visiting all 50 states – check here to see if there is an event near you!

What I Watched

The new season of Orange Is The New Black came out!  I watched the entire season and it’s awesome.  I also watched Young and Hungry – a sitcom about a personal chef who works for a tech entrepreneur.  I wasn’t too keen on it at first, but it grew on me after a few episodes.  It’s hilarious!

In Case You Missed It

My guest post about How to Be Frugal Without Being Rude on Disease Called Debt went viral.  It’s interesting that blog posts sometimes don’t get too many views right away, but they go viral a few weeks (or months) after they’re posted.  It’s always a fun surprise when that happens!

I participated in The Road to Financial Wellness blog tour and shared my personal finance “aha” moment.  This post seemed to resonate with readers, and it was so exciting to hear that others were inspired by my story!

How was your June?  What are your plans for next month?