July 2017 - My Income Journey

Start Your Website in Four Easy Steps!

Are you ready to create a website of your own?! It's awesome! I highly recommend it!!! You can start a personal or professional blog, create a site for your current business, start an online store, improve your writing and computer skills, teach your kids how to start a website, and, of course, make money from your site. You will have total control to create the look and function of your website if you follow this 4-step process. Follow these simple steps and get ready to learn a lot, make some money, and have fun with your new creation! This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details. In order to have a professional site, you must be willing to pay for the hosting. You can start a free blog with Blogger, Tumblr, or WordPress, but then your site will always be an extension of their domain, like www.myincomejourney.tumblr.com. If you plan on making money from your website, then you need to have complete control and be professionally hosted. With the free options, you can basically edit your text and a few colors, but not create the custom site that you'll want. Follow these four steps to create your individual website that you can use to make money from home. Step 1 - Pick Your Host The company that hosts your website is basically the company that makes it available on the internet. They provide your storage space as well as internet connectivity, so it's very important to have a good host. I highly recommend using Bluehost to host your site. Plus if you use them, you will get your domain name for free. I had a different site a few years ago with GoDaddy and wasn't impressed by them. My site got hacked and some malware on it and it was completely up to me to get rid of it. Plus GoDaddy's interface isn't nearly as user-friendly as Bluehost. Once you've decided to…

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Best Beginning Piano Book Series

I began learning to play the piano when I was six years old, my mom taught me. She also taught many neighborhood kids and continues to teach her grandkids. I'm so thankful music has been a part of my life. I love playing the piano! As I grew older I added the trumpet, guitar, and French horn to my list of instruments I can play, but it all started with the piano. When my oldest child was six years old, I decided I wanted to teach him to play. Not long after that, I had friends approaching me asking if I'd teach their kids and I now have eleven students (counting my own three kids)! I have many piano teaching tips and things I've learned along the way, but this post will focus on my favorite piano books for beginners. The books you choose to teach from can make a huge difference in the enjoyment and willingness to practice for each kid. It's very important you find good books that mesh well with your teaching style and your students enjoy! Here are some of my favorites! This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details.

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Make Money with Print on Demand Sites

Print on Demand (POD) sites are my new favorite thing! I love opening my email and reading "You've made a sale" and knowing I don't have to do anything except go "yay"! POD sites are a great option for making money from home. It's a very similar feel to making money from stock photography, which I have also greatly enjoyed. Once setup, you can enjoy passive income, work when you have time, not have to deal directly with customers, takes no money upfront, and has good earning potential (probably more than stock photos). What is Print on Demand? The term Print on Demand (POD) basically means the product is not printed until someone purchases it (or it is demanded). It has been used for awhile with books to limit risk and inventory. You could order a book, the publisher would print it, and then it would be sent to you. This same concept has evolved into art and photography which is what I'm going to focus on here. It is no longer necessary to be a starving artist setting up a tent on a street corner hoping someone stops to buy your masterpiece. You can now upload your art to all these sites and sell them as fine art canvas prints, posters, 5x7s, mugs, t-shirts, pens, and more! It can be seen by thousands of people all over the world and it doesn't cost you a dime. That's what I'm talking about! The process is simple. You upload your art and most sites let you set your price. Someone buys your art, you get a notification that it sold, you and the POD website both get a cut of the profit, then the POD site handles printing the order, shipping, and all customer service. All you have to do is upload your artwork and wait for the sales. There are definitely tips to getting more sales and promoting your art, but overall it's a simple…

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Best Grocery Coupon Apps!

Couponing has changed A LOT in the last 10 years and coupon apps are one of the best new additions to the couponing game! When I started couponing back in 2009 I had a phone that was pay per text and definitely wasn't smart. Technology has changed our lives in so many ways including how we coupon. My shopping strategy today is not the same as back in 2009. I LOVE coupon apps in addition to my clipping coupons, shopping sales, and stock piling.These apps listed below are the best grocery coupon apps around. I use them, they're legit, and easy to use. If you take advantage of these resources and spend a small amount of time being deliberate about your shopping then you'll see why this new trend in coupon apps is so popular. If you haven't read my article, "How to Coupon Without the Extreme", I recommend reading it to get the full picture of how to cut your grocery spending. These apps are just one piece of the food shopping puzzle. This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details.

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Top Survey Sites to Make Money From Home

One of the easiest ways to earn a few bucks is by taking surveys. You can start right away, they're easy to do, no risk, and you can do them at your convenience. But let's be real here, you aren't going to replace a full-time income by doing surveys. They have their place and I do them here and there, but they aren't a way to get rich quick or to get rich slowly, you aren't going to get rich with surveys. But, if you have ten minutes to spare, you do them while watching tv, you want to make an extra $50/month, you're stuck at a job with nothing to do, then go ahead and earn yourself a little bit of extra income. The sites I'm going to recommend below are all survey companies that I have signed up with and know are reputable. There are many scummy surveys sites out there, so be careful. A few rules to keep yourself safe: you should never be required to pay to signup or to take a survey, don't give credit card or personal ID information, and don't signup for other websites that you might get linked to from the survey. If you are unsure about a survey site being legit you can check www.surveypolice.com to read reviews. I could list 50 different survey companies for you to sign up that I know nothing about, but instead I'm going to give you the six sites that I've registered with. There are lots more out there that are legit in addition to these, but the sites below have been good to me and I feel comfortable recommending them. Here they are in no particular order: This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details.

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10 Financial Habits Everyone Must Do

No matter what your income level or where you are in life, there are financial habits that we should all be doing. You've probably heard of the lottery winner or NBA player who has millions to their name but ends up declaring bankruptcy within five years of coming into that money. That can happen to any of us at any income level if we are not careful with our finances. Below are 10 tips to help you take control of your finances. This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details.

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100 Ways to Earn Money from Home

There are so many opportunities to make money from home. Below is a list of 100 ideas to get you started. I began working from home back in 2006 after my first baby was born. Since then I have tried a myriad of ways to bring in extra income. The flexibility working from home provides me is invaluable. I can be here if a child is sick and missing school, I can work 20 hours one week and 2 hours the next, I can go on field trips and volunteer in their classrooms, and I love learning and trying new things! If you're looking to work from home so you can have the freedom to spend more time with your kids, earn a little extra cash each month, or sleep in until 10:00 and work in your pajamas, then take a look below and get started today! This page contains ads/affiliate links. See my full disclosure for details.

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10 Ways You’re Wasting Your Money

Have you ever looked at your bank account and wondered where all your money went? Wonder why your savings account isn't growing? You could be wasting your money! My Income Journey is all about taking control of your finances by making more money AND by saving money. You need to do both to be successful. Take a look below and make sure you aren't wasting your money on these common money traps! This post contains affiliate links/ads, see my disclosure for details.

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