How to Have a Great Day

Are you ready to learn how to have a great day, every day?!

Two things have been entering my mind lately: 1. I’m really happy at this point in life, and 2. Most of my days are exactly the same (so, why are they so good, haha?).

I have three little girls who I love dearly, but anyone with little kids knows that day-to-day life with them is pretty rough and demanding. We have a pretty set routine, which I’ll share below, and I think it’d be easy for someone with this life/routine to be… bored? anxious? wanting more? But I really don’t feel like that. Sure, I’d love to take a vacation, but I’m honestly very content with my so-called mundane life.

After thinking more about this and doing some research on what makes life good, this is what I’ve determined allows you to have the best day ever, today (and every day after).

And, my new life motto is “Great days make a great life.” How true is that?! So, instead of focusing so much on goals and what the future holds, I’m focusing on today.

A Weekly Blogging Schedule to Make Money

I get asked pretty frequently how I’m able to bring in a full-time income from home as a stay-at-home mom to three little kids. My oldest is in kindergarten, my middle child is in pre-school five days a week (half days), and my youngest is at home with me (she’s one!).

I’ve never worked more than 15-20 hours per week on my blog (it’s usually much, much less), HOWEVER I have been blogging for over three years now! So, if you want to make money blogging, you have to stick with it! I always recommend new bloggers do one thing every single day that relates to blogging. Over time, these small things add up 😊

That’s the secret to success: Longevity.

I usually do a tiny bit of blogging tasks early in the morning (maybe 10 minutes), and my major “blog time” is when my older two are in school/pre-school and my baby is napping (about two hours, if I’m lucky). Every once in a while, I’ll work at night. But to be honest my brain doesn’t function that well at night, ha. I’m definitely at my peak in the morning!

Working Moms Morning Routine: 5 Tips to Streamline Your Morning

Being a working mom is no joke. From the moment you get up, your day is nonstop. To make your day run smoother, I firmly believe in the power of a morning routine.

I used to wake up whenever one of my children woke up (it was, and still is, always early). This started my day off on a scrambled foot. By the time I got to work, I felt like I’d run a marathon and my day was just beginning. I knew my routine as a working mom had to change.

For about a year now, I’ve been following a strict morning routine (that actually starts the night before). Below are my five top tips for streamlining your morning routine as a working mom.

Working Moms Morning Routine: Top Tips

Do as much as you can the night before

School bags get emptied out, cleaned and repacked. Lunches get made other than refrigerated items. *Time-saving tip: Make all your sandwiches on Sunday and freeze. Then throw one in each child’s lunch in the morning and the sandwich will be perfect by lunchtime.

Outfits are also selected the night before for both myself and my kids. Make it a part of your bedtime routine for the kids!

I also spend 10-15 minutes cleaning up before going to bed. This could be dishes, sweeping and mopping the floors, throwing in a load of laundry, or quickly cleaning the bathrooms. I never spend more than 15 minutes, but it’s made a world of a difference in both my mood in the morning and the overall cleanliness of my house.

Set three goals for the morning

This tip I learned from Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course. I highly recommend her course if your morning routine is in shambles and you need a complete revamp.

Every night, write down three things you want to accomplish in the morning. You can start out with easy goals, like have coffee, fold a load of laundry and have five minutes of quiet time to check emails. Simple.

As you get in the habit of writing down and accomplishing your goals, start challenging yourself. I always give myself one thing to look forward to, such as having 10 minutes to drink coffee in peace, one thing to clean, such as tidying up the play room or sweeping the kitchen, and one thing for my side job (blogging), such as scheduling posts on Pinterest and Facebook.

Wake up before your kids

You knew this was coming, right? Truly the only way to get your mornings in order is to get up before the kids. I know, it’s hard, especially if you have early risers. My kids are up by 6:30 every single day at the latest. I make it my goal to be up by 5:30 which gives me an entire hour, though sometimes I do “sleep in” until 6.

By waking up early, I have time to enjoy my coffee, take a shower and get ready, have a quiet conversation with my husband, catch up on emails, or do some work for my blog.

By the time the kids wake up, I’m looking forward to seeing them. I can spend quality time with them rather than rushing around and yelling. My patience with them has grown tenfold simply by getting up before them.

Allow time for setbacks

Wouldn’t it be nice if mornings always went exactly to plan? Of course! But as any mom knows, that rarely happens.

I’m currently breastfeeding my six-week old baby girl. Some mornings she sleeps through our entire morning and I transfer her to her car seat and we’re good to go. Other mornings she eats on and off for a solid hour. Instead of frantically stressing out when this happens, I am able to relax because I’ve left extra time in our morning routine. I give myself about two hours in the mornings, but it really only takes about 45 minutes to accomplish all my tasks. If things go smooth, I’m able to dedicate extra time to my kids, cleaning my home, or my blog.

Give the kids a routine, too

I keep our mornings exactly the same from one day to the next. I believe this best prepares them for their day, too. They wake up and head downstairs immediately for breakfast. Breakfast is always something easy: frozen waffles, a poptart and sliced bananas, yogurt with fresh blueberries, cereal, etc. We save pancakes and eggs for the weekends in this house 🙂

Then, the kids are able to watch TV, do art or play in their rooms for about 30-45 minutes. This gives me time to get what I need to do done – whether that’s finalizing lunches, getting myself ready, or feeding the baby.

Roughly 30-45 minutes before we leave, the kids get dressed, brush teeth and I do their hair. That time always tends to fly and we are out the door before we know it!

I know mornings can seem so rushed. Trust me, I have been there. And to be honest we still have very rushed mornings with the addition of our third child.

My best advice would be to be consistent and allow yourself plenty of time. I know it’s hard to get up in the morning, but it’s worth it to start your day off on the right foot.

Are you struggling with your morning routine? Share in the comments!

How to Find Time to Blog with Little Kids at Home

I have a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a newborn baby who just turned one month. I’m by no means “super mom,” nor do I try to be. However, I am able to still find time to blog, keep up with the housework and find some time for myself. Today, I’m sharing my secrets on how to accomplish this!

Whether you’ve been blogging for years but are struggling with time management or if you’re a mom who’s debating starting a blog, this post is for you!

11 Things I’d Rather Do than Side Hustle

Side hustles. Where to begin? If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know that side hustling is my thing. I’ve been freelancing for four years (but recently stopped freelancing for something else) and I’ve been blogging for almost two years. My blog is finally bringing in a consistent income (you can check out my latest income report here!) with very little work, so I’m a happy camper!

So, yes, I like side hustling. It’s allowed my family and I to save money, travel, not be on such a tight budget, and even move across the country. I’ll probably side hustle for the rest of my life, if I’m being honest.

But, let’s take a look at my life in the last four years, just real quick:

Quit my FT job to be a SAHM mom
Immediately started freelancing
Had another daughter 16 months later
Took on a freelance editing job 1 month before she was born
Moved across the country
Continued freelancing with two toddlers at home with me
Started this blog (want to start your own? Here’s my tutorial on starting a profitable blog)
Moved from an apartment to a rental house
Started working full-time
Moved from our rental to our new home we purchased
Got pregnant with our third baby (another girl!)
Finally backed off freelancing…

Haha, so, life’s been busy. I’m sure your story looks similar. The past four years have been the best years of my life, and a lot of that IS thanks to side hustling. However, this year I’ve really made an effort to slow down. Life is so short, and I’m not near as focused on making as much money as possible anymore.

In light of my new period of slowing down, I thought it’d be fun to list 11 things I’d rather do than side hustle! Ready? Let’s go.

How Freelance Writers Can Negotiate a Raise

As most of my regular readers know, I have a goal to make $10K per month within one year, or by October 2016. However, I don’t plan on getting there by working all day every day. Instead, I plan on being strategic about how I’m earning my income. If you’re a freelance writer and want to make more money, but don’t necessarily want to add more work to your plate, it’s time to start negotiating raises.

I started out making $25 per post. Now, I get anywhere from $50 to $275, depending on the word length and the topic. If you want to make more money as a freelancer, you have to start earning more per post.

How to Write Faster and Increase Your Productivity

I often get asked how I’m able to “do it all.” Though, sometimes it’s not so much a question but more a concern (hi mom!). Well, I’m here to tell you that while some of my days are long, I honestly think I’m doing a really good job in the work-life balance. Everybody’s busy. But the truth of the matter is if you want to accomplish something, you will make time for it in your day. That’s why I freelance and blog (and work FT and am a mom), I want to. It’s something I enjoy doing and I’m growing a business, so I put in the work.

Before I get started with today’s post, I wanted to see if anyone would have any interest in reading some sort of guide/eBook on how to better manage your time so you can accomplish all of your goals? (Title TBD.) I’m currently working on a FREE eBook as a “Thank you” for signing up for my upcoming newsletter, but after that I’d love to create an actual eBook that goes in-depth and gives readers something to learn from and take away. If you don’t mind, let me know in the comments what you think of that idea or if you think it’s too overdone.

If you’re new to blogging and freelancing, or if you’ve been at it for years but want to increase your productivity, this post is for you. The secret to getting a ton of work accomplished is by learning to write fast and focus. I’m not saying you should sacrifice quality for quantity (in fact, you should never do that), but I am saying you can learn to write quickly so you can make more money per hour, accomplish more each day and have more free time with your family.

How to Make Time for Side Hustles

I tend to have a lot on my plate, just like all of us. I’m a wife, mom to two little girls, I work full-time, I keep my house clean regularly, I cook dinner most nights of the week and more, yet I still have time to freelance write and blog. I have a goal of making $10K per month within one year (so, by October 2016) through freelancing and blogging. That’s a l.o.t. of money, which equates to a l.o.t. of work.

One of the things I get asked is how I am able to balance all of it. Interesting fact- but I don’t feel like I work all the time. I bake something usually once a week, John and I watch TV every night before bed, I go to bed early (like I’m asleep by 9:30 early), and I never work when my girls are awake and with me. Every once in a while, John will watch them for an hour or so on a weekend morning, but for the most part I like to be with them and fully engaged when they’re up.

An Update: How Freelancing and Working Full Time is Going; Plus, a HUGE Goal

This past Monday marked two months at my new full-time job. I’ve still been freelancing on the side and have been able to bring in around $1200 – $1500 each month on top of my full-time job (you can read my income reports here). I thought it’d be fun to provide a sort of “life update” if you will to let you all know how it’s been going managing both.

Review: Make Over Your Mornings

Well guys, I’ve completed Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course as of today. The course is NOT just about getting up earlier, though I will say that I AM waking up earlier than normal (by choice). The course is about prioritizing your day, allowing yourself time to relax, setting goals for yourself and accomplishing them bit by bit, creating an effective to-do list and more!

First of all, I loved the course. But, I’m a long-time reader of Money Saving Mom and I love Crystal Paine! One of the main reasons I bought the course was because you get a peak into her life! The course is 14 days, and all 14 days include a chapter to read, a task out of a workbook and a video from Crystal (my favorite part!).Continue Reading