We recently celebrated our 1 year blogiversary over at the Modern FImily!\u00a0 Our very first blog post, The Financial Independence Lifestyle<\/a>, was published on July 9, 2019 and looking back I personally feel it may be one of the most useful blog posts we wrote (balance, values, treat yourself, find joy in the simple things, enjoy the journey, etc).\u00a0 It’s pretty cool to look back and see all that we’ve accomplished on this little ole blog.<\/p>\n As you know, we are pretty open here so we wanted to share our thoughts after our first year of blogging as well as our highlights, challenges, earnings, and expenses.\u00a0 Next week we will dig into all the stats.\u00a0 While these posts have nothing to do with personal finance really, we thought this could be fun to do each year to see how our thoughts have evolved and how the blog performs over time.\u00a0 If you’re curious to see what blogging really is like, vs what you may dream up in your head based off the few super successful bloggers out there, read on muchachos.<\/p>\n Ever since day one, the purpose of starting our blog was to share our story to help inspire others on their pursuit of Financial Independence.\u00a0 We started off with a combined $110,000 in student loan debt, on average made a combined family salary of ~$100,000\/year from our salaried jobs, and after 9 years not only were the loans paid off but we became millionaires and reached financial independence.<\/p>\n We did not start Snapchat.\u00a0 We are not trust fund babies.\u00a0 We did not receive any inheritances.\u00a0 We did not win the lottery.\u00a0 We did not live with our parents after graduating from university.<\/p>\n We just learned early on how important a role your mindset with money plays.\u00a0 If you’ve noticed, we don’t write a ton about the investment side of things because honestly the investing is the easy part. If you are new and follow our Investing 101 series <\/a>(which is geared more so towards beginners) and read the respective material we highlight in that series, you should be pretty golden.<\/p>\n The reality is, having the money to invest is the hard part.\u00a0 People love to dig into the weeds about the “best” equity \/ fixed income ratio, or the “best” funds to invest in, or the “best” asset allocation. While we are not dismissing these topics and saying they are not important, we are trying to focus on the mindset that we’ve developed over the years to get us where we are today.<\/p>\n Sure there are little nuances and tweaks you can do to fully optimize your portfolio but the big wins and focus should be on increasing your savings rate by understanding what you truly value and cutting out the fluff.<\/p>\n Optimizing you’re portfolio and making it the most tax efficient are great topics to dig into once you have a $100,000+ net worth. When you’re just starting out there’s really no point to focus on this side of the game. The main focus<\/strong> (in our opinion) is to figure out how to increase your savings rate while not diminishing your quality of life.<\/p>\n The purpose of this blog was never to replace our income (more on that below).\u00a0 If one day this blog somehow makes $1,000\/month I’d be pumped as this would lower our withdrawal rate down by about 1%.\u00a0 Or it would allow for some extra lux vacations.\u00a0 But more importantly, if one day this blog somehow gets 100 comments a month then I’d be ECSTATIC as we will have grown our community and my heart would truly be happy.<\/p>\n Here are some of my personal favorite pieces of content that we’ve written in year 1:<\/p>\n Here are the five most popular posts (based on page views):<\/p>\n While our journey to FI is hardly new, no one in the personal finance space knew about us prior to this year.\u00a0 I’ve read many blogs over the years but never was big into commenting.\u00a0 I was a lurker.\u00a0 I decided it was time to “come out” first by creating our Instagram account, @ModernFImily,<\/a> and then our blog about 6 months later.\u00a0 I also started to leave comments on many blog posts I’ve read this year.\u00a0 It’s been amazing to make connections however I’ve definitely slowed down a bit on various social media platforms – thank you Digital Minimalism<\/a>, How To Break Up With Your Phone<\/a>, and Bored and Brilliant<\/a> for making me realize real life interactions are MUCH more important.\u00a0 After all, our main purpose here is to reclaim back our time.<\/p>\n That’s not to say building relationships with others in the FI space aren’t important. We’ve definitely been busy here when it comes to guest appearances.\u00a0 Here are the publications we’ve been featured in during our first year (ordered from first to last):<\/p>\n All of these have been through natural connections we’ve made.\u00a0 Looking back, that is A LOT of external coverage for the first year.\u00a0 Thank you Julie over on the FIRE Drill for discovering us first and getting the ball rolling.\u00a0 For anyone new here, our Guest Appearances<\/a> page holds all of our guest content.<\/p>\n I truly have enjoyed all of the interactions I’ve made throughout the year.\u00a0 I love receiving comments and messages as this means that people are actually reading our content and benefiting from it (keep it coming please, the interactions are honestly what keep me going!).\u00a0 I love receiving invitations to provide a guest blog post on other personal finance websites or to record a podcast.\u00a0 I’m honestly shocked at all the guest interactions we’ve had – both with the guest appearances we’ve done over the year<\/a> as well as all the amazing guests that we’ve had on our blog as part of our FIRE Community Guest Interview Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n I love all the other members of the personal finance space that we’ve learned about over the year.\u00a0 Without starting our Instagram account and then our blog, I likely would not be as engaged with many of you.\u00a0 I love the interactions we have on our social media platforms.\u00a0 But mostly, I love the deeper connections we’ve made with the ~10 of you who text, call, email, video chat, etc.\u00a0 Having these “true” connections is what it’s all about.<\/p>\n I also kept up with posting on the blog weekly (for the most part) which was a made up goal I had set for myself.\u00a0 I’ve found I’d fall into a slump for a few weeks at a time where I want nothing to do with the blog but then I’d get a surge of energy and write 3 draft posts within a week.\u00a0 I’ve gotten to a point where I have draft posts scheduled through the end of the year at this point.\u00a0 I find having future topics to write about planned out helps with my stress levels when it comes to content creation (not that this should be a stressful endeavor).\u00a0 I also realized that it’s totally OK to relax this made up rule and post less frequently if I chose to.\u00a0 The key here is to ensure I eliminate potential burn out.<\/p>\n As mentioned above, we are all about the mindset that is required to reach Financial Independence and thus those are the topics I love writing about the most.\u00a0 This is why we don’t write too many posts focused on increasing your income, optimizing your tax setup, or things of the like.\u00a0 While these topics are important, and we will be covering more and more topics over time, what’s more important (in our mind) is having the proper mindset.\u00a0 If you want to reach FI, you have to believe that you can and then go and actually do it.\u00a0 We are trying to add something different to the conversation.\u00a0 We don’t want to write the same article that has already been written 1,000 times.\u00a0 We are aiming to stick to high quality posts on topics that truly resonate with us.\u00a0 We are keeping true to our values and writing with integrity.\u00a0 We are trying to be open and honest with our thoughts and figures so you can get a true picture of who we are.\u00a0 I’ve turned down quite a few ads as I truly only want to promote products we know, use, and love.<\/p>\n I have run into SO many technical hiccups over the past year.\u00a0 Some were annoying quick fixes and others made me so frustrated.\u00a0 For example, sometimes I would update a post from the Word Press mobile app, hit update, the post would eventually publish, and low and behold none of the changes stuck.\u00a0 Or Amazon Associates wouldn’t allow me to copy links properly and the images look all wonky.\u00a0 Or my font sizes or spacing would magically change midway through a post.\u00a0 Or our title picture would be all set up and then after publishing the picture is mysteriously gone.\u00a0 The list goes on and on!\u00a0 And that doesn’t even touch on the learning curve at the beginning – pugin? theme? domain name? host? elementor? – we were clueless!\u00a0 (And still are…)\u00a0 I must give a huge shout out to my friends Sarah and Laura over at Keepin’ It Frugal<\/a> who are web designers during their day jobs and have helped to smooth out so many of these issues for us – thank you<\/strong> ladies and thank you for designing our website for us! If it weren’t for these two, I likely would have given up on blogging months ago.<\/p>\n I also have noticed I have gotten stuck inside the personal finance rabbit hole a lot more this past year by being very active on social media as well as reading more and more personal finance blogs out there.\u00a0 Taking a deep look into the reasoning of this, it likely is because I’m scared to actually pull the plug on the corporate gig and actually<\/em> retire early.\u00a0 I’m grasping for connections with people who understand FIRE to continually learn from as the transition from FI to RE is VERY scary even though the math says we’re good!\u00a0 This is not good for my personal relationship with Nic as she sees how much finances are on my mind this year compared to years past.\u00a0 I am definitely the number cruncher and she balances me with the focus on lifestyle \/ going with the flow \/ figuring things out as we go versus needing perfection with everything.\u00a0 It’s a really good balance and thus I am trying to shift my focus elsewhere when I can.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, social media is king to building up your platform and as any long time reader knows, we are trying to cut out social media<\/a>! So this is a bit of a backwards strategy but it’s something we think is very important.\u00a0 I am currently on Instagram and Facebook and limit my social media use to 30 minutes a day total so I am not posting every day or engaging with others as much as I used to.\u00a0 I’ve learned that Twitter is the space for the personal bloggers out there but I don’t Tweet.\u00a0 I’ve never felt the urge to learn how to navigate through that platform.\u00a0 It may take a hit to our growth but the distance from the online world is not up for debate for us.<\/p>\n Ok, so blogging is a pain in the ass, but at least it is a money making side hustle!\u00a0 Right?!\u00a0 Riiiiiight?!?!\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 NO.\u00a0 In fact we are losing money.\u00a0 Yes, you read that right.<\/p>\n Why?\u00a0 Because I am not putting up any ads on the site.\u00a0 And we have to pay to have Word Press host our site and we also have to pay for the rights for our domain name.\u00a0 Additionally, I haven’t dug into SEO, writing for views, or any other money making strategies out there.\u00a0 I likely should pay attention to these, but I haven’t taken the time to yet.\u00a0 I recently connected with a fellow FI seeker who focuses on SEO for bloggers and we will be swapping services – I will be going over her finances and help with what to do with her money (a very good problem for her to have) and she will help with the next few steps regarding SEO optimization.<\/p>\n Given our relatively low page views, we would be making pennies on ads at this point.\u00a0 We’ve received similar suggestions from many other successful bloggers out there who have stated to wait to even consider ads until your website is more established.\u00a0 Like a minimum of 10,000 monthly page views.\u00a0 So we’re still a ways away from even considering to monetize the blog with ads.\u00a0 I also want to be very careful here as I do not want the site to look awful with tons of awkward ads popping up all over the place and thus diminishing user experience.\u00a0 I would start with a very minimum number of ads to ensure the flow of the site isn’t reduced significantly.<\/p>\n At first I thought I’d never put up ads as it goes against my grain with all the advertising and marketing we are already bombarded with.\u00a0 After thinking about it and speaking to others, I’ve come to realize that blogging is essentially how I am able to get paid to provide you, dear reader, with free content.\u00a0 Blogging is HARD and I think we all deserve to get paid so I’m not anti-ads, I just want to be selective and slow with this step.\u00a0 So maybe one day, when we cross over 10,000 page views, you might see ads on the site.\u00a0 If\/when that day comes, please please please do not fall prey to them and just glaze right over them.\u00a0 I think most people reading blogs geared towards financial independence do this already.<\/p>\n Gone are the days where making money from blogs was “easy money”.\u00a0 Military Dollar asked on Twitter if any FIRE bloggers out there 1.) monetize, 2.) if the income covers their blog expenses, and 3.) if the income covers their lifestyle costs.<\/a> It’s actually quite comical to read through all the responses.\u00a0 If you think blogging is a get rich quick scheme boy oh boy you’re out to lunch.\u00a0 Sure, there are some successful bloggers out there but realize they are the minority and have likely been blogging for quite a long time.<\/p>\n 2019-2020 Expenses:<\/strong><\/p>\n Total Expenses: $53 USD or ~$69 CAD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n How have we made money on the site?<\/p>\n We also recently started offering coaching sessions on a VERY low key basis.\u00a0 I am currently coaching my first two couples which includes 3 one-hour long video sessions along with homework assignments for $300 USD.\u00a0 So there’s $600 in coaching revenue so far.\u00a0 I am keeping that separate though as this is not passive income from the blog.\u00a0 If you’re interested in a coaching session with us, feel free to contact us<\/a> and we can see if we’re a good fit.<\/p>\n 2019-2020 Earnings:<\/strong><\/p>\n Total Income: $40.40 CAD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Net: -$29 CAD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ballin over here!\u00a0 Now, let’s calculate what this equates to for my hourly wage.<\/p>\n Over the first year, I’ve written 47 posts and each posts takes on average 6 hours to write.\u00a0 So 282 hours have been spent on the blog meaning I lost $0.10 for every hour spent writing. \u00a0<\/span>Compare that to my real hourly wage at my corporate job of $54\/hour and it’s OBVIOUS where the money lives.\u00a0 Moral of the story, if you’re looking to get rich from blogging, you’re in it for the wrong reasons!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There’s a stereotype floating around that it’s easy to make a lot of money from blogging but in reality that’s really not true.\u00a0 Especially for the first year.\u00a0 I read a stat that only 8% of the bloggers out there make enough money to support their family and a majority of blogs fizzle out within the first year.\u00a0 Maybe if you get VERY established after 5+ years and have many people referring others to your site?\u00a0 I don’t know, I’m clearly not there yet haha.\u00a0 Nor is that my priority.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So… did I find my calling in life and find my true passion in blogging?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Haha.\u00a0 No no no.\u00a0 I am a terrible writer and it takes me FOREVER to write a post.\u00a0 It takes me MANY hours to write a post, then proof read it, then edit it again.\u00a0 And still there are many grammatical errors that I find after it goes live.\u00a0 And that’s not to mention all the annoying quirks and kinks I continually run into with Word Press mentioned above.<\/p>\n I do want to help others, illustrate our story, and hope that readers feel inspired and take action to make actionable life tweaks to improve their lifestyle.\u00a0 That’s why I write.\u00a0 It’s not because I love spending $0.10 per hour to write.\u00a0 It’s because I want more people to benefit from the mindset shift.<\/p>\n I’m about to share something I likely shouldn’t be sharing.\u00a0 To be completely honest, I write these posts when I’m at work during a slow period while staring at my computer screens.\u00a0 So I guess technically I am getting paid to write?!\u00a0 I have found that I am not motivated AT ALL to turn on our laptop and work on the blog while I’m at home.\u00a0 Instead, I’d rather be hanging out with the family or reading.\u00a0 So, as long as I remain working part time and my work allows for some slow periods to write, I’ll be here.\u00a0 Once I finally decide to pull the plug with the corporate gig, we shall see what the future holds.\u00a0 Maybe I’ll suddenly want to be more focused on the blog at home to be able to connect with others since I’ll lose that social aspect at work (even though I’m a vampire and only work night shift and thus only ever interact with my one sole shift partner)?\u00a0 Or maybe I’ll lose touch with the blog and not feel the need to write as much and maybe transition to one post a month instead of one post a week?\u00a0 I’m interested to see how the future unfolds.<\/p>\n We did commit to three years with Word Press when we first started our blog so we know we’ll be here for at least another 2 years.\u00a0 My plan until hopeful babes 2 is born is quite simple: try to stick to my rough weekly content schedule and write quality posts.\u00a0 It would be great to continue to grow our syndication opportunities.\u00a0 In 2021 I’d like to also add a “best of the month” post highlighting some of my favorite blog posts or podcast episodes I’ve come across from other members of the FI community.\u00a0 Year 3 and beyond I want to have found a way to run the blog without being over run by the blog.\u00a0 The intensity with which I approached this first year is not sustainable and I totally recognize that, especially if we add another little human into the world.<\/p>\n Whoa!\u00a0 That was a long recap!\u00a0 I hope you enjoyed the synopsis and glimpse into my thoughts after the first year.\u00a0 Overall, I’m very pleased with how the first year of blogging went for Modern FImily.\u00a0 I hope I can continue to elevate this blog to the next level.\u00a0 Anyone out there surprised to hear that we lost money this year?<\/p>\n Any feedback on how we can make our blog more user friendly?\u00a0 Are there any specific blog topics you’d like us to focus more on?\u00a0 Please provide us with some constructive feedback so we can make this the best experience for you!<\/p>\n If you liked this article and want more content like this, please support this blog by sharing it.\u00a0 Not only does it help spread the FIRE, but it lets me know what content you find beneficial.\u00a0 Writing is NOT my strong suit and it honestly takes me hours to write each post so the more encouragement the better!\u00a0 Engaging in the comments below keeps me motivated.\u00a0 You can also support this blog by subscribing to receive emails anytime a new post is published.\u00a0 Thank you FImily!<\/p>\n We believe in stacking up life hacks to keep your enjoyment levels to the max without depleting your bank account.\u00a0 Here are some ways to further educate yourself and save thousands of dollars over your lifetime by making some simple adjustments:<\/p>\n We recently celebrated our 1 year blogiversary over at the Modern FImily!\u00a0 Our very first blog post, The Financial Independence Lifestyle, was published on July …<\/p>\nThe Purpose of Modern FImily<\/h2>\n
Modern FImily Favorite Moments<\/h2>\n
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What Went Well<\/h2>\n
What Didn’t Go Well<\/h2>\n
Must Be The Moneyyyy<\/h2>\n
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What Does the Future Hold<\/h2>\n
Support This Blog<\/h2>\n
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