Is it just me, or is it really annoying to go to a website or YouTube video about saving money and living frugally and the person doing the video or writing the article are trying to get you to buy or subscribe to something they are selling? If it is a diet or health site they are trying to convince you that the only type of supplements that work are the expensive ones their company's name is on. All others are useless and you have wasted your money! The money saving one or getting out of debt are the ones that really get to me. You are there due to having no moeny or being in debt and want information on how to get out. So what do they do? Give you some information to get you interested. Then hit you with the book or subscription or coaching service that will get rid of all your problems for life. But you have to pay for it. Of course.
Whatever happened to
good old fashion helping others out? If I knew the answers to
everything, I would help everyone. I like thinking when I write tips
or ideas I have, that others find it valuable in some way. I can’t
really say I am an expert in any one subject. I have always written
about the way I do things. Take it or leave it. If you know a better
way then do it your way. No sense arguing with anyone about how to do
things. I also see no sense in charging people money for you to
share your information. I used to put affiliate links on my blogs and
never found it was worth it to annoy my readers. Those darn
things kept getting in the way of what they were trying to read. Like
trying to read a recipe on a blog and the photos are super big and as
you scroll down, all types of ads are in between the pictures and the
text. Very difficult to read. I leave those sites and skip the
recipe.
Don’t get me
wrong, I realize many people are now earning a living online by these
informational sites. For me, a blog used to be about my own life and
how I did things on my homestead. I had several and I listened to all
the other bloggers, who said they were making a lot of money every
month on their blogs. With affiliate links, subscriptions and selling
their own products like eBooks and newsletters. Well, I was never
quite comfortable pushing that stuff. I still have two eCookbooks for
sale on Amazon in the Kindle shop. I never promote them. With
all of that, I never made any real money. I never could have
lived off what I made. I still put an affiliate link from Amazon on a
blog post if it is about a product I have bought or used. A small link, not intrusive on the reader’s experience.
If you are living in
extreme poverty and go to the library to access the internet, I do
not expect you to be able to buy a $35.00 book to learn how to pay
your debt off. When you have no money to work with, I would not want to see you add that book price to your current debt
load. Nope. I would rather share my information of how I did it
hoping it would give you an idea of how to pay off all those credit
cards on a very low income……….yes, low income in my mind is not
forty thousand dollars a year! It is more like $20,00-$12,000 or less. All
the well known frugal money wizards have books or courses to push
upon you when all you want to know is how to get started. Like I
said, I am not an expert and especially on this subject. I have
been working on it myself and I am willing to share my information
and if it helps you, then good. If not, maybe you will find someone
else who can help you more than I.
The very first thing
all financial experts would tell you (and I know this as I worked in accounting offices and was married to an accountant) is to keep track
of every single penny you spend for at least three months. Whatever
you purchase, write it down. This gives you a clear picture of what
you are spending your money on. Do not take out cash and spend it and
just write cash down. Write down every cent spent and what it was
spent on. After you have done that you need to study it and
categorize every single purchase. Now make a list of the categories
and you have the beginning of your budget. This is your blueprint that will divide your money up into your expenses for the
month. If you don’t have a plan written down, you will not stick to
it. Remember that!
Copyright © 2019 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2019 Kathleen G. Lupole
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