Live Debt Free

Pay off debt. Save. Give. Live your mission.

How To Make Money Blogging

by //

My Side Hustle

Every so often I make mention of my “side hustle” here on DFA and how it earns money that enables us to repay debt much faster.  Recently several DFA readers have contacted me wanting to know exactly what my “side hustle” is and how I earn money with it.

Well, you’re reading my side hustle now… DebtFreeAdventure.com is the side hustle that is brings in our extra income.  How much extra?  I don’t really want to list specific numbers but suffice to say that it earned enough this month to cover our 1st and 2nd mortgage payments!

Make money blogging

Luckily it is not necessary for me to write a detailed run down of how to start a blog or how to earn money with a blog because others have already done it.  In fact, I would be remiss if I didn’t point you to an awesome new resource to help you do this yourself… if you so desire.

For the last several months Pete over at BibleMoneyMatters.com has been busting his butt to compile a guide that aims to help people make money blogging.  Why listen to Pete?  In just 2 short years he catapulted himself from blogging beginner to a blogger earning enough to replace his wife’s full-time job.

In his own words,

“Over the past 2 years I’ve been blogging 5-6 days a week, generating over 800 pages of content, 6000+ comments and over 1.5 million page views. My site has become more popular than I ever dreamed it could be, and I feel blessed that the site has grown to a point where it is now able to replace my wife’s day job income. That means we’ll be able to afford for her to stay home with our children, which is even more important now that we have our first child on the way!“

Benefits from of earning money blogging

Earning money from blogging is not easy, but it affords you some very rewarding benefits… like:

  • Freedom to work from anywhere – I can work from anywhere, as long as I have a computer (or even a smartphone) with an Internet connection.
  • Control over your own income – The amount I earn is in direct proportion to how hard I work… this is not the case with my full-time job where I earn the same amount regardless of effort.
  • Income diversification – The alternate income acts as a hedge against possible job loss… losing your current job will hurt less if you have developed alternate sources of income.
  • Build savings and/or repay debt faster – Our debt is disappearing much faster thanks to the earnings from DebtFreeAdventure.com.

Another non-monetary benefit is that DFA also allows me to write about my passions.  Even if the site was earning nothing I would continue to write… the money is just a bonus.  Writing about personal finances helps me learn more, stay focused and accountable to our debt reduction plan, and help others along the way.

How can you get started?

Have you been wanting to do what Pete has done, and what I’m doing?  Are you passionate about a subject, eager to learn more, help others, and earn money along the way?  If so then buy Pete’s ebook and learn in one day what it took Pete 2 years to nail down.

If you want to get started blogging for money, check out Pete’s Blueprint For How to Make Money with a Blog.

I have read the ebook myself and highly recommend it to people looking to start an earning blog of their own.

Free Haircuts = Save Money – DFA Tip of the Week – 4/27/2009

by //

There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

“And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17

This weeks tip involves…getting free haircuts!

haircutI have always hated having to pay for haircuts.  To me getting my hair cut is kind of like mowing my lawn, it just keeps growing & we just keep cutting, over & over & over. As a matter of fact, I sort of wish I were bald.  There I said it…and I think I may actually mean it!  Any bald men out there please chime in with reasons why I should not wish to be hairless. Although quite necessary…to me cutting my hair once a month just seems like a big waste of time and money.

If I break it down, including tip haircuts were costing us around $20/month.  Here is what my wife & I did to cut that down to $0/month!

  • We purchased a decent pair of hair clippers for $45
  • We purchased a hair cape for $10
  • We let my wife loose on my hair
  • If you are not confident in your ability (or maybe your wife’s ability) to cut hair, check out this post on instructions for the tapered haircut, which is the most popular mens haircut.

For an initial investment of $55, which we made back in just three short months, we are now able to put the extra $20 into our savings or toward debt repayment…and every penny counts.  Let me add that my wife is doing an excellent job to date.  I think she is giving me better cuts than my barber…after all she does cut it with love!  Thanks again baby.

At this point I am not cutting my wife’s hair…yet!  She won’t let me near it, although I think I could do a very good job given the chance.

Lastly…gentlemen, please make sure that you “get right with your wife” before you give her clippers & sit in her chair or you may end up looking like the kid in this picture!

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.

DFA is passionately dedicated to helping others break the bondage of debt using biblical principles.

How the Gillette Razor Company Has Cost You More Than You Know…

by //

According to a past DFA Tip of the Week, my wife & I have stopped using paper products (with the exception of toilet paper) and switched to non-disposable products instead.

For example, instead of Kleenex, now we use handkerchiefs.  Instead of paper towels, we use washable microfiber towels (Sam’s Club sells a great 24 pack).  Instead of paper napkins, we busted into our stash of cloth napkins that we NEVER used.  All these changes have been a joy for us. Not only do we not miss the paper products, we found that we heavily prefer the cloth products!  The benefits are multi-fold, which you should use your imagination to discover.

Also, making this change caused me to challenge the entire disposable product industry.

Come to find out, this genius marketing idea of “disposable products” was invented by King Camp Gillette, the founder of The Gillette Company of razor fame.  From Wikipedia:

“Gillette realized that a profit could be made by selling an inexpensive razor and generating a market for disposable blades. This has been called The Razor and blades business model, or a “loss leader”, and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products.”

Now again, use your imagination and you’ll undoubtedly begin to conjure up over 20 products you use in every day life that have sold you on this idea of “disposable products”.  Why?  So they can keep you coming back for more.  It’s the same concept as a service provider selling you a subscription instead of focusing on a one time service fee…scheduled & guaranteed return business (consider the swiffer mop & duster for example).

My wife & I are currently auditing our life for the brainwashing affect of this marketing idea, and trying to make a frugal return to the days of true recycling…not using disposable products!  I challenge you to do the same.  Work to rid your life of the brainwashing effect the marketing industry has had on us, and instead reevaluate how to be more frugal in every day situations.  Challenge the norm, don’t be afraid to stand alone in a thing if it be good, make responsible choices in all areas of your spending and you will undoubtedly see your a drastic reduction in your spending.

Read our DFA Tip of the Week series to learn about how to adopt more money saving, frugally based tips!

God bless.