What Life (and Money) is Like Writing Full Time

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Most of you will know I started writing for The Penny Hoarder full time back in February.

The road to get there spanned a year.

I started reading the articles in 2015 when we started paying off our $78,000 in debt and I got several work-at-home jobs and started mystery shopping because of it.

One day in 2016, before I even thought about starting a blog, I was walking down Central Avenue and there on a glass door between a coffee shop and a seafood restaurant was The Penny Hoarder logo.

To say I freaked out a little would be an understatement.

By that point, I was already a personal finance nerd and I thought it was so cool that my favorite personal finance website was located in MY CITY!

When I started Saving with Spunk in September 2016 I knew I wanted to make it a business. I loved helping people learn about money and I wanted to A) do it full time and B) have location flexibility.

I was updating my LinkedIn (because that’s what you do when you start a blog?) and saw that The Penny Hoarder was offering a part-time internship in 2017.

I applied with very little professional writing experience (newsletters for the acupuncture clinic count right?) Really all I had was my blog.

And it was the care that I took in my blog that got me the internship.

To that point: even if you can’t outright monetize your blog, you can still make money as a direct result of your blog.

I interned there in the first four months of 2017 and loved it. I mean, it was everything I wanted it to be but was scared it wouldn’t be because nothing is ever as good as it seems.

This is not the case at The Penny Hoarder.

They offered me a job at the end of my internship, 401K, 100% healthcare premiums paid, three-weeks paid vacation, the works. I turned it down because A) I loved my job as an acupuncturist and wasn’t ready to leave it and B) I wanted to see if I could make my own blog work.

So I freelanced for them for the rest of 2017, kept in contact with friends there, and watched Kyle Taylor offer to pay for any employee’s lodging that needed to evacuate hurricane Irma.

I kept blogging but couldn’t bring myself to do the things that explosive success in blogging requires.

It turns out I like having a life.

I was offered another position doing SEO that I also turned down but mulled over it a lot longer this time. The more acquainted I became with the company the deeper it nuzzled into my heart.

In October I attended a conference for financial content produces and had lunch with a friend and PR coordinator at TPH. She invited me to the press party at their new office.

In November, Travis and I attended that party and were blown away at all the amenities and personal touches included in the design. A quiet room, game room, astroturf park, and the same sweet faces I’d left earlier that year.

The head of HR spent a good 20 minutes and a cocktail convincing me I needed to come work there full-time.

After a month of mulling, I quietly emailed HR and my managing editor and was offered a job in January. Don’t think just because I wanted to be there that I didn’t negotiate my salary. I countered with a $7,000 increase and ended up getting $5,000 more than originally offered!

I gave my clinic a month’s notice and started full-time on February 12th.

And I have to say the last two months have been incredible. My writing has improved leaps and bounds, I’m getting to write about stuff I love that isn’t necessarily about debt or frugality, and I get to work with my friends.

Some of my articles are about Snuggie scams, books to change your mindset about investing, and how to maximize your HSA.

And the benefits are AWESOME.

I’m maxing out my 401K and HSA, I don’t have to worry about health insurance, I work from home one day a week, there are always snacks in the fridge, and the coffee is the best I’ve ever tasted.

The office is another benefit. I do want to be location independent but I found that I didn’t enjoy freelancing as much as I thought. I actually like going into the office every morning, interacting with other people, and writing all my articles for the same website.

Do I miss doing acupuncture?

Not yet. I was immersed in acupuncture for nine years and while I love acupuncture, my clinic, and my coworkers, I was ready for a change. It’s humbling starting from the bottom again but there’s so much room for growth and I’m ready for it.

I got a slight raise but now that I’m maxing out my tax-advantaged investment option my paychecks are smaller. Which is fine, less I have to think about the better.

I don’t have to pay for healthcare sharing or snacks anymore. I have spent money joining a shuffleboard league but I refuse to go out to lunch so I haven’t spent extra on work lunches.

Overall I’m having a great time writing all day every day but I’ve needed to take a step back from blogging on Saving with Spunk. I don’t want to hate writing so I’m finding other ways to stay involved in the #debtfreecommunity that don’t involve writing. The first way is a podcast.

The Frugal Friends Podcast debuts April 27th

My friend Jill and I are launching a podcast to help people embrace the great parts of frugality and laugh about the absurd parts. And there seem to be many absurd parts.

Jill is naturally frugal and creatively innovative with her frugal lifestyle. I’m recovering from a “broke mindset” and learning to embrace intentional spending. Together we dive into what the internet has to say on various frugal topics, pick our favorites and tell you what you can ditch.

I’ll be posting episodes on Saving with Spunk as well as my side hustle income reports and occasional life updates.

Well, that’s it. I hope your 2018 is bringing you just as much joy and hopefully a little less life-change than mine.