Archives for October 2013

Frugaling.org was founded on May 4th, 2013, as the spring semester of graduate school was just wrapping up. I wanted to write about my efforts and find an audience. Since then, nearly 69,000 people have visited the site. I’m proud to announce that today marks the 5th month anniversary!

Some of this month’s highlights included, learning to say no to more responsibilities, how Facebook makes you spend more, and how I was paying off massive amounts of student loan debt. Overall, this was the highest grossing month and one of my most productive writing periods.

For this reflection, I decided to separate the website’s growth and my personal finance accomplishments. Read below for more details:

Website Growth

• Continued growth in Google traffic
  • The organic traffic to my site has continued to grow for older articles
  • Google appears to be ranking my site higher more regularly
  • Joined the Google Authorship program after reading Modest Money’s article
    • Noticed a positive bump in traffic because of it

• Increased RSS Subscribers
  • Google’s Feedburner has shown tremendous growth in subscribers of the RSS feed
  • There are now over 130 subscribers of the site
• Strong influence and commentary from personal finance community
  • The personal finance bloggers have increased commenting on my site, which has really made me feel like I have more of an audience and conversation going on
  • I’m deeply grateful for their time and effort
• Nearly breached the 200,000 mark on Alexa
  • Got incredibly close to surpassing the top 200k on Alexa! Wow!
  • Very excited to pass that hurdle over the next month – I’m crossing my fingers
• Progress with AdSense
  • Revenue grew from $26 to over $40
• LinkOffers Affiliate Revenue
  • Affiliate Revenue continued to be a highlight, as I made thousands of dollars this month from this

Personal Finances

• Paid off $4,000 in student loan debt
  • Hoping to get below $30,000 by January 1st
  • People started commenting that this site may be more than just a hobby
    • This is both a flattering and startling reality, as it’s only been five months of work
• Testing out an all-cash lifestyle for 2 weeks
  • Putting all my credit and debit cards away

Frugaling.org is nearing its 5th month of operation and the earnings are still going strong! In fact, writing and working on this has turned into a nice side income. The site has been growing and growing, and because of that exposure, a lot of people have begun asking how they can emulate the process. Plenty of people have something important to share, but few know how to do it.

The key, as I’ll explain below, starts with WordPress. It’s is an open source blogging platform that makes up the foundation for a variety of blogs and news sites.

The following are five key reasons to use WordPress:

1. The Price Is Right

The platform is entirely free and accessible for a variety of uses. There are no licensing fees and its entirely expandable for anyone who uses it. For the frugal fiends and friends out there, this may be the most important part. It’s development is publicly observable and you can file bugs, ask for support, and seek help entirely on WordPress.org.

2. Show Your Expertise

Google has recently begun pushing authorship as a factor in credibility. Your public writing ability may account for future job opportunities and having a WordPress site may become essential. When it comes to increasing your side income or making a living, nothing helps more than solid writing that’s publicly accessible; by doing so, it quickly puts you a cut above the rest.

3. Easy To Use

WordPress is one of the easiest, most flexible blogging design platforms available. I’ve been using the framework for about 6 to 7 years now, and never had a problem with it. There are tutorials and learning materials for educators and students. Likewise, when users immerse themselves into the WordPress platform, learning immediately begins (with welcome messages and videos). A variety of support networks have also formed. By using this software package, you will significantly remove the difficulties associated with getting started.

4. Private Or Public

WordPress allows for flexible privacy restrictions and can tell Google (and other insignificant search engines) not to read certain pages. Thinking about growing your business and/or blog? WordPress sites allow for multiple contributors, editors, and users. All of these high-end features create an easy-to-use environment for you and your consumers.

5. Latest Technology

When using WordPress themes and formats, you can trust that you’ll be using the latest technology that works across browsers. For instance, today’s WordPress themes normally utilize HTML5 web standards, which are accessible across browsing environs (e.g., similar design on an iPhone and desktop computer).

For More Information: http://wordpress.org/

Today, I’m going on an all cash diet. That means I’ll be shedding all plastic – credit cards – in favor of the classic US dollar. And for the following two weeks, I’ll only use cash as a method of payment. If it can’t be purchased with cash, I can’t buy it. In doing so, I want to see if I realize a noticeable spending reduction.

Credit Is King

Despite the trite cliche, cash isn’t king anymore; rather, credit is. Plastic has largely replaced cash as our tool for spending. Cash can be lost and/or stolen, and it takes time for the exchange of funds. Credit cards are easily replacable, convenient, and offer cash back. When traveling domestically or internationally, credit cards are a slim and simple accoutrement; cash, on the hand, can be bulky and inconvenient. It’s actually illegal to cross international borders without declaring cash in somes of $10,000 or greater. With credit cards, I can carry a credit limit that’s nearly six figures.

Unfortunately, that accessibility to ample amounts of capital can also wreck your budget. The fact is, cold hard cash – that fungible form that’s a perfect combination of paper and fabric – may be the key to shoring up your budget.

Cash Envelope System

A few months ago I wrote about how Dave Ramsey’s cash-based economics may not work for Millennials. This generation is used to all things digital. Millennials are really the first to start with computers from birth. The digital world largely makes sense when you’ve always had it that way. Credit cards are perfect – too perfect – for this group.

Credit card statements, bills, and activity can all be checked online; in fact, some are mandatory to avoid fees. These “features” all have a distancing quality that may delay the realization of hefty spending. And while it may be difficult for Millennials to follow Ramsey’s cash envelope/budgeting system, the experiment is still important.

Ramsey isn’t the only one extolling the wonders of an all-cash system. The Guardian’s Oliver Burkeman has repeatedly focused on the redeeming values of cash.

My purpose was to see if I’d spend more frugally. It’s hardly news that people spend more freely with credit cards than when they’re using cash. But until recently, researchers who study the psychology of money had assumed this was for one reason only: “payment decoupling”, a fancy term for the fact that credit cards mean you get to enjoy your new pair of jeans, or Learjet, weeks or months before you have to part with the money. Newer studies, though, add a fascinating wrinkle: spending actual cash feels uniquely painful even when decoupling’s not an issue.

The 2-Week Cash Experiment

With these inspiring authors in mind, I’ve decided to experiment with an all-cash experiment for two weeks. Much like the format of my spending cleanse, this experiment will last for two weeks.

The rules are simple:

1. No credit card purchases.

2. No debit card purchases (except for ATM withdrawals).

3. Everything I buy must be paid for in cash.

Along the way, I’ll reflect and write for you. Each time I immerse myself in another experiment, I learn something about my spending habits. Using cash, I’m hoping to actually be able to realize, reduce, and prevent excess spending.

After two weeks, I’ll focus on the journey as a whole. It’s my hope that this experiment will help you realize how you spend money and if there’s room for improvement.