FinCon14 (money bloggers conference) Wrap Up
I will post my thoughts about FinCon on Friday of this week. I needed a little time to decompress and think about the experience. It was a bit challenging physically because I caught the flu the weekend before, then a cold, then a migraine, and afterwords lost my voice. I was a hot mess. Of course, I feel great now.
Spending Lockdown Challenges
It has been awhile since I’ve done a challenge. I’m feeling at loose ends without a random challenge to rock out so I’ve decided to start a new challenge for the month of October. In fact, I’ve decided to do 2 challenges this month.
The Challenges are:
- Spend no more than $40 on groceries for the next 6 weeks (mid-November)…and try to see how long I can go with spending as little as possible on groceries until the end of the year. I did a final top off of my pantry items and stocked some things in the pantry this weekend so I do want to disclose that I spent around $135 dollars this weekend. My goal is to use what I currently have as creatively as possible. I will tweet at least 1 meal a day so you can see what I’m eating. By the way-I DON’T eat packaged meals. All meals that I eat are almost all cooked from scratch. Am a food snob-what can I say 🙂
- No more shopping (again) I think that I am $500 over the amount that I had budget for 2014. I LOVE what I have now (unlike before) so I have stopped shopping again. I don’t need anything and will use what I have for as long as possible. I picked up several dresses in New Orleans and I am so happy to have them. Gorgeous.
I should mention that my pantry project is finished and that I have more than enough: soap, toothpaste, and every other toiletry item you could think of to last me for a year (am completely serious). I will no longer be purchasing toiletries/home items but using what I have in home. When I have only 2 months worth in the home then I will restock (probably around the time for FinCon15). Will keep you posted on that.
The Art of Deliberate Usage
I am trying to be super deliberate in how I use what I currently have. It’s so easy to fall back into mindless spending-so no more of that and I’m working very hard to stay aligned with the 5 things that I care most about (in this order):
- Health
- Time
- Family and Friends
- Money (debt free and growing investments)
- Travel
Nothing on that lists includes shopping or active daily consumption of unnecessary sh$t. So there you go 🙂
Hanging out in the Chatfield Corn Maze on Saturday night
My favorite Links around the web
Lauren at L Bee and the Money Tree just impulsively Paid Off Her Student Loans! Am so excited for her 🙂 Student loans done.
Stefanie from The Broke and Beautiful life only spent $107 freaking bucks at FinCon14. Check out how she rocked this conference financially!
Tonya over at Budget and the Beach talks about having Half the Desire to do something. This post really resonated with me. I totally get it!
Kassandra from More than Just Money wrote a fantastic Dear Debt letter. She lets debt know why Success is the Best Revenge. Check out the soundtrack below.
My friend Usha runs a fabulous fashion and lifestyle blog called Tripping the Light Fantastic. Check out the amazing manicure she got at Paintbox-Nails of New York. That is the next place I’m visiting when I’m in New York!
Staff Writing for Budget Blonde
First, I think up some Crazy Business Ideas: Diapers to Lip Balm
Then, I talk about life insurance. Not a light topic but super important!
TSMCP around the ‘Sphere! Thanks for the support 🙂
I am proud to say I will be helping out Cat from Budget Blonde! Am excited to join her team 🙂 By the way, can I just say that Freelancers are AMAZINGLY organized!! You have no idea. It has been a learning curve for me and I truly appreciate Cat’s patience and guidance
Tonya at My Fab Finance shared My No Shopping Challenge Experience
Save.Spend.Splurge shared my Money Microaggressions post. Have you experienced this type of stereotyping before?
The Jenny Pincher shares my post about Buying A Home As A Single Woman.
There is a gorgeous lifestyle blog called Shen Dove Style. This young lady shared my experience buying a home as a single woman and my crazy winter prepping post. I want her blog designer’s information!
I shared My Experience Buying My First Home on Tonya’s site Budget and the Beach. I also talk about the most important form in your mortgage paperwork-the HUD-1.
The Million Dollar Diva (who lives in Australia) shared my post about taking opportunities when they cross your path.
Mrs. 1500 kindly recognized my blog as a Blog You Should Be Reading. I loved meeting her and Mr. 1500 from 1500days! They are so awesome.
Side Hustle Money For September
$135 Online Stuff
$250 Brand Ambassador Stuff
$235 Random
Total: $620
I would have made more but I didn’t take into account being gone for FinCon and also getting super sick. I would like to make $1000 in side hustle money for October. Let’s see how it goes!
Bonnie and Clyde-Jay Z and Beyonce
Hire Me Because I Want To Work More-Idle Hands and All That….
I am looking to pair up with the following people and or entities:
Local businesses
Non-Profit Organizations
Bloggers!
What I’d like to do for you:
Special Projects
Ongoing Projects and Administrative Tasks
Virtual (Assistant) Assistance
Blog Management-Are you going on a trip? I will manage your site so that you can relax!
Contribute blog posts to your fabulous blogs!
Social Media Management
Etc.
Contact me at: jackson.l.michelle@gmail.com
or
Check out my virtual assistant site: www.jacksonlmichelle.com
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I am with you on no more spending! I’ve spent way too much on clothing this year. I want to travel next year and get my debt paid off so I’m really focusing for 2014/15.
Kudos on getting some great exposure and writing for Budget Blonde! 🙂
We can do this Michelle! I have some big things coming up so I am trying to eliminate the distractions. And spending money on things that aren’t in alignment with what’s important to me has become a distraction. Cat is super cool (and patient) as I had a bit of a learning curve!
Oh wow, I’m blushing now! Thank you for the kind words. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t meet again for another year.
We have to meet up! Maybe we could go hiking?
Good job on the side hustle income! I’m excited to read your FinCon post. I just can’t get enough of them!
Thanks Michelle, I’m really trying to focus on the online side hustle income. It’s hard to amp things up with the 20 hours eaten up by commuting time. We’ll see how it goes this month 🙂
Congrats on all your side hustle income Michelle, that’s awesome! I love the idea of “the art of deliberate usage”. I’m trying to do the same with my food budget.
Thanks Stefanie! I spend a lot of time prepping so now I can use what I have and rock my food budget. I think people get really excited about the prepping stage and forget about how to use what they have stored away. Then, they become hoarders. I don’t want that to happen 🙂
Thanks so much for the Dear Debt letter mention and now I will just stay on your page listening to Bonnie & Clyde! I’m doing the same with the groceries, using up what we have first. I don’t eat packaged food much either but I’m not a gourmet cook so it’s been basic meals around here lol.
It was a great letter! I think that it’s very easy in Western countries with tons of pantry/kitchen/and refrigerator space to overstock and not use what we have. I am one person and I have more than enough fresh/frozen/canned foods to last me for awhile. So, I’m going to use it and stay out of the grocery store. I will also tweet and describe the meals.
Aw so glad to have you and your great personality on the site. 😀
Thanks Cat, I will work hard for you and truly appreciate the opportunity!
Congrats on the new gig! It looks you are rocking those side hustles!
Thanks! I’m trying to really amp it up in October. So hopefully we’ll see some movement on the side hustle amounts.
$40 for six weeks of groceries, that is a HARDCORE challenge. 😀 I am going to be right here, cheering you on! (And probably swiping some of those recipes. lol) I feel like I should set a few new goals for the end of the year, but I have no idea what I can do, at least money-wise. Maybe just “do not order pizza.” 😛
You have to understand that I do serious pantry stocking. So, I have a ridiculous amount of food in my home. Examples include: chicken, squid, lamb, kimchee, almond milk, coffee, rice, beans, etc. I even have plenty of seltzer water. Basically, I have a ton of food 🙂
I love your top 5 priorities. The look an awful lot like mine! I’m in spending lockdown, but I’ve already been doing that so I feel like a seasoned pro at this point. lol! Thanks for all the mentions and thank you for writing that post on my site!
It took awhile but now I am super, super clear on what’s important to me. Now that I am clear on my priorities it’s much easier to focus on them. We should get badges that say “No Spending Pros.”
Great month! I can’t wait to get to the $600/month mark!
Thanks Kara! I’m am really trying to hit $1000 this month. We’ll see how it goes.
Good job on the side hustle income and good luck on your grocery challenge! I just added shelving to my laundry cupboard (DIY’d it – yay!), so the money saved doing it myself will be used to replenish my stockpile of household items. Go prepping!!
Thanks Laura! I am looking forward to being intentional about my spending. I think it’s super easy to fall into bad habits so I’m going to really focus on what I have and use it! Love that you put the cupboard in.
Thanks for the mention! Looking forward to your FinCon recap. You are doing a great job on hustling. Excited that you are working with Cat, she is great!
🙂 I am really trying to amp it up but it’s difficult to do with the commute. I just landed a fun gig for October and I am hoping to reach or surpass my October goal. Cat is awesome!
I wasn’t sure if you meant $40 for the entire 6 weeks or $40/week. Both rock, in my opinion! I’m super interested to hear your tips on organization. I need to find my mojo in that regard. 😉
I mean $40 for the next 6 weeks. I’ve done a 9 week No Shop Project before (for groceries) there’s a really specific way I tier the food. You also have to use frozen veggies, etc. I’ll talk about that at the end of the challenge.
I’ve been seeing request for VA. I’ll make sure to remember you VA site the next time I see one (which will probably be tomorrow).
Thanks Toni!! That’s a huge help 🙂