There are a ton of budgeting apps out there, but many people end up using some sort of a spreadsheet for their budget.

Spreadsheets offer control and flexibility to users, and allows them to look closer at the transactions going through their accounts.

I have nothing against apps. Many people find them useful, and there’s no denying that there are a ton of good ones out there.

But I personally have used a budget spreadsheet for years and have found it useful. The more people I talk to about budgeting, the more I hear that people desire a spreadsheet-based budget without all the manual work that comes with it.

Today we finally have a budget spreadsheet in Excel that is automated and easy to update. But first let me tell you a bit about the budgeting process I’ve used in the past.

My Budgeting Process

 
I’m an Excel nerd so using a spreadsheet to budget was a no-brainer for me. I’ve had the same spreadsheet for over four years now. But why haven’t I shared it?

When I share spreadsheets and tools I want them to be as easy to use as possible. The biggest issue with spreadsheet budgeting is getting all the data in the proper format.

I have a number of credit cards due to credit card churning, plus throw in a bank account and you can see why it would take quite a bit of time to reformat everything. No two financial institutions seem to export data in the same format. So there’s a lot of work on the backend.

I didn’t want to share a budgeting spreadsheet until I solved this key piece of the puzzle. Fast forward four years and I still haven’t shared a spreadsheet.

That all changed when I discovered Tiller.

Tiller – The Key to Automation

 
Tiller is what I have been waiting for: it automates the process of pulling in your financial data into a clean, uniform format.

Now there are a ton of apps out there that link to your accounts. But they don’t allow you to dump your data into a spreadsheet because they either haven’t built a tool that can do that or they have a huge incentive to not allow their users to dump data into a spreadsheet.

Once you sign up for Tiller you simply have to connect your accounts and your financial transactions will be dumped into a Google Spreadsheet each day. They will come through in a uniform format that looks something like this:

 
Tiller does cost money. You can use my link for a free 30 day trial, but after that it’s $6.58/month. If you’re like me and spend an hour or more getting your data into a uniform format or have avoided budgeting because you don’t want to take the time to mess with your data, $6.58/month is well worth what you are getting in return for Tiller’s service. (Don’t worry they have a 60-day money-back guarantee as well).

Tiller has bank-grade security and has partnered with a company that works with some of the biggest banks in North America to ensure it’s up to the same high standards banks are held to. What was even more reassuring to me was hearing that their employees can’t even see your financial data. You can read more about their security and other features of their service on their website.

I’m all for Google Sheets, and Tiller absolutely can work simply using Google Sheets, but Excel is where it’s at if you want a clean and good-looking budget spreadsheet.

So I took it a step further and created an automated budget spreadsheet in Excel.

An Automated Budget Spreadsheet in Excel

 
Tiller is a great start, but my automated budget spreadsheet in Excel is where people will feel most “at home.” Excel is widely used and I’ve created a spreadsheet that someone with limited experience can use.

The spreadsheet has a directions tab that guides you through the process of updating the spreadsheet with your data. It also points out best practices that will help you not “break” the file.

 
The data tab is where you will want to paste your Tiller data. The data will then become part of a table that uses formulas to automatically populate the monthly summary tabs and the annual summary tabs.

Note that Tiller does not automatically populate the category for each transaction. Having the user populate the category allows the user to assign relevant categories and look at the transactions at a lower level of detail than they would if category was auto-filled.
 

 
On the categories tab you can add or delete categories as you see fit.
 

 
On the monthly summary tabs, everything is automated except for the budget column and the categories. You can add and delete categories as you see fit. You can unhide the hidden rows towards the bottom if you need to add more categories.

Everything is formula-driven, making it easy to see a snapshot for the month. While tabs have already been created for each month in 2024, you can easily make a copy of any of the months tab and choose a different month and year drop-down as you see fit. Everything will update automatically for whatever month you choose.
 

 
One additional thing included in this file is the annual summary. If you go to the 2024 tab you can see an annual summary of your income and expenses by month. This is automatically populated and you can easily make a summary for future years by choosing a different year from the drop-down.
 

 
This spreadsheet takes a lot of the manual work out of the budgeting process and gives you nice clean views of your financials, both budgeted versus actual as well as net inflow and outflow of cash.

My hope is that this easier process of importing and tagging data will encourage others to start budgeting. After all, using this process you can easily update your budget in less than 30 minute a month, perhaps even less than 10 minutes depending on how many transactions you need to tag.

Ten or so years ago it wasn’t common to have home or apartment security cameras.

They were either cost prohibitive, overly complex, or both.

Ring is one of the companies that changed that.

Most people are familiar with Ring because of the Ring Video Doorbell, but they also offer a wide range of other products including home security cameras.

If you are considering adding Ring Cameras, this post will help you decide whether to get POE Ring cameras or WiFi Ring cameras.

What are the Different Ring Camera Options?

 
As you can tell from the title, one regret I have is setting up a bunch of WiFi Ring cameras instead of POE Ring cameras.

The problem is that most people don’t know what “POE” means. It wasn’t until after I set up many cameras that I learned more about POE, or power over ethernet, and why POE Ring camears are better than WiFi Ring cameras.

To be clear, I think that WiFi Ring cameras are better than no cameras at all. It was a game-changer the first time I traveled to be able to log in and check my cameras, and even get alerts of motion. Since then I can’t imagine not having some sort of camera system and broader home security system in place.

When it comes to power source, there are three major types of Ring Cameras:

• Wired

• Battery

• POE

The Ring Stick up cam is an example of a wired Ring camera. This camera can also be powered by solar, which is actually quite affordable for Ring cameras.

Regardless of the power source, these Ring cameras are going to need to connect to your home network, and that’s accomplished by connecting to WiFi.

The same can be said about battery-powered Ring camera options. It still needs to connect via WiFi.

This brings us to POE Ring cameras, or power over ethernet. The unique thing about POE is that it provides both power and network via one cord. An example of a Ring POE camera is the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite.

Why POE Ring Cameras are Better than WiFi Ring Cameras

 
As I already mentioned, there is nothing inherently wrong with a WiFi security camera. In fact, the nice thing about them is how easy it is to connect to your network.

But WiFi Ring cameras come with their disadvantages.

In general, WiFi is less reliable than wired devices. This is true not just for Ring cameras but any device you are connecting to your network. WiFi signals can get jammed up or face interference, which is an issue for something meant to provide security.

Another thing to think about is placement of cameras. A lot of times you’ll want to place cameras around the exterior of your house, with soffit being the most likely thing you mount your cameras to. With wired Ring cameras you are going to need to have an outlet nearby, or you’ll have to run extension wires such as these to the closest outlet.

This may not seem like a problem at first, but when you really think about how many outlets you have in places like your garage and how accessible they are, you can run into issues once you start adding multiple cameras to your house.

Since you are already running wires, why not run POE wires (which are essentially cat6 ethernet cable and connect to a POE camera? From a wiring perspective it’s the same or less work, and you end up with a more secure and stable network connection.

How Does POE – Power Over Ethernet – Work?

 
Most people aren’t familiar with POE. And even when you first hear about it, it can be difficult to wrap your head around it.

If you can get past the initial “new-ness” of the concept, you can get comfortable with using it as your power and network source for your cameras. Perhaps more importantly, you can avoid the mistake I made of going with WiFi cameras. Because like me, you can avoid first buying WiFi cameras and then later swapping everything out to POE.

A graph can be helpful. Below is how POE works for Ring cameras.

Most home networks consist of a cable modem, a router, and that’s it. Using POE just takes one extra step: a POE switch.

The way a POE switch works is you run ethernet cable from the router to the switch, and then you run ethernet cord from the switch to the cameras.

And that’s it – you’ll have a wired network connection and power to your cameras.

Below is an example of a POE switch:

Once you start comparing the process of running wire for wired Ring cameras to running cat6 ethernet wire for POE ring cameras, running ethernet is more flexible. You only need an outlet for the switch, not for each camera.

There is one advantage wired Ring cameras have over POE Ring cameras: price.

If you compare the Ring Stick Up Cam, which is the wired option, to the Ring Stick Up Cam Elite, which is the POE option, the Stick Up Cam is about $100 while the Stick Up Cam Elite is about $200. So essentially with each camera you purchase you are paying double for POE.

With all that being said…POE is the future for security cameras. You are better off setting up POE cameras now instead of WiFi cameras which you likely will eventually upgrade to POE.

If you are ready to set up your Ring home security network, here’s a list of supplies:

• POE+ Switch (we didn’t get into POE vs. POE+ vs. POE++ in this post, but I recommend getting at minimum a POE+ Switch)

• Cat6 Ethernet cable

• POE Ring cameras

I did not include a modem or router since most people have it, but you can of course shop for these on Amazon as well.

Student loans can be complex. Annoyingly complex. Even painful. All the emotions.

There is no magical way to get rid of them quickly, especially if you have a lot of them.

The one thing you can do, though, is feel in control. To do that you need to get organized.

The best way to get organized is by putting all your data in a spreadsheet.

So naturally you may be wondering how to track your student loans in a spreadsheet?

You’re in luck – I have a free student loan spreadsheet that you can download.

This spreadsheet will help you get a good overall picture of your student loans, but it goes further than that. It will also run an analysis on your loans for income-driven repayment plans, provides a few repayment calculators, and more.

Grab the student loan spreadsheet by entering your email in the box below, or scroll on to read more about the spreadsheet.

• Instructions on Where to Find your Student Loans – Whether you have federal, private, or state student loans, there are instructions on how to find the details of your student loans.

• Tracking Tab to House all your Student Loan Details – The most important part of the spreadsheet. This will be where all your student loan detail is laid out in a nice snapshot.

• Student Loan Repayment Calculators – Three different student loan calculators that help you visualize what sort of impact putting additional dollars towards your loans will have.

• Weighted Average Interest Rate Calculation – Simplifies various calculations by giving you one interest rate that can be used in all your student loan repayment calculations.

• Income-Driven Repayment Calculator – Shows your estimated monthly payment under the various income-driven repayment plans.

• Federal Poverty Guidelines – Helps with calculating income-driven repayment.

• Principal vs. Interest – Curious how much of each individual payment is going towards interest versus principal? This tool will help you visualize it.

 
Here’s more detail around the tabs you’ll find in the spreadsheet:

This student loan spreadsheet has so many features that a table of contents felt necessary. This helps you easily jump to different sections of the spreadsheet.

There are instructions within the spreadsheet on how to find all your student loans, regardless of whether they are federal, private, or through a State.

This main tracking tab within the file is the most important and is the one that you will update over time with your student loan information. When you initially populate it you will identify whether your student loans are federal, private, or state, what the interest rate is on each loan, what the principal balance is, and more.

There are three student loan repayment calculators:

• Standard Ten-Year Repayment – Enter your loan balance and your interest rate and this calculator will tell you what your monthly payment is under the standard ten-year repayment plan.

• Goal Payoff Date – Do you have a goal date that you want to pay off your loans by? Curious how much you’d have to put towards your loans each month to make it happen? This calculator will tell you.

• Goal Monthly Payment – Curious how much faster your loans will be paid off if you put an extra hundred, two hundred, or more, towards your loans each month? This calculator is for you.

Weighted Average Interest Rate Calculation

Most people have a number of student loans, but for various estimates and calculations you want just one dollar amount (your total student loan debt) and one interest rate. This calculator will help you find what your weighted average interest rate is, which then can be used in calculators like the repayment ones I described above..

Income-Driven Repayment Calculator

Curious what your estimated payment would be if you switched from the standard ten-year repayment plan to an income-driven repayment plan? This calculator gives you an estimate of what your new monthly minimum payment will be under the various plans.

Income-driven repayment plans can sometimes feel a bit complicated, as they factor in the federal poverty level, family size, and adjusted gross income. This tab will simplify that for you, allowing you to select from drop-downs to automatically run calculations that are used in the income-driven repayment estimates described above.

Have you been making payments towards your student loans for a while now but the balance doesn’t seem to drop much? If you’re on the standard ten-year repayment plan it’s because a greater percentage of your payment goes towards interest early on in repayment. This tab shows the detail behind the 120 payments and you can clearly see how the split between principal and interest changes over time.

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Get the Free Student Loan Spreadsheet

 
Ready to download the free student loan spreadsheet and access all the features? Simply enter your email below and we will send you a copy.

 
Remember, the first step to conquering your student loans is understanding them. The sooner you understand your loans and repayment options, the sooner you can put together a repayment strategy that fits with your life. No two situations are the same, and I encourage you to do what makes the most sense for your specific situation.

I know I have. Minutes, days, and months all seem to fly by lately.

Before we know it, half the year is gone, and we’ve barely scratched the surface on accomplishing our goals.

Sometimes, this is simply the result of not using our time wisely.

Sure, dinner comes and goes, and it’s bedtime before we know it, but what were we doing to pass the time? Watching TV? Surfing social media feeds? Watching cat videos on YouTube?

Instead, why not try dedicating one or two hours of your nights and weekends to improving your life just a little bit?

Here are 12 productive things you can do on your laptop in your spare time.

1) Organize Your Files

 
Okay, maybe I’m an organizational weirdo (my closet is color coded), but I love having all my files on my computers organized. It makes it ten times easier to find whatever it is I’m looking for. (This is really helpful when you’re a freelancer with 10+ clients, too.)

For example, I have a folder for pictures which is separated into locations and years, images for my site, images for my clients’ sites, music (with separate folders for artists), articles (divided by client), tax documents…and that’s barely scratching the surface.

You can do the same if you use Dropbox or Google Drive, which I also do. The podcast I’m part of has a shared folder in Google Drive, and we have each podcast episode broken down by folder, so it’s easy to see which files go with which episode.

Getting your files organized and keeping them organized can save you a ton of time down the road. While you’re going through the process, delete files you no longer need to free up space!

2) Start a Side Hustle

 
We’ll leave off with the most obvious one: start a side hustle in your spare time on your laptop!

Yes, you can run a small business right from your laptop and become location independent, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or you can earn a few extra hundred dollars a month by using skills you already possess and offering the service to others.

Or you can start a blog and monetize it down the road. One guarantee if you start a blog – you will learn a lot in the process and you truly never know where it will take you. While it’s not always the case, many people who start a blog have turned it into a full-time income.

Earning more helps you advance toward your financial goals more than pinching pennies, and you’re bound to pick up valuable skills you can either take back to your workplace, or use to launch your own business full time.

3) Learn a New Language

 
Want to travel or ramp up your resume? Then learning a new language might be a great idea.

There is paid software out there that you can use, but why take the chance if you’re not sure you can commit to it?

Instead, try Duolingo. There’s both a free version and a paid version, and it’s also an app (so you can study on your phone). It offers a ton of different languages to learn. Babbel is similar, but only the first course in each language is free, so try each before paying for a subscription.

4) Study For a Certification

 
What’s more productive than studying for something that will potentially increase your salary? Whether you want to go into a new field or advance in your current field, try to search around for free courses that will prepare you to take exams for certifications.

You can do this even if you’re a freelancer looking to edge out competition. As an example, Google offers a free analytics course that helps you prepare for the Analytics Individual Qualification exam. Knowing how to track how effective an ad or social media campaign is can be pretty useful depending on the services you offer.

5) Learn a New Skill

 
Alternatively, you can choose to learn a new skill that doesn’t necessarily correspond with a certification, but will still boost your income.

Lynda.com is one of the best places to start as it has a crazy amount of courses on subjects ranging from video production to photography to web development.

Here’s a tip: check your library to see if it offers a free subscription to Lynda. If not, there are still plenty of free sites like Codeacademy that will teach you valuable skills, not to mention the plethora of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that can give you a great education without the hefty price tag.

If you’ve been meaning to learn something new for the challenge or because it interests you, you’ll likely find something on YouTube or a site that teaches the concepts for free.

6) Make Extra Money through Sharing your Opinion and Cashback Rewards

 
Along the same lines, if you like to unwind while watching TV, or if you spend a decent amount of time on the bus or train for your commute, why not take the time to earn extra money?

Sharing your opinion for cash is one of the easiest ways to lazily make money from home while binging on the latest Netflix show. Check out our big list of survey websites to get started.

Besides making extra money, there are also opportunities to get cashback on purchases you make. Sites like Rakuten offer cashback on purchases you make. Here’s a list of more than ten cashback sites you can sign up for. Some of these websites have sign-up bonuses when you use our link.

Finally, if you aren’t getting cashback through your credit card it’s time for a new one. Browse and compare the options available here.

7) Enter Giveaways

 
DC used to enter giveaways as a side hustle, and it has the potential to be fairly lucrative if you keep up with it. He even won a trip to Hawaii!

There are plenty of free giveaways to enter on your laptop during your spare time. If you’ve got nothing else going on, why not try? The more you enter, the more you increase your chances of winning.

Just as a bit of a warning, you might need various social media accounts to enter into these giveaways, as some require a like, follow, or tweet, so create a few specifically for entering giveaways before going on an entry spree.

8) Check in With Your Spending

 
You didn’t think we’d forget about money management, did you? Time spent managing your money is time well spent. Set a reminder for yourself to sit down with your laptop and have a budget check-in once a week to make sure you’re on track for the month.

You can use our free automated budget spreadsheet to help you stay on top of all your transactions each month. This spreadsheet uses Tiller to automatically pull in your transactions from all your bank and credit card accounts. It can be a huge time saver.

9) Watch Educational Videos

 
If you’re not a podcast person, Ted Talks might be up your alley. They tend to be on the shorter side, and they’re usually focused on one subject.

Experts talk about interesting discoveries they’ve made and explain how their findings can be applied to the real world. Others present a radically different perspective on subjects you might have learned in school that will make you think differently about them. You’re bound to find a few lifehacks here as well.

Maybe watching someone give a talk on a stage isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for material more in the realm of traditional education. Check out the following informational YouTube channels that also have animations to keep your attention: CrashCourse, AsapSCIENCE, MinutePhysics, and SciShow.

If you love picking up “useless knowledge,” give Mental Floss and Because Science (lots of “nerdy” topics) a watch.

Lastly, How to Adult is filled with useful knowledge on, well, something I’m sure we could all find useful as young adults.

10) Read a Book

 
I know, I know. Why read a book on your laptop when you might have a tablet or phone that can do the job?

Well, everyone has different reading preferences, and some people can’t stand holding an actual book or reading on a tiny screen. A laptop provides a middle ground. Check your library for ebooks or borrow a classic for free online.

You don’t necessarily need to read a book book, either. Maybe there’s a short ebook freebie you got when you signed up to a newsletter that you’ve been meaning to check out. PDFs longer than 20 pages count as long as you’re learning something, right?

11) Watch Tutorials

 
Are you awful at cooking? Always wanted to learn how to sew, draw, or play guitar? Maybe you want to pick up knitting or cosplaying? Is there a DIY project on your mind that you don’t know how to start?

There’s a ton of tutorials out there on each, and most of them are entertaining as well as informational. Try and find a series for beginners out there that can guide you step-by-step through a certain process.

12) Write in a Journal

 
Admittedly, I love journaling with pen and paper, but there are some pretty great online journals out there.

No, I’m not talking about LiveJournal (if anyone remembers those), but there’s one I’ve used called Penzu that allows you to customize the look of your journal, and allows you to password protect it.

You can have multiple journals if you want, which is great if you’re trying to track health or financial goals.

What are your favorite things to do to stay productive while on your laptop or computer? Have you already used any of these ideas? Share in the comments!

Since I started blogging a little over ten years ago I have consistently made more than $10,000+ a year while working a full-time job.

It’s been a perfect side hustle to diversify my 9-5 income, but it’s become more than that. It’s led to getting a book deal and writin books, interviews on local and national television, and becoming an expert in something that is totally different than what I do for my full-time job. It’s something that I can work on from anywhere, which is important to me.

The extra money I’ve made has not only allowed my wife and I to make progress on our student loan debt, build an emergency fund, travel, and make some major house renovations.

None of this would have been possible if I didn’t make the leap and start a blog.

In short, blogging has had a huge impact on my life – both financially and otherwise. I am not the only one with a story like this. There are many people who are consistently making thousands of dollars a month from their blogs, or who even make enough money to quit their job.

Because I’ve been a blogger for over ten years I’ve been able to see some of these remarkable stories play out. From creating a side income – whose impact shouldn’t be understated – to seeing people build a brand and business from nothing to a six figures, it’s incredible the opportunities out there for those willing to put in the effort.

The one thing all these successful bloggers have in common is this: they started a blog. Without taking this critical first step it’s impossible to make money blogging. It’s easy to think about “someday” starting a blog, but honestly the sooner you start one the better. By starting a blog today you are already far ahead of the millions of people who have the idea of blogging but have not (and may never) take the critical first step of starting a blog.

There are free blog options such as “Blogger,” and many people make the mistake of starting a blog on one of these free platforms. The problem with free hosting options is that advertisers do not like them. They like the self-hosted blogs and do not take the blogs on free hosting seriously.

I’ve seen many bloggers go through the headache of transitioning from a free hosting platform to a paid, self-hosted one like Bluehost and some have spent an entire weekend going through the process and working out bugs. Don’t make that mistake! The process can be so complicated that I completely abandoned one of my Blogger blogs instead of go through the headache of transitioning to Bluehost.

I have started a number of websites over the past 10+ years and helped many others get started. Since switching to Bluehost for web hosting I have always recommended them to people who are looking to start a blog. They are highly rated, offer affordable pricing, and make starting a WordPress blog extremely easy with their 1-click WordPress installation.

If you want to start a blog that makes money you are going to want to start one on Bluehost. Bluehost offers many advantages, including:

• Affordable – by using my link you get hosting for just $2.95 per month, which is less than $36 a year.

• Free Domain Name – you will get a free domain name when you sign up for hosting on Bluehost using my link

• Extremely Easy WordPress Installation – Bluehost has a “one-click” WordPress installation

• 24/7 Tech Support – Bluehost tech support is available 24/7 and has been outstanding every time I’ve used them

• Attractive to Advertisers – having a self-hosted blog is attractive to advertisers and will make it easier to make money blogging

• 30-Day Money Back Guarantee – if you cancel within 30 days you receive a full refund on your hosting service

• Extended Money Back Guarantee – if you cancel after 30 days you receive a prorated refund for the remainder of your hosting term

As you can see there are a ton of benefits of using BlueHost to start your blog. With their money-back guarantee there is very little risk of starting a blog through BlueHost, and so much potential for making money blogging.

1) Choose a Hosting Option

 
Once you have gone to BlueHost you will see the various hosting options. I highly recommend using the “Starter” package. Even though there are two higher-priced packages, there is nothing in the higher-priced packages that you need.

Keep in mind that this option is very affordable for self-hosting a website and comes with a money-back guarantee. If you decide within 30 days blogging isn’t for you, you can get your full payment refunded. Even at 10, 11, or however many months in, if you decide you don’t want Bluehost web hosting you will get refunded for any months you paid for but haven’t used yet.

You can also always upgrade to the other accounts if you reach any of the space limits from the basic account.

2) Choose a Free Domain Name

 
When you sign up for Bluehost using my link you get a free domain name. This is an ~$15 value if you had bought the domain name.

Once you click on the Starter package in the previous step you will be brought to a screen where you enter the domain name you want.

I will be the first to admit it’s not easy to choose a domain name. I got lucky by finding Young Adult Money, as many domains with “money” in it are already taken. But even Young Adult Money isn’t a perfect domain name.

It’s easy to overthink a domain name, but in all honesty the value of your blog will not be in the name but in the content you put out. There are many hugely successful blogs out there with obscure domain names.

It will almost for sure take a few attempts to find a domain name that isn’t already taken. Think of something unique (or not unique – i.e. Young Adult Money haha) and once you find one that is not taken, grab it. Just think of something that sounds good to you and you are good to go!

Once you have a free domain, you simply need to complete your registration and you officially have a blog! I would choose none of the extras on the last screen as they are just going to increase the cost of starting a blog.

The only one that I would consider is the $0.50 a month for “Domain Privacy Protection.” It’s not necessary, but it does shield and protect your information as a website owner.

Note: you can skip the section below and go straight to “Install WordPress” if you are registering a free domain name.

Already have a domain name?

If you already have a domain name that you bought on a site like GoDaddy, it’s easy to connect your domain name to Bluehost. Instead of registering a new domain, just choose the second option on the page and enter the domain you would like to be linked to your Bluehost hosting.

Here are the directions for connecting your GoDaddy domain to Bluehost:

To modify, add, or delete name servers (DNS) for your domain(s):

• Log in to the GoDaddy.com Account Manager.

• Select Manage Domains from the Domain Names drop-down menu or the Manage Your Account list.

• Select the domain name you wish to modify using the checkboxes and then click Set Name Servers.

• Enter your updated name server information in the spaces provided under the blue Name Servers heading on the right side of your page and click Save Changes at the bottom. Your entries should look like this:
  ns1.bluehost.com
  ns2.bluehost.com

This can all be done within the cpanel once you have purchased hosting. If you run into issues do not hesitate to email me. When I first got BlueHost I already had a domain, so I’ve personally gone through these steps a few times.

3) Install WordPress

 
Once you have signed up for an account, login to your Bluehost account and go to hosting -> cpanel.

Once on this page, scroll down to website builders and find the Install WordPress icon.

Once you click the Install WordPress icon, you simply need to click install and choose the domain you are installing WordPress to. You will then set up your login information.

To log into your WordPress blog, go to your domain name and add /wp-admin to the end of the domain. This will pull up the user and password fields that allow you to log into WordPress.

Just like that you have a living breathing WordPress blog. Congrats!

Remember, if you have ANY questions at all do not hesitate to ask. I am happy to help you with any blogging questions just as I’ve helped many others set up a blog.

Blogging Tips for New Bloggers

 
As I said earlier, I have over 10 years of blogging experience and have made thousands of dollars blogging. I do not say that to brag, but to make it clear that I can attest to the fact that it is possible to make money blogging. If I can do it, you can too.

Here are area few tips I have for new bloggers:

• Commit to 6 Months – While I don’t have a statistic to prove this, a common quote that floats around the blogosphere is “most bloggers quit within the first six months.” When you start your blog, consider making a a deal with yourself to blog for at least six months. If you still want to quit, you can, but at least you gave yourself a decent amount of time to build up content and truly give blogging a try.

  If you are hesitant about starting a blog on Bluehost because of the potential that you won’t like blogging, remember that they offer a refund for unused months that you already paid for. Even if you decide to quit after 3, 6, or any number of months you will get a refund for the remaining months you already paid for. There is very little risk in giving Bluehost – and blogging – a try.

• Connect with other Bloggers – The biggest mistake new bloggers make is thinking that traffic will simply appear. The reality is that getting ranked in search engines is difficult for established blogs and unlikely for brand new blogs. The best way to get some initial traffic and links to your site is by commenting on other blogs in your niche. This is extremely important for new bloggers!

• Plan ahead whenever possible – Many established bloggers do not write their posts on the fly. Instead, they plan their posts. This helps in situations where something unavoidable – an illness, a late night at the office, etc. makes it difficult to write a post the night before it goes live. Consider using an editorial calendar to plan posts in advance.

While this isn’t a comprehensive list of all the tips I would give to new bloggers, it should provide a good start for those who are looking to start a blog. Remember, it’s more important to actually start your blog than to have it be perfect from day one.

If you have any questions about Bluehost or blogging, do not hesitate to send me an email. I have been blogging for years and have helped many people start a blog, so I’m happy to help you as well.

One of the oldest ways to make extra money is through sharing your opinion. This used to be done primarily through in-person focus groups or telephone polls. But things have changed.

Today there are a ton of websites that will pay you to take surveys and share your opinion.

We’ve mentioned survey and opinion websites elsewhere on the site, most notably our monster post of 50+ online and at-home side hustles.

The purpose of this post is to have one big list that is updated semi-regularly of all the websites where you can make extra money from surveys.

Let’s get to it!

Our Big List of Websites to Make Extra Money from Surveys

• Swagbucks – Swagbucks has been around for years and is more than a survey website. You can also watch videos and use their portal to earn cash back. You can even use their search engine to gain rewards.
  
  I’ve personally used Swagbucks for years and have redeemed my points for gift cards (typically Starbucks and Amazon for me, but there’s tons of other options.

• Nielsen – When you think of Nielsen you probably think of TV viewership ratings. With more time spent on our phone, laptop, and other devices, Nielsen is trying to measure provide meaningful research beyond just the television.

• PineCone Research – PineCone Research is one of the leading consumer research companies. You can get paid to take surveys and occasionally test products as well.

• Nielsen Beta Panel – Another Nielsen option. This one is specifically meant for mobile devices. You get $5 for signing up and installing, and $5 for each month you are a user.

• Sample Hawk – This isn’t a survey website, but I figured some of you may also be interested in getting free samples, which is what Sample Hawk specializes in.

• Survey Junkie – Survey Junkie has been around for a long time. Like most sites that pay for users to take surveys and share their opinion, Survey Junkie is a market research company. Without opinions from consumers, they don’t have a business. That means Survey Junkie is willing to pay consumers – like you – to share your opinions on products.

• MobileXpression (mobile only) – MobileXpression is similar to Nielsen. Their goal is to track trends and how individuals use their mobile devices. User behavior is an important thing for companies to understand, so instead of filling out surveys they track your usage.
   
  Check out the full FAQs before you sign up to make sure you agree with what data the company is tracking, but here is a snippet that I found useful: “Maintaining our panel members’ privacy is our number one priority. Therefore, we do not collect or view the text or other personal content in any of our panel members files. This includes the actual content of text, email or instant messages, image files either downloaded or captured via the camera on a phone, or contact, address book or calendar entries saved on the phone or tablet computer.”

 
You won’t get rich taking surveys and sharing your opinion, but it’s something that can be done easily (and dare I say lazily?) from the comfort of your home, or really wherever you may be.

My suggestion is to give some of the sites a try and see which ones are worth your time and which ones aren’t. There’s plenty of options.

You’ve come to the right place if that describes you.

My goal here is to share a simple personal finance checklist. This won’t cover everything, but it will hit on some key actions to take to start managing your financial life better.

Here is the simple personal finance checklist, followed by more details on how to actually do each of these things:

• Review Your Income and Expenses from the Past 3 Months

• Create a Budget for the Next Month

• List Out your Debt

• Make a Plan to Address your Debt

• Make a Plan to Build an Emergency Fund

• Check your Credit Score

• Calculate your Net Worth

Let’s dig into each of the items on the personal finance checklist, including ideas of how to accomplish them.

Review Your Income and Expenses from the Past 3 Months

 
If you want to make positive changes to your finances – or confirm you are making the right ones – you need to understand where your money is going.

First you will need to track your income and expenses for at least three months. You can do this by pulling your income and spending information from your bank and credit card statements. If you use cash often you will need to capture that going forward and should estimate the past three months for the time being.

I track my income and expenses by using Tiller, which pulls all your income and spend data from your credit cards and bank accounts automatically. The key word here is automatically. I used to do it manually, but I’ve found Tiller to save me a decent amount of time each month so I’ve used it for a few years now.

When you have three months of data in front of you, it’s time to reflect on it.

Are You Spending More than You Earn? If you are spending more than you earn it could be due to a couple things. You may have too much coming out of your paycheck each month for your retirement or Health Savings account. The other reason is you are simply spending too much for your income.

If you are spending too much, take a look at each category. Are there things that stick out? Is your rent or mortgage way too high? Do you have a $500 car payment? Do you spend too much on restaurants and take-out? Or perhaps your grocery budget is too high?

You will also want to think about what you actually want to spend money on. I personally don’t think a latte a day will kill your finances, so if you enjoy spending money on it then by all means continue to do so. But your car loan or lease of $600 could be pushing your finances over the edge. It may be time to sell and purchase a more reasonably-priced vehicle.

Create a Budget for the Next Month

 
Using your three months of spending data you now have a good idea of how much you spend on various categories in an average month. Using this information combined with what you discovered when you reviewed your spending, you are now ready to make a budget for the next month.

I use a budget spreadsheet for my budget. Some people use apps. Test out both and use whatever is easiest for you.

We have a free automated budget spreadsheet that you can download. This budget spreadsheet uses Tiller to populate the “actuals” data. A typical monthly budget sheet looks like this:

 
Setting a budget isn’t difficult when you have your past three months – or more – of expenses to help guide you. Set a reasonable budget for each category and challenge yourself in categories where you are spending more than you would like to.

There are a number of expenses that are difficult to change, think housing and car payments or leases. Even though you can’t change these costs immediately, don’t let them fall off your radar. If your housing costs are way too expensive for your income make it a priority to find more affordable housing. If you have a vehicle that is keeping you in debt because the payment is $500, consider selling your vehicle and buying something more reasonable. These aren’t the easy wins, but they are the big wins that have the potential to drastically help your financial life.

List Out your Debt

 
Do you have debt? If you have debt you should, at minimum, know these things:

• Type of Debt (Credit Card, Student Loan, etc.)
• Amount
• Interest Rate
• Whether the Interest Rate is Fixed or Variable
• Remaining Number of Payments (for Installment Loans like a mortgage)
• Minimum Required Monthly Payment

If you’ve never done this, take a deep breathe. When my wife and I listed out our student loan debt it was more than we expected. This was especially true after my wife finished her master’s degree and we had her undergrad loans in deferment for a few years while also taking out additional student loans.

In our free Student Loan Spreadsheet we have a couple of sheets where you can drop in the details of your debt. One tab is specific to student loans while the second tab is for all debt.

Once you have your debt listed out, move on to the next step: make a plan to address your debt.

Make a Plan to Address your Debt

 
When it comes to debt everyone’s situation is going to be different. $30,000 of debt at 3.25% interest is different than $30,000 of debt at 23.0% interest. $10,000 of debt for someone making $125,000 a year is different than $10,000 of debt for someone making $20,000 a year.

With that in mind, there are a few strategies that may be relevant to your situation:

 
Make a Strategic Student Loan Plan

If you have student loan debt there are a number of paths you can take. You can refinance your student loans and pay them off as quickly as possible. You can pay them off on the standard ten-year repayment plan. Or you can strategically repay your student loans on an income-driven repayment plan and head down the path to student loan forgiveness (either income-driven loan forgiveness or Public Service Loan Forgiveness).

I go into much more detail on student loan repayment and broader personal finance in my book Student Loan Solution: 5 Steps to Take Control of Your Student Loans and Financial Life. My wife and I are going the strategic repayment route. I talk about our personal situation in my post I can afford to pay off my student loans, but I won’t: here’s why.

 
Lower Your Interest Rate

The reason credit card debt can feel so crushing is because of the interest rate. Credit card debt is double-digits in most cases. It can easily reach the high-teens or the low 20s.

When your interest rate is high you end up putting a lot of money towards interest before you make progress on the principal. The lower your interest rate the better. Typically the higher your credit score the lower the interest rate available to you. We’ll go over credit score in more detail soon.

One strategy is to open a 0% APR credit card. With these cards you can transfer your credit card balance and pay 0% interest for a period of time. For example with the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card you get 15 months of 0% interest on both purchases and balance transfers. You can use this time to make as much progress as possible towards the principal balance of your debt. You may even be able to knock it out entirely. Here’s our picks for the best 0% APR credit cards.

We already mentioned student loan refinancing, which I highly recommend for any private student loans. You can get rate quotes from multiple companies through Credible. For credit card and personal debt you can see what rates are available if you refinance through a personal loan.

 
Get Help

The last thing I want to mention is that it makes sense to reach out for help if you are overwhelmed. This may mean reaching out to a certified credit counselor or working with a debt attorney (I interviewed a debt lawyer about what prospective clients should expect when working with one.

Regardless of what strategy you take, the sooner you confront your debt the sooner you will have a plan for taking control of it. A couple additional posts you may find helpful are how to deal with debt on a low income and options for dealing with a large unexpected expense.

Make a Plan to Build an Emergency Fund

 
One of the most basic and repeated pieces of personal finance advice is “build an emergency fund.”

I know, I know, it’s easier said than done. But it is important.

As I mention in my book Student Loan Solution, a better and more inspiring name for an emergency fund is a F*** Off Fund. When you have no cash savings you are in a vulnerable position. You may put up with an abusive manager longer than you should because you need money, right? When you have an emergency fund you can say F*** off to those who need to hear it.

As far as importance, building an emergency fund is on par with making a plan for your debt. There is simply nothing more empowering than having cash in the bank.

Instead of getting fixated on a goal that may seem unattainable today, such as having three or six months of expenses in a savings account, I encourage people to focus on what they can accomplish today. $100 a month is better than $0 a month. Whatever you can manage is what you should be setting aside. For more details, read our post build an emergency fund $100 at a time.

Check your Credit Score

 
A credit score impacts, for better or for worse, your ability to take out a loan or open a credit card. It also can impact the interest rate you receive.

Here is a general guide to how creditors will view your credit score:

• Less than 500: Very bad
• 500-549: Bad
• 550-599: Poor
• 600-649: Average
• 650-699: Good
• 700-749: Very good
• 750 or Higher: Excellent

You can check your credit score for free with most credit cards through the online dashboard when you log in.

If you have a bad credit score, don’t panic. Nearly a third of Americans in total and 43% of millennials have a poor or bad credit score, which is defined as a credit score of 600 or below.

If you want or need to increase your credit score, read how this blogger increased their credit score 150+ points in 8 months and 5 ways to fix a bad credit score.

Calculate your Net Worth

 
The final item in this simple personal finance checklist is calculate your net worth. Calculating your net worth, at a high level, is really simple: you take your assets and subtract your liabilities (i.e. debt). That’s it.

In practice it’s a bit more difficult because the amount in your bank account changes often. If you have retirement savings that also moves around daily. The value of your house and the outstanding principal on your mortgage changes. The debt you have goes down (or up).

To get an accurate picture of my net worth I use Personal Capital. Personal Capital is a free tool that links to your accounts and pulls in your data real-time. Once you do the initial setup work you can get a real-time look at your net worth whenever you want.

 
Checking your net worth may not be the most uplifting experience. Let’s say you just finished grad school and have $225,000 of student loan debt from undergrad and grad school. You worked, but any money you made went towards your living expenses. In this case your net worth will be negative.

If you find yourself less-than-inspired by your net worth my recommendation would be to not check it that often. Instead focus on what you can control today. You can budget. You can create a strategic student loan repayment plan. You can create a plan for eliminating debt. We didn’t talk about it, but you can also focus on increasing your income at your 9-5 or through a side hustle, and you can start socking away money in an investment account.

By proactively making these money moves you can set yourself up for success. Years go by quick and before you know it all your hard work will translate into a net worth that puts a smile on your face.

By working through this simple personal finance checklist there is a chance you will drastically improve your financial life. With that being said, taking control of your financial life can take time – don’t get overwhelmed! Realize that even tracking your income and expenses is a huge step towards owning your finances.