What My Blog Salary Buys-2

For 18 months I was averaging a blog salary per day that bought we one bargain brownie per month. I decided to start fresh in June, and keep a monthly progress report. This is where watching pennies and dimes really becomes interesting for me. In June, I earned the grand sum of $3.04, just over $o.10 per day average. Woo Hoo, that's a 33% increase over my past average. Looking at it as part of a business, though one could argue chocolate brownies as a business expense, I earned enough to cover the domain costs for SamandCoffee.com and SamandCoffee.net for the month of June, with $1.04 left over. Not that I've added content yet there, but things are building up in the back ground, and it feels good to actually own a domain name. Sam and Coffee really does exist! 

I just have a siple google domain and $12 per year for each suffix. As much as I appreiate the free blogger site, I woudllike to migrate content there that is more research, article based, and keep this for conversation and community. I'm not sure how to link the two, and had menat when both DD2 and DS were here at Christmas, they could help me, but never found the opportunity. 

With the remaining $1.04, I will start a little business kitty. I'll apply that kitty to things like SD cards, for when the elusive camera is in my possession, notepads and good writing pens to keep handy for ideas, and maybe even business cards for the blog, ready for the Mn Blogger's Conference in October. I put the link becasue the slides and presentations are posted and there was some quality offerings. Oh, the kitty could go towards the conference fee too. 

My blogging expenses, at some point should include for the year:
Domain addresses $24
MN Blogger's Conference $20 (last year continental breakfast, lunch, snacks, and a first beer and appetizers for after conference party was all included, so it was as much entertainment as an investment)
Business cards-$20
Pens, notepads-$2 (I've been using my school supply stash, and will add a few things when target goes super low)
Computer Depreciation-agian computer used for lots of things, but at some point, I should have one for this work so should put aside $200 year, to replace every three years.
Camera  $175 (though I'll use for lots of things)-hoping to get with gift cards, and multi year use, but will put $40 a year for depreciation over 5 years to buy a new one.
SD Card- lowest I've seen, and adequate could be $5.00, and multi-year use

Grand total, this hobby/business costs about $309.00.

I'm pretty pumped about that, becasue even if I never earn a penny blogging, how many hobbies do people have that cost less than $30 a month?

What My blogging Salary Buys

Naivety can be a  good thing.  Blindly going into something with a preconceived notion of what the experience is like, but then ending up with something totally different-better perhaps, is a welcome. Blogging was my naive experience. I have to admit, I thought there actually might be a little side earnings available if I just worked diligently to post pithy commentary, share common experiences, and find advertisers and sponsors that would build my family's spending money coffers. I added the AdSense widget, and in December, 2014, my blog began to generate add revenue. $0.03 that first month.  

Well, 18 closed months later, and I have a finalized earnings total of $41.37. That calculates out to $0.075 per day. Looking at my earnings is a mild curiosity now.  I leaned quick that the AdSense does nothing without thousands of followers. A UK blogger, Skint Dad UK, has gotten a plethora of freelance writing gigs from his blog start, plus, followers in the quadruple digits, and I recall reading a post, months past his writing gig success, that he had cleared his first 100 pound milestone on AdSense.  DH will sometimes ask some days, "Did you clear your nickle yet?" on the rare day when I actually hit $1.00, I got an unenthusiastic, "Go mom" from DD2. This is not going to  be a money maker.

Or is it? I've decided to challenge myself to figure out just what my little earnings total might be able to do to enhance my quality of life. I'll start a new daily or monthly average in June, but for my past history, I did a little brainstorm on what exactly $0.075 can buy. While I didn't come up with much, I found that one special treat meets my blogging budget to the penny. Warnings, tedious calculation is ahead. 

I love made from scratch brownies, but am not opposed to boxed versions, particularly the fudgy ones. I regularly can buy boxed mixes for $1.00. They call for vegetable oil, $0.40, and two eggs, at my high average price of $0.20 an egg, and a pan will cost $1.80. I can get 24 bars from the pan, at exactly $0.075 a brownie-less if I get eggs and oil lower. Granted the last time I stopped at one brownie when I baked them was never, but conceptually, my blogging career pays for one self indulgent fudge brownie a day. I might scoff at myself and figure why bother with AdSense, but now it is a bit of blogging fun to check periodically. My earnings are pennies, however, blogging has earned me experiences, escapes, and connections that are priceless, and for that I'll gladly trade in my naive dreams.

Time Management and Blogging

I set the timer for 22 minutes. That is how much time I have to try and put the thoughts in my head, down on space with the keyboard before getting ready for work.  I truly love my "job" as a blogger. I get to write about anything that strikes my fancy, without layers of others weighing in, changing voice, adding phrases , and generally changing the direction, even if slightly, of my intent. Granted, I could really use a good copy editor-sorry again for the typos.  Even checking and double checking, I miss them. At work, I write a lot, but nothing is for public viewing before no less than five sets of eyes have been on it. Even so,  a very large report , out there on the web for all to see, made it through to the website, with a graph mislabeled,  and a section, that explained a pivotal part of the report, was deleted. Of course one of my programs chief critics noticed the error first.  Errrr! It was fixed and reposted. 

Where was I? Yes, time to blog is very important to me, even if I only have a few minutes a day. It has become a part of how I start my morning, and I feel like I'm off kilter if I do not put some words down ready for cyberspace. Is this another example of  how I've become a card carrying member of a self centered world? I prefer to think of it as inexpensive therapy. I do though want some degree of interest, so setting a timer, typing away, might be fine for me, but not for the poor sods that stumble upon and read the blathering. Along with  creating time to write, I've been trying to organize a little time to do some topic research and include an interesting link or two when appropriate. Like today, when I want to write, but time is limited, ideas muddled, a source for an idea topic might come in handy. The Sits Girls have a free ebook containing 38 blogging topics. You can find it HERE. I enjoyed the process of working on creative writing at Sam and Writing, where Natalia at In the Writer's Closet posted Write and Link. The daily and monthly prompts were good idea starters. 

Blogging's a fun hobby and I know for some, a lucrative  money earner. Like anything, to do something well, or at least do something better this week than you did it the last week, takes some practice. For me, that means setting time aside for thinking about and writing about the stuff I want to share and to set that time aside regularly, if only for a small amount of time. The timer just went off-practice is over for the day.

So...And Other Words that Are Out in 2016

I can face it.  It has been a lot of years since I took any courses in writing and the English language. I'm still forgetting the rule that you do not double space between sentences and that new paragraphs start with a line between and not indented five spaces. Grammar and writing police can have a field day with my blog and the number of errors.  This is an area I can get better, and am looking into a community ed class, offered several times a year, on updating language arts skills. there's a retired or underemployed teacher that is on to something most likely needed.

One area I hope to improve is my word choice; be bolder in statements. A new food item was not very tasty; it was flavorful.  I wasn't very thirsty after volleyball; I was parched. Even a non pedantic writer like me can appreciate the use of an expressive word instead of a lazy adjective. (Did you see what I did there?) The thesaurus will be my friend and I like this online version, thesaurus.com. This nifty site also shares a word of the day.  today I learned kvell, a Slang term meaning to be extraordinarily pleased, especially to be bursting with pride, as over ones family. I'm not sure how it is used in a sentence.  "I felt kvell after watching my daughter perform last night."  or perhaps, "My heart was filled with kvell, seeing my wisp of a daughter trip the lights fantastic in her show choir debut." Maybe I'll take a pass on this word of the day. 


There was a featured story on my commute to work yesterday about words and short phrases that should no longer be used in 2016. This was a CNN story titled Banish these Words in 2016, School Says. I am guilty of using "so" as a pointless word to start a sentence, and will strive to do better in 2016.  Other phrases such as "price point" or "break the internet" will be easy to resist. 

 As I do not want to send anyone's nerves to the brink of feeling like my fingernails are scraping down a chalkboard,  a feeling invoked by one of the professors, I won't turn the question over to you readers by starting with the word "so."  Instead, I humbly bequest of you to share any ideas, stories, or feedback on how to make my or other writers blog posts less prosaic and more imaginative.

Game for a Little Q&A Blogger Style

I am always up for a good game, and pleased as a person can be to be nominated for a Liebster Award, by Natalia at In the Writer's Closet. As Natalia quoted her nominator, the Liebster Award is given to "new bloggers to help them grow their following by introducing them to other bloggers and followers. "Liebster" is a German word which means "beloved, sweetheart or darling". The nominee is asked to answer the questions asked by the person who nominated them, and then nominate eleven other up and coming blogger.  I don't know if I know 11 new Bloggers yet-you all have been at this so much longer than me, but I'll see who I can find. Don't feel pressured; after all I was the one complaining about the reposts and shares via Facebook a week or so back.   Here are my questions.

1. Favorite color of the rainbow.

This is an easy one-blue, and blue, and still more blue. 

2. Favorite time of day.

Early eavening, when the sun is still up, but the baking heat of the sun overhead is starting to fade.  Of course, in Minnesota, that is about 3:00 in the afternoon from October-March.

3. Three favorite things to do when you don't have to do anything.

I can't recall not having anything to do, but when I get to choose, it is reading mind candy books, baking or cooking, and surfing the web.

4. Three favorite TV shows.

I have been off the regualr television bandwagon for a while, but here are the last three shows I binge watched: The Following, Sleepy Hollow, and Spiral (Engranages)

5. What was your biggest childhood dream?

An odd one, but I wanted to be the first girl football player in the NFL.  Then I moved on to being a reporter as my dream.  I would look horrid in those little football leggings.

6. What's more inspiring - being in the mountains or by the sea?

Both mountains and sea are pretty spectacular, but I will go by the see because I love the sea sounds.

7. In a difficult situation, who is your hero? (Do you ever think "What would ... do?")

My sister Shellie is probably the person that I know that shows impeccable common sense and logic.  She also is very giving and generous, and just a good person.  Actually, my sister Peggy as well fits this category.  Put their brains together and it would be unstoppable. 

8. If you only had to choose one book to bring with you to a desert isle, what would it be? 

Anything Elizabeth Ogilvie would do, but if I had to choose, The Season's Hereafter.  

9. First thing you do in the morning is ... (OK, of non-embarrassing things :) ) 

Mr Pup needs to be taken out-so he rules the top of my day, followed by drinking a big glass of water.

10. Are you a ritual person or a spontaneous person?

While I do like some routines, I am way to unorganized to say I am a ritual, so I must go with spontaneous.

11. If you had to describe the meaning of life in just one word, it would be ...

Understanding

Wow-harder than I thought it would be.  So here are my Liebster nominees, sorry if you consider yourself too experienced for this, but giving it a go. I also do not have 11, but maybe if you all participate, I'll find a few other newbies who are your readers.

Jan at The Great Escape

Joel and Becky at the Bacon and Ice Cream Blog

Frugal from Frugal in Derbyshire  (because I really like to say that name!)

Claire at Just a Little Less

Louisa at Middle Age Mayhem

My questions to you are:

1. Who is your favorite  fictional heroine

2. If money was important, staycation or cheapo road trip

3. Do you prefer a firm or soft pillows and mattress?

4. Which would you prefer, a walk in the rain or a walk in the snow?(proper attire)

5. What is your favorite season?

6. What song makes you want to dance?

7. What song makes you nostalgic for your childhood?

8. What television or movie character would most see themselves in your blog?

9. What sense do you rely on the most?

10. Would you rather be the driver or the passenger?

11. How do you rejuvenate after a long day?

If you know of any good new bloggers, and want them added to my Liebster list, send me and e-mail and I'll get them added.  I've room for five more.