July Goals –
Blog:
- Explore Instagram. Seriously, it’s like a foreign world to me, but everyone says I should be using it. – NOPE – Instagram is not happening. Moving on….
- Get 2 Weeks ahead on blog posts again. – SUCCESS – I am 2 weeks ahead on blog posts, and I have nearly a month and a half planned out and at least half-started. I’ve also started using CoSchedule. In a nutshell, it’s a versatile, affordable drag and drop scheduler that you can use right from your WordPress dashboard, and you can try it free for 2 weeks! You can read my full review here :-)
- Break 100,000 with the Yakezie Challenge! – SUCCESS!
Finances:
- Put an extra $150 in savings to go towards personal loan. – SUCCESS – We’ll have that sucker paid off by Christmas if it kills me!
- Write 12 Freelance Articles – PASS/FAIL – I wrote 11 this month, and I’m happy with that, because honestly, 12 was a stretch :-) If you’re looking for a writer, check out my Hire Me tab or shoot me an email at [email protected]!
- Stick to $300 everything budget – NOPE
Family:
- Date Night with The Big Guy – PASS! – we just did a movie and junk food at home, but it was awesome!
- Plan some fun activities for when my aunt and uncle come to visit! – PASS! We went to the Science Center, Grant’s Farm, Fitz’s Soda Company, and ate some awesome food while they were here!
August Goals –
Blog: It’s been a couple of months since I focused on social media, so August is going to be social media month!
- Pinterest: Reach 1500 Followers (1191 currently)
- Twitter: Reach 3,500 Followers (2400 currently)
- Bloglovin: Reach 50 Followers (33 currently)
- Email: Subscribe in the box on the right!
Finances:
- Write 12 Freelance Articles
- Pay $500 towards Personal Loan and put $150 in Savings
- Figure out what I’m going to do about Auto Insurance
- Set a budget for vacation in September
Family:
- Put together a packing list for vacation
- Nail down some details for the kiddo’s 1st birthday party
Freelance Writing –
Do you need a staff writer, guest post, copy writing, or ghost writing services? I am available to write on a variety of topics! Check out my Hire Me tab for more information!
Posts I Wrote For Others:
Ignore the Experts; Credit Cards Can Be Great for Your Finances
Important Financial Thoughts to Have Before Baby
What is So Important About A Budget?
Inclusions in Blog Carnivals:
Home Money Easy’s Carnival or Retirement – Slow Drip Edition
Aspiring Blogger Personal Finance Carnival
Aspiring Blogger Personal Finance Carnival #47
Aspiring Blogger Personal Finance Carnival #42
Student Finance Carnival of Financial Camaraderie
Thank you so much to everyone who included me in carnivals this month!
*This post may contain affiliate links
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Hey Gretchen,
It looks like you are doing very well overall! That is alot of freelance articles, do you work full time while also blogging and doing freelancing?
Thanks! Yep, I work 50 hours a week and blog and do some freelancing…it’s really busy but I love it!
I have never gotten into Instagram either. I can only do so much social media and right now that is Facebook and Twitter!
Yeah, it can’t all be done in one day! You would go crazy!
I only do twitter right now. I don’t even have facebook for my site. I cannot imagine having 2400 followers, let alone 3500. I’m just under 500 :)
Congrats on the great freelance success! 11-12 articles is big.
Thank you! It’s definitely taken a lot of work to get all of those followers – but it’s really nice seeing the increased traffic from them!
Congrats on your July successes! I’m also trying to get more into Instagram!
Thank you! Instagram is a whole different world, LOL!
Wow, I’m impressed by how far ahead you are on blog posts! Nice! I don’t do Instagram either–personally or for my blog. I can only seem to (barely) handle the Twitter end of things. Not sure what I’d even put on Instagram…
I used to feel like that, but I’ve had a lot of success using CoSchedule. I wrote a post on it, but basically it’s a really affordable scheduling tool. I love it and it helps me grow my blog but maintain my sanity at the same time!
I love the idea of incorporating blog goals into your monthly goals. I think I’m going to start doing this. This is my first month and I’m quickly figuring out how important it is to plan ahead!
If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing to expand your Bloglovin followers? This is something I know virtually nothing about at the moment!
You seem to be doing well on your goals overall. It’s great when we hit them right on or better, but hey life is real. Just keep going, you are getting there.
I too can only do so much social media… I keep forgetting about my instagram account and it’s funny/infuriating but despite the fact that I’ve done everything I’m supposed to at bloglovin, (don’t get me started on the proper boxes checked properly, my rss addy, or yes, they are all jpgs! :) ) the pictures from my blog have never shown up. The funny part is that people seem to be finding me anyway. sigh…we fight the battles we can…